Before we get into the mist of things, addressing a few reviews from the last two chapters:
DCDGojira (Chapters 7/8): Thanks! And yeah, thanks! I'm excited to do that Zenkaiger story! I have also seen the trailer for Super Hero Senki.
ShotaroxPhillip (Chapter 2): Admittedly, that's stumped me. I have no clue where you mean but that.
ZeroTheOne (Chapter 8):Depends.
Anyways, onto the story!
Kamen Rider Saber: Tale of Two Worlds
仮面ライダーセイバー：二つの世界の物語
Kamen Raidā Seibā: Futatsu no Sekai no Monogatari
First Book: Beacon of Hope
初の書籍：希望の烽火
Hatsu no Shoseki: Kibō no Hōka
Chapter Eight: O Hail the King, the Cross of Flame.
第八章：おお炎の十字架、王よ万歳。
Dai Hasshō: Ō Honō no Jūjika, Ō yo Banzai.
Holding the badge of burdening, she leads her squad forward.
重荷のバッジを持って、彼女はチームを前に導きます。
Omoni no bajji o motte, kanojo wa chīmu o mae ni michibikimasu.
As the Initiation finally came to an end, the last rounds of ovation came to a finish, before everyone was allowed to depart. Heading to their respective dorm rooms, Kuen was surprised to find out that he had gotten his own room, mostly because he was a special case in the teams system.
And as he entered his room, beginning to unpack his stuff, he stared at the picture he had of him and his brother, chuckling a little.
"I wonder what you'll feel if you saw me like this, Otouto-san..."
Finishing his unpacking, he noticed his phone ringing, an unknown number popping up in his dialer, as he would answer the call, holding the phone to his ear.
"Yes? Kuen Akegata speaking?"
"I would like to request an audience with you in my office, to talk about some things."
"Ozpin?" Kuen almost blinked in surprise. "How the heck did you get my number?"
"I have my ways."
"Right... I'll meet you in a bit."
And ending the call, he quickly headed out, though not before stumbling upon Ren, who happened to be walking through the hallways, much to his own surprise.
"What brings you here, Ren?"
"The rest of our team are asleep already, and I thought it'd be nice to take a walk."
"You mean the three of them are asleep?"
"Yes," Ren stated bluntly.
"Like, asleep asleep?"
"Yes."
"Anyways, you wanna follow? I have to meet Ozpin for some reason... and I figured I could invite."
"Sure," Ren shrugged.
The two walked to Ozpin's office, as they arrived at the elevator, waiting for the lift to arrive. And a few seconds later, they would arrive at the main office. Kuen did take the moment to wonder just what the hell was the design that the headmaster was even inspired by.
Cogs decorated the walls, and the floors, and the ceilings. It was basically all cogs, for some reason.
"I see you've arrived, Mr. Akegata. And I see you've also brought Mr. Lie with you too," Ozpin stated, as he waited at the main desk in his office, taking a sip of his drink.
"Cocoa or coffee?" Kuen asked.
"Cocoa," Ozpin responded, taking another sip of his drink.
Ren only blinked awkwardly, wondering how the two could even have a casual conversation, as Ozpin then stood up, displaying footage of the Initiation. However, the footage seemed to be corrupted in a few minor spots, though thankfully not as much as the latter had hoped.
"Please tell me that the book that formed the barrier was your doing?"
"Unfortunately, nope. It seemed to have been the Megid's doing."
"The Megid?" Ozpin didn't really sound unsure of it, but rather confused of it.
"You sound like you know a lot about it," Ren eyed suspiciously.
"I have my doubts, but it's part of old lore."
"Old lore?" Kuen wondered.
"The monsters who fought against the swordsmen of the elements, who were vanquished by King Arthur," Ozpin explained.
"Wait, this world has that sort of lore?" Kuen asked confusedly. "I hate to be a party pooper, but clearly something doesn't seem right?"
