Ruby X

All I could see was the head of his golden mace pummeling me through the mist. It crashed against my aura, the only thing protecting me, and sent glowing red flecks of light flying in every direction with each hit. I had to think quickly. Heavy as the weapon was, Cardin was quick with it. I jumped away from him, trying to create space, but he gave me no mercy. He hit the ground with his mace and a bolt of lightning struck me in the waist. Though my aura mitigated the pain, the force of the bolt knocked me down. As he came from above, planning to crush me, I flew behind him. That would have to suffice for now. I continued using my semblance to dodge his attacks. What could I do? Closing the distance would give him the advantage. Running would leave me vulnerable to his lightning. Whatsmore, I couldn't use my semblance indefinitely. At most, the total time I could spend embraced by the rose was only a couple minutes.

Perhaps the key to victory lay in his weapon. 12 thick blades formed the mace's head. The flat head of the rod was where lightning shot out. The grip on the handle wasn't leather, I could tell. Maybe the handle was rubber? That would make sense. It would keep the electricity away from him. Otherwise, he would have to expend aura to protect from his own lightning. That would be foolish. I can't say I would put such a design flaw past him though. Did Cardin craft his own weapon like I did? Or was he the kind of hunter who would outsource such a task? Oh, that would boil my blood. Only a lazy pig would forgo something like that. Every semblance was unique, for the most part. The key to being an efficient fighter was crafting a weapon that paired well with one's semblance.

That dredges up another old question, one which I had pondered before but only briefly. What exactly was Cardin's semblance and could I overcome it with the equipment I had on hand? I hadn't gotten any new information on it since the first time I saw it. Let's assume that Weiss and I's speculations about his powers were in fact true. His semblance really did grant him invulnerability, at least temporarily. If that were the case then the best course of action would be to create situations where he was forced to use his semblance and thereby exhaust him. After all, even though his semblance was strong he was still only mortal. Just like me, he would eventually run out of aura and, in effect, be unable to fight.

The best way to do this, I figured, was to use my speed to my advantage. I planned to fly behind him and cut at his neck repeatedly with my scythe until his aura grew weak. Then, he would be forced to use his semblance to protect himself. Repeatedly using his semblance like that would drain his aura, leave him vulnerable, and then he would yield. Ideally, he would yield.

His flurry of lightning continued. It was as though I was caught in a thundercloud. Electricity welled in the air and shocked me. I flew under his legs and appeared behind him and brought my scythe down on his neck. The blow knocked him to the floor. Cardin rolled along the ground like some kind of bizarre snake. He was quick, nimble, and managed to get back on his feet before I could swing again. Cardin roared, scrambling to his feet as best he could in the snow. Though I may not have had him on the ground anymore, our dear friend was certainly on the backfoot. My foot instinctively moved to sweep his leg. The attempt failed when Cardin noticed what I was doing and activated his aura. He stood still and hunched over, in a position almost resembling a squat. Then he glowed a dark shade of maroon as my foot came in contact with his shin. It felt like kicking a lead pole.

Suppressing the urge to scream, I lashed out in anger. Swinging, and swinging, and swinging, but to no avail. Cardin kept glowing brighter and brighter, unmoved. I suppose things were going fairly well. After all, depleting his aura was the plan from the very start. However, if I had to admit to any error on my part it would be this: I hadn't accounted for the possibility that Cardin was working with a, frankly, supernatural reservoir of energy. He stood there glowing like an idiot for minutes on end as I slashed him, but he showed no signs of exhaustion. I can't say he gave me an easy time discerning that either. He was glowing so brightly at that point that merely looking at him was difficult.

What to do, what to do? Hmmm. Cardin seemed content with not making a move. Bear in mind, turtling up behind an invincible magical power does not constitute making a move, at least not as far I'm concerned. Anyway, all this to say, I decided to borrow a few pages from Cardin's playbook. I took a step back, dropped my weapon, and sat on the snow. Patiently, I waited, for something, anything. Squinting at his brilliant sanguine form, it appeared that Cardin was still refusing to move.

The crowd who amassed to watch us fight got tired of this rather quickly.

"Booooooo!" They shouted, "SORE LOSER! Just hit him already!" I take it they were mad at me for some reason, heaven knows why.

"I'm not keen on boring fights!" I yelled back at them, gesturing to the red abomination across from me. I told the crowd as plainly as I could that I wouldn't move until he did. That got them to start shouting at Cardin instead. Pressure from the crowd made him cave and he deactivated his semblance and began charging at me once again. At that point, I knew everything I needed to know about how his ability worked. Sure, it may have made him invincible while it was active, but it seemed to have one major drawback. While using his semblance, Cardin could not move.

It was the only sensible conclusion. If his semblance didn't come at the cost of his mobility then why was he so hesitant to move when I attacked him. He stood there, perfectly still, as I slashed at his neck. Not once did he fight back. Rather, like a turtle, he retreated inward to his sanguine defense. Being impervious to blades and bullets was no small thing. Anyone else in his position would have pushed their advantage and applied pressure to the situation, if they could. There was no reason for him to attack me without the aid of his semblance; unless, of course, that semblance of his made him completely immobile.

