Combat Class
Jaune Arc was NOT having a good day. Despite the very clear threat that Kazuma had given Team CRDL, Cardin had yet to leave him alone. Not only that, but Kazuma got into some serious trouble from Goodwitch after endangering the lives of his fellow students. Turns out he's a lot stronger than he looks as that kick he delivered to Sky had actually brought his aura down to 40%, and it shattered when he landed, butt first onto the ground. That and he did kind of strike at Cardin's eyes with two knives. And now it was Jaune's turn to fight in the combat class. Normally he'd be happy about being the last person up AND not having to face Cardin but, he was going up against Kazuki, Tekkadan's leader. Add the fact that he can apparently re-create the swords of legendary heroes and well, you get the picture. Jaune's doomed. Though he did hope that his sick day yesterday would give him a chance… he knew not to hope for the impossible.
"The match may now begin!" Goodwitch called out.
On instinct, Jaune braced himself for an attack… only for nothing to happen. He looked over his shield and saw Kazuki just standing there, not taunting or anything, just… thinking. Then in blue motes of light, he was now holding Jaune's sword, Crocea Mors.
"Alright, you're clearly crap at sword fighting, and this is a combat school. Let's see what you've got, oh uh… Professor? Is it alright if we continue to use this room after class? Just for a bit of sparring?" Kazuki asked.
"Well, since we've had to cut the day short due to an unfortunate accident," Goodwitch sent a glance at Ragna who had accidentally destroyed one of the lecture rooms after he had caught a faunas being harassed, add to the fact that the bully clearly said something to further enrage him and for once, Goodwitch couldn't blame him, he'd still be sitting a detention however, "I don't see why not."
"Right, thanks." Kazuki said as he readied a stance before rushing in at Jaune, the match was VERY quickly finished as Jaune was knocked out of bounds by the sheer force Kazuki put behind his attack.
"The winner of this match is Mr. Kazuki. Mr. Arc, one of your fellows is offering to assist you now, I suggest you take this opportunity if you wish to improve." Goodwitch told him.
Everyone with the exception of Team JNPR, Naoto, Ruby, Bang, Amane, Noel and Makoto left the room.
"Alright, let's get this started… listen Jaune, I'm not gonna sugar-coat anything, you're shit, plain and simple," Jaune slumped at Kazuki's, very accurate, analysis, "But… so was I at one point," He said, causing Jaune to have a look of surprise, "What? You thought I was some sort of prodigy? Dude, if you were to go back about 5 years and handed me your sword, you'd kick my ass," He told him, giving Jaune a rather small confidence boost, but a small confidence boost was better than nothing, "I know what you're thinking though, you're thinking 'How can I really be a hero if I can't get stronger on my own', right? Well listen, that line of thinking is dumb and will kill you, EVERYONE has had a master to teach them things, I've had several, Ruby's had one - to my knowledge - same with Yang, Pyrrha probably had no choice in the matter, Ren, Nora and Naoto's situations were probably life-or-death and Ragna has had the second most brutal master ever."
"Wait, only the second? Who's the first?" Naoto asked.
"My second master… he was…. Well…. VERY hands-on and would throw me into a situation and expect me to get out of it… whilst beating the crap out of me…" He told him, remembering his brutal training regime in a room that could increase its gravity multiple times whilst trying to dodge energy blasts and physical attacks, "Now then, let's go ahead and start shall we? Let's see, show me your fighting stance." He ordered.
Jaune did as he was told and immediately regretted it as he then felt a sharp pain in his side.
"You're wide open here, Jaune you have a shield, you need to use it, always keep it close to you," Kazuki backed up a bit, "Now take a swing at me."
Once again, Jaune did so and could feel himself shrink at the look Kazuki was giving him as he blocked his sword with a copy of it.
"Your center of balance is all off and you're holding your sword wrong, here." Kazuki then went to readjust Jaune's stance, "Okay now try again."
This time, when Jaune went to wing he was surprised at how much more… fluent his swing felt, Kazuki's look of approval was definitely a sign he was doing something right, "Not bad, you learn pretty fast." Kazuki praised further.
