King: Welp! It's exam day~! Time to put yourselves to the test. Hope you enjoy the chapter, as usual~
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Glynda was in a good mood. Normally, this would mean something insane would happen to make her upset, but that couldn't happen today. She stood in Beacon's combat arena, waiting as the students filed in before the late bell. They all took their seats like any other day. But today wasn't any other day, and that was why Glynda was in a good mood. It was exam day!
Glynda allowed herself a small grin before addressing the students. "Right then. Now that everyone is here, we can begin. As you all should be aware, today is the first of your practical combat exams. As such, you will not be having your other classes today," she waited the excited murmuring of the students died down before continuing, "and you will all be brought into the arena today for your examinations." She smirked as a few students squirmed in their seats, most out of excitement.
Glynda waited for them to calm again. "However!" She shouted in order to get their attentions, "You will not be fighting each other for these exams. You will be fighting professional huntsmen, huntresses, and your own professors." That was the moment the class's excitement died to be reborn as worry. "All of your opponents will be working on an auric handicap, but you do not need to defeat your opponents. In fact, your opponent was selected specifically to be insurmountable. You will be graded on your actions in the arena and how you fight. I wish you all luck. You're going to need it."
She gave them all time to mentally prepare before the matches and gear up in the locker rooms. When they returned to the stands to wait for their call, they all started to converse. The most vocal being teams RWBY and JNPR.
Yang grinned and was almost bouncing, "Oh man! This is going to be awesome!"
Nora jumped up with grenade launcher in hand, "YEAH!"
Weiss was trying to wrangle in Yang as she shouted, trying to remind her of the point. That they were going to fight professional huntsmen that were supposed to be impossible to beat, but that only made Yang more excited. Weiss hung her head in defeat and decided to ready herself for her fight.
Glynda cleared her throat and the board above her began to glow. "Now, let's get started. First match," the board started to spin a pair of pictured on either half of the board. After a while, two pictures appeared. The first was the visage of Nora Valkyrie and the second was professor Alexander Peach. "Ms. Valkyrie versus Alexander Peach."
Nora stood up excitedly and bounded down to the arena. Her opponent entered through the door to the lockers. Professor Peach wasn't dressed in his usual pink suit for once. This was the first time any of the students had ever seen his combat uniform. Alexander was dressed in a pair of pink slacks and red boots. And that was it. He was topless, showing off his toned form and tattoo; dual-armed tattoo sleeves of green, thorn covered vines connected by a vine across his upper back. Alexander cracked his knuckles and smiled, "Ready when you are Ms. Valkyrie~"
When the match began, Nora readied her launcher and fired three shells toward her professor in a small arc, trying to get him to duck and give her a chance to strike with her hammer. To her surprise, Professor Peach weaved through the gap between two of the shells and started to charge toward her. Nora switched her weapon into hammer form and started to swing toward him, only for her professor to duck the attack by leaning backward. The hammer's head flew over his face as he slid forward on his knees. He thrust one hand up between Nora's arms and grabbed her left shoulder and he twisted his leg around her left leg. From this position, he knocked Nora to the ground, dealing a decent amount of damage to the student.
As far as the students were aware, Professor Peach was human, but he moved like a serpent in combat, his limbs moving like snakes around Nora's own and used to knock her down again and again, only for Nora to get back up each time. Alexander smiled, "Persistent. You must really love this class. Now, let's see if you've been paying attention in mine." Alexander held his arms outward slightly, "Can you tell me what Vinea Atramento is?"
Nora stopped a moment but kept her hammer ready for the coming attack.
After a few seconds, Peach smiled, "It's commonly called Ink Vine. It's a form of vegetation commonly found in Northern Vacuo. It's known for being extremely strong, but extremely thin; to the point that most people confuse it for paint on a wall." His tattoo on either arm almost seemed to have loosened, "Or as a tattoo." He snapped his hands outward and the vines flew off of his arms.
Nora smirked and shifted her weapon back to launcher form, firing a grenade. Said grenade was wrapped up in vines and redirected behind Alexander. Nora's shock held her still long enough to not realize the shell had yet to burst and her professor slammed the shell at her feet. The explosion sent her flying backward and took the last of the aura she could afford.
