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-Chapter 4- Combat tournament, 1st day

It had been a week and Jade managed to convince Eada to let Austin sleep in the dorm as it was unfair on him upon discovering he was sleeping in a tree even though it didn't bother Austin Jade wanted them to work as a team. It took some convincing but Eada finally agreed on the condition to put a curtains up so all 4 beds now had curtains around them, it was a step closer to working as a team but Jade considered it a victory in order for the team to get along.

It seemed that Daisy and Jade were 100% committed to trying to be a team as Eada had requested Professor Ozpin to appoint her leader which was dealt with a affirmative no which only infuriated Eada even more and Austin spent most of his time in the library studying or in the arena training.

Austin had also sat in each 4th year training class seeing the level of combat and figured he may be able to keep up with them from what Qrow had taught him, however would leave it until they had their first dueling class to show what he could do and hopefully impress Professor Ozpin to possibly train with the 4th year students.

This class had the purpose of all the 1st year students to be assessed on their current combat levels, things they need to improve, what they're doing right or teaching them something new as they will spend the next few days in a small tournament among the all 1st year students to see combat within a team or individual and getting the team's standing.

As students are randomly selected to go up and face each other while everyone watches on Austin watches patiently surveying fighting styles once again, just like the 4th years he had observed, learned and practiced them on his own. Eada on the other hand was claiming that she'd easily knock everyone down while Jade tried to reel her in, Daisy on the other hand was more nervous with all eyes watching her and her combat skills were more meant for stealth which put her to a disadvantage seeing all types of weapons and fighting styles.

Finally Eada got called up to be a competitor against a 1st year from another team. Percy Walker wielded dual pistols that could transform into spears. Eada on the other hand had a trident which could also shoot dust from the tip. Her weapon's name is called Veritas Cupitor (meaning 'Truth Seeker').

The objective of the duel was simple, you could win by knocking your opponent out of the marked square ring or getting your opponent's aura level to the red zone which will make them unfit to continue and the match will be over.

Eada and Percy faced each other ready to fight as Jade and Daisy cheered Eada on Austin just watched to see what would happen. The fight began and Eada took on the defensive before anything even happened. Percy then started shooting pot shots at Eada from a distance causing Eada to block with Veritas Cupitor, Austin could already tell the outcome as Eada found herself digging in by just defending that she would get exhausted quicker. Percy kept up the firing as Eada moved back to the edge of the boundary of the square ring and when that happened she tried to fire a shot off at Percy but Percy had seen it coming, using one pistol to keep shooting Percy extended the pistol out into a spear and threw it at Eada.

Eada dodged out of the way and went to go on the offensive but was stopped by the buzzer. Looking up at the video replay she saw herself dodge right out of the boundary declaring the victory to Percy via ring out, not only that she was the first to lose by ring out. Percy went back to his team giving out high 5's and Eada sat next to Jade. Austin who was sitting next to Daisy had a smirk on his face as the next fight between two students began.

More fights continued and Daisy was called next up against a guy wielding a staff. In the fight Daisy had tried her best, using her speed and agility to get close but the guy with the staff was skilled easily repelling Daisy's attacks and had the advantage with a long range weapon to do some damage and keep Daisy away which eventually got Daisy into the red zone which signaled her defeat by aura level.

Jade was called upon next and the whole arena was shocked when she saw that she had to face Austin. Jade couldn't believe her eyes looking at the screen, out of all the random students which could be chosen it was Austin of all people. Austin shrugged and started heading to the floor with his weapon Argenti Lustitia with Jade following.

Facing each other Jade was ready with her long sword and Austin had his weapon as a mace as two both simultaneously said "Don't go easy on me". When the fight began Jade struck first which with Austin blocking quite easily and as he moved away he extended a blade hitting Jade's arm. Now apart Jade was more careful and planned to let Austin make the next move however Austin remembered his training and all he did was extend his 2nd blade and waited.

There was no time limit and Austin used his patience knowing Jade wanted him to attack, he made a couple of steps as if he were going to attack but never did. Eventually Jade gave in and attacked which let Austin have control as each strike was blocked easily making Jade more tired. Austin had gotten into Jade's head, she kept up her attack until she pulled away to take a quick break to change her tactic but that's when Austin leapt into his assault landing some good blows on Jade sending her Aura down before she finally blocked Austin's strike and using her semblance she teleported it behind her.

Austin now had no weapon but reacting quickly he had gotten close to Jade and could easily use hand to hand combat as Jade had a heavy longsword in her hands and longswords were practically useless in close combat. Jade eventually had to drop her weapon but as she did Austin picked it up and flipping back to gain some distance. He held Jade's weapon in his right hand and gestured with his other hand to keep trying.

