Heart's Embers

by SugarLoaf12

It's been fifteen months hasn't it? Living from day to day, moving from place to place. Looking for the next payday, the next target... the next fight. I thought living outside their war would be easier. But sometimes knowing... is all it takes to leave you wondering "What if" I think back to why I left and I know I made the right choice... Ozpin be damned.

24. Unrest

Hey guys! I finally managed to finish this chapter for you, ended up writing and rewriting it a few times before I got it to this point. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

"Speech"

Thoughts

---

Chapter Twenty-Four: Unrest

"So, we're really doing this?" Yang asked exasperated, following behind the group through the halls of Atlas Academy.

"Yup" Ruby replied popping the p on the end.

"If Doctor Polendina is really the one working with Salem, he's going to know we're on to him"

"We know" Qrow sighed in mild annoyance.

"And yet we're still going to confront him while we have nothing? He can deny everything and we'll have no way of proving-"

"We're not going to accuse anyone of anything, Ms. Xiao Long" Ironwood smiled back at her "We're simply going to ask him for a favor"

"I don't understand" Yang crossed her arms in confusion.

"Don't worry about it so much, Yang" Slade smiled comfortingly back at her, placing his arm onto her shoulder "It's all part of the plan"

"What plan?" Nora asked surprised.

"The plan" Slade answered as they arrived at his office.

Ironwood knocked on the door, Yang didn't look to be much more confident in their "Plan" but nonetheless followed Ruby's lead. The door opened shortly after the knock as Doctor Polendina walked right into Ironwood, stumbling back slightly.

"Oh... General" he greeted picking up the folder he dropped on the ground along with the few papers that dropped out of it "I was just coming to see you"

"Excellent, then we can all have a talk"

"I can't imagine what you're here about General, unless of course you're concerned about what happened to Mr. Pine. I assure you, he is in good health-"

"What about Oscar?" Ruby asked concerned.

"Ah, I see you haven't been briefed yet" he turned and stepped back into his office "Please, make yourselves comfortable" The group followed him inside and situated themselves in the minor amount of furniture around the room. Slade, Yang, Blake and Qrow found themselves to be standing against the wall opposite of him while Winter and Ironwood stood directly in front of his desk "Might I ask what this is about?" he asked curiously.

"After you tell us what happened to Oscar" Weiss answered.

"Of course" he cleared his throat "I ran the test as you requested with Mr. Pine's consent to try and see if we could communicate or extricate Ozpin from his subconscious without harming Mr. Pine. Of course, everything seemed to go fine until I executed the program as normal. Once it started reading two different brain wave frequencies, something I didn't even anticipate given the nature of his reincarnations... Mr. Pine was screaming, he appeared to be in an extreme amount of pain. Unfortunately I was only able to stop the process with the help of Ms. Xiao Long's quick thinking" he gestured toward her "Mr. Pine however had absolutely no memory of the pain once it had subsided"

"That seems like an awfully risky test to perform on a child" Jaune growled.

"Yeah! Who do you think you are, hurting our little Oscar!" Nora shouted angrily.

"He did say he got Oscar's consent" Ren pointed out "I doubt he would've done something so dangerous otherwise"

"Of course not!" Polendina chimed back "I was opposed to the idea from the beginning, as fascinating as it would be to learn more about Ozpin's condition. I certainly wouldn't want to do it at someone else's expense. I'm a doctor not a mortician, I prefer my patients to be alive when I operate"

"Why did you consent to that?" Weiss asked concerned.

"I..." Oscar remained silent for a small period of time "It seems like everything since Ozpin showed up in my head has been decided for me without even asking me what I want. I decided for myself to undergo the procedure, and I don't regret it. I just hope it's not going to be one of the only decisions I get to make for myself"

"Oscar" Ruby frowned lightly as she put her arm around him, pulling him into a light hug "We'd never want you to be anyone but you. Nothing going forward is going to be something you have to do if you don't want to, right guys?" she asked pulling herself back to look him in the eyes.

"Of course" Ironwood agreed with a reassuring smile.

"You betcha" Jaune agreed.

"Agreed" Ren nodded.

"Ozpin can get in line if he thinks otherwise" Nora answered.

"After dealing with someone like my father for so long, how could I deny someone else the same thing I wanted myself" Weiss smiled, filling Winter with pride.

"Anybody thinks otherwise is gonna have to go through me" Yang punched her fists together.

"Us" Blake corrected.

"What they said" Qrow smirked.

Slade remained with a cold stare at Oscar but agreed nonetheless "As much as I think Ozpin is going to be necessary going forward if we're going to have any chance of stopping Salem or her followers... I don't think it should be done at the expense of Oscar" he sighed "You know I've got your back no matter what"

Polendina laughed heartily "It seems like you've got yourself quite the group of friends, Mr. Pine. Don't let go of them, friends like these are precious treasures that may not be around forever... enjoy them"

"Yeah... I... I-I will" Oscar smiled.

"There's a good lad..." he smiled, losing focus yet again "...Where was I? Oh, yes. What is it you needed from me, General"

"We're among friends, Pietro. You don't need to be so formal"

"I'll try and remember that, Sir" he smirked.

"We need your opinion on something for us, Doctor" Winter explained.

"What about?" he looked curious.

Winter handed him her scroll playing the looping footage. He stared for a moment before noticing it himself "It's not recording... this is from a drone so it's likely not a damaged lens or a corrupted data feed... Hmmmm..." he sighed "I think I know why you're here" he placed her scroll down on the table and brought up his computer, he typed on the keyboard for several minutes before turning back to Ironwood, the screen along with him "I think I know why someone hacked one of our drones"

The screen showed streets packed full of Faunus, it was clear there wasn't enough room for everyone in the residences. Several plywood and Sheetmetal homes were built in the alleyways around the street. The drone continued to move as Polendina directed it "I think it's rather clear that someone wanted the Faunus all in one place for something... something big"

"Like what?" Ironwood asked.

"A revolt I'd say" Polendina shrugged "Honestly, given the amount of time this has been going on by the looks of it, I doubt there's much food left around there right now. There's no security to stop people from stealing, assaulting, or worse... I'd say they're trying to generate negative emotions to invite the Grimm"

"That's why the Grimm have been attacking so much recently!" Winter announced in realization "If so many people have such negative emotions, that would explain why Penny's been working overtime with the Grimm attacks"

"Agreed" Ironwood sighed "What do you think, Pietro? Who could've done this?"

"Well..." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully "It'd have to be someone with deep pockets, a lot of connections, and technical knowhow... There's only a handful of people who could pull this off and three of them are in this room" he answered.

"What makes you say that?" Yang asked suspiciously.

"Well, Ms. Xiao Long... in order to be able to pull something like this off, you'd need the money to pay someone to hack our security system and then the drone itself, that of course is impossible to do without anyone noticing with Penny watching for any security breaches. Thus ruling out any of the elite members of Atlas society" he explained.

"Leaving it to top military officers, councilmembers or the engineers who worked on the security personally" Qrow rubbed his chin thoughtfully "Makes sense"

"Of course, General Ironwood or Specialist Schnee here wouldn't be able to do such things without outside help which rules out military officials too" he sighed "Your most likely suspect should honestly be me" he answered.

"What!?" many of the group shouted in surprise.

"Did you just admit to hacking the drone?" Yang asked.

"Of course not!" he answered defensively "Realistically speaking though, I would have the easiest time doing so. Penny has access to all security systems in Atlas and Mantle as well as their algorithms in order to be able to repel any hacking attempt personally without being affected if someone were to try and hack her through the system, and I have access to Penny whenever I wish. This of course means the one who did this, since I know I didn't do it would have to be someone who knows the security algorithms like the back of their hand and have ready access to the hardware to access our security systems like myself and Ironwood without setting off any red flags"

"Meaning they don't need to hack anything" Slade deduced.

"Quite right. Anyone like that would have full access to our security at any time, they'd be able to alter individual security footage, locks, and other crucial security risks that wouldn't otherwise be accessible without alerting Penny"

"So Penny doesn't know when someone changes something in security?" Ruby asked surprised.

"If she did, she'd know the password for everyone's banking accounts and scrolls just because they're accessing Atlas's data connection. She wouldn't be able to process the sheer amount of information she'd receive if she did"

"Then who would be able to do this if not you?" Slade asked.

"Without military officials? It'd have to be someone with top level access to the system. Which means it would either have to be the General or Winter here, or any of the councilmembers giving their access codes to whoever hacked the system... or more likely, someone like me who worked on the original system" he answered picking up a picture with three men and two women in front of a massive computer all smiling wearing lab coats "The only unfortunate thing is... two of the people who helped create the security to where it is today are dead" he sighed.

"Then that just narrows our list doesn't it?" Nora asked hopeful.

