"You know, I have visiting hours for a reason."

The heavy hand of the clock in the floor ticked ominously beneath us, a noticeable difference from the silence of the Dungeonscape. I had brought Pyrrha and I up to the headmasters office before leaving the uncanny copy of Beacon, and we wonderfully remained where we were on exiting: standing right in front of his desk. I tucked away that particular ability confirmation for later.

I let the shock - or lack thereof - on Ozpin's face tell me all I needed to know. "I suppose that's true. I'm not exactly here for a friendly visit."

His eyes flicked to Pyrrha standing behind me. "Good evening, Ms. Nikos. I admit, I did not expect you back so soon."

Pyrrha's face went red. "I'm sorry, sir, he just started pulling me along and I did not wish to fight." Huh. Not that she couldn't, but that she didn't want to. More confirmation that I was doing right by my team being here. Thus, I began.

"What's this I hear about you pressuring Pyrrha into some soul transfer bullshit? I thought we had time?"

Ozpin gave a thoughtful grimace. "I had thought so as well. And I might ask you to refer to the life of one of my former students with a shred of tact."

I hadn't thought of it, but pressed on regardless. "Well, I'm willing to accept your offer, but only conditionally."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "You already laid out quite a few conditions. I dare say James is likely still being told off by the Atlesian Council. A battleship, Mr Arc? Not a small frigate, not a troop transport craft, but the one part of the navy that could not conceivably be used for anything other than war?"

I pointed out the window. "Look at it, Headmaster. Don't tell me you don't want to stand atop it, looking down on the Grimm and unleashing untold firepower?"

Ozpin nodded his head to the side. "Fair enough. You had another condition?"

I nodded. "You don't pressure people into accepting this. I get it. Things seem bad - because of what, I have no idea, but I have to assume it's Jak's fault - but that does not give you the right to manipulate my team. They are mine. I can't defeat you in a fight but I know for a fact the same doesn't apply to all of the staff. Fuck with my team again, and I'll start fucking with yours."

"I would not dream of manipulating children, Torga. I am the headmaster here, I could simply order my will be done. A fact you were well aware of when I generously allowed you to retake your entrance exam. On to the matter at hand, however. Ms. Nikos has made it clear that she is prepared to do what is necessary to protect Mankind."

"Sir..?" Oh, right, Pyrrha.

"Yes, Ms Nikos?"

"I am afraid of accepting your proposal."

I opened my mouth to tell her she wouldn't have to, but when Ozpin held up his hand to stop me, I conceded and sat back to listen.

"Why is that?"

"I.. am afraid I will no longer be myself. I wish to help, but… we don't know if it would even be me helping. The drunk man sai-"

"His name is Qrow Branwen."

"I know." She chuckled without mirth. "He said that Amber wanted nothing to do with Beacon. He said that she wanted to stay as far away from here as possible, that she vowed never to return. He said she always travelled alone, and resented company." I hadn't even seen them talk, let alone after she'd spoken with Oz the first time. My brows furrowed in thought.

"And you live quite differently. I see how that could be concerning. I am sorry, Ms Nikos, but we simply do not know. This has never been done before."

Pyrhha nodded, as if that were the end of things.

"Wait." I held up a hand. "What happened to Amber? All I know is that she was attacked."

"I did not believe that was conducive towards any further decision making."

"Good thing you're not the one who has to make that decision!" I laughed out, having caught him.

"I wish it were." Ozpin muttered heavily, and my laughter faltered. He continued on. "I wish it were on myself to make that decision, so I would never have to place one of my students into a position like this. I wish it were on myself to wield the power against our enemies, to be the one to fight when all hope seems lost. It is a burden I would take on myself a thousand-fold if I could."

My mirth mutated into compassion. I knew what it was like to send someone to do something you wished you could do yourself. "What happened to Amber, Ozpin?"

"She was ambushed. Qrow only just got there in time to save her life. Someone managed to extract half of her aura, which is why she will not awaken. If we killed her, the rest of the power would seek to make itself whole again."

"Embedding into the assailant… So that would be bad. Do we know who attacked her?"

"Astute of you, Torga. We do not know her identity, though we have some semblance of a description. She is roughly a head shorter than you, with hip length black hair. From what Qrow tells me, she primarily uses black glass and fire as her weapons."

"I'm sorry, I just need to clarify: Back home, there was a light, semi-transparent material that the elves used to make armour. We called it glass, mainly because our human voices cannot pronounce the words they called it. Are we talking about actual, sharp-and-easy-to-shatter glass here, or some sort of other material?"

"We do not know."

"Okay." I accepted. No point digging when there was nothing to be unearthed. "She's probably going to be coming after the other half sooner or later, so at least Amber's hidden. Now, if Pyrrha were to kill our mysterious foe-" I ignored her gasp "then she should receive the power?"

