Chapter 1: Light
"Hope is what got me through the loss of my father. It's what drove me through all the times that I felt most terrible. Hope to find a better life. Hope to make a better life for others. This world is filled with monsters that humanity has lost countless lives to. So my hope is to defend the lives of those who I can. Although I am not experienced in hunting these monsters, I hope to become a better fighter with the help I would receive at Beacon Academy." For me, this was an all or nothing proposal. If I don't make it in, her sacrifice would have been for nothing.
"You said earlier that you would sacrifice your life in order to save another. Well let me ask you this; if you die for someone else, how many other lives will be lost because you weren't there to save them?" The headmaster's words threw me off guard. I really didn't know what to say, since it challenged everything I had believed up until then. Yet it made so much sense. If I was gone, I wouldn't be able to help anyone.
"I…" I sputtered off and let out a sigh. "I'm not fighting for myself. I'm doing this for the people who got me here. If it weren't for them," I noticed the headmaster's gaze shifting, as if he knew what I was about to say next. "I would have been dead a long time ago."
"You don't value your own life as much as you should. It's heroes like you that keep our kingdom safe. I would suggest taking careful consideration into the consequences before throwing yourself without defense in front of a grimm. You may only give the person you're saving a moment to react before they're overwhelmed and killed as well. Trust me, I have seen it happen far too many times. Promise me that if I accept you into Beacon that you will not get yourself killed."
He was right. If I were to die before becoming the hero my father must have known I could be, I would just be dishonoring his life. With a new resolve and firm mentality, I gave my reply. "I promise."
And that is how I got accepted into Beacon.
Now, of course, it took more than an earnest effort to get to speak with the headmaster of one of the greatest schools in all the land. Although he died when I was just a boy, my father did a lot to make sure my mother and I would be well off without him. And well off we were. My mother was able to become a drummer in a band with her friends. My father always took good care of her, and because of that, she had the free time to practice and perform. I was privileged enough to go to Pharos Academy, a boarding school for those wishing to grow intellectually or in combat knowledge. I was well into my junior year when I decided that I wanted to become a huntsman like my father before me. Normally, this would be far too late, as the amount of combat certified credits needed to earn a transfer recommendation into a combat school were far beyond that even a student prodigy could make in a single year. But as luck would have it, there were other ways to obtain a transfer recommendation.
Coco Adel. Daughter of Pharos Academy's principal, and the pinnacle of fashion (as I'm sure she and her friends would attest). Strong-willed. Tough fighter. You did not want the misfortune of crossing paths with her. One day during lunch, some guy decided it would be fun to mess around with her faunus friend's ears, and mock her for them. When her faunus friend's quiet pleas fell on deaf ears, Coco stepped in and demanded he stop. The poor guy probably didn't know what that word meant. So, with one swing of her purse, she knocked the guy out cold, then pulled out a sharpie and wrote "RACIST PIG" on his forehead. He had to be taken to the nurse to regain consciousness, then took the rest of the day and the following day off to recover. Being who she was, I'm sure Coco got little more than a stern talk from her father. From that day forward, everyone in the school knew not to mess with Coco or her friend.
It was the last month of our junior year. Final projects were due in just a few weeks. We had to design and build a unique weapon, then demonstrate it against a live, controlled grimm. I personally had no issues with this. I was originally planning on going into the tech world prior to junior year, so I had plenty of designs saved up. I got my weapon built and battle ready within a week. Two weeks before the due date, I overheard a conversation between two panicked girls in the courtyard.
"What am I going to do?! It took me a month to get this thing working," a vaguely familiar voice exclaimed.
"I don't know, Velvet. I have my own project to deal with, and I can't just have my dad give you the credits. I've tried," said a voice that very closely resembled a strong-willed girl I know. "Look, we still have two weeks left, maybe you can get Fox to help you fix this."
"Maybe, I just don't know if he'll…" Velvet trailed off. "Coco, you know I have a crush on him."
"Right, right, my bad. Sorry," Coco relented.
I rounded the corner to see what the damage to Velvet's project was. Hoo boy, was it not pretty. To any normal student, the sight of Velvet's final project was busted and a lost cause. Coco caught sight of me first and asked me what I wanted. I plainly explained what I heard and thought I could help.
"Really?" Velvet's eyes lit up.
"Yea," I continued. "This sort of damage usually isn't something that can be repaired in a few weeks with limited resources. But I've been studying tech, and I think I can help put this back together. What were you trying to make?"
