Three days removed from her life being torn down and cobbled back together, Aspen struggled to regain a sense of balance. Aside from her initiation, she had yet to truly receive any training as a hunter-student. Beacon was still closed but, as she understood it, Team GREI would be trained under Oliver and Laurel regardless. That was fine with Aspen—she'd wanted to train ever since Oliver and Laurel found her, after all—but some of the new responsibilities that came along with that training proved difficult to manage. Specifically, her responsibility to Team GREI as their leader.

According to Oliver and Laurel, there was no single way to lead a team, and it would ultimately be up to Aspen to find what worked. Their team leader had taken a collaborative approach, working with each of the members to develop plans and often allowing them to act independently as they saw fit. Aspen liked that idea, having found success implementing Rhys and Ilex's ideas during their last mission, but the subsequent lack of trust within their team posed a complicated obstacle to overcome.

Aspen knew it was her own fault. Laurel had told her multiple times that she'd had every right to keep her identity a secret if it made her feel safer but, no matter how right her decision had felt, a part of Aspen wished she hadn't made it. It placed the burden of rebuilding trust on her with no idea how to go about doing it. A simple talk had been enough to set things straight with Rhys, though Rhys had always been open and friendly with her. The same could not be said for Ilex and Carmine.

For starters, a proper conversation with either of them on such matters seemed impossible. Ilex avoided talking to her at every end and distanced himself from any discussion of her secret. Carmine, while more willing to speak, seemed to have lost all ability to do so comfortably. It was as though he didn't know how to interact with her anymore.

Their inability or refusal to talk was only the most evident obstacle, however. Ilex and Carmine themselves had changed. Their auras had changed in subtle ways that Aspen suspected only she could discern. Gone was Ilex's cloak of frosty dishonesty, replaced by a glowing warmth that had once been a fleeting rarity. While still coarse and standoffish, Carmine's aura had lost most of its bite. They felt more honest, truer to themselves. Even Rhys's aura felt… firmer. More resolved. These changes came as a direct consequence of her secret. Aspen was not certain she felt comfortable about that.

She could ask, if she wanted. In addition to her training, Oliver and Laurel had begun teaching her about Mankind and the society within their kingdoms, they encouraged her to ask questions when she didn't understand something, even outside of lessons. Aspen didn't like asking questions, however. She valued the knowledge and understood the importance of learning about the world, but Oliver and Laurel seemed… dissatisfied. While Aspen felt their pride when she demonstrated her understanding, they held an underlying frustration in their auras that grew as sessions went on. Aspen didn't like the idea that she caused them stress, so she would stay quiet on this matter for now. As it stood, there were other matters to focus on.

|How long are we supposed to wait for?| Rhys asked, throwing his arms out dramatically. Team GREI had assembled, along with Oliver and Laurel—or, Mantis and Tawny, since they were "working"—at the edge of the Emerald Forest. They awaited a seventh member for their party and had been waiting for close to an hour.

|I don't know why you're in such a hurry,| Ilex signed back. |I thought you hated school stuff. You're not even going to get to fight.|

Rhys leapt on the opportunity to talk. |I bet I will! There's still lots of Grimm in the forest right now! Besides, it's not "school stuff." It's exploration!|

Ilex rolled his eyes. |It's still him, though.| Both boys shared a grimace.

Rhys's displeasure did not last long, and he turned to Aspen. |You can feel his aura, right? Is he coming?|

Aspen could feel a new aura drawing near, one that felt of leather and leaves. She didn't recognize it, though, so she couldn't be certain it was the person they were waiting for. She glanced at Ilex, who avoided her gaze, then Carmine, who raised a questioning eyebrow. Neither Mantis nor Tawny were paying much attention to the conversation. Aspen raised her hand to respond. It wasn't as though it was an unsolicited request. |Yes,| she answered, carefully selecting her signs. |I believe he is almost here.|

Rhys threw his arms up triumphantly and spun around on one heel. Carmine nodded and focused his attention on the bolts in his quiver. Ilex shifted his shoulders and continued looking away. Aspen felt a hint of relief. It seemed in this case that calling attention to her… ability had been acceptable.