"Unfortunately not" Slade replied.

"If it's someone using a Councilmember's access codes, then it could be anyone" Blake added.

"Huh?" she looked confused.

"If a councilmember gave out their access codes, I could get into their system without triggering any alarms, and I don't know the first thing about computers or security" Weiss explained.

"Did you check who accessed the drone when the loop started?" Qrow asked curiously.

"I did, unfortunately the data was deleted from the system, I can retrieve it, but it's going to take me some time to put everything back together. Penny would expedite things exponentially, but I don't want to take her off patrol duty to keep the city safe" he explained "This does however narrow the list to anyone with sufficient technological knowledge, anyone else wouldn't even know how to delete it from the entire system, thankfully I am smarter" he grinned.

"Be as quick as you can then" Ironwood ordered "Winter, order the troops to call off the quarantine and get those poor people some damned food"

"Yes, Sir!" she saluted and turned on her heel, exiting the room.

"What about the rest of us?" Ruby asked.

"Neo was easily able to dispatch you three correct?" Ironwood asked looking at Ruby, Blake and Yang.

"Unfortunately, yes" Blake answered somewhat shamefully.

"Well, you know it probably would've gone better-" Yang started but stopped midsentence to Ironwood's hand in front of her, indicating her to stop.

"Would you say your fight with Tyrian went well?" he looked to Qrow.

"Honestly? It could've went worse, but it didn't go great. I was barely able to keep up with him, pit me against him a few years ago and he would've killed me for sure"

"He almost did anyway" Ren pointed out.

"My fight with him didn't quite go as planned either" Slade sighed "I hate to say it, but I don't know if all of us together could take him right now. He's stronger than you'd expect"

"Hmm..." Ironwood smiled "Ruby"

"Yes, General?"

"Would you say that Slade has shown himself to be a superior fighter amongst the group?"

"Well... yeah" she answered somewhat surprised by the question "When we first met him, we didn't even put a scratch on him and he didn't even seem like he was trying. He also took down a Geist like it was nothing, and then wiped the floor with Mercury and Hazel during the attack on Haven" she answered.

"That's not even mentioning the fight he had with Uncle Qrow when we arrived" Yang chuckled "I've never seen Uncle Qrow actually look like he was struggling to fight someone before, and I saw the fight between him and Winter"

Ironwood smirked "I thought as much"

"What're you so happy about?" Slade asked somewhat worried.

"I just had a wonderful idea" he answered "Follow me"

The group looked at him somewhat confused but followed nonetheless, Slade remained behind and looked at Polendina as everyone left "You made Yang's arm for her on your own?" he asked curiously.

"Hm?" he looked surprised "I told Ironwood he should take the credit for that!" he sighed "Yeah, I made the arm and told him to say he commissioned me to do it, but I didn't expect-"

"Thank you" Slade smiled genuinely.

"Huh? What're you thanking me for?"

"If you hadn't made that arm for her, I don't think Yang would've ever taken up being a Huntress again, much like Maria" he looked after Yang as she turned back toward him, noticing he wasn't following.

"C'mon, Slade! What's the holdup?" she called.

"I'm coming!" he called after her.

"If I hadn't met Yang, I'd still be drinking myself into a coma every morning... so thank you. For giving Yang the helping hand she needed when she needed it" he left without another word.

"Your..." Polendina let the sentence hang as he knew Slade couldn't hear him anyway, he smiled lightly a stray tear falling from his eye I'm glad I could help someone like her, maybe someday I'll even make up for... no... nothing could ever make up for that he sighed.

"What is this place?" Ruby asked in awe as she looked around the room they entered. It was a massive arena with no seats aside from a single long step on each side of the room spanning the entire width of the room against the back wall of each side.

"This, Ms. Rose, is the training room"

"Training room? This is where you train all of your students?" Jaune asked surprised.

"Indeed" he smiled "We have the teacher's face students individually to help them work on their weaker points in combat and against full teams as well to help them become better coordinated against superior opponents not just groups of Grimm. You won't always be fighting a dozen Beowolves, sometimes it's a Geist or a Nevermore" he explained.

"Or worse" Qrow added.

"So, what're we doing here then?" Weiss asked "There's not exactly a lot of teachers who'll have the time to teach us anything right now with the city in lockdown"

"Quite right" Ironwood smirked "Which is why I have found you all a new teacher" he answered.

"Who?" Yang asked cocking her head to the side.

"You" he answered looking to Slade.

"Me?" he asked surprised "But I don't know the first thing about being a teacher, why not Qrow? He's an actual teacher"

"Qrow will be teaching you personally, Slade. You've learned a lot in these past few years and your experience as a Bounty Hunter has surely taught you many things and sharpened your skills, but even you're not perfect"

"Wait, wait, wait, woah, hold on a second!" Nora shouted catching his attention "Qrow's teaching Slade and Slade's teaching us? When is he going to have any time to himself?" she asked.

"He'll have plenty of time to help with missions and other such things here in Atlas as he wishes, but for now he needs to get a grasp on all of your abilities and weakness" he explained.

"What do you mean? Everyone has weaknesses" Yang pointed out.

"Yes, but Tyrian and Neo are two opponents who've mastered the art of combat" he explained "Slade is an excellent fighter, and his Semblance makes him capable of handling opponents far beyond his skillset even if he wasn't, but he still has things he can learn, and improve"

"He's not wrong" Slade sighed "Much as I hate to agree with him, one of the things I was best at was picking out the weaknesses of opponents and using it against them. It's the only reason I won any fights in the Vytal Festival years ago"

"Not only that, but Slade has perfected his fighting style to compliment his Semblance rather than using it as a separate ability" Qrow explained.

"Like Pyrrha..." Jaune looked down at the ground.

"Just like her" Qrow agreed.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked not understanding.

"Pyrrha fought using her skills as well as her Semblance in the midst of combat. She used her Semblance, polarity; to redirect attacks just enough to make her seem invincible in a fight. Slade does the same but has taken it a step further"

"Further? You mean he's stronger than Pyrrha?" Ren asked surprised.

"Stronger? I can't say for certain, what I can say though is Slade has far more experience and is a tactical genius. During his time at Beacon, Ozpin figured out he has an IQ of over 200. That's why he's able to fight so well" he turned to Yang "For example: Yang, you fight offensively. You charge headlong into fights because you think with your fists and not your head, your approach is pure brute force. If you can't win that way, you absorb all the hits you can and then send it back tenfold" he turned back to Slade "Slade on the other hand is a defensive fighter. Slade will block, dodge, or redirect any attacks coming his way until he sees an opening to strike, he fights primarily with strategy and planning ahead rather than with his gut. Slade can usually tell what his opponent is going to do before they do themselves because of their body language, their stance, their words and attitude... Slade analyzes his opponent before striking, much like Pyrrha once did"

"I suppose" Yang crossed her arms with a huff.

"What did you mean by his Semblance complimenting his fighting style?" Oscar asked curiously.

"He means I use it to manipulate my opponent when necessary rather than take the hit. If someone fires a gun at me and I don't have time to dodge, I can stop the bullet but then they'd know my Semblance. I would be more likely to redirect it and allow me to either block it myself or dodge it completely. The reason my fight with Tyrian went so poorly is because he knew about my Semblance before we started fighting"

"That makes sense" Oscar rubbed the back of his head slightly embarrassed.

"So, Slade. Do you think you're up for it?" Ironwood asked.

Slade looked over to Yang, she was still focused on being embarrassed about her fighting in front of everyone, though to be more accurate it was actually him being present that made her embarrassed, not that he knew that.

"I can at least gauge their abilities for myself" he sighed "I know you've all got more experience since I fought you and some training from Qrow and Ozpin back in Mistral. I hope you've at least improved" he smirked.

"Excellent" Ironwood smiled "Whenever Slade is not on assignment he will be teaching anyone not out as well, Qrow and I will fill in when necessary"

"So..." Ruby looked up at Ironwood "When do we start?"

Ironwood smiled back at her and turned his head toward Slade "I do believe that is up to your teacher"

The group all turned to Slade waiting patiently for an answer, he sighed with a slight shake of his head "I'm gonna regret agreeing to this" he turned his back on the group and began walking out "Take the rest of today off, feel free to go out and have some fun for yourselves. Tomorrow morning we start training" he placed both his hands behind his back as he stopped at the door "I'll be in my room if I my presence is required.

---

Salem sat silently in her seat at the head of the table. Tyrian, Hazel, Mercury and Arthur all sat in their places and waited patiently, or for some, nervously for her to tell them why she summoned them. A black corridor opened to reveal Emerald into one of the open seats left across from Mercury.

"Cinder has gone to sleep for the night. I should have at least a few hours before I need to report back" she informed dutifully.

