No excuses really except settled back into college. Amongst other things. Other than that, nothing else to report, so let's get started.

Chapter 38: The Devil and His Companions

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Dante crashed and tumbled through a clearing, twisting his body around so his back was on the ground to allow him to roll backwards and back onto his feet. He drew his sword with his left hand almost immediately, and readied himself for an attack.

But nothing came his way.

For the moment.

Even if nothing came his way immediately, he kept his weapon handy, waiting and listening.

He shook his head, determining he had no time to wait for his enemy. There was a problem. A very big problem.

Everyone had been split up. Rather, everyone but Nora and Ren, who miraculously remained together. Now it was a matter of getting back to everyone and regrouping. It didn't help that his Aura Sensing skills were terrible compared to Inuba, his partner. It was one of the very few things he envied about her.

Even with how terrible it was, it at least worked moderately well for short range.

Now then… what of the enemy?

…

Did they leave? Was the purpose to strategically separate him from everyone else? How far was he moved?

Looking up to the sky, the immortal found his answer. Before he was forced away, he struck the ground using an explosive Aura Sword to mark the area for easy territory familiarity. But it also luckily served as a good smoke signal.

One hundred meters away at best from the area they were attacked. Moderately far.

…

The longer the immortal was alone, the more he was wary of someone preparing to attack him.

It didn't take long to realize the area was changing, rather, it was midday, now it was getting darker and darker until suddenly…

There was nothing. Just darkness. No trees, no mountains; there was nothing but a stone path ahead of him.

Illusions? No, this was something else. When the land started changing, he immediately presumed it to be the work of illusory magic, but when nothing returned as to what it was supposed to be, that assumption had been thrown out.

So what was this then?

Dante looked to his hands and… saw something odd. They were pitch black and ethereal like, maintaining a glowing white outline. When he stared at the ground beneath him, he noticed its peculiar shine, able to reveal to him the rest of his reflection.

He was a black Specter now that had but a white outline to define his features in the darkness that surrounded him. He had no facial features but his eyes. His eyes… They were perfect circles that had a bright white glow to them that seemingly could pierce into the soul of anyone they glanced at.

His eyes turned into half-circles to articulate his displeasure of the current happening, but they immediately reverted to their perfectly round shape as he stood up and glanced around him.

There seemed to be no other way to go but forward.

What kind of trap was this? It wasn't a Boundary Illusion, and it was less likely he had been caught in a Reality Container, for there would have been obvious signs of his entrapment.

Whatever trickery was at work, he had no choice but to play for now. If they enemy decided to reveal themselves, which was likely if Dante showed a moment of weakness, he'd kill whoever it was as soon as they'd show up.

But for now, the darkness beckoned him, and he walked onwards without fear.

It was endless, nothing but the obsidian shine of the stone path he walked that reflected his ghastly image. But suddenly, the path grew larger and larger until he found himself in a wide expanse. And at the center…

…

Was that..? It couldn't have been…

It was small, and resembled a small child, about five years old, and had more defined features than he did, but…

It looked like a smaller version of himself…

"Everyone is afraid of us. They're afraid of what we are, what we can do…"

…

"No, they're afraid of you. You're the reason everyone hates us. You're the reason no one will come near us. You're the reason we have, and will always be, alone!"

He pushed the small child-like version of himself out of the way as it crumbled like ash and scattered. It wasn't long after he saw another specter, this time older and around 13.

"You ruined our life. You worked for the wrong people and look where it got us. We were actual monsters because of you and still are! You've ruined any chance of happiness that we ever had!"

This was getting annoying…

Dante was more forceful this time and placed his whole hand on the specter's face and tossed him away as he proceed forward.

Another damned Specter… This one older, and more within the recent year right before he was exiled from his home world to Remnant.

"You couldn't just listen could you? You had to do whatever the hell you wanted because you felt like it and thought it was the right thing to do."

He clenched his fists tightly.

"He was right you know. You can't just do whatever the hell you want and expect no consequences! That's exactly why we're here now in the mess we're in! Because you couldn't just sit down and shut up!"

A solid punch to the specter's face immediately shattered its image into dust, and allowed Dante to walk on forward, his pace quickening this time.