"W-well-" Velvet began to speak.
"Slow your roll, pal," Coco interjected. "Velvet, do you know this guy?"
"N-no, not really," Velvet replied. "But what else are we gonna do?"
"Listen, buddy," Coco carried on. "I don't know who you think you are, but don't think for a second that you can just walk in on my conversation with my Velvet and expect to take advantage of her."
"I wouldn't dare," I answered. "I saw what you did to the guy who was making fun of her. I think most of the school knows not to mess with either of you. And I don't expect anything in return. I just overheard the situation, and genuinely believe I can help."
"What about your own project, huh?" Coco inquired. "Aren't you too busy to help?"
"Not at all," I assured her. "I actually finished my project in a week. I'm sure I could-"
"A week?!" They both cried out.
"Yea," I laughed. "Like I said, I've studied weapon tech for quite a while now, and I'm pretty good at what I do. If you let me help out, I'm sure we can get this weapon back in order before the due date."
Velvet's ears perked up as she smiled at me.
"And what do we have to do in return?" Coco asked.
"I don't know," I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe let me live without words written in sharpie on my forehead."
And so, that night, I had learned what Velvet's project was and how it got messed up. Velvet was telling me the story while I worked on it in her dorm. Coco was there, working on her own project to shoot me death glares every once in a while, as to be expected. She really cares about Velvet and doesn't want anyone doing anything bad to her. I know if anyone hurt my mother, I wouldn't be able to hold myself back from calculating the perfect way to destroy that person.
"I still can't believe how ambitious this weapon is," I thought aloud while tinkering with the core. "I mean, a mechanical box that would allow for any weapon to be augmented from it. Then having the combat ability to use that weapon, even though it would be your first time handling it. That's really impressive."
"Thanks," Velvet returned. "I knew it was going to be tough, but I thought it was going to be something that I could handle."
"How did you come up with this idea, anyways?" I asked inquisitively.
"Well, I really like photography, and thought being able to capture the fighting styles of those I encounter with my camera would allow me to have perfect adaptability, "Velvet began. "That way, I would never feel outmatched or unprepared in a fight."
"Interesting," I continued. "So you said that it all just came apart when you tried to photograph a transforming weapon?"
"Yea." Velvet said.
Silence fell on the room as I stared at the core and thought deeply on what I had just learned. She's trying to create a multifaceted, limitless box of augmentation. But the physical mechanisms that make up the box are limited and break apart when the photographed weapon is too complex. If we were to add more mechanisms to account for this, the box would be too large, heavy, impractical, and fragile to hold up in a fight. Let alone the physical training she would have to keep up in order to wield the extra, unnecessary weight when using simpler weapons. There's no way to separate the core from the rest of the mechanisms without breaking it further or sacrificing efficiency. In the heat of combat, a huntress' weapon needs to be actively ready for any attack. Curious that she would have the skill to photographically memorize any fighting style. Her creativity is only bound by what she can see, but her ability is restricted to what can be made in a short time. Wait.
Coco had turned on the monitor to start listening to music in the background. A screen projected from a physical box. A set amount of pixels to display limitless images.
"That's it!" I screamed in excitement.
"What?" Coco was startled.
"Huh?" Velvet followed.
I explained to them what I figured out, and what I needed in order to make this weapon work.
"Give me a few days, and I'll have the materials we need to pull this off," I started gathering my things to leave, and helped clean up the area for the time being. "I need to make a call."
While my mother and I are well off, we're not rich. So, I'm not able to just buy everything I need. Sometimes I need to trade in favors for my endeavors. Luckily, having a mother that's a drummer in a popular band does get you some connections. The bassist in her band, Amber Stadtfeld, hails from Atlas. She used to work for the Schnee Dust Company before moving to Vale once her band got off the ground. Because of her past business relations, she's been able to get her band's hands on a non-insignificant amount of dust to put on awesome shows for the people of Vale. One such show I got to see, and that's how this came to mind.
If it weren't for mom, I wouldn't ever have the hope to be where I am now. So, I called her up asking if she would be able to have Amber get a hold of a particular type of dust. It wasn't going to be easy on such short notice, but it could be done. In order to get it on time, Amber let my mother know that there were some errands that needed to get done, which she did not have time for otherwise. Amber's niece and nephew were needing to be watched for a while since elementary school for them was already done that year, and their parents had dropped them off with Amber while they went on vacation.