"Excellent" Salem nodded "Now that everyone is here, I want to go over our plans for Atlas" she looked toward Arthur and Tyrian and waited for them to speak.

Picking up on her intention faster than Tyrian, Arthur started "Ironwood eagerly accepted me back into my teaching position at the academy from the vacation I was believed to be on as you know. I also was assigned to ensure no one would be able to hack Atlas security systems going forward to secure our borders from Grimm attacks. Of course we all know that I will be sabotaging the system with a stronger virus at the source that should be able to affect Penny Polendina and render her harmless, this should also get us access into-"

"Yes, yes, yes," Salem prodded him along "What else?"

Tyrian spoke up cheerfully "I showed the file to Slade and his friends! They're focusing on the wrong things right now instead of the obvious infiltrator-"

"That's not true" Emerald interrupted.

"What!?" he asked insulted "You dare accuse me of lying!?" he threatened standing up menacingly.

"Hold your tongue, Tyrian" Salem held up her hand for him to stop "What do you mean, Emerald? Have you heard something?" she asked curiously.

Emerald cleared her throat "Cinder has been having Neo watch Ruby for an opening to kill her, as well as the possibility of obtaining the relic. At this point I am unaware if Cinder intends to give you the relic or if she wishes to keep it for herself" Emerald paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts "Slade believes you wouldn't have tipped your hand this early if you weren't afraid of what they might do. He believes the best course of action is to focus on what they already know and keep an eye out for Neo and Tyrian as well as investigate the infiltrator. They're actually closer to figuring out it's Arthur than we would probably like" she explained.

"How?" Arthur asked annoyed.

"They know someone ordered the Faunus be kept separate from the rest of the Mantle population and closed off, without food or security. Originally they rioted as expected but you blocked the reports from reaching Ironwood, making him oblivious to them. Ironwood has since sent an order for the quarantine to be lifted and allow them to be taken care of, he's likely going to report the incident to the council"

"Then how do they have me as a prime suspect already?"

"Because Doctor Polendina said the only ones who'd be able to give false orders and hack security footage without actually hacking into anything would have to be someone with top security access codes. That leaves it to only be a few dozen people and most of them are dead. Military personnel have been ruled out due to their lack of knowledge on security algorithms"

Salem leaned forward and placed her elbows onto the table, her fingertips pressed against the opposite hand's in front of her face "Well done, Emerald. Keep up the good work" she looks forward and doesn't make eye contact with anyone at the table, remaining silent for quite some time.

"Ma'am?" Hazel asked concerned.

"What's the plan?" Mercury added nervously.

"We're going to need to redirect them" Salem answered leaning back into her chair "Slade is a strategic and tactical genius" she pondered her options for some time "We cannot simply overwhelm Atlas with superior numbers and brute force. Even without their security systems, that only removes their automated defenses from the board. Their Huntsmen, soldiers, even a civilian with a gun could easily take down weaker Grimm... we're going to need to plan our assault more carefully. Contingency plans..." she smiled wickedly "I think I have got a good one" she seemed like she was focusing for a brief moment with her eyes closed before returning to the conversation "Arthur, I am going to need a schematic for an Atlas airship"

"Done" he nodded "May I ask why?"

"Hazel" she called "Take Mercury and start moving the leftover Dust from Roman's robbery's outside by the Grimm pools"

"Ma'am?" Hazel asked confused "You want us to dispose of them?"

"No. I want you to MOVE them" she answered curtly before turning to Tyrian "I want you to be ready in Atlas for whenever I require you. I don't know how soon Arthur or I are going to need you for a task"

"Of course" he bowed.

"Emerald, once we're done here I want you to return and watch Cinder and Neo as you have been. Ensure they do not kill Ruby Rose, I want her captured alive. I need her"

"I will do so at once" she answered, her voice shaking slightly at the thought of fighting Cinder.

"If need be, you may confront Cinder and remind her that I want her alive. Should she do otherwise, I will make sure it will be her last mistake... Permanently" her eyes flashed with a deadly glint.

"O-of course"

"Why do we need schematics for an airship?" Arthur asked once again "Are we looking for structural weaknesses? Perhaps you-"

"You will find out in your good time. For now-" the door to the room opened "Ah, excellent. You've returned" she smiled lightly.

"You called?"

"Oh..." Arthur stared at who had entered as Tyrian's grin grew wider with each passing second "That does change things"

---

Slade stood in the center of the arena with his arms crossed over his chest, RWBY, JNPR and Oscar all stood in front of him waiting patiently for him to tell them what to do. Qrow stood against the back wall on the right side of the arena.

"Right" Slade nodded "Today is likely going to be the only day when you're all present at one time" he paced from left to right slowly, placing his hands behind his back "Today I am going to fight each and everyone of you to gauge just what abilities you have, your strengths and weaknesses, your habits and quirks" he stopped in the center and turned his body straight towards them "Weiss" he looked to her "You have the most discipline amongst any of the others here among us. You're going to be starting us off today. Use everything you have when it comes time to fight me, I will not be going easy on you and I don't expect any of you to do so either. Use your Semblances as liberally or as infrequently as you see fit" he removed his glasses and placed them into his jacket "The rest of you will wait your turn over by Qrow, if you have any questions please direct them his way or wait until a match is over before voicing it" he received crisp nods from the group. Ironwood and Winter watched overhead in an observation room "You really think he's the best chance they've got?" Winter asked unsure.

"I've seen him in action, Winter. He's good, very good... and he's patient"

"That's it? He's skilled and patient?"

"Patience is one of the best qualities in a teacher, Winter" he smiled at her lightly "Slade will come to surprise you if you let him, I can assure you he's not as bad as you make him out to be"

"I was informed of all the crimes he committed here while we were gone, General. By your order or not, he's still a criminal"

"Maybe, but not all criminals are bad people, Winter. Sometimes, criminals are just good people trying to do the right thing when no one else will"

The group all moved to the edge of the ring by Qrow and watched as Weiss got into her combat stance in front of Slade. Slade did the same, crossing his arms over his chest "Whenever you're ready" a transparent shield encircled the ring as he said this indicating it was safe to begin.

Weiss launched herself forward with her glyphs and stabbed her blade for Slade's chest. Slade stepped to the right, turning as he struck slamming his knee into her chest and then punching her in the face with his right arm "Don't attack at long range with a short range strike" Slade pointed out as she caught herself "You're giving your opponent too much time to react"

Weiss struck her blade horizontally, using the Dust in her blade to send a wave of fire toward him. Slade dropped beneath it only to find a second one coming straight for his face. Slade pushed himself forward and tucked his body into a straight line as he passed between them. His ears perked up at the sound of multiple glyphs appearing behind him launching ice crystals toward him. Slade used the armor on his arms and legs to block and deflect the shards as he regained his footing, Weiss struck Myrtenaster for his back while she had an opening only to find it was caught underneath Slade's arm, he slammed his elbow into her chest and rolled away from her putting his hands up defensively as he prepared for her next move.

"Very good, those attacks were all perfectly timed. A weaker opponent wouldn't have been able to defend against a combo like that as easily"

"Tyrian could" she sighed in frustration.

"True, but you won't be expected to fight him on your own"

Weiss stabbed the tip of her blade into the ground, summoning Arma Gigas. Slade made no move to stop her, instead waiting to see just how long it took her to fully summon the creature. Once summoned it charged forward and slashed it's blade down at him in a vertical strike. Slade rolled to his left and then leapt on the side of the blade, running up it toward the creature's chest and leaping onto it's helmet slamming his fist into it with the help of his Semblance, destroying it. Wiess launched herself using her glyphs as he struck and stabbed for his chest once more. Slade ducked out of the way just in time as she caught herself on another glyph, she launched herself back at him. Slade caught himself on his hands and spun as he blocked her strikes with the armor on his boots.

Pushing off, he slid onto his back from the ice on the ground beneath him. Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster for his chest only to find the blade caught between his hands stopping just in front of him chest. Slade slammed his heel into her chest throwing her backward, she rolled to a stop having lost her grip on Myrtenaster. Slade stood up and slowly walked toward Weiss as she struggled to catch her breath "That's enough for today" he extended his hand to her, she accepted reluctantly and accepted her weapon back from him.

"That was rather embarrassing" she sighed.

"Ironwood wouldn't have asked me to train you if he didn't think I could beat you in a fight" he laughed "Don't be disappointed, you actually did much better than I expected. I figured you'd be the one with the least amount to learn" he smiled at her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really" he dropped the shield "Blake! You're up next!" he called.

"What's the verdict then?" Weiss asked "What can I do to improve?"