"Maybe," Ren added. "Could be that it's not the same as you might remember it, Professor?"
"Maybe," Ozpin lamented. "But back to the matter at hand."
And as he focused on the fight between Kuen and the Golem Megid, well, for most of it anyways, he then had to ask.
"I believe that with this, there's going to be more of the Megid coming our way?"
"I suppose so..." Kuen sighed, rubbing his temples a little out of worry.
"In that case, you sound like you need combat training." Ozpin briefly stated.
"I mean, there should be classes, and I'm sparring with Pyrrha now and then, so wouldn't that be enough?" Kuen wondered.
"Wait, you're training with Pyrrha?" Ren asked.
"Yes," Ozpin responded. "I've seen camera footage of him and Ms. Nikos sparring."
"Why am I not surprised you have cameras basically everywhere in the academy?" Kuen chuckled a little. Then again, it did make sense that there'd be cameras everywhere, since it was an academy after all...
"In that case, the both of you will be dismissed. I'll be looking forward to your progress... Saber." Ozpin stated.
The two students nodded, leaving the office, but Kuen couldn't help but wonder about the last part of Ozpin's sentence...
'Saber? Is that the Kamen Rider's name?'
Night had come and gone, and day was now looming, the sun beginning to rise in the distance. As Kuen woke up, having already finished his early morning prayers, he looked at the time on his watch.
'Already seven in the morning, huh? Guess I'd better check and see if the rest of my teammates have already waken up.'
Having finished his shower, he changed into the official Beacon Academy student uniform, as he couldn't help but compliment the uniform.
"Beacon clearly knew what they were doing when they made this uniform, though I wish the guy underneath it looked good enough."
Classic self-deprecating comment.
Anyways.
He would knock on the dorm room of Team RWBY, awaiting a response. But there was no response, much to his own confusion.
"Are they still asleep?" Kuen asked himself.
He knocked on the door louder.
And then a figure opened the door. It was Blake, in her pajamas.
"It's seven in the morning. Why the hell are you up this early?" The girl in black asked.
"Hey, it's not my fault that it's an hour before classes."
"Need me to wake everyone else up?"
"That would be much appreciated."
He figured it wouldn't hurt for him to get breakfast in the meanwhile from the cafeteria. And maybe get some extras for his teammates. Then again, he should check in with his other teammates to see if they were up and about or not.
Knocking on the door to the dorm room of Team JNPR, he was not surprised to see Pyrrha opening the door.
And opening, he was not surprised to see that Ren was also already up; though, it was a little unexpected to see Jaune awake too. Then again, he shouldn't have been surprised, knowing Pyrrha and Ren. And Nora being asleep was not surprising.
"You need me to grab any breakfast from the cafeteria?" Kuen asked.
"Well, I'd advise you to skimp out on the pancakes," Ren quickly responded.
"Why? Is it Nora?"
"Yes."
"What happens when the pancakes aren't enough for her?"
Ren pointed to a portable stove he had, as he stood next to a refrigerator of some kind.
"Things like this shouldn't be too surprising to me, but they somehow are," Kuen chuckled. "So you're her personal chef or something?"
"Yep." Ren retorted. "Had to learn cooking to fill her up."
"Hah. You really sound like the ideal couple already."
Pyrrha then butted into the conversation politely, inquiring, "I'd appreciate if you get breakfast for me and Jaune."
"Will do."
And Kuen headed out, but not before once again knocking on the dorm room of Team RWBY.
"Y'all want breakfast?"
There was almost a resounding 'Sure' coming from behind the door, as if all four spoke at the same time, as Kuen couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
And so he headed to the cafeteria, grabbing a lot of meals. Naturally, the lady manning the breakfast bar was curious as to why he had decided to carry almost two days' worth of food. Naturally, his response was nervous, but had a point.
(OST: EP 9 Score – The Badge and the Burden Pt 1)
And he headed back to his dorm rooms, food in hand for some hungry customers.
