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 Thirteen: Crashing onto Stone, the Furious Mace.
第十三章：猛烈なメイス、ストーンに激突。
Dai Jūsanshō: Mōretsuna Meisu, Sutōn ni Gekitotsu.
Ascension beyond strength, he who commends the gods.
力を超えた昇天、神々を称える者。
Chikara o koeta shōten, kamigami o tataeru mono.
(OST: EP 11 Score – Jaunedice Pt 1)
A few days had passed since the training incident with the rest of Team RWBY and JNPR. Kuen had been spending those few days intensely training with Pyrrha, and doing Dust studies with Weiss. He'd been catching up with the basics he needed to know, in the latter regards, though Weiss didn't quite know why he needed to anyways.
Thankfully, the Megid didn't seem to attack, though Kuen was thinking that they were planning something. His training was also reaching the point where he managed to land a few more hits on Pyrrha than previous before. He did suspect that the sword had something to do with it; he wasn't too sure why he was on a rapid pace, anyways.
Currently, it was a Tuesday morning, and he was in Combat classes. The duels were taking place, and this time, Kuen was much more observant. Partially taking down notes, he made mental stats of what particular moves each fighter used.
Well, an attempt was made anyways. There were some movements he could figure out; however, there were some movements he couldn't quite comprehend, and there were some he just didn't understand at all. And as he observed another duel going on, he continued making notes of the two combatants: Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester.
Jaune was struggling in the battle. As Jaune tried to hold his sword up, Cardin stared at the blonde swordsman, only laughing in response. Jaune gathered whatever strength he had, charging forwards towards his opponent. Cardin simply side-stepped Jaune's desperate attempt, before hurling his mace towards the target, sending the latter flying.
And as Jaune crashed on the ground, separated from his shield, Cardin rushed his opponent, locking him into a weapons lock. The latter dominated the lock, towering over the struggling Jaune.
"This is the part where you lose." Cardin stated ominously.
Jaune tried to retort. "Over my dead-"
And Cardin kneed Jaune in the gut, causing the latter to drop his sword and fall to the ground. As Jaune clenched his gut in pain, Cardin raised his mace, preparing to slam it down.
"Enough, Winchester!" Professor Goodwitch screamed, the buzzer ringing.
Cardin scoffed, beginning to walk off the stage, as Glynda brought into focus the Aura gauges of the two combatants. Cardin was in the green, and Jaune was in the red... almost to the point where it was non-existent. Both Kuen and Pyrrha were worried.
"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." Professor Goodwitch explained.
Jaune was still on the floor in defeat, as Kuen sensed Pyrrha's expressions.
Professor Goodwitch turned to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"
Kuen, unable to stand by, stood up.
"I request to duel Cardin Winchester!" He screamed.
Team NPR and RWBY stared at him confused, as Cardin simply scoffed.
"Sure, if you really want to get beat so much." He retorted.
"Professor Goodwitch, permission to carry forward with the duel?" Kuen inquired, though there was a tone of anger in his voice.
"Granted." Said professor replied simply.
Kuen grabbed his weapon and his Wonder Ride Books, walking down the steps.
"Why the hell are you doing this?" Weiss asked. She knew this was unlike him, as he only participated in the duels if he had to.
"Avenging my friend." Kuen retorted.
"But he's not dead!"
"So?"
Kuen stepped onto the arena, helping Jaune off. Pyrrha was there to help Jaune to their seat, as Cardin stood onto the arena. The swordsman of flame observed the Aura gauges of the both of them; Cardin's was slightly drained from one of Jaune's hits, though his Aura was still almost full.
And so the duel began.
(OST: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven OST – Jolyne Cujoh Battle BGM)
Cardin charged forwards, as Kuen ran around the arena, observing his fighting patterns. He knew his attacks were like a bull in a bullfight, so he knew that the best way to target him was like holding out a muleta. It fit after all; for he was a red flag. Cardin swung his mace wildly at Kuen, as the latter whipped out the Book Gate Wonder Ride Book, swiping it on Rekka.
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!
Yang recognized the attack Kuen was planning, for she had fallen victim to the exact same attack. Even the Book used and amount of times scanned were the exact same. Kuen readied Rekka, holographic runes forming above his blade, labeling '火炎複数斬'. Pushing on the trigger, he would then send out multiple orbs of fire, surrounding the leader of Team CRDL.
SHUTOKU NISEN!
習得二閃！
Shutoku Nisen!
"Kaen~ Fukusuuzan."
The orbs knocked into Cardin, decreasing his Aura slowly. Kuen had actually expected it this time, as he could only chuckle. The battle had slowly turned less from Kuen getting revenge for Jaune, to him playing around with Cardin. A humiliation session, of sorts?
"Come on, Cardin! Not even bulls in bullfights are this slow!"
That must have riled Cardin enough, as he began fuming. So trash-talking was indeed a good method of riling up the opponent. Kuen clearly learned that from... somewhere.
