Combat class went as usual. Teenagers beating each other up till one lost. Right now Jennifer Holnala, a pale skinned girl with brown hair and eyes was fighting. She wore a long sleeved shirt and jeans. She also wore metal gauntlets and greaves. Her weapon was a longsword. In the middle of the weapon was a mechanism that allowed the user to add Dust in it for different kinds of effects. Right now there was fire Dust in the sword allowing the girl to send waves of fireballs and crescents at her opponents or just bash her sword at the enemy causing the flames to jump to whoever was on the other side.
But in simple terms, she had a fire sword.
Her opponent was Odell. He used his spear to his advantage, constantly poking Jennifer when she tried to launch a fireball at him while using the extra reach to keep the sword form cutting him. Sadly when the brown haired girl send a fire crescent he had to dodge and he couldn't get his defence back up fast enough. Jennifer won but she only had twenty two percent of her aura left.
"Excellent work students" Goodwitch said "Mr lams you sure have gotten better but you still lack a good means to answer when your opponent gets close. Mrs Holnala you need to change tactics faster if your opponent is preventing you from your current one".
Both teens nodded and left the arena. Goodwitch looked at her scroll to see the time.
"We still have enough time for one more fight" Goodwitch began" Any volunteers"?
"Me" A shout came for the stand.
"Mr Winchester, thank you for volunteering. Anyone you would want to fight against"?
"I would like to fight Jaune Arc"
"Very well, Mr Arc please come down to the ring"
Jaune sighed as he made his way to the arena. It was a pipedream to think that Cardin would leave him alone now that he had challenged him. When he entered the arena Cardin was already there, giving Jaune a smug smile.
'Either he is confided that he will win or just arrogant' The blonde Faunus thought.
"Ready to know you place Jauney boy"? Cardin taunted.
"I already know my place and it's above you" Jaune shot back. This caused Cardin to glare at his opponent.
"Enough you two" Goodwitch cut in before the insults got out of hand "Are both combatants ready"?
They both nodded.
"Then begin"
Cardin dashed towards Jaune to catch him of guard. In all of Jaune's fights he would stay on the defence till either his opponent got tired or he had broken their guard with a parry. Cardin knew that with his mace he could hurt Jaune through his armour. He just needed to get past that sword.
Imagine his surprise when Jaune came rushing towards him with hid sword ready for a slash. Cardin bent backwards to dodge the slash and had to use one of his hands to not fall on his ass. Jaune spun his toes and brought Grave Officium up to smash it on Cardin. The orange haired teenager barely managed to roll out of the way. He quickly got onto his feet and brought his mace up to block another overhead swing from Jaune, confident that the handle could withstand the blow.
It did but it didn't do Cardin any good.
Blocking a sword that weighed twenty kilograms with the person capable of wielding it, smashing it on you wasn't a smart idea.
'Ok don't block that sword anymore' The mace wielder thought to himself. That blow had almost send him to his knees. His arms hurt quite a bit, especially the joints. He pushed the sword of to the side and tried to ram Jaune with his shoulder.
He received a backhand for trying.
Cardin slammed his mace into the ground while activating his semblance Quake, sending a shockwave through the ground, causing Jaune to sway trying to hold his balance. Cardin rushed at the Faunus again trying to hit him with his weapon. Jaune brought his sword up to defend himself but it was poorly done resulting that Grave Officium was knocked out of Jaune's hands. Cardin continued his assault by slamming his mace into the side of Jaune's face and following up with a bash to the chest. Jaune fell to the ground in a daze. Cardin slammed Jaune again in the chest. Bringing his weapon back up for another slam he got kick in the face. Oddly the underside of the sabaton had a dull purple glow. The blonde quickly got back on his feet, grabbed Grave Officium and backpedalled from Cardin. The Faunus held his sword next to his shoulder horizontally, waiting for his opponent's next move. Cardin used his semblance again, seeing how effective it.
Jaune was prepared this time.
He drove Grave Officium into the ground then used it as a jumping board. Pulling on the rope, connecting his sword with him, removing it from the ground. The blonde swung the blade at Cardin, forcing him to hit the deck. When he stood back up Jaune kneed him in the stomach, bending over the leg. Getting the orange haired teen into a headlock, Jaune drew Crocea Mors and proceeded to stab Cardin whiles kneeing him. It took a while till Cardin managed to get Jaune to the gound with him. Jaune adapted with the situation by getting behind the mace wielder and putting him in a sleeper hold. It was game over for Cardin.
