Transcript 1: Tricky practises
That month ticked by remarkably quickly between study and the extra training for the pairs combat practise, and before team JNGL knew it, they were in their final few days of the semester. Gale passed Jasper as he strapped on his under-gloves outside the first-year training facilities.
"Need some alone time?" grinned Gale as Lina appeared behind her in the doorway. "I thought you were supposed to be training together with Nero as a team, not as an individual who charges at herds of boarbatusks when left unchecked!"
"I'm never going to live that down, am I? But no, Nero and I are already done for the day, I'm just doing some semblance training before I join back up with you guys."
"Ah, alright" said Gale, unstringing Sharp Shooting and folding the curved ends behind the blade to return it to katana form. "The place is empty now anyway, so you shouldn't be disturbed."
Jasper walked through the ballistics-proof door and pulled out a dozen wooden blocks from his pockets. He lined them up in sets of three, one set for his gauntlets, one for the hammer, and two for his bare fists. He had learned the hard way to practise mostly using bare fists until he could control Glassfinger better. Many long hours this semester had been spent fixing the handle and knuckles on his weapon and replacing mangled parts, until Velvet had begun to refer to them as the Gauntlets of Theses.
He placed the first set on a large, solid metal bench in front of him and raised his left arm. Jasper smashed his fist into the first block, sending tiny splinters flying all around. He picked up the second, furrowed his brow and concentrated as he began to squeeze. The wood cracked loudly and fell through his fingers like small woodchips, and he nodded several times as he inspected their size. He had figured out with Professor Goodwitch after some more testing that the aura tendrils formed mostly from pressure points, like his finger joints or edges on the object itself pressing into his hands. Through practise, he had been beginning to learn ways to send out those tendrils from anywhere , but there were still lots of improvements to be made. The damage he had done to his weapons when he had first tried without pressure points from striking were testimony to the fact.
The last stage was a furtherance of this training. Closing his eyes, Jasper gently placed his fingertips onto the flat top surface of the third black. A few gentle red glows appeared under the surface of the wood, and it broke into three or four large pieces. Still a long way to go, thought Jasper as he used the second set of blocks. But getting better.
Jasper found his semblance hard to use with his gauntlets and particularly the hammer form when performing the non-striking tests. Extending your aura over weapons was common to all students, but precisely controlling the location of the aura tendrils became more difficult when not in direct body contact. You couldn't feel the object as easily, he thought, and it became harder as the area covered by aura or the distance away from the body increased, which was the case for his hammer.
"Why do I need to learn this for the hammer form when all I'll be doing is smashing things?" Jasper had asked Professor Goodwitch.
"That's what you assume you will be doing, but some of the time it will be vital. For example, you may need to hook onto a tree branch and then break it at will just as you swing away so an enemy can't follow you. You must think of all possibilities if you are going to be adaptable on the battlefield."
A thoroughly chastened Jasper had pursued the exercises without complaint since that day, being quick to remember the years of experience his combat teacher had over him and the valuable insights such as this which occasionally came as a result.
After exhausting most of his aura through the extended semblance usage, a tired Jasper returned to the dorms for a quick nap before studying with the others for the final theory exams.
"Only three more days left in the semester" he told his teammates as he entered the room. "Man, I'm ready for it to be over."
Transcript 2: Double Down
A battered but smiling Jasper and Nero returned to their seats after losing their last paired match-up of the semester.
"We nearly had you," said Nero. "You were both pretty low, one more blow and you would have been done for!"
Fox rolled his eyes, a practice which disturbed many, much to his continuous amusement. "You guys are just lucky you are a good foil for Yatsuhashi and Velvet. They destroyed you guys individually."
"Most of the time" said the returning green giant. "Come on Fox, give them credit, they pick most teams apart these days, they have really stepped it up since we started the paired training."
"Yeah, but not us" sniffed Fox. "That's as close as they'll get!"
"He's not wrong, Yatsu" said Jasper, folding Pound Zero back into gauntlets and placing them on his belt. "My semblance really helps against Velvet, breaking up all those hard light copies and making her use up all her pictures. And I must admit, you on the end of Nero's gravity whip is a sight I won't often see, much better than I could do."
