Me and RWBY left the cafeteria while they laughed and I grinned to seem in place. The grin was only partially faked as I had finally had some success with Yang's power and gotten a good feel for Jaune. I hoped he was going to challenge me soon, but right now I was heading towards the simulation room once again.
It was a good walk from the cafeteria to the training hall and that gave the rest of the team time to ask me some questions. Blake stayed mostly silent to me but at least seemed no longer pissed. She must have seen my short confrontation with Pyrrha and Jaune and how I let myself be strayed to fight Jaune and not Pyrrha.
I decided to let her be wary of me. I had three people out of four in this team who believed me to be their friend. The deeper I could make that trust go, the better. She did however ask me one question. "So how long has Ruby been able to pull off that maneuver?" She asked.
I was going to answer, but Ruby spoke ahead of me. "I've known I could do it for a few weeks now, but I've only just been able to activate it when I choose to. I'm still not entirely sure how I do it either." She answered plainly. That's what we were training to figure out though.
"So will you be training with us?" She asked Blake, but also looked to Weiss. Blake shook her head and Ruby pouted. "Not right now, but I'd like you to explain to me some of the Runes later, if you would." Weiss asked. I nodded before looking at Blake.
"Why not?" I feigned interest in her joining us. "I'll wait and see the results before I decide if your 'specialized' training is worth it." She replied, some of the edge back in her voice from earlier. This edge I figured was from simple distrust contradicted with obvious results.
"Alright. You'll see eventually just how strong they can get, and then you'll be playing catch-up." I told her. She grinned in a way that I couldn't quite place before turning down a hall with Weiss and waving goodbye behind her. "Have fun." She said sarcastically. I might have asked where she was going if it mattered. We were almost at the training room though, and it was time for some fun.
Once again there were a few people sparring in the room before us. Nothing serious, just running through some new tactics and team moves. I heard quite a few name call-outs before we got to the simulation room. I repeated the command as last time and the three of us stepped onto the hot rocky plains once again.
Ruby and Yang slipped behind a rock to change into training clothes while I readied a strategy and my weapons. Yang tapped on my shoulder to tell me that they were ready. "So, what are we doing this time?" She asked.
"Pretty much the same as last time, but I won't be stopping until either you land three hits or you're both down." I could see some apprehension in their eyes as they remembered how hard it was to land even a single hit on me. The gears turned in Ruby's head as she thought about this.
"Alright. Yang, you ready?" She asked her sister. Yang responded by hopping into a fighting stance, her wrists bare due to her weapons being jammed and the stipulations of our bout. I spread my arms at my side as they rushed at me together. I could see fierceness and determination in Ruby's eyes, but Yang's only held twisted sense of exhilaration. Hers were already glowing a dull red. She must have realized I was on a level above her own and she would have to go all out the second the fight started.
I sidestepped around Ruby's first lunge and met Yang's punch with my left forearm. She threw another but I knocked it away and delivered a twisting gut punch that bent her at the waist. I jumped and drop-kicked her and she got launched a few feet away. I myself carried over into a long backflip that landed directly behind Ruby.
With a somewhat startling speed she swiped behind her. She wasn't using her new power yet, but that swing was faster than any of hers before. I had a few theories about this, but there was nothing I could make accusations on without further examination. So I ducked the blow and punched in her side twice. She grunted in pain on each strike. She brought her hands up and tried to smash down on my head from my crouched position.
I caught her hands and swung her around my left and into Yang. The rushing blonde caught her sister by the ankle to stop her and got Ruby on her feet. Back to where we started it seemed. The two of them looked at each other before nodding and adjusting their stance. "Just what do you have planned for me?" I mockingly asked.
"Come and find out." Yang said with a cocky voice. Impressive enough considering she got handed to last time we fought. I decided to oblige her and took a powerful lunge at them with both fists raised. Yang's right and Ruby's left hand shot up to block my attacks. I barely saw what was coming and pushed off of their raised arms as Ruby's right and Yang's left raised to punch my midsection. I landed a foot away from the team-attack.
