Chapter 6
"That doesn't look to good Ozpin, shouldn't we be heading over to help right about now?" Ryuki asked, a hand slowly reaching for a weapon as he worriedly looked over to the headmaster
"Now now Mr. Ryuki, while I do understand the concern, rest assured that we do have Huntsman Staff members in the vicinity, ready to intervene should things ever get dire" Ozpin calmly replied
"You better be sure of that Ozpin" Ryuki replied
-[RoL]-
They were surrounded. Blocking off their escape was a towering gorilla like Grimm known as a Beringel, covered in battle scars, with a small chunk taken out of the sides of its mask. Behind them was a giant Deathstalker leading what looked like a horde of Beowolves and Ursa. And above them, a giant Nevermore was flying overhead, almost as if waiting for the right opportunity to strike.
The applicants had stood in a circle back to back, weapons all drawn, waiting for one of the Grimm to make its move before they attacked.
"Uhhh so whats the plan guys?" Yang asked to the group, her gauntlets already out
"I'll admit, this honestly seems like a bit much for just a simple initiation test" Pyrrha said back Sword and Shield at the ready
"Okay everybody calm down, lets look at the options here" Jaune called out
"we're completely blocked off, all means of escape are covered" Weiss noted
"While we could handle probably handle the bigger Grimm if we split up, our biggest concern is the horde of Grimm lying in wait. It's not like they're going to let us deal with them one by one" Blake called out
"That might actually be the most number of words I've ever heard from you so far" Yang called to her partner
"This isn't really the time Yang" Ruby shushed her
"To make matters worse, we've got a Nevermore on our heads, able to attack us at any moment" Ren calmly stated
"okay, what weapons do you guys use?" Jaune asked
They all answered back with their respective weapons, Jaune was silent for a few seconds
"Any time now Lady Killer" Yang ushered, looking at the Grimm looking more and more impatient as the seconds passed by
"Okay, Ruby, I need you to distract the Nevermore. If you can get to the Ruins past the Beringel you should be able to use those to get a better angle. Yang, you and Weiss are going to have to hold off the Beringel, at least until Pyrrha and I can deal with the Deathstalker. Then we'll double team on the Beringel. Uhhh everyone else, deal with the horde. Nora, you've got the grenade launcher, put it to use" Jaune gave out
Everybody nodded, going along with the plan. It's not like anybody else had provided any other better ideas right?
"Good luck everybody, try not to die" Jaune called out, before the Grimm charged, prompting the teens to take action as well
Yang and Weiss had charged at the Beringel, giving Ruby a chance to slip by with her semblance, getting to the ruins and finding a good vantage point from which to snipe the Nevermore. Weiss had frozen the Beringel's feet, allowing Ruby to pass and Yang to follow through with some shotgun blasts from her gauntlets. The Beringel had been forced to cover its face and body with it's hands giving Weiss enough time to get behind it and stab at its backs. The Berignel had tanked the shotgun blasts from Yang however, and had punched back to retaliate knocking the brawler back a few feet, twisting its body along the way, and with her Rapier still stuck in the creature, Weiss had been thrown for a ride, having lost her concentration on the ice at the beast's feet. Yang had tried to get close and grab its attention, but the big Grimm had grabbed Weiss and thrown it at the Advancing blonde, forcing Yang to stop and catch her.
Meanwhile Jaune and Pyrrha had charged the Deathstalker, using their shields to protect themselves from the Grimm's pincers and stinger. They were having no problems defending themselves from the beast, but they weren't exactly able to do much damage against the Grimm's tough armor. Jaune and Pyrrha had tried multiple times to pierce through its armor, all with no Luck.
"We're going to need a lot more piercing power if we're going to take this thing down" Pyrrha called, as it blocked a swipe from one of its pincers
"Then lets focus on what we can pierce. I'll go for its eyes, Pyrrha, try to go for its pincers" Jaune said back
"Got it" Pyrrha acknowledged, as they both charged again
With Ruby, she was having a bit of a difficult time trying to hit the Nevermore, who had been faster than she had initially thought, and definitely a lot more agile for one that big. She managed to land a few shots, but not hitting any vital parts like its wings or eyes. She had managed to get its attention though, and she was now running from her previous position, just in time as a dozen or so feathers half her size suddenly embedded themselves in the ground where she once was. After finding yet another vantage point within the ruins, she took a moment to see how the others were doing.
Jaune and Pyrrha looked like they had things under control, they were slowly but surely whittling the scorpion Grimm down, and she was confident that they'd be able to. Yang and Weiss on the other hand looked to be doing what they can, a few scratches and bruises here and there, nothing to be too worried about yet.