Knocking on Team JNPR's dorm room, he heard Jaune letting him in, before he opened the door, allocated food in hand.
"Ooh! Did you bring pancakes?!" Nora asked, her eyes starry with glee.
Looking at Ren, the latter gave Kuen a look of 'Go figure.'
"Yep!" Kuen responded, the stack of pancakes in one of the packed containers. "Though I had to make a deal with the staff to even get this much."
That was a lie, obviously, but he wanted to sound special.
And leaving the food for his teammates, he drifted over to the other room, before knocking on the door.
"May I come in?" Kuen asked.
Yes was the answer he received.
And he let himself in, the four females already clad in their uniforms and... decorating their bedroom?
It was less decorating, since they'd already done that from the looks of it, and more 'converting the beds into bunk beds precariously'. Keyword being 'precariously'.
"What in the hell?" Kuen asked, very confused.
The beds were now bunk beds, but the way they were assembled clearly left a lot more room for doing something more proper. Even the ways the beds were assembled just was not structurally sound whatsoever. Like seriously, one is hanging from the roof, with who knows how long before it collapse, and the other is supported by regular ol' paper books.
"Seriously..." Kuen lamented. "Anyways, I bring food."
Placing down the food on the table, he then asked, "Mind if I eat here? I'd rather not eat in my room alone."
As Yang took her meal, she nodded in approval, as Kuen managed to find somewhere to sit, opening his own food.
And a few minutes passed, the five now done with their food. Checking the time, Kuen blinked in surprise.
"Okay, so we have about twenty minutes more before classes begin... so we better hurry." Kuen noted.
And so they headed off. At least they didn't have to rush to get to classes before they began.
As the three Megid generals stood amidst the room they had converted into their temporary base of operations, one of them held what appeared to be another book similar to the Gansekiou Golem one.
Another Megid general took notice, asking, "Ain't that a new book, Storious?"
Storious stifled a chuckle, replying, "It seems this world has given us more possibilities to create more books, Zooous."
Zooous couldn't help but laugh as well, as he stretched a little, feeling the joints crack.
A bit more than half an hour later, the first classes of the day were well underway, this one being combat classes. After an introduction from Professor Goodwitch to the syllabus of the class and what was to be expected, duels between the students were in motion. Kuen observed from his seat, seeing the fights that were going on, but not before the professor called upon him, as he was to duel Yang.
He was almost taken by surprise, as he figured that teammates fighting weren't going to be a thing for the most part. Then again, he hated that he was considered the exception, since he was the fifth member of two teams. Maybe that was why? Stepping into the ring, he held his sword up, staring down Yang.
And as the duel began, Kuen new that he had one plan of attack; dodging. Sure, it might have been cowardly, but he had no other choice. And he figured he could spam Wonder Ride Book finishers while he was at it. It was a good chance for him to properly learn how much stamina he actually had, in the event of other hurdles in his path.
Kuen would run in circles around Yang, though not as fast as Ruby, as he pulled out the Book Gate Wonder Ride Book. Readying another finisher, he would scan the book on the tip of his blade twice, thinking up a strategy on the fly.
GATE! MM-HM! GATE! MM-HM!
ゲート！うーん！うーん！ゲート！うーん！うーん！
Gēto! Un! Un! Gēto! Un! Un! Gēto! Un! Un!
And as Yang managed to land a punch on Kuen, knocking his Aura down by a decent bit, holographic runes would form above the blade, labeling '火炎複数斬'. Immediately, Kuen then pushed the trigger, summoning multiple orbs of ember that would surround his opponent.
SHUTOKU NISEN!
習得二閃！
Shutoku Nisen!
"Kaen~ Fukusuuzan."
And the orbs would attack Yang lightly, as her Aura was slowly depleted, much to both of their frustrations. Yang because her special ability, her Semblance, coming into fruition; Kuen because his attacks weren't doing too much damage. Still, at least they were doing some damage.
