Weiss Schnee

"Well Clover... that's your competition." She gave the Knight a teasing smirk and the man let out a sigh followed with a gentle nod.

"Yes... I don't imagine she'll lose the Conquest title anytime soon." Weiss raised an eyebrow at that, and he elaborated without question. "It's possible to lose a Harbinger title, but I've only heard of one instance of it." She gave a nod and turned back to the arena, not bothering to comment on that.

"Now that I think of it... Ozpin said that Salem woman used to be Death... I suppose she lost the title too."

The reconstruction of the arena took a few hours. Lots of earth magic and quite a bit of elbow greese was required before it resembled anything like a proper stage again. Next was of course checking the magic circle, which while Ruby would normally do that... well, Glynda was the one checking it for now.

That actually took more time then the arena floor being remade. Weiss honestly felt bad for the woman, afterall, Ruby had an advantage when it came to working on the circle. Speaking of Ruby, Weiss called to make sure she was alright while she waited, and the conversation that followed began with a lot of unintelligible and excited yelling before anything resembling words was said.

"Ruby! Calm down. Now... again please, but in a language I can understand?"

"Right, right... sorry. I found my weapon!!"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You were having some trouble with that... what did it turn out to be?"

"A scythe!" Ruby happily held the training weapon up and it gave Weiss a great view of her workout clothes... which reminded Weiss of the few hundred things she wanted to do to Ruby once their baby was born.

"Also, called it."

"That's great, what gave you the idea to try one?" Weiss hadn't suggested it herself because... well it would have been rather embarrassing if she had been wrong.

"Seeing uncle Qrow fight! That's... kinda why i came to the arena... I wanted a better look."

"I see... Well, just make sure you let me know before you sneak out again."

She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly and held an adorably shy grin. "Honestly i... kinda thought you'd be more upset about it."

"Ruby. I'm on your side ok? No matter what." They said their goodbyes not long after that, and Weiss was left feeling all gooey and bright inside. She didn't know how much she had been missing how Ruby used to act until it was back in her face again.

Ruby Schnee

Another swing, another step, another jolt of excitement as she felt her moves flow naturally. Every movement felt great as she spun the training weapon around like a complicated dance of choreographed movements, her face held an unflinching smile that grew brighter with every successful move. She stopped the spinning motions and moved back into a stance of sorts, not really sure on it yet as she held the scythe up and over her shoulder... while easy to carry it wasn't like the weapon weighed a lot... and it wasn't in a good position to strike anyone from here.

She tried a few other placements but none felt right at first, all coming up short of that good feeling she was feeling while swinging it... plus she had to keep brushing her hair out of the way because she had been too excited and forgot to grab a hair band while in her room.

"Don't sweat the details Ruby."

She went back to swinging the weapon around. Attempting to find a rhythm and get used to it before she got the chance to ask Qrow for some training.

"I mean... it's only your first day using a scythe."

She connected with the blade against a nearby dummy and frowned as her flow stopped, the string of moves coming to an end in a single moment.

"I mean... it's not like I'll have to fight anyone day one."

She let out a small chuckle and stretched a bit, blowing the hair out of her face once again before deciding in a huff to just make the walk back to her room... she didn't want to bother someone for her own mistake. After putting the scythe down on a nearby bench, she headed for the doorway and let her mind wander as she headed down the hall.

"I guess I won't be going on any Hunter missions for awhile... my whole Huntress goal is sort of on pause then."

A chuckle sounded from her mouth and she shook her head. Ruby kept making that mistake, saying Huntsman and Huntress instead of Hunter... for whatever reason Ozpin was adamant about the difference but she couldnt get him to elaborate as to why it mattered...

"I mean... I guess I get it... If I named something I wouldn't want someone calling it something else..."

Speaking of which, now that she finally knew what weapon she'd be using, it was finally time to start working out what kind of enchantments she wanted on it. Maybe some anti-magic stuff or a cleaving weapon... maybe a damage-alter blade? She truly had so many options...

