Glynda had not been happy. Not one bit. With a wave of her riding crop, she had repaired and restored the store to pristine condition, then stormed us back to the Bullhead. Along the way she shoved a heavy bag into my hands, one that I had to sheathe my sword to carry.

My sword rested on what was called a 'magnetic mount'. I had gotten another manual for this one, but the Skill Book pop-up did not appear. That meant I actually had to read it, though Phyrra did help me figure it out on the ride back to Beacon. In between us getting alternatively scorned and ignored by Glynda, I'd checked what was in the bag as well, and she'd found me some metal boots and gauntlets, along with a simple helmet. It wasn't full plate armor, but combined with my current armour it would have to do for now. We'd been sent back to our room while Glynda debriefed with Ozpin, and it was in out front of our room that we heard a loud crash.

"Did that just come from inside?" I asked, while knowing that it clearly did.

"Yes." Phyrra replied curtly, swiping her scroll against the door and storming away from me. She was still a little bit mad about how I'd acted back at Gale's, but I found it hard to be concerned about that with my new sword on my back. Especially knowing what it could do now! At least she unlocked the room before she left, I still had no idea how to use a scroll. Maybe I could find a skill book for one of those, too?

Never again would I have to climb stairs to reach that one cowardly bandit that shoots arrows from the top of an irrelevant broken down tower though. Now it's as easy as pressing a button and holding on, and I'll be shot up almost as fast as a Whirlwind Sprint! I was in a good mood for the first time in a while, and as soon as I walked through the door that good mood turned to sudden confusion as I tried to process what was going on.

There was a short girl in a short dress jumping on one bed, and a well-toned naked man with only a towel around his waist on the other. "Observe."

Lie Ren

He Who Is Closed, Yet Open

LVL. 21

Nora Valkyrie

She Who Is Open, Yet Closed

LVL. 26

Shit, they're strong.

Ren looked at me oddly, to which I looked oddly at him in return. Nora jumped off the bed in between us and got into my face. I stood my ground, despite the over-whelming scent of sweet-rolls wafting off of her, and was incredibly creeped out when she whispered.

"Counter-Observe."

Then in the blink of an eye was back to bouncing on the bed. I raised an eye brow and looked to Ren for an explanation, but he just shrugged.

"I'm... " Now comes the dilemma. "Your team-mate, Jaune Arc, but I go by Torga."

"How do you get Torga from Jaune Arc?"

"It's a nickname." I said quickly, to which Ren shrugged once more. I dropped the duffel bag down at the foot of my own bed, glad to finally have something of my own in this place. I took off my sword as well and leaned it up against the wall, then looked back to them. I already knew their names, but I suppose I should ask. "I assume you two already know each other.." I started.

"We've been friends forever!" Nora exclaimed. "Ren makes the best pancakes, and I looove~ pancakes!"

"About 8 years. Village was attacked by Grimm, Nora and I were the only ones that made it out." he said calmly.

"That's… awfully forward of you to share." I said, though he shrugged again.

"We're going to be team-mates for the next four years. It would be best to get to know each other and avoid surprises."

Nora pouted as she sat down on her bed. "But I like surprises!"

"Speaking of surprises, I thought you were healing up from the forest?" I asked Ren, content to ignore Nora for now despite her being the stronger of the two. Their attitude and behaviour had put me at ease, though that also could have been the Gamer's Mind at work.

Shrugging seemed to be his thing, as he did it once more. "My semblance is Aura Control. I don't project my Aura in any sort of special power but it does exactly what I need it to. By focusing all of it on the wound, I accelerated my healing time, and now here we are."

"That sounds both mediocre and incredibly useful." I attempted to complement.

He sighed, without a shrug. "It is."

"What about yours, Nora?" She had taken to bouncing in between hers, Rens, and Phyrra's beds. Luckily I kept mine occupied.

"Leg breaking!" She exclaimed, as she flipped through the air. "Whee!"

"She can channel electricity to her muscles. She's essentially super strong." I nodded, filing that away despite having no idea what electricity was. That was likely the reason she had such a high level. Or was she strong because she had a high level? I was still kind of confused by my power. I had leveled up twice, but I didn't feel any stronger. I made a note to bring up my status menu when I was alone or with Phyrra again.