"Ok enough" Glynda called the match. Jaune let go of Cardin how started to gasp.
"As you all have just witnessed" Goodwitch began "You don't always have to win by ring out or getting your opponent's aura low. Getting them into to a hold they can't get out by themselves is also an option".
Cardin was still taking in large amount of air in. Being almost knocked out by a lack of air no one blamed him. Suddenly the handle of his mace came into view. He looked up to see Jaune holding his weapon towards him.
"That was a good match, well fought" Jaune said. Cardin's face showed confusion. In his confusion he accepted his weapon and the hand of Jaune that pulled him back onto his feet.
"Mr Arc while it is good that you're finally taking the offensive, you have dropped your guard way too much. Mr Winchester, while off on a rough start your use of your semblance very good. However you got over confided leading to your down fall".
Both boys nodded even though Cardin was in a daze.
"Now of to your next class" Glynda ended combat class.
Cardin was confused as he was looking at his hand. He thought that all Faunus dishonourable, lying scum. His father always said that. Adding what had happened to his little sister had confirmed that as fact. Just thinking about that made him want to go on a Faunus killing spree. He didn't do it because that would drag the Winchester name through the mud. But that fox Faunus didn't come off as such. In fact quite the opposite, the beast showed more honour then some humans he had met when they came to discuss things that he had no interest for. That said, Cardin wasn't going to trust him because of one event. He was going to keep an eye out on the fox to find out his intentions were good or evil.
"Today's class is going to be different than planned" Lurmina said to her students "Next week you guys are going to the Forever Fall to get some sap for an assignment. It a beautiful place and the assignment isn't that hard but it can still be dangerous because of the biological landmines". Lurmina stood in front of her desk. "Can anyone tell me what the main cause of death to Hunter is"?
"Those landmines you spoke of" Yang said.
"And what are they"? Lurmina raised an eyebrow.
"Some kind of poisonous plant"?
"They do fall under the term" Lurmina said "But the term refers to all plants and animals that can kill a human".
"Wouldn't aura protect us"?
"If it is up Odell. As you guys know aura first need to be activated consciously before it becomes passive protection. But most of the time you trigger a biological landmine your aura is not active because you didn't see them". Lurmina walked behind her desk. She grabbed a small bottle with a clear liquid.
"Anyone knows what's this is"? No one had the answer.
"This is the venom of the Fer-de-lance with is common in the Forever Fall". The survival professor showed a picture of the snake. "You guys probably think that with its colour that you can't miss it but you would be surprised. These snakes stay perfectly still and are unpredictable". The brown haired professor popped the cork of the bottle. "This lesson is going to be about the deadly creatures that live there, what their favorite spots are so you can avoid them, how to treat someone in case they are tagged, and busting some myths. Cheers". Lurmina started to drink the venom. That caused the class to panic.
"WHAT THE FUCK"
"SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR"
"SHE'S GOING TO DIE"
Lurmina just watched as the room descended further into chaos. She clapped her hands so loud it was heard over the panicking students.
"Shut up. Nothing is going to happen to me" Lurmina said before a thoughtful expression crossed her face. "Well maybe I ruined my taste buds but I'm not dying".
"But professor you drank snake poison" Ruby screamed.
"Snake venom Ruby, snakes are venomous not poisonous" The professor corrected "And most Snake venoms are only dangerous if it gets into your bloodstream. So unless you have a cut in your mouth or in your bowels, it will be destroyed by your enzymes and stomach acid. That said never try it. If you have a cut it will end badly plus it taste awful". The Faunus teacher grabbed a water bottle and took a sip from it.
"So can you become immune to poisons if you do this"?
"It's more of a resistance then immunity. And it would take way to long for it to be useful for one poison" Lurmina lay heavy emphasize on the word one.
"Also a warning before we go deeper into this class. Mrs Goodwitch will tell you there on the spot, don't leave the selected perimeter and don't take anything with you from the forest, especially if it looks weird to you don't touch it".
"Uh is their one of those landmines"? A student asked.
