Epizon frowned as he contemplated what he had learned today. On one hand, if it was true, he finally had a set target. On the other, if it wasn't, then he was back to square one with more wasted time to show for it. And even if it was the truth, he was pretty sure that even if he sold every single tiny piece of his soul to the devil, he wouldn't be able to finish everything without help or learning some tricks. So the best choice would be to stay here. They left out some things, mainly Ozpin himself, but he didn't expect them to trust him with everything, and he hoped they didn't trust him to share everything either. He would work with them because their goals aligned, but if they somehow managed to complete their mutual goal, then he had a feeling Ozpin would not agree with or appreciate Epizon's follow-up plan. Epizon was jolted out of his thoughts as Qrow, who was standing next to him on the elevator, spoke up.
"Hey, you okay kid? You seem a bit thoughtful. Anything useful or just drunk thoughts?"
Epizon snorted. "Not very useful, but helpful in their way. I do have to ask what makes you think I'm drunk?"
Qrow smirked at him. "Kid, you smell like booze. About as badly as I do."
Epizon smirked. "Just because I smell like alcohol doesn't mean I'm drunk. It takes a lot to make me drunk. Experience and Aura bring the ability to hold your drink better than other people could after all."
Qrow nodded. "You got that right kid" He raised his flask, which he had been drinking from since he and Epizon had left Ozpin in his office with the other members of the Inner Circle who had been present to talk while he was supposed to take Epizon to where his office and living quarters would be, and took a sip from it before freezing and turning back to Epizon, lowering his flask as he did so. "Hey kid, how old are you?"
Epizon blinked as he turned to Qrow. "What does my age have to do with anything?"
Qrow shrugged. "I figured we should know that. I would hate to have a 15 year old teaching people older than him."
Epizon snorted. "I'm pretty sure I'm not 15. As for how old I am, I don't quite know."
Qrow blinked. "How do you not know how old you are?"
Ep[izon turned to him and snorted. "Were you not listening in the office?"
Qrow winced slightly. "I was, but what does that have to do with anything."
Epizon sighed. "We were isolated, so we didn't have much in the way of modern technology. So we didn't know the years according to the Kingdoms, but according to our own system. Our months were about the same, but our years were based on the time passed since the first or second instance of us being hunted down." Epizon paused before turning to Qrow. "Hey, do you remember the year when you or more accurately Ozpin found out we got hunted down for the last time? It would have been the day when smoke was everywhere on Patch."
Qrow paused before tilting his head. "It was 13, almost 14 years ago. I remember because the Grimm around that area went absolutely ravenous and went straight for the largest population masses. Ozpin called me and my team along with some other Hunters out there to help keep the peace because of how many went away from where they normally stayed. Which I guess makes sense given all the fire and smoke probably created lots of negativity on Patch, not to mention everything going on with your family definitely riled them up more. Does that tell you how old you are kid?"
Epizon paused and thought for a moment before nodding. "Then I should be about 19 and going towards 20."
Qrow looked at him and snorted. "Kid, there's no way. You'd have to have been 6 years old or so for that."
Epzion shrugged. "Ironically enough, I turned 6 on the day that I should have died along with all the rest of my family."
Qrow blinked. "Hell of a coincidence. Though that begs the question, how the hell did you survive?"
Epizon burst into laughter. "It wasn't a coincidence, trust me on that. And if I had to give a reason, then it would be because I unlocked my Aura and my Semblance. That combined with the fact that they decided to torture me a bit before throwing me off a cliff ended up with me barely surviving because of a string of good luck that followed the bad."
Qrow winced slightly before sighing and letting a grin form on his face. "Look at it this way kid. You can have a new home at Beacon while you teach the kids or something like that. I'm sure that there will be some of them who don't get on your nerves."
Epizon's smile shifted into a wry grin as he shook his head slowly. "I won't take you up on that. Homes are quick to build themselves and even quicker to destroy themselves. I'll think of this as a mutually beneficial partnership between me and whatever you guys call yourselves."
