Honestly, I can't say anything about the late update. Maybe I should just post chapters on Sunday. Or just guarantee a new chapter before the following Monday. I like putting up chapters on Fridays and Saturdays I feel like that's when most people will have the time to read. In the future, I'll still aim for Friday or Saturday, but if all else fails Sunday for sure.

I was going to ask this in the last chapter, but this is a better time to ask. I have two questions to ask.

1. As of now, all of the min four OC's have been introduced and have had their personalities established. So I humbly ask. What are your thoughts on them? I know it's still early(not even ten chapters in yet), but I'd like to know if you're enjoying them. I want to know if my writing is effectively showing off their individual qualities. Please know that there won't be any complete changes since that would disrupt the story I'm attempting to tell. Just general ways to improve them.

2. Now that we've had three chapters filled with action. Is the choreography easy to follow? Do the combat scenes lack anything. Is there a way to make the transitions smoother and overall more dynamic and compelling?

Thanks as always. Enjoy.

Chapter 9: Alluring Dance of the Beautiful (Deadly) Spirit

In their continuous clash of blades, the two fighters refused to give an inch to the other. For as long as the duel had lasted, neither of them had managed to score a decisive blow. A powerful collision forced both Alter and Tomoe back, creating a momentary pause in the battle. "You're incredible, Alter, but it seems you still refuse to show me more," Tomoe noted. "I do believe I said to not hold back or you'd die. With that being said, are you still unwilling to fight at your full strength?" Alter's brow furrowed; how could she talk like that so casually? It was like the possibility of him dying at her hands was an afterthought. His silence was all she needed for confirmation, "I see." Tomoe closed her eyes and smiled, tilting her head in a cute gesture. "Well, that just won't do! Perhaps a demonstration is in order. That way, you'll understand how serious I am." Alter flourished Overlight, but a warm body pressing against his back petrified him. A dainty hand lightly grasped his shoulder. "See. As you are now, I can easily kill you whenever I want without you even noticing." Tomoe whispered in a sickeningly sweet voice, her lips so close they brushed against his ear. That was impossible; he hadn't even seen her move. Not only that, but Tomoe's presence had vanished before she touched him.

To most boys his age, having a voluptuous, well-endowed girl pressed up against them would be the most incredible experience ever. He wasn't sure if they'd feel the same when their life was on the line, though, how most of the boys at his old school acted around girls, they might have welcomed it. Shrugging her off, Alter turned and prepared to strike, but Tomoe had disappeared again. "Behind you~" Her voice sang. Grunting, he turned and slashed down but connected with air. "Oh my, are you getting frustrated?" This time she was sitting on a low hanging branch above with a picture-perfect lady-like posture. Alter jumped, attacking her simultaneously; she slipped away by leaping back into the surrounding branches. Without warning, he found himself falling; the branch he'd been on sliced off. That couldn't be right considering her last action. Flipping himself, he landed and immediately brought up his sword as Tomoe's struck it. He tried to counter, but she was gone again. By chance Alter looked up and saw her falling toward him, her sword poised to pierce his body. He hopped backward, but a foot on his back pushed him face-first into the dirt. She stepped off him, allowing him to stand. This was ridiculous; Tomoe was disappearing and reappearing like some spirit. Alter half considered it to be her semblance, but it was impossible to tell. Over and over, she attacked him, practically fading in and out of existence from almost every direction, somehow he managed to guard against her phantom-like assault. Alter's blue eyes shifted around erratically, trying and failing at the task of tracking Tomoe's sword strikes. "Nice instincts, I must commend you for your performance so far," Tomoe complimented in betwixt attacks. "How long will that last, I wonder?" Her voice came from behind him… he should've known better. She appeared in front of him, but Alter was so distracted by her voice that he only had time to turn and perceive Tomoe's katana flashing dangerously. "Ufufu, this is your own fault." A bullet cut through the space between them, halting Tomoe's path forcing her to leap back quickly. Alter grunted quietly and looked over to see the smoking muzzle of Carly's sniper.

"That was a warning. If you truly intend to kill Alter, then I'll have no choice but to stop you myself." Carly spoke, still looking through the scope of her gun aimed at Tomoe.

"Yeah!" Ike limped to his bat, hoisting it up as best he could. "I can't lose my future teammate."

Tomoe said nothing. She stood there, head lowered, hair covering her eyes. Her head started to shift as pure malice permeated the air. Everyone was paralyzed at the malevolent presence that was Tomoe. Her gaze twisted to Carly and Ike, cold eyes devoid of any light regarded them with cruel dispassion. "Buzz off, you're in the way." Tomoe's sugary, fluffy voice was gone, replaced by something far more sinister. It was low and deep and dripped with the promise of death. Ike backed up his weapon, not dropping but trembling in fear. Carly remained stalwart, ready to stand up for the one who saved her. Tomoe noticed, "Fine then, you die first."