"Yeah, but then Velvet absolutely ruined Nero once it was down to just them, he's not used to having his own weapons used against him."
"Oh shut up, Fox" said Velvet. "Now you're just being mean."
"Nah, he's alright, said Jasper, scuffing the top of Fox's hair.
"These tonfas are very sharp, Jasper, and I WILL use them."
They sat down as they prepared to watch the last match of the day, and the last for the semester before exams.
"Will Ms Grigia and Ms Lavender please step into the arena along with Mr Oyle and Ms Marilla" droned Professor Goodwitch in her announcing voice.
"Ha, Lina doesn't stand a chance against Castor" smirked Coco with an evil smile. "Probably won't be able to bear landing a hit on him, then Iris can finish her off while she's distracted by his big muscles."
"I thought you said Iris was annoying?" said Nero.
"She is, but I still want her to beat Lina."
The combatants moved into the arena and took their places, readying their weapons. They stared, face to face, waiting in the ever-lengthening silence for the signal.
"Begin!"
Lina threw the gun off her back and aimed it straight at the advancing Iris Marilla, letting out a wave of bullets. Undeterred, Iris spun her spear in a golden fan in front of her, deflecting the majority and jumping high above Lina as she drew close. Castor lay down covering fire as Gale moved towards Iris from her right side, but her progress was slowed by having to deflect the bullets with her katana blade, and she was unable to prevent Iris crashing into Lina's shoulder and jumping off, sending the smaller girl sprawling.
Lina somersaulted backwards as she regained her footing, and redirected her fire towards Castor, who was now moving in towards Gale. Gale gave a few quick slashes at Iris as she flew back towards Castor, then ran towards the bigger boy, dodging nimbly to her left to keep away from the sweeping line of Castor's bullets. He stopped shooting and swung his double-ended club at a ducking Gale, who gave a powerful hack at his left side, sending him sprawling just as the club whacked into Gale's back on its follow-up strike.
Gale was forced to her haunches, but was unable to rise as Iris pushed her spear into Gale's shoulder, forcing her down as she rolled sideways onto her back to avoid the full force of the blow. Then Lina arrived with AutoBeat in club form, and began duelling with Iris less than a metre away from her. Lina thumped the end of the club into Iris's elbow, then aimed an overhead smash at her. Iris parried the blow, then kicked Lina's exposed stomach as the club fell away to the side. Sliding backwards, Lina felt a sharp pain in her leg as Castor began shooting again, and she fell away to her left side, turning it into a roll to put some distance between her and Iris. Gale, still on her back, kicked upwards with both legs, sending Iris smashing into the roof far above. Iris fell for a second, dazed, then recovered and used her own semblance to slow her descent and float gently towards the ground, allowing her to separate the spear into its short sword and pistol form.
"I should have known she would use Drift" lamented Gale as she struggled to defend the fire from above as well as Castor's.
"Well, do something about it!" instructed Lina. "Go after Castor, I can deal with Mary Poppins here!" She unloaded the fire dust magazine from AutoBeat and took out a crystal, pressing it against her skin as she pulled an orb of black aura from the surrounding area, trapping the crystal inside. Lina smiled. She had learned that trick when training her semblance a few days ago with Gale, and relished the chance to finally reveal it in combat.
Leaning back, she tried to ignore the fire from Iris, blocking what she could with the club in her right hand, and launched the orb upwards using her other.
Gale heard an explosion above her as she reached Castor, and a cry of surprise from Iris as her aura flashed white over her body, and she dropped quickly towards the ground. Castor swiped Gale's legs out from under her with the longer reach of his club, and Gale quickly transformed her weapon into bow form, catching the club as it finished its arc, hauling herself over his head and heaving at the club as she landed, causing it to fly out of his grasp. She quickly loosed an arrow at him, but it was poorly aimed, having had to rush her shot as Castor dodged the last few metres towards her.
Lina had made her way over as Iris fell from the sky, and began attacking Castor from behind, but her hits unintentionally pushed him past Gale and towards his target of his fallen weapon. Having regained it, he flew towards them, spinning it like Iris had earlier, but in a much heavier, deadlier circle. Lina brought her own club up underneath it in a powerful uppercut, but her small size combined with Castor's much heavier, faster spinning weapon resulted in Lina being flung to the ground, knocking her unconscious, her aura levels falling into the red.