"Oh! I need a name for it too... hmm... maybe something to do with roses-"

Her train of thought was interrupted as she turned a corner, accidentally bumping into a maid about her age. Ruby gave a small apology and the servant gave a small apologetic nod before hurrying off without a word or noise. She let out a sigh as she watched the shorter girl move off.

"I'm not that intimidating am I?"

Weiss Schnee

"A fight between two Harbingers is a hard match to follow up..." Her mutterings were practically drawled out. Weiss's boredom had hit an all time high in the hours it took for the arena to be fixed up for the next fight. Plus it took everything she had to not be yelling at her father for his constant comments about the wait...

"Let's hope that this goes better for Carmine then her last fight." The King of Atlas looked rather proud of his comment... if this was him trying to get on Ruby's good side, Weiss had to wonder how he was so good at bargaining...

"You know she won her last fight right?" Gillinghams voice was just the nail in the coffin for Weiss's ears, the situation growing more and more unpleasant until finally the contestants stepped out onto the arena. Weiss let out a small "Thank God." and looked to her screen like nothing else was happening around her... she was so tempted to cast another barrier.

Weiss wasn't sure how this fight would progress. Carmine's power didn't have to be justified, but Nora hadn't gotten a chance to show off what she was capable of yet... admittedly Winter wasn't at the same level of power as the current contestants. Weiss felt like she had betrayed her sister a little bit with that thought, and quickly ejected it from her mind before concentrating again.

Between the two of them they formed a very unique looking battle. Nora handled her warhammer like it was a toy meant to fiddle with while waiting, while Carmine already had her knife drawn... she was finally facing someone she was going to take seriously from the get go it seemed. They stopped moving at their starting places and Carmine was already in a stance ready to go, while Nora seemed to be humming with a cheery tune.

"Are you ready, Nora?" Weiss raised her eyebrow at Carmine's words.

"Yep!" Nora didnt act like an opponent that needed to be taken seriously, but in a way maybe that made her more dangerous rather then less. At the very least, Carmine took her response at face value and ignored the silly nature of it.

Weiss realised quickly that while the last fight had been a battle between the strongest fighters in this tournament...

"Let the battle commence!!"

This one would be more of a battle between magic.

Carmine didn't waste a single second. Her knife moved up as feathers burned from her arms and the ground reacted almost instantly. Stone and rock shot at Nora forming an almost mountain on top of her instantly... though split down the middle.

Nora grinned as she held her hammer over her shoulder, the terraforming spell having been blocked by her body as it tried to form a large structure around her, forming two split peaks shooting behind her rather then a single consistent structure. Her body crackled with blue lightning and her skin became partially covered in fur of the same colour... it didn't look like a half form... but.

"Nora is way too young to have a mastery form... isnt she...??"

Carmine's eyes widened and without reacting to an attack she formed a few barriers around herself seemingly in preparation. "Your power... anyone would be a fool to call it unearnt..." Her whispers dripped with respect and perhaps even admiration as Nora grinned brighter in response.

The Valkyrie leaped towards the woman, practically appearing in a flash of lightning rather then actually jumping as she brought her hammer around to slam it into the barriers protecting Carmine. Thunder echoed throughout the arena as she clashed with the now cracked barriers, her hammer carrying more weight then seemingly possible when moving at those speeds as she forced it further and further into Carmine's defenses.

Dark clouds were already forming over the arena, a storm brewing seemingly thanks to the latent mana from both of the combatants rather then any direct spells being cast to form it. Nora stopped her crushing swing and leaped back a bit, swinging her hammer again in mid-air and a lightning bolt seemingly responded to her wishes of a strike, slamming down onto the barriers with an explosive force enough to send Nora flying even further back.