Ozpin sighed. "Should the assailant perish, the power would seek to make itself whole again, within Amber. At that point, though, we would no longer need a new candidate, assuming that the soul issue is all that is keeping her asleep. I implore you to remove such thoughts from your head, Torga. You cannot defeat her. I could not defeat her. Maybe in my prime I could have emerged victorious but alas, time waits for nobody."

"Okay, but she fights with glass and fire. My armour is immune to fire, and glass isn't exactly known for getting through plate."

"She was not alone."

"Neither am I."

Ozpin set his cup down. "What would you have me do? Send you and your team out to hunt down a Hunter-level criminal, murder her and her companions, and steal the power back? No. I will not use my students as mercenaries."

"Tch. Fine. Pyrrha will NOT be using that machine, though, and that is final. You may angle it and omit things so it seems like she's the only option, but she isn't. She's just your preferred option. Find a new one. One that isn't an orange haired hammer wielder, perhaps?"

"Torga, I'm not doing this to trap you. Ms Nikos is genuinely the best candidate for this."

"Why?! She's a first year! A strong one, yes, but do you not have actual huntsman you could use?"

"Your cultural ignorance is showing. You would be hard pressed to find a virgin within second year or higher. We are an academy of the best and brightest in the Kingdom. Our students aren't exactly ugly or lazy, and they are all in excellent physical shape. To presume teenagers would not explore in an environment like this would be a juvenile way of thinking."

Pyrrha flushed dark red, and she tucked her head down in a way that was very unlike her. I connected the dots.

"To get this clear, you asked my partner if she was a virgin?"

Ozpin rested his head into his hands with a sigh. "Yes."

"And she answered truthfully."

"Yes, she did."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm right here!" Pyrrha cried. "And this is all terribly inappropriate!"

I turned for a moment and raised an eyebrow at her. "Pyrrha, did I ever tell you how romance works in Skyrim?"

"Yes, but I don't see ho-"

"If I marry a woman by talking to her while wearing an amulet, what do you think we do for sex?"

"Torga, you-"

"Life's too short to dance around the issue. Pyrrha, have you been bedded?"

"Wh- How- Bu-... Headmaster!"

He looked at her with an inquisitive gaze. "Yes?"

"He can't just ask me that!" I rolled my eyes.

"I literally just did, and you're not answering. Have you had a man insid-"

"Torga, I don't think it's an issue of her misunderstanding the question." Ozpin thankfully cut me off from that one.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes again. "Pyrrha Nikos, answer me this now: Have you ever been bedded, and if not would you like to?"

"Mr. Arc!"

"Torga!" Pyrrha all but screamed.

I blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in the room's mood. Or rather, the Headmaster's. "Uh… yes?"

"I would thank you not to proposition a student in front of the Headmaster of the school you both attend. Come from where you may, that is not acceptable."

"Why not?"

"It may come as a surprise to you, but here on Remnant we like to keep our personal lives personal." Pyrrha grit out, face still a deep deep red.

"That's stupid. Why would you have TV if you wanted things to stay secret?"

"Personal matters, Torga."

"Fine. Either way, no machine, not with my team. I will stand beside you when this assailant comes, and we will kill her. Then Pyrrha can kill Amber, and you have your maiden. Or - and hear me out here - we go and find a different one to kill and get the power from. You did say there was four of them, correct?"

Ozpin sighed again. "I would not be doing this if Amber were not in the situation she is. I draw the line at assassinating an innocent woman for her power."

"Then send Jak after her! He can always find me no problem."

"That's because he's met you. His powers have… conditions which must be met before he can use them."

"Qrow?"

"Wouldn't survive the battle."

"Well fuck!" I spat out, exasperated. "I'd offer but I don't exactly have a way to find people."

"Worry not about this. You have the tournament to prepare for, and we can determine what it is you think our plan should be afterwards."

"But not change it?" I caught his message.

"Not unless it is needed, no." Ozpin admitted. "Believe it or not, I do have a bit more experience with these things than you."

I grumbled but accepted that. Just as I had said to Pyrrha earlier, it was hard for me to know what I didn't know.

Pyrrha was quite upset with me when we left the Headmaster's office, taking the elevator instead of using dimensional shenanigans. She didn't say a word until we were almost back to the room, at which point she stopped. "Torga, I have never been so embarrassed in my life. You might be from somewhere more forward, but I am not, and I do not appreciate talking about my chastity as if it were a school grade I need to pass a course."

I grunted and made to keep moving, but my legs locked as she used her Semblance on my armour. "Was there more?"

"I want you to accept this. I want to hear you say 'I am sorry, Pyrrha, for embarrassing you in front of the Headmaster.'"

"I am sorry, Pyrrha, for embarrassing you in front of the Headmaster." I wasn't, not really, but she felt the need for reconciliation so I humoured her. "That being said, I won't apologize for who I am or how I was raised. I regret you were embarrassed, but I won't stoop to dancing around with words when I can say what I mean and save the time."