Having seen Lina knocked out physically as well as out of the fight, Gale transformed Sharp Shooting back to the katana and jabbed through the wall of Castor's club which had been slowed by Lina's impact. He grunted, and both weapons were twisted out of their grip, falling outside the bounds of the arena. Castor and Gale locked arms, wrestling and circling slowly, trying to find a way to unbalance their opponent. Out of the corner of her eye, a horrified Gale could see a dizzy-looking Iris struggling to her feet, somehow still just above the safe aura level and ready to continue to fight.
Desperate, Gale dropped to her feet, pulling Castor down and twisting so she landed on top of his stomach, winding him. She began raining punches on his chest, Castor eventually catching her wrist and flinging her off. He stood, between her and Iris to protect his teammate, but with a lower aura. Gale dodged his first punch and parried the second, before aiming a spinning kick at Castor's chest as he threw a third.
What occurred next turned out to be the strangest sequence of the year.
As Gale's foot hit Castor, she reached out and touched his fist, sending a wave of blue aura pulsing across his body and reducing his ninety kilogram frame to just fifteen. As soon as she had begun the kick, Castor knew his aura would not take another blow of that magnitude, and activated his own semblance, Hedgehog, making his aura hard and spiky. Gale fell down after delivering the kick, a cry of pain escaping her lips as her aura rippled and shattered in a sky-blue foam. Simultaneously, Castor flew across the platform and crashed into a standing Iris, breaking both of their auras.
The spectators and Professor Goodwitch looked at the arena, wide eyed and shocked. All four fighters were down, their aura levels too low to continue the fight.
"Well I suppose… the victor is… both teams. Each team defeated the other, so the match is a draw."
After checking on both groups, the four were led back towards the stands, with a limping Gale and groggy Lina in the rear.
"Come on now, Fox" said Jasper as they re-joined the others. "Not even you guys could have managed that!"
"A draw!" squeaked a dumbstruck Coco. "Whoever heard of a four-person fight ending in a draw?"
"Not you, obviously" said Plum Kittle from Team AKKH. "You and Fox lost your match against Castor and Iris!"
"The only paired match we lost" scoffed Coco, recovering quickly.
"That's it for today," said Nero. "No more combat for a few weeks, just tests to go now."
"Ugh," grunted Urban Stalli, one of Castor and Iris's remaining teammates. "They'll be upon us before we know it."
"Probably."
Transcript 3: Solving Problems
The first-years began to shuffle into Professor Port's lecture theatre to begin their semester exam on military strategies. The members of JNGL were separated from each other, just as with other teams, to prevent cheating.
What military strategies? thought Lina. She couldn't remember a time when Port wasn't rambling about personal exploits. The homework and assignment material was nothing like what went on in class, and she just hoped the test bore some resemblance to what she had been studying.
Gale sat down and fidgeted as she waited for the rest of the class to file in. She was one of the few who didn't mind the professor's stories, finding them vaguely interesting as long as they were different to the previous ones, and was confident she would do better than most of the others who couldn't be bothered to listen.
Port rambled some more instructions, and then directed the students to open the paper. Show time.
As expected, the paper contained the geographical layout of an unknown area, with diagrams showing a few plants and buildings with a rough topographical overlay. They were instructed to develop a defence plan for a small settlement which was being invaded by Grimm with only a few available huntsmen, but weren't told any details about the number, type or location of the attacking Grimm and village.
"This looks tough" mumbled Jasper under his breath. It looked like the edge of a desert, but he couldn't yet tell whether it was Vacuo or Menagerie, which would tell him what types of Grimm he needed to defend against, and what resources the people might have.
Nothing like Vacuo, the plants are all wrong, thought Nero. And Vacuan tribes would never set out their tents like that, it left them vulnerable on both the west side and the south-east. It had to be Menagerie, which meant they wouldn't have ravagers or blind worms, and so would be facing mostly ground-based Grimm.
Nero finished his solution and reasoning before nearly anyone else, and left the room to wait for the others. It occurred to him that maybe he could have fleshed it out a bit more, but it was simple, easy to use and quite similar to what he had often seen done by the tribes in Vacuo, albeit with less resources. Lina came out next, followed by Gale, then finally Jasper just before the time limit was up.