He didn't need a reminder of what he was. Or the vast mistakes he's made.

The immortal just needed to get out and kill the fool who decided to play this annoying trick on him.

Further and further he walked across the obsidian plateau with the darkness blanketing him.

Dante stopped in his tracks, spotting wisps of white light emerging from the ground that grew larger and larger until it formed the figure of a person as old as him.

The figure was an ethereal white, almost like the immortal, but had its holy-like Aura. It wore gloves, and twin tailed coat with an upturned collar. The front of the coat itself was folded across to the left side of his body to close it up, and had six shining buttons to hold it together. Long pants of the same ethereal white energy, and knee-high boots that had solid pads covering the knees with protection.

On the right side of the ethereal figure's hip was a rapier-sword that was double edged, where the blade was thin, but not too thin. And the guard… It was a cross guard, but there was a cover from the bottom of the guard that reached all the way to the butt of the weapon. The cover itself resembled an angelic wing, with top fused to one of the branches of the crossguard, and the tip of the wing melding into the bottom of the handle.

To confirms his fears, the specter had hair that was slightly curly.

It was a spitting image of his previous friend, Blanc.

There were no words, only the immortal extending his hand with his palm facing his enemy, Anvil in its longsword form apparating in his hand through a burst of black Aura.

The glowing white Blanc specter, as if accepting the challenge, slowly drew its sword from its sheath, raising it up before swiping downwards. With the downwards cut, angelic wings of light three times the specter's size spanned into existence, spreading out its glowing white feathers to offer some light within the deep abyss surrounding them.

(Nier Automata OST: Bipolar Nightmare)

Dante was the first to dart forward and swing, his white blade clashing against the spectral blade of the ethereal "fake" Blanc. They remained locked together for a few moments, but violent torrents of white and black Aura flowed from their swords and pushed each other back a small distance.

The fake had flapped its wings in Dante's direction to scatter more feathers and fire them off like beams of light, Dante deflecting a few of the, but unable to block two of them that burned through his chest.

A distorted growl of annoyance slipped from the immortal as he ran forward unfazed and slid underneath a swipe from the specter's sword, slipping a slash as he slid and spun, but had his blade blocked by the one of the fake Blanc's angelic wings and pushed him away. Dante rolled on his back and dug his claws into the earth to stop himself and quickly made another attempt at a dash.

More feathers shot at him with frightening speed, only now they had large, explosive impacts that launched the immortal into the sky as they landed near his feet. He spun his body in the air to dodge the secondary volley of deadly feathers until he got close enough to stab at the specter. In response, the specter covered its entire front with its large wings to block the stab that was chock full of explosive black Aura, sending the ethereal figure skidding on its heels.

It flung its wings outwards to create a gust of razor sharp winds, but its target was no longer at the front. A blade cut through the darkness and collided the ethereal Blanc's sword as it reached its arm backwards to defend itself. Dante quickly disarmed both of them of their swords and landed solids punches to the specter's face before he spun around to its back, grappled it both arms, leaned back with the specter in his arms, and suplexed it into the ground head first.

Still continuing with his assault, Dante performed another suplex by smashing its head into the ground, and then another, finally leaping into the air with the fake in his arms, turning the specter downwards and pile driving it into the ground head first. Unfortunately for the specter, its brutal beating didn't end there, for Dante then delivered a powerful stomp kick right to its spinal column and sent it flying.

The specter stumbled up, or at least tried, and was then pounced upon by the devilishly spectral Dante, who drove it face first into the ground by stamping on the back of its head. The immortal soon after grabbed hold of both of the Angelic wings, slamming his foot into his enemies back and pulling its wings as hard as he could, tearing them off its back a few moments later as the specter clawed at the ground, escaping from the devil's grasp.

It fumbled onto its feet, its body in shambles as it summoned its sword back to its left hand and swung wildly at the immortal. He easily parried the pathetic strike, and quickly retaliated with an upwards swing that severed the specter's arm, followed by the immortal performing a quick twirl and plunging his sword into the ethereal Blanc's chest.

It weary reached out towards the immortals face, but Dante only faced forward and plunged his blade deeper into his enemies chest, soon kicking its legs out from underneath it and pinning it to the obsidian floor.