She was looking over to Yang's new partner and the others, who looked like they had the most trouble of them all. The girl with the grenade launcher was taking down tens of Grimm with each shot, and the guy in green and the girl in white were doing their best to deal with any Grimm that tried to get close to the ginger. They really looked like they could use more help, and Ruby wondered if she would be able to take pot shots at the horde from here, knowing that the range between her and them isn't really an issue. But a shriek from above had reminded her that should she leave the Nevermore alone, that it would start to attack the others as well, and that left them with more danger and trouble than any of them could bear at this point. So she reloaded, took aim, and fired again.
-[RoL]-
"They seem to be handling things rather well" Glynda had thought out loud "Mr. Arc certainly seems to have a good understanding of Strategy"
"He's always been a bright kid. Had a good understanding of the world when we first met up too" Ryuki praised
"While I may not condone violence and terrorism, it seems that it was beneficial in this case. For had we not witnessed yours and Mr. Arc's skill in battle, we certainly never would have considered letting someone with no formal school training take the initiation" Ozpin stated
-[RoL]-
Jaune and Pyrrha were doing well. Jaune had managed to take out two of the Deathstalkers four eyes, and Pyrrha was still trying to hack her way through the cartilage that connected the tail and the stinger. Jaune was about to charge in for another attempt at it's eyes when he heard a scream from behind him. Sparing himself a few seconds to look, he saw Weiss flying back, having been punched by Beringel away.
"Weiss!" He heard Yang scream, before she exploded in fire like radiance, her eyes turning red as she charged at the Beringel again. The Beringel however, had seemingly figured out the blond boxer, and had thrown up dirt as she got close, disorienting her and leaving her wide open for a jab at her midsection, sending her flying back as well. The Beringel then quickly leaped at her and would have slammed Yang into a pancake, had a black glyph not formed in front of Yang. Protecting her while simultaneously sending the grim back. Yang had gotten up and together the two had charged the Alpha again.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha had called out to him, prompting the knight to turn back his attention to the Deathstalker, just in time too as it had attacked with its stinger. Jaune was able to get his shield up in time, but was pushed a few feet back. He had heard a crack however, and upon looking, he saw that the stinger had indeed broke and was now dangling loosely. Pyrrha had rolled beside him, weapons at the ready
"All I need is one more strike at that cartilage and the Stinger is as good as done" She reported
"Alright, now let g-" Jaune was cut off by two different shrieks behind them, they were forced to look as Yang was beaten into the ground, and Weiss screaming out the blondes name
"They need help!" Jaune tried to go to them, but then suddenly heard another scream from the opposite end
"Ren!" Jaune heard Nora scream, and when he looked, he saw that the trio too had started getting overwhelmed, he could see Ren and Blake starting to get pushed back, and Nora being forced to using less of her grenade launcher, and more of her hammer to keep the Grimm off of her.
"I'm fine Nora, just focus on using your grenades!" Ren stammered, as he got up just in time to block two Beowolf claws headed for him
"I'm running low on ammo here!" Nora called back, as she swung her hammer, sending the two Beowolves flying before she shifted her weapon back into its gun mode and fired of two grenades. Taking out only three or four Grimm with each shot
"At least you still have ammo" Blake called to the two, who was now reduced to using both the sheath and the katana function of her weapons to defend herself
"They're not doing so well either" Pyrrha called out to Jaune
"We've gotta finish this off quick" Jaune told her partner
"How do you suppose we do that?" Pyrrha asked, blocking yet another strike from the deathstalker
"We switch things up" Jaune told her before calling out "Weiss! Switch with Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha immediately understood, taking that as her cue to start running towards the Beringel, not noticing the pincer heading towards her back as she did so, luckily Jaune got in front of her and blocked the attack with her shield.
When Pyrrha got to the the other two, Yang was still only just getting up from her small crater in the ground
"You okay Yang?" Pyrrha held her hand out to her, which the blonde took and used to get up
"That thing packs a wallop harder than me" Yang groaned
"I'll make an opening, you hit it where it hurts" Pyrrha suggested, before charging in.