Qrow sighed. "I would tell you to give it a shot, but you seem as stubborn as my nieces. Just don't push anyone away, blah blah blah, you get the idea. So now that I know your age, I would like to know, who the fuck gave you a drink and when? You're underage for everywhere except Mistral, upper class Atlas, Vacuo, and-" Qrow paused. "You're underage for drinking in small sections of Vale."
Epzion snorted. "I was given my first drink by an acquaintance of mine named Lil' Miss Malachite about 6 years ago. Mistral's pretty much safe for anyone to drink, and she's pretty damn illegal as it is, so she didn't much care. Also she happens to be an aggravating busybody, but that seems to come with being the head of as large an information network as she is."
Qrow raised a brow at him in disbelief. "Lil' Miss Malachite was the one to give you your first taste of booze."
"Yep."
"Kid, how the hell did you get involved with her when you were, what, 13 or so?"
Epizon's smirk returned as he shrugged. "She heard of me and my experience in some fields, and lack of experience in others, as well as some some information I was looking for, I only had a couple years of mercenary experience in at that point, and I figured if she wanted to do something to make me stronger, even if it meant doing jobs here and there for her, then why the hell not? It was a bit reckless, but at that point in time she was someone I was looking for for information, and information was part of the deal."
Qrow sighed. "Kid, you and I need to go drinking sometime and you should share some stories with me. I feel that they would probably be very entertaining with what you've told me so far. For now though, we're about to be at the lobby, so I'll be showing you to your room and all that, and then give you a tour of this place so you don't get lost tomorrow."
Epizon frowned slightly and turned to Qrow in confusion. "Don't your students have the weekends off or something? I heard Beacon was stupid like that."
Qrow shrugged. "It's weird. One week they have classes on the weekend, and the next they have free time, and that continues alternating throughout the year. Something about maximizing time used growing better as a Hunter while keeping the kids from getting antisocial or anything like that. Anyways kid, let's go."
As if on cue the elevator reached the ground floor and the elevator doors slid open. As they stepped out Epizon heard a loud fluttering to his right and turned to his right only to see a vortex of red, which was intercepted by an exasperated looking Qrow. "Kid, this is my niece Ruby. I heard you've met her before."
Epizon sighed as he looked at Ruby, who was currently holding onto Qrow's arm before twitching and turning towards where Ruby came from, seeing the blonde from last night, Yang walking towards him.
"How's the highway helper?" Yang said with a smirk.
Epizon scowled at her before a shark-like grin formed in its place. "Aren't you the one who needs information from me? It'd be a shame if I suddenly forgot in the face of something more important, like getting a tour of this place. Right Qrow?"
Qrow blinked. "Why does she want information from you?"
Epizon shrugged. 'Something about her mom or something like that? I don't know. She hasn't given me a name, so I'll figure out who she wants to know about if or when I find reason to ask."
Qrow's eyes widened slightly before he smiled. "How about I finish up our tour with an in-depth look at my current stash of booze?"
Epizon smiled. "I like you already. Sure, let's do it."
Yang frowned. "Hey, you promised to tell me what I wanted to know!"
Epizon chuckled and smirked at her. "Rule number one when talking to a mercenary. Pay attention to the fine print. In this case, it's the fact that I made no promises, and you've done your best to annoy me. So if someone else comes along with a better offer who I feel more inclined to listen to, they come first. Maybe I'll chat with you tomorrow afternoon or something." He turned to Qrow before asking. "So how about we start this tour?"
Qrow began to nod and walk away before Ruby, who was still attached to his arm, did her best to grab his and Epizon's attention, in this case, by shaking Qrow's arm and jumping up and down. "Uncle Qrow, why does he need a tour? Didn't he just need to come here for a job or something from Professor Ozpin?"
Qrow looked at Epizon and Epizon sighed before responding. "That would be mostly correct. And I did get the job, it's just a bit more permanent than most of my jobs, and I will mainly be at Beacon for the duration of the job."