She huffed and released her hold. I held the door open for her as we returned, Nora and Ren not having returned yet. Odd, considering it was more than a little late but with the festivities still going and our chosen competitors for the next match - Pyrrha and I - ready for rest, I wasn't too worried. I popped through my menus quickly to see how things were going, and I saw a new name attached to Richard's party, which meant his recruiting didn't stop after I left. Good for him.

"What did you mean by that earlier?"

I looked up to where Pyrrha was sitting with her back against the headboard and knees to her chest. She had switched into her night clothes while I was distracted, likely when she had slipped into the washroom earlier. "By what?"

"You asked if I'd been bedded, then if I would like to be. What did you mean by that?"

"I was asking if you would like to lay with me, to remove your eligibility for becoming a maiden and making your choice easier."

Pyrrha's face again went a deep, dark red and she pushed her face behind her knees a little further.

I swallowed, then continued while trying to inject a hint of mirth into my voice.. "That being said, you're a beautiful woman, if a tad young and immature for me. I could see us becoming closer, but such was not my intention. It was for the circumstance, nothing more."

Pyrrha coughed, then opened up her pose, swinging her legs to the side of her bed. "Bold of you to be calling me the immature one." She did seem relieved.

I shrugged. "My tastes are what they are. I never said I was more mature."

"No, I suppose that's true. Is this truly how your people lived?"

I nodded, meeting her eyes. "Yes. We had hardy men, hardy women, even our elders were tough. Despite that, no normal citizen would survive if a Troll had decided to set up its brood in the middle of a road. Why waste your time wooing, courting, or otherwise dancing around your feelings? When your lover must travel to see you, why would you want them to go through danger and die? No, you marry and move in together. A Skyrim wedding is as much a partnership of romance as it is of sweat and blood. You vow to live your life together, even the rings are enchanted to provide more vitality. When the dragons started appearing, the process was hastened even more."

It would have been odd for an engagement to last more than a day, not when everything could be stripped away from you so quickly. I never did check up with the Temple in Riften, see if they switched things again after Alduin. Maybe they had, and Skyrim was a bit more like Remnant now. Interesting to think about.

Pyrrha appeared to be thinking about something. "Septim for your thoughts?"

She chuckled as she usually did when I used my sayings from home. "Just… wondering what my life would be like if I was there instead of here."

I chuckled. "You're strong, woman, but you are not hard. I'd imagine differently if you grew up there but as it stands you would be an excellent swordswoman and that's about it. No changing weapons, no magical metal bullshit. Though maybe you could venture into Geomancy and achieve something similar…? Who knows. You would not have the fame you enjoy today."

Pyrrha let out a smile, that for the first time this evening appeared to be truly genuine. "Doesn't that sound nice?"

I hummed in agreement. "Why do you ask? Skyrim is not a place for holiday, if that was your question."

"No! No… Just thinking about destiny, that's all."

"Ah. Well, if you think it was your destiny to be manipulated by Ozpin into becoming his little magical attack dog, then maybe it was mine to stop it."

"By bedding me?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "If that's the way you wish to do so, then yes."

She let out another exasperated sigh, though I could see her grin through it. "You may not believe this but you're the first to show any romantic interest in me."

"I'm not. I'm showing a willingness to explore romantic options with you."

"Is that not the same thing?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it. "I suppose."

Pyrrha sat back with a satisfied grin. "Well, it's not the worst I've ever heard. I suppose you could have just come up, clubbed me over the head, and dragged me back to your cave. You know, because you're a backwards brute."

My eyes went wide, and so too did Pyrrha's in response. "Did… did you just-"

Her eyes twinkled with mirth. "I might have."

I burst out laughing, Pyrrha joining me. I initially made the offer to help her out - say what you will but I recognize my hormones now, and like to think I know better. Or rather, the Gamer's Mind forces me to know better. Now instead I felt a sinking in the bottom of my gut, a pounding in my chest. I felt guilt, as much as I could. We soon after decided to rest for the bout tomorrow, though I lay awake with my thoughts ever longer, guilt coming and going in waves.

She was not my sworn wife, and yet… I don't think I would complain if she was.

When we woke up to find our team-mates beds untouched, I started to wonder. When we didn't see nor hear Ren or Nora during breakfast Pyrrha started to worry. When Allers called and asked why they were late for their pre-match interview and side commentary, I told her to hold on. When Ozpin said he would look into the issue, I determined something was wrong.

Now, with Pyrrha at my side and our opponents across the ring, I laid all that aside. I was well aware that of all my skills, locating people or things was not a specialty of mine. I would need to leave it with someone better suited. My target for the foreseeable future was the oddly coloured duo in front of us.

What targets they were:

Mercury Black

The Assassin's Legacy

LVL 71

Emerald Sustrai

Prismkeeper

LVL 72

I swallowed nervously. "Pyrrha, these guys are almost twice our level."

"You can say that again." The girl, Emerald, quipped.

"I wouldn't suggest giving yourself a ring-out this time." The silver-haired man tacked on.