"This is... unlike him." Weiss stated, observing the battle.
And Cardin swung around the mace even wilder, as Kuen barely managed to dodge the attack, jumping backwards. Storing the Book Gate Wonder Ride Book and whipping out the Peter Fantasista Wonder Ride Book, he scanned it on the tip of his sword, the blade glowing a slight hue of light blue.
PETER FAN! MM-HM! PETER FAN! MM-HM! PETER FAN! NARUHODO! NARUHODO!
ピーターファン！うーん！うーん！ピーターファン！うーん！うーん！ピーターファン！なるほど！なるほど！
Pītā Fan! Un! Un! Pītā Fan! Un! Un! Pītā Fan! Naruhodo! Naruhodo!
Light blue holographic runes resembling '水泡立て器斬' would form above Rekka, before Kuen readied himself. And as Cardin lunged forwards at Kuen, the latter utilized the fruits of his training, dodging the mace in the nick of time.
"Mizu~ Awatatekizan."
SHUTOKU SANSEN!
習得三閃！
Shutoku Sansen!
The flames around Cardin would disappear, before Kaen churned out a light blue energy whip of some kind. Hopping behind the mace-wielder, Kuen then sent the whip attack out in a flurry of attacks. Pyrrha could tell however, that Kuen's attacks weren't just simple attacks. There was almost an aura of fury in the way he chose to attack Cardin, after all.
Kuen sealed the deal, slamming his blade's hilt into Cardin's gut.
"That's revenge for Jaune." He stated furiously.
And he jumped backwards, as Cardin fell to the ground, spilling out saliva from his mouth.
Kuen stared at his opponent, though he looked at the Aura gauges above him. He was slightly drained, though he knew why; his finishers were draining his Aura ever so slightly. But Cardin was still in the yellow, which gave Kuen the ability to trash-talk him even more.
"Come on, this is what I got for a fight? This is disappointing, compared to the things I've been through."
"You little bastard!" Cardin roared.
Kuen knew what this meant. While waiting for Cardin to reel from his damage, he pulled out the Brave Dragon and Lamp do Alangina Wonder Ride Books. He had no time for games, and knew that if he let Cardin get up, he was in for deep trouble.
DRAGON! MM-HM! PETER FAN! MM-HM! ALANGINA! NARUHODO! NARUHODO!
ドラゴン！うーん！うーん！ピーターファン！うーん！うーん！アランジーナ！なるほど！なるほど！
Doragon! Un! Un! Pītā Fan! Un! Un! Aranjīna! Naruhodo! Naruhodo!
And as Cardin got up, Rekka would then glow a variety of different colours, switching between red, blue and yellow. Lightning and flames emanated from the blade, the Kaenken Rekka channeling the elements.
"What Wonder Ride Book is that? I've never seen that one before!" Nora exclaimed.
Weiss knew what Book it was, but she didn't bother to explain.
"Kaen~ Mazeruzan."
Holographic red runes labeling '火炎混ぜる斬' would litter the blade, before he then sent a flurry of elemental attacks.
SHUTOKU SANSEN!
習得三閃！
Shutoku Sansen!
Said attacks would hit Cardin, as he was unable to dodge, causing him to fly into a corner. And Cardin's Aura gauge entered red, as the buzzer then rang. And Professor Goodwitch announced Kuen's victory, as Cardin glared ominously at Kuen. Kuen simply glared back with a bloodshot expression.
This wasn't anything new to him.
(OST: EP 11 Score – Jaunedice Pt 1)
"Mr. Winchester, I would highly recommend not raging during battle. As you can see, that is the exact reason you have lost."
Cardin grumbled.
"Remember, everyone! The Vytal Festival is next year! Keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament for the Festival will be representing all of Vale!"
And class ended, as the students began leaving. Pyrrha would assist Jaune out, who was still reeling from the hit to his gut. Kuen could tell that there was a worried expression on Pyrrha's face, as Jaune could only look down in shame.
'I thought Jaune got lessons from Pyrrha?' Kuen thought to himself.
Lunch time rolled around, as Kuen absent-mindedly browsed his Scroll, searching for whatever news was interesting. All the while, he was casually eating his food, 'listening' to the story Nora was telling.
"So! There we were in the middle of the night..."
"It was day." Ren retorted.
"We were surrounded by Ursai..."
"They were Beowolves."
"Dozens of them!"
"Two of 'em."
"But they were no match… and in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."
"A month? Even before Beacon?" Kuen asked, almost confused.
Fidgeting with the Lamp to Alangina Wonder Ride Book, he thought about Ikazuchi, which he was sure he still had. He chose to not use it, even though he could, for one simple reason. He didn't want to quite give it to who he intended to just yet. He knew she was worthy, but he wanted to hold on to it until there was a crisis that required it.
It was a Seiken after all.