Ruby's eyes widened and she blurred over to Epizon where she jumped up and down excitedly in font of him. "What's your job? Are you a spy? Are you an engineer? Can I see your weapons? Will we see you much? Do you think you could help us with our Dust classes? Oh! What about-"
Epizon interrupted her. "My job is a surprise. I am not currently employed as a spy or engineer, except for being an engineer in my own employ. You may not see my weapons today, but maybe tomorrow or some time later. You will probably see me quite often. Why the hell would I be the one you wanted to ask about Dust? All other questions will go ignored."
Ruby stopped jumping in place and looked at Epizon in confusion. "Weiss said you were skilled with Dust? She said that one of your swords is super advanced or something like that?"
Epizon blinked. "You mean Mend? My gravity Dust blade?"
Ruby nodded. "Yep!"
Epizon snorted. "I was responsible for designing it, but Mend was brought to life by the person who taught me the basics I built off of for creating more advanced Dust-based weapons, armor, and other machines. I could probably recreate Mend, and I might even be able to make my iteration of Mend better, but until I am no longer able to use Mend I will use Mend."
Ruby blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"
Epizon shrugged. "Think of it as a keepsake. I haven't visited my mentor for a little over a year and a half, so it's a good reminder. And besides, if it's not broken, and you're not completely sure you will get it better, don't waste time tinkering with it that you could use on something more productive. Now Qrow needs to take me on that tour, so see ya tomorrow."
Qrow nodded and turned to leave the lobby. 'Come on kid. First stop should be the cafeteria, it's about lunch time anyways."
Epizon began to follow him before sighing after half a minute had passed and turning towards Ruby and Yang, who were walking besides them. "Why are you kids still following us?"
Yang frowned at him without responding as Ruby answered with a smile. "Well, it's lunch time for everyone, so me and Yang - I mean Yang and I-"she paused to look around before relaxing." are going to the cafeteria to eat! And since that's where you guys are going, we decided to go with you so we can talk while we eat! It'll be fun! Uncle Qrow always has good stories to tell about his adventures, and Professor port has his boring and mildly to intensely disturbing stories, so I was hoping you might have some different stories, since you were a mercenary instead!"
Epizon paused and blinked in confusion before turning to Qrow.
"Don't ask."
Epizon raised a brow in confusion. "Okaaaay…" He turned back to Ruby. "Whatever then kid. I'm new here, so what the hell should I get to eat?"
Ruby lifted a finger as she reached into her cape before pausing as Epizon glared at her and remembering what happened at the industrial docks. "Right. No swear jar. Anyways, we've got most of the same things you'd find at your average combat school, we've got pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salads, fruits, blah blah blah, all the boring stuff, and then we have the outliers."
Epizon paused in expectation before sighing. "Are you going to tell me what they are or stay quiet about them?"
Ruby smiled. "Dramatic effect! It's one of our mandatory classes along with how to cause less damage to the areas around you while fighting Grimm."
Epizon froze. "They had to make it mandatory."
Ruby nodded. "Yep! Something about it being bad for business, and the economics involved with repairs. It's one of the easiest classes at Beacon! Well, for most people. My team has a bit of trouble with it. Even Weiss!"
Epizon looked at Qrow. "If I find out the destruction of the surrounding area thing is genetic and you have it too, then we are going to have a problem."
Qrow shrugged. "Eh, I've gotten better. It was always their dad who caused the most damage though."
Epizon sighed in relief. "Good."
Ruby cleared her throat. "Aaanyways, as I was saying before we got sidetracked, there are some outliers. The first of them are pancakes, because they are only available during breakfast, and there are only about a dozen of them available for the general populace because they get split between the staff and Nora first. Luckily for you, you're going to be a staff member, so you can have a bunch! The second outlier group is the variety of cookies, with chocolate chip cookies being a first come first serve for all non-staff members, meaning I get a bunch of them, and the worse ones like oatmeal raisin being left out until they disappear! It is theorized that they are used in a satanic ritual involving the third and final outlier."