Another deep plunge, and Dante shortly ripped his sword outwards through its shoulder to bifurcate its body in a diagonal cut.

The fake Blanc's glowing white body faded away like mist at the twilight shortly after its defeat.

It was the end.

The cloaked figure peeked its head out from the clearing, laughing silently in a evil tome as it stepped out towards Dante, who had been standing perceftly still, like a stone. It's Grimm-like mask that resembled a cobra's shone under the light of the day as it moved in front of Dante, quickly snapping its fingers.

No movement.

"Hehehehehe… Perfect… You fell right for it. And it looks like the effect kicked in too." The man commented as he glanced at the two holes in Dante's shirts, unaware of his body having already healed.

He pulled a twisted and malformed dagger from underneath his cloak, running its jagged edge across the immortal's cheek that cut into his flesh.

But soemthing was odd.

He had cut his flesh, but the wound… It immediately-

The man let out a sharp gasp as something pierced through his stomach. He looked down to see the pristine edge of Anvil in its longsword from buried deep into his stomach as blood spilled from his wound and slowly poured from his mouth. He shakily looked up to see the immortal glaring at him with such intense eyes that he felt like his whole person was being burned away.

"B-But how..? W-What happened..?"

"That was a good trick. Anyone else and it would have surely killed them." The immortal coldly stated, "A radial ability that places its target in a deep state of hypnosis where whatever they see has the potential to kill them. For instance, in there, I was shot through with light beams in vital areas that should have killed me. Firstly however, the ability wears down the victims mental state to put them in a state of despair. If they were to take their life, it would have simulated somehing akin to brain death I would imagine. And if the first phase didn't succeed in killing them…"

Dante plunged his sword deeper into his foe's body as he hacked up a lot of blood.

Something was wrong. It felt like his body was being burnt away slowly.

"The second phase of the hypnosis would have created a powerful hallucination of one the victim's greatest threats that would end them. Clever, but not good enough I'm afraid. While what I saw last was by far one of my most challenging moments of my life, the fight ended a lot differently. I spared his life. But this time, knowing it was a fake, I didn't need to hold back. And so I tore your hallucination apart."

The man gasped fearfully, trying to removed Dante's sword from his body, but failed to match the teen's strength as he kept a firm hold.

"Anyone without the proper mental fortitude would have easily succumbed to this ability of yours. And if they were a bit stronger than antcipated, the hallucination would have killed them. It's a nasty ability, truly I must applaud you for its rather terrifying power. But… you choose the wrong opponent."

Without another word, Dante easily tore his blade upwards through the man to cut him in half perfectly, and kicked away the remains from near his person. His white coat had already cleaned itself of the blood, and repaired the holes made as he brought up his left hand, dusted off his chest, and he walked away.

"For your information… Sosuke Aizen did it better."

All she could do was run, or rather, zip about with her Semblance and hope she wouldn't be hit anytime soon.

Whoever he was, Ruby needed to defeat him quickly and regroup with the others. As much as she wanted too…

That would prove difficult given her opponent was fast, and expertly using the trees around her to stay out of sight, and occasionally attack her. But she was getting used to his attacks. He always struck for her blind spots, and rarely made any deviations before retreating.

Even so, she had to be careful not to over familiarize herself with his current patterns, lest he switch them out to throw her off.

It was definitely one of the lessons from Dante she took to heart.

Ruby skidded to a halt and held Crescent Rose up defensively, certain she would be attacked at that instant, but was surprised when nothing came her way.

At the very least, she had time to take a quick breather.

…

Was he not going to attack?

All she could hear was the creaking of the trees in the forest. There weren't even other signs of wildlife, or even Grimm for that matter.

Which meant she needed only to focus on her current attacker.

"Not bad little lady!"

A black cloaked figure landed behind her, rising slowly from the ground with a grunt to allow Ruby to see his mask.

It was certainly Grimm-like, but the animal it more or less represented was a cheetah.

"Not many people have survived this long. I'm genuinely impressed!"

"Who are you people?! Why are you attacking us?!"

The man let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head, "That's a little hard to answer… But in any sense, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Gotta be all hush hush, you know?"

He wasn't going to talk…

The man saw the little reaper scowl at him, making him let out another sigh.