"Ah, there you are! Sorry to keep you all waiting!" Everyone turned toward the source of the voice, which struck a chord of familiarity in Aspen's mind. A man some years older and several inches taller than Oliver and Laurel jogged up to the group. Dressed in two brown coats, a formal shirt and tie, a peculiar rounded hat, and a similar facial ornament to Ozpin's, this green-haired man did not strike Aspen as a proper instructor for hunter-students. Then again, she had yet to meet a hunter who did.

The large pack on the man's back didn't appear to encumber him in the slightest as he zipped between Mantis and Tawny, shaking their hands vigorously. "Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. It is a pleasure to meet you." The two other adults barely had time to introduce themselves before the man vanished and appeared before Aspen. He held his hand out to her and waited. Aspen knew this greeting custom. She took his hand to shake.

Compared to his prior interactions, this Bartholomew man was surprisingly gentle in how he shook her hand. His aura felt more subdued than it had a moment ago, as well. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Aspen," he said, releasing her hand within moments of shaking it, well before the contact could become uncomfortable. "My name is Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck but, please, call me Doctor Oobleck." He took a step back and looked her over, hands balled into fists on his hips. "I've heard rumors about your armor. If I may ask, are these actual Grimm bones?"

Aspen looked at her shoulder. She remembered Ilex expressing a similar disbelief when she first met him, claiming that the Beowolf mask she'd brought back from her initiation must have been a replica. That mask had proved too damaged to use for armor, but it had inspired the entire project. "Yes, they are."

Doctor Oobleck hummed, the barest hint of disappointment in his aura overshadowed by a humming excitement. "Remarkable. Impossible armor for an impossible girl… It seems I owe Peter twenty lien." Aspen cocked her head but, before she could ask for clarification, Doctor Oobleck pivoted on his heel to face the rest of her team. "Carmine, Ilex, Rhys! Good to see you all. I hope you've all been keeping up with your studies?"

The question was met with a collective wave of stinging annoyance. Ilex rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Professor. A Grimm ate my homework"

"That's Doctor," the man corrected over Rhys's snickering. Even Carmine had let out a snort. Aspen decided she would ask Rhys to explain the joke later. Doctor Oobleck put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "Still, I suppose the closure of Beacon's library would make accessing reference materials…" He waved his hand dismissively. "Regardless, are we all set to head out? These ruins won't explore themselves!" Rhys whooped and Ilex sighed. Carmine didn't show any emotion, but Aspen felt a touch of annoyance in his aura. Doctor Oobleck turned toward her. "Would you mind leading the way, Aspen?" The girl nodded and started into the forest.

The group fell into a natural marching order after only several minutes of walking. Rhys kept close to Aspen and Doctor Oobleck at the front, Ilex and Carmine followed several paces behind, and Mantis and Tawny took up the rear. Aspen glanced over at Doctor Oobleck. "May I ask you something?"

The man smiled and nodded. "Of course, Aspen. What's on your mind?"

Stepping around an exposed tree root, Aspen cocked her head toward a distant rustle of leaves. If it were a Grimm, it wasn't close enough to be a threat. "Why do you insist on being referred to as 'Doctor?' What does it mean?"

"Ah, an excellent question." Doctor Oobleck adjusted the ornament on his face, just barely avoiding walking into a branch. "Well, simply put, it is a title, an honorific signifying that I have completed a certain level of education. As for why I insist on being referred to by it, that would be because it took me years of effort to earn. I didn't put that effort in just for the fun of it. You might say it's how I want to be known."

Aspen nodded. That made sense, but… "Honorific?"

"A term of respect," Doctor Oobleck explained. "Military ranks such as General or Specialist, Academic titles such as Head Master or Head Mistress—" No, he said them as one word; Headmaster or Headmistress. "—or even general uses such as Miss or Mister."

Miss… It was not a name? "So, when I am called Miss Gray… it is meant to be respectful?"

"Indeed."

Aspen clicked her tongue, weighing the information in her mind. "… I see. I think I still prefer to be called Aspen. It is how I want to be known."

Doctor Oobleck smiled. "I think that is a perfectly reasonable desire."

(-)

Aspen was annoyed.

Initially, the trip only involved her and Doctor Oobleck. The Valean Council had granted Beacon permission to organize a mission to explore Deirean's havashah, and Glynda had assigned it to Aspen. For some reason she couldn't quite explain, Aspen had been hesitant to bring it to her team. It just… hadn't felt like something they should be bothered with. When he did find out about it, however, Rhys had begged her to let him come, claiming it would help with team-building.