Epizon raised a brow in amusement. "And what is this third and final "satanic" outlier?"
Ruby looked at him with a serious face before speaking in a horrified, hushed tone. "Every other week, Professor Port works as a lunch man in the cafeteria. On those weeks, every meal from that Monday's morning 1 a.m. snack to that Sunday's post-dessert dessert has a seemingly endless supply of what has come to be known as the Port Poison. We were warned by the second years not to try it and one kid didn't listen. He ended up being stuck in Beacon's medical wing for a week, and during that time learned the horrors of nurse Port… I thought it was just a rumor until Blake brought it up yesterday and I realized that he's everywhere. You can never escape him…"
Epizon nodded slowly. "Okaaay then. So what I'm hearing is stick with Qrow, get alcohol and some steak or something, and once I'm more officially a member of the staff here and I'm not in the middle of a tour, ask if I can make my own food in the kitchen."
Qrow smirked at Epizon. "Kid, one thing you should know is Oz has insane procrastination skills. You were probably already an official staff member before we left the elevator."
Epizon blinked. "Good to know."
Ruby jumped up and down excitedly. "Why didn't you tell us you can cook! You could make my team and I food!"
Epizon looked at her before bursting into laughter. "Oh that was a good one kid."
Ruby looked at him in confusion. "I wasn't joking?"
Epizon snorted. "Kid, we aren't friends. We will not become friends. I am going to have lots of fun proving that to you tomorrow. I will not be making food for you, at the most I would disguise some of that Port Poison you were talking about and give it to you. The main reason I'm putting up with you being so goddamn loud so close to me is because it is considered rude to punt someone's nieces through windows, walls, or across a school campus, and I don't dislike Qrow over here."
Ruby smiled at him. "I know you're nice! Otherwise you wouldn't have helped those people on the highway! I'm going to help you show that you're a good person!"
Epizon scowled at her before pausing as Qrow cleared his throat. "Who did you help on a highway?"
Epzion waved his hand at Qrow dismissively. "No one. It must be just her imagination or something, because I'm about as selfish a person as you could meet. She must be mistaking me for someone else."
Ruby smiled. "Nope! I saw the video!"
Epizon turned to her and sighed. "Look kid, that wasn't me doing it out of the "goodness of my heart or whatever. I helped the people unlucky enough to get caught in the chaos created by you and your friends because it made it so that when I turned in Torchwick I wouldn't have to waste time on reports relating to their deaths or injury or anything like that. Now can we go eat?"
Ruby's smile wavered a bit before it returned in force. "I still think you're a good person."
Epizon waved his hand at her dismissively. "Yeah yeah whatever kid. I've explained what little I feel like explaining to you, so just leave me out of your chaos and I don't care. Let's go eat."
Qrow cleared his throat, prompting Epizon to turn towards him. "We're here. We got here like a minute ago. Let's go eat and in the case of me and my new drinking buddy and coworker, chat over some good booze."
Epizon looked forwards and sure enough, they had managed to reach the large double doors that led to a massive lunch hall. "You guys really spare no expense to your food, huh?"
Qrow shrugged. "Perks of being one of the four main sources of Grimm-deterring expert warriors."
Epizon ignored him and pushed a door open before looking around and seeing the place was packed, noticing one table in particular that included the white and black haired kids from the night before as well as four other vaguely familiar kids, one of which was pointing towards him, resulting in what looked to be… excitement? Appearing on the faces of a blonde kid. Epizon ignored it and continued looking before smiling as he saw the large assortment of food. Looks like Ruby hadn't been lying. He turned to Qrow and said. "Are we going to go eat or not?"
Qrow grinned. "We've got our own area to pick up food."
Epizon blinked before grinning. "Is there a teacher's lounge or something where we can eat without your nieces?"
Qrow shrugged. "There is, but we'll still eat with them. We did say we would after all."