"Honestly?" he crossed his arms "You've already got a good stance, you're combat form is rather versatile despite it's rigid appearance, you have remarkable control over your Semblance and you've integrated it into your style expertly. There were only two main issues I found with you: Your summoning takes too long in the midst of combat if you're not against Grimm or don't have an ally to cover you, and your endurance and stamina are extremely lacking"

"My endurance?" she asked surprised.

"That's right" he nodded as Blake approached "You've shown extraordinary mastery of combat and your Semblance for your age, but despite that... we did only fight for a few minutes and you're winded" he smirked "Focus yourself on endurance training and you'll notice for yourself how much easier combat will be overall. You'll likely want to focus on hand-to-hand while you're at it, I wasn't able to test that before you tired out on me"

"Thanks" she smiled, happy at his praise.

Blake placed herself across from him as Weiss exited the arena, the shield went up and she attacked without hesitation. Slade barely managed to slide back away from her first strike, she was moving at incredibly high speeds. Slade elected to block and dodge her strikes rather than try and match her speed. Blake struck for his head only to meet his gauntlet, splitting Gambol Shroud she struck for his legs and chest. Slade ducked back slightly to avoid the higher strike and lifted his right leg over her strike as he shifted his left to block it giving him an opening to strike. Slade grabbed her right hand and kicked her in the chest, but found he had missed when she used her Semblance to avoid his strike, throwing herself to the right.

Having grabbed her arm previously, he pulled her back toward him and flipping forward he slammed his boot into her back, crashing her into the ground. Slade flipped back away from Blake as she fired Gambol Shroud at him, deflecting her shots. Blake goes in close and becomes a blur of afterimages as she slashes both blades at Slade, who backs away and deflects each would-be blow with his gauntlets at unbelievable speeds. Blake continues to dash, hop over, and slide around Slade to try and find a weak spot. Slade grabs her left arm and slung her around his shoulder throwing her backward with a kick to her abdomen.

Slade fire several shots from his left gauntlet at Blake, she easily deflected them then threw Gambol Shroud at him in pistol form. Slade caught it and pulled Blake toward him with both hands, flipping over her strike as she soared toward him. Blake twisted around after finding her footing and struck for his face, Slade caught her arms by her wrists and wrenched her weapon away from her and kneed her in the chest. Blake stumbled back several feet, groaning in pain.

Blake used her Semblance to throw herself toward Slade, flipping as she did and kicking her legs at his face as he blocked with his gauntlets. Slade pushed her backward with his arm, flipping her next to her shadow. Blake grabbed her shadow by the legs and threw it toward Slade, he struck the shadow and it dissipated as he made contact with it, surprising Slade. Blake struck Slade with an uppercut, throwing him up into the air, he flipped over and then launched himself back at her using his gauntlets, striking the ground as she used her Semblance to get away yet again.

Blake struck her right hand towards Slade's face and he caught the strike before kicking her in the abdomen, throwing her backward. Blake used her Semblance to throw her back at Slade in the air and slammed her fist into his face, catching him off-guard. Blake kicked for his head and he ducked under the strike, followed by slamming his head into her chin and striking his right arm at her.

Blake blocked the strike easily and countered with her own, he ducked beneath it. Blake followed her attack with thrusting her knee up into his chest as he blocked with his left arm and slammed her left arm down at him from above, meeting his right. Slade slammed both of his fists into her chest and knocked her to the ground beside her weapon "Very good" he smirked "I think I have seen everything I need to"

Blake forced herself to her feet, scooping up her weapon as she did "And?"

"Your endurance is clearly substantial considering you don't even look fatigued, you excel at highspeed combat keeping your opponents off balance rather than using brute force, you stop them from being able to figure out your next move. I'll admit you gave me a run for my money" he laughed "You've also got considerable ability when it comes to hand-to-hand, couple that with your quick reflexes and your Semblance... I would say your biggest problem is being too fast"

"Huh?" she looked confused.

"You've trained yourself to fight at high speeds, you struggle against opponents who can do the same due to being unable to keep them off balance which is your main advantage. However this is not the case, you always have the advantage in a fight due to your incredible reflexes. Focus on slowing down a bit, taking the time to get a read on your opponent before striking haphazardly. I think you'll find it much easier to keep stronger or more experienced opponents off balance if you figure out what exactly that balance is first" he explained.

"So, I need to slow down..." she pondered "It makes sense, I did struggle with Adam when we fought because of his speed being able to match mine. It's why I wasn't able to get away from him in Argus, but I was just fast enough to keep ahead"

"Good. If you rely on your speed 24/7 you'll find opponents like Tyrian will be able to easily keep up with you. If you learn to start slow and then gradually work your way up, you'll have better luck tiring them out before you start speeding up. It's not often someone would be able to match your endurance in a fight, use that to your advantage"

"Got it" she smiled.

"He's a natural" Qrow laughed.

"He kinda sounds like you when you were teaching me, Uncle Qrow" Ruby smiled.

Qrow looked over at him "Yeah" he smiled "He does"

"Nora!" he called

"Yes! My turn!" she rushed past Blake.

"I already know your style relies heavily around overwhelming and explosive force" Slade said as he raised the shield "You use wide arcs for your attacks to build momentum before striking. I saw your Semblance first hand back at Haven, so I know you posses extraordinary strength even without it" he got into his stance as she did the same "Show me what else you've got"

Nora and Slade began trading blows, she primarily used Magnhild and downward strikes which he easily avoided due to her lack of speed.

"How do you think he's picking the order we go in?" Yang asked.

"He started with me because he said I had the most discipline" Weiss pointed out.

"He meant to say you have the most training" Qrow chuckled "He's picking from the strongest to the weakest in terms of being able to fight him"

"What!? Weiss isn't the strongest!" Ruby shouted exasperatedly.

"Maybe not, but she and Blake have the least amount to work on" he smirked.

"He's probably going to pick me last then" Oscar shrugged "I don't know almost anything when it comes to fighting"

"Only the stuff Oz and I taught you, plus anything you picked up from Oz subconsciously" Qrow agreed "You're probably right"

Nora fired her hammer and struck down at Slade, he stepped aside and slammed his fist into her chest throwing her backward and placing his hands on the weapon he kept it in place. Nora pulled herself back up and rushed toward Slade, slamming her fist into his chest. Slade caught her fist in his palm and slammed his opposite palm into her collarbone, pushing her backward without hurting her.

"I've seen enough"

"What!? We've barely even started!"

"You haven't improved much in single combat since we last fought, you're better when you're being supported. Your attacks are too obvious, anyone with enough sense could see them coming a mile away. My suggestion to you is figuring out how to move faster without being obvious. If you cannot move fast you must conceal your movements better, if that's too difficult for you, then you'll have to speed up your strikes. Give yourself a few days of practice and figure out which method suits you better" he turned to the group "Ren!"

Nora grumbled all the way to her seat. Yang was starting to get annoyed at not getting picked, believing he was choosing based off of skill.

"Alright, Ren. I didn't see much of your fighting skill when we first met" he smirked "Let's remedy that"

Ren nodded as the shield was raised firing Stormflower while rushing forward. Slade blocked with one hand and fired back with the other. Ren leapt over Slade as he reached him firing as he did. Slade swiftly kicked his leg across Ren's hands, knocking Stormflower aside, knowing long range wasn't going to be an issue for him. Ren used a palm strike for his chest, Slade used his left palm to catch the strike by his forearm and then punched Ren with his opposite arm in the face, stumbling him back slightly. Ren used his Aura to block Slade's next strike and then switched to using it offensively, sliding Slade back several feet. Slade and Ren traded blows blindingly quick without either landing a hit on the other. Slade fired Defiance into Ren's chest as he used his Aura to defend himself, he fired several more shots, throwing him back as he couldn't block them all in his current state.

Ren got onto one knee and struggled to catch his breath "Good, you lack endurance like Weiss but you've mastered your Aura for defense and offense enough that it shouldn't be a problem in most cases. Unfortunate that your Semblance has no practical combat usages against anything but Grimm" Slade sighed lightly as he loaded his weapon once more "You've got a clear mastery of martial arts but lack the ability to maintain it against brute force for long" Slade explained.

"I understand" Ren nodded "I will begin working on my endurance with Weiss right away"

Slade grunted in acknowledgment "Ruby! You're up next"

Yang's annoyance was not improving as he continued to pick others over her "He can't be picking by who has the least to work on, right? Ruby has had less training than anybody here aside from Oscar"

"We don't even know why he's picking anyone in the order he is picking" Qrow offered "Could be anything, so don't worry about it. If it's really bothering you, why don't you ask him?"

"Maybe he's picking from who he likes from least to most?" Jaune added trying to be helpful.

"He better not!" Weiss glared earning a laugh from the group slightly lightening Yang's mood.

