In this chapter, there's going to be a Grimm studies session...of course, our protagonists have already encountered many types of Grimm...most recently a Golem and the Hornet Queen. Of course, there are worse Grimm yet...but our protagonists aren't going to encounter them yet. They'd get horribly slaughtered!

They are going to encounter a Minotaur though. You mess with the bull, you get the horns! Since Minotaurs are always in a dungeon of some sort, it's deep inside the Emerald Forest.

Chapter 11: Grimm Studies

Once again, it was time to visit Professor Port. He was going to teach them about species of Grimm. No doubt that there were more Grimm species that were yet to be discovered.

And yet, judging from the syllabus, Yang and Cardin had already encountered them before along with Team PWBR. It was starting to feel like they were a bit ahead of their class.

Personally they wondered what kind of Grimm that Team CFVY had encountered. Likely they had encountered more powerful species of Grimm than what they had encountered previously. Maybe if they survived their first year, they could try going on second-year missions...which would undoubtedly be much more perilous than first-year ones.

"Good morning, class. Today I will be teaching you about some species of Grimm..." explained Professor Port. Naturally, they would be going over more species of Grimm as the class continued. Generally, they would start with weaker ones and continue on to stronger ones...usually when the students were ready to handle them.

As such, they probably wouldn't be giving them information about Goliaths for a while. Those Grimm were very powerful...and rather smart, too. Fortunately, they mostly kept to themselves...however, they would show up if a Grimm invasion got bad enough.

Sure enough, pictures of several different types of Grimm were onscreen.

"The Myotises tend to live in caverns or in other dark places...they will wake up and attack any hunters that disturb their territory..." stated the professor.

"I already know that..." said Russel. He had already encountered them during detention.

"The Golem is a larger Grimm that hurls boulders at its enemies." continued Port. If the hunters weren't careful, they could end up being squashed flat.

"We already encountered them." pointed out Weiss. It was rather fortunate as there were one of them as they appeared to be rather strong.

Professor Port decided to show the Bagheerah next.

However, Ruby and Jaune quickly pointed out that they had already encountered it in the forest.

Curious, he decided to see if there were any Grimm that they hadn't encountered yet.

Eventually, he stopped on one...it was called the Minotaur. This particular Grimm somewhat resembled a Boarbatusk...however, it stood upright instead of walking on all four legs. Apparently, it was more intelligent than that particular species of Grimm.

Of course, with more intelligence came stronger Grimm. They might want to bring their whole team if they wanted to take that down.

"I don't think that we've seen that one yet..." remarked Ruby.

"For your lesson why don't you try hunting one down?" asked Port.

"Do you know where we can find one?" asked Jaune.

"As a matter of fact, I do." nodded the Grimm studier. Grimm could be found in a variety of places. They had a tendency to adapt to their environments...and to fighting humans.

As it turned out, there was one deep in Emerald Forest...past where they went when they took their beginning exam. Perhaps the deeper they were into the forest, the more dangerous the Grimm became...fortunately, the forest wasn't that deep.

"Any volunteers?" questioned Professor Port.

Ruby raised her hand...though Jaune was unsure that they could take on that particular Grimm.

"Very good. Come meet me at the Emerald Forest. As for the rest of you, you had better stay on your best behavior while I'm gone." answered the professor.

Russel was tempted for a moment to go against Professor Port's orders and go pull a prank on him...but what if he got a detention again? Nora might end up thwarting his efforts like she did earlier.

Immediately, Professor Port left along with Team RAYC. Hopefully their mission was a success. He had a feeling that his students would succeed.

Of course, their attempt to clear out Grimm from the outskirts of Vale had gone rather well, though they had ended up encountering more Grimm that they had expected. People were making new homes as they spoke.

Professor Port was of course following Team RAYC at a close distance to make sure that none of them ended up being killed. Grimm hunting could get rather messy. He had gotten some battle scars before...though they tended to heal rather quickly. His Aura was very powerful.