Aspen knew it had been a disingenuous effort to convince her for his own sake, but he'd made a fair point. Ilex had done something similar when she'd first arrived, but the results of that outing had been… inconclusive. This was a second chance at the concept. Ilex and Carmine had expressed more interest in training than exploration, though, so she compromised. They would travel out to the cliff as a team. Then, Aspen, Rhys, and Doctor Oobleck would explore the havashah while Carmine and Ilex trained in the ruins above with Mantis and Tawny. Aspen hoped she could find some way to close the distance between them along the way.

Much of the rest of the trip passed without conversation, however. How was she to team-build if no one spoke? She would have even accepted purposeless discussion, but she had avoided such casual interactions so often she found it impossible to engage with any of the others on a whim. The best she could think to do to encourage cohesion among her team was to hold back against any Grimm they encountered, though she never had the opportunity.

Aspen brought the group to a halt, focusing her attention beyond the trees. "There are two Ursai ahead," she announced.

Ilex's ears twitched. "Are you sure? I don't hear anything coming toward us."

"It does not appear they have sensed our presence yet."

"How far ahead are they?" Carmine asked.

"I…" Aspen was not accustomed to determining distances based on sound alone. "Perhaps four or five hundred feet."

"Can we go around them?"

What? "I… suppose. It will be faster to simply kill them, however. It is also likely that we will encounter other Grimm if we detour."

Ilex sighed, his aura burning with annoyance. "Fine. If we have to…"

Unease settled in Aspen's stomach as she led them forward. If this was team-building, it did not feel right.

The Ursai detected them soon after and began moving to intercept them. When they broke through the trees and into sight, Aspen turned to her team. In her experience, they would have a few moments before the Grimm attacked to strategize. "Carmine and Ilex, ta—" The two moved before she could finish her order, engaging one of the Ursai. Frowning, Aspen turned to face Rhys. |You and I—|

A brush of wind behind her and a spike of anxiety in Rhys's aura warned Aspen of the impending attack. Whirling back around, she caught the Ursa's descending arm with one hand while burying the other in its chest. The beast's grunt of pain turned into one of confusion as Aspen hauled it up off its feet and flipped it over her head. Something impacted off the Grimm before she slammed it into the ground, but it wasn't until she heard a jubilant whoop above her that she knew to get out of the way.

Rhys came down on the Ursa hard enough to completely crush its head with his ram. As the Grimm dissolved into nothingness, Aspen turned to check on Ilex and Carmine. They, too, had dispatched their foe with ease. She furrowed her brow. Why had the Ursai attacked so quickly? Was something going on with the Grimm?

Their next encounter provided no answers. While the six Beowolves did attempt to surround them before attacking, they did not display any of the behaviors Aspen was familiar with. Ilex and Carmine only aggravated the matter, counterattacking before Aspen could get more than a few words out. Pulling her claws from the final Beowolf's evaporating corpse, Aspen hissed in frustration.

Finally, when they encountered a trio of Boarbatusks, Aspen had had enough. Like the Ursai, the Boarbatusks attacked as soon as they made visual contact. Slipping to the side as one of the Grimm charged her with a spin attack, Aspen thrust her knee into the center of its rotation. The Boarbatusk let out a squeal as it impaled itself on her shin spike. Aspen extricated herself from the Grimm and let it fall to the ground, its blood eating away at the makeshift armor, but neither bone nor beast disappeared completely. With a hole in its abdomen, however, the beast wouldn't last long.

Aspen knelt beside it, leaving her team to finish off the other two Grimm. The Boarbatusk writhed and struggled to get back on its feet with little success. It only wore itself out further. Placing her hands on the beast's shoulder and haunch, Aspen pinned it to the ground. The Boarbatusk continued to kick, however, hooves clattering off her armor. Annoyance swelled up in Aspen's throat. "Vay jek!"

The creature ceased its struggling and looked up at her. Admittedly, Aspen was not wholly adept at reading the facial expressions of a four-eyed beast, but she recognized its confusion. That was the confusion she expected at the start of the fight, not the end. Easing off, she released the Grimm, and it made no effort to escape. Had it… listened to her?