"Ready?" Ruby asked, receiving a curt nod she used her Semblance to rush toward him. Slade fired Defiance at her, Ruby split in two around the bullet and reconnected behind him "The hell?" Slade twisted around and blocked Crescent Rose arcing down toward his face with his gauntlets Ruby's Semblance is supposed to be speed, what the hell kind of Semblance was that? he wondered. Slade pushed Crescent Rose back and flipped backward over a horizontal strike for his chest. Slade fired Defiance in the air forcing Ruby to block the round with the hilt of the weapon and spun it behind her, striking for his right side as he got his footing.

Slade ducked beneath the scythe and slammed his heel into the end of it, swinging it back around behind her. Slade followed by spinning with the kick and kicking her across the face with his opposite boot. Ruby thrusted the hilt of Crescent Rose into his face, stumbling him back slightly then flipping over him. She sliced horizontally for his chest as he turned, stepping just out of range to avoid it. Pulling Crescent Rose over her head, she sliced downward as his wrist blades emerged from his gauntlets, blocking the strike with his right hand and directing her weapon to his left as he turned his right side to her front. Ruby flipped her scythe in her hand and sliced upward, forcing Slade to duck back out of the way of the blade before kicking his right leg into her chin followed by her chest tossing her onto her back.

Slade kicked her in the abdomen as she stood back up, knocking her into the air. He followed and slammed his fist into her abdomen flipping her backward before grabbing her cloak and slamming her into the ground over his shoulder. Slade slammed his heel into the ground just as she fired Crescent Rose to launch herself out of the way and began firing at him. Slade blocked her shots with ease with his gauntlets. Ruby launched herself toward Slade by firing her weapon, Slade clashed his wrist blade against her scythe causing the air around them to explode outward from the force of the strike. Slade smirked, impressed by her capabilities Guess it's about time we test how reliant she is on this thing Slade arced his arm around the center of the handle and flipping over it slammed his heels into her abdomen throwing her backward, wrenching Crescent Rose from her grasp.

Ruby caught herself with her hands and rushed toward him using her Semblance. Slade caught her punch for his face with his palm and matched it with his own. Ruby ducked under it and slammed her fist into the side of his face, stumbling him with her speed. Slade kicked upward, and she used her Semblance to get behind him striking him in the back followed by doing so again in his side knocking him around. Slade smirked "Impressive use of your Semblance to mask your lack of combat skill without a weapon" he twisted away from her next strike and kicked her in the chest, throwing her backward "But you're predictable" he turned toward her and held up his hand for her to stop as she grabbed her weapon.

"What do I have to work on then?" Ruby asked eagerly.

"While you're very skilled when it comes to combating the Grimm, you don't seem to fare so well against ordinary opponents. You're heavily reliant on Crescent Rose and your hand-to-hand capabilities are woefully lacking, you'd make an easy target for common street thugs that way. Without your weapon you'd be almost useless in a fight right now, your best bet would be to use your speed to retreat. Your cloak is also a hazard, it can be easily exploited against you in combat" Slade explained.

"If you think my hand-to-hand is bad now, you should've seen me before Ozpin taught me some tricks in Mistral" she squinted her eyes at him "Don't you have a cloak on too?" she asked accusingly.

"Indeed" he nodded with a smirk "From time to time it has been a hazard to me as well, that's why you must be made aware of it at all times during combat. Your enemy will always use any advantage they can over you. I fight defensively, so my cloak doesn't usually cause problems due to not allowing anyone to get behind me. You fight very aggressively and use your speed and agility to outmatch your opponents. Unfortunately, people aren't like Grimm. If you don't defeat someone quickly, you're going to find yourself being easily beaten. Give it a good three minutes and anyone has probably seen most of your tricks by then"

"Oh... So... I need to work on my hand-to-hand, I figured as much... I also need to work on my awareness and predictability?"

Slade nodded "When you used your speed to keep ahead of me before, you always did every attack in the same order as before. Front, back, side" he listed off on his fingers "Change it up a bit and people won't be able to predict how you'll strike. Don't get set into a habit and stick with it. Adapt to your opponent. You wouldn't fight a Death Stalker the same way you'd fight a Nevermore would you?"

"No, I suppose not" she looked thoughtful for a moment "I think I understand! Thank you, Slade"

Slade nodded "If you need any extra help, don't be afraid to ask" she nodded and turned to exit the ring "Ruby" he called dropping the shield.

"Yeah?" she asked curiously, turning back toward him.

"What did you say your Semblance was again?"

"Super speed?" Ruby asked like it was a trick question "Why?"

"How did you split yourself at the beginning of our match?" Slade asked genuinely curious.

"I don't know... I kinda just... did it... it's not the first time" she answered.

Slade pondered her words for a moment "Perhaps it's not speed at all" he said just above a whisper.

"You say something?"

"Hmm?" he looked up at her "No, no, nothing important. Jaune!" he called.

"Finally!" he yelled getting up and rushing past Ruby.

"Guess I am going last" Yang sighed.

"Tell me about it" Oscar chuckled.

Jaune charged Slade with his Crocea Mors and slashed his blade for Slade's chest. Slade slid back away and kicked up at Jaune's face. Jaune leaned back away from his kick but was forced to use his shield to block the second strike as he dropped his boot down toward his shoulder. Jaune pushed back hard, throwing Slade into the air, he simply flipped back and used his right hand to steady himself as he landed. Jaune swung his blade wildly and with little clear coordination before Slade slipped around behind him from under his previous strike. Slade wrapped his left arm around his neck from behind and flipped him over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground.

"You're strong, you're able to withstand powerful strikes with that shield and your strikes are strong enough that they'd likely knock me off balance were I to actually try and block them rather than dodge" Slade explained as Jaune formed his blade into it's larger claymore form "Your stance is practically perfect too" he pointed out as Jaune charged him.

Slade slid to his left to avoid the strike and slammed his knee into Jaune's chest twice before pushing him back with his palm. Slade flipped sideways and kicked Jaune in the face with both of his legs, sliding him back several meters. Jaune growled in annoyance, charging him once more. Slade waved his hand to the left and threw Jaune to the floor with his Semblance.

"You're disciplined in what you've been taught, but your inexperience is getting the better of you" Slade stepped toward him as he pushed himself up "When we first met you were far more careful than you are now" he held out his hand to Jaune to help him up. Jaune accepted "Now. Let's start again"

Jaune nodded, then lifted his blade over his head to strike "Stop" Slade ordered, confusing Jaune.

"Uh... what am I doing wrong? I didn't even start yet?"

"You're using your sword in the form of a large weapon instead of using it like a longsword as you should be" Slade answered.

"Huh?" he looked confused "Are you saying I should never use this?"

"No, Jaune. I am saying you're fighting an opponent you know uses agility and quick defensive strikes to fight, correct? You've no doubt noticed how I fight long before now given the many examples today alone"

"Well yeah, I did notice but what does that have to do with this?" he gestured to his weapon.

"You cannot attack quickly with that weapon the way it is now. Sure it's meant to be an aggressive weapon, that I can see easily. But slow aggressive tactics against a quick defensive fighter isn't going to get you anywhere. Nora will always have difficulty fighting someone like me due to our differences in speed" he explained "Your weapon is perfectly suited for a defensive and aggressive fighting style much like Qrow's" he gestured over to him.

"Then what do you recommend?"

"Ironwood told you earlier that I analyze my opponents before striking, you analyze as well" he turned to his right and gestured to the open space "If Hazel were to be your opponent, you would want to fight aggressively with your weapon the way it is at current so you could put him down with overwhelming strikes. Cinder for instance is not an opponent you want to take on aggressively, that shield will be the only thing between you and death" he turned back toward him "You should focus on analyzing and waiting for an opening before striking, you're easily the smartest person here next to me, hell you might even be smarter than me for all I know" Jaune changed his blade back into it's longsword form.

"I think I understand"

"Good" Slade smiled "Now, I know you're training has been focused on getting you caught up with your classmates so you haven't really touched on hand-to-hand combat and your Aura is stronger than anyone's I have met so far" he placed his hand on his shoulder as he walked him out of the ring "Focus on developing your Aura as a shield and a weapon, as well as your capability to be patient rather than reckless and you'll be well on your way to being one of the best Huntsmen out there"

"You really think so?" he asked surprised.

"Of course" Slade smiled genuinely "I know that others have accomplished more than you in many aspects of your life until now, so believe me I understand your frustration, and desire to see results, to make a name for yourself... but I can assure you, allowing your impatience and emotions get the better of you in battle will always result in your failure"

Jaune remained silent for a short period before smiling at Slade "Thank you, Slade. I needed to hear that" he turned and headed over towards his friends. Slade placed his gaze onto Yang, she smiled lightly and began to stand up.

"Oscar!" he called surprising her "Get up here" he gestured for him to follow.