I rolled my eyes, then my shoulders to loosen up as the announcer began his extended, thirty second countdown. Why he chose this, I do not know, but there were many things done by Professor Port that better went unexplained. "Hmm.. I was going to leave you two to Pyrrha but I suppose if you really want to fight me, I'll indulge your curiosity."

"Tch." The silver haired man dropped into a stance, arms held loosely and legs bent. I didn't recognize it. At least from the woman's stance I could tell she was largely a mid-range combatant. Well, from the stance and from Observing her weapons. "Careful you don't trip over that ego."

"I won't." Both Pyrrha and I responded. We shared a glance and a small smile, then returned our focus to our enemies as the battlefield roulette system began to spin down.

"Cute." Emerald lanced. "You guys practice that one?"

Pyrrha spoke up. "When you hear opponents convincing themselves of prowess often, the responses become easy."

"I guess we both get to have an easy time of things then." Mercury shook a leg and I heard the clicking of a firearm.

I chuckled as the roulette ended. Exactly what I wanted. Or close enough, at least.

Forest, city, savanna, geyser field. None of which had higher locations for me to Divebomb off of, though if the situation called for it, both Pyrrha and I had a bandolier of Fun Balls across our armour. I could use the Green to get altitude, and maybe an ice one to pin them for the strike.

"Begin!"

I stumbled back as three consecutive kicks landed on my shield, each with force equalling or surpassing the shots from Ruby's scythe. I just had time to duck down to avoid the fourth kick which was aimed squarely for my head. I faintly heard the clanging of Pyrrha engaging the other one and grit my teeth. These guys were fast, almost too fast.

"Now that I've got you alone…" Mercury trailed off with a cocky grin.

"Well that sounds a little forward of you." I leapt back and slipped Ruby's Gift back together, then transformed it into its battle-axe form, remembering what advice the titular girl had given me when I'd asked.

"It's kind of… automatic for me."

My expression must have shown my displeasure, because Ruby immediately launched into an explanation, yanking my weapon off my hip to show me. "See, your weapon has a bunch of different forms, and each one will be best for a certain situation. I think you'd know better than I which situation to use each in - that's how I designed it, after all - but the thing you need to remember is to always back off before switching forms."

"But Pyrrha-"

"Is a professionally trained prodigy. Even I am impressed by the situations where she can pull off a transformation." Ruby chided as she shook a finger. "You can't expect to be able to do that off the bat. You need to walk before you can run, as Yang likes to say."

"Okay so what, I just back up to change?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "No, silly! You make an opening!"

'Make an opening' I thought to myself as I looked at his stance, for whatever good it would do. The staccato sounds of gunfire echoed from the forest, interrupted occasionally by the sharp bark of Pyrrha's rifle. She appeared to be caught in a longer range battle.

I gripped the axe high on the haft, to give myself the leverage and speed needed, then charged in. It was a testament to how far I'd come where I could finally feel like my charge held weight and presence, for Mercury's grin caught and he fell back into an actual stance. Enough so that I figured he had a plan for the collision, which to be completely fair I did not.

I threw Ruby's Gift at him. He raised a leg and kicked it away, and managed to raise his other for a block, for I was upon him with a hammer in hand. With a slight widening of his eyes, he checked his block to hit the haft of the weapon rather than the head. Must have seen the glowing red crystal on the end, either that or not seen me withdraw the hammer at all and got caught off guard by it.

I did notice he was fully prepared to just lift a leg and block a hammer, which seemed very off. Even with Aura, that would hinder your mobility which is precisely how the warriors in this world fought. No matter.

"Nice block." I complimented, thumbing the switch on the handle.

"You haven't seen an-" A sharp crack rang out as the mechanism fired the bullet, impacting the Dust. Another sharp crack sounded, and the Dust detonated. I dropped an Enchantment on my boots to keep myself grounded, and sighed as the flames washed over my armour. The heat was almost pleasant.

Mercury didn't fare so well, being blown back by the detonation into the forest biome. I walked over to grab Ruby's Gift from the ground, keeping it in its axe form, then began storming my way towards the forest, towards the sounds of firing guns and crackling wood.

From among the crowd, a woman watched with a scowl on her face and hands clenched tight.

"Every step, every turn, you counter my moves… Knight takes rook, old man. Clever gambit."

The woman finished her popcorn and lifted a sad, unpopped kernel to her eyes. A second later, it began to squeal before finally popping in her hands. It was crushed a second later. "This is why I made contingencies."

The woman sent a message on her scroll, then ordered a fountain drink from a snack vendor and sat back to watch the show.

Pyrrha was not used to missing.

Even beyond her prodigious skill, she had been training extensively with Lie Ren, one of the most agile fighters she'd ever met. Her current opponent wasn't anything special, a lass with no obvious Semblance and a pair of unique, but counterable weapons.

That didn't mean Pyrrha relaxed, not at all. She was in a bout and would both provide and demand respect in all forms.