Weiss had stabbed the Beringel in the shoulder, and sliced at its knees, trying to get its joints. But she had left herself open and was trying desperately to get away in time before the Beringel slammed her into the ground. Luckily, before it could do any further damage, Pyrrha had charged forward at that time and Bashed her shield into it, sending the Beringel back. Yang took this opportunity to use her gauntlets, firing a shot behind her, and using the momentum to send her flying above the now disoriented Beringel, punching it in the face, and slamming it down hard on the ground. She then leaped a few spaces back in order to ready herself
"How do you like that?" Yang taunted
"We'll take it from here, go help Jaune" Pyrrha helped Weiss up
"Understood" Weiss nodded and headed towards Jaune who was currently still locked in a stalemate with the Deathstalker
Weiss watched as he blocked all of its attacks, thinking about how she herself might have had difficulties had she been forced to take on the grimm on her own
"Looks like I owe you an apology Jaune" Weiss told him as she took a stance beside him
"It's fine, I figured you'd need a show of skill. And I myself apologize for coming on maybe a little too strong on you earlier" Jaune replied
"Regardless, You've earned my respect" Weiss calmly stated "Now how do we deal with this?"
"You're faster than me, go for its eyes, I'll cover you"
"Then Lets go" Weiss said, forming a white glyph below her, before suddenly charging forward
As she charged, a pincer would have maimed itself at her, had Jaune not intercepted it with his shield. Two quick strikes later and the Deathstalker was officially blind. Evidenced by how it started thrashing wildly.
"Get back!" Jaune exclaimed, as he grabbed Weiss by the scuff of her clothes and pulled her back. Jaune saw how loose its stinger had become from all that thrashing around
"Hey Weiss, what exactly can you do with those glyphs of yours?" Jaune asked, trying to think of a way to get to take out its stinger
"I can do a lot of things with it, why do you ask?" Weiss replied
"Can you give me a lift? I want to take out its stinger" Jaune said back
"No pro-" Weiss was cut off by yet another scream, this time from Ren
"Blake!"Ren screamed, seeing the gash on Blake's arm "Hold on, I'm coming! Nora, cover fire!"
there were only about forty more grimm left, not a whole lot considering the previous size earlier which was around a hundred and normally three hunters in training would have no difficulties with that, but the hunters in question had been at a severe disadvantage. Not only with the sheer number they were up against, but also the terrain and type of fight it was. Jaune could see that Blake and Ren were more of a mobile type fighters, using the terrain to their advantage. They weren't really able to make use of those skills here as hit had been flat plains, not to mention they couldn't really retreat or run around, as they had to get all of their attention in order to let the others deal with the bigger threats. All things considered, they actually did a pretty fine job holding out this long, and that would mostly be thanks to Nora.
"I can't, I'm out of ammo!" Nora called back, worry noticeable in her voice, "I've got your back, go" she reassured, as she ran in between Ren and the grimm now chasing him
"Weiss, give me a lift! then wait here for Nora!" Jaune ordered, prompting the heiress to go along, seeing the dire situation the other three were in right now. She quickly made a series of glyphs that Jaune had used to get up to the Deathstalker's stinger, jumping forward with a horizontal slash, causing the stinger to fall straight down, lodging itself at the creatures head, but not enough to pierce through.
As Jaune did this he screamed "Nora! Hammer time!" and began running towards the three. Nora, looking and understanding what needed to be done, ran towards the Deathstalker as well
"Heads up Jaune!" Jaune heard Nora call out to her, and he readied with his shield above him. Right in time as Nora jumped on his shield and used it as a stepping point to get some momentum. As Nora brought her hammer down over the stinger, a black glyph appeared in front of her hammer head, making it exponentially heavier. The result was a resounding crack as the stinger pierced through not only the entirety of the Deathstalkers armored head, but also embedded itself a few feet in the ground.
Meanwhile Jaune was running towards the two currently fending off the remains of the horde, has he did so his blade started glowing and crackles of electricity started forming around the edge.
"Get down!" Jaune called out to Ren and Blake as he neared close, and once they did, screamed out "Mega Shock!" as he did so he slashed horizontally releasing a wave of pure blue energy that electrocuted and shocked all of the remaining grim, taking out a few more in the process, and giving the three students a few moments of reprieve
"I'll take things from here, Ren, go with Nora and help out Pyrrha, tell Yang to go help her sister. Blake, take Weiss and go help Ruby as well. If you guys can taunt it over to the ruins, you maybe able to use your chain scythe to pull it down" Jaune suggested
"Are you sure about this?" Blake asked, Ren giving him a look which pretty much said the same thing
"Don't worry about it, I've got this" Jaune said, as he hefted his sword over his shoulders "Now get going, I'll be with you guys shortly" that was the last thing he said, before he started hacking away at the stunned grimm. Leaving the two to just go along with what he said.