The others were surprised at just how good of a teacher Kazuki currently was, though it was pretty obvious to all of them that this was second hand information, this was especially so to Naoto and Ruby, who had heard him say that he had a Master specifically for sword-fighting. This had continued on for a good half-hour and already Jaune was showing incredible progress, if he were to fight Cardin again, Kazuki had no doubts on his mind that Jaune would win, simply due to his massive aura reserves and the quick little scenario he had put Jaune through. Said scenario was Kazuki using a pole-arm type weapon that had a large Mace end on it, Nora had jokingly called it a Lace - a combination of Lance and Mace - and proceeded to attack Jaune with it at a speed like Cardin's, granted, despite it's design, the mace didn't hinder its original owner's movement or combat ability at all.
Jaune was now sitting on the ground, out of breath as Kazuki hadn't allowed him to take any breaks, Yang had left half-way through, something about a club - Kazuki had internally hoped that she wasn't going to wreck the place again - and Amane had some sort of project to work on, probably somewhat involved with the Beacon Dance that'll happen when the students from other academies arrive.
"Here," Pyrrha said as she handed Jaune a bottle of water, she had left to get some water for him during the time Kazuki was using the Mace-Polearm.
"Thanks." Jaune said as he quickly started to down it, only to start coughing as it had likely gone down the wrong way.
"Well Jaune, I think you improved greatly," Pyrrha praised him, "And Kazuki? You make for an excellent teacher." She told him.
"Nah, it's all just second hand knowledge, there's probably a few things I missed." He said, downplaying his actual abilities.
"Even then, you've clearly still had experience teaching before! Even I can see that." Bang told him.
"Yeah! Like, did you ever have a student before?" Makoto asked.
Kazuki then had a sad smile on his face, clearly reminiscing about something. Makoto suddenly felt a little bad, she remembered what had happened when she asked him about his photos and was a little worried she might have accidentally brought up some more sad memories for Kazuki.
"Yeah, I did. His name was Blizzard. Strange name, I know, his semblance should be pretty obvious. Good guy, REALLY good guy… even if he got a lot of crap from everyone.
"What happened to him?" Noel asked.
"I… don't know honestly, he went off on a training trip of his own, probably in Atlas or something." He lied, Kazuki had made many mistakes in his life and lost many whom he cared for, but the death of his first student and close friend would always be something he'd blame himself for, no matter how much others tried to say otherwise, as unlike Tekkadan, he actually had to the power to bring Blizzard back, but he failed to bring him back on time, "I'm sure he's fine, he'd probably give Ragna a run for his money when it comes to durability."
"Are you sure? I mean, what if he ran into-" "The White Fang?" Kazuki finished Noel's sentence as she didn't want to seem like THAT person, "you don't have to worry about that, I don't think he has too much to worry about when it comes to the White Fang attacking another faunas."
"Is that why he was always given a hard time?" Makoto asked him.
"No actually, it was because of his lineage, bunch of pricks, they took joy in ruining the lives of others around them, Blizzard wanted to show he was nothing like them." He told her, a proud smile on his face.
It was then that the moment was interrupted by Naoto's stomach "Oops…" He said, smiling nervously.
"Well I am pretty hungry myself… so, who wants to go into Vale?" Kazuki asked.
"OH OH ME!" Ruby exclaimed, bouncing up and down.
"Alright, but calm down on the cookies, Yang told you you had a bit too many last time, seriously, how did I get sick but YOU didn't?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Jeez, fine! What are you? My Older brother?" Ruby asked rhetorically, not at all noticing the blush on Kazuki's face.
"Ha, maybe, come to think of it.. You DO remind me of my sister," He said aloud, catching her by surprise and causing her to stutter before looking down, realizing the implications, "You have NO idea Ruby… Hey who knows? Maybe I'll get adopted by Tai in this timeline too…" He thought to himself.
"So then what would that make Yang?" Jaune asked, trying to distract Ruby from the fact that Kazuki said she reminded him of his dead sister, something that wasn't really a secret seeing as he had no last name.