If only the girl would stop running away!

Shots that should have struck solid veered wide. Slashes and slams didn't connect when they should have. Pyrrha let out a small growl of frustration as a perfect thrust somehow ended up going wide.

A crash sounded in the branches to her left, as a silvery shape tore a path through them. She could hear the heavy footfalls of Torga's enchanted boots, and quickly pieced he had sent the other fighter her way. Pyrrha was fine with that. She tore off after the shape, dodging a hail of gunfire from her previous opponent.

Say what you will about the uncouth man, but Torga had her covered.

I breached through the trees in time to see Pyrrha chase after the boy. The girl was nowhere to be seen, so I made to follow.

Only thing is, I ended up choking instead as a chain whipped from behind and wrapped around my throat, tugging me back and off my feet to fall with all the weight of my armour. My senses flared, and I rolled aside to dodge a small handscythe that stabbed deep into the ground I had just laid on.

Tricky. I thought to myself, eyes flicking to the sides and searching through the boughs, trunks, and leaves surrounding. A stealth fighter…

I switched Ruby's gift to a tower shield, though only wielded it with one hand. The other was bare, save for my armoured gauntlet.

My sense Skills flared again as I made the transition, and I whipped my shield around just in time for a scythe to come shooting out from a bush, hook the edge of my shield and yank it in an attempt to disarm. I had just the time I needed to drop half of my Earth Dust bar on an Enchantment for my boots, before I grabbed the shield's other handle with my right hand and fought back.

With my weight and my Strength, reinforced by my passive skills and the Enchantment, she had no chance. She could either let go of her weapon - something I knew most fighters on Remnant would not do - or be reeled in like a dangerous fish. She chose the latter, but with flair.

Gamer's Mind Activated!

My focus left the taut chain for but a moment as the window popped up, then I was sucked back into the fight as not one but two women emerged from the trees. My eyes widened and I let my gaze dart between the two as the first came right for me, and the second detached the chain from my shield with a quick flourish.

Something seemed off, I noticed as the two flew through the air in different directions. It was only as the woman attached to my shield approached and did her own detaching flourish that I realised she weighed nothing. Her weapon, her body- my eyes widened as I saw the faintest shimmer of a branch through her torso before with a twist she ducked low and planted her hands to kick.

I angled my shield down and braced myself, only to yelp as something caught my back leg and yanked it out from under me. A hail of bullets assaulted me as I fell, chipping away at my HP until I finally toppled. My instincts screamed and I rolled to the side, but must have been predicted because a boot slammed into my chest and a pair of guns levelled at my face.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I mused as I met a pair of red eyes and a practiced scowl. I noted her leg was firmly on my chest-plate, stopping me from gaining any purchase or leverage to get up. Deathmark? No, that's too much for something like this. Maybe I could unlock Ice Form- no, that usually kills as well.

"-even listening?"

I realised she was talking to me. "Hm? You say something?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed. "I told you to surrender. You can't beat us."

"I mean, you're kind of right." I answered, face scrunched up in thought. Animal Friendship? I wonder if that would work on faunus…

"Then give up, before I need to get your clothes all bloody."

"No… I don't think I'll be doing that." Oh, maybe it's time for the Dragon Aspect finally! That would just melt her foot off though. Damn, why is the Thu'um so lethal! If I'm going to break my rule, I at least want to unveil something new!

My eyes narrowed as she removed her foot from my chest slowly, leaving behind a shimmering after-image that didn't fade. In fact, it kept speaking. It kept speaking as Emerald slowly and quietly backed away, eyes wide and movements exaggerated.

"-stupid huntsman, with childish dreams. What, you think you can save the world just by trying hard? Puh-lease, I've see-"

"Where are you going?" I asked Emerald before she made it behind a tree. I turned my head so she knew I could see her, as the clone didn't hold much substance.

"You can see them?!"

I grinned at her tone, standing and phasing right through the 'copy'. "See what? Your clones are useless, lass. Can't even pack a punch." Unlike a certain someone. I thought reluctantly to myself, remembering Blakes expert usage of fire clones in one of our last bouts in combat class.

"Tch. I can do more than that."

I raised my shield to block her shots, the bullets reverberating through the shield and shaking my arm to the core. By the time I had lowered it, the woman was gone. Knowing for a fact that Pyrrha could hold them off, I began to cast.

-.-.-

Pyrrha was used to fighting people faster than her. She could eke out a victory against those stronger than her, and adapt to any and all Semblances thrown her way.

Mercury was much of the same.

A frantic flurry of kicks, thrusts, trips, feints, and counter feints blurred between the two fighters. Flashes of gold and whirls of black stood out for the briefest moment before getting caught back in the maelstrom.

Through it all, Pyrrha fought the urge to laugh with glee. "You are quite capable!" She called out, firing her javelin at his torso. Mercury twisted and planted a hand, performing an acrobatic kick to launch her weapon high in the air. She moved with purpose, having foreseen the 3 separate blocks and 4 potential dodges her opponent could have made and smiling when he chose the block with the most devastating counter.