"How about yours, Torga? What's your semblance?"

"I actually have no idea. I think I know what it is, but I've never used it."

"How'd you get into Beacon without using a semblance? That's one of the things they look for, a semblance that can be useful in the types of situations hunters get into."

"Dumb luck, I guess." Ren gave me a slightly more wary shrug at that, then stood and walked into a technological marvel of a washroom. I lay back on my bed and brought up the status screen.

Torga

Age: 17

LVL: 5

Race: Human

Title: The Displaced One (-90% to AP, -30% to WIS)

Status: Healthy

XP: 80%

HP: 150

AP: 3 (The Displaced One)

STR: 7 (+)

VIT: 5 (+)

AGI: 4 (+)

INT: 2 (+)

WIS: 3 (+)

LUK: 2 (+)

STAT: 10

TITLE: The Displaced One: You have no idea where you are, what's going on, or how people are doing the things that they are doing. You don't belong here, and you know it. Unlock your semblance to remove this Title.

It looked pretty much the same, except for the WIS point I had gained earlier. This STAT area was completely new, and as I wondered what it was, another box popped up.

Status Points: Expendable points that are gained upon leveling up. Each of these points can be allocated into any of your stats. Note that these points cannot be used on Skills, only your stats.

My eyes widened briefly. If I could place these points wherever I wanted, I could easily double any of my stats! I could become 5 times smarter, wiser, even luckier. I could become the strongest man in the world, by just doing quests and gaining levels.

Though what use would strength be if I wasn't fast enough to utilize it? I immediately placed 2 of my points into intelligence, and 3 more into wisdom. I had decisions to make, and I wanted them to be smart ones. I would need to learn a lot to survive here, and if intelligence will help me remember, than it could only help. Next I contemplated my other stats.

It was really a choice between STR, VIT, and AGI. Did I want to be faster, stronger, or more able to take a hit?

Given all of the encounters in my time here so far, I was outclassed in terms of speed, very much so. I had also almost died against Jeremy, so VIT was looking awfully tempting. If stats raised by using them, STR should come through daily exercise, though VIT and AGI were little harder to discern.

I made my decision, placing 4 points into AGI and 1 into VIT. Another box popped up.

[Confirm]/[Cancel]

I poked confirm, and both the status window and the pop-up window disappeared. My muscles clenched up and I sucked in some breath as I felt the changes take hold, though the cramping pain only lasted for a second. When it ended, I felt… different. The world seemed to be moving at a slightly slower pace, and I felt like I could see more of what was around me. I also knew exactly what it was that I should be doing right now. I'd already had the idea in my head, but now it seemed like more of a plan than an idea. I pushed the stupid voice that told me I'd wasted my points on my currently handicapped WIS to the back of my mind.

"Hey Nora." I said, looking over at her. She was still jumping on the bed, giggling to herself. When I said her name she jumped once more then landed on the edge of her bed, looking at me.

"Yess?"

"I'm going to go find Phyrra. Is there anywhere around here that we can train? I mean, there obviously will be, but will Phyrra be able to find it too?"

"Why not just call her on her scroll?"

I blinked. "What now?"

She pulled out her own scroll. It seemed that everyone had one of these things. She tapped it a few times, and before long Phyrra's voice came out of it as if she was standing in Nora's palm. I'd only seen something like this from the Daedra, voices without origin, though it seemed that it was commonplace here. Powerful magic, though I was starting to doubt it even was magic. If not that, what else could it be?

"Hello?"

"Hello!" Nora greeted her through the scroll as I sat in amazement. It would have taken me at least an hour to find her, more because I didn't have access to Aura Whisper or any of my other shouts. "Torga wants to train, can you meet us at…" She tapped her scroll a few more times. "Training field 3? It's open to new teams."

A huff was heard through the scroll. "We aren't a team until we pass the exam. I'm assuming this is Nora."

"Yep! See you in 10 minutes!" She tapped the scroll once more, then put it back in her pocket. "Alrighty, let's go fight each other!"