No problem. I love kids, and I always seem to get along with the ones I get the chance to interact with. Three days of having the most fun possible watching and playing with two bundles of joy later, I get exactly what I need.
"Five uncut hard-light dust crystals paid in full for services rendered," Amber handed to me in a case with a beaming smile.
"Thank you so much, Amber," I smile right back. "You have no idea how much I enjoyed myself taking care of the kids."
"I'm glad to hear it. Maybe I can call you next time they're in town if you ever want to do it again," Amber offered.
"Absolutely," I accepted. "But only if I have the time. Things are getting quite busy."
"Oh, I know," Amber said. "If you can't make it, that's fine. I do have plenty of contacts, but you're like family to me, seeing as your mother is in my band."
"Thanks again," I finished and took the goods with me.
With this, I'll have just enough time to execute on the plans I had put together while the niece and nephew were having their nap times. I got back to my dorm and began work right away. Velvet allowed me to take the core to my place, so I wouldn't disturb her or Coco. I also needed her camera in order to make it compatible with the way I was handling it. A complete overhaul was needed, but it was an antique passed down to her by her grandfather. She didn't have much of a choice, and I promised her that I would be extra careful with it, so she entrusted it to me. And careful with it, I was.
The camera was such a beauty. You hardly see its type nowadays, since everyone uses a scroll or other means of taking pictures. It's just how technology has progressed. I wasn't going to deface this work of art by modifying it. Instead, I took the mechanical parts of the original core of the weapon she tried to make, and made a copy of the camera infused with one of the hard-light dust crystals I got from Amber. Having the original camera really helped with modeling the new one after it.
Next was the hard part; programming the core to work with hard-light dust and the new camera. The core was made specifically to work with the physical mechanisms she had designed. So, getting it to accept the hard-light dust turned out to be quite the challenge. Fortunately, Velvet had already gotten the core to translate images into 3D models of any weapon. I just needed to find a way to hard-code it to hard-light dust instead of the metal it was made for. Problem is, hard-light dust isn't metal, and there were compatibility issues after compatibility issues. I was running out of time, and the due date was in just two days. I had gotten so far, but I hit a wall.
There was just no way to project the weapon without expending an entire hard-light dust crystal. After running tests, and getting everything else to work, I was down to just one crystal left. Things were looking bleak, but I had one card left in my sleeve. I flipped my dust studies textbook to page 337. Chapter 10: The Conservation and Solidification of Dust. I vaguely remembered there was some way to stabilize dust so that it wouldn't just burn up or blow up the moment it was unearthed. The crystals I had were stable, yes, but they kept burning up and disintegrating from within the core. I needed them to stay active long enough to be used as a weapon without losing consistency. I've seen it done before in other weapons such as the great dust swords of the late Watts.
I must have spent the entire day reading. One day left. I get a knock on the door. It's Coco. She's wanting to know how the project's doing. And by wanting to know, I mean threatening the cleanliness of my forehead if I don't get Velvet's project done in time. I let her know that I'm almost done, but I need one more thing in order to make it work. She asks what it is, and I tell her the truth.
"I have no idea," I blankly said.
"WHAT?!" Coco's anger was palpable. "Velvet trusted you! You need to get this done for her, otherwise, she'll fail her project!"
"I know," I recollected my thoughts. "But I have no intentions of letting her project fall through. Right now, I need a way to stabilize hard-light dust so that it remains active without burning up. I spent all day yesterday reading the only chapter in a textbook that covers it. I may have found something, but it's risky and unpredictable. To my memory, Watts had designed swords that ran on varying types of dust. Such weapons would have been unfeasible for reliable sale and use if they required new dust crystals every time they were activated. I was just about to look online for their original schematics when you knocked on my door."
Coco, having understood the situation, left me to my work. Not first without letting me know what would happen if I don't pull through.
"Just know that I will not forgive you for wasting my precious Velvet's time if this doesn't work," Coco finished.
Now of course, Watts had his weapons patented when he was alive, so you can't just go looking them up on some public directory. They did exist, however, in a private knowledge base that you would normally have to pay access for. Since I was a student, I had free reign on them. Once I found them, it was mountains upon mountains of glorious information. I saw the modern day world built upon the genius of this man's work. Such a shame that he had to die due to a workplace accident. He must have been onto something big.
"Prototype dust blades. For personal or military use. Once activated, a beam of energy will be projected based on the dust crystal installed into its compartment. From within the compartment is a capacitor that allows for the energy from the dust crystal to be maintained without being consumed. A switch is used for its activation," the blueprints read.