Three steps forward, plant the left foot and turn to avoid the Dust-shot, use the spin to launch her shield and continue her advance. Her weapon was getting close to the height of its arc. With a vicious roundhouse kick, Mercury propelled her shield right back at her.

Pyrrha had expected this, and already had a small metal cage in hand, a pulsing green crystal within. She slid it across the ground, performed a front flip, caught her shield with her feet and slammed it down onto the cage, detonating it in a localised hurricane force wind. Her aim was off, but with the slightest application of her Semblance she corrected. She rode her shield to the end of the affected area before wielding it properly once more, and she caught her weapon from its position high in the air.

Her momentum stopped, and her eyes flashed around the battlefield to take it all in before she lined up her shot and used her Semblance to force herself to plummet down to her opponent, who seemed unphased by her prodigious display of acrobatics. She tensed, adapting her plan, and rather than throwing the javelin again, she shifted it into rifle form and began firing shots down at him. He was able to kick the first two away, and use the momentum from the kick to flip out of the way of her drop attack.

Pyrrha was forced to slide back when he delivered a brutal axe-kick, smashing into the arena with not a small amount of damage. That's why she was caught surprised as the damage, opponent, and even his shadow vanished, her senses crying out too late to stop her from receiving a flat-footed kick to the spine, sending her flying off towards the Urban zone.

"What?" Pyrrha mumbled to herself as she shook out the pain of the impact, dropping from a second-story wall she'd found herself embedded halfway into. "I could have sworn I kept my-"

A notification popped up. Her partner had the oddest semblance, but she sighed and navigated through the menus to allow him to contact her. She could not fault anyone for something they were born with. Or awoke with? Another sigh left her lips before she could help it.

"Are your opponents so boring?"

The voice came from a vague location near her right ear. With but a thought, she could switch it to the left, though never chose to. He wasn't the type to chatter on the phone so it did not matter in any case.

"No. Just… tricky."

She heard a grunt of agreement. "I'm thinking of using my Semblance."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, thankful that the feed was not a visual one. Torga had two Semblances as far as she could tell: The first being his Gamer power, and the second being that of the Dragonborn. There was no way that being a Dragonborn was part of being a Gamer. The main point being, he was using his Semblance from the moment his Gamer's mind allowed him to ignore any trash talk.

"What's stopping you?" She asked, knowing that's what he wanted. Torga was a man who liked things to go his way, and so it was usually best to go along with him when he tried to lead a conversation. True enough, he began to speak more animatedly.

"Well, the whole point was to challenge ourselves right? Make it so nobody could doubt our victory. Well, this bitch just used an illusion against me, which jeopardises that plan."

Pyrrha fought back a sigh. He was technically right but he skipped a lot of steps in getting there. Illusions were risky to fight against even for professionals. If the illusionist got it into their head that they wanted to embarrass the opposition… well it would be a one-sided bout for sure. From his word choice, Pyrrha surmised it was the green-haired girl who was now standing atop a building watching avidly while her ally was deep in combat.

"So it does." She grunted. "Where are you by the way? I'm not complaining, but I am fighting all alone here."

"Me? Oh, I'm somewhere." A ferocious cracking of wood signalled his location. "Actually, I'll see you soon. City, right?"

"Hmm."

"Gotcha. Cya in… oh, thirty seconds."

Pyrrha sighed. She had mixed feelings about her team leader. He was so crass, and crude. He was uncaring of the people around him, and didn't hesitate to inconvenience others if it got him to his goal faster. He could be an ass, he could be very over-dramatic, but sometimes... sometimes she caught a glimpse of something more.

Something fiercely loyal, and in great pain. One of these days she'd coax him all the way out, and then all of Beacon - no, all of Vale, or even Remnant - could see they've been gifted someone one-of-a-kind.

Maybe then she wouldn't be so alone.

I exited the call and looked around me at the growth and wondered if I might one day create a grove such as this and just… watch over it, let it grow for eternity. As a vine crept visibly across the forest floor and birds gradually made their way to roost in growing boughs of sturdy, healthy trees, I imagined this was largely the role of the Spriggan - to protect and guide their grove. Never before had I felt such kinship with what mine kin would have considered a monstrosity.

Grasses grew in thick, verdant bunches while leaves fanned healthy and happy above. My grove was small, but with every moment it grew, both in size and in abundance.

Most importantly, however, was the effect of the skill.

Wild Grove (Active) LVL: 12

Far from the eyes of man lie places of power, guarded by the natural spirits who nurture and protect their abode with fierce jealousy. These groves hold the font of nature's might, and with practice, you can apply this status to a small area around you.