Team RAYC ventured into the forest. Fortunately, there did not appear to be as many Grimm since they had visited during their exams. Perhaps taking out that Nevermore and that Death Stalker had made the forest a better place.

However, they ended up encountering some Grimm nonetheless. Not all of them were gone.

In this case, it was another Boarbatusk...though this one appeared to be slightly younger than the one that they had encountered in the outskirts.

"Another one?" asked Yang. It looked like there were having bacon tonight.

She cracked her knuckles.

Immediately, Cardin knocked over the Boarbatusk with his mace.

He then hit it in its belly to make it burst into darkness.

Ruby and Jaune applauded Cardin for taking care of it so swiftly.

However, the death of the Boarbatusk attracted the attention of some wandering Ursas.

They began to growl. To them killing humans was like eating sweet honey.

"More of these guys, huh? Alright then..." answered Yang.

Immediately, she began to beat the Ursas to death with her bare hands.

This was rather effective...since she was so darn strong.

"Your porridge is too hot and your porridge is too cold! How do you eat this stuff?" questioned Yang.

Jaune was rather impressed.

Shortly afterwards, they heard the cry of a Nevermore. However, it was much smaller than the one that they had encountered during their initiation exam. Clearly it was a younger Nevermore.

After encountering a Nevermore of that age, the younger Nevermores seemed rather puny by comparision. It was like comparing a chicken to an ostrich.

Sure enough, Ruby turned her scythe into a gun and shot it down. It evaporated into darkness as soon as it hit the ground.

"I wish we would encounter a different type of Grimm in this forest for a change..." answered Cardin. These Grimm all seemed familiar. It was starting to feel like they were stuck in a time loop.

At that very moment, a different type of Grimm showed up. This one resembled a porcupine.

Ruby wondered what kind of Grimm it was.

Curious, Ruby looked into the textbook that Professor Port had given her.

As it turned out, it was known as a Spiker...and they had quills that they could launch on enemies.

Suddenly, some of them got lodged into her arm.

"Ow!" bellowed Ruby. Her arm was bleeding a bit.

In the process, she dropped her book on the floor.

Well, it was time for her to start fighting.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the Spiker knew at some level how to defend itself from hunters that would wish to hunt it down to stop it from spilling the blood from the innocent.

Immediately, it curled up into a spiked ball...and began to roll around to attack its enemies. Apparently, this particular Spiker was rather smart. Perhaps it had aged?

Sure enough, it hit Jaune...right between the legs.

"Aaugh!" screamed Jaune, falling on the ground.

"Oh no, Juane!" bellowed Ruby. Hopefully he was alright. It was a good thing that they had Professor Port with them in case anything happened.

In retaliation, she shot bullets at the Spiker, causing it to become disoriented.

She then swung her scythe and chopped off its head, killing it. Apparently Ruby got rather angry whenever Juane was injured.

"You alright?" asked Ruby as she helped Juane to his feet. Encountering a new Grimm species was always an interesting experience...however, it took time to prepare for future encounters.

"I think so..." nodded Jaune. Perhaps he could have used his shield to protect himself from the quills.

Of course, this was his first time encountering a Spiker. Apparently, there were more species of Grimm living in this forest than they had encountered during the beginner exam.

Personally he wondered what the exams for fourth-years were like. They were probably rather intense.

Eventually, they began to hear the sound of what appeared to be snorting.

They got the feeling what it was.

Sure enough, it was the Minotaur. It was rather frightening, to say the very least. It was about ten feet tall...though it wasn't as large as the Goliaths. It also had rather sharp-looking horns on its head.

To make it even more frightening, it could roar very loudly.

Also, it appeared to be wielding an axe.

"Why is it wielding an axe?" asked Ruby.

"Some of the Grimm like giving their attackers a taste of their own medicine..." explained Professor Port.

The minotaur was currently grinding its axe against the floor.

"You do realize that once we attack it, it'll charge straight towards us, right?" asked Juane.

"Yes...I suggest you get ready to defend..." answered the teacher.

"That's what I would suggest..." nodded Ruby.

"Maybe one of us should taunt it to get its attention?" questioned Yang.