Such brilliance. Beautiful elegance within its simplicity. Perfect.
I spent the rest of the day making and installing the needed capacitor and switch. With faith, I inserted the last hard-light dust crystal into it, took a picture of my weapon, and made a perfect projection of it. I then took a piece of paper and sliced right through it.
It was 7 p.m. when I came knocking on the door of Velvet's dorm to present the finished project. I was hoping she wasn't asleep yet. I hear disoriented footsteps and stumbling.
"Coming!" Said Velvet, making her way to the door.
I am greeted by a sufficiently stressed out Velvet with messy hair and tissues strewn about her dorm. Poor girl, she probably thought I wasn't going to deliver and that her year was ruined. She looked at me dejectedly.
"Is it… not finished?" Velvet asked.
Still wearing the box of her project on my back, I projected my sword from it.
"One finished project..." I began and tossed a paper I was holding into the air, then brought the sword down to slice it in half. "Complete!"
To this day, I will never forget the sounds of an elated and adorable bunny girl thanking me for helping her finish her project.
I let Velvet know that I had modeled a new camera after her original one, as to preserve its antique and sentimental value.
"I figured you didn't want to lose this in battle. Although you came up with a novel idea for it, this thing won't hold up if a grimm attacks it," I point out. "And it's definitely irreplaceable."
If Velvet's eyes were lit up before, upon realizing what I had really done for her, any airship from within a few kilometers would be clear for landing with the light that came from her. She gave me an earnest hug and continued thanking me.
"It was a really fun project to figure out and put together," I state. "I ended up using the broken mechanical parts of the original project to create the camera and box around the core for the finished project."
I then go into detail about how to use the weapon and how closely it matches her original idea. I explain that its use is practically infinite, so she wouldn't have any restrictions as to how many times she could use it, despite having to use hard-light dust. She asked me how I was able to get my hands on a somewhat rare resource, and I told her about the fun 3 days I had watching over Amber's niece and nephew.
We wrapped things up, and Velvet was sure to message Coco about how the project got done, so she wouldn't do anything bad to me. I go back to my dorm to catch a good night's rest before final presentations the following day.
Now, you might be wondering. If I was able to finish Velvet's project in just two weeks, what did I come up with in one week? Well, I took inspiration from the knights of old. A sword and a shield, with a twist.
The controlled grimm was a standardized boarbatusk. The school had plenty of them in captivity, so there was one wheeled in for every student. Although it was expected for every student to be able to defeat the grimm, there were two licensed huntsmen in each class ready to take the grimm down if things somehow got out of hand, and to make sure no student would be seriously injured.
As excited as I was to see Velvet and her weapon in action, I had to present my weapon before her due to seating. When my name was called, I got up, put on my arm brace, walked to the main classroom floor, and began demonstrating my specially made sword and shield. Each student had 5-10 minutes each to describe and show their weapon's abilities.
"My weapon is initially attached to my arm brace, as you can see here," I begin explaining and show how it rotates around as needed. "It's a shield," I say as I trigger its opening function. "With a sword in it," I then remove the sword from the top of the shield. The shield, although light enough that it can transform consistently and be used quickly, is also reinforced, so it can withstand most of any grimm attack. "The sword itself is mechanical and can also transform…" I let the tension build. "...Into a gun. With these attributes, I am able to theoretically defend myself and others against grimm anywhere from short to long range in terms of distance," I conclude my explanation.
And with that, I ready my stance as the Boarbatusk is released. It comes charging toward me, as expected. I plant my feet to the ground and let it eat the full force of its own weight and it slams into my shield. I scoop it up to launch it into the air with my shield in retaliation. It lands on its back, so I quickly shoot 3 shots at its belly. They all miss because I have horrible aim and can't hit a red painted 'X' right in front of me. So, it manages to get up just in time for me to dash towards it, lay my shield and my whole body weight on top of it, rendering it immobile, and transforming my sword halfway from a gun to a sword, so I could use a smaller, yet sharp end of the sword to stick just under the boarbatusk's armor to kill it.
"And there you have it," I say to the class. "Another boarbatusk ridden from the world." The professor thanks me for the performance and instructs me to leave my weapon with him for further inspection and grading while allowing me to retake a seat.