"No they are probably some item from one of the cairns that are scattered across the forest"
"Wait don't tell me that you believe in ghosts"? Another student asked.
"I'm just open-minded about these kinds of things. Plus do you really want to find out if is true or not"? They certainly didn't. The Grimm brought enough problems already. No need to add more in the form of dead people.
"Anyway" Lurmina continued "The greatest danger you guys are going to face are the rapier wasps. They are attracted to the sap and their stings are able to go right through aura so you need to be smart about this. After drilling your hole you have one minute to get the sap and leave. Unless you want to be swarmed. Also if the stream of sap decreases, leave. Cause if there is no sap for the wasps and you start at another tree you don't have that one minute safe time".
The lecture continued. Lurmina explained the various scenarios and how to properly deal with them along with the other threats out there.
"And please don't try to flick them away or kill one" The professor said "And before any of you ask why, try to do it with your fellow humans. Wave in front of their face and they will get annoyed very fast and slap your hand away. Kill someone and the Vale police will hunt you down. Same thing with the wasps. They're social creatures so annoy or kill one will get you the swarm to sting you". The bell rang, signalling the end of the class.
"Well that the end of class. Happy sap collecting and don't forget to buy an epinephrine pen in case one of your team mates is allergic to anything you might come across".
Team JNPR were in their combat gear, walking to one of the training grounds. They were going to spar with each other to train their skills and team building. When they arrived the training ground Lurmina was there already, reading a book. When the Hunters in training got closer Lurmina closed the book and looked up.
"You guys don't mind if I am here"? The brown haired Faunus asked.
"No Jaune explained to us already that you would be here professor" Ren answered.
"But you need to explain your semblance to stay here" Nora added with a smile.
"Nora she doesn't need to do that" Ren argued "You just want to know what her semblance is"
"But Renny" The orange haired girl whined "Aren't you curious about it"?
"No not really" was drily reply. Lurmina chuckled.
"You two sure are close" The Faunus said "And I don't mind telling what my semblance does. It allow me to swap two inanimate objected with each other".
Nora looked confused. "How is that disruptive"?
Lurmina smiled. "Have you ever tried to put your left foot in a right shoe? It really hard and if you get your foot in it is really uncomfortable, sometimes painful".
"Yeah that's annoying but you can ignore that" Nora pointed out.
"Indeed" The professor agreed "But I could switch your weapon with a sock or switch a pebble in front with a car causing you the change your direction immediately or crash into it".
Ren nodded. "I see, you can change the flow and the environment on a whim. That is really disruptive".
"Well I can't switch a forest with a desert but even the smallest changes can have the biggest consequences, especially in a battle".
"Oh I see now" Nora nodded.
"Anyway let's get started guys" Jaune said "Pyrrha and Nora first".
The two girls entered the ring. When the bell rang the two blasted of. Nora changed her hammer in to a grenade launcher and started shooting at Pyrrha. The red haired dodged the barrage and counter fired. Pyrrha then changed her rifle into the xiphos form and rushed at Nora, who changed her weapon back. Nora did an overhead slam but Pyrrha dodged it. The red head stabbed the Orange haired girl but it didn't bother Nora in the slightest. Nora then tried to hit her opponent in the side but Pyrrha closed in with a shield bash, stunning the girl. She followed up a slash and four stabs before kicking Nora away. Nora launched a grenade to stop Pyrrha from getting closer again but the grenade glanced off the shield. The champion one again landed a great combo on Nora. The spar lasted quite long but it seemed that Nora just couldn't seem to hit Pyrrha.
Next up was Ren and Jaune. The match started with Ren with a hail storm of bullets. Jaune shielded him behind his sword. Jaune walked towards Ren using his sword as a shield. Ren started to run circles around Jaune. The Faunus counter by constantly turning. When Jaune heard the sound of clicking guns he dashed at Ren, trying to take him out. However Ren was agile enough to dodge the big swings. Ren then stabbed into Jaune's left armour joint, draining a little bit of aura. Suddenly Jaune started to move faster and started trying to stab Ren with his sword. The blonde's continuous assault started to wear Ren out. While he was very agile he didn't have the endurance to keep dodging. The match finished when Jaune nailed a good stab into Ren's stomach.