-[RoL]-
"I must say, Mr. Arc certainly seems at home leading on the battlefield" Ozpin commented, noting how Jaune gave out appropriate duties for the students based on what weapon they were using. Ozpin realized that Jaune was able to figure out how each person fought based solely on what weapon they used. Granted it wasn't that hard to do in the first place, but to be able to come up with strategies like that despite having only been given a few seconds to think really showed him of Jaune's critical thinking skills
"And his fighting skills aren't anything to scoff at either" Glynda added, watching him take on 20 some grimm on his own. Not looking the least bit winded or tired dodging and weaving between the enemy and inside their guards with ease.
"Ha! if you think Jaune's showed you everything then wait till you see him get cornered" Ryuki boasted
-[RoL]-
Jaune had to admit, while they did look intimidating in numbers especially given how surrounded they had been earlier, these Grimm were fairly easy to dispatch. He quickly blocked a swipe from a Beowolf as he thrust his sword through the head of an Ursa, retracting the sword as he gave the Ursa a kick, causing the now dead body to fall onto the Beowolf behind it. He then spun around and slice at the head of the Beowolf he had just blocked, while at the same time bashing the head of another Beowolf with his shield. He was bobbing and weaving through the claws and swipes at him, slicing and slashing in return, only this time actually getting hits on the enemies. It only took him a few more seconds before he had taken out the rest of the horde. When he was done, he gave himself a few seconds to look back at the others to assess the situation.
Following his orders, Ren had taken Nora and started helping out Pyrrha, who was doing her best to keep up with the onslaught of the Beringel. Yang was biding her time, waiting for perfect opportunities to hit and run, that was, until Blake came over with Weiss and explained the situation. She quickly gave Pyrrha a thumbs up before heading to the ruins with the others to assist her sister.
With Nora and Ren helping out, the fight with the Beringel seemed to lean in the favor of the applicants. With Pyrrha keeping the Beringel occupied, while Nora and Ren struck where they could. This was effective especially for Nora, who had greater reach with her warhammer.
Things were also looking up for Ruby, who now had help from others. She and Yang could now target the humongous Nevermore from two different locations, and with Weiss lending her glyphs, Blake could get to the Grimm and deal some melee attacks.
Jaune was able to catch up with the others, just as the Beringel had successfully caught Nora's warhammer mid-swing, and throw her at the direction where Ren and Pyrrha were charging in to assist, again prompting the two to stop and catch her.
"This thing is tougher than it looks" Pyrrha commented as she set Nora down with Ren
"Well it is an Alpha after all" Ren noted, before turning to the blonde knight who just arrived "What's the plan?"
"Hit it fast and hit it hard. I'll make an opening, get ready" Jaune called out, as he knelt and his shield started to glow, "Now! Ray of Light!"
Jaune screamed, and true to its name, a ray of light hit the Beringel square in the face, not dealing enough damage but blinding it enough for Pyrrha and Ren to get close. The two worked in tandem, with Pyrrha further cutting into its joints and Ren leaving gashes on its back. The Grimm then lashed out, spinning wildly and hitting both Ren, who was sent flying, and Pyrrha, who managed to block in time and was merely knocked back. As she was being pushed back, she threw Milo at the Grimm, hitting it right in the chest. Not hard enough to end the creature, but enough to stop it in its tracks
"Nora Up!" Jaune shouted at the ginger, while he took yet another stance, this time his shield glowing red. At the same time Pyrrha had charged in and slammed Akuo into the Beringel's face, while at the same time grabbing the spear that was jutting out from its chest. This gave Nora enough time to get in close, and swing at the Grimm with a massive uppercut, sending the creature flying up.
It was at that time that Jaune had finished his charge and exclaimed "Limkragg's Breathe!" raising his shield up over his head as he did so, prompting a red fireball in the form of a dragon's head to fly and arc towards the Beringel still in the air, hitting it dead center.
The Grimm, instead of dying as many would have hoped, gave out a ghastly scream as a darkish aura seemed to envelop it. Which seemed to invigorate the creature and even regenerate some of the damage it took. The mask on its face had become whole, and now two large tusks jutting out from its mouth. As it came back down to the ground, it slammed into ground, releasing a radial blast of dark energy, enough to send Pyrrha and Nora back. The latter of which, was caught by Ren.
As it stands, Jaune and Pyrrha were the only ones left standing, with Nora and Ren seemingly down for the count after that shockwave. The Beringel stood in between Jaune and Pyrrha and the two unconscious teammates.