"Leave that to me..." answered Cardin.

"Hey, Minotaur! I made your mother into a hamburger!"

This got the Minotaur's attention. It began to glare at Cardin.

However, instead of attacking them, it decided to send lesser Grimm after them instead. Apparently, it had a position of authority.

"This Grimm isn't stupid, it seems..." noted Ruby.

"Some Grimm choose to command other Grimm to attack their enemies so that they can stay safe and continue leading them in battle..." answered Professor Port. Perhaps it wasn't going to charge at them after all...at least not yet.

"We're probably going to have to do some work so that nothing will separate us from our target..." acknowledged Juane.

"Alright then!" bellowed Yang.

Immediately, Yang began to attack the Grimm that were sent after them.

The Beowulves howled as they charged straight towards the five of them.

Fortunately, Ruby made short work of them.

"I'm going to see my grandmother and there's nothing that you can do about it! And you had better not try dressing up as her, you transvestites!" bellowed Ruby.

However, the Minotaur was worried about Professor Port. He realized that he was the biggest threat.

Maybe he should try to deal with him himself while the rest of the Grimm attacked his students.

Immediately, he began to charge at Professor Port.

However, at that very moment, Jaune tripped.

"Whoa!" bellowed Jaune.

The Minotaur ended up tripping over him and falling to the floor, leaving it vulnerable to attack.

"Very good, Mr. Arc!" cheered Professor Port.

"Um, thank you?" asked Jaune.

While it was struggling to get back up, Yang punched the Minotaur in the face.

It started to bleed black blood.

However, as a side effect, the Minotaur started getting angry...

...and much like Yang, you would not like a Minotaur when they were angry.

"I'm starting to wonder if I picked a bad day to wear my red cape..." acknowledged Ruby. Since when was she a bull fighter?

The Minotaur roared louder, and this time, more Grimm showed up.

Immediately, Nevermores swooped down from the sky and lunged at them.

Cardin swatted them with his mace.

However, two Death Stalkers showed up shortly afterward. It looked like they had noticed what was going on and had decided to pitch in.

"This time there's two of them?" questioned Yang.

Ruby sure hoped that her squad remembered their training.

Fortunately, it appeared that they had.

Jaune slashed a Death Stalker's tail with his sword, cutting it off to avoid being stung.

Likewise, Cardin started smashing the other one with his mace.

"The more we attack the Minotaur, the stronger the Grimm become..." acknowledged Yang. Perhaps it would be a good idea to try to take down this particular Grimm quickly.

"It appears that this is why Professor Port wants us to work as a team..." suggested Ruby.

Yang tossed one of the Death Stalkers into the other as hard as she could, causing them to both burst into darkness.

"Nailed it!" cheered the blonde.

Afterwards, Ruby shot bullets into the Minotaur's face.

It began to clutch its face in pain.

Cardin then went towards it with his mace.

However, it pulled out its axe and blocked it.

As such, Jaune hit it in the back with his sword. Once again, it began to bleed black blood.

It retaliated by charging at Cardin and knocking him down.

This worried Yang. How much of his aura had he lost? Once he lost most of his aura, his life would inevitably be in danger.

Immediately, the Minotaur began to charge towards Yang.

However, she punched it in the kneecap causing it to collapse once again.

Cardin then got up and hit the Minotaur with his mace one more time, causing it to burst into darkness.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Professor Port.

"Looks like we won!" cheered Ruby.

Fortunately, it appeared that with the Minotaur gone no more Grimm were going to attack them. Perhaps they decided to retreat for the time being now that their commander was off the battlefield.

Since Ruby and her friends had done so well at fighting the Minotaur that was plaguing the forest, they all got an A Plus. Cardin found this to be rather surprising considered the highest he ever got was a C before. He really outdid himself this time.

It made him wonder if he should actually start studying for a change rather than pin it off on someone else.

Professor Port returned to the class afterwards, where he found that the entirety of Team NRDS were sleeping in class...with the exception of Nora.

Suddenly, Russel woke up.