And as he would swap the Book Gate Wonder Ride Book for Brave Dragon, he would then scan the book once, as the blade glowed a dim red.
DRAGON! MM-HM!
ドラゴン！うーん！うーん！
Doragon! Un! Un!
Kuen continued running around Yang, trying his best to confuse her to the best of his abilities. Yang was however, quick to adapt, though not as quick as she'd like, Kuen barely dodging another of her punches.
"Kaen~ Sokudozan!"
And he pulled the trigger, holographic runes resembling '火炎速度斬' decorating the blade briefly, as Kuen then sent out a rapid-fire set of speedy slashes.
SHUTOKU ISSEN!
習得一閃！
Shutoku Issen!
As the slashes clashed with Yang's body, her Aura level would fall into the red, as Glynda would declare Kuen's victory, much to his own surprise. And as Kuen offered his hand to Yang, he helped her up, the two walking back to their seats.
A few more hours later, they were in the middle of Grimm Studies class, led by Professor Port. And it was god-to-honestly boring. Like, really, really boring. Mostly because the whole class consisted of just the professor explaining about the second story of his time as a student. Or something like that.
Glancing at his other teammates, Kuen took the chance to see what was going on. With Team RWBY, Weiss was furiously taking notes somehow. Blake and Yang were for the most part paying attention, somehow. And Ruby was well... being Ruby. For Team JNPR, though, Pyrrha was mostly like Weiss, for the most part anyways. Jaune was at this point, making a desperate attempt to look like he was focusing. Nora and Ren were well, doing their own thing.
Kuen, at this point, couldn't be bothered to listen to the story Professor Port was even talking about. Too boring, to be frank.
And so, he fidgeted with his Wonder Ride Book, making sure that he wasn't caught.
"Monsters! Demons... prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha ha!"
And there was an awkward wave of silence. If there was a joke there, it was a horrible one. Even Kuen could tell that was a horrible joke. Especially considering the only two types of humor he were good at were dark jokes and dad jokes. Don't ask why.
"Uhh, and you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy!" Port continued. "Now, as I was saying; Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in! Huntsmen! Huntresses!"
And he took the moment to wink at Yang, which elicited a frown on her part, to her disdain.
"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world! That is what you are training to become!"
'Finally! Maybe the good stuff,' Kuen thought to himself.
"But first! A story! A tale of a young, handsome... me! When I was a boy..."
'Fuck.' Kuen thought to himself.
And Professor Port went on his third story of the day, as Ruby managed to finish scribbling out something, showing it to the rest of Team RWBY, and Kuen. And it was basically a scribble of Professor Port, except in stick figure form and there were stink lines coming from him. And the name she gave her creation was Professor Poop, because of course.
The four, with the exception of Weiss, would stifle their laughs to the best of the abilities. And Weiss was just keeping an angry face.
"Ah hem! In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero! The moral of this story?"
And Ruby's actions happened to basically be an antithesis of whatever Port labeled as his 'morals'.
"A true Huntsman must be honorable!" Ruby was balancing the book she used to draw the picture on, on a pencil.
"A true Huntsman must be dependable!" Ruby was basically trying her best not to completely black out.
"And a true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!" Ruby picked her nose.
"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port would then ask.
Weiss raised her hand, almost eager to prove her worth. Professor Port would gesture to her, as she would be instructed to change into her combat uniform. And that was all and good, until they would suddenly hear crashing noises coming from the outskirts of the academy, much to their gut feeling.
"I feel like I know what that sound might be coming from..." Kuen gulped.
Ruby turned to him, worried.
"Megid... we have to change into our combat uniforms now."
The corrupted wolf that feeds on the fangs of little red.
小さな赤い牙を食べている堕落したオオカミ。
Chīsana akai kiba o tabete iru daraku shita ōkami.