Epizon sighed. "Fine. Let's get our food and they can do the same."
Qrow walked over to a door in the corner of the room that Epizon had previously overlooked and turned to Epizon with a smirk. "Before you ask, the reason it's hidden away over here is to keep it or the food in it from getting caught up in any food fights among the students. Originally redesigned this way after my team joined Beacon, and it's proven a good decision ever since."
Epizon rolled his eyes. "Let's just get our food, get your chat with your nieces and whoever else done, finish up the tour, and get you drunk as hell."
Qrow tsked at him in response. 'Such impatience. You must learn to deal with the kids. For they are inevitable, and you have to spend most of your time around them now."
Epizon winced. "Yeah. I'll probably regret that a lot."
Qrow smirked. "Well now that we've got banter out of the way let's get some lunch. Today we've got everything, but I'd recommend the tacos. They're delicious, nutritious, and there's a 50% chance that they got some wine flavoring added in." He then slid a beacon Staff ID card out from under his cape and swiped it across the lock on the door, revealing a medium sized room filled with food, drinks, and small areas to move around in.
Epizon looked around and noted the tacos before picking up a tray stacked on a metal shelf on the wall next to him and grabbing a large burger, 2 hot dogs, and a bit of salad, before grabbing a bottle of beer and heading back towards the door where he waited for Qrow, who finished getting his lunch shortly after. "You done Qrow?"
Qrow nodded as she showed his own tray, which held a couple of the tacos he recommended, 2 beer bottles, and a bit of nacho chips. "Got some good food and drinks that go well together too. Now, let's go out there and chat with the kids, shall we? You're going to have to deal with them anyways, so you might as well get to know some of them in advance."
Epizon sighed. "Yeah yeah. I'll get to know them and then I'll just do my job and make sure they don't get killed like a bunch of idiots too easily."
Qrow sighed as he opened the door and started walking towards the table Epizon had noted earlier, where Ruby and Yang were now eating. "Look Epizon, I get you probably don't like them since they blew up your shit, but give them a chance. You're going to be fighting my nieces and their team tomorrow, so why don't you see what they're made of, and decide how to teach and treat them based on that? Also be prepared for Ozpin to leave you the job of explaining why you're replacing Glynda." Qrow finished with a chuckle as they got closer to the table his nieces were sitting at.
Epizon shrugged. "That's easy enough to do." he said as they finally reached their destination, where teams RWBY and JNPR were in the midst of an intense in-depth conversation. Ruby looked up as they approached and smiled. "Come on Uncle Qrow and Epizon, sit down already!"
Epizon's eyes narrowed as the rest of the table turned towards them, and more specifically in the case of the 4 vaguely familiar kids who he didn't recognize from last night, him specifically.
Epizon sat on a spare seat next to the blonde guy since he was farthest away from where team RWBY was and began to eat until Qrow cleared his throat meaningfully.
"What?" Epizon said as he lowered the burger he was eating. Pretty damn good one too.
Qrow sighed. "Start introducing yourself and learning their names and all that crap."
Epizon deadpanned at him. "I'm going to have 2 or 3 classes, so what's the point of learning their names and stuff? I'll tell them in class if they don't know already, and I'll learn their names as I go."
Qrow glared half-heartedly at him. "Epizon, just get it over with. The faster you do, the more likely it is you won't get interrogated."
Epizion frowned before shrugging and turned to the 4 kids he didn't recognize from last night and introduced himself. "Hi, my name's Epizon Akoníto and I'm a new staff member here at Beacon. You'll find out what my job is tomorrow, and I will greatly enjoy showing you, in particular you team RWBY brats since you blew up my shit, and I'm a spiteful son of a bitch. Any questions? No? Okay, white haired brat, blonde guy, red head, orange girl and black and pink haired guy, introduce yourselves."
The blonde guy next to Epizon introduced himself excitedly. "Hi Epizon! My name's Jaune Arc, and I hope we can get along well! I saw the news about what you did on the highway last night and it was amazing. You were like a real life superhero!"