"What about Ren?" I asked, still hearing the sound of a waterfall coming from the washroom.

She jumped up, opened the door to an exasperated sigh from the occupant, and yelled "Training Field 3!" through the door. She then grabbed my arm and I had barely enough time to grab my sword as she pulled me through the door and into the hallway.

The training field was just that, a large field. Nothing special about it, just a flat expanse of grass with a wooden bench at the side. We had been the first to arrive, and Ren had shown up at some point after that though I hadn't noticed he was there until he was behind me. Sneaky bastard, he was.

My plan had been to simply fight in a controlled environment, as in the last fight I had almost lost my new life. I had gained skills, though, and those skills could be leveled up through use. So, until it was time to do quests, I could only train my body and my skills, not my overall level. Figures that it would involve me taking damage. I'd asked Ren if he could heal others, but his Aura Control only applied to his own aura. He could see other people's aura's just fine, which was good to know I think. I'd forgotten my extra armour in the room, so my aura was my main defense at this point.

Given that I was a much lower level, and that their weapons looked much higher-tech than mine, I had no idea how to go about this without getting pulverized.

Ren had the solution, seeing my hesitation. With a few taps from his scroll, wooden posts rose from the ground on the other side of the field. "To start, let's see what each other can do. Take out one target from here, one as you're approaching, then finish the last off with a melee strike. Nora, would you like to go first?"

She grinned then spun her hammer in a speedy twirl before it shifted into a short, blocky rifle that fired off a huge projectile in a lobbing arc. Before the projectile had even gotten half way, she had transformed her weapon into its hammer form once more and had taken off after it. As the projectile collided with the post in a pink explosion that splintered the target into nothing, she jumped and struck her hammer against the ground, cratering it and launching herself forwards. In the blink of an eye she had thrown her hammer at the second post, another explosion shattering that one, then as it spun in the air she grabbed it and swung it at the final one, hitting it on the head like a nail and driving it back into the ground.

The miraculous part was that it had taken all of three seconds, a shorter time than it would have taken me to sprint to the targets. I was in awe of the power that this unassuming girl wielded, and wanted it for myself. Would I be that strong, that co-ordinated, that fast when I rose to level 27? I was only level 5 right now, comparatively weak.

"Torga, you're up." Ren nodded at her display without so much as a twitch, and I contemplated how I was going to go about this. I knew what my weapon could do, but at this range I couldn't hit the targets. I couldn't throw my sword that far, I couldn't shoot the harpoon as it would never reach. I could not hit my enemy, and for some reason that infuriated me.

I was loath to admit it, but… "I can't hit those from here. I have a mid-range weapon." Ren shrugged.

"Go closer, then."

I nodded, and began my sprint towards the next three poles. In my minds eye, I saw the point on the ground where my harpoon should be able to strike one of the targets, and as I reached that point, I fired.

The projectile sailed just to the right of one of the poles, but with the quick flipping of a couple switches, the hooks deployed along with the winch and I yanked the harpoon back, gouging thick cuts into the pole but it did not break. I fired again as soon as I had the harpoon reloaded, this time piercing through a pole but not the one I was aiming for. I activated the winch as I leaped off the ground, sending me flying towards the targets.

Through a special action, you have obtained the Skill "Grapple"!

I fell short, though with two targets having been struck I had only one left. Reeling in the harpoon, I rushed forwards and sliced the last pole in half, the keen edge of the sword parting the wood easily.

I huffed, out of breath. That was a much more agile approach than I would usually dare make, but I felt like I had to keep up with my team, else I be dropped outside of the walls. I could give Ozpin no reason to dismiss me from the school, for if the Elder Scroll planted me here, than it was her eI was meant to be.

Nora looked at me funnily for a second, then giggled. "That's a pretty cool sword, Tor."

I raised an eyebrow. "Haven't heard that one before."

"You need to work on your aim." Ren said from behind me. I whirled around, seeing him standing without any sign of fatigue, and the other three poles riddled with holes, sliced in half, and brutally splintered.

"And your.. Well.. Everything." Nora added.

"I know. I'm a quick learner, though." It was true, I had gained a level in Harpoon Mastery and gotten a new skill as well, which should make things easier. I brought up the screen.