Duration: 1 minute

Range: 37m^3

Effect: Increase AP regen by 12%

Unfortunately, I couldn't layer the skill multiple times over in the same area, so my grove was small, but within I had power to spare, and so I sat cross-legged in the middle, poring over my choices in Meditation as I did so. The AP regen was nice, but I hadn't used enough to need it and I was mainly looking for the clarity of mind that Meditation brought.

It was time to spend my points. I had 64 Stat points and 4 shout points. I'd restricted myself to not spending three of them, not for now at least. Too many of my shouts would require all three words to be effective and so I would unlock them in one go. I did have some I was working on, though, and so I threw a Shout point into Slow Time as that was incredibly useful during the Breach.

It was because of that shout and the passive effects of my Aura that I again neglected to dump points into Agility. What I needed now, as I learned quite handily from Ozpin, was a stronger attack. Skill after skill was layered on my attack and it didn't so much as scratch his shield.

So I dumped 50 of my points into Strength, and the rest into my Vitality. I braced myself before confirming the choice, and then fought off a grunt of pain as I felt my muscles explosively grow within my body. It was easier with the appearance of new skills:

For raising your Strength to 100, you have gained new skills!

Overclock (Active, Cost 100AP + 100HP) Lvl: 1

A technique practiced by suicidal warriors of an ancient empire, you can sacrifice your health and spirit for a burst of intense physical prowess.

Duration: 1 second

Condition: Must have enough HP & AP to activate

Effect: Increases Physical stats by 50% while active.

Conditioned Body (Passive) Lvl: 1

Through extensive workouts you have developed the ability to handle heavy loads as if they were nothing.

Effect: Reduces carry weight penalty for heavy armour and attack speed penalty for heavy weapons.

Fist of the Ancients (Active, Cost -HP) Lvl: 1

The body is more than a vehicle for a soul - it is an expression of it. This truth was meditated on for generations, and gave rise to a skill almost as dangerous to the user as the target. Through sacrifice, the expression's path is cleared.

Condition: Must be made as a part of an unarmed attack

Effect: Can convert HP into damage for one strike

All of that, with my current stat total:

Status

Name: Torga

Age: 17

Level: 47

Race: Human

Title: Warlord

Status: Healthy

XP: 85.71% (39,880/46,530)

HP: 4097

AP: 1360

STR: 100 (399)

VIT: 64 (255)

AGI: 50 (199)

INT: 25 (27)

WIS: 52 (57)

LUK: 10 (11)

STAT: 0

Well, after all of that I might be able to crack Ozpin's shield. Specifically, I was left with options, and I couldn't wait to see how they worked with my new skills. I stood, giving a practice swing of my axe and humming with delight as it was a trifle to stop its momentum and reverse it. With a grin, I shifted it into a longsword, listened for the sounds of gunfire, then with a whoop, I took off.

The first tree I came upon, one that was gradually covering with vines and flowers from the Wild Grove, shattered as I ran through it with no more than a tucked shoulder. Runaway Train, Overclock, Path of the Warrior, even my Dust Factory helped as I switched out my active aura for Earth Dust to give myself more weight.

With another whoop of joy, I smashed my way through the forest towards the buildings from which gunfire continuously poured. I even gave Pyrrha a call to let her know I was coming. She didn't sound happy with me, but I assumed that was because of the match and carried on.

-.-.-.-

Pyrrha could still feel pain, 'Invincible Girl' though she was. Her spine ached the slightest bit where Mercury had landed his attack, and her muscles screamed with exhaustion. Her feet tingled and her arms throbbed from the sheer force of her opponents strikes, but beneath it all, she felt… satisfied. Finally, opponents she could unleash upon! It had been so long she had almost forgotten what fighting was like.

True fighting, not just the displays of ability she had grown accustomed to since that first tournament after she had unlocked her Semblance. The actual, heart-pounding, second-by-split second decision making of true combat. She was exhilarated!

She fought the urge to giggle at the sheer skill shown by the kickboxing boy, Mercury, as he dropped an axe kick down onto her shield, planting a foot at the last moment to push off and land two more kicks in his flip. The third fired off some sort of Dust round, though Pyrrha found it no issue to duck underneath.

The round struck her regardless, and while she normally would have been livid at the missed dodge, the presence of an illusionist simply changed her plans. Given she could not find where the girl was hiding, she was stuck fighting Mercury and trading blows.

He approached from the side, sprinting around her until she shifted a foot then striking for her off leg. She raised a knee to check the kick, already moving her shield to predict the counter-spin kick. It impacted with a satisfying clang, and though her arm protested, her spirits soared. Pyrrha pushed in with her javelin, making light ranging stabs to the knees that he danced skillfully away from. With a moment of clarity, Pyrrha bounded back, just before a crater appeared where she had been standing. The previous retreating Mercury was gone, replaced by an irritated looking one pulling his foot out of the concrete arena.

More splintering came from the forest, though she did not allow her focus to waver from her opponent.

All the more reason she was taken by surprise when a veritable meteor crashed from the wooded depths, knocking down any tree in its way and bodily demolishing the arena. The armoured figure skidded to a stop in the concrete centre of the arena that remained unchanged.