"Huh? Are you back?" questioned Russel.

"He sure is!" exclaimed Nora.

"I'll have you know that Team RWBY passed their test with flying colors...as for the rest of you, how about a written assignment?" asked Professor Port. There was still some time before class ended.

Immediately, the professor handed them written assignments about Grimm...such as information about Beowulves and Ursas.

Cardin considered himself lucky that he didn't have to take a written test for a change. He was no good at those.

Russell tried sleeping through his test as he usually did along with his friends...but Nora kept waking them up.

"Wake up!" bellowed Nora.

Russel sighed. He had forgotten how energetic Nora was.

Well, since Nora wasn't going to let them fall asleep in class, he might as well work on the test for a change.

Much to their surprise, they actually got Bs instead of Ds for a change.

Apparently, all they had to do was not fall asleep in class.

He supposed that they had Nora to thank for that. No wonder she was leader.

However, Dove and Sky did not share the same reaction. They believed that Russel should be their leader instead of Nora.

They decided to talk to Professor Port about it.

Likewise, Weiss was wishing that she was the leader of her team as well.

In Cardin's case, he decided to complain to Dr. Oobleck about the team of "losers" he was stuck on.

She decided to talk to Miss Goodwitch about it too.

"Why is Nora our leader?" questioned Dove.

"Yeah! Russel should be in charge!" bellowed Sky.

"About that...you see, Nora happens to be the strongest of you all...and she's also the most courageous. In case you hadn't noticed, she made sure you didn't fall asleep in class like you had several times before..." answered the professor.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"She also thwarts you every time you try to do something naughty!"

"Oh yeah..." answered Dove. That explains a lot.

Dove and Sky walked off. Perhaps Professor Port had a point.

Meanwhile, Weiss was asking why she was second-in-command instead of the leader like she SHOULD be.

However, Ms. Goodwitch had a few words to say.

"I will admit that you're fairly intelligent...but the problem is, you're not willing to collaborate with your teammates. You think that everything should be done your way and you won't listen to other people's opinions. Pyrrha in contrast is willing to do both." answered the teacher.

"Anything else?" questioned Weiss.

"Well, Pyrrha can strategize herself...and she's a better fighter..." noted Ms. Goodwitch.

"I suppose you make a good point..." answered the ice huntress.

"Besides, you're second-in-command, so you shouldn't complain too much..." acknowledged the blonde.

"Right..." nodded Weiss.

Weiss decided to head back to her teammates.

Elsewhere, Cardin was discussing his team with Dr. Oobleck.

"Why am I on a team of losers?" questioned Cardin.

"I think you've been hanging out with the wrong crowd! You should be thanking us!" exclaimed Dr. Oobleck.

"What makes you say that?" asked the bully.

"Hey, Cardin, want to spy on girls in the shower?" questioned Russel.

"I'd love to!" bellowed Cardin.

"Hey, Cardin, you want to TP our neighbor's house?" inquired Dove.

"Why not?" answered the bully.

"Hey, Cardin, you want to throw rotten eggs at the school principal?" questioned Sky.

"Do you have to ask?" inquired Cardin.

"I suppose they can be troublemakers..." acknowledged the bully.

"I think hanging out with different people will set you on the right path!" exclaimed Dr. Oobleck.

"What about my teammates though? Are they still going to be causing trouble throughout the school?" questioned Cardin. He did admit that it was rather fun to watch...even if the teachers didn't agree.

"Oh, someone else is taking care of that...let's just say that Nora was assigned as their leader for a reason..." noted the doctor.

Now that Cardin thought of it...they did seem to be unable to pull off any of their schemes as of late.

"I'll smell you later..." stated Cardin as he headed back to his room.

Meanwhile...

Though Roman was collecting a lot of dust, he was starting to wonder if he would be able to satisfy his employer's demands. She was asking for more and more dust...and it was getting on his nerves.

And to make matters worse, the police were hunting them down. They even had a mugshot of him. He wasn't sure where they had even got that. He hadn't remembered being arrested before.

Maybe it had happened a long time ago.