The two of them advanced, each of their legs taking only one step to close the distance. A dissonating rhythm of punches fell upon me and I was forced to block them. Normally when a person attacks, they have a set pattern. The alternating forms, fighting styles, and rhythm of their non-correlating attacks made for something impossible to read and I blocked only by reflex each time.
In my current speed they were leaving almost no openings. While I might actually be able to keep this up forever, it was boring to do so. I made my own opening, increasing my speed somewhat I dropped below their punches and spun on my hands to sweep their legs. Ruby jumped over but Yang got caught by it and was sent tumbling to the ground.
A flailing hand caught the back of Ruby's hood and pulled her back as it started to put pressure on her throat. Her hands shot up and gripped the fabric so she wouldn't choke. Still on the ground, I swung around and swept again. With Ruby distracted she also fell to the ground next to her sister. Finally I conjured a Force rune in front of them.
The red and yellow sisters were launched across the hard rocks and gained a variety of scrapes before stopping. Yang was the first to get up as she was the best at recovering from blows. After all, that was her semblance. And her semblance was very activated if her blazing hair and glowing red eyes was anything to go by. Ruby was up next and had a small cut on her shoulder from a sharp rock. Yang glanced at it before locking eyes with me once again.
"Well come on then. Let's see some flames." I taunted, fanning her anger. She took off in my direction and we locked in combat once more. Disappointingly there was no fire around her other than her hair. Yang still hadn't started using her fire despite doing so accidentally not so long ago in the cafeteria. Did she forget how? Maybe she was nervous.
We fought. She threw heavy hooks that I slipped through, delivering painful and irritating punches to the sides of her face and head. It was after about thirty seconds of this that I realized she was holding back. Not much, only about 15%. Somewhere in that 15 percent however was her fire. I guess I would have to keep pushing. I like pushing.
"Stop holding back." I ordered as I slipped through another barrage and punched the tip of her nose. I neglected to hit hard enough to break it, but her eyes still immediately started to water and she cried out from the sharp pain.
"Agh! What the hell!?" She yelled at me. I shrugged with my most irritating smile and she charged me again. This time her punches were harder and just a bit faster. Not enough though, and I sought to tell her. "Why are you still holding back?" I asked. She swung again and Ruby began to join in. Their attacks were nor correlated due to the fact that Ruby had to distance herself from Yang's hair.
"I'm not!" She yelled, releasing a kick at my head. I blocked with both arms and grabbed Ruby's fist from my side, twisting it. She cried out and dropped to her knees. "Alright. I played nice, but it seems I'll have to push you as well." I twisted just a bit more and Ruby yelled again.
"Stop!" She yelled, not wanting to attack me for fear that I might twist further. I shook my head. "I'll stop when you can make me. Until then..." I twisted another centimeter and a Ruby shut her eyes from the pain. Her body contorted to try and take the pressure off. I let go of her arm and lashed out with my foot. She sprawled forwards a few feet in the rock before catching herself. She favored her right arm for the moment.
With Ruby out of my grasp, Yang charged at me. I elevated my power slightly to put me above both of them. My hand caught both of her fists before I spread her arms apart and head-butted her. She stumbled backwards while I calmly took a step towards Ruby. She was up on her feet and ready for me. "And you. You had no trouble activating your ability in the cafeteria, so what's going on now. Afraid to hurt me?"
She didn't respond and instead kicked at my ribs. I pushed her leg away with little reaction and took another step forward. She threw a few punches and I slipped behind her. A faint after-image appeared behind my body as I punched her twice in the spine before kicking her solidly across a good amount of the terrain. I strolled towards her position once again, but Yang stopped me.
"No!" She told me, and tried hammering hits into my stomach. I put my guard low and blocked them before upper-cutting her. She grabbed her jaw in pain and I hammered the side of her neck hard enough to throw her onto the ground and stepped over her. Ruby was back on her feet in front of me and holding the side I kicked with one hand. She looked angry sure, but not enough.
She didn't attack me this time, finding out that now would be a good time to go on the defensive. It didn't help her much. Without the muscle that her sister had my blows were too strong to be effectively blocked and a few large bruises were forming on her arms and face. I could feel that her aura was becoming low. I threw another punch and her arms shot up to block them.