"That's IT!" He roared, and Pyrrha fought the urge to roll her eyes again. His tone, while sounding angry, was quite pleased. He thrust a hand out, pointing to the left of Mercury. "YOU! Fight me!"

Mercury abandoned his pose, though his legs were still bent and his posture not entirely relaxed. He's baiting me. Pyrrha noticed, and began to move to the side to place Mercury between herself and Torga.

Fighting with Torga was an interesting affair, nothing like what she had been taught about teams. His idea of teamwork wasn't anything like the assigned roles of Mistral, or the small cell approach taken by Beacon. If she were to liken it to anything, it would be most similar to Atlas, though with a lot of Vacuan influence.

In Atlas, members of the military held ranks according to their capabilities, which would determine which Huntsman or Soldiers would be sent on which missions. There was organization, and checks to ensure there was no foolish waste of life. Vacuo trusted their huntsman, from deciding a mission needs more backup to outsourcing things beyond their capabilities. They left a lot of trust in their huntsman, and didn't tend to order them to do anything at all.

Torga found himself a small, elite squad, and he built trust with that squad. Then he built up that squad - Pyrrha remembered spending her points on her Agility and Luck with muted glee - to bring them to his level. The one thing that Torga would never do, and the reason why she felt an urge to follow his story, is ask someone to do something he himself would not be willing to do. He had this image of each of them, this idea of what they could each do that she couldn't shake. He had faith in them to be more than they were.

Thus, when he had decided to fight someone, it was because he trusted her to make the right choice moving forwards. He had no instructions for this, no plan that he had told her of. The only thing she knew about his plan for the fight was that he didn't want to use his Semblance, and apparently that wasn't too much of a restriction anymore. She hadn't used hers yet herself, though she had marked every single weapon on the battlefield already during the course of the fight. Just to be safe.

Mercury placed a foot forwards. Torga matched him. With a cocky grin, Mercury began the head-rush, as Pyrrha liked to call it, two testosterone ridden men abandoning all semblance of skill and restraint to rush bodily at one another and try to beat the other. She sighed as Mercury ran away from her and resumed her search for the girl, hopping up onto a building with an agile leap.

-.-.-

That's right, just a bit closer… I saw the spot on the ground where I would make my move and as I approached, I transformed Ruby's Gift into a tower shield.

"Tiid Klo!"

The world ground to a halt. Pyrrha's form hung suspended midair, halfway through a flip to let herself land on the roof of a ruined building. Mercury's form slowed to a halt before me, and I could notice a small puff of some form of gas erupting from his back foot as he kicked off. Most importantly, my own time slowed as well, but not to the same degree as everyone else's.

Mercury was caught off-guard when the tower shield appeared to glitch through the air and slam into him, sending the boy rolling back towards the geyser field. I had the time to swing the shield around to block a hail of bullets that peppered it in slow motion, before the world sped back up and I fought off the expected wave of nausea long enough for the Gamer's Body to take care of it.

"Pyrrha!" I called out, trusting her to spot the Fun Ball I'd placed on his right leg as we had impacted. A shot rang out, but I was already on my way to the Savannah when the detonation reached my ears. I held out an ear hopefully, then growled.

I had been hoping to ring-out Mercury, but it would appear he had a way to prevent that. Reluctantly I praised his skill. I'd seen first-hand what a Super Wind crystal could do.

It was time for them to learn what a proper Dragonborn could do. I noted that Emerald's eyes widened as I tore right for her hiding spot among the grass.

"Yol Toor!"

The grass burned to ashes around a girl out of her depth, and her mind magic could not have found a worse opponent.

A/N:
Some explanation needed. I'm happy you've made it this far, even though this should have been much sooner.

The Dust! My lord the Dust can be confusing sometimes so I figure I may as well explain it. Think of Aura as a lake, with Semblances drawing water from that lake in order to fuel themselves. Torga can do the same, but with a variety of Skills.

Now, these all draw from his Aura Points, or AP. When he absorbs Dust, he gains Dust Bars. These are seperate, finite, non-regenerating pools to represent the dusts power, and like any other person on remnant, he can use dust to modify his abilities. Like Blake's fire-clones, Weiss' fire bolts, Ruby's Grav-dust, or Yang's- Wait, does Yang even use Dust? Does Ruby, outside of ammo? Huh.

Either way, the Dust Bars are just a representation of how much dust he has used, but because he can mingle it with skills, it's had some fun effects. If he fills up his Dust Bar with Red, he could choose to draw his AP from there instead of from his AP pool. Doing so would take the Skill and modify it by the particular kind of Dust in the bar. This could apply to every single thing from Wild Grove to Divebomb. In fact, it was why there was so much elemental effect during last chapters spar with Ozpin, and why he often enchants his boots with Earth - that tasty, tasty poise boost.

Anyways, glad I cleared that up.