Oscar looked at Yang and shrugged "Sorry?" he said unsure of what to say before rushing over to Slade with Ozpin's cane in hand.

"Alright, you haven't had any training outside of what you were taught in Mistral correct?" Slade asked.

"Yeah" he answered with a quick nod.

"Good, that means you have the furthest to go" Slade smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I have no training and I don't know what I am doing. Shove it in my face more why don't you" he joked.

"Everyone in this room has been where you are right now, Oscar" Slade laughed "Never be afraid to be the only idiot in a room full of geniuses"

"Huh?" Oscar looked confused "Why is that a good thing? Wouldn't you want to be the smartest one in the room?"

"If you're always the smartest guy in the room, you'll never grow. People grow and evolve by what they learn from others, be it directly or indirectly. The dumbest one in the room has the most amount of room to learn, and therefore the most room to grow. You may even find you can grow beyond your teachers someday"

"Oh... that makes sense... and it actually does make me feel better" he smiled "Thanks"

"Yeah, yeah" Slade waved off "We're here to kick the crap out of each other, so let's get to it already" he got into his combat stance. Oscar followed shortly afterward, ready to attack with The Long Memory.

Oscar's Aura is fused with Ozpin's and has full access to his memories... Ozpin was able to maintain his original dexterity and motor control during our fight in Haven for the period he was in control but even then Oscar was still aware of what was going on around him. Once Oscar regains control of his body, he loses that level of coordination... I am curious to see just how much of Ozpin is still in there subconsciously

Yang slumped against the wall, she had given up at this point. She now knew she would be the last one to fight.

Oscar leapt forward striking his cane down at Slade, he slid back away from the strike and kicked both of his legs upward. Oscar flipped over Slade and thrusted his cane toward his back. Slade arced his right arm up as he turned and caught the cane with the underside of his elbow. Slade raised his right leg to strike Oscar's face, noticing this as soon as he moved, Oscar ducked beneath the strike. Slade noticed his movement and switched to a downward kick, slamming Oscar into the ground and losing his grip on the cane.

Slade flipped backward and flipped the cane around in his hand as Oscar picked himself up. Ruby leaned over to Yang "Is Slade really going to go all out on Oscar?" she asked nervously.

"He hasn't really been using his Semblance much with any of us today. I doubt he's going to switch that up for Oscar, so no" she answered honestly.

"Phew" Ruby wiped her brow in relief "Was getting a bit worried there for a second"

Oscar rushed forward, pulling his arm back to strike Slade. Oscar found his fist caught in Slade's grip and was smacked across the face with the cane. Slade made no move to attack him further.

"So what now you're just gonna smack me around with a cane like an old man?" Oscar asked rubbing his sore cheek.

"Your senses are heightened" Slade answered.

"Huh?" Oscar looked confused.

"I imagine it's your subconscious connection to Ozpin, but you notice my attacks before I even start making them" he explained "When you notice an attack, don't immediately dodge if you're going to leave yourself open to attack" Slade held The Long Memory in his right hand and prepared to swing it at Oscar, he ducked under the strike as he swung and stood back up straight his attention on the cane "Look at me"

Oscar turned his focus onto Slade "Okay"

"You can still see this right?" he referred to the cane.

"Yeah"

Slade moved the cane like he was going to strike and Oscar ducked once more, as Slade stopped in place "No, no, no" Slade said calmly "Relax, Oscar. Nothing has happened yet, focus on me and breathe" he instructed "If you respond to what I might do, you'll find you're unable to focus on what's important. You will have to make that decision when the time comes, not before and you can't afterward because it's too late. If you move too soon" he slowly moved the cane like he was attacking to demonstrate "Move now" Oscar ducked "I'll change tactics and just hit you from above instead of across" he lightly tapped on his head with the cane "Notice I did that before when I had you caught in my grip"

"I'm not sure I understand"

Slade pondered for a moment before smiling "Move when you think I should move, I am going to swing slowly" Slade moved the cane very slowly to attack him, Oscar ducked as it was just about to pass over his shoulder "Very good" Slade smirked "That time I would've had too much momentum on my swing to stop myself and change my strike, you understand?"

"I think so, you want me to react to a problem, not react to the possibility"

"Very well said" Slade genuinely smiled before kicking for his chest. Oscar slid to his left and then flipped backward over a second kick and caught his cane between his hands as Slade thrusted it toward his chest, he grinned "Very well done, Oscar. Big difference" he flipped the cane over and handed it back to him "This isn't the problem, it's me" he pointed to himself "I am the problem. Always keep you focus on the problem and not the distraction. If you focus on the distraction, you'll cause yourself to be paranoid by what could happen and not what is happening. Respond to today's problem before worrying about tomorrow's. Fear is a choice, it is a product of our imagination of something that does not at current, and may not ever exist" Oscar accepted the cane back.

"Have you ever thought about being a teacher?" Oscar asked.

"No" Slade's eyebrow raised "Why?"

"I think you'd be really good at it" he smiled, Slade matched his with a slight shake of his head.

"Go on, we're done for today. You and I will likely be having many more one on one sessions from here on out" he gestured to Yang "You're up, Yang!"

"Finally!" she shouted standing.

Yang rushed to the center before Oscar even had the chance to move "Woah" he back up two steps in surprise "Someone is eager" he laughed.

"You made me wait long enough, Slade. Let's go!" she punched her fists into the air in front of her eagerly.

Seems like it worked Slade smirked "Oscar, go ahead and take your seat so we can begin" he nodded toward the group. Oscar quickly moved out of the ring as to not annoy the clearly impatient Yang.

The second the shield was raised, Yang charged Slade. He seemed to anticipate her move and locked her forearm between his arms and kicked her twice in the chest before flipping over her arm and kicking her in the face, spinning her through the air. Yang quickly picked herself up and charged forward as he did the same. Slade flipped himself forward, slamming his shoulder toward her face as she blocked with her left Ember Celica, sliding on her knees beneath him. They both slid to a stop behind the other and twisted around to attack.

Yang slid on her side for Slade's legs, he hopped over her twisting to face her as he regained his footing. Yang pushed herself off the ground with her hands and kicked for his face. Slade stepped back, leaning back away from the kick as she twisted toward him. Yang leapt up, following up with three kicks for his chest as he blocked with both his gauntlets, as the last kick connected, she remained in the air and swung her opposite leg for his head, forcing Slade to duck forward to avoid it.

Yang stood back up straight and twisted around punching for his face twice, he easily deflected her strikes. Yang spun around, the back of her prosthetic arm for his face, firing as she did to increase the speed of her strike. Slade ducked beneath it then leapt up to avoid her kick for his left knee, tucking his legs in, he slammed his heels into Yang's chest knocking her backward, she slid to a stop. Slade caught himself on his hands and flipped back onto his feet, pushing off the ground with his heels, he struck his fist for Yang.

Yang blocked the strike to her chest with her arm but failed to blocked the follow up jab for her face, stumbling her slightly. Slade placed his hands on the ground and standing on them kicked both of his heels, one after the other into Yang's face before returning to his normal stance. Yang's eyes flashed red and she swung wildly for his head and then his chest. Slade ducked under the first strike and then slid to his right away from the second before pulling his arms to his face to block two more strikes for his head. Yang attempted to uppercut him but he stepped back just in time to avoid it.

Yang twisted with her strike and kicked for his abdomen twice, she managed to land the first but he blocked the second then ducked as she twisted around to swing her leg for his head. Slade swung for her head with his fist as she ducked back away from it then blocked his next strike for her abdomen with his opposite hand. Yang struck for his head, which he barely managed to avoid, not having the time to block.

Yang and Slade continued to trade blows for several minutes with neither landing a hit. Yang's Aura flared even more as her anger got the better of her, she attempted to slam her fist into Slade's chest with everything she had, but he matched her strike and their fist's collided, her metal one striking his armored glove. Slade winced in pain but continued nonetheless, he matched her next strike as she kicked for his face, both of their legs clashing with the other. Tucking his leg around her knee, he forced her down and smashed his fist into her face.

Slade didn't ease up and slammed both of his fists into her chest one after the other, then slammed his knee into her abdomen before she managed to recover enough to defend herself. Yang blocked his next strike with her right forearm, then placed both her arms together to block his next strike. Stepping back, she managed to avoid another strike and caught his arm underneath her own for his next using her left knee and forearm. Latching onto his wrist she used her Semblance and smashed her fist into his chest then followed with a kick to it, throwing him onto his back.

Sliding on his back, Slade caught himself on his hands and flipped to his feet, sliding to a stop. Looking up at Yang, he smirked "I figured as much"

"Figured what?" Yang asked not understanding.