Once I understood how his ability worked, beating him became a much less daunting task. I unfolded my scythe and swept it low across the ground. It hit a rock and sent it flying towards Cardin's head. Even without the use of his semblance, his aura turned it to dust. Just as I had planned. The dust from the shattered rock clung to his face and clouded his vision. That was when I came in to finish the fight. Embracing the rose, I flew around him at incredible speeds, unleashing a flurry of slashes. Try as he might, Cardin was unable to touch me. The sheer size of his weapon became his undoing. He was sluggish when I was nimble, and suffered for it. His weapon lagged far behind me at every swing. Each time he missed it created another opportunity for me to strike. Everytime his weapon failed to connect I was able to attack him three or four times, if I had to guess. He began ceding ground at a rapid pace and became flatfooted. Oh, what a fool he was for that. I swept his legs and he hit the ground with a thunderous thud. Snickers could be heard from the crowd. It was time I put an end to this.

He was a tumor, I was a doctor, and my scythe was a scalpel. He had been a persistent nuisance at Beacon since before I had even come and, somehow, through an unlikely series of events he became my problem. At the end of the day that was Cardin's biggest mistake. Unlike Yang and Weiss, I wasn't one to play with my food so I decided to play my trump card.

I used my semblance and flew high above the practice field. When I emerged from the rose petals I was falling, slipping from the chilly clasp of the gray sky. Though the air had always been my second home I held no grudge against her for all the times she relinquished me back unto the ground. At first my back was towards the ground as I fell. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I must be honest. What distracted me was the sight of the sun struggling to peak out from behind the clouds. What scant traces of light that managed to slip through were shown clearly to me. They bathed me in warmth and gleamed across the blade of my weapon. At that moment, it felt like the light was mine. Not that it was showing specifically for me, but that it was mine. I was the sun, the sun was me, and the light was my own. I turned to face Cardin as I plummeted towards the ground. He was still sprawled out on the ground in pain. I readied my scythe and planned to bring it down on his head like a pickaxe to a stone. I fell, faster and faster. The crowd, school, and even the ground itself became a blur to me. The whole world became a mess of colors, all gray and muddled. The only thing that I could still see clearly was Cardin. I saw every detail of him. In an instant I delivered the final blow and ended the fight. Or so I thought.

Somehow Cardin had managed to move from where he was before and was nowhere in sight. I had completely missed him and my scythe shattered into pieces when it came crashing against the cold hard ground. I was shocked. Before I had time to get my bearings Cardin bashed me across the chin with his mace, shattering the last of my aura. I flew several feet, at least 10 I would say, and landed face first in the snow. The crowd gasped, then they muttered among themselves. From how it sounded, it seemed some of them thought I was dead.

How could this have happened? Was I still tired from my bout with Weiss? Had I missed? I suppose that was certain. Indeed there was no other answer to the question of what had happened other than me missing, but it seemed such an egregious misstep that I couldn't even entertain the thought of it. That was when Cardin came towards me.

"Had enough?" He taunted. I managed to peel myself off of the snow and raise up my head. Though still prone, I was able to look up and see him fairly clearly. Obviously, I refused to respond to his taunts. I stared daggers at him, waiting for him to finish. "The Yssai, well, traditionally it's a battle to the death," He said

"Why am I not surprised… I know you won't end my life, not in front of all these people. What do you want?"

"Pardon?"

"You don't plan on killing me, but you have no qualms with using the threat of death as leverage. You want to negotiate a sort of peace between the two of us, that much is obvious," I glared at him, exasperated, "So, what do you want from me?"

"A whole lot of fun you are! Go and spoil the whole thing, why don't you?" Cardin's tone was jovial, as though none of this mattered, but I wasn't having any of it. My face was hard and cold like ice. When it became clear to him that I would not break he continued, "You know what, you're rather beautiful. Like an angel born of the earth, shunned by her heavenly father, you seem, at times, to be something of otherworldly beauty. I have a hard time believing someone as perfect as you can exist in this rotten little world."

"If you think that I'd offer you my body in exchange for my life then you're sorely mistaken. Kill me now, bring the mace down upon my head. For I would rather die than pretend to love you!"

"Easy now, I ask you not for your heart, but for your ear. If you would only listen it would all be clear,"

"Gods be damned, now this fool is rhyming,"

"Listen, listen, all I ask is that you understand my perspective. It isn't easy being me, you know, being as powerful as I am. So many challengers and yet so few challenges. You're the first person in a long time who's inspired me to think outside the box, to push my limits and try new things. So of course I fell for you. What else is a man to do?"

"I want no part in whatever perverse kind of love your dark heart has conjured. Once again, I beg for death,"

"Well, that won't be happening. All I wanted was for you to listen to my confession. Now that that's done we can be on our way," Cardin began to trapse off in that gliding sort of way that lordlings and royals tended to do. I got more angry with each passing step and eventually shouted at him.

"Was this your plan all along, you knife-eared nonce?" I screamed, feeling the words escape my throat like hot coals. He stopped, looked back at me, and said:

"No. At first, I had come here with the intent to take your life. Or, at the very least, force you to stop coming to Beacon. The disrespect you showed me that day was something that most Spriggans could never forgive, you need only ask your little friend to be sure of that. That's all water under the bridge now, so I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you. Just be sure to remember to be grateful. Every breath you take after today, you do so only as a result of my kindness," Cardin took a moment to inspect the crowd before looking back at me, "I know this world of ours can be rather dingy, but I hope you can find it in yourself to enjoy your stay here. Fare thee well, my angel!" Cardin tried to round up his goons and leave, but his words lit a fire in me. I had never been more mad in my life. I scrambled to my feet, my eyes glowing with rage.