"Aspen, what are you doing?"

Aspen jumped despite herself, having barely registered the others gathering around her. The Boarbatusk huffed and twitched agitatedly, but it didn't move. "I am not sure," Aspen said, answering Mantis's question.

"Really?" Ilex's voice and aura were both touched with spite. "Because it looks like you just tamed a Grimm."

Doctor Oobleck's aura settled over Aspen. "Now, now. I'm certain we can suss out an explanation without resorting to any nasty implications." Shame replaced the spite in Ilex's aura, but it still retained its edge. Doctor Oobleck knelt beside Aspen. "Perhaps we can begin with what you said to it. Vay jek?"

The Grimm thrashed once, a growl escaping its throat. "Vay jek," Aspen repeated, and it fell silent. "I am telling it to be still and it is doing so. I am not certain why, but I do not believe it is because I have 'tamed' it."

"Curious." Doctor Oobleck eyed the Boarbatusk over while he thought. Its breathing had slowed down. "So, you have never done this before?" Aspen shook her head. Such a bizarre turn of events, she was sure she would remember—

"At the Battle on Beacon." Aspen looked up at Ilex in confusion, as did the others. He raised an eyebrow, but his aura itched with discomfort at being the center of attention. "Am I the only one who remembers the giant Nevermore on the roof of the colosseum? I don't know what you said to it, but you definitely said something to make it take off and leave us alone."

Aspen's gaze fell to the Boarbatusk. Much of that night was hazy for her, blurred by a torrent of fear and anger, but the Nevermore… Ventar. "Yes. I told it to leave." Not purposefully, but she couldn't deny that had been her intent. She had wanted it to leave and it had, but the Grimm—the pech ter'al—they had wills of their own, unbound by even self-preservation. They existed only to end those who caused them suffering. So why listen to her?

"If I may ask," Doctor Oobleck said, cutting into Aspen's thoughts, "what made you try to speak to this Boarbatusk?"

"It was not intentional." Aspen laid her hand on the Grimm's chest. She wasn't sure if its heartbeat was weak, or if it even had a heart to beat, but she only felt the stutter of its breath. "I was trying to examine it, but it kept moving around."

"And why were you trying to examine it?"

Aspen looked at Oobleck, finding a glow of intrigue in his eyes. Had he not noticed? It seemed like none of them had. "It was behaving strangely. All of the Grimm today have been."

The others looked at one another, auras bristling with confusion. |Seemed pretty normal to me,| Rhys signed.

Ilex furrowed his brow. "Yeah. They're Grimm. They attack anyone who gets close."

"What is it you were expecting?" Carmine asked.

Doctor Oobleck brushed the tips of his fingers against Aspen's shoulder, just enough to pull her attention. "I would like to know much the same thing," he said. "What was it about the Grimm's behavior that seemed strange to you?"

So, the others really hadn't noticed anything unusual. In fact, these encounters had seemed typical to them. If that were the case, was she the outlier? "When I have encountered Grimm before, they have never attacked me outright. Any aggression only comes after what I would characterize as a moment of confusion and a snarl."

"Always?"

"Always."

Doctor Oobleck cupped his chin as he descended into thought. The auras around Aspen were a cloud of confusion, irritation, worry, and intrigue. The Boarbatusk lay still except for the faint rise and fall of its chest. When Rhys knelt on the other side of it to lay his own hand on its side, the beast didn't even flinch.

It was Tawny that finally broke the silence. "I think I can understand the 'confusion,' if that's really what it is." All eyes turned to her and her aura solidified defensively. "I-I mean, if rephaim don't have auras like humans or faunus, then I imagine seeing someone that looks like a human or faunus but doesn't feel like one would be pretty confusing."

Doctor Oobleck hummed to himself. "I suppose that could be a possibility… and with six of us around her, it's likely the Grimm we have encountered today couldn't tell that she didn't have an aura. It was only when she was on top of one that…" A jolt of excitement burst through his aura and he leapt to his feet, slamming his fist into his other hand in the process. "Yes! Of course! Grimm self-organize!"

Confusion swept through the group, Aspen along with them. "If you say so," Ilex said scratching at his ears, "but what does that have to do with what we're talking about?"