"Uh… Hey Ruby, what month was Yang born?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"July 28th"
"Huh, guess I'm a middle child then." He responded nonchalantly, "Oh God that makes Yang my older sister… uhh…. Is it too late to take back what I said?" He asked jokingly.
"NOPE!" Ruby said as she rushed toward him, leaving behind rose petals as she latched onto his arm.
"Well at least this explains why you tend to not swear that much around her." Naoto said.
"Yeah, yeah, let's just get to the city already."
Vale, Shopping District
"Thanks for waiting for me." Kazuma said as he walked alongside Ruby and Naoto.
"Well it was Kazuki's idea." Ruby told him.
"Hm, yes, poor him." Kazuma said aloud.
Looking ahead, they could all see Yang giving Kazuki a noodgie as Ruby had wasted no time in telling her sister that they were informally adopting him earlier.
"So, who's last name are you gonna take? The same one as me and my dad? Or Ruby?" Yang teased, not at all relenting in her noodgie.
"Gah! Stop it! Just because you're 5 days older than me, doesn't mean you can treat me like I'm as young as Ruby!" Kazuki protested, trying to free himself from Yang's grasp, Key word being Trying.
"Oh but it does, Little Bro." She teased further.
"Dear Gods help me…." He said, "Scratch that, make it demons, demons help me!" Despite his thoughts… he missed this a lot. Something he wasn't really hiding.
"He looks like he's enjoying it." Jaune said aloud.
"Well… Why wouldn't he? He was an orphan once and now he's been basically adopted, unofficially mind you but still adopted nonetheless." Naoto chimed in.
As they were walking, Yang eventually let go of Kazuki when they were nearing their destination. It was a small cafe that Kazuma had seen the last time he was out in Vale. It was run by the same man who ran the Dust shop that was robbed before Kazuki, Ruby and Naoto got into Beacon. Upon seeing the three, the man gave them a wave, one which they each returned, Naoto with a simple raise of his hand, Ruby waving enthusiastically and Kazuki a standard polite wave.
"You three know him?" Jaune asked.
"Well.. before we got into Beacon, his dust shop was getting robbed and we put a stop to it!" Ruby answered.
"Oh, so does that mean we can get discounts?" Yang asked, only to get smacked on the back of the head by Kazuki, "Ow! Why?!"
"Because I'm not letting you abuse that kind of stuff, I WAS going to be paying for all of us but you can pay for your own food now." He told her, an unamused look on his face.
"Mean."
"Meh, whatever, what do you guys want and I'll go and order, I already know what you want Kazuma, no need to ask." He told them, Kazuma somewhat slumped down, only truly realizing how obvious he was with his choice in food.
"Cookies!" Ruby said aloud.
"I know, you and Kazuma are easy to order for."
"Yikes… I guess I'll just have some of that strawberry cake." Yang said.
"Get it yourself."
"You were serious?!"
"I'm fine with anything, really." Pyrrha told him.
"Nora will want pancakes and Ren will want some type of tea right?"
"Yep." Nora said while Ren just nodded.
"Just get me whatever you feel is appropriate," Bang said.
"Um.. I'd like to try that strawberry cake myself actually." Jaune told him, Kazuki looked at both Pyrrha and Noel and decided to just get them the same thing. Makoto looked at him and quickly realized he was playing matchmaker.
"I'll have a chestnut parfait!" She told him.
"Got it." Kazuki then walked up and ordered his food, despite him telling Yang otherwise, he still got her what she wanted. He then walked back to the table while they waited.
"So, how has Oobleck's history been for you guys?" Jaune asked, just trying to start up a conversation.
"I have been faring well, but I've noticed that Tao has been struggling a lot. She's at least managing to stay awake during class but actually preparing for tests is another matter." Bang told his fellow team leader.
"It's been a walk in the park for me actually." Kazuma said.
"Same here." Naoto added in.
"Of course it is…." Yang said as she let out a sigh.