"You get stronger from taking damage, but your frustration can easily be exploited by skilled opponents, Yang. Haven't you noticed yet?" Slade asked.

Yang thought back to their previous encounters and experiences watching him fight including what she witnessed today "You... you haven't even been trying to fight me" she lowered her hands in shock "Why? You pulled out all the stops when you fought the others, you even used your own Semblance when necessary... why not with me?"

"Why do you think I made you wait so long before calling you in?" Slade crossed his arms over his chest "You were getting upset every time I didn't pick you. I noticed your temper boils over far too easily and now I got to see how your frustration affects your abilities in a fight"

"You weren't choosing me last because I was the worst, you did it because you wanted me angry?"

"I would've chosen you much sooner had that not been the case" he explained.

"Oh" Yang rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"From what I saw of your matches during the Vytal Festival, you've got more control over it now then back then. You used my force against me very well despite my overall lack of effort. You also seem to struggle against kick-based fighting styles like my own, picked up on that after your match with Mercury, though you more or less seem to have adapted better for that as well" he smiled proudly "However, you upset yourself just as easily as someone else could. I am quite well-versed when it comes to dodging and blocking attacks, this frustrated you, which only made you more predictable and easily avoided. If you were to use your Semblance then, you likely would miss and be out of energy" he explained as he approached her.

"Yeah..." she looked disappointed "I didn't even mean to use my Semblance on you... I just-"

"Your anger causes you to unintentionally activate it, I have seen it once or twice even when we weren't in battle"

Yang laughed lightly "Dad said it's "basically a temper tantrum" Slade laughed as well.

"Well it is certainly a liability when facing stronger or more experienced opponents if they're able to evade or even just outlast the duration of it. This of course would leave you too weak and tired to properly defend yourself, leaving you vulnerable"

"I know" Yang sighed "Dad and I had a talk about it. He said it's better to be used as a last resort rather than a crutch, I was over relying on it to win every match during the tournament" she explained annoyed that she doesn't have better control yet.

"Trust me, Yang. I understand where you're at right now" he placed a hand onto her shoulder "When I was first learning how to use my Semblance it wasn't an easy thing to control, I see yours was easy to learn how to use but not how to reel in. I had several times where I accidentally destroyed things I was trying to manipulate in my first year" he laughed.

"How did you learn to stop doing it on instinct?" she asked curiously.

"Honestly? I learned better control over my emotions, not my Semblance. That came later"

"But if I can't control my Semblance then what good is it to have control over my emotions?"

"Your Semblance like my own is emotionally triggered" Slade explained as they exited the ring "Controlling you emotions is controlling your Semblance. Once you've got a grip on that temper of yours, you'll be able to use it at will instead of just whenever something annoys you too much" he explained "Why don't you take the time and look at my old matches from when I was first in the Vytal Festival" he suggested "It might show you a bit of what I am talking about"

"Didn't you win the Vytal Festival and become the champion that year?" Yang asked.

"I did, but I assure you it was not so easy as Ozpin and Qrow made it seem" he laughed "I honestly wasn't even very good at strategy back then, I could figure out my enemy before they could do the same to me, but that didn't mean I knew what to do with that information. That tournament was probably the best teacher for strategizing and tactics than any of the professors at Beacon"

"Bet I could've won mine if it wasn't for Cinder" she growled.

"I would've liked to see that match" Slade laughed "From the looks of it that year, Pyrrha and you would've been the ones in the final bracket. Either way, someone from Beacon would've won then"

"Better than somebody from Atlas" she laughed.

"Anywhere else winning is better than Atlas" Qrow agreed as the two reached them.

"So, then. Everyone knows what they need to work on" Slade addressed the group "If anyone has any questions, needs additional assistance, or just wants to go another round" he smirked "Just let me know, otherwise most of my time is going to be spent training Oscar or being trained by Qrow"

"There's not really a whole lot I could teach you from what I saw today, Kid" Qrow smirked "But if you're looking to lose to me, then be my guest" he chuckled.

"Any improvement is good at this point, Qrow. There's always something we can learn, you can learn a thing or two as well" Slade answered seriously before smirking back at him "Oh, and as to you winning. Bring it, Old Man" Qrow's smirk dropped into a frown at his comment.

"Don't call me old again, Kid"

"Whatever you say, Bird Boy" Slade waved off, Qrow groaned. The group laughed at their friendly dynamic.

Ironwood smiled brightly "I told you he would do well"

"I must admit... I am surprised" Winter looked toward him "I knew he was skilled, but I didn't expect him to be such a natural teacher"

"Well he's actually always been a bit of a slow learner when he was young" Ironwood chuckled "His parents started his training early because they were worried he wouldn't be good enough to get into Beacon by the time he came of age, turns out he got accepted early because of just how good he was"

"Sure, but he wasn't a prodigy or anything. Slade just ended up having been trained from an early age" Winter added following Ironwood out of the room.

"Of course, that's why it took Slade so long to learn how to use his Semblance. He's a smart kid and can understand things faster than others can, but when it comes to physical things... you might as well have been throwing the book at him. He only learned something when he figured it out for himself"

"Then it is doubly surprising he is as skilled as he is" Winter corrected.

"Ozpin started showing him some things personally, not to mention Qrow took him on as his personal student after everything that happened to his family. Qrow only started teaching Ruby when Slade had managed to learn nearly everything he could teach him"

"That's when Ozpin stepped in I assume?"

"Ozpin helped him sparingly throughout his time learning from Qrow, but he did take a more direct role in his training during his last year knowing Qrow's new obligations. Slade only managed to master his Semblance due to Ozpin's tutelage" he explained.

"That would explain his reluctance to use it during the Vytal Festival"

"You remember?" Ironwood asked surprised.

"I researched him rather extensively after he arrived here in Atlas with my sister" she answered.

"Ah" he became silent, pondering over something as they walked.

"Something wrong, General?"

"I am wondering what our next move should be... with Slade's guidance those kids should start improving rather quickly, but what then? How're we supposed to ensure we're protected when Salem comes for Atlas if we don't even know her plans?"

"Permission to speak freely, Sir"

"Granted"

"I believe you're doing everything you can right now. The only way we're going to find out who it is, is if we start cracking down harder on security"

"The citizens aren't going to just accept more restrictions, especially the Faunus. Not after what happened"

"Perhaps, but couldn't you tell them something? Anything? The people need to know you're keeping their best interest at heart"

"I can't" Ironwood sighed "If I tell them anything right now, any suspicions we have. Our mysterious hacker is going to disappear or stop his work completely, for all we know he's sabotaged more than just our drones, and fake orders"

"Then at the very least we should put something into place to stop our troops from receiving these false orders, perhaps Doctor Watts could keep an eye on the security while Doctor Polendina is doing his work?"

"You really want to involve Arthur in this?" Ironwood asked "He's busy enough making sure our security is uncrackable for the incoming attack"

"We don't even know when the attack is coming, Sir. It could be tomorrow or it could be next month. All we know is that someone who doesn't even need to hack us is messing around in our security systems"

"How can we be sure Arthur isn't the one responsible?" Ironwood asked her curiously.

"I can't give you a definitive reason as to why we should trust him with what's going on, but there's only three people from the original team that made our security program and are still alive. Polendina is already revoking the others access to narrow down the search"

"It's entirely possible that none of them are involved, but they're all likely suspects. Make sure you double the guard at the polls. We don't want the election to be hit now of all times"

"Understood... what about Dr. Watts?"

"Give Pietro some time to get some progress on the data reconstruction, a few days at the most, then tell Arthur I want to see him in my office. In the meantime keep the others off duty so they have time to train. I want them all fit for action"

"Yes, General"

Back in the arena the group had all started working on what Slade had told them, Slade approached Qrow while Oscar waited patiently for him "Qrow"

"Hmm?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Do you mind taking over with Oscar for today, I need a bit of a break" Qrow laughed.

"After fighting all of them individually, I imagine you do" he nodded "Go ahead, kid. I got him" he walked over to Oscar and explained the situation while Slade exited the room.

Slade quickly made his way to the nearest bathroom and locked himself inside, deactivating his Semblance. Slade collapsed onto the counter painfully, pulling himself up to the sink he spat the blood from his mouth and groaned in pain. Stripping down his top half, he checked his chest for any outlying wounds but found nothing "What the hell?" he wondered. Running his hands along the left side of his abdomen he felt the pain shoot through his body once more "Dammit!" he cursed under his breath from the pain.

---

"Are you going to be at the party later?" a tall man with brown scruffy hair and matching eyes asked, his clothes were quite fancy and official looking.

"No, I think I am going to turn in for the night. I have got the next few weeks off due to what's been going on down in Mantle. They want the "Best publisher" on the job instead of me" a blonde girl significantly shorter than him answered annoyed, using quotes with her hands as she did. She had blue eyes and dressed rather causally.