Large plumes of fire sprouted from the ground behind Nora and sailed up into the air, covering her flight path before she suddenly stopped mid-air just before them. Hovering in the air with another smirk as two large feathered wings sprouted from her back. She adjusted the grip on her hammer and gave it a few spins with another happy grin. The flames behind her swirled into a single collective point before firing out as different balls of inferno, chasing after Nora as she sailed straight towards Carmine with a single flap of her wings.

Before reaching the barrier she stopped her flying motion and spun her body forward into a sort of somersault, spinning multiple times with her hammer held above her head before finally slamming it down onto the shields. Multiple lightning strikes went off at the same time as her hammer made contact, all of them hitting behind her and slamming through the spells chasing her, destroying them entirely. Carmine's defense was left worse off then her offense, the barriers shattering under the weight of the attack and forcing the woman back in a defensive leap. Mid-air she exploded into a firey collection of feathers, her wings spreading out wide as the form of the Pheonix hovered proudly in the air. The creature nearly matched a Dragon in size, though perhaps that was only thanks to its wingspan which was slightly smaller then a Dragon's but gave it an impressive stature nonetheless.

Both of the opponents hovered in flight and Nora gave another big grin to the now fully transformed woman. "I love fried chicken!!" The comment was enough to make Weiss momentarily forget how strong Nora was, but she was soon reminded not to think that way.

The Pheonix let out a screech nearly matching a normal Dragons roar in volume, following the noise multiple burning magic circles formed across the front of its wings, each one more complex then Weiss could read quickly enough to be able to react to them if she had been the one fighting... but she recognised what kind of magic this was.

"Magic circles can be used to cast spells rapidly... you simply have to form them out of magic then just keep the mana feeding through them..."

Essentially it meant that Carmine was going to be using spells strong enough that she couldn't rapid fire them without the assistance of said circles.

The circles all went off at once and shot out blast after blast of fire, the 'shots' each being at least two metres in diameter and barely sailing past Nora as she sailed through the air like a lightning bolt gone crazy in a thunder cloud. The shots didn't stop for a second and tore through the clouds above them as Nora flew up into it, punching holes in the storm cloud as it crackled with more and more lightning.

Nora let out a cackle of a laugh, seemingly echoing out from within the thunder cloud as all of the lightning coalesced into one place in the middle. The Pheonix reacted quickly and stopped her own spells, instead forming a much larger circle in front of her body charging with even more mana then before.

The lightning blasted out from the clouds and met a blast of flame from Carmine's circle, each spell being large enough beams of elemental destruction to resemble breath attacks more then just spells used by people. The elements collided and failed to mix, resulting in an explosion in the centre, knocking Carmine from the sky and blowing the storm clouds away like it was dust.

The Pheonix changed back to her mastery form before landing, managing to keep on her feet and keeping her eyes up as Nora landed a fair distance away... she was breathing heavily as her wings disappeared in a small flash of light, to which Carmine chuckled gently.

"You're out of time then." She stood more confidently and readied her knife once more. "The Valkyries form dosent last forever, being dependent on your sworn rather then yourself." She frowned gently as Nora readied her weapon. "It's a shame... you'd be so much stronger if your sworn wasn't so weak."

Weiss watched as Carmine gathered even more magic behind her, forming a circle that rivalled her previous in size... but contained so much more mana that it made her shudder just looking at it.

But that wasn't the most interesting thing happening... Nora had stopped smiling. Her weapon was held with conviction now as her pose shifted into a proper stance and her body radiated with an intimidating aura that had yet to fully bare its fangs. She slowly looked up at Carmine and opened her eyes, giving everyone in the arena a fresh case of new nightmare fuel as she spoke.

"What did you just say?" Her voice lacked any and all of her previously joking nature... not that Weiss was paying attention to that. Her face was much more of a worry... specifically her eyes.

"Carmine guessed that she has a triple Affinity for Lightning... But... this would mean..."