"Alright.. I'll tell you this at least. We are here to fight to you. Whether you die or not is completely up to you. And everyone else in your group of course."

"What do you mean by that?!" Ruby asked.

"Come on, isn't it obvious? You fight us, you win, you get to live and move on with your day. Easy, right? If you lose and you die… Well, that's the end of that I'm afraid. That's why you and everyone else should be thinking about winning rather than losing. Get the drift of things now little lady?"

It was like a game to them…

"Hrmmm… You're the straightforward type, right? I guess we're the same in that regard. So..! I'll do you a bit favor and get rid of this crap I'm wearing!"

His hand shifted to his shoulder as he grabbed at the fabric and pulled it off in one go. Underneath the cloak was a man dressed in a grey bodysuit that had very thin and light strands of black colored armor that encircled his limbs and body. Sharp angled shoulder guards of the same black metal were molded to the shoulders of his bodysuit perfectly.

The man himself had to be 6'5, and had messy black hair that as chin-length, but the back of his hair was long, reaching to the center of his back and tied up into a ponytail. From the sight of the bodysuit, he was fairly muscular, but not a hulking mass of pure muscle. He looked young too. Maybe about twenty five or so. And his eyes… They were golden colored with black slit pupils.

"Since you're such a straightforward person, I'll be the same with you as well! The name's Callix! And I'll be the blocker in your way today."

The man who identified himself as Callix reached behind his back and pulled out a black rod that had numerous wavy patterns etched into the metal. He grasped it with both hands and twisted the rod in separate directions before harshly pulling it, allowing the rod to extend into a large spear as tall as him, only, the blade of the spear was a foot long.

It was double edged, and near the connecting base of the spear, it had sharp, zigzag patterns on both edges that made up a third of the whole spear's blade. What drew Ruby's interest other than how glorious the spear looked was the center of the pole, where it had been originally a rod that the man twisted and pulled slightly to extend the weapon into its form. The very center resembled a large mass of coiled together red muscle fibers that pulsed with crimson Aura.

"Don't get too distracted little lady! You just might die if you do!" He said as he suddenly charged forward.

Ruby swung upwards with Crescent Rose to counter the stab, catching the weapon between the blade and shaft. A pull of the trigger allowed her to slash her scythe into the ground with the man's spear forced into the ground as well, allowing her to kick at him. He laughed, and let one hand free of the spear to block the kick with his forearm.

Callix freed his spear from the ground and took a few more stab at the girl, mixing in a few blindingly fast twirls that nearly knocked Ruby of her feet a few times.

The stabs weren't so dangerous, but they weren't easy to counter either. The biggest threat by far were the short twirls. They were the faster attacks, and had a lot more power behind them, but he must have been pulling punches on the stabs just to make her react and jump back into striking range. Even with her Semblance she was barely dodging him.

What was he?! Did he have a Semblance almost like hers to allow him to move as fast?!

Ruby's train of thought was interrupted when she saw the man quickly leap up into the air and then slam his spear down atop her. The reaper had been quick to react, and raised up Crescent Rose to block the strike, feeling the powerful force of the shattering blow vibrating painful through her hands and arms as she blocked another downwards slam, pushing her away from Callix.

"Wow! Still standing Little Red? You really are an impressive one! I'm glad since I mostly get weaklings begging for their life in the first two minutes."

What do I do..?! I can't..! I can't stop him! He's almost as fast as me when using my Semblance and physically stronger! What can I do to beat him?!

Ruby glanced back at the man to see him stretching his arms and legs before rotating his neck clockwise and counterclockwise after two rotations each, then twirl his spear quickly as he approached Ruby.

"Alright… Time for me to get a bit serious!"

Callix closed the large gap between him and Ruby almost immediately, and began his assault once more. All she could do was block, dodge and counter his strikes, having no room to slip in an attack. She thought about keeping her defense up to tire him out, but it would likely take too long.

What'll I do?! What can I do?!

Callix twirled his spear around vertically from side to side, the blunt bottom of his weapon as deadly as the razor sharp tip of his spear as Ruby helplessly defended against the rapid flurry of attacks. The reaper then felt a swift kick to her abdomen that made her cry out as she flew back into the nearest tree, the impact of her body splintering and cracking the wood from the immense force.