The following match was quite amusing to watch, especially in the beginning. It was Nora against Jaune. The girl knew that if Jaune got close it could spell disaster. Luckily she had a good way to stop that.
Spam explosives.
"WHAT FOR BULLSHIT IS THIS"? Jaune yelled while dodging the storm called Nora. He did the most ridiculous poses to not get hit. Meanwhile Nora was having the time of her life, trying to blow up her leader. One time Jaune got hit in the face and suffered ten grenades hitting him in rapid succession. It only stopped because Nora had to reload. While the barrage only did twelve percent to the Faunus's aura, he wasn't happy. The fire storm started again way too soon for Jaune but now he had a plan. He unhooked his bearing sword, spun to dodge a grenade and threw the sword. Nora had to throw herself to dodge the flying weapon. She changed her weapon back to hammer form. A grenade launcher would harm her too at close range. She swung her weapon sideways but Jaune grabbed it just under the hammer part and then the middle of the shaft. A power struggle began and neither side gave an inch. Finally Jaune manage to wrestle the hammer from Nora by twisting the weapon from left to right. Jaune threw Magnhild behind him and ran towards Nora. The energetic girl threw the first punch with got caught by Jaune at the wrist. He pulled her towards him. Spinning Nora, Jaune got behind her. He put one of his arms around her neck to strangle her. The orange haired girl showed how strong she was by flipping Jaune over her shoulder. Jaune still hand his hand on her neck and pulled her to the ground with him.
"It looks like Jaune likes to grapple his opponents" Ren said.
"Jaune knows a few martial atrs" Lurmina explained "But grappling move are his favourites. Plus with his sword it makes a solid core. It is almost impossible to capture someone with that sword". Nora managed to get away from Jaune. Both combatants stood across from each other. Jaune broke the stare off by running to Nora to punch her.
Nora dodged and kicked Jaune, staggering him and went for Grave Officium. Magnhild was behind Jaune so there was no way to get it with him trying to grapple her. Picking the sword up with little difficulty, she went for a sideway swing.
That mistake costed Nora the match.
Jaune stopped and ducked underneath the sword. When Nora tried to stop the sword, she was dragged around by it. Jaune tackled the orange girl from behind. Laying on top of Nora, Jaune put his right arm around Nora's neck and pulled her torso up. Grabbing her right arm with his left, he brought towards him side and pressed Nora down on her own arm, pinning it in place. Nora tried to counter attack and landed an elbow strike in Jaune's face, but it did nothing against the helmet than produce a small sound. Jaune released her neck to grab her other arm. One he had that one pinned he drew Crocea Mors and held it against her neck.
With the match decided Jaune got of Nora and pulled her up. When they joined the rest of the group Nora started to complain.
"Jauney your sword is sexist". Jaune face was completely blank. Not that anyone could see it. The rest to had no idea what she meant by that.
"Uh what"? Jaune asked.
"I could lift your sword with ease but when I swung it, it kept going"
"Lifting and wielding are two different things Nora" Lurmina said.
"Also you need to be heavy to wield it properly" Jaune added. The rest of team JPNR looked confused.
"With most weapons you need strength or skill to wield them"Lurmina explained "But the more a weapon weighs, the more mass you need to keep yourself grounded".
"You need to be heavy to prevent you to be dragged around by the sword" Pyrrha said.
"Exactly" Jaune said "The heavier the weapon the more you need to weight to used it. You still need the strength to lift it".
The next match was Ren against Nora. The two have been together for a long time. They knew each other's fighting style and how they would react to certain situations. Ren won the match by staying away for Nora but not too far for her to use her grenade launcher. It also helped that Nora was still drained for her fight with Jaune.
Pyrrha and Ren were next. Ren started with a hail of bullets. Pyrrha hels her shield out and rushed at Ren. Ren tried to keep his distance but Pyrrha was too fast for him. In melee distance Ren was a whirlwind of slashes but for some reason they glanced of the shield or went wide. Pyrrha ended the spar a shield bash and a slash to Ren's chest.