"Pyrrha, whats your semblance?" Jaune asked, sword and shield ready much like his partner. Thankfully it seemed that the Beringel was still getting used to its new form, giving them precious seconds to plan
"Polarity. It essentially lets me control anything metal" The redhead replied, also taking note of the surrounding area. Thankfully the only threats in the area were the Beringel in front of them, and the Nevermore that the other members of their current band are fighting against
"I need you to buy me some time, but I don't want you getting in close" Jaune explained, looking to his downed colleagues, "Maybe you could use Ren's guns? if you spin them around like sawblades you could attack with those from a distance" remembering Ryuki also fought with blades called chakrams
"On it" Pyrrha simply replied, focusing her semblance on Stormflower, willing it to levitate in the air and spin like sawblades.
Just as the Beringel roared in preparation to charge, it's shout of intimidation turned into one of pain as it was suddenly struck from the sides by two spinning blades, who then stopped and unloaded their clips onto the Grimm.
Jaune on the other hand held his sword in out in front of him, shouted out "Vortex!", to which his aura suddenly flared white as it enveloped him. He then crouched low as both his shield and sword started glowing white
-[RoL]-
"Ryuki, what is it that Mr. Arc is doing?" Ozpin asked, both for him and for Glynda.
"That right there is Jaune cornerned" Ryuki answered back, a full grin on his face, knowing what's about to happen
-[RoL]-
The Beringel was having some difficulty with the flying buzzaws harrowing it, but not as much as Pyrrha, who was having difficulty keeping control of the guns, as it took twice the efforr to not only control the guns' movements, but also to keep them spinning. Sweat was startig to pour down her brow at this point, as she looked to Jaune, who was still charging whatever attack he was planning
"I can't hold him for much longer Jaune!" Pyrrha called to her partner, by this point she had given up control on one of the guns and was focusing on keeping just one gun active.
Then like a bullet, Jaune leapt forward screaming "AWETHUR'S POWER!" His glowing shield slamming right into the chest of the Beringel, pushing it back a couple of feet. Jaune, seemingly moving faster than the eye could follow, then moved behind the Grimm and screamed "Spiral Carve!" before unleashing a devastating three-hit combo that effectively took out the Grimm's left arm.
The Beringel was relentless however, and losing an arm didn't seem to faze it as it tried to hit Jaune with a haymaker with its right arm. Jaune was expecting it tho, his shield already glowing gold as he screamed "Guardian Shield!" holding the shield out in front of him, he was then surrounded in a cylinder of gold energy that blocked whatever physical attack the Grimm tried.
Jaune, still being protected by the cylindrical shield, stabbed his sword, which was now glowing a hue of blue, and screamed "Guardian Heroes!"
Pyrrha could only watch as from the ground around the Beringel, three different copies of Jaune rose up, seemingly translucent in color, and began assaulting the Beringel from all sides. Pyrrha then watched as Jaune raised his sword from the ground, this time high above his head, screaming "Guardian RAGE!," before he disappeared, moving so fast he left behind after images, he bombarded the Grimm with slashes from his sword, which now seemed the cut through armor and hide like a hot knife through butter. The copies of Jaune had disappeared as soon as Jaune started his assault.
When the onslaught had stopped, all that was left was a panting Jaune, and the cut up remains of the Beringel behind him.
-[RoL]-
"Amazing, I've never seen such a thing before!" Glynda said aloud, turning to Ryuki "What is his Semblance?"
"As absurd as it may sound, he hasn't unlocked his semblance yet" Ryuki replied "That's all his aura as you people put it" he finished, earning an even more bewildered look from Glynda
"Well I've never seen aura used quite like this before" Ozpin remarked, "And you seem to identify Aura as something else entirely, what is it called where you're from"
Just then, in front of Ozpin and Glynda, a blue spectral image of a man appeared. Aegis, in his full spirit of valor form, simply said
"In our world, we call it Mana"
[Remnant of Lore]
I'm back. Finally. There's not a lot I could say about my unofficial hiatus for a year, let's just say that things have been INCREDIBLY hectic in real life.
No idea on when I'll be able to do the next chapter, but this chapter has been sitting here for MONTHS and I'd feel bad if it just stayed like that.
on another note, some of you might have given up on this fic, dropped it due to not uploading, and that's fine. This has turned into a passion project, instead of one of obligation. I will eventually finish this story more for myself than anything, and just letting anyone who wishes come along for the ride.
That's it for this chapter, I felt like it had enough action and a good enough cliffhanger to stop it there.
Next chapter would most likely be full of exposition. more world building, and getting to know my own DF character Ryuki.