"Thought you were never going to finish," said Lina, trying to nudge his shoulder with hers, but failing miserably due to the height difference.
"Took me a while to get started, but my explanation was all right I think. Had to get all the details sorted out first."
Lina snorted. "Yeah, and those details took up three pages, Jasper. I heard you asking Port for a second booklet."
"It's a good solution though" he protested.
"Only if the settlers are all as smart as you, probably."
After a short break, the students completed their stealth and security exam, then their history exam, where a supervising Dr Oobleck raced around students like a buzzing insect. Finally, the dust science exam which had filled the students with the most dread was upon them.
"Got those recipes down, Jasper?" smiled a radiant Velvet, twitching her large rabbit ears. "Coco heard from Lina that you were up until three last night trying to study them all."
Jasper put his arms out imploringly. "Oh come on, Velvet. You don't have to worry about forgetting anything with your Photographic Memory."
"It wasn't so useful for the military and stealth scenarios, but I will admit it helped for the history facts."
"That's right, and you're going to be done with this one in twenty minutes too, I expect."
"Oh shut up" she laughed. "It wasn't that quick."
But Velvet was surprised, as were the other students, to find that most of the questions were scenarios as well, with limited dust types and resources available, not just fact recitation, and many struggled to get an answer down in time for all the situations.
"Oh don't fret about it" chirped Gale after the last exam. "We'll find out sooner or later how we did. But now, it's time to celebrate! No more school for two weeks!"
"Team AKKH invited us out to dinner at Floss's Café in town" said Nero. "Let's enjoy ourselves tonight."
Just three days later, the students gathered in the main hall for the third time that semester. Points had gone behind closed doors since the mid-semester results, and everyone was as eager to find out as they had been the first time so many weeks ago. The results were more comprehensive now, and discussion flew among the students as to who would be among the top students. No discussion was needed for who the top team was, only if they would beat STRQ's record for their first semester. Finally, just as before, the results flashed up on blue screens around the room, and there was a collective gasp of surprise.
Semester 1 Final Results
Most Valuable Team
1. CFVY – 10830 pts
2. LIHT – 9345 pts
3. JNGL – 9316 pts
4. CURI - 9057 pts
5. MAJE – 8669 pts
6. TOPZ – 8198 pts
7. BTTR – 7820 pts
8. AKKH – 7341 pts
9. DLPN – 7277 pts
10. SYLC – 6892 pts
Most Valuable Fighter
1. Coco Adel – 1490 pts
2. India Walnut – 1472 pts
3. Yatsuhashi Daichi – 1459 pts
4. Castor Oyle – 1423 pts
5. Terra Bluefoot – 1361 pts
6. Nero August – 1327 pts
7. Velvet Scarlatina – 1294 pts
8. Fox Alistair – 1269 pts
9. Yarrow Floss – 1210 pts
10. Atlantis Potts – 1190 pts
Most Valuable Class Member
1. Velvet Scarlatina – 1537 pts
2. Jasper Glass – 1389 pts
3. Zelda Prentice – 1351 pts
4. Fox Alistair – 1320 pts
5. Lina Lavender – 1296 pts
6. Maizy Storm – 1260 pts
7. Coco Adel – 1254 pts
8. Brett Salmon – 1222 pts
9. Yatsuhashi Daichi – 1207 pts
10. Pollen Lightfoot – 1192 pts
"They did it!"
"It's finally broken!"
"How do they do it?"
The hall was instantly filled with cacophonous cheering as they saw what Team CFVY had accomplished. They had beaten the legendary mark set by Team STRQ, which had stood untouched at 10680 points for nearly a quarter of a century. No first-year team had even broken into five figures in more than a decade. But then Jasper noticed another detail, one far less famous.
"Fantastic job, Velvet" he congratulated. "Over 96% for the theory, including the assignments. That's a record too."
"Really?"
Her eyes shone with a happy sense of fulfilment.
"That's right, you get to be a part of history – twice. It's good to know your gifts are being recognised. In the future, I'm sure you will make people stand up and take notice, whether on the battlefield or not."
"Thank you, Jasper" replied Velvet. "That means a lot to me."