I pushed her arms away and punched her dead in the mouth. She recoiled in obvious pain and a line blood started dripping out of her mouth as she tried to catch her breath. To Ruby's credit, she still wanted to fight. She hadn't so much as mentioned that I was going to far or anything about giving up. Not that I would have let her.
"Pathetic." I said under my breath and began to advance again. My fist pulled back and Ruby weakly raised her arms. Just as my arm began to move forwards I felt a hot pressure on my upper arm. Yang's hand was glowing a bright yellow on my arm as she pulled me back to face her.
"Enough." She said. It was quiet, but the edge in her voice screamed danger. I smiled briefly before a flashing punch landed squarely in my cheek and sent me airborne. In a surprised state I unsteadily righted myself in the air and landed shakily on my feet. The taste of iron filled my mouth. She must have hit hard enough that my cheek was cut on the inside by my teeth.
"That's one." I simply said before I ran at her. My speed lowered but I kept the strength. I threw the first punch and she blocked it. Embers coated her movements similar to the petals that coated Ruby when she activated that layer of her semblance. As each of my fists contacted her arms, which did not give whatsoever, sparks flew off her skin.
In a surprising move she countered me and threw me back with two small blasts from her open hands. It was at this distance that I got a good look at her eyes. What I saw definitely surprised me. Her normally red irises had turned a light shade of blue. Blue streaks also flickered through her hair every now and contradicted everything I knew about how semblances and eye color worked. They should at least be a shade of the color of her aura.
"That's interesting." I said.
"Shut up." She told me coolly. I could hear an ocean on controlled anger behind those words. She threw her hands behind her and launched herself on two smaller explosions. Yang landed directly in front of me with two hammering blows from above. As I blocked them there was a loud banging noise as fire exploded out to the sides from the point of contact.
With a bit of muscle I threw her arms off of my own and moved to counter her. She used the momentum from my push to move into an avoiding backflip and kept the pressure on after my punch missed. We clashed again for more than two blows and I realized that her form had become so much more refined. Anger normally made you sloppy, but this time the only thing it was doing was fueling her.
I ducked a punch and tried a chop at her leg. She moved her knee up and stamped by hand to the ground. A hammering strike hit my temple before I could react and I rolled a few times to the side. A very brief moment of dizziness came at me before I cleared up. "Alright. Gloves are off." I said, and I unshackled the speed I was holding back and boosted my strength just a bit more.
"Ruby, you heard the man. Gloves off." I looked over to Ruby who wiped the blood off her mouth and smiled. Her eyes began to glow and her skin took on a red light. Then I realized that I should never underestimate the intelligence of those two. When they were changing behind the rock they must have planned for Ruby to hold back until I had pushed whatever I could out of Yang.
"I'm impressed. You pulled a fast one on me. I guess I'll have to repay you in kind." I told them. I pushed my power upwards as well and my form began to blur around the edges. Pebbles near my feet trembled ever so slightly before I stopped, satisfied with my boost. Yang was my first target and I sought to overwhelm her. With fire in my legs I barreled at her with my arms raised in front of me.
Yang's expression did not change as she threw punches at my oncoming form. Belts of fire flew from her knuckles and I wove in between them. Once I made my way to her I slammed both her arms to the side and flip-kicked her in the jaw, landing and charging forwards again. Her hands were up again and caught both my fists in a vice grip.
A test of strength ensued and despite my boost, we were even. The ground cracked slightly as pebbles ground to dust underneath the soles of our shoes. There was a pattering noise to my right side and I quickly gave with that arm. Yang flew forward in that direction as I used the momentum to spin her into Ruby's path.
With her increased reaction time Ruby was able to weave around the form of her sister and prepare an overhead chop for me. With Yang still vice-gripped to my hands all I could do was shift to the side. She missed and I lashed out with one of my feet. She caught the treads of my boot deep in her stomach and stumbled back. With her out of the picture for a moment or two I turned my attention back to Yang.
I planted one of my feet heavily on hers and head-butted her. Hard. She recoiled, but kept her grip. I kept slamming my head into hers as she recoiled bit by bit. She was unable to move due to my foot keeping her in place and her own grip not allowing her to dodge much. After for slams she relented and let go of my hands. Instantly I double-haymakered her shoulders and sent her backwards.