Epizon froze and turned to Jaune with a sadistic smile. "Do not bring up the highway incident again. And I am not a "real life superhero". I leave the heroic bullshit to the Hunters."
The black and pink haired guy introduced himself as Jaune frowned. "My name is Lie Ren. I look forward to whatever you have to teach us. I would like to know why you said you would leave it up to Hunters though. Are you not a Hunter yourself? You are going to be teaching at Beacon, have an Aura, and are most likely highly knowledgeable in whatever you will be teaching us."
Epizon's sadistic smile turned back into his normal smirk as he replied. "I'm a mercenary. Got an Aura, got a Semblance, got the skills I need to survive and make sure whatever Grimm or people I'm fighting don't unless I want them to, and I've got a few extra skills to add to my resume. I'm no Hunter though. I trained differently, fight differently, and have a very different outlook on life."
Epizon didn't have to wait long for the next introduction, which came from the orange haired girl. "My name's Nora! Do you like pancakes? What about grenades? What about pancake grenades?"
Epizon snorted. "I like you. Yes to the pancakes, yes to the grenades, and the third isn't even a thing as far as I know, and would probably be a bit useless in a fight if it were real."
He waited for the next introduction and after hearing nothing turned towards the last people and raised a brow at them. 'So are you going to introduce yourselves or should I write you two off as antisocial?"
The red haired girl chuckled before responding. "Hello Mr. Akoníto, my name is Pyrrha Nikos. I look forward to whatever skills you bring to Beacon."
Epizon nodded. "Sure. Also, if the hesitation was about your championship fighter fame or whatever then consider it ignored because all it means is you've got skill. I might ask you for a spar every once in a while if I see you actually have the skill to back up your fame, but for now, it's good to meet you. Now, what about you Ice Queen?"
The white haired girl gaped for a second before her face grew red. "How do you know about that insufferable nickname?!"
Epizon blinked. "You've got white hair, you're pale as fuck, and you didn't do anything but stare at me since i got here. I thought it fit. Now what's your name?"
She scowled at him before responding. "I am Weiss Schnee, and I look forward to whatever you teach. If possible, i would like to learn some things about Dust from you, given your unique weapon."
Epizon blinked before sighing. "I should have known. You've got white hair and an attitude, so of course you're a Schnee."
Weiss scowled. "What is that supposed to mean? I know you have conflict with my father, but that is no reason to treat me with contempt!"
Epizon chuckled. "You're right kid. I'll treat you the same as I treat everyone else until I see reason to do otherwise. And you really should have expected conflict between him and I given he's anti-Faunus and had ties to a group I didn't much appreciate."
Weiss's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Why would my father being anti-Faunus offend you?"
Epizon blinked and turned to Blake and Ruby. "You didn't tell them I'm a Faunus?"
Ruby chuckled sheepishly. "I kind of forgot…"
Epizon sighed. "Of course you did. Oh well. Anyways, how about we finish lunch now that I got the introductions over with and then we finish the damn tour Qrow?"
Qrow shrugged. "Sure kid."
As Qrow led Epizon on his tour and then to lunch, the rest of the Inner Circle that had been present for the meeting with Epizon were having a follow-up discussion. "So what did you want to discuss Ozpin?" Glynda asked.
"It is something fairly important, and something I will be passing along to Qrow as well at a time when Mr. Akoníto is busy."
Port tilted his head in confusion. "Is it something you wish to keep hidden from Mr. Akoníto? I don't know of anything that he should not be made aware of given his unique hatred for Salem and her forces."
Ozpin sighed. "No, it is most likely something he already knows of, but something he would not want us to know of."
Port chuckled. "Ozpin, we know you love your theatrics, but we do have things to do for tomorrow's classes. I myself need to capture a Beowulf, or perhaps an Alpha Beowulf would be better? Either way I will need one for a demonstration tomorrow. So would you mind cutting to the point?"