Grapple [Active]

AP:10

By using a combination of a rope and a winch, you can impale targets and use them as anchors to launch yourself forwards!

Deals 50% of damage

Chance to Stagger target

Did I tell them about my ability, knowing that it wasn't my semblance? Would that be too odd? Or would Phyrra just tell them anyways?

"He has to work on his ethics, too, if he wants to be a Huntsman." Ironically, Phyrra had arrived with that guilt-inducing barb, though the guilt also quickly dissipated due to the Gamer's Mind.

"We can do that later." I retorted. "I need to improve enough to live through our next exam, first. Once we finalize my survival, then you can complain about my attitude."

She spared me a minor look of disgust. I had a sudden urge to punch her, but out of my own safety I didn't.

I was a skeever among giants, any of these people could crush me easily and I could barely take out a wooden pole as I was now.

"Let us spar. You three against myself." I immediately started thinking about how to tackle her as an opponent. Phyrra may have been the strongest, but I was willing to bet that Nora could still crush her, and with her causing a distraction, Ren could sneak in to deliver stealthy blows. I could… What could I do?

Since this was a friendly training match, I could run in and get her to hit me, bring up my Physical Endurance some more. Though, with a bit more thought I realized she would hit me regardless, so I would need to focus on something else.

My Longsword mastery was thankfully high enough, or so I thought it was for now. I could use some work on the harpoon portion as that would allow me greater battlefield mobility. With the explosions and rifles everyone seemed to carry, mobility would be a great asset. I decided not to use Taunt, as giving Phyrra more power to work with didn't seem like a good idea.

As we separated, I made my decision. I would harpoon her from a distance, Grapple in if I missed and hit the ground, and attempt to either punch or kick her to raise my Unarmed Mastery. I figured that Unarmed would be useful no matter the situation or weapon, and my harpoon needed that extra range.

Ren had the same idea. "Nora, use your hammer. I'll try to hit her blind spot. Torga… just try to distract her." Wow, I knew I was bad, but they didn't need to keep rubbing it in. My slight anger faded quickly, and I couldn't decide whether or not this Gamer's Mind was a blessing or a curse.

Phyrra slaughtered us. I had gotten 5 more levels to harpoon mastery and 3 to grapple, but a whopping 10 levels to physical endurance from the beating she gave me.

She dodged almost all of our attacks, though she dodged every single one of mine. I got 1 level in Unarmed from when she had used my elbow to strike Ren in the face, before throwing me into a wooden post. Nora and Ren looked ready to go another round though breathing slightly heavily, but I was done. I was exhausted, though thankfully not sore. There were three bars in the bottom of my vision, of blue red and green, and all of them were close to empty.

Ren had told me my aura was too low to continue and had risen up three more poles for me to practice aiming against. By doing that over and over I had gotten another 2 levels to Harpoon Mastery, though the skill seemed to increase a lot quicker when I was using it against an opponent rather than a target.

My aim was noticeably better though, as was my range. I had an extra 9 meters on top of the current 50 I had from the weapon itself. As I trained my Harpoon Mastery further, the other three members of my team sparred at a much faster rate than before when I had been with them, and I realized they were pulling their punches for me. That infuriated me more than anything.

I was faster, smarter, stronger. I was wiser and had cutting-edge weaponry at my disposal.

Yet I was still not good enough.

Not yet.

I was watching RWBY Chibi. It's pretty awesome.

Season 3 Soundtrack is also awesome.

So are you guys. You're the most awesome. Have another chapter.

Sorry if you use the Imperial measurement system, Torga has a hatred of anything Imperial so meters will be the unit of measurement. It's also easier to do the behind the scenes math with.

My spreadsheet grows ever larger.

Just an explanation, Jaune is dead. Imagine him, as he was pre-exam, being transported to the Throat of the World. There will be nothing more to do with Skyrim beyond occasional shout-outs from Torga to the lore and fauna/flora.

Beyond all that, I have a decent plan for the second exam and can't wait to write it.

Thanks for the reviews, thanks for the views, and thanks for standing by while I try to get this story off of its ass and into the meat.

~HHR