Her red Aura shimmered around her body briefly as she gasped painfully, slowly recovering from having the wind knocked out of her.

The man took slow strides forward, dragging the tip of his spear through the dirt to make and irritable, yet fearful noise as he approached.

"Well… I guess this is about far as you go. Gotta say little lady, you're the first in a long long time that's made me get serious." He said dragging his spear up through the dirt, resting the pole on his shoulder, "You may not think so now, but I'm actually grateful to you. So for that… I'll give you a quick and honorable death at least. Professional courtesy."

Ruby knew all the bones in her body weren't broken, but her senses were so shaken after that kick it felt like they had been shattered since she was barely able to move and was numb all over.

She didn't want to die…

She wanted him here to save her, but he wasn't here.

Ruby was alone…

Ruby landed on her rear with a silent yelp, rubbing her aching arm.

He was beyond freakishly strong…

Dante stood normally, letting out a sigh as he extended his hand and helped Ruby up from the training ground floor.

"I do seriously think it's time for you to start working on hand-to-hand."

"I'll..! I'll be fine! Just have to make sure I don't lose my weapon!"

The reaper took a few steps back and readied herself a fifth time, then quickly darted in close from the excellent momentum provided by a pull of Crescent Rose's trigger. And like the last few times, she was almost immediately disarmed.

"Oh no, Ruby, where'd your weapon go?" Dante cheekily asked as he confusedly looked around.

When he looked back to Ruby, she saw her pouting at him, tearing up slightly.

Another sigh escaped the immortal as he walked over to where Crescent Rose lay on the ground, and folded it up in its compact form, handing it to Ruby as soon as he approached her.

"Sorry. But I am right you know. While it's great to work on your skills with your weapon, it's important that you work on the fundamentals too for when you don't have it."

She was starting to think he was right…

Ruby cradled Crescent Rose in her arms closely as she looked off to the side, Dante sitting down on the ground in front of her.

"I'm not as tough as I am just because I know how to swing sharp sticks. I've worked on the basics too in case I can't use my weapon or abilities for whatever reason there might be. What better way to surprise the enemy than to show them you're not entirely defenseless without a weapon or powers, right?"

"Right…" Ruby said with a sigh as she looked back to Dante, "I'm not really good at that stuff. I'm actually kind of terrible at it..."

"No one's the absolute best at what they do. Not even God. Perfection is just a pretty dream we chase throughout life. We can only ever get something close to it, but not the genuine article." Dante told Ruby, "Essentially, you don't have to be the very best or be a perfect hand-to-hand combatant Ruby. You just have to know how to do it. Punching isn't your strong suit yet, so why not try something else?"

"Like?!" Ruby asked as her face brightened up.

"Kicking."

"Kicking..?"

"Yeah. You're Semblance propels you forward right? Since you're already holding Crescent Rose in your hands, why not work on your footwork more? I've seen you kick people before, and you're actually pretty good at it."

"Y-You think?"

"Totally. Let's work on that for a bit." Dante said as both he and Ruby stood up, "Your arms and legs are just as much viable weapons like your Crescent Rose, an extension of yourself. It's like turning your body into a weapon in some way or shape. So go on. Let's see you kick."

The little reaper squared herself up, slightly mimicking Dante whenever he did hand-to-hand combat, and took a deep breath before exhaling. She the let out a small shout that sounded almost like a cute squeak, but her kick definitively spoke louder than her voice did.

It was a fast kick that was moved forward with the usage of her Semblance, the topside of her foot crashing into Dante's side as he moved slightly to the right and let out a silent wince as he held his side afterwards.

It actually hurt…

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Ruby said lowering herself to the kneeling Dante.

"No no…" he said coughing out, "That was good… Really good… Yikes that woke me up…"

Still worried, she moved closer and mistakenly placed her hand where his was when trying to feel if she broke something or really hurt him. But she didn't move her hand away.

Nor did he.

"See?" Dante said with a brief cough, "You're a natural! At the very least, you now know how valuable hand-to-hand combat can be."

"I guess…"

"You guess?" Dante asked as he pinched Ruby's and pulled them apart briefly in spite of her cute squeaking.

He let go after a few seconds and gave the girl a head pat.