Ozpin shrugged. "Very well. I'm certain you all sensed his Aura, correct?"
They nodded and Glynda spoke up. "It is different then the average, or even most non-average Auras. A bit similar to Amber's current state, except it seems different."
Ozpin nodded. "While Amber's soul was more shredded to obtain her power, and as a side effect, shredded her Aura and most likely if she was conscious she would have a distorted Semblance, his is… I wouldn't say shattered, but it appears similar to as if it has been fragmented."
Port nodded. "Indeed. It is a bit troubling, but by the way he talked about his spar with team RWBY he doesn't seem to have too much trouble, other than a shortage of Aura or something similar."
Ozpin nodded. "That is certain. The thing I want to talk about is his soul and it's unique traits. As we all know, I have the unique ability to better see souls than other humans or Faunus due to my own unique soul. This resulted in me being able to better see what is so different about his soul, and it was… concerning, to say the least. His soul is not small. It is fairly average in size all things considered. The problem is that the majority of it seems to be hidden away."
Oobleck frowned. "I mean no offense, but are you sure you are not mistaken? Souls cannot be hidden, they are souls! They are the essence of who you are, the source of Aura, framework for your Semblance, and source of life for all non-Grimm life! What do you mean his soul is hidden?"
Ozpin sighed. "It is for lack of a better description, covered in a thick fog dotted with islands of visibility and a couple completely visible pieces of his soul. I do not know much more than that. It could just be a result of who he is, as it has been many years and quite a few lifetimes since I have had the chance to observe an Aconite's soul, but if it is not, than we need to find out what did cause it, and what the effects of it are. For now though, we will prepare for Salem's next move and make sure that the Aconites do not fully die out. Whenever you have the chance though, observe him. See if you can get a deeper understanding of who he is, and more importantly what is wrong with his soul. Discover his Semblance, discover his strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and at the end, figure out what the fog is. You are free to go."
Ozpin waited as the rest of the Inner Circle present filed into the elevator and began their descent through the tower before sighing. This would be more difficult than he had hoped. After all, while Mr. Akoníto was indeed a skilled fighter, he was effectively a glass cannon. Ozpin knew he no doubt had tricks up his sleeve, but when the tides of Grimm came, how would the last Aconite hold up with a severely weakened Aura, no Aconite gift, and a large mass of negativity in his soul. When the Grimm came, and they would, Mr. Akoníto would be a beacon to them. Ironic given the academy's name, but dangerous nonetheless. It would appear that he would have to see about making sure that Mr. Akoníto's Aura was fixed before Salem made her move. Perhaps the fog would begin to clear with a bit of interaction with a beacon of hope? A simple soul? Yes. Mr. Akoníto was already their new combat teacher, so if Ozpin made the right moves, he could very well solve many problems with a few careful maneuvers. First he had to make sure that Mr. Akoníto didn't get himself killed tomorrow fighting team RWBY. After all, they were a bit explosive, and from what he had learned of Mr. Akoníto during their meeting, it was highly likely he had done something to irritate Ms. Xiao-Long given the fact he had seen her and Ms. Rose waiting in the lobby for Mr. Akoníto while Mr. Akoníto was in the elevator. Ms. Xiao-Long was already well known for her quick fuse. On second thought this might be a bit of a problem. He should probably make sure Glynda stuck around the combat class for the spar just to make sure Ms. Xiao-Long didn't accidentally hit Mr. Akoníto too hard.
AN: 4 reviews(As always earlier chapters to more recent ones)
Jackejsh(Chapter 2): Oh yeah Jaune would have definitely died. That's why Cardin got punched instead. I'm pretty sure the AN in the chapter explained this, but if it didn't, tada.
