When one seeks light for far too long, the dark becomes more than wayward shadows
Silence hung in the large locker room as students fidgeted anxiously in their seats. Just past the door leading to the arena beyond this area, the muffled sounds of intense combat could be heard. This was the day they had been working towards for the past four years: the practical portion of Sanctum Academy's final exams. This test would pit them in actual combat against actual creatures of Grimm, and be a large of not only whether or not they would graduate Sanctum, but whether or not they would be qualified to enter the prestigious Huntsmen Academies that were spread across Remnant.
At one of the benches placed furthest from the door, a young faunus with freckled skin took a deep breath as a means to keep herself calm. She was an average-height girl with chestnut skin and deep red eyes. Her long violet hair was tied back in a braid that she had resting over her shoulder, with her long bangs brushed to the side underneath a pair of purple cat ears. She wore a purple trimmed black suit with a magenta tie. Fingerless gloves covered her hands as her digits nervously drummed on her thighs. Just like the rest, she had worked towards this day for as long as she could remember, but now that it was here, she couldn't help but find it more than daunting.
The sound of a buzzer came from the direction of the arena, indicating that the fight had ended. A few minutes later, a girl with golden armor and red hair tied into a ponytail walked out, looking spent but pleased with herself. As she walked past the other students, the purple-haired faunus couldn't help but feel her lip curl in annoyance. Of course this exam hadn't been a problem for 'the Invincible Girl.' Surely for someone like her, a Huntress Training Certificate wouldn't even feel like an accomplishment, just another trophy to add to her expansive collection.
The girl rolled her eyes. She shouldn't waste time thinking about people that clearly thought themselves to be too good for people like her. She had her own future to worry about.
A professor holding a clipboard stepped through the door.
"Alexander Noir?"
A boy with pitch black hair and armor to match nervously stood up and headed for the arena, his face doing nothing to hide his apprehension.
One by one, the students were called to take their exam, anticipation building in the violet-haired girls stomach. Only a few more participants remained until…
"Krystal Violetta?"
The cat faunus took a deep breath as she stood up and made her way towards the door. A thousand thoughts raced through her head, but she managed to push them down and focus on her goal.
Confident. Composed. Professional. We've got this.
# # #
Krystal found herself standing in a small combat arena. The octagonal field was bare and grey, and the light blue stands were completely empty. To Krystal's front, left, and right, large mechanical doors bearing the crest of the Kingdom of Mistral stood poised to open. Krystal stood straight with her hands folded in front of her, looking up at the large box built into the stands, where she knew her examiners were watching.
"Krystal Violetta?" a voice rang out over the loud speaker. Krystal nodded her head, and the voice continued with a speech that the speaker was clearly getting bored with, if their tone was anything to go by.
"You are about to begin the practical portion of your final exams. During this exam, you will be placed in a live combat scenario that will include live targets. Your objective will be to eliminate these targets within the allotted time. During this exam, you will be graded on your combat capabilities, your ability to read a situation, and your aura management.
"If at any point during the exam, you feel that you are being overwhelmed, you are to shout out 'I forfeit.' Should you do so, the exam will end and you will immediately be failed. Should you attempt to leave the arena whilst the exam is in session, the exam will end and you will be failed. Should your aura drop beneath ten percent during the course of the exam, the exam will end and you will be failed. Do you have any questions?"
Krystal shook her head.
"Good. In that case, let the examination begin."
The bay doors on either side of Krystal whined as they began to open. As the cat faunus noted the unmistakable sound of creatures of Grimm growling from the other side, she reached behind her back and unsheathed her weapons, a pair of scarlet katars. They each sported a blade measuring a foot long, with a pair of gun barrels adorning each side of the blade's base.
The opening to her left barely cleared three feet when the first Grimm bolted out the gate. Krystal's eyes snapped to the side as she saw a Creep rushing her, the creature bellowing as it charged into battle.
The freckled student wasted no time in meeting her opponents advance, leaping into the air and twisting her body to deliver a spinning slash to the nape of the monster's neck. The Creep cried out as it collapsed to the ground, it's body already dissolving. Krystal hit the ground but immediately leapt back in the air, curving into a backflip as she fired at the second Creep that tried to rush her from behind. She landed and raised her arm just in time to block the sweeping claw of a Beowolf that had come from the same direction. Behind it, she could see more Grimm spilling from the darkness, and the growls from behind her told the cat faunus that the same was the case behind her.
Despite the stakes, and despite her attempt at a stoic demeanor, a toothy smirk formed on her lips.
Fun.
While Krystal's left arm blocked the Beowolf's paw, she used her right to slice it off. The Grimm roared in pain as Krystal dropped, delivering a quick slash to the monster's abdomen. Before the dying beast had a chance to drop to the ground, the faunus leaped off the ground, bringing her feet up in front of her. Placing her feet on the Grimm's chest, she used it to launch herself at the monsters charging from behind. She crashed into the lead Beowolf head on, burying her blades into its chest. She pulled on her weapons in an attempt to slash at the Beowolf to her right, but found it stuck in her current victims ribcage. Before she had the chance to pull it out, a shadow passed over her. Looking she saw a pair of claws descending upon her as the Grimm on either side of her rushed to take advantage of her predicament. Krystal could only smirk as a faint purple light quickly enveloped her.
The Grimm's massive paws smashed down upon their prey. The corpse of their fellow monster was instantly decimated in a flash of violet light, but when they raised their paws, the young girl was nowhere to be seen. Before they could react further, a shadow passed above them. The Grimm looked up to see the cat faunus descending upon them, her katars poised to strike. The first Beowolf was too slow to react as Krystal's weapons severed its neck. The second one tried to swipe at her as she hit the ground, but she rolled underneath its claws and thrust her katar under its jaws. She pulled the trigger of her weapon, blowing a hole through the top of its head.