Nora's eyes had turned a deep blood red. Her berserker eyes in full view for the whole world to see, and both Weiss and Carmine came to the same conclusion... her Affinity was now a Quad. The current highest known.

Carmine dropped all pretence and went into full panic as Nora started gathering her own mana. She clearly wasn't intending to see what Nora could do with this power, and was set on ending the fight now. The circle behind Carmine faded and replaced itself with a much larger one. But it wasnt alone now. The circle had twelve smaller ones rotating slowly in a circle behind it that each glowed with a different colour. Weiss was left unsure what a spell like that would even do as Nora's own mana started concentrating.

The Valkyrie's power coalesced into a single source of electricity charged within her weapon. The hammer twisting and contorting under the pressure of the magic and forming into a more crossbow looking shape from the pure weight of the mana alone as Nora pointed it forward, her eyes still burning with that pure red.

Stacked Affinitys weren't a steady slope of power. The difference between having two Affinitys in something and having three was a much bigger difference then just adding another on top. Rather, each individual stage while doing other things... doubled your mana efficiency with that magic type. So Noras now Quad Affinity for lighting... meant her mana efficiency had doubled since her last attack.

Carmine's mana began to reek. The power so prominent in the air that Weiss felt her nose itch and her body sweat as she poured all of her mana into that single spell.

"Sola qualitas communis omni animae viventi in hac tellure est timor..." Carmine's circles all glowed with a burning bright source of magic. The smaller ones each flooding the larger one with a different kind of magic as it collected into the centre of it as a large ball of ready to be fired off.

Nora's own spell lacked all of the grandeur, resembling more of a simple attack that had been pushed well beyond what its limits should allow... did she not know any complex spells...?

"What would she be capable of if she did...?"

"I... Carmine Escalodos... Invoke my right as the Golden High Wizard... and call forth..." Her knife cracked under the pressure of the spell it was trying to carry, and with gritted teeth she managed to keep it holding together long enough for the spells to both fire. "Long memory."

Weiss recognised that spell. It was one of the only records to survive the Great Erasure... apparently there was a Wizard who was capable of casting every spell, and his ultimate accomplishment was 'The Long Memory.' a spell powered by every kind of magic... though, Carmine's own version appeared to be missing Holy Magic and Anti-Magic.

The beams connected in the centre between them, and they were shockingly even in power. Nora's blast resembled millions of lightning bolts compressed into one powerful beam meant to strike the same spot, and Carmine's was a beam that seemed to shuffled through multiple different colours as it changed and morphed... each kind of magic appearing to be forced together to achieve the result.

Nora managed to match Carmine's spell in power with her own rather simple spell simply turned up to the max... but that left this as a fight of mana tanks. Two evenly matched spells could only have one best the other if one of the mana supplies got cut off... and unfortunately... one of them had more mana then the other.

The lightning started fading in power as Nora's mana reached its limits. Her eyes slowly fading from the glowing red to its natural colour as their spells finally finished in their struggle for victory.

Carmine cut off the supply to her own spell the second she noticed Nora's losing out, and with that they were both left nearly fully drained of mana... however one of them held just enough to cast one more spell.

A clang of metal hit the ground as Nora dropped the mangled remains of her weapon. The shape bounced a bit on the stone, and Nora managed to take a trembling step forward, determined to finish this... but she was interrupted. A ball of fire blasting against her face and barely stopped in time by a barrier not her own, announcing the end of the fight.

Carmine's hand dropped a second later, and both contestants soon followed it to the ground as they collapsed. Finally complelty out of mana.

"Nora was simply too young... she's a lot like Ruby i suppose..."

Weiss sighed gently and turned to her right, glancing over the other rulers... Gillingham looked cocky as could be expected, Leo looked generally upset... and her father was stressed it seemed.

This festival would be ending with the same battle as last time then Weiss supposed...

"Qrow vs Carmine... I know Qrow won but... I wonder how that ended last time..."