Darmaster10000000(Chapter 9): What can I say, it was a hilarious thought, and on second thought I really wish nurse Port was canon. It would be hilarious. Terrifying and sickening. Yes. Hilarious to have a reason like that be the explanation for why 1st and 2nd years are the only students you ever really see? Also yes. Also given the story in V3/4 about how Qrow wore a skirt to initiation, I think Port might actually do it. Don't worry, I hear bleach can work well as a defense against Nurse Port. Or eat the Port Poison. Wait actually don't. Don't do it. It'll be triple the horror…
Alduin(Chapter 10): Yeah last chapter wasn't the best, but I know how to admit my own failings, and I do. A lot. Not a lot to say about your review, but as you can see, Glynda will be there, and the fight will play out in what will hopefully be a good read. Who knows, maybe it will actually be music worthy.
Guest(Chapter 10):... So yeah. If you want to continue this ok, but I see no reason to. I respect your opinion, but I disagree. And while I can agree with the "Crap canon doesn't justify crap fanfic" thing, I did my best to explain why the fight played out how it did, and how she is one, strong enough to at least even out and retreat from most Hunters, even after a scale up so that they match at about the skill level of or a little under the skill levels of Port and Oobleck. I won't argue about this again or bring up loads of evidence like why Neo didn't get instantly stomped or anything, but I'll paraphrase. Neo isn't a White Fang grunt and Epizon isn't overpowered as hell. They both have weaknesses and strengths which came into play during the fight. I do not think you are just hating on the story, and I respect your opinion on how the fight should have gone. However, I also respectfully disagree, and while I doubt you will like it, I can say I know a bit more about Epizon's own skills than you given that I, you know, designed him with all his strengths and weaknesses attached. He will grow stronger over the course of the story, but in no way is he strong enough to just kill anything and everything that so much as inconveniences him. If you shot him with enough bullets, he would go down just like anyone else.
(First off, the reason this is late is because after everything was finished up and everything, decided that it hates my guts and that it would not authenticate my request. Sop yeah, I tried a bunch of stuff to get it to not be a pain in the ass and none worked, so here we are with it being a day late. Sorry, but nothing I can do when hates my guts.)And now that those are out of the way, I can say that this is hopefully better than the last chapter. The fight wasn't this chapter, which you would know unless you skipped the chapter to look at the AN, in which case, just why? The reason I didn't just timeskip to the fight is because really, if I just time-skipped everything without doing world-building, character interactions, and stuff like that, this story would end up being a lot shorter, a lot blander, and a lot more aggravating to read. And since he's at Beacon now, there aren't going to be any "oh yeah 50 years have passed and now this is happening" timeskips anymore. The only reason I had so many timeskips before was because I couldn't think of a reasonable way to write out a year and a half's worth of wasted time that wouldn't annoy the hell out of me and everyone reading this. Recap on the chapter is pretty much Epizon talks to Qrow, age reveal, which while it may seem a bit young to you guys, I did pout this timeline in taking into account rough times of canon events, other events of the story that have not yet been revealed, and a general timeline of what the hell Epizon has been doing. Won't go into to much depth because that would be stupid, but just to stop it right now, no, Epizon won't be getting shipped with anyone. He is the age he is for fanfic timeline purposes only, and because really, I didn't describe him as some stocky guy with a long beard or something, so at the most if I changed up the timeline he would have been like 25. This timeline fits best for reasons I won't reveal yet. After that he pretty much just chats, learns of the horrors of Lunch Man Port, chats some more, eats food, chats reluctantly, and then we get some chats away from Epizon which you should pay absolutely no attention to. Completely useless. Nothing to see here except for Glynda throwing Ozpin's coffee into Boston harbor. Hang on a second while I unscramble my references. Anyways, now that I've got my Jokes out of the way, this was way too long, sorry for that, but I'd rather get it out of the way then have to explain it next chapter, so I'll end this with the whole, follow favorite if you like the story, review to give me feedback including criticism, and remember, I am a jackass who loves spreading obscure little hints through the chapters because it's hilarious and I love seeing some of the theories Alduin and selfishgecko come up with. See you next week, and at some point the chapter post schedule will change, so don't expect one chapter a week forever, because that would make giving you guys decent chapters a bit harder.