The final spar was between Pyrrha and Jaune. Pyrrha began by opening fire on Jaune. The Faunus ran through the bullets, doing an overhead smash. Pyrrha dodged and stabbed Jaune in the head. The blonde retaliated with a sideway slash. The red head ducked underneath the sword and stabbed Jaune in the armpit. Jaune started to try to stab the champion as she keep dodging the slashes and whittling down his aura. But he still couldn't hit Pyrrha. Getting desperate, Jaune just rushed Pyrrha and shoulder bashed her. She blocked it with her shield. Jaune continued with his assault by pushing. He stumbled when Pyrrha stepped back. After that she bashed him in the face. This left her guard to be down. Jaune slammed the pommel of his sword into her stomach. Following up with a slash he knew she couldn't dodge. Suddenly his sword started to change direction, missing Pyrrha by an inch. Pyrrha kicked Jaune sideways in the knee and backed off.
'What was that'? Jaune thought. He swung Grave Officium in front of him and it swung as it should. He looked at Pyrrha and saw she was getting ready to shoot him. He threw his sword at her forcing her to dodge. He pulled on the rope and caught the sword. He ones again rushed at Pyrrha. His sword once again changed the direction it should go.
'OK now I know that something is going on' the blonde thought 'And since it didn't happen with Ren or Nora so that means that Pyrrha is causing it'. That said he didn't know how. It must be her semblance but what exactly he had no idea. The fight continued with Pyrrha draining Jaune's aura with Jaune trying to hit her with no success. When his aura got below fifty percent he changed his tactics. He held his sword above his head and started to spin it. He then slowly walked towards Pyrrha.
When the match started Pyrrha had little problem fighting Jaune. Sure he had skill but with her semblance he just couldn't hit her. He did get close when he smashed into her but she got the situation under control.
That was until he started to spin his sword. He put his fingers into the holes in the sword and started to spin it. It was at an angle so that the only part that wasn't protected was Jaune's feet. When she tried to use her semblance the sword was spinning to fast to effectively use it. She got hit by the sword and it hurt. It launched her in to the air. She fired at Jaune but the sword deflected every shot. She needed to stop the spinning or else she was going to lose. She used her semblance on Jaune's leg forcing him to stop moving or fall. Pyrrha took a page out of Jaune's book.
Recklessly charging in.
She used her semblance to pull on Jaunes's leg again, this time stronger. Jaune stabbed his sword into the ground. Pyrrha rushed at him and tackled him to the ground. Sadly Jaune just stumbled back. He dropped his sword and grabbed the red haired girl around the stomach and one her legs. Pulling her up, Pyrrha now was upside and Jaune was behind her. She landed a hard kick in Jaune's face causing him to let her go. She landed on her hands and spin kick him in the face again. Jaune fell to the ground. Swiftly Pyrrha jumped on Jaune and pointed her xiphos at Jaune's throat. Jaune surrendered.
"Well this was an eye opener" Jaune said as he sat with his team and his aunt.
"That last battle was awesome" Nora cheered "Pyrrha showed us why she is Mistral's champion". Said champion blushed and started to fidget. Looks like she didn't like that to be brought up.
"More like she relies too much on her semblance" Lurmina said. Ren and Nora looked at her confused.
"But I didn't see her use it" Nora said.
"She did. Probably also when she fought you two" Lurmina said "I have trained Jaune for years so I know how he moves. Not only did Grave Officium move strange but when Jaune started to spin his sword, his legs suddenly moved in an unnatural way. The only reason how that could happen if Pyrrha used her semblance".
Pyrrha nodded her head. "I did. My semblance is polarity, allowing me to manipulate my opponent's weapons".
"A strong semblance" Ren said.
"So that's why Grave Officium moved strange" The Faunus said "Anyway let me to advice you guys how you guys can inprove. Ren if you improve your stamina you would surely become stronger. Nora if you get faster you would be able hit faster opponents, who can't withstand your blows. And Pyrrha well maybe start to fight without your semblance. I really don't know how else to help you".
"A sparring partner would be nice" The champion said "I'm sure that will help me improve. I'm not really good at grappling". Lurmina and Nora gave her knowing grins, causing Pyrrha tho blush. Jaune didn't notice it however.
"If you think it will help, sure" Jaune answered.
"Oh professor can I ask you something"? Nora asked.
"Sure what is it"? Lurmina asked.
"Can I have a match against you"?
Another chapter finished and what a hectic month it was. This is my birthday gift to you guys, the largest chapter to date. See you guys in the next chapter.
SoWriteIt out.