Well, he might as well keep stealing. It was what he did best.

He had an idea of who he should rob...incidentally, it was another criminal. It was rather ironic, eh?

But since he had almost as much dust as he did, it seemed like the perfect place to gather more dust.

He decided to pay Junior a visit along with his thugs.

But when he went inside...he found something interesting.

As it turned out, there was an assassin inside the building...and she was after Junior. For some strange reason she was wielding an umbrella.

Oddly enough, she reminded Roman of himself.

"Stop her!" bellowed Junior.

Unfortunately for him, despite his wishes, they were unable to get close to the assassin before they were cut down.

"Who are you?" questioned one of the thugs.

The assassin pulled out a piece of paper saying her name on it.

It was "Neo."

"Oh god...not her!" screamed the thug. She was one of the most feared assassins in Vale...and one of the most dangerous.

Neo simply smirked as she continue cutting down more of the thugs.

Since Roman's henchmen were worried that they could be next, they decided to flee...even though Roman was not her current target.

"Great...give me another reason to hate the Faunus..." remarked Roman.

At that very moment, one of the thugs noticed Roman.

He grabbed him and held a knife to his neck.

"What gives?" asked Roman.

"Put the umbrella down or this man gets it!" bellowed the man.

Neo rolled her eyes. She hated it whenever that happened during one of her hits. Believe it or not, she wasn't too fond of collateral damage.

"Do I look like a damsel in distress to you?" questioned Roman.

Neo wondered what she should do. Maybe she could wait for him to loosen his grip and strike then.

Alternatively, she could try tossing something at him. Maybe that would work.

However, as it turned out, she didn't have to lift a finger.

As it turned out, Roman wasn't too happy about being taken hostage.

And he knew exactly what to do.

Unfortunately for the thug that had grabbed him, he wasn't aware that he was carrying a weapon.

Of course, who would expect a cane to be a weapon?

Immediately, he used it to send the thug flying with an explosion.

"What should I do for the rest of you? I know! Why don't I get back for you trying to use me as a meat shield?" questioned Roman.

Pulling out his cane, he began to shoot explosive rounds at the thugs.

They were being toppled by dominoes.

Neo sat in a chair and drank a martini. It looked like she wasn't going to have to lift a finger anymore.

When he was done, Roman threatened Junior with said cane.

"Give me all your Dust!" bellowed Roman.

"Yes, of course!" exclaimed Junior.

Reluctantly, Junior handed Roman all the dust that he had...which was sorted in a suitcase.

"You do realize that carrying all of it in a suitcase is extremely dangerous, right?" questioned Roman.

Neo started to wonder if she even needed to kill Junior for her client.

Junior sighed.

Nonetheless, Roman took it...and put it in a suitcase that was designed specifically to withstand explosive material.

"There we go..." stated Roman.

As he began to walk away, Neo ran him through with her umbrella/sword.

"I shouldn't have insulted that man's mother..." remarked Junior as he drew his final breath. Who would have thought that he would hire an assassin?

Neo shook her head.

Suddenly, she noticed Roman leaving the building.

She decided to follow him.

Roman quickly noticed.

"Huh? What do you want?" questioned Roman.

Neo decided to explain through another one of her notes.

"So let me get this straight...you're impressed with my fighting prowess and that most of the crime lords you've seen before me don't pick their own fights? What a surprise." remarked Roman.

Neo gave Roman another note.

"You want to work with me? Aren't you already working with another man?" questioned the man with a bowler hat.

Neo handed Roman yet another note.

"You've already been paid? And it was only a one-time thing? Fair enough...welcome onboard! Hopefully you'll be more competent than my stupid White Fang thugs..." answered Roman.

Neo nodded. They turned out to be sissy little cowards.

Together, they walked out of Junior's bar.

Oh dear...Junior's dead...you probably remember him from the Yellow trailer. Well, he's dead now. And I decided to explain how Roman met Neo in the first place...she kind of showed up out of nowhere, didn't she?

In the next chapter, our protagonists will be heading to Forever Fall...