"Other than me maybe not having a weapon, why do you want me to learn how to fight without a weapon so badly?" She asked him.

"Well… I see it like this. Out there in the world, there'll be times where it's just you and you alone." Dante said waving a hand across the sky, "In those kinds of times, the only person that'll ever be able to save you is you, and you only. While it's not bad to have help from others now and then, you need to know how to deal with all sorts of things when you can't get help from others. Otherwise, how else will you be able to move forward towards the future?"

Callix lowered himself into a stance, rearing his spear behind him as he shot forward and made to stab Ruby.

He was surprised suddenly when a gunshot rang out, and Crescent Rose quickly swiped at the deadly spear to knock both it and the man away from her.

Callix stopped sliding back on his feet and looked up, noticing Ruby had been absent from view.

"What the..?! Where'd she-?!"

He spun around, and was unable to do anything as two metal feet buried themselves in his face, launching him into the tree Ruby had crashed into earlier, only he had completely broke through the wood, the large tree falling with a loud crash. Recovering from the tumble he had been sent into, Callix flipped up and dug his spear into the ground to slow himself down, looking up and thinking a new arrival had appeared to aid the reaper.

But there was no one other than the reaper in red herself. Only, she was… different slightly.

Nothing about her general appearance had changed, save for her eyes. The white sclerae were now pitch black, encompassing her silver eyes that gave off a small, luminous shine.

Most noticeable however wasn't her eyes, but her legs. The tips of Ruby's toes all the way to the center of her thighs had been covered in thin, black, twisted plate armor, accompanied with sharp, elegant and well defined edges. The black armor had thorny, vine-like patterns etched across the entirety of the armored leggings. The foot armor had long, thin, flat black heels that resembled the blades of small, single edged, four inch daggers.

"So were hiding a trick up your sleeve!" Callix stated wiping away the blood from his face caused by Ruby's bladed heels, "Nice! Now the fight's gotten even more interesting!"

Ruby leaned forward and vanished immediately in a furious blast of black and red rose petals that stormed through the forest, a gunshot ringing out and Callix finding a nasty cut across his body.

He couldn't even see her..!

Another gunshot echoed through the forest, only this time the man was able to listen carefully enough to hear Ruby's scythe slicing through the air to reap his life. Luckily he managed to block the initial swing with his own spear, the point of the reaper's blade just barely grazing his chest.

He stabbed and twirled his spear at Ruby much more furiously than before, but Ruby not only surprisingly managed to keep up with him, but she also managed to match the strength of his blows to cancel them out.

It was as shocking as it was amazing for Callix to bear witness to something like this. There was no anger or hatred for the little reaper whenever she damaged him, only the feeling of excitement swelling up inside him as he bore a wide grin.

Callix moved his spear up to block an overhead strike from Ruby, but that proved to be a mistake. Ruby was quickly pulling the trigger on Crescent Rose while forcing it down on the man, the scythe slowly but surely moving ever downwards to nearly plunge into Callix's neck.

The reaper delivered a swift kick to the man's abdomen, retribution from an earlier attack, to throw him off balance and allowed her to swiftly bring her scythe down fully. Although she didn't cut deep into the man's flesh, she at least left him with another long cut across his body.

Callix was moving slower than before. Ruby didn't ease up the pressure and kept swinging and shooting at him, and when the man swiped at her armored legs, the reaper leaped up and trapped the spear into the ground with a hard crash from Crescent Rose. Still in the air, Ruby flipped her body her body forwards and smashed the sole of her armored foot into the man's face, pressing off of it a moment later.

Continuing her assault, Ruby pulled the trigger, her bullet just missing Callix's face, but it still allowed her to yank him towards her. Ruby then ducked under his legs, pulled the trigger once more, and made the man flip from his standing position onto his back with a loud thud. Rather than dig her scythe into his body, Ruby used her weapon as a club and batted up the man, prepping him him for a back spin heel stomp to his spin to send him flying through another tree nearby.

His body was aflame with pain, and he was still bleeding. It would have taken a while, but some of his wounds should have healed by now, and yet they didn't. Something was interfering with his body's natural healing. Other than that, his vision was blurry from the constant thrashing he took, from a small girl no less.