But Kuen decided not to focus on that, mulling over what everyone else was doing. Blake was... lost in her book, like the usual. Yang was listening to the story. Ruby and Pyrrha were... sort of listening? Weiss was just flat-out ignoring Nora and filing her nails... and Jaune was messing with his food, almost like he wasn't there.
"Jaune. Are you okay?" Kuen asked.
Jaune snapped out of his daze, replying, "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"
Ruby took notice of it, stating, "It's just that you seem a little... not okay."
Almost instantly, everyone dropped whatever they were doing, a little concerned for the blonde swordsman. Jaune raised his arms in protest, trying to pass off all of the allegations that were now being mentally thrown at him.
"Guys, I'm fine! Seriously! Look!"
Jaune laughed nervously, though Kuen's attention was now focused on something else.
Team CRDL was there. Bullying a girl, with rabbit ears. In the middle of the cafeteria. And nobody was doing anything about it.
"Ow! That hurts! Please, stop..." The rabbit girl struggled.
"I told you it was real!" Cardin gawked.
"What a freak!" His teammate added.
This was peak bullying. And it was getting on his nerves. But this time, Kuen could actually do something about it. Kuen stepped up, focused on Team CRDL. And his teammates seemed to notice what was going on, as they looked at Team CRDL with disgust.
"Give me a minute." Kuen stated, unsheathing Rekka.
ALANGINA! MM-HM!
アランジーナ！うーん！うーん！
Aranjīna! Un! Un!
"I need to do one thing." Kuen added.
As Rekka charged up with yellow electricity, Nora found herself intrigued by the blade, as she stared at it with a fixated gaze.
"Kaminari~ Bakufuuzan."
Yellow runes labeling '雷爆風斬' would flicker on the blade, before Kuen sent out a wave of yellow lightning towards the members of Team CRDL.
SHUTOKU ISSEN!
習得一閃！
Shutoku Issen!
Said lightning caused most of them to fall over, as Cardin lost his grip on the girl's... bunny ears. Kuen simply walked towards them, though most of the students seemed to mind their own business, much to his own chagrin. And as Kuen confronted Cardin, the latter stared at him angrily.
"What the hell is your business, flame bitch?" Cardin asked furiously.
"My business here is simple." Kuen retorted.
And he slammed his weapon's vanguard into Cardin's gut, causing him to fall to the floor. One of Cardin's teammates, Russel, got up before charging at Kuen.
"Vermin, the lot of you." Kuen simply stated.
Kuen was less stating this as truth. He was still using his special technique of trash-talking. And he knew that religious people of his kind wouldn't let him be so rash. But, he felt like he needed to vent somewhere. And this was a good enough place to do that.
And Kuen slammed Rekka's hilt into Russel's gut, causing him to fall to the ground. And that seemed to do the trick, as Team CRDL would scram, the two other members dragging Cardin and Russel along.
From the table, Pyrrha commented about Cardin, "Atrocious. I can't stand people like him..."
"He's not the only one..." Blake added, as she stared daggers at the fleeing bullies.
Kuen scoffed, before offering a hand to the girl.
"You're Velvet, right?" He asked.
"Ah, Kuen! It's been a while!" Velvet beamed.
Velvet admittedly covered her face, as Kuen chuckled softly, blushing a little.
"It's been a while, huh? I forgot to mention... thanks for showing me around Vale the other day."
Velvet smiled warmly.
"Need me to bring you to the infirmary?"
"No, no. I can go there myself. You look like you were interrupted from your lunch."
"Make sure you tell your team leader about it. Send my regards to her as well."
"I will."
And as Velvet walked out of the cafeteria, Kuen walked back to his table, taking a seat. He could only sigh in frustration, tempted to bang his head on the table.
"You had guts, standing up to Cardin like that." Ruby stated.
"I'd... rather not talk about why I suddenly had the urge to." Kuen replied, sighing even more.
"Faunus discrimination..." Blake added.
"It must be hard to be a Faunus..." Yang lamented, leaning her head on her right hand.
And Pyrrha turned to Jaune.
"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the day after he first defeated you in Combat classes!" Pyrrha stated.
"Who? Cardin? Nah... he just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" Jaune retorted.
"He's a bully." Ruby chimed in.
"Oh, please! Name one time he's bullied me."
And all eight of his teammates went silent, almost as if listing them off silently. Jaune froze, unable to take in the fact that his teammates and Team RWBY were staring daggers at him.
"Jaune... you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrha stated again.
"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" Nora chirped, her grin turning from normal to 'definitely insane'. "Both of them."
Jaune tried waving it off. "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."
That caused everyone to only sigh, as they went back to their meal. Jaune could only sigh, finishing his food, before he got up, walking towards the sink with his tray in hand.
Until their brief moment seemed to be interrupted by a crashing noise in the distance.
"Not again..." Kuen lamented.
Fury of the gods, he who cannot sit by doing nothing.
神々の怒り、何もせずに座ることができない彼。
Kamigami no ikari, nani mo sezu ni suwaru koto ga dekinai kare.