"That's harsh" he winced.

"Yeah, I know" she sighed "I just really want to have a shower and get to bed right now, it's been a long day"

"Go ahead, you deserve one after today" he agreed "I'll be sure to save some of the food for you at my place!" he called as he turned to leave.

"Thanks, your the best!" she shouted after him. She unlocked her door and entered her apartment, the apartment gave her a magnificent view of the city of Atlas "She dropped her keys onto the table and made her way toward the bathroom. A crisp knock sounded at her door "What now?" she asked exasperated.

"Housekeeping" a female voice called from the other side.

"Ugh" she walked over to the door "I am tired, and I just want to take a shower. Can you come back later-" she opened the door and was confused "Wait a minute, we don't have housekeeping-" she stopped abruptly as she felt a pain in her abdomen, she looked down to find a obsidian blade piercing her. She tried to scream for help but Cinder grabber her throat with her opposite hand.

"Sorry, we're really insistent" she grinned pushing her back into the apartment, she snapped her neck and dropped her to the ground "Dispose of her, Neo" she ordered much to Neo's annoyance. She nonetheless did so as quickly as possible. Once she was done she returned to the apartment and entered to find Cinder overlooking the city "This is much better don't you think?"

Neo huffed in annoyance "I know, I know. You're impatient to kill Ruby. Believe me I am too, but we can't just do it outright. Besides, they have a relic with no way of locking it up yet as they don't even know where the Winter Maiden is" she grinned "Once we learn about her, we will dispose of Ruby, acquire both the relics and deliver them to Salem as a show of good will. Of course, I will be taking Winter's power as well. We wouldn't want one of Ozpin's brats getting ahold of them now would we?" Neo shook her head.

"Good" Cinder turned back toward Neo "Ruby is not to be harmed until the Winter Maiden is located. Find a way to stay close to them without them noticing, learn what you can as you have been. I want results" Neo rolled her eyes, flipping out her notepad.

"How exactly do you expect me to get results on something only Ironwood knows?" she wrote, handing the paper to Cinder.

"I don't care what you do, he knows who she is, where she is. I want to know where he's hiding her!" Cinder angrily replied "Ironwood must have a file somewhere mentioning who it is, find out who!"

Neo placed the pad back into her pocket and quickly exited the apartment not wishing to be in her presence any longer. Cinder stood alone, she crossed her arms "Where are you hiding, Winter" she smiled "I am going to find you soon enough"

---

(A few days later)

Slade stood in front of Jaune, Ruby, Nora and Ren "You all worked well together when we first met in Mistral, now let's see how much you've improved your teamwork since then"

Slade immediately takes out his wrist blades in a seamless motion and moves to attack Ruby. Ren intervenes, Stormflower clashing with Slade's wrist blades, Ren kicked for Slade's face. Slade blocked with his right leg, then blocked the rounds fired at him with his left gauntlet. Slade pushed his arm forward, forcing Ren back onto his right hand as he blocked the blade with his left, Slade kicked for his face, twisting with the attack. Ren moved his right leg over to his left side, flipping himself over around his kick just before Slade threw him backward with a second kick to his back.

Slade turns to go after Ruby again, who rushed forward with Crescent Rose to meet him. Slade uses his blades to block the scythe and kicks Ruby backward, using her scythe to flip backward with the kick. She easily remains upright and swings for his chest, he manages to kick the scythe to his left around her side and moves to strike her chest. Slade manages to land a strike on Ruby's right arm, causing her to cry out at the pain. She's doesn't break stride however and leaps back to take a swing at him with her scythe. Slade dodges and lands a glancing blow against the body of Crescent Rose, managing to strike her as well, causing her Aura to shimmer across the area of the strike.

Jaune steps in at that moment and Slade places his boot onto the blade, kicking backward, he send Jaune flying as he landed on Magnhild confusing Nora as she rushed toward him. Slade kicked her across the face, knocking her down as he flipped away. Jaune rushed him again, swinging his sword for Slade's back. Slade turned and caught the blade between his hands and slammed his head into Jaune's before kicking him away.

"Jaune, there's a shield in your hand. Block with it! If I were an enemy you'd be dead" Slade warned.

Jaune groaned "Sorry, I'm being too aggressive again"

Slade shook his head "No excuses. I will not be holding back, Jaune. You all must be prepared for a real fight not a practice one" Slade moves fast to attack Jaune from behind.

"Jaune!" Ren shouts to alert him.

Ren deliberately shoots Jaune's shield so that the ricochet hits Slade. Slade covers his eyes with his arm and then cartwheels onto Jaune's shield, using his blades to spin in the air against it. Ruby steps in to face Slade on his descent, but he just kicks her to the side. She regains her ground by using Crescent Rose to steady herself. Jaune takes a swing with his sword at Slade, but he simply deflects it with his right leg and kicks him away as well.

Nora rushes Slade from behind, moving over his right shoulder and coming before him just in time to hit him with Magnhild. The blast from the contact has the other three covering their eyes from the backlash of air and dust, Jaune actually taking cover behind his shield. The air clears to reveal a perfectly fine Slade on his back, using his legs to block Magnhild. He kicks Nora twice in the face before leaping backwards with his hands away from her.

"Much better, Jaune. Nora, you've gotten faster. I love seeing improvement" Slade smirked.

Slade leapt at Ruby, using his right leg he kicked Crescent Rose down. Though surprised, Ruby didn't lose her grip on it. Slade kicked with his opposite leg for her face as she stepped back away from it. Ruby slashed for his chest just as he leaned back under it. Slamming his fist into her chest, she flew back several feet as he turns on Ren.

Slade shot Defiance for his head twice, Ren shifted around the shots. Slamming his boot into Ren's back as he charged him, he threw him to his left as Jaune rushed him. Kicking for his chest, Jaune blocked with his shield, sliding back several feet as Nora approaches him. Slade blocked her strike with his leg and flipping over Magnhild kicked her backward.

Without missing a beat, Slade goes after Ruby again. In quick succession, he delivers a right hook to her face and a left blow to her torso, He turns and swings his leg to knock her back into the air. She flies back several feet and he rushes forward to meet her before she lands. While Ruby's still midair, he kicks her right in the abdomen, causing a large red shimmer over her abdomen and hips.

Yang approached the group and watched Slade help Ruby up off the ground "You've all made improvements, but you're not doing very well with teamwork"

"We're not usually the ones fighting together" Ruby gestured to JNPR "Weiss, Blake and Yang are much easier for me to work with because we have done it so much"

"I don't care if you're not teammates, Ruby. You don't always get to choose who you're fighting alongside, a good Huntress should be able to work well with fighters of all kinds"

"Easy for you to say" Jaune groaned as he made his way over "You win every fight you're in"

"You exaggerate" Slade chuckled "I may be a formidable opponent now, but I didn't start out that way, Jaune. I can guarantee you there are plenty of people I couldn't take on my own, Tyrian Callows is one of them"

"Having fun teaching?" Yang asked with a laugh.

"Somebody's gotta make sure you're all ready when Salem gets here, I am not losing anyone else to-" Slade sighed "Sorry, I doubt you need lectures from me"

Yang smirked, crossing her arms over her chest "No, but if you have one prepared I would love to hear it... Professor" she winked.

Slade Laughs "Perhaps another time" he stares into her beautiful lilac eyes "I, uh..." he cleared his throat "There's still a lot of work to be done"

"Slade" Winter called from behind him, Oscar and Qrow in tow "General Ironwood would like to speak with you"

Slade smirked "As I was saying" he turned back toward the group "Keep training! You're not even near ready to face Salem's forces yet" he turned back to Yang "Care to join them?"

"Nah" she shook her head "Weiss was hoping to get some time in with Blake for her endurance training. I'll train later tonight once they've finished up"

"Good" Slade smirked.

"Sometime today, kids" Qrow called as he followed after Winter leading them out.

"I'll catch up with you later"

"You'd better" she punched him in the arm.

"Hey" he laughed before following after Qrow.

"You're getting awfully chummy with my niece, Kid" he smirked.

"Don't start" Slade rolled his eyes.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with it" he shrugged "It's good you're making friends, just be careful you don't overstep your bounds"

"Is that supposed to be a threat, Bird Boy?" Slade cocked an eyebrow.

"A warning"

"You know I am not scared of you, Qrow" Slade chuckled.

"I wasn't the one I was warning you about. You wouldn't like Yang when she's upset" he smirked at Slade's reaction.

"No one wants that" he shuddered.

---

That's all for this time, I wouldn't expect the next chapter to be as long as this one, but hey you never know! Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read for this long, I still can't believe it's been a whole year already since I first published this story. Thank you guys for sticking with me all this time!