"No." The murderous aura that filled the area was instantly replaced as the very air around them shuddered with pressure. Alter's frown hardened as light blue energy wisped off him; his eyes flashed a similar color. Tomoe's vicious mood immediately melted, apparently no longer interested in cutting down Carly and Ike.

"Hmmm?" Tomoe hummed. "Finally decided to fight seriously, I see." Alter said nothing, continuing to only glare at her. "Nothing to say? Hm, I figured you weren't much of a talker, but it seems you just outright suck at holding a conversation. I have no issue if you want to play the quiet, stoic guy, but just so you know. No one will think you're cool, just boring and unapproachable."

"If you're done talking, let's go. I'll finish this now."

Tomoe's lips curled as she vanished again. Alter was still unable to comprehend how she was doing that. However, with him accessing more power, he could react faster. When Tomoe's presence emerged on his right, he quickly turned and delivered a counter swinging Overlight across his body, striking Tomoe's sword and blowing her away. She grinned, her eyes lidded in pleasure. This time she appeared behind him, weapon held overhead. Alter pivoted on his right foot, avoiding the cut, and launched a sweeping attack. Tomoe hurdled over it and spun, bringing her leg around in a swift hard kick. Alter lifted his left arm up and blocked it with his forearm. She landed, rolling away and skidding to a stop, their positions reset. Instead of rushing in, Tomoe slid her right foot back a few inches, half-turning her body away from him. She raised her katana over her head, the tip angled towards him, her left hand lowered, but was held out at her side. Alter had never seen a stance like that; Tomoe looked like she was about to perform a dance. He wouldn't fall for it, despite how she looked; Tomoe was dangerous, which meant whatever she was about to do would be the same.

Tomoe dashed forward, no more like floated over; a single step was all it took to close the distance and unleash a string of rapid twirling right to left slashes. She was like a whirling storm of blades. At first glance, it looked chaotic, though it was anything but. Each attack came in precisely one after the other in a rhythm of dance designed to carve up its target. Alter never faltered; he zoomed in Overlight glowing blue, meeting her attack with a combo of his own. Each of Alter's slashes connected with Tomoe's in a shower of sparks; their swords were no longer visible, appearing only as streaking blue and violet lights. For most of their fight Alter had been on defense, which went against what Raven had taught him. He didn't have time to learn any formal sword style, so Raven taught him to combine his speed, power, and instincts to develop a style. One that focused on an overwhelming offense to pressure his opponents. She said that it was ok playing defense to analyze his foe every once in a while. Though, she explained that it would be better if he formed a plan while on the offensive. As such, Alter was starting to see through Tomoe's consecutive strikes getting the timing down. The intervals between her attacks were small, leaving the margin to counter almost non-existent, but he kept searching. After a few more, he found it.

Using the force from their colliding blades, Alter hopped away but instantly sprung back at her, pulling his sword back and leveling it parallel with the ground. Lunging in, he thrust Overlight, still shining with a sky blue luminescence just as Tomoe was about to transition into another twist. Her eyes grew wide; she ceased her twirl and braced her palm against the flat side of her blade, blocking as Alter crashed into her. She couldn't stop his momentum as Alter continued carrying them back with the tip of his sword. Not finished yet, he spun in a circle and delivered an upward diagonal slash that momentarily broke her guard; he followed up by bringing it back down with immense authority. Thanks to her exceptional skill, Tomoe managed to defend, locking blades with him. Her sword trembled at the pressure Alter was bearing down on her with. It was far too much as Alter's eyes intensified as he overpowered her, Tomoe's legs buckled as the ground cracked under her feet. A shock wave exploded outward, and she was blasted away, leaving a trench in her wake. She stabbed her katana into the ground, letting her come to a stop.

'He countered my Heavenly Spirit Crossing by matching it with a series of offensive strikes!? Not only that, but I haven't been able to land a single blow this whole time. And that burst of power just now. I suspected he was holding back, but how is he hiding such a wellspring of strength?' Tomoe thought with a look of curiosity. Alter rocketed forward, not wanting to give her time to recover. "Right, I that's enough," Tomoe declared, clapping her hands together. The action was so abrupt that Alter had to stop lest he crash into her.

"What?" Alter's confusion was evident. Not only him but Ike and Carly, who had been frightened into silence, were bewildered as well. Ike noisily shouting baffling while Carly's brows knitted in question.

"I said that's enough. I was able to see how strong you are and I'm completely satisfied, so I no longer see a reason for us to fight. Alter's head tilted in puzzlement; there hadn't been any reason beforehand since Tomoe had attacked them out of the blue. "With that being said." Tomoe stood, dusted herself off, and sauntered up to him. "I look forward to working with you, so let's try to get along. Partner~ fufu," drawing out the last with a smile, eyes lidded in smugness. Alter gaped at her; it never dawned on him that they had effectively become partners throughout their duel.

