Heyooo! Sorry, I was on vacation for a while but now I can continue to regularly update the story with new chapters. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the new chapter. I will go work on the new chapter now, byeeeee.
The Worst Reincarnation Yet
Chapter 10: The Duel
Whitley looked down from the benches to the arena, where the duel was about to take place between his companion and Weiss. Trivia had a smirk on her lips while stretching her limbs in anticipation of the battle against the heiress. Her enthusiasm was impossible to hide, as she had been wanting to fight for quite some time. On the other hand, her opponent was warming up by slashing at the air, showing her quick but elegant movements with her blade, though this didn't impress the black-haired girl as she appeared more to be dancing than actually showing off her skills.
I'm starting to think this was a bad idea. The young man felt anxious; he knew that if Weiss was able to deal much damage to Neo, her disguise as Trivia could fall apart by not having much Aura left to keep it up. Another problem is if she loses her cool and goes berserk on my sister and tries to kill her. Then I would have a whole mess on my hands, and it could ruin my plans for a lazy life. All he wanted to do was run; unfortunately, he was too deep now, so he had to see this through.
PING! PING!
That was a familiar sound. He took out his scroll and saw he had a message from Trivia. "Stop freaking out, snow boy; I can hear your teeth grinding from here. Relax! I will simply show the heiress I can hold my own; that way, she won't be worried about you being killed out there." This helped Whitley calm down a bit, and then he received another text. "I know how you Schnees hate losing; I do not wish to cause you more problems with your family, so I won't fight to win."
This was quite surprising; Neo wasn't the type to concern herself with the issues of other people. I... Is it possible that she's changing due to my previous interactions with her? The Neo I remember from the show was ruthless and a loose canon, even in the early volumes. Whitley smiled as this proved that maybe her fate from the last volume could be changed after all. Heh! Perhaps there is hope yet, not just for her, but for Penny as well. He began to write a reply to the girl.
Trivia was raring to go; her eyes burned with excitement, though she glanced at the white-haired boy on the benches above the arena. I understand why he is worried; if Schnee lost a duel to a mere street girl, their reputation would suffer a blow. The rumors sparked by this would make other influential families mock them. Trivia knew very well what it meant to bring shame to a household; she had suffered many humiliations during her time in high society. I do not wish to cause trouble for Whitley, so I don't mind losing. What's another humiliation? She bit her lower lip; this awful sensation was something she never wanted to experience again.
Her scroll shook for a moment. Trivia took it out of her pocket and looked at the new message she had received. "Don't lose; show them what Trivia Vanille can do!" A devilish smile formed on her sweet lips as this filled her heart with determination to win. Ha! This guy really is interesting!
Whitley noticed the girl's reaction; he knew now she wasn't going to hold back. This will start your journey to win back your family's name. If you manage to defeat Weiss, everyone will know that a Vanille is not to be trifled with. An opportunity for Trivia's fame to rise was well within reach. I can't imagine the humiliations you had to go through, but this time it will be different; you will be the one standing on top in Vale's high society, I promise you that. His attention was solely focused on his friend, with his cheeks turning a little red.
"A battle is about to start?"
"O-Oh? Yes, yes, my friend and I." He halted for a bit, considering no one was nearby before, then turned to see a middle-aged man beaming at him. The guy had silver hair and brown eyes, but what drew attention to him was his elaborate cane, which had an eye-catching design. OH! FUCK! No way! Everyone but this cretin! I'd even take Tyrian, since I know what a crazy bastard he is. The young man stood up and bowed in honor of Beacon Academy's headmaster. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Headmaster."
Ozpin found the boy's greeting a little amusing. "There is no need for such a formal address; please just call me by my name." He said it with a friendly tone. "And you must be Weiss's brother, are you not?"
"Y-Yes! Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Whitley Schnee." Dealing with someone like Ozpin was risky because the man was countless years old, not to mention merciless in his own way. His voice trembled slightly, as he was incredibly scared. "M-May I i-inquire as to what brought you here? I hope my visit did not bother you in any way; if it did, please accept my apologies." Sweat was building on his brow.