Callix wasn't impressed anymore, he was amazed.

But the fight was still on.

Slapping the sides of his face to refocus is vision, he saw Ruby standing still, silver eyes encompassed in black sclerae wide open and ready for whatever may have come her way.

"Alright..! Guess it's time to use my special trick!" Callix stated as he wiped the blood from his face.

He raised his weapon over his head and twirled it around rapidly before whipping it downwards and towards his back, a crimson shade of crackling red Aura coating his entire spear, seemingly roaring with the voice of a beast.

"Iarr..! Cridhe! (Heart Seeker)"

The fiendish spear was shot forth from Callix's hand moving forward with the speed of a lightning bolt and the power of a large scale explosive, and it was heading straight for Ruby's heart.

With no time to shoot the spear out of the air, Ruby instead decided to counter the flying weapon and swung Crescent Rose at it. Scythe blade and spear point collided into each other with an explosive impact, making Ruby slide back slightly as she continued pushing against the tremendous force that kept the spear propelling for her.

She needed to get the spear away from her. And luckily, she had an idea. But it was dangerous. She needed to be precise.

Ruby ducked down and let the spear pass overhead, noticing how it moved as if it were tracking her body. But the plan was working so far. The little reaper used the spear's own propelling force to spin around the spear caught in her scythe and slingshot it back at a surprised Callix.

He reached up with his right arm and caught his spear near the center-grip, then looking back at Ruby to see her in a low stance and Crescent Rose raised up and behind her.

And then, she dashed forward, her body seemingly splitting up to make what appeared to be three Rubys total that soon after vanished as soon as they moved forward a few feet. There was nothing for Callix to do other than accept the large vortex of tens of slashes that coated his body within a split second, each slash cutting deep enough to make his limbs and body heavy and aching furiously.

He glanced back at Ruby, seeing her in another stance before the trigger on her weapon was pulled. She was like an invisible blur that passed by Callix. The speed of her attack was too quick for him to register at first, but when he looked to his left, he saw a bloody stump in place of where his left arm used to be.

Callix crashed into the ground, cracking it slightly as he tried to stand but continuously fell until he managed to eventually stand up by using his spear to prop himself up.

"Not… Not so bad… little lady…" He said between heavy breathes, his wounds seeping with blood, "Looks like… you're a lot more special than most…"

Ruby readied herself once more, raising up her scythe in preparation.

"I know… when I'm beat…" The man plunged his spear tip into his left arms that remained on the floor, and then rested the spear on his shoulder, "I'm leaving…"

Ruby went to step forward but felt a painful twitch in her legs, prompting her to stop and wince silently.

"You're pretty damn good Little Red… Don't go dying anytime soon. I want a rematch once day when you're stronger. Then… I'll show you just how tough I really am."

Callix stabbed the ground with a powerful thrust to kick up a large cloud of debris and dust, and in spite of the small twinges of pain she felt in her legs, Ruby rushed forward and cut through the dust, seeing the man was long gone.

She noticed a small trail of blood, but it cut off midway.

He was apparently good at covering his tracks…

Ruby shook her head as she folded up Crescent Rose and clutched it tightly, falling back onto a tree and sliding down it to rest and catch her breath. She looked through the tree line briefly to see the few rays of sunlight before looking down to her armored legs, her fingers softly glazing over the cold, black, sleek metal that adorned her legs.

They looked as though they were made for her, styled after her. But the feeling of it, as well as a part of the look… It reminded her so much of Dante…

It was like the armor itself was him, protecting Ruby in his own way even if he was far away from her. The thought of it made her smile.

She gasped slightly when she felt the armor fading, watching it break off from her legs into pieces, which floated up into the air like blackened ashes before vanishing.

Speaking of her legs, they felt fairly sore. She looked as though she didn't move around so much, but she was moving far faster and many more times than her opponent realized.

The sensation when she moved too; it felt like her Semblance had no off switch with minimal consequences. She felt slightly more exhausted than usual, yes, but given the enemy she just faced, that was a given.

If she fought someone that difficult, then…

…

All she could hope for is that everyone else was okay for now until she reached them.

Jaune's back hit the tree behind him, and when he opened his eyes, he ducked under a quick slice at his face and rolled out of the way