Jade picked up Austin's weapon and as she tried to attack with an unfamiliar weapon and weapon style it was clear Austin had the advantage as Austin used the longsword like it was his own. During the fight he noticed Jade's weakness was close combat. She was fine attacking and defending from range but up close she had no chance as Austin threw her own weapon at Jade which she dodged easily but as it was only a decoy it gave Austin an opening to rush her and land a kick to her torso which made Jade stumble back out of the ring and deplete her Aura into the red zone.

Their fellow students clapped at such a good fight and everyone talked between themselves as Austin just showed some serious skill which had Professor Ozpin's approval. Austin offered his hand to Jade and she accepted the help up as Austin mentioned to Jade that her weakness was close combat and offered to even help her improve so her weakness could be developed into a strength or to a point where it won't become too much of a risk.

Jade thanked Austin and said she would think about it as the duo went back to their seats. Daisy congratulated them both as Austin gave her a nod with a small smile and Eada was complaining about Austin once again saying she could easily defeat Jade. Jade let it go not wanting to argue with her team in public and keeping the peace.

Eventually after more fights every student had their 1 on 1 fight which marked the end of the 1st day as all teams were told to rest up for their 2nd day of the first year combat tournament giving everyone a little taste of what the upcoming Vytal festival would be like if they were to participate.

All of Team Jade returned to their dorm after getting some food as the 4 discussed how their fights went. Austin had notes for everyone as he talked to Daisy about her fight that her plan was good but her flaw was trying to use the same tactic until it hit. Stating if she tried the tactic and it worked would be good but your opponent can always learn what to expect, if you change things up it will make things tough on your opponent. Daisy had taken all what Austin had to say and even asked Jade if she agreed.

Jade agreed with Austin but being the kind girl she is she then also listed the positives of her fight as she used excellent technique and great balance and impressed at how she put up a good effort in a 1 on 1 duel instead of her preferred stealth methods.

Jade was next as Austin went into more detail with Jade's weakness in the close combat area but also stated that she let him get inside her head and gave in to attacking first when she wanted Austin to attack. Of course that may never happen again but Jade took the advice on as Daisy piped up saying how it was smart to use her semblance to disarm Austin.

Jade then turned to Austin along with the group as they tried to figure out if he had any flaws in the fight with Jade. All 4 thought back as the 3 girls all drew a blank but Austin being a critique on himself then said the last kick didn't land as it should've, I may have to practice it a bit more, the 3 girls thought the closing kick was good, a well timed surprise attack which got him the win.

Austin then argued if it were an actual fight with a bandit or a Grimm then it may not have worked and the opponent will not let you get that chance again, if it doesn't have a good impact then it can be classified as a waste as if the fight continued most opponents will most likely not let that happen again and may counter it if tried again. Austin had got the 3 girls thinking and all accepted his point.

Austin then turned to Eada, even though his notes about how she only defended which gave Percy the upper hand and how she positioned herself being a big mistake were true and was only trying to help, Eada saw it as an attack on her which had her drawing her curtain and refusing to talk more about it. Jade tried her best to talk to Eada about growing as a person and learning from mistakes but Eada being stubborn made it difficult.

Silence fell upon the room, Jade and Daisy didn't want to upset Eada anymore so they all agreed to stop talking about it but thanked Austin for his notes. Austin then started on an assignment even though the next few days would be combat he figured if he got the assignments done then they would be out the way.

Daisy and Jade went for a little walk around campus getting a chance for some girl talk as they both wished Eada would one day join in on the girl talk or try be part of the team. They discussed how they had made some progress though with Austin able to sleep in the dorm and how most of them could talk about each others positives and negatives in review of their combat.

The pair talked for about half an hour as they walked around the campus, cracking a joke or two and telling each other stories from their past, they had found a bench to sit on and kept talking. Until Jade told Daisy a joke which had her cracking up laughing, Jade let Daisy calm down from her joke. When she did the duo smiled at each other both not saying a word but kept smiling.

Daisy looking into Jade's eye felt a flutter in her heart, the two remained like that for quite a few seconds. Some students rounded the corner talking amongst themselves which snapped Jade and Daisy back into reality which had Daisy looking away blushing a little bit as the students said hi which Jade and Daisy both waved and gave a friendly hello. As the group of students kept walking Jade turned to Daisy saying that they should head back and get some sleep.

The two walked back to the dorm planning an activity or something to get Eada involved in trying to be part of the team. Upon returning Austin had already gone to bed and Eada was still behind her curtains possibly asleep so the 2 girls followed suit and heading to bed themselves to be ready for day 2 of their little tournament.

To be continued...