Ruby clashed with me a moment later. She had gotten faster than the time and I found myself having a bit of trouble keeping up. Her silver eyes kept up their glow and the rapid flurry of movements she was making produced shrouding petals around us. So many in fact that I was almost blindsided by the burning drop-punch that Yang had meant for me.
I broke the clash and jumped back as Yang slammed into the ground in my position and rock scorched in a circle around her fist that was embedded an inch into the stone. Ruby's form zipped around her as Yang stood up. I was forced onto the defensive as she threw punch after kick after knee in my direction. Then suddenly it stopped and Yang dashed in.
I was prepared for a blow that never fell as she slipped around me. For all the speed in the world, it will still mean nothing if you are already moving in the wrong direction. My arms were up and that helped her. She slipped her arms undermine and over my head. A Full-Nelson. Damn it.
"Ruby, Brutalize!" I wasn't sure what the word 'Brutalize' had in store for me but I knew it was bad. I tried to struggle out but unless I elevated myself a lot, it would be fruitless. Breaking out of a Full-Nelson is almost impossible, especially when the holder kicks your legs away to get rid of any leverage you might have had. Basically I would have to take what was about to happen.
Ruby sighed and I figured that this must not be her favorite attack. My assumption was that she was simply too light-hearted for something that is akin to a two-person gang-beating. She sprinted up to me and stopped directly in front of me before delivering a hammering blow to my stomach. It didn't stop there. A rain of punches with white speckles from barely forming pressure cones peppered my body and face.
I didn't fell much of it at first, but after the 15th blow I was in pain and annoyed. "Enough of this!" I yelled. I turned my hands behind me as far as I could force them and at Yang's face. To Force runes intertwined with Freeze runes blasted a gale force temperature of -10 degrees at her head. There was a loud hiss of steam as she screamed in shock and let me go.
Ruby tried to fight me back, forgetting that I had just lost for the second time. Despite my current annoyance, I could appreciate two things. One, that she had the guts to keep smashing me after I had lost. It showed a bit of darkness in her that would be good to make grow. Also the fact that she fought this hard against something that she knew she couldn't beat.
The speed I had shown her that night was impossible for her to attain at this point. Yet she and Yang still fought both battles with me like they couldn't lose. There was a certain respect to give for that. That's the reason that I simply caught her wrists and prevented her from fighting me anymore. "It's over." I told her calmly and she stopped struggling.
In a few moments her red glow faded and her silver eyes dimmed to normal. I waited for her to pass out again but she instead stayed on her feet. If swaying. I heard Yang walking up behind me. When I turned around I was greeted by lilac eyes instead of blue or even red. What surprised me was that aside from some light streaks of frostbite on her cheeks, there wasn't a scratch on her.
"How's that for power?" She said cockily. The anger in her voice was gone and she seemed back to her normal self. "You're not going to pass out, are you?" I asked, though it was more of a comment. Yang shook her head and shrugged. "I feel great, even if a little drained." I nodded in thought before pointing at her pocket.
"Check your aura." I told her. She showed me the bar on her scroll that read 40%. Ruby's was 10%, explaining her normal fatigue. I could bet you that it read somewhere around 2% last time.
I addressed the lack of wounds on Yang's body and she shrugged. "Maybe I just had so much aura coursing through me that I healed as we fought." She proposed. I didn't think it was that simple, but I agreed. She seemed happy with her own answer to things and I let her be. She collected her school outfit in her arms as well as Ruby's and I ended the simulation.
"Let's head out." Yang said cheerily. The lines of frostbite on her face were already fading. Ruby stumbled next to us and I opened the door. Standing directly at the entrance was a familiar blonde hair and blue eyes. Jaune was in front of us in full combat gear. "Hey Jaune." Ruby greeted him. "What are you doing here? I've never seen you use the Simulation Room before."
"Hey Ruby. I was just here to have a few words with Darren." 'Words' carried an entirely different connotation than they were meant to, and Ruby could hear that. "Well uh, we just got done training with him so-" I cut Yang off.
"No no. I like 'talking'." I said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the word 'talking. "Why don't you two head back to the room and clean up. I'll be there soon. This won't take long." I said. Jaune's eyes blazed for a quick second until her got control of himself.
