"I really thought this would be more of a challenge." Serene said, the Grimm before her turning to ice and exploding.
"Speak for yourself," Maizie grunted, throwing a Crocuta off of her into the dirt, taking off it's head.
"We got another dozen coming across the field!" Nyla called, blowing away three beasts in quick succession.
"Yay," Jazz grunted, swirling her axes into one of their heads.
"Relax," Champagne called, easily dodging the Grimm as she observed them. "This is just a warmup."
"You've been doing this too long," Maizie muttered under her breath.
Champagne looked up from the book she'd been writing in. "Try incorporating your semblances into your attacks."
Serene, for the most part, ignored the advice, easily cutting down Grimm after Grimm with her weapons. She saw Champagne moving between her teammates, talking with them and occasionally taking care of a Grimm or two herself.
"You're handling yourself well," Champagne said, suddenly at Serene's side.
"I guess," Serene grunted, knocking a Grimm down and slicing through it's neck.
"You didn't go to any combat school. Did you have any mentors?"
"Not really; I just kinda picked stuff up. Trial and error." She subconsciously rubbed the scar on her neck.
"And you're still alive; that's impressive. You're a tough kid."
"Never had much of a choice I guess." Serene said softly, shrugging. "It's kill or be killed out there."
"So what's your motivation for becoming a huntress?" She asked inquisitively, stepping aside to let a Crocuta lunge at Serene. She easily dodged, sending the last bit of her ice dust into it's mouth.
"I don't know," Serene tried to brush the question off. "I'm an orphan from the backwoods; I don't really have a lot of choices in life."
"Still, a lot of kids in your situation turn to a life of crime; you've made the noble choice."
Serene rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure," She muttered, looking around for more monsters to slay.
A few more were skulking around them, circling, and Serene broke the circle, going for the closest one. She knocked beast on it's back and heard the cry. Looking over at the source she noticed Jazz clutching her upper arm, thick red blood seeping down to her wrist.
Nyla shot the particularly large Crocuta before Serene could react, and he was quickly at her side. Maizie and Serene took out a few more Grimm as Nyla carried her into the house.
"How bad is it?" Serene called to their teacher but got no reply. Two men down, she decided now was the time to break out the big guns.
Concentrating hard on the remaining four Grimm, she watched as they began to panic, jerking erratically before they began to smoke and burst into flames. They turned to run but didn't make it far before dissolving into smoke and ash.
"That's handy," Maizie said, slightly out of breath.
"I'll stay guard," Serene offered, and Maizie and Champagne headed inside. After a quarter of an hour with no sign of any other Grimm, she slipped inside.
"That's a lot of blood," Maizie was saying, and Serene noticed the old rusty bucket filled with bloody rags.
"It's a deep cut," Champagne was saying, bandaging her arm thickly. "Any deeper and it would have broken the bone."
"Can I still fight?" Jazz asked.
"Probably not," She admitted, standing and wiping the blood off of her hands. "What's your semblance?"
"I uh," She seemed embarrassed, "I can become intangible."
"Hmm. You can try, but you'd have to keep your semblance up the entire time. You should stay in here and heal your aura for a while."
"I don't think we have that long," Serene said, getting to her feet.
Out the window, far across the field she could see approaching dark figures approaching under the setting sun. Despite the distance she could tell they were much bigger than a Crocuta. There were at least ten of them, and she had the feeling her wire wasn't going to be able to cut through them.
She turned to her teammates and their teacher. "We've got company."
Serene walked out to the dirt, followed Closely by Maizie. Professor Champagne came to the bottom of the porch steps and Nyla stayed by Jazz near the door.
"What are they?" Nyla asked.
"Saber's," Maizie said, dread in her voice. "Fucking big ones."
"Excellent." Professor Champagne muttered. "Any more Crocuta's?"
Serene shot herself up to the roof with her gauntlets, climbing to the top and looking around.
"A few up the top of the farm!" She called down to them. She frowned. "I think they're leaving." She jumped back down to the ground. "Nyla! Get on the roof, see if you can take any out before they get here." Nyla hesitated, but with a lingering look with Jazz, he nodded and did as he was told.
"Jazz get inside. Do you think we could get a few of them into the stone barn?" Serene asked Maizie and Professor Champagne.
"I think we can manage," Maizie agreed. "What about the rest of them?"
"The landmines could take out a few if we're lucky," Champagne said, watching the field warily. They were more than halfway across now.
"I also stole this dynamite," Maizie said, holding the rectangular blocks of dynamite. She looked between them and back at Serene, the girls smiling in understanding. "We're gonna fuck up this farm."
The three got into position, and Serene waited until they were about fifty yards from the grass line. She crouched down and, concentrating, watched the smoke begin to rise from the dead field. The fire sparked and grew quickly, spreading to create a path leading directly to Serene.
"Be careful!" Champagne called as they charge. Five charged toward Serene and six more broke off in the other direction, towards Maizie and Champagne.
Serene turn and ran to the barn, leaping over the doors and into the desolate building. Glancing over her shoulder she saw the first Saber cross the threshold into the barn and she sent her wire out, burying into the rocks at the top of the back wall, yanking herself up. Her aura absorbed most of the blow as her body was slammed into the rough stone and she climbed quickly to the top, perching there and turning to see four Grimm inside the building and one more in the doorway.
An explosion from her left grabbed her attention and she glanced over to see Maizie blowing up one Grimm, another losing it's leg in the blast.
A Saber roared and she almost fell off her perch as it lunged up and she could feel the air shift where it's paws just missed her.
"This better fucking work," She muttered, grabbing her staff and standing up, gripping it tightly. Her lightning dust sparked at the end and she could see the shimmer of Champagne's semblance coursing through the stone as she slammed the end of the staff down and sent out a current of energy at her feet.
The barn shattered underneath her, the loud explosion sounding through the yard. Serene didn't remember much beyond the deafening sound and the feel of being blown away, and the pain surging through her as she was slammed into the hard earth.
Everything went black.