KitsuneDragon: Oh cool! Vincent's back. Poor Blake is gonna be having a bunch of encounters across Beacon these days isn't she, and alllll the teasing from yang to go with it.
Also, while I do understand your whole magic is indistinguishable from science thing, just wan to clarify. So true magic, like the usage of magic circles, spells or anything related to such methods of using magic, none of that exists then?
NeoNazo356: Glad to have readers being attached to another OC; I think the reason most of them have shit-reputations on this site is because so many tend to just be "re-skins" of already-established characters, or borderline Naruto re-skins. That or Gary-Stu self-inserts with No Character Flaws. But now I'm just rambling.
As for magic... The cameos and crossovers I've made in the past hint at just that. You just have to go over the "who-has-appeared" and "what's-been-said" in the prequel with a fine-toothed comb. The answers are in there, but not blatantly obvious as someone's saying- "Magic is real." -or- "Magic is not real." -out loud. It's no fun if I just blurt it out and take out all the mystery.
*NEW WORLD*
"So… What exactly happened to him?" their third-period teacher asked as soon as he laid eyes on Jack, following his introduction.
Seeing that he was bound to a wheelchair with aviator glasses on his face and tied back with a black ribbon across the abdomen, it was plain to see he was quote/unquote "out of it".
"Dr. Stein-"
"Say no more," the man interrupted Yang with raised hands.
"Wait, that's all the explanation you need?" Ruby asked.
"Yup," the man nodded in turn.
"Huh..." Weiss hummed.
Apparently the mere utterance of Stein's name was enough to "explain away" any weirdness one encountered at Beacon.
Either that or Stein was the go-to excuse for whenever things went wrong.
But that, is a story for another-
"Oh, not that tired joke again."
Tucker, go back to Camelot.
"Cameltoe!"
Of course you'd call it that.
"Hey, don't leave me out of the fun!"
Sister, there isn't anything in this chapter you could get off on.
"Fft! Killjoy."
Moving on before this cutaway gets any more out-of-control...
Aforementioned man, Roland Vert as he introduced himself, was a firmly dominating presence the moment he'd set foot in the room with long, confident strides. Standing at a little over six feet in height, Roland was a muscular broad-shouldered man with dark skin, fierce hazel eyes, and chiseled features with a squared jaw; the sort of man that'd make any woman swoon on merit of looks and strength alone.
His attire, more utilitarian than that of their previous instructors, consisted of gray-and-brown camouflage pants, a short-sleeved skin-tight gray muscle shirt with red lines going down the sleeves, black combat webbing with numerous ammo pouches, and various pieces of gunmetal-colored armor on his right arm, left shin, right knee, and boots, a small shield emitter synched across his abdomen, with a combat pack slung across his back. Situated atop his head was a black beret worn toward his left, and above his right eye was a shield-shaped patch featuring the symbol of the Atlesian ground forces; a crimson lance.
To Weiss' observant eyes, the dark coloration and utilitarian style of his attire hinted at previous involvement with the Atlesian Black Ops, but how and why he was wearing that attire out in the open she was unsure.
The only reason she didn't think him to be a defector was because Atlas took those very seriously, blacklisting them across the kingdoms so that the only place these skilled but-often-unskilled individuals could find solace was the criminal underworld.
"Since Ms. Rose hasn't yet started recording, I'll introduce myself again," he began, realizing that after his run-in with Dr. Stein, Jack was in no condition to participate in the day's lecture; let alone remember any of it. "My name is Roland Vert, I will be your Battlefield Survival instructor during this term. Topics covered will include but are not limited to Ballistics, Battlefield Medicine, First Aid, Shelter, Tactics, Topography, Leadership, Mind Preparedness, Navigation, and Resource Management among others. There will be homework from your provided reading materials, so be sure to set aside time each evening to get it completed on-time. In addition, the class as a whole will receive a secondary summary grading dependent on how much material we are able to cover. The more you are able to digest by the end of this term, the better your chances of surviving to the end of your first year will be," he announced, the more-dutious taking notes.
"That's… a lot," Jaune gulped audibly in the face of their pending curriculum.
"If it's too much work for you, or if it's too hard, I can always send you home," Roland said turning his eyes to the blond.
"No thank you, sir!" Jaune yelped, the man's fierce gaze causing him to snap out a salute. For some reason, something about the man's gaze made him feel really guilty, like he'd done something wrong.
And then he remembered how Jack had laid into him before, and the paranoid part of his mind began to wonder-
Did Roland know?
Who among the faculty didn't know?
If they did know, why was he being allowed to stay?
Would he really get sent to quote/unquote "butt-pounding lockdown" for falsifying information on a federal form?
These questions would plague his mind for the rest of the period.
Or at least until he fixated on something else.
"Moving on," Roland said drawing the class' attention back to himself. "All of you probably came to this school with a number of aspirations in your heads. That after you graduated you'll get to go out into the world and slay monsters, or explore old ruins, or even 'save the girl'," he said making air-quotes condescendingly. "Well I'm here to tell you, you're wrong," he then asserted, causing everyone to flinch back. "When you become a Huntsman, it isn't your job to slay monsters, go on adventures, or save people. You're exterminators with a job to do that you're expected to do with efficiency and excellence regardless of the circumstances levied against you…"
"Um… Isn't that a bit of a grim outlook?" Pyrrha asked nervously.
Despite her own pedigree, even she had the same romanticized ideas about what being a Hunter was like.
"It's students with the romanticized idea of what being a Huntsman is about that die first," Roland said in turn, causing the red-head to flinch back. "While you are here under my tutelage, I will be raising you up into the soldiers you'll eventually become. Soldiers against the tides of Grimm crashing against the shores of our kingdom and those beyond. Soldiers against your fellow man who wish to upset the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed to. But most-importantly, soldiers against whatever childish naivety you brought into this room with you. Perhaps, if you're able to lead by example, future freshman classes won't have at least one team wipe on a yearly basis."
Suffice it to say, compared to Lilith before, Roland was a real downer.
"First lesson: You won't always have access to the custom-tooled, over-modified weapons most of you probably constructed at your old school or otherwise had commissioned," Roland began. "There may be times where you have to hold fortified positions in far-off regions for extended periods of time and all you'll have access to are non-transformative weapons available on-site after the ammo you've brought with you has been expended. Weapon maintenance is tremendously important in our line of work, and all of you, even those of you who have only used melee weapons before now, will learn how to clean and field strip your standard armaments," he said throwing the tarp off a nearby table revealing multiple black cases with the Atlesian Ground Forces' crimson lance insignia on them.
'How did no-one notice that was there?' Blake questioned as she and the others were ushered to the front of the room and collected their cleaning kits. Aforementioned kits consisted of brass rods, bronze brushes, mops, spear-pointed jags, slotted patch loops, utility brushes, muzzle guards, accessory adapters, cleaning patches, and polishing cloths. Also provided were small tins of gun oil.
"Now, I want you to familiarize yourselves with all the items in your cleaning kits. Once you have, each of you will be given a weapon to clean and field-strip. We will repeat this exercise until the end of class," Roland said throwing the tarp off a large crate filled with old weapons; like the bargain bin at a used DVD store. "I'll walk you through the first exercise and answer any questions you might have, but on subsequent repetitions, I expect you to retain what you've learned. There's no reason not to know how to field strip, clean, and re-assemble your standard firearm."
'Okay, the first thing I can understand being overlooked, but how did no-one notice that?' Blake questioned with a twitching brow as she beheld the bin full of used and/or dirty firearms.
"Um… Aren't you going to let us out early?" Dominic asked with a raised hand, glancing to the clock.
"And why do you ask that, soldier?"
"Well, all the other teachers did it-"
"Do I look like the 'other teachers'?" Roland asked lowly, the leader of DIRT shrinking into his seat. "I don't know how your classes before now were handled, and I don't care. As long as you're in this classroom, you do what I say when I say it, and no-one leaves without my leave. Is that understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Weiss said snapping out a salute.
"Good! Seems at least one of you has a brain," Roland huffed.
"Hey, I take exception to that!" 'Jack' stated.
In actuality it was just Nora flailing his arms around with rope tied to his wrists like a marionette, hiding her face behind a book.
"Hey! Stop that!" Yang cried as she grabbed the ropes lifting Jack's arms aloft, she and Nora bickering between themselves as Jack was pulled every which way.
'Teenagers. Just the worst,' Roland sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
*NEW WORLD*
"Ugh. This gun oil is so... filthy," Weiss retched, still stuck on her first run of the first-day exercise.
"Geez, never took you for a whiner," Yang hummed as she cleaned a pump-action shotgun.
"I am not whining," Weiss, unironically, whined. "All I'm saying is, the school could spend a little more on higher-end cleaning supplies," she shuddered as she stared at the stains on her fingertips.
"What, you mean like that lavender-scented crap you use on your Myrtenaster?" Yang asked sarcastically.
"It's mint-scented you dolt," Weiss huffed embarrassingly.
"At least Ruby seems to be having a good time," Blake hummed off-handedly.
"Almost too good of a time..." Nora hummed conspiratorially as they watched the girl work.
'Yes! Finally! Something I'm better at than everyone else!' the red-hooded girl thought giddily, a manic grin on her face with eyes to match as she field stripped, cleaned, and re-assembled firearm after firearm with an almost machine-like precision, a growing pile of spick-and-span firearms forming off to her side and spilling over onto the floor.
"Well... Glad to see someone's enjoying themselves," Roland hummed aloud as he watched the girl work. Most people treated gun maintenance like a chore, but Ruby tackled it with the zeal one would a cherished hobby.
And it wasn't just the speed he was impressed by, but the attention to detail to each part and the dexterity through which she carried out her work.
Then again, with all the work he assumed the Crescent Rose needed to remain in peak condition with how-radical the transformation between collapsed, sniper, and scythe forms were, it only made sense that the leader of Team Ruby would be well-versed in weapon maintenance.
"Um... Where are these going to go after they're finished?" Jaune asked with a raised hand as he disassembled a firearm for the first time.
Heck, he hadn't even fired one before coming to Beacon.
Given his current skill level with his chosen weapon, that was probably for the best.
"These are just the rentals from the gun range," Roland answered. "And I will be grading you on your individual marksmanship."
"Awww..." Jaune moaned.
"Swish~" Ruby chirped giddily, flicking her wrist out above her head.
"Don't get cocky, soldier," Roland said gruffly.
"Sorry, sir," Ruby apologized, running through her firearms at a more languid pace. "Question."
"Yes?"
"Where are the sniper rifles?"
"We don't have those here. Due to their over-specialized nature, if you want to work with those you'll have to take part in a school club."
"Like a sniper's club?" Ruby asked hopefully with sparkling eyes.
"Sure," Roland shrugged. The man had never actually observed Ruby using her sniper rifle in its intended configuration, so she could actually be a crack shot with the thing and he just didn't know it yet.
However, since she was still only fifteen and two-years-early-graduate from her formative Combat School, he'd reserve his judgement for a later date.
*NEW WORLD*
The next OG Borderlands character to make an appearance is "The Soldier" Roland. His surname, Vert, means "famous land" from the Germanic elements hrod "fame" and land. In classic literature, Roland was a semi-legendary French hero whose story is told in the medieval epic La Chanson de Roland, in which he is a nephew of Charlemagne killed in battle with the Saracens. The Normans introduced this name to England. Roland's favorite color is Green.
Like Dr. Oobleck said in RWBY Volume 2 Chapter 9 Search and Destroy- "Not every mission is filled with daring heroism, girls. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination. Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it." While Ruby (and I assume most people in Remnant) view Huntsmen and Huntresses as "heroes", like is said on the Magic the Gathering card Hall of Triumph, "Heroes act without thought of glory or reward. Accolades are a consequence, not a goal."
Ultimately, what being a Hunter boils down to once you "strip away the varnish", is that you become a "soldier" to fight back the Darkness. Roland seemed like the perfect person to get it into their heads that they are not training to become "Heroes" or to go on "Adventures", but that they have a job to do, and everything else comes second or is just consequence.
I know that Dr. Oobleck tackles the same thing in the Canon, but it just seems like the sort of thing that should be done earlier so the students don't get any bad habits ingrained. I get that they're "kids" and all, but they're being saddled with way too much responsibility not to be made aware just what is at stake.