"Alright. Go easy on each other." Ruby said and let herself be led off by Yang. Jaune walked forward at me and pushed me back behind the doorway. I let him push me. Giving him a sense of power before crushing him would make it more impactful. And yes, I intended to crush him.
Jaune closed the door behind him and shoved me harder. I pretended to stumble into the center of the room. "So, what's your battlefield? Mountains, forests, frozen lake?" I asked mockingly.
"Vacuan Rock Flats, Mid-day." He yelled out, neglecting to use the dials. Around us the room changed and a hard rock rose under my feet. Most of it was a dark brown with flecks of black. It had been smoothed over like river rocks. A few large spires rose around us before the environment settled. Jaune made to unsheathe his sword before I stopped him.
"Mind tossing me that?" I asked, pointing to my sword and sheathe, the strap of which had gotten caught by a rising spire. He huffed and grabbed the blade by its handle. Ruby may handle a heavier weapon than Jaune, but he was stockier. Handling the weight of it well, he threw my sword at my feet. I calmly picked it up, unsheathing the blade and tossing the cover to the side.
"So, any complaints? You must have some reason for challenging me." I questioned him. He pulled free Crocea Mors and unfolded his shield. I was reminded of the impenetrable armor Crocea Armis, and how strong he might be if he possessed it. The thought fancied me, and I crafted an idea of how to anonymously gift it to him as my plan came together and the judgement day of this school neared.
"You already know what you did to Pyrrha. I'm gonna make you pay for that." Jaune made a speedy rush up to me, shoes clunking across the rock face. His sword rose and came at me from my side. With a simple two-handed move I blocked it and threw him back. He rose a feet off the ground and traveled a few further. Surprisingly he kept his footing.
"So you think you can do a better job than the Mistrali champion? Be my guest." I let my guard down and he rushed me again in frustration. On his first slash I shuffled just out of reach and deflected the second with my arm, hitting only the flat of the razor sharp sword. His technique had improved since Initiation Day.
I flicked my blade upwards in a mediocre attack, changing the orientation of the blade little and mostly just moving it. A couple sparks flew as it skitted off his Crocea Mors' edge. In a sudden motion I spun around and slashed sideways at the imposing teenager. He had brought his shield up in time and deflected the strike upwards.
The boy made to run me through and I stepped to the side, slashing at his unguarded side. He moved his shoulder plate upwards to block what could have become a semi-deep cut on the meeting of his neck and shoulder. He hopped with the force of the heavy blade and rolled into a stabbing motion at my center-mass. I pushed the strike away with my left hand and spun into a backhanded slash that caught the tip of his cheekbone. The clipping of bone jarred him for a second and his head slumped on his neck.
A drop of his blood hit the ground and I felt the air change slightly. When he looked up at me his eyes were harder. He had donned a grim and angered smile. "Enough games." He told me. Then he took two quick slashes at me. I blocked them and noted the bit of air pressure around them and that the wind off of each strike ruffled my clothes slightly.
He stepped back and thrust at me with both hands on the handle of his blade. I knocked it to his left side and he followed the motion. He twirled with it and jumped, bearing down with a near horizontal stab. I put my own weapon upwards and stopped it. His sword slid down the edge of mine with another spattering of sparks. As Jaune landed he bashed his armored shoulder into my chest and lifted me off the ground.
In the moment I was in the air he slashed at me once again. I used a heavy strike to parry him away and move me back onto the ground. He was pushed back a small distance by my attack and began to run at me with Crocea Mors and his shield at his side. I stabbed towards Jaune's foolishly exposed chest and his knees buckled.
My blade would have pierced his eye if he had not quickly brought his shield up and pushed it away. He slid under the stab and planted his right foot on my left. From the corner of my eye I saw Jaune push off the ground with his shield arm and rise behind me. As he did so he also struck towards my back. I kicked in opposite directions with my feet and sent myself into a fast spin. My sword banged his out of the way on my first rotation and on the second I struck him in the heavily in the chest. A shallow scratch appeared in his chest plate.