Doctor Oobleck let out a hearty laugh, his aura flooded with mirth as though it had sprouted a bed of clovers. "Come now, children! Think! Alpha Beowolves, Ursai Major, King Taijitus… What do all of these have in common?"

"They're more powerful than their common variants," Carmine answered.

"…and?"

Mantis's aura sparked. "And those common variants self-organize under them!"

"PRECISELY!" Aspen flinched at the sheer jubilance in Doctor Oobleck's tone. His aura immediately withdrew and he coughed into his hand. "Apologies. I'm afraid I have a habit of letting my enthusiasm get the better of me."

Aspen shook her head. "It is not a bother. Your excitement is not unpleasant."

"Setting that aside," Tawny said quickly, her aura directing a curious hint of annoyance at Doctor Oobleck, "are you saying that rephaim can act as some sort of… surrogate alpha for normal Grimm?"

Doctor Oobleck tapped his chin. "As an outsider, I can only speculate on the relationship between the Rephaim and the Grimm, but I would raise the possibility that the snarl Aspen reports is a challenge of a sort. A test to see whether she will assert dominance." He looked down at Aspen. "Does any of this sound implausible?"

A… challenge? After her initiation, Aspen had not put much consideration into why the Grimm acted the way they did. Even during the Battle of Beacon, she had never even questioned why they attacked without abandon. Perhaps it had been her own pain clouding her rational mind, but she also wouldn't have given a second thought to rampaging Grimm knowing they felt the same pain she did. There had been hundreds of auras, as Doctor Oobleck said, and she would not have even registered as abnormal among them. For her to influence them, however…

"Rephaitic culture is—was built on strength. Those with strength stood above those without. This extended to the pech ter'al as well." Aspen ground her teeth. "That is how Deirean explained it to me."

"Pech ter'al?

The Boarbatusk let out a small huff. Aspen placed her hands on its tusks. "Those who became the Grimm." With a jerk, she snapped the beast's neck, putting an end to its slow death. The body quickly dissolved into the air, leaving only a faint sense of shock from the surrounding auras. Aspen rose to her feet, as did Rhys. "They remember, even now. A part of the Rephaim remains within them." She looked down at herself and the bones she wore. "I told Deirean the pech ter'al were dead, but I was wrong."

Doctor Oobleck's hands settled on her shoulders, his grip heavy and aura heavier. "The Grimm are not rephaim anymore. We may never know what happened to make them what they are, but the fact of the matter is the Grimm are not what they once were. They've been twisted into monsters."

Aspen stared into the forest past Doctor Oobleck, the claws of Mantis and Tawny's apprehension digging into her back. "And what does that make me?" Shaking free of the man's grip, she resumed the journey to Deirean's havashah.

(- -)

"This is it."

In light of the fog-filled chasm in front of them and the towering cliff opposite them, Oliver noted that Aspen's statement seemed more than a little redundant. He'd seen this location through his scroll during her initiation, but the video feed came far from capturing its impossible scale. Even standing several dozen yards from the edge of the chasm, just looking out at the far cliff and knowing that there was nothing between the two points was enough to cause his stomach to sink. Looking up at the ruins failed as a distraction, as the massive pillars and walls had stood the test of time—and combat, judging by the recent score marks in the stone—was enough to set Oliver off-balance. He settled for focusing on the ground for the time being.

"So, who built all this?" Ilex asked, squatting down to look around at the ruins. His ears flicked against nothing, and his face looked pale. "Is it human or, uh, rephaitic?"

Oobleck hefted his pack off his shoulders and began to split his supplies. "These ruins have been around for centuries, but they are very much human."

"Rephaitc structures are far older," Aspen added. She kept her body half-turned away from the rest of them and fixed her eyes out over the chasm. With the breeze flowing up over the cliff and lifting her hair from her shoulders, she might've looked like the star of an action film. Oliver only wished she could be so carefree.

Aspen had been quiet ever since the incident with the Boarbatusk. Not cold, but distant enough to expose the hurt she was feeling. Oliver wasn't sure if it was because of what Oobleck had said, the implications of the Grimm understanding her, or something else. As much as he wanted to pull her aside and try to comfort her, he struggled just to conceptualize what she was going through.