Glynda stepped in toward them with her hand pointed over to Professor Peach, "The match is over."
Alexander's vines returned to his arms and looked like tattoos again. He smiled and waved toward Nora, "Now I'm off to class. See you around!" Peach spun on his heel and sprinted toward the doors.
Nora returned to her seat a little miffed. She sat in a huff and fumed for a while until Ren patted her shoulder as a gesture to get her to calm down. Class, however, continued regardless of Nora's annoyance as Glynda called down another student. Teams RWBY and JNPR started to consider the fight Nora just endured.
"So, that was crazy right?" Yang leaned forward, focusing on the fight in the ring as she spoke.
Blake shrugged. "It's not all that surprising is it? He is a teacher after all."
"I mean how he moved. He was like a snake with limbs."
"Do you think he's a Faunas?" Ruby asked.
Blake thought for a moment, "It's possible. Serpent Faunas can pass as human while retaining a level of flexibility humans just can't match. But nothing he did in the arena is out of human possibility. His flexible fighting style just counters Nora's more straightforward style."
Nora grumbled a little. Even though Professor Goodwitch made it clear that they weren't very likely to win, it still stung that she couldn't even hurt him. She shook her hands through her hair and shouted as she fell backward. Her team was used to this when she was mad at something she couldn't change like tests or boredom caused by studying. The others were concerned but brushed it off as Nora being Nora.
When the match ended in the arena, Glynda started to spin the wheel again. When the student-half of the set stopped, it showed Yang's picture. Like Nora, Yang charged into the ring, ready for a fight.
As Yang approached, Glynda announced the match, "Yang Xiao Long! Your opponent shall be Celia Peach!"
The resident forge-master of Beacon walked out in her soot-covered forge gear: dark red jumpsuit, thick yellow gloves, and yellow boots. She removed her gloves and the upper half of her jumpsuit, showing her black tank top and tattoos usually hidden beneath. Celia cracked her knuckles and returned her gloves to her hands before grabbing a roll of barbed wire from her belt. The wire wrapped around her knuckles and created a pair of spiked fists ready to cause some hurt. The teacher dropped into a fighting stance.
Glynda raised her hand and looked between the two. After a moment, she dropped her hand and shouted, "Fight!"
Yang charged forward, intent on getting a clean win. As she started to swing, the blacksmith raised her gloved arms up to block her attack. On impact, Yang could feel her aura take a hit. She was starting to see why Celia was her opponent. That barbed wire was both a weapon and a shield. Yang jumped back and held her fists close, ready for anything. "Damn barbs…"
Celia smirked and taunted Yang to come and get her.
Yang would have taken the taunt if not for that getting her in trouble in the past. Not to mention the barbed wire. Every hit would hurt Celia, but it would chip away at Yang as well. Yang jumped back and fired a dust shell toward the teacher.
Celia side stepped the attack, her movement doing so was minimal. When she landed, the sound of a shotgun blast found her face to face with Yang again. This time, however, Yang used incendiary dust to deal damage, avoiding direct contact. Celia smirked and tanked the hit, her barbed wire taking most of the damage. Now, with heated metal around her hands, Celia grabbed Yang's arm and pulled her into a punch of her own. With Celia's barbed fist square in Yang's gut, the teacher took a heavy step forward and slammed the student into the ground. Yang's aura taking a massive hit from the attack. As she tried to rise back up again, she found that the barbed wire formerly around Celia's hands were holding her down to the ground. Yang looked to her aura to show she had none to spare. The act of standing would take away the last of her aura she could afford. She groaned and her head fell back to the floor.
Glynda, aware of her situation, ended the fight. "Celia Peach takes this victory." She pressed a few buttons on her scroll to start the selection again, this time landing on Pyrrha. "Ms. Nikos is next to fight. However, as your grades have remained consistently at the top of the class, and Alexander, who would be your opponent, is currently teaching a class, you are granted a pass."
Pyrrha almost seemed disappointed but didn't seem to mind too much.
Ruby leaned forward, thinking out loud, "Why would Pyrrha have to fight Professor Peach?"
Weiss sighed, "Because Pyrrha's semblance would only work on metal, remember? Professor Peach uses vines and doesn't wear armor. He'd be a tough opponent against Pyrrha."
"Oh yeah~! Right. The polarity thing."