"But." He tried to refute her words but sighed when he realized she was right. They had made eye contact several times in their clash, and up until that point, he'd been alone until he found Ike and Carly.

"No, hold on a minute!" All attention turned to Ike. "There's no way in hell someone like you can or should be Alter's partner!"

"Oh, and why not? The rules say-"

"Screw the rules! You attacked us! I'm sure the professors won't allow it." Ike interjected, Carly silently nodding in agreement.

"And where are the professors, I wonder?" The tip of Tomoe's finger tapped her chin as if she were in deep thought. It was obvious the gesture was just to mock and antagonize Ike, who was falling for it, judging by the way he shook in anger. "If they disapproved, then I'm sure they would've stepped in by now. They may have found something wrong with my actions, but considering how long my and Alter's little spar went on. This means the professors concluded that it was unnecessary to get involved." Her logic was sound, and Ike deflated at her expertly crafted explanation. "But, if you're still displeased, why don't we let Alter decide."

All eyes were on him now, waiting in anticipation. There was no going back now since Alter knew they expected an answer. He turned to Tomoe, his eyes narrowing, "Before I answer, let me ask you. Were you really trying to kill us just now?"

"Ufufu, I think I'll leave that up to your interpretation." Alter frowned but could not respond because of the distant sound of someone screaming caught all their ears. Everyone present looked up as a darkened shape fell towards them, the screams increasing as it came in. The group could make out what was actually two people, though it seemed only one was wailing in peril. Alter, and Tomoe dived out of the way as the virtual meteor struck the ground.

"Oh, dear," Tomoe commented at the painful-looking landing.

"Hahahaha! Man, what a helluva ride that was," a loud voice exclaimed. Ulivia Valentine stood from the wreckage, stretching and cracking her neck. Her head swiveled, looking around as if she were lost, expression laced with confusion. She scratched the back of her head, "Where the heck am I?" She spoke to herself. "Wait a minute," Ulivia glanced down, irritation etched on her face. "Hey, I thought you said you knew where we were goin'? I don't see any ruins, so what's the big idea? You lyin' to me? Cuz if you are, I'll kick your ass."

The person under her coughed. "I did. That was before you steered us into a flock of Nevermores shouting about raising your score for that bet," a disheveled Rail Peridot groaned from beneath Ulivia's combat boot.

"Huh?!" She squatted down, applying more pressure to Rail's back, her appearance contorting into angered annoyance. "You tryin' to blame this on me when it's your fault for being piss poor at flyin'?"

"Well, whoever's fault it is matters little now, besides we don't seem to be alone. Also, could you please get off me?" Ike whimpered. Ignoring his request, Ulivia looked up, finally noticing Alter and the others.

"Yo," she waved in a casual tone and a blank stare.

"Good morning." Tomoe was the only one to reply. Alter, and Carly looked on in silence.

"Heh, now aren't you three the interesting trio."

"Uh, last time I checked, there were four of us," Ike called out, irked at being ignored.

"Hm? Oh hey, it's the dweeb. Still alive, huh?" Ike growled at her insult. "Wow, you managed not to get yourself killed," she snorted. "Jeez, you look like shit. Did some Grimm kick your ass? That reminds me, what's your count?"

Ike smirked arrogantly, "Eight."

"Ha! Eight? Really, that's it? In case you missed it, I killed a whole flock of Nevermore. There must've been at least fifty of 'em." Ulivia stepped off of Rail and strolled over to Ike, hands on her hips, her lips spread in a toothy grin.

"Oh, come on small, Nevermores hardly count!"

Ulivia shrugged, "Hey, a kill's a kill."

"No, it's not!"

"Is too!"

Alter ignored them and walked over to the still prone Rail helping him up. "Thanks. Alter was it? I hope you've had a better time than me."

Alter figured Rail had it worse; however, Alter wasn't concerned with how bad each of their experiences was. At the moment, Ike and Rail were both present with panthers, partners that weren't Abby. Ike had already been with Carly when he had discovered them fighting that Ursa Major. Though Rail was already partnered with Ulivia, they had been in the air, so maybe he spotted her before they crashed. Alter was about to question Rail when the rustling of some bushes nearby caught his attention. A tall, dark-skinned teen wielding a lance burst from the thicket, grabbing everyone's attention, simultaneously ending Ike and Ulivia's argument. The unknown first-year's eyes were wide in panic, and his breathing was labored.

"Help me. W-We were returning with the relic, but... got attacked. It-it happened so fast."

We? Her?

"Please calm down. Try to tell us what happened." Rail said.

"I lost my partner. Abby. She might be in danger!"

Next time, the initiation arc concludes. Looking back, I don't know why I thought I could fit initiation into two and a half chapters.

Next Chapter: December 4th or 5th guaranteed the 6th.