As the Beowolf's body began to fade, the sound of snarling drew Krystal's attention to the remaining Grimm charging at her from the side of the arena. Krystal drew her arm back and hurled one of her katar's at the monsters barreling at her.
The blade dug itself into the leftmost Beowolf's chest. While it wasn't a fatal wound, it was still enough for the Grimm to howl out in pain. An instant later, a flash of purple light filled the Beowolf's vision, only for it to be replaced by the faunus not a second later, her hand gripping onto her weapon. Grimm are incapable of feeling fear, but as the monster gazed at the smile that the girl was now making no effort to hide, a feeling grew in its stomach that its existence might soon come to an end. The light flashed again, and the faunus was gone.
Flash.
The Grimm in the center howled as Krystal slashed at its eyes.
Flash.
The Grimm in the rear collapsed as it felt metal cut into its legs.
Flash.
A web of cuts appeared in the left most Grimm's chest as Krystal cut into it mercilessly.
Flash.
Flash.
Flash.
Howls of pain filled the arena as the Grimm struggled to keep up with the purple light that surrounded them, bringing nothing but pain and injury. They swiped their claws in every direction they could, but only caught air as the infernal purple light danced around them. Finally, one last flash lit the arena, and the last Beowolf collapsed to the ground, it's body covered in slashes.
Krystal sat crouched on the ground, her blades still poised from her final strike. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she panted, her arms shaking from the onslaught. After taking a minute to catch her breath, she struggled her feet and stood up straight towards the judge's box with her hands behind her back. Adopting a small, polite smile, she bowed towards the examiners.
"Thank you very much for your time. I must admit, this was quite the chall-," her smile fell as the door below the examiner's box began to open. Her eyes widened as she saw another pair of enemies moving out from the shadows, these two far from different from the foes she had just defeated.
"Huntsmen and huntresses often find themselves taking many kinds of jobs that have them facing various forms of challenges. Did you think you would only be fighting Grimm in the future?"
Krystal didn't miss the amusement in the examiner's voice as he read this last part. Apparently, watching potential graduates squirm under this twist was the part that didn't get old.
Smug bastard.
Standing in front of Krystal was a pair of large robots. The one on the left was tall, bulky, and covered in red armor. In its hand, it wielded a large polearm that sported two large blades on either end. The foe on the right was of a similar build, but instead sported white armor. It wielded a large minigun that seemed to have a grenade launcher built into the bottom. Blue eyes shone from both of them staring at Krystal with a fixed expression that the cat faunus could only assume was meant to resemble anger. Tensing up, Krystal readied her blades.
The red robot charged at her first, the polearm spinning in its hand. Krystal raised her blades to defend, but the sheer force of the strike caused her to fly backwards. The impact of hitting the floor drove the breath from her lungs, and as she struggled to get to her feet, she looked up and saw the red android coming down upon her, its spear driving towards her. She leaped out of the way just in time to watch the blade dig into the floor where her chest had just been. Krystal tried to leap forward for a counterstrike, but was cut off as an arc of gunfire from the white android made its way towards her.
She raised her blades in time to deflect the bullets, but the distraction gave red robot enough time to dig its blade from the ground and make a strike at her. Krystal rolled to the right, just missing the blade, but before she had the chance to get to her feet, a small noise brought her attention to the floor. She looked, and only had just enough time to widen her eyes before the small grenade at her feet exploded, throwing her into the air. Krystal's back hit the wall behind her, a small cry escaping her lips as she once again felt her breath to be forced from her lungs.
Shaking off the dizziness that clouded her mind, Krystal glanced up at the board above that displayed her aura levels. She was still safely in the yellow, but the blows from the robots and the overuse of her semblance earlier had drained her of quite a bit. If she wanted to pass, she had to end this fast or risk taking more damaging blows. Slowly, she struggled to her feet as the red robot charged her.
Krystal dashed forward. The red android raised its polearm to strike at her, but at the last moment, the cat faunus dropped to her knees and slid under the swinging blade. Getting back to her feet, she charged towards the white robot, only to be met with yet another hail of gunfire. Undeterred, Krystal weaved from left to right, dodging and leaping over the shots as she closed the distance between them. Behind her, she heard the sound of metal on metal as the red menace gave chase.
As she grew closer, Krystal saw the white robot reach for a secondary trigger, the one Krystal assumed must be for the grenade launcher. Just as its metallic finger closed around it, the cat faunus disappeared in another flash of violet light. She instantly reappeared behind the white android, grabbing onto its shoulders and slamming her foot into the back of its weapon, angling it upwards just as its finger squeezed the trigger. A grenade flew through the air and made contact with the red robots head. An explosion reduced the android's cranium to scrap as the crimson body collapsed to the floor.
Pushing against the butte of the gun to hoist herself up, Krystal slammed her katar into the android's neck. She let out a yell as she repeatedly pulled the trigger as she fired shot after shot into the robot's throat. The bullets tore through the metal, shredding it to pieces until eventually the robot's entire skull flew off of its body, causing it to crumble to the ground in a manner similar to its red counterpart.
Breathing heavily, Krystal picked herself up off of the mechanical corpse and turned once again towards the examiner's booth, her hands placed behind her back.
After a pregnant pause, the judge's voice rang through the arena's speakers.
"Congratulations, you have successfully completed the practical portion of your final exams. Well done, Miss Violetta." The sound of clapping could be heard as the rest of Krystal's examiners offered a round of congratulatory applause. Krystal smiled as she bowed to them in thanks before turning and making her way to the door. A wave of excitement and relief washed over her as she exited the arena, giving encouraging gestures to the remaining students, and doing nothing to hide the wide grin that had spread on her face.
Beat that, Invincible Girl.