The headmaster chucked. "Nonsense, I was just out for a walk, and you all caught my eye, simple as that; besides, those two down there have already begun their duel." Whitley's attention was drawn back to the battle after hearing it.
Weiss swung her sword towards Trivia, who easily dodged it. She then followed with a kick to the white-haired girl's stomach, causing spit to stream out of her lips. Vanille delivered a backflip kick to the heiress's chin with a mischievous grin, sending her soaring into the air for an instant before slamming down to the hard floor, where her back absorbed the brunt of the blow. "Ahh! Ahhh! Not bad." Weiss instantly rose to her feet, astonished by her opponent's deft skills. "I see why my brother hired you, but you'll have to do better if you want to beat me."
Vanille aimed the barrel of her umbrella and fired without hesitation. Weiss summoned a glyph in front of her that covered her from the incoming bullets, which shocked Trivia because she had never seen anything like it before. Following that, numerous other glyphs appeared surrounding their summoner, and from them came ice shards as sharp as a sword, which were then propelled forward with incredible speed. The heiress did some exquisite hand moves while holding Myrtenaster to shift the course of some of the shards to attack her opponent from different sides.
Hahaha! Yes! Much better! She hurried forward, opening her umbrella to use as a barrier. The first ice shard was a perfect strike, but it didn't stop her; the second and third severely destroyed her cover. Other shards arrived from the left and right, so she swiftly closed her umbrella and fired at them, destroying several of them but not all of them, one of which hit her knee and another her chest, putting her to the ground. Arrghh! Lucky hits! Trivia saw the smug look upon Schnee. Don't get so cocky, you brat! Trivia then backflipped and avoided the impending ice shard, which had now pierced the floor where she had been a moment before.
"Just give up already." Weiss used her glyphs to make a vast number of miniature blue orbs, which she flung towards her opponent. The projectiles were approaching Trivia quickly, but she didn't dodge and was hit by many of them, sending her flying towards the wall, where her body split into pieces like a cup of glass crashing against a wall. "W-WHAT?!" Confusion was written across her face. "H-How did she do that? It must have been her semblance!" When the Schnee whirled around, she found a swarm of Vanilles staring at her from every angle. She gritted her teeth, and with more exquisite hand movements, the small orbs went directly at their targets, but they all appeared to be copies.
BAM!
Weiss's chest hurt from being hit by Trivia's weapon, and another bullet was heard flying toward her, this time hitting her shoulder. D-Dammit! I keep eliminating them, but more keep appearing! Where is the original one? She looked from one side to the other, but couldn't find her. I'm not going down without a fight! Weiss summoned numerous glyphs that covered nearly the entire arena, but it was evident she was reaching her limit. I'll freeze everything, and then I'll win! She sank Myrtenaster into the floor, and her glyphs began to shine, causing Trivia to recoil as the light was too bright for her eyes. "I admit you are strong, and you have my respect, but I am better!"
When the bright light finally disappeared, it was revealed that almost the entire place was covered with ice. Weiss was breathing heavily, as she was exhausted after such a powerful move. "Heh! No escape this time. She looked at Trivia, who had half her body engulfed by the ice; her left hand wasn't frozen, but her wrist was, so her left arm was stuck while the right arm was still free. The young girl tried her best to break free, even firing at the ice, but it was of no use. "Hehe! I told you, you couldn't beat me." The heiress was proud of herself.
Ozpin found this duel quite entertaining, and he was impressed by the other girl's abilities. "I must say your friend handled herself very well; it's a shame she lost in the end." He turned to the boy, but for some unknown reason, he was smiling. "Is something funny?"
Whitley knew this wasn't the end. "The fight isn't over yet." He said this while having a grin on his lips. "Trivia isn't like your huntsmen or huntresses; that girl is a survivor, and when she's cornered, that's when she shows how tenacious and dangerous she really is!"