"What training have you been doing?" I asked, slightly impressed with the elite movements and attacks he had been using. On his first day here he seemed incompetent. This was leaps and bounds in skill that people normally couldn't make. Jaune didn't answer me. He instead jumped high at me, yelling, and brought his sword down with both hands.
I raised mine and intercepted the blow, and then a sharp pain spread across my cheek and eye. Incredibly confused about what happened and having to close one eye due to the sudden stinging and separating feeling, Jaune got a clean strike on my blinded side. At the site of impact and further I felt a long cut open on my side. Quickly I raised my power into a shield around me and launched myself to put distance between us.
My focus centered on my eye and I could feel the cornea begin to mend along with the cut on my eyelid. A warm and wet feeling dripped from both my face and side. "What's wrong? That surprise you?" Jaune asked.
I focused on him and saw the air part away from his blade and head to me. I raised my blade parallel to his strike and heard a sharp ping on the metal. A small cut opened on my knuckles where I gripped the handle. The answer of what he was doing became clear, but how he was doing it was more confusing. It took an immense amount of aura to extend force away from your attacks further than an inch or two. More aura than normal people have.
"Got a lot of aura, don't you?" I asked him. He smirked.
"Yep. Now hold still." With a yell Jaune unleashed a flurry of cuts at me. From his distance, judging the angle was nearly impossible to do for more than a strike or two at a time. Shallow slashes opened up on my extremities as the aura based attack slipped through mine. The pain was getting more than annoying and once I felt a square of cut away skin begin to move off my muscle, I stopped this.
Surging my power a great deal higher than I was using, I accelerated my healing. Cuts turned into scabs and began to fade. Then I raised my own sword and slashed in his direction. It was like a horse kick to the chest for him and he gawked at me. "See, two can play that game."
I sent another one, the tip of my blade clipping the floor a second prior to one of the boy's legs being blown out from under him. "I commend you for being able to pull something like that, especially on me." I had begun pacing at him and when he tried to rise I kicked him hard in his unarmored stomach. He slashed at me through the pain and a cut appeared on my forehead. It dripped blood for a few seconds before closing.
"But, you're out of your weight class here." I kicked one of Jaune's arms out from under him and stamped hard onto his back. He made a hacking noise as I pressed harder, grinding the heel of my boot into him. "You did do better than Pyrrha though, which surprises me considering her titles." At the mention of Pyrrha's name he yelled.
"Bastard!" He swung at an odd angle and managed to clip my achilles tendon while his blade was cloaked in piercing aura. While not severed, my foot became effectively useless for a few seconds. I fell onto a knee and he stood up fast. I made to raise my arms but he had gotten his punch in faster than I had expected from him after weakening.
The tip of his sword appeared under my throat and a small line of blood trickled from the pin-prick. "Don't you go near Pyrrha again, you hear me?" He ordered. I let my anger out and stared up at him as one hand gripped the edge of his blade. It bled but I showed no feeling as I slowly stood up.
"I don't take kindly to people telling me what to do." I began to put pressure on the blade towards him and his wrists rose with it, unable to fight my strength. My hand stopped being cut as I pushed his aura from the metal with my influence. I was a foot away from Jaune when he pulled the sword down and out of my grasp, it having become slick from blood.
He stabbed with all his might at my chin and I stepped to the left a few inches. My hand impacted his neck with a lot of force and he fell to the ground instantly. Jaune lay there grabbing at his neck as he tried to deal with the pain. I grasped the front of his neck from under him and picked him off the rocks. He was held at arm's reach.
"Congratulations, you've pissed me off." I told him, and slammed him into the rocks hard enough to leave an impression of his shape. Whatever aura he had left collapsed and dissapted. He groaned weakly as I let go of his throat. "Maybe you'll think twice before doing it again." I said.
I began to walk away and mended both my clothes and my skin with shadows caused by the spires. "End simulation." I ordered into the air. The terrain faded and the door to leave appeared before me. Just as I was about to open it, I heard Jaune's weak voice.
"I might not be as strong as you, but I will be. I promise you that." I chuckled.
"Good luck." I wished him, and left Jaune lying on the floor.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I do plan on getting back to the plot eventually. This was sort of plot, but Darren still wasn't affecting it yet. You'll see some effects on the next one, I promise.