"HA!" came an ear-splitting roar, shattering the moment. "I beat Coco in the exams!"
Jasper rolled his eyes. That would be Lina.
He walked over to the rest of his team, which had been scattered momentarily in the chaos. An unusually quiet Gale stood nearby, her face illuminated in blue light as she stared at the screens.
"Eleventh in both, Jasper. So close. I know I did just as well overall, but I would have loved to be up there with the rest of you guys too."
"I'm sorry you feel left out, Gale. It's hard to take something like that."
He put his hand up on her shoulder. "But hey, you're a great shot out of all of us for getting on both boards next semester. Only the dream team here have managed to do that so far. And your impact is felt. Look up there," Jasper gestured to the left side of the board. "We are doing great, and it's because of you. The only reason we aren't second is because India and Terra got some lucky wins against Lina and I early in the year."
Gale looked unconvinced at the last statement, but had her head held up a little higher now.
"Lucky? I don't know about that, look how high they are up on that list!" She turned her face towards him, a small smile touching the edges of her lips. "But the nerd saved his best until last. Well done on the test results, Jasper. India and Terra can't take that away from you."
Any further attempt at conversation was cut off, as Professor Ozpin took the stage at the front of the room.
"Congratulations to all students for finishing your first semester at Beacon Academy, particularly to Team CFVY for their wonderful efforts in both class and on the battlefield. Well done, Ms Adel, on her prowess in combat, and Ms Scarlatina for her outstanding results this semester."
The headmaster adjusted his glasses, and immediately changed tone.
"As there is no Vytal Festival this year, and no tournament as a result, we have decided on a different method to sharpen your skills in unfamiliar territories and against unfamiliar opponents. After discussion with General Ironwood, we will begin next semester with a two-week excursion to Atlas Academy, to train using their highly advanced combat facilities and to train against other students. This will also allow us to pick up other equipment which will help improve our own facilities."
Lina frowned. Why wait until next semester? She would have thought it would be better to upgrade them while students were away on their break. Nearby, Nero was having similar thoughts.
"Seems a bit hard to squeeze it in with all the students and teachers" he mentioned quietly, and Jasper and Gale nodded their own heads slightly. "Wouldn't it be easier to just send them over on a transport ship now?"
Jasper shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they are still working out the logistics?"
The speech was over almost as soon as it began, and the students began to filter out, many towards the dorms to pack for the semester break holiday. Jasper started to follow them, but remembered something and lingered behind to speak with the professor.
"Hi Professor Ozpin. How's your friend Amber going? Is she going to be up and about for the Winter Festival?"
Professor Ozpin tapped his cane on the floor a few times. "No, sadly. She's recovering, but won't be around in time for the festival. She was hurt quite badly by those fiends… but she'll be alright soon enough."
"Oh, that's unfortunate. Well, I hope you have a good break, professor!"
"Break?" said the headmaster, smiling a little. "The work never stops for me, Mr Glass."
"Ah, I guess not, with all this school to take care of."
After the conversation, Jasper strode towards the dorms himself, thinking about what Ozpin had said. He had tried to be polite and make some informal small talk now that classes were finished, and maybe get some answers about that weird situation at the same time. But now his unthinking, seemingly trivial question had received a very unexpected answer, which just planted more confusion in his mind.
It was three months since Ozpin had burst into Professor Goodwitch's office in front of him, and Jasper couldn't think of any injury that would keep someone immobile for that length of time. Torn ligaments and broken legs might take longer to heal, but at least you could get around on crutches or a wheelchair. And what did alright mean? Professor Ozpin had said that last time, and that was near the beginning of the semester. It didn't sound like someone who had been bed bound for three months would have feel no long-lasting effects, like she would be back at work as a huntress, he assumed, in no time at all.
He turned down the first-year's hall and entered the third door on the left, where Nero, Lina and Gale were already busy stuffing their suitcases. Perhaps he was reading a bit too much into it. There could have been complications, mental treatment, anything, really. It was stupid to not believe the headmaster than for no other reason than the situation was a little different to the norm. And it wasn't really his business anyway, probing about into someone else's private life, and trying to dissect what Ozpin had said, to see if it all matched up.
It didn't have anything to do with him.