"What's on your mind?" Tawny asked, sidling up beside him. Carmine and Ilex stood with their packs off to the side, speaking quietly while they went through their gear.

"Aspen."

Tawny rolled her eyes. "Obviously." They watched Doctor Oobleck usher Aspen over to the edge of the cliff, Rhys on his heels. After exchanging words and pointing over the cliff, Oobleck shook his head and handed Aspen a bundle of climbing gear. "Anything specific?"

Oliver half-shrugged. "That's the thing. I've got a thousand different thoughts and worries that are all tripping over one another. I just can't sort through enough to deal with them properly."

Tawny hummed to herself. "I know the feeling. Hunter training doesn't really prepare you to be responsible for a whole other person."

Responsible…That single word cut deeper to the heart of Oliver's troubles than he would have expected. He took a long breath. "How responsible for her are we?" Aspen and Rhys had solidly anchored the end of a rope a safe distance from the edge, and now Aspen was going over the edge on her own, presumably to secure the way back up. "I don't mean it like I want to back out but, ever since we found her, everyone has treated us like we're her legal guardians."

A weak grimace spread across Tawny's face. "Well, to be honest, we're the closest thing she has to… guardians. Even setting aside how little she knows of the world, it's not like she doesn't need us. Nobody has any idea what her age is, either by Human or Rephaim standards. Conceptually, though? She's barely a month old, with next to no socialization. She's an infant." She cocked her head in thought. "An infant that could kill you with a flick of her wrist but, you know, an infant."

Oliver frowned. An infant, yes. An infant who'd been forced to find out what she was all on her own while having to take in the hatred and fear of those who refused to understand her. An infant who was still learning things about herself that only cracked her open further. It hurt him to see it. "Maybe I don't know how to comfort her just yet," he mumbled to himself, "but I think I'd like to stick around and try."

Tawny's shoulder brushed against his. "Me too."

Ilex's voice cut into the conversation. "Are we actually going to do anything out here?" Both he and Carmine now stood closer to the center of the area and, while Carmine was doing a few last checks of his equipment, they were clearly ready to start.

"Alright," Oliver said, flipping back his coat to put his hands on his hips. He moved to join the two students while Tawny took up a position near the supplies. "I understand you two've been spending the last couple of days training together." Drawing one of his guns, he held it up near his head while taking a ready stance. Ilex and Carmine did the same. "Let's see what you've got."

Right off the bat, it was clear the duo had vastly improved their coordination since the first time Oliver fought them. Carmine rushed ahead with his spear and thrust toward his chest, only to stop short and draw back. Ilex weaved around him and took up the attack, blades drawn. This, too, proved to be a feint; dropping into a roll when Oliver lifted his weapon to block, Ilex activated and ignited his Semblance on his way past. The flash of fire at his feet forced Oliver back a step, such that he was on the back foot when Carmine followed through with a downward thrust.

The spearpoint bounced off a hard-light surface no larger than Oliver's thumbnail, giving him time to slip away from the duo. "Not bad," he said, measuring the praise in his voice. "You two might actually be worth something when you're not getting in one another's way." Planting the end of his spear into the ground and leaning against it, Carmine exchanged a look with Ilex, who had his hands behind his back and a grin on his face. Tawny snorted behind the two of them. "Alright what am I missing?"

With a flourish and a laugh, Ilex settled Oliver's hat atop his own head. "How's that for deception?"

Oliver bit the inside of his cheek as Tawny laughed openly. "Congratulations," he said, measuring the sarcasm in his voice, "you passed Level One." Casually, he reached into his coat and drew his other weapon. "I'll admit, I underestimated you two, but that's only because you set the bar so low the last time." He set his stance again. "Let's see how high you can go."

For the next half hour, Oliver pushed the limits of Ilex and Carmine's abilities. Individually, they were not much further than they had been during their previous test, but that was understandable for a two-week period. That they had grown to work with one another rather than just alongside or, worse, against spoke to where they'd placed their efforts in the last few days. More than just fighting together, however, they were determined. Every attack, feint, and switch was made with conviction. It was almost enough to make Oliver feel proud.

"Don't be afraid to call out your attacks!" Tawny called from the sideline after Oliver redirected one of Ilex's swipes in Carmine's direction. "Grimm won't understand you, and it's better to coordinate than try to keep the element of surprise!"