When it got to Velvet's turn, I heard Coco's ecstatic cheers. Such a loyal friend. Velvet calmly and confidently explains her weapon's design and functions. She looks directly at me, smiling, as if to thank me once more for my efforts. I smile back. As she wraps up her demonstration, the boarbatusk is released. I must say that if grimm had souls, I would feel bad for the one that had the misfortune of getting paired with Velvet. She basically made a mockery of it by switching between three different weapons and comboing the heck out of it. By far, it was the flashiest kill of the class.
And so, Coco, Velvet, and I passed the project and met up after class to talk about plans for summer break. Coco would personally thank me for the work that I had done, and let me know that I had made two good friends.
"Velvet and I owe you one, let us know if you're ever in a bind," Coco told me.
"Thanks, but really, I enjoyed making it, and I'm glad to see Velvet passed," I returned. "Although, you both are exceptional in combat. I'm trying to make it into Beacon Academy when I graduate, but I don't think it's gonna be possible, since I don't have the training or credits to get a transfer recommendation."
"Really?" Coco started. "How many combat credits do you have?"
"None," I laughed. "Aside from the class we had shared. I had just made the decision to try to become a huntsman and get into Beacon at the end of last semester, but a school guidance counselor had advised me that I just wouldn't be able to get the credits in time. Still, I've been training on my own to keep my body in shape in case there was any chance for it."
"That's a shame," Coco let out. "What made you want to become a huntsman?"
"Well…" I slowly collected my thoughts. "My father was one before he died. He allowed my mother and I to live a comfortable lifestyle until my mother got to join a successful band. The reason I was able to get the hard-light dust for Velvet's project was because of a connection I had through my mother's band. I was originally planning on making weapons for a living, and it is still a wonderful and fulfilling career to fallback on. But… There was a girl who I was friends with. Her name was Amy, and she… she was everything to me. We had grown up together. Our friendship was so close that we were inseparable. I knocked on her door every day to walk with her to school. We would hang out at her place after school to play and have fun. As we got older, I started developing feelings for her. I got enrolled here at Pharos, and she at Signal. I was making plans to confess to her over the summer break of last year when her home was attacked by grimm. As soon as I heard, I rushed to her neighborhood as soon as I could. I had no weapon, but I didn't care. I recklessly charged into a grimm infested area with no regard for my own life, just to make sure she was ok. I saw her fighting off a grimm that was attacking her and her family. She gave one look to me with tears in her eyes. The grimm were too much for her to handle as I watched her die. I was heartbroken and immobilized by sadness and fear from what I had just witnessed. Then, the grimm that killed her turned to face me. I thought that this would be the end of my life. I felt so weak and helpless that I couldn't save the person I cared about the most. Of course, huntsmen were dispatched to the area, but there weren't enough to save everyone. Just before I was killed, a huntsman was able to jump in and slay the monster that took my heart from me. I later thought of how if I hadn't been there, that huntsman could have taken the time he saved me to save someone else in that neighborhood. I was a fool for going in completely unprepared. Then I thought that if I were a huntsman, I could have saved her, myself. To this day, I haven't been able to forgive myself for what happened."
Upon hearing this, Coco was visibly moved, and Velvet was tearing up. This snapped me back to being socially aware of what I had just dropped on these two.
"Sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to bring down the mood, but this is my reason for wanting to become a huntsman."
"No, no," Coco said. "Don't apologize. I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Thank you," I look to her and Velvet to show my appreciation.
"In any case, you're not getting a transfer recommendation with the little combat credits you have." Coco gathered. "But there might be another way for you to get into Beacon. And I can help."
"Really? How so?" I asked.
"Well, my father is the principal of Pharos, and all principals in Vale have direct communication with the headmaster of Beacon. A transfer recommendation is just a glorified letter from the principal of a school to the headmaster of another. Lucky for you, you're trying to get into Beacon, and not any other combat academy. Otherwise, you would absolutely need to have the credits. Let me put a good word for you in with my father, and I'll let you know if it works out."
Although the principal of Pharos was reluctant to write a transfer recommendation for someone who has virtually no combat credits, he agreed to do so on the condition that I continue to take some more combat classes over the course of my final year. I agreed, and throughout our senior year, Coco and Velvet helped me train to become a better fighter. I learned how to aim and I improved my sword and shield with the knowledge I had obtained through finishing Velvet's project. By the end of the year, I had my transfer recommendation and an audience with Beacon's own headmaster. My heart goes out to Amy but I am now more ready than ever to become a huntsman.