"Soooo… Kazuki… What was that mace lance thing?" Ruby asked, already starting a conversation about weapons.
"It was used by a friend. His name was Mikazuki, he was shorter than you actually, despite being the same age. It had a sort of pile-driver at the top that could be used to pierce through an enemy's armor, really effective against a Beringel Grimm. He was an absolute Demon." Kazuki told her, a proud smile adorning his face. Kazuma and Naoto were put at ease with how casually and happily Kazuki was talking about his friend and Makoto could only smile, "Actually, there's one weapon that I've been meaning to use but… I'll show it to you another time." He told her, causing her to smile wildly at the idea of a weapon Kazuki HASN'T shown off yet.
"Come to think of it, you only ever seem to use swords, why's that?" Ren asked, curious as to why he never goes for ranged options.
"I just really like bladed weapons, sure, I could just project a copy of Crescent Rose but… I don't wanna insult Ruby by doing that." He explained.
"WHY would I take that as an insult?! Your semblance is AWESOME! Seriously, you can make any weapon you see to pure perfection and even learn everything about it from a glance!" Ruby said aloud.
"Ruby, it takes more than a glance for me to learn everything about a weapon, sometimes I have to project several times to learn everything about it." He explained.
"Still, it is quite a useful semblance to have, actually, I was wondering-"
"No Bang, I'm not gonna use my semblance on the Phoenix Rettenjo. That was entrusted to you and you alone, I ain't helping." Kazuki interrupted Bang.
"What about Bolverk? It always seems like there's something about it that I can't understand.." Noel asked.
"Don't mean to sound rude but… that's probably your own self-doubt in your ability. And as literally everyone here will tell you, mostly Jaune and Makoto, STOP doubting yourself, you're amazing." Kazuki told her.
"Hey look, the food's-wait a minute I thought you said you weren't gonna pay for me!" Yang said.
"I lied." Was Kazuki's response, a cheeky smirk adoring his face.
"Oh Man this looks good!" Makoto said as she immediately began eating.
"Sheesh, I think you would Ruby a run for money when it comes to her eating cookies." Naoto said.
"I think you might be wrong on that…" Kazuma said, pointing to Ruby who had ALREADY devoured all of her cookies.
"Holy crap…" Was all that came out of Naoto's mouth.
They had spent a good few minutes there, eating their food, with Ruby getting several extra helpings of cookies because Kazuki was weak to the Sad Zwei Face as Ruby called it, and Yang telling a few puns, causing everyone but herself Bang and Kazuki to groan in annoyance, though Makoto took a mental note of a way to cheer Kazuki up.
"So Kazuki, could you tell us more about your master? The two who taught you how to use weapons." Jaune asked.
"Sure. Now where do I begin? Right, I'll start with Lancer." He said.
"Lancer?" Bang asked.
"Yes, it was his alias but he actually had two names, Setanta and Cú Chulainn, The Hound of Culann. Despite that name, he was human, not a trace of Faunas in him, actually, if he was you'd probably think we were brothers if you saw the two of us together, he was really well known back in my village, he got the name Hound of Culann because he accidentally killed a guard dog in self defense," That cause Ruby to look upset, "So in return, he offered to take its place until a replacement was found, that went on for about a year or so. He was a great warrior and tactician, his semblance well… it was simply known as Divinity."
"Divinity? How's that work?" Pyyrha asked.
"No clue, it basically enhances EVERYTHING about you, and it can continue to grow. If I were to give him stats, he'd have Strength: B, Agility: A, Endurance: C, Luck: E and lastly… his Noble phantasm."
"Wait he had one?!" Jaune shouted in surprise.
"Indeed, his Noble Phantasm is another reason we called him Cú Chulainn, as it was used by the original. Gae Bolg, a B rank noble phantasm, if he incites its true name, then you've already been pierced in the heart. It is a spear that reverses cause and effect from If he thrusts, he stabs to If he thrusts, he pierces. The only way to survive that attack is if you have an incredibly powerful shield, something my other master hand. He was very battle-crazy, loved a good fight. But if you betray him, he WILL kill you. I saw that crap happen first hand. Someone he trusted had gone behind his back and killed his lover." That tidbit of information caused Bang, Noel and Makoto to look rather angry, "But overall, he was very easy to get along with, really liked fishing too. He also ran a bunch of establishments at the village, from a bar to a fish shop."
