And now... for the moment you've all been waiting for... Kor's Hologram Hour!
Chapter 47: If It Bleeds...
"Fellow students, of academies near and far. As I'm sure you are all aware, we are all training to fight in a myriad of situations. A criminal organisation in a brazen attempt to rob a store. Crushing a raging street war. Defending our kingdoms from forces that seek to usurp them. But there exists one situation that has always remained prevalent in history: Grimm. Combatting these abominations is incredibly dangerous, and short of actively seeking out these monsters, one cannot always prepare for them.
But what if I said there was a way to engage a horde Grimm in a safe and controlled manner? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the Practitioners Integration System - Combat Enhanced Simulatior, or as I like to call it, the PISCES."
The ground lit up, and in an instant, one lone Beowolf materialised next to me. I heard the crowd gasp in shock and fear, stunned that such a lifelike creature was so close to me. It was breathing heavily, dull growls permeating the tense silence.
"As you can clearly see, the PISCES is able to generate painstakingly lifelike foes, be they human or Grimm, via a mixture of holography and hard light. But as it stands, this Grimm cannot be interacted with." I continued. To prove my point, I held my hand up, and gently swept it through the hulking black body. The Grimm fizzled and faded as my hand passed through, but it didn't react in any way. To an unequipped participant, the holograms would lock in "safety mode", a mode where they were completely incapable of reacting or interacting.
"That is where this device comes into play." I announced, cuing Kor. The Beowolf in front of me collapsed in a pile of voxels, and started to swirl around like a tornado. As each cube was whipped around in the maelstrom, the millions of virtual shapes began to build into another form. A cube, attached to a small band, slowly took shape in the air a few inches above my hand, before giving off a radiant light. When the light dimmed, a carbon copy of the necklet rested in my palm. Raising my hand, the hologram ascended and grew even bigger, spinning around to showcase it's intricate design to the masses.
"With this device, my Aura levels are regulated and broadcast to the main controls of this system. Additionally, for added realism, my body is coated in a 'shroud', of sorts. With this, any enemy that lands a hit will seemingly draw blood. However, this is merely a cosmetic effect, and if one so desires, this can be toggled on and off. For ease of convenience, I will have the virtual injuries appear in this demonstration."
"But I believe I've bored you enough. I'm sure you'd all rather see a demonstration, rather than hear me ramble on and on about this. Professor Kor, if you please, fire up scenario 1UGL-33MF."
The lights dimmed, and the arena began to pulse, generating the arena's landscape. A dark jungle, in the dead of night, with a representation of a dully lit moon overhead. Crickets chirped in the darkness, as the underbrush of wayward ferns, fallen branches, and waterlogged piles of mud were generated. However, the one thing that did not fit the landscape was a small, white podium, rising from the floor. On it laid the genuine necklet.
The audience were hooked on the line. Now for the sinker. Grabbing the feedback device, and quickly tying it around my neck, I felt it drill into my skin, wincing in pain slightly. For a moment, I imagine it was how getting a tattoo would feel.
"Now, combining the feedback necklet, along with the holography you see before you, I am now physically able to interact with the world around me." I explained, jumping onto a tree branch and climbing up a few metres above the ground to prove I wasn't lying. To others, I'd be standing on a wireframe of the tree. But to me, it was uncannily lifelike.
"Now, for what you've all been waiting for… Kor? Some enemies, please!" I yelled up to the control box above me. In response, a cluster of Grimm appeared before me: a pack of four Beowolves, and a pair of armoured Creeps. With a collective growl, the pack quickly surrounded me, while the Creeps hung back some distance.
"Let's rock." I sneered. A horn sounded, and the Beowolf to my right raised a claw, lunging forward. But I knew it was coming. With a quick tap on my glove, the thrusters on my backpack fired, and I rocketed skyward, leaving the charging Beowolf to fall ungainly on the ground. Flipping overhead, I landed in a crouch, tapping on my wrist. Immediately, the cannons of my backpack clicked into place, and I quickly whirled around, giving two short blasts at the pack, nailing a Creep with one of them. With a growl, the Beowolves charged. I took off running deeper into the brush, mounting the cannons onto my arms as I did so. The Grimm were close on my tail, helped in no small way by their quadrupedal galloping.
Nevertheless, I grabbed a hanging vine, activating my jet thrusters in tandem, and felt the rush of wind on my face as I swung up into the canopy some metres above, landing on a tree branch. Looking down from the vantage point, I saw the Beowolves screech to a halt, and begin to sniff the air, trying to pinpoint where I had vanished to. Deciding not to stick around, I took off running through the treetops, using occasional lightly powered blasts from my palms and jetpack to steady myself as I traversed the treetops.
Finally, after minutes of running, jumping, and sliding, I paused and looked down the trunk of the tree I was perched on, trying to determine if it was safe to descend. The Beowolves were nowhere to be seen, but it was still important to be cautious.
Gingerly gripping a dangling plant, I began to lower myself back to terra firma. But as I planted my boot onto the muddy ground, a pained shriek sounded from the forest floor. I barely had time to react, before a hefty tail slammed into my side, sending me stumbling into the trunk of a nearby tree in a daze. Shaking off the impact, I looked to see my attacker.
A Creep, with a clearly throbbing tail. I must have landed on it by accident. With a snarl, it leapt forward. I raised my arm to block its jaw, and the Creep's maw clamped onto the hardened metal. As it struggled to free itself, my boot came back down on the Creep's tail, immobilising it. To complete the attack, my free arm rose up, and a blade quickly emerged, stabbing straight through the creature's chest. It gave a muffled screech, before expiring, and dissolving into tiny particles at my feet.
"One down…" I said to myself. A growl behind me soon alerted me to the fact that the Beowolves had found me. I barely had time to react, before a swipe caught my face, sending me to the ground. I heard the crowd wince, as I wiped my cheek, seeing that my hand was now splotched with red. A small scratch, nothing too major. Getting to my feet, the Beowolf that had slashed my face leapt onto my back. But what it hadn't counted on was my jetpack.
Ruby had attached the nozzles to the four corners of the bottom of the pack. But what she hadn't told me was that the nozzles could be angled. I had only discovered this recently, and I wasn't sure whether it would even work. But now wasn't the time to rest on "maybes".
Tapping my wrist, the nozzles swung to point at the Beowolf, and ignited in a plume of fiery energy. The blast set the Beowolf alight, and it howled in agony, as the flames began to destroy the creature. But I had forgotten something crucial. With all this plant matter surrounding us, the immediate area was ablaze in a matter of moments. A wall of fire quickly sprung up between the remaining three Beowolves and me, buying me some time. But it wouldn't be long before the entire jungle was in flames, so I needed a way to extinguish it. Fast.
My train of thought was quickly interrupted, as an explosion of dirt caught my attention. Looking to the distraction, I saw that the remaining Creep, the one I had blasted earlier, had tunnelled towards me, as a way to get through the fire. Shaking the dirt off of it's body, it snapped at my legs, in a clear attempt to cripple me. I leapt back, and stumbled over a fallen log, leaving me easy prey for the Creep to attack. With a growl, it clambered atop me, and prepared to bite my head off.
As I looked around for an opening, my fingers brushed against a wayward branch. Without thinking, I quickly wedged it into the slobbering maw, forcing it open. The Creep roared, and tried to scrabble at the intrusive blockage, but it was futile. Creeps only had two legs, and both were currently straddling me.
Kicking the beast away, I watched it finally clamp its jaw shut, snapping the branch in two. With a snarl in my direction, it quickly burrowed underground. The rush of dirt was sent everywhere, seemingly… smothering some flames?
Brainwave!
Spying the telltale plume of dirt approaching, I slammed my hand into the ground, gripping the burrower by the neck, and yanked it free. It struggled and squealed, but with my free hand, I gripped its tail, and drew in it's power. Suppressing the urge to retch, I threw the Creep to the ground, and crushed its skull to powder with a heavy punch. Now time for part two.
Leaping up, I dove into the ground, and started to shovel dirt up into the air, digging madly, much like a dog would. Not even bothering to see if my plan was working, I dug, and dug, and dug, my arms whirling like crazy. If being a Huntsman didn't work out, I could always try farming.
Finally, I stopped burrowing, worried that I might end up doing some damage to the PISCES. Looking up from the hole that I had unearthed, I saw that the flames had been smothered in a thick layer of dirt. Smiling at my impromptu firefighting skills, I clambered up to ground level, only to come face to face with three dirtied, snarling jaws.
The Beowolf pack.
Uttering a rude word under my breath, I took off running into the smoke, with the Beowolves right on my tail. But running in such a dense environment with hampered vision wasn't ideal, and before I knew it, my face collided with a tree trunk. Dazedly rubbing my nose, I looked up at the tree.
Tall, thick, presumably heavy… a perfect weapon.
Grabbing the trunk in my armoured hands, I pulled upwards, hearing the roots in the ground rip free as I hoisted the tree up and over my head, straining my muscles to resist being flattened. As the Beowolves broke through the brush, all three seemed to stop and stare in what I assumed to be shock. I grimaced, and with a roar, I hurled the tree at the pack, watching as it slammed onto the ground with a mighty crash. Two of the Beowolves were flattened by the enormous trunk, while a third was pinned to the ground by its lower body. As it struggled to free itself, I sauntered up to it, gauntlets rippling with power.
"Guess this Beowolf's 'bark' is many times worse than its bite." I joked, grabbing hold of its neck, and swiftly tearing its head, and half of the spine free, holding it aloft like a trophy. It was short-lived, however, as the decapitated head dissipated into smoke between my fingers.
*KRKRKRKRKRKRRRRRR*
A clicking growl sounded, sending chills down my spine. Whirling around, I could have sworn I saw a ripple fade into the thick brush. Cautiously edging forward, I unsheathed a sword, and squinted into the dark jungle.
*KRKRKRKRKRRRRR*
The clicking growl again. Whatever was making that noise, it was close. Very close.
*RAAAAAWWWW!*
A skull-plated face rushed out at me, causing me to panic and fall onto my rear. As I scrabbled backwards, the creature that has startled me stepped out of the wild jungle.
A jet-black lupine body that walked upright, with plated bone armor covering most of its upper torso, arms, and thighs. A face that looked like a wolf's muzzle, but with four mandibles lined with needle-sharp fangs. Digitigrade feet, but with a toe ending in a sickle-shaped claw. Blood red eyes radiant with hatred and fury.
A Lelantus.
One of the Grimm Professor Port had instructed us on in a bygone class, and one which was incredibly difficult to kill. Thinking back to the scenario details Professor Kor had shown me, I recalled the Grimm's abilities as best I could. It could turn invisible, mimic and throw voices, set traps, and move noiselessly. Truly a master hunter. It looked down at me hatefully as I edged backwards.
"You are one. Ugly. Motherf-"
I didn't finish, as the Lelantus merely flicked an arm, and one long spike of bone emerged between the chinks in the plated armour. Grabbing a hold of the bone, it ripped it out from the armor, with a sound much like that of tearing flesh, and spun it around, flicking drops of blood everywhere.
It charged.
Leaping up high, the Lelantus twirled the makeshift staff into a hammer grip, clearly hoping to smash my head into the ground. But with the cannons still shrouded around my arm, I merely gripped the other end of the staff, and used the creature's momentum against it. Changing the staff's pivot point, it was a simple matter to spin around, and send the Lelantus crashing into a smouldering log, causing it to disintegrate in a pile of splinters. It was upright in an instant, and charging again, swiping the bone at me. But I merely blocked it with my gauntlets, and shoved the staff away, sending the creature off-balance, now facing away from me. Taking the opportunity, a couple of taps on my holographic interface channelled some Aura into the palm blaster, and with a quick palm strike, the emitter discharged, causing the Lelantus to stumble forwards. To finish the counter, I wrapped my arms around its waist, and lifted it up high, falling backwards to slam the creature onto the dirt ground. But it wasn't effective: the soft earth acted as a cushion for us both, reducing the damage I had done. Rolling over onto my front and blasting the earth so that I was back on my feet, I saw that the Lelantus had rolled backwards, gaining some distance from me, and flexing the muscles within.
Once again, the Lelantus came forwards, striking quickly and whirling the staff around. While I blocked the strikes, it had spun around, and jumped up, hoping for another hammer strike. I leaned away, and the bone slammed into the dirt. Before it could react, I slammed a knee into the creature's face, stunning it for a moment. As it spun away, I charged ahead, hoping to catch the Lelantus off guard, but I had overestimated my knee's strike; it merely jumped upwards into the treetops, and vanished. As it cackled tauntingly, I stopped, shut my eyes, and tried to listen.
It had to be nearby. It couldn't have gone far. Keeping ears open for any anomalies, I didn't break focus. But amid the deafening silence, I had made a mistake.
Focusing solely on listening for small noises had caused me to focus too much.
An ear-splitting roar resounded in my ear, and my heart quickly accelerated, as I let out a yell of shock. Swinging a fist to the source of the noise, my attack was caught easily by the palm of the Lelantus. As it twisted my hand, it used its other paw to force me on my knees, rendering me defenseless to another attack. Raising its paw, two large serrated bone spikes emerged from the plates that protected its wrist, and slashed into my shoulder.
The pain was excruciating, but the attack had given me an opening. With my free hand, I gripped the creature's groin, and proceeded to squeeze what I assumed would be analogous to the testicles, feeling something soft and squishy crush between my fingers. It howled in pain, and withdrew the bone from my shoulder, cradling its crotch and letting out soft whimpers.
With pain searing through my shoulder, I swept my good arm at the creature's legs, flooring it. Refusing to let up, I straddled the creature, making sure to pin its arms to its sides using my legs. With one blade, I pierced the creature's chest, all the way up to the wrist. It roared in pain, but it would soon be silenced. With my free hand, I gripped the creature's scalp, and began to pull. Flesh tore and bone snapped, until finally, with a sickeningly wet tear, the Lelantus's head separated from its body, along with a long bit of spine dangling from the detached neck.
Standing tall, I held the creature's head up for all to see, and let out a scream of victory.
"MATCH OVER."
The jungle, smoke, and destruction vanished in a swirl of tiny particles, dissipating into thin air. A thick line of trees was quickly replaced with an awestricken crowd, as the holograms disappeared. The crowd saw me holding up the head of the Lelantus for a few brief moments, before it too vanished. Rubbing my shoulder, I saw that the blood had vanished, and the cut had healed instantaneously, with no pain whatsoever.
"As you can see, this system is designed to greatly enhance combat realism. And I'm sure you will all agree, the only way this could be any more real is by being in the field. Thank you for your time, and I hope to see this system in other institutions soon." I concluded. As I finished, the crowd began to applaud wildly, and I prepared to leave. But before I could, the lights beneath my feet activated once again.
"Professor, what's happening?" I whispered into the microphone.
"Something's wrong. The controls aren't responding!" He replied, worry apparent in his tone. Looking back to the central arena, voxels were beginning to swirl and take shape. A shape that struck fear into my heart. A shape I was all too familiar with.
The cloaked figure from the train.
"Real? Boy, you have no idea what is real."
I fell backwards onto my butt, and began to scrabble away. The hooded figure only chuckled, and unsheathed their axes.
"You cannot begin to comprehend what is real."
It swung an axe down, which I barely avoided by rolling to the side. Scrabbling to get to my feet, I took off in a sprint. The figure chuckled.
"You can't escape me."
I looked back for an instant, seeing the figure grow in size to titanic proportions. But with the distraction, I slammed into something, and found myself back on my ass. Looking up, I saw terror.
Dozens of duplicates of the figure. Hundreds. Thousands.
And that number only seemed to grow with every moment.
"You prolong the inevitable."
Each duplicate unsheathed a pair of axes, and began to advance. I scrambled backwards, and took off running, my heart pounding like a drum. But I was only met with more figures. Everywhere I looked, they seemed to be.
There was no escape. I had to fight.
Unsheathing my blades, a quick tap on my scroll activated the cutting mechanism, the one Weiss had installed. She had told me never to use this on sentient beings. But at this point, I had to make an exception.
I charged forwards, slicing at duplicates like a madman. My arms whirled like a hurricane, cutting through the crowd, all while I hoped I would strike the original at some point. Some copies faded into smoke, others simply fell down, missing various parts of their bodies. Arms, legs, hands, fingers... The figures shouted to each other, but it was only white noise in my ears.
Finally, just when my Aura was virtually drained to zero, and with my blades glowing hot, the throng dispersed, revealing another figure, taller than the rest. He held up a pistol, aimed to my skull. I tried to strike him, but he merely batted my hand away. Exhausted, I fell to my knees, and looked up.
The man fired.
An explosion of flame and gunpowder.
And all went silent.
Ooohh, mysterious...
And as for the shoutouts... well, y'know, I couldn't resist.