Carmine helped Ilex steady himself and whispered something in his ear. Ilex nodded and, a moment later, dashed around to Oliver's right. Oliver moved to intercept and keep both students in front of him, but Carmine was ready for it. "Down!" Ilex dropped into a slide, leaving nothing between Oliver and the war hammer arcing toward his chest with time enough only to raise his weapons to block. He braced…

… only for the impact to never arrive. With a telltale clacking sound, Carmine's weapon folded back on itself, the hammer vanishing to be replaced by a saber-and-tonfa combo. "Hit him!" Ilex pounced, blades drawn, and Carmine stepped in for the kill. With four weapons bearing down on him at once, Oliver was backed into a corner where the only way out was to make a concession.

Nice work.

It took all of two trigger pulls for Oliver to drop the pair to the ground. Their auras weren't so low that a single bullet each—even from Venation—would have broken them, but there was more to combat than just breaking the opponent's aura. While Ilex and Carmine lay on the ground, clutching their stomachs and gasping for breath, Oliver flourished his hand cannons before holstering them. "Welcome to Level Three. Did you forget these things could shoot?"

"Yes, yes. The big-time huntsman held off the students by using his guns as clubs and everyone was impressed." Tawny tossed a pair of water bottles toward said students. "If you're done gloating, perhaps you'd like to do your job and teach?"

Oliver scoffed, but couldn't stop the blood rushing to his cheeks. "If I have to. Spoilsport…" Putting a few paces distance between them, he waited until Ilex and Carmine had recovered before addressing them. "It should be obvious, but what happened there was you left yourselves exposed. If I'm being honest, your plan of attack was brilliant. If I hadn't had my guns, it would have been much harder for me to get out unscathed." He ignored Tawny clearing her throat. "Always keep your enemy's capabilities in mind, and always be prepared for them at any time."

Carmine swallowed a mouthful of water, then spat the excess fluid into the grass. "You talk like my father." From what Oliver knew of the Embrys, he felt confident that wasn't a compliment.

"What I believe Mantis is trying to say," Tawny said, standing opposite Oliver, "is that you two can't afford to let your guards down." She knelt to address them, resting her weight on her knee. The sight reminded Oliver of a coach from a sports flick. "You can't brute force your way through a fight like Aspen and Rhys can. Your strengths lie in your speed and versatility. That's what you bring to your team."

"I'm pretty sure Aspen is faster than either of us," Ilex grumbled.

Tawny shot him a glare. "That may be, but her style is not well-tuned for finesse. She is not a team all on her own. Neither, for that matter, are the two of you." She pursed her lips, and Oliver could tell she was trying to balance reproval and instruction. Personally, he thought she was doing well. "Every time the Grimm showed up, you ignored her when she tried to give orders."

"Oh, come on!" Ilex swept his arm back toward the forest. "She was trying to use time we didn't have. The Grimm don't give us time to strategize, even if they do hesitate when she's by herself."

Tawny's jaw tightened. "And that is exactly why we have teams. Everyone has different experiences to draw from, and by sharing those experiences with one another, you all become stronger. In the future, you need to listen to Aspen, as much for her sake as your own." Taking a long breath to calm herself, Tawny stood up and brushed off a few grass blades that had stuck to her knee. "In the meantime, try to focus on making yourselves better. If you get good enough, you might even reach Level Five."

"What's Level Five?" Carmine asked cautiously. Admittedly, Oliver was curious as well. He'd come up with the "Level" system on a whim based on how much effort they could draw out of him. Assuming Level Four was his sword, then Level Five would have to be…

"Me," Tawny said with a grin that sent a shiver down even Oliver's spine, "and I don't hold back."

Sorry this chapter was so long in coming. My original notes boiled down to meeting Oobleck, training, and exploring the havashah, but then every single one of those parts grew beyond the scope of a single chapter. For the sake of length and getting this out, I've ultimately decided to push the havashah to next chapter. Honestly, it's probably for the better. With everything together, the training scene felt obscenely out of place, and cutting it would have meant cutting most of the fun banter in the beginning.

Speaking of, RIP to my favorite recurring joke in this story. It will be Missed.

That's all I've got for now. Au revoir!