"Yes Ruby… The polarity thing…"
The group watched as the next fighter was called down. "Weiss Schnee!"
The young heiress calmly made her way to the ring and drew her blade for combat.
Glynda tapped on her scroll, "Your opponent is to be Professor Port."
Said Grimm Studies professor walked into the arena, still in his teaching garb, brandishing his blunderbuss/ax. He was laughing jovially when he entered. "So, are you prepared Ms. Schnee?"
Weiss would normally have scoffed with an 'of course I'm ready' had this been anyone but a teacher. So, she simply responded with, "Naturally."
Glynda started the match and Port fired several fireballs toward Weiss. The heiress dodged the attack and fired back with flames of her own. Port tossed his weapon up, flipping it 180 degrees, and sliced through the fire attacks with his ax blades. Port flipped something on the side of the gun and threw the ax toward Weiss. The blade dodged, Weiss prepared to strike only to hear a blast from behind her as the blunderbuss fired on a timer into her back. Weiss started to fall forward, only to be caught by Professor Port. He sidestepped the young heiress and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned back and lifted her over his body and slamming her head into the ground. Port released her and jumped aside from his bridged position and stood back up with his weapon in hand.
The students watching on almost couldn't believe what they'd seen. None of them could really imagine Port being all that impressive in a fight. Sure, he told those outrageous stories, but they couldn't be real. Right?
Port chuckled as Weiss stood back up. Now she was mad. She used a glyph to increase her speed and charged forward to strike the portly professor. He tried to bring down his hammer and Weiss used her speed to parry the attack and flow into a strike. It was as if the world slowed before her. By parrying the blades, she was face to muzzle with his blunderbuss. Three fire balls chipped the last of Weiss's aura away.
Yang blinked in disbelief. "Okay… Note to self, pay more attention in Port's class."
The next fight was Dove Bronzewing against Doctor Oobleck. No matter how many times the student tried to strike the historian, he would dodge just before being hit. This went on for around fifteen minutes before Oobleck struck the young man with his thermos. Dove never stood a chance. Oobleck smacked the student around for the next five minutes with little attacks and sips from his thermos until Glynda had to call the match by time out. Ruby and Yang couldn't help but laugh watching that. It was like a scene out of a cartoon.
The class continued on from there. Not a single student could defeat their teachers. Oobleck's speed, Port's unorthodox style, Glynda's power, Alexander's flexibility, and Celia's preparedness made each fight extremely one sided. In the end, there was only one fight left. Glynda tapped her scroll as she spoke, "Ms. Rose!"
Ruby practically flew into the arena. She'd been waiting her turn this whole time and it was getting to her. Now it was time to let loose with Crescent Rose! She didn't care who her opponent was!
Glynda adjusted her glasses and stepped aside to reveal Professor Ozpin walking into the arena.
Ruby's mood took a nosedive. She had to fight Ozpin?! The Headmaster of Beacon! She couldn't tell if this was a good thing or not.
Ozpin smiled and made his way opposite her. "Don't worry Ms. Rose. This is all just formalities. Your grade in this class is secured enough as is. That said," he flipped his cane up and held it like a sword, "Don't hold back."
Ruby moved her foot forward a bit to prepare to attack, but started to second guess herself. She was fighting the Headmaster! How should she handle this?! She jumped back and embedded her scythe blade into the ground and placed her hand on the bolt on the side. She fired two shots in this position toward the Headmaster.
Said Headmaster swiped her shots away with his cane. He ran forward to close the gap and blocked an attack Ruby made trying to keep him at a distance. Ozpin struck his cane onto the ground and used it to vault over Ruby and, keeping it in hand, struck her left shoulder from the back and right knee from the side. Ruby fired a round to send the end of her weapon's handle into her professor, only to have him sidestep her and strike at her left knee. He was keeping close and always to the side where her weapon was opposite. After about five minutes, Ozpin knocked Ruby to the ground and chipped away the last of the aura she could afford. Ozpin smiled down to her and helped her back up.
Glynda smiled and nodded. Turning back to her students, she spoke, "That's all for today. I'll compile your scores and areas where you'll need improvement. Expect to find them sent to your scrolls within the week." With that, Glynda's day was complete. Today was a good day.