"Sounds like a really cool guy." Jaune said.
"Oh, Oh! What about the other one?! What's he like? Is he all Dark and Broody?" Nora asked.
Kazuki simply laughed, "You're both right and wrong on that one. Actually, he had spikier hair and had a lighter skin tone, you'd think he was Ragna until you saw his face. Though… his life isn't something I'm sharing," Kazuki told them in a serious tone that basically shut down any arguments anyone might've had against that idea, "His name was Archer, why? He didn't like his actual name because he just REALLY didn't like his younger self. He did have silver eyes, not the same silver as Ruby's but a silver like that of a sword. Then again, considering his semblance, it's not too surprising."
"Wait, is his semblance sword based even though he calls himself Archer?" Naoto asked, already intrigued by this Archer.
"Yes, and this is the part where his Semblance is superior to mine, he can alter his projection from swords, into arrows. One such sword was Caladbolg, though upon alteration, it became Caladbolg II, the Fake Spiral Sword. Simply being near it when it's been fired is enough to rip a massive hole in a Goliath Grimm. He was a very sarcastic, pessimistic and cynical asshole for the first while, but once you get to know him, he's actually really cool… he's also an amazing cook, seriously, he could put all of Remnant's cooks to shame."
"What was his semblance?!" Ruby asked impatiently, especially after hearing Kazuki say it was superior to his own.
"Unlimited Blade Works"
No one understood why, but when Kazuki uttered those words, they could all feel the power behind them. That there was more to it than just its name, something that Ruby would've normally already started asking a million questions about.
"It's as the name implies. Unlimited Blades. And if he looks at your weapon, he'll learn EVERYTHING about it, you, your fighting style, weaknesses, EVERYTHING. Actually, if Ozpin were to fight Archer… Ozpin would most certainly lose. The only upper hand I have over UBW is that I can project perfect copies of most noble phantasms, his are all Broken Phantasms." Kazuki explained. He noted how quiet everyone was so he thought he'd drop a massive bombshell on them.
"And that's not all." Everyone perked up at this, this Archer person was sounding more and more cool, awesome and downright terrifying the more Kazuki talked about him, "His semblance was practically borderline magic." He told them, he noted the skeptical glares he got from everyone except Naoto and Kazuma.
"Explain further, if you would." Kazuma told him, his tone implying a professionalism that no one saw from him before.
"It would be my pleasure," He said with a smirk, "So a semblance is essentially its user's soul manifested onto reality, right?" He got a nod from everyone except Jaune, understandable, "Well… Unlimited Blade Works went FURTHER. Instead of him just being able to make swords and other bladed weapons, bringing them into reality... He could focus his will so much that the world would change shape to fit him. This is what he dubbed, A Reality Marble, Archer doesn't create blades… he creates a world containing an infinite number of blades."
"I find that hard to believe." A voice from behind Kazuki said, turning around, it's revealed to be Jin.
"Well it's true. It's a barren wasteland, with blades of all shapes and sizes sticking out from the ground like tombstones."
That line caused Noel to remember what she saw when she used The Eye on Kazuki during his match with Ragna.
"The sky is a bleak-rust-orange color with massive gears working in the sky… when I first saw that and realized how similar our semblances are… I started working my ass off to achieve the same." he told everyone.
"Oh really? So are you saying that you can do it?" Jin asked.
"No, not yet… but I am close, I have the mental image of it in my mind… I just need to be able to manifest my world, that and I need an incantation."
"What was his?" Naoto asked.
"Funny, I've memorized his but don't have my own yet.. But oh well… actually, not here, I'll do it back at Beacon." Kazuki told them.
"Well come one let's go!" Makoto said, getting up.
"Alright alright, we'll go, lemme just pay first."
Training Room
Teams RJNN, JNPR, BLST, RWBY and Tekkadan were all gathered in the training rooms. Ragna was genuinely curious, as was Amane and Bullet. Tao thought she was gonna get to fight someone while Weiss and Blake were skeptical like Jin was. They were all watching Kazuki as he stood in the center of the ring.
[Cue: Any version of the EMIYA theme you feel like, I would Recommend Fate/Extra: The Hero Nobody Knows]
"Alright, here goes…" He said as he took a deep breath.
"I am the Bone of my Sword,"
The second those words were uttered, everyone felt a wave of pressure fly over them, Naoto and Kazuma could only stare in disbelief at the levels of Magical energy emanating from Kazuki.
"Steel is my body, and Fire is my Blood,"
Ragna didn't know why but he felt… intimidated by this. Jin was starting to believe what Kazuki was saying was indeed true, while Kazuma's eyes slowly began to open as swords implanted themselves on the stage, and then those parts of the stage started to become like that of a wasteland.
"I have created Over a Thousand Blades,"
Makoto's natural fight or flight instincts were screaming at her to run, looking over at Blake, she noticed that she too looked prepared to run.
"Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life,"
"Have Withstood Pain, to Create Many Weapons,"
Tao was desperately trying to leave the room, and succeeded by breaking through the window, something that she'd get into trouble for by Goodwitch… had Goodwitch not also been secretly watching.
"Yet, Those hands will never hold Anything,"
Up in Ozpin's office, the Beacon Headmaster could feel a large amount of magical energy generating form within the Academy, switching to the cameras, he saw something that shocked him. Half of the training room now had swords jutting out from the ground that had turned to that of a barren wasteland. And in the center of it all, was his otherworldly student.
"So as I pray,"
Everyone was frozen stiff, Goodwitch, Ozpin, Kazuma, and Naoto Everyone. They all couldn't believe what they were seeing. Now alongside the swords, were guns of various shapes and sizes.
"Unlimited Blade Works!"
Kazuki finishes the incantation, a blue fire washing over the area before finally dissipating, he fell to the ground, clutching his chest and panting heavily. This was not his incantation, for Unlimited Blade Works was not his inner world.
[End Song]
"Kazuki!" Makoto rushed over and quickly helped him up.
"What the hell was that?!" Ragna asked, seeming genuinely intimidated.
"That Magical energy… it was beyond anything I've ever seen before… if he or this Archer person had been there during the Dark War… could they have beaten the beast alone?" Kazuma thought to himself, still trying to process what had happened.
"So it was true… and yet, it still didn't seem like it's own world…" Jin stated, though he was genuinely shocked he still found it hard to believe that someone could Make a world using their semblance.
"That's because…. Unlimited Blade Works…. Isn't mine…. It's Archer's… doing that… is extremely dangerous for me…." Kazuki said, trying to catch his breath.
"How dangerous?" Makoto asked him, looking him dead in the eyes, though he tried to look away, she didn't let him., "Kazuki… how dangerous is it for you to do that?"
"... Fatally… if I try to use... Archer's Incantation to cheat to try and…. Make my own reality marble…. It can…. Kill me…." He told her, causing everyone to look at him in shock. Makoto then looked at Jin, "Don't… I intended to… show you all…. Anyway…" She told him, already knowing she'd try to blame him.
"But-"
"She's right, had I not been too skeptical, you wouldn't have endangered your own life to prove a point." Jin told him with glare that shut down any arguments he'd try to make.
While everyone else was making sure Kazuki was alright, Naoto had only one thing on his mind.
"His numbers…. They went UP… but if he's already dead then how did they go from zero to… I'll have to ask Raquel when this is all over… IF I can even get back home after all this…" He thought to himself.
Author Notes: Woop Holy shit! Well there's the very obvious answer to another series/Universe/Multiverse that Kazuki's been through if it hasn't been obvious enough already. And before you ask, NO, Kazuki can NOT actually use Emiya's UBW, their origins are similar enough for him to have a similar reality marble and use the same branch of magecraft as him however.
See ya next time.