The sound of something falling caught everyone's attention. Weiss looked down at where Vanille's feet were stuck and saw several dust casings all around. "W-What are you?"
I'll be damned if I lose to someone like you! At this moment, Trivia was filled with rage; her aura was burning like the flames of hell itself. With her right hand, she used her umbrella and aimed at the casings. I refuse to bow down to anyone ever again! Trivia fired her weapon, and a large explosion erupted, creating a fog of ice that now concealed her presence.
The Schnee coughed violently and coughed some more. "Ahh! "Are you insane?" She frowned. Where is she? The heiress looked everywhere and saw nothing until she glimpsed a shadow in the fog out of the corner of her eye. "I can see you!" Weiss hurried forward, but something wet slapped her in the face and blinded her. "Ahhh! Ahh! I can't see anything!" Some of it ended up in her mouth, and she realized it was blood. She hurled her own blood at me!
Trivia sprang from the fog, her left hand curled into a fist, and her speed was so incredible that her fist appeared to catch fire. TAKE THIS! Her fist slammed into Weiss's stomach with such force that her organs appeared to be disintegrating. She then smashed into the wall with such force that it cracked, her eyes widening in response to the severe pain she was experiencing. I am Trivia Vanille! This is the name of the person who beat you! The young warrior looked down at Schnee. But you were not bad yourself. Trivia offered her hand, something that left Weiss speechless, but in the end, she took it.
"Ughh! That punch of yours felt like a car running me over." She clenched her stomach. "Your strength almost resembles Yang's in a way." Weiss felt disappointed, but at least now she knew Whitley was well protected. "Try to keep that idiot brother of mine safe; he seems prone to getting himself into trouble lately."
Hehehe! He certainly does! Trivia grinned. He's such a wimp, but he keeps his ground even when confronted by someone like me; he's brave—foolish but brave, hehe! She looked up at Whitley, who was watching everything from the benches. I never felt like this before. Heh, it's not so bad.
Whitley turned to the headmaster. "I told you so."
"Indeed, this was surely a surprise I didn't expect." Ozpin replied. "It seems young Neo is far better than I realized."
OHHH SHIT! "I have no idea what you mean; her name is Trivia. I think age is catching up to you, Headmaster." I'm fucked, aren't I?!
Ozpin chuckled. "Have no concerns, young man; I won't reveal anything." Although Whitley appreciated this, he still had no idea where the old man was going with this, and he had no reason to trust him. "I have been watching you ever since your little scuffle with Maelstrom. I must admit, I thought of sending a few huntsmen to send you back to Atlas, but you impressed me."
"I...I did?! O-Oh! I don't know what you are talking about."
"Thanks to you, the Xiong crime syndicate is no longer involved in crime, though they still have the police in their pocket. As long as they don't cause trouble, there's no reason to intervene." Ozpin glanced at the boy and noticed how anxious he was. "And the industrial sector is doing far better because of what you did by protecting the families living there and renovating their homes. Also, that new refinement center for crystallized dust was quite a smart idea." He rose up and placed his hand on Whitley's shoulder. "You are a capable young man, so I must warn you not to associate with a criminal like her."
Whitley met the man's gaze for the first time. "With all due respect, what would you know?" He said with a serious tone. "The things that happened to her were not her fault, sure that isn't a valid excuse for the crimes she committed, but Neo didn't have a choice. We must make do with the crappy hand we are dealt with." I know she can be a good person, she just needs a chance.
"Suit yourself." Ozpin turned his back on him. "Trying to save someone from a doomed path is noble, but they all seemed to end in failure, I should know I tried it before with a special loved one...it didn't end well and even now I'm suffering the consequences of my decisions." He began to walk away.
"... Neo, isn't Salem."
...
...
"W-What did you say?" Ozpin looked back, though the boy had already left." Whitley Schnee... I hope you won't get in my way for your sake.
