"About time you two showed up," Blake heard her overly bubbly partner say while she made herself more comfortable on the benches.

"Yeah," Ruby let out a sigh as she sat her new Beacon backpack on the bench in front of her while the Schnee sat down next to the bag with a huff. "We lost track of time because we were doing some early stamina exercises and had a shower issue."

"What was the problem with the shower?" Blake asked off handily as she watch Ruby pull a couple batons, reddish orange color, wooden PR-24s, to be exact, out of her bag.

Blake had to mentally restrain herself from reacting to seeing Ruby's obviously hand crafted racist tools of oppression. Probably belongs to the Schnee's father. Her father probably gave her to them as a going away gift, to 'protect' herself from any 'dirty fauna' she might encounter. Blake though as memories of Schnee 'security' forces using such batons in a brutal fashion against peaceful demonstrators.

Against her.

"Nothing worthy of discussion," Weiss said quickly. Yang and Blake exchange glances, the Ice Princess had answered a bit too quickly, and tad too loudly, for either of them to take her seriously. "Are you sure you want to try those out today?"

"Better now than later," Ruby said as she slipped on her red belt, the same shade of red that matched her choker, which she never seemed to remove. The rest of her outfit was what she normally wore in combat, this particular body sock was a solid black but still sported that sheer strip running up the outside. This one, although, had no footie attached, instead she was showing her small bare feet. Pulling on her red, leather, gloves, Ruby went on to say, "If they don't work, I will need to know why they didn't work so I can rework them."

"I understand your reasoning," Weiss said picking up the bag and sitting it on her lap as Ruby straddle the bench to look at all three of them. "My concern is the outcome of the sparing bout. The main objective is to show that he is not as tough as he portrays himself, that, like most bullies, he is all talk without any substantial action."

"Can I see one of those," Yang asked.

"Sure," Ruby handed one of them to Yang while she directed her next response to her partner. "Yeah, yeah, Snowflake; I know the plan. No mocking him, no baiting him, and no blows to the skull. I go in, slapped him down and be a gracious winner. I got this Snowflake, trust me."

"Especially no blow to the head, especially not while using 'those'. Regardless of my father's official position, PR-24 can be, and have been, deadly when use improperly. Blows to the skull can, and will, result in acute brain trauma and or death."

"A little brain damage might do him some good."

"Ruby!"

"If you know how dangerous they can be, then why does your father allow them to be used against peaceful protesters?" Blake snapped, the words streaming out of her before she could stop them. "Like the White Fang …"

"The White Fang? Peaceful? Don't make me ill." The spoiled brat said glaring at Blake. "Those criminals deserve all that they receive." Just like daddy, you useless racist … Blake though to herself as the young heiress took a deep breath, as if to calm herself. "Having said that, I do not approve of his decision on allowing our security forces using such weapons on those whom are actually participating in peaceful faunas' activists. Unfortunately, considering what they could use to scattered crowds, I will take what I can get, for now. Perchance, one day soon, such heavy handed defensive posturing from our family business won't be required, it is my hope anyways."

"I can see why they are so dangerous," Yang said, unaware of Blake's growing ire, and confusion, with the heiress, as she handed the two handle, two-foot-long baton back to Ruby. "These are beautiful Ruby, where did you get them?"

"I made them, yesterday."

"You made them!" Blake was aghast! "Why?"

"I want to test out a new fighting technique using my semblance. Using the kinetic energy, which I create using my super speed, to disable and eliminate my targets. The problem with harnessing kinetic energy is you have to be very careful how you do it or it can get transferred back from your target to you. If I don't fully understand the 'how' and 'why' while using it in combat, instead of taking off my enemy's head, I could end up ripping out my shoulder." Ruby answered Blake in a matter fact tone, as if she was an instructor teaching a class. "And I had to hand make them, I doubt that any cheap version of a PR-24 I could have acquirer on retail could either stand up to rigors of my style of combat or even arrive in a timely manner."

"I will also say that the second handle, which allows her a greater range of defensive moves then a standard club would. One of the very few redeeming qualities of the PR-24 design." Weiss said letting her voice cool again.

"It's just a tool, Snowflake. Tools, science, weapons; they are all neutral. None of them are inherently evil or good, it is the person who uses the tool that determines its morality."

"May I have your attention please?" Professor Goodwitch said from the center of the arena, she was the picture of cool poise as she stood tall and straighter as a ruler. Unlike the man standing next to her, the relaxed form of Headmaster Ozpin was in stark contrast to her, especially as he sipped on his cup of coffee. "Thank you all. For our newest students, and to our returning students; welcome to Combat class. As you may have noticed from your class assignments, Monday is strictly a combat class day."

"In here, you will either spend time in the ring being and receiving critiques on your stands, fighting style, weapons of choice as well as receive tips and suggestions from not only the staff instructors but from your fellow classmates as well, on areas in which you need to improve on. For this part, you will be graded as an individual."

"You will also be required to remain in the viewers stands for the entirety of the class. While you are in the stands, you will pay attention to the combat assessment occurring in the ring. Your team will be scored on your assessments of the other combatants as well as your suggestions on areas in which they should concentrate on to improve their scores."

"For the teams, starting this week, Saturday is open for you to training with your teams. The same criteria are expected if you so desire to attend. Unlike this class, the Team training day is voluntary but highly recommended you attend at least once during the semester."

"Might as well forget about your social life, Weiss," Ruby whispered to her partner.

"Now," Professor Ozpin said loudly, before Weiss could say anything in return, while stepping up in front of Goodwitch. "Here at Beacon; we expect every individual to maintain the highest degree of professionalism, while in class or not. Especially while you are off campus and in the eyes of the general public. After all, the public look towards us, those who are hunters and you who will be one day, as persons of the highest qualities of integrity, honesty and compassion. We are, after all, the line between them and the Grimm. So it is reassuring for them to see us in our best light at all times."

Blake felt a shiver go through her as Ozpin settled his gaze on Ruby, who was herself, doing her best to shrink out of sight. Weird, Blake thought as Ozpin resumed speaking. "As many of you have no doubt had become aware of, on Friday, a group of our first year students happened upon an incident at a local Dust shop. An incident that threaten the wellbeing of innocent bystanders as the criminal gang was intent on committing their crime regardless of the cost to those around them."

"I would like to thank Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie for their quick actions to mitigate any harm to the innocent bystanders and detain those who were engage in criminal activities for local law enforcement. I would like to add an extra thanks to Ruby Rose, who took charge of the situation and led not only her team but also instilled the trust of others to follow her without question."

"It is this kind of leadership and teamwork that set those at Beacon above the rest of the Academies. It is this kind of selfless dedication to the welfare of our citizens is what inspires many to become Hunters. We are not a bunch of indiscipline mercenaries who only care for the Lien in their pockets. We are professional at all times, on campus or off campus …" Blake felt another shiver as Ozpin stopped to sip on his coffee and she swears that his stare got harder without really changing. Ruby must have felt it too because she seemed to shrink even more. "Or when discussing events with the media. If you are unsure on how to answer a particular question or have the self-awareness to know how you will react to their questions, please stop and direct them to the school administrators. We will be more than happy to answer on your behalf. I hope I'm being clear on this matter."

Ruby nodded her head so quickly, Blake though it was going to fall off.

"Good."

As Ozpin moved his gaze, Blake felt the pressure vanish and was surprise that not only Ruby let out a sigh but Yang and Weiss as well.

"I hate it when he does that," Yang whispered out.

"You hate it?" Ruby shot her a hard look, "try being in my shoes once in a while."

"We can't, you never wear shoes."

"Shut up!" Ruby growled at the smug looking heiress.

"Now," Ozpin raised his voice a bit over the low murmur. "Let me be very clear, you are still students. We don't expect nor will tolerate anyone leaving campus to find criminal activity to disrupt. Innocently running into a problem is one thing, seeking out a problem is another. One we will tolerate and forgive, the other we will not. I hope I am clear on this matter. Now one more piece of information before I return the class to Professor Goodwitch."

"We here at Beacon, and at the other Academies as well, view all Hunters and Huntress, both in training or in the field, as one family. However, we understand that from time to time, in every family, there are those whom might experience … a bit of a rough spot ... while dealing with others in the family. It is understandable, especially given the diverse family such as ours and it is our hope that over the next four years, we will be able to give you the tools to find ways to work in harmony with others, regardless of their background."

"Fighting between students is strictly prohibited, on and off campus, and anyone found initiation a fight will be expelled, regardless of their background or family connections."

"Instead, if you feel that you have no other recourse, seek out an Instructor or Professor Goodwitch and request for you and the other party to be allowed to spar against each other. The staff will generally allow it but they will try to mediate beforehand to see of another solution can be found. Still, we would prefer having you spar in a control environment then the alternative." Headmaster Ozpin then paused to take a long sip on his coffee, then in a completely dead pan voice said, "And no Miss Rose, teammates are prohibited from sparing against each other, if that is your question? We expect all teammates to explore all other options to establish harmony."

"I wasn't going to ask," Ruby said loudly. After a perfectly timed paused she shouted back out. "But since you brought it up, will you quit sucking out all the joy out of this sparing!"

"As if!"

"We already have our first volunteers," Goodwitch said loudly over the general laughter as Ozpin walked off stage. "Miss Rose, Mr. Cardin; please come down to the arena floor." Blake watch Ruby fist bump Weiss before skipping down the steps to the main floor. Cardin, on the other hand, seemed to strut down to the floor. All of his human arrogance on full display.

Goodwitch face didn't show any emotions as she watched him descend, Blake hoped that meant she disapprove of the man as well. "We follow the standard competition regulations. Both contestants are permitted to use their semblance and any weapons that they alone can bring into the ring. The round will last until one team has fallen below 15% aura or whom ever has the lowest aura level at the end of 15 minutes. If you step out or forced out of the ring, you will be declared the loser of the round. If, for any reason, you hear this buzzer, you will immediately stop all actions until the judges clear you to either resume or declare your bout complete."

"Choosing of all combatants, unless requested, will be done randomly. Correspondingly, age will not be a factor in choosing contestants, any of you first year students could end up fighting against a fourth year. If you should find yourself in such situation, do not allow it to discourage you. Instead, please look at it as a positive learning experience. Plus, you might just surprise yourself at the end of the round. After all, in the real world, Grimm will not care what your score in the ring was; they will only be interested in defeating you. And learning how to overcome opponents who are strong and more experience then you are, that is a skill that will keep you alive out in the field. Are there any questions?" Blake leaned forward as Weiss pulled out a video recorder out of the backpack, while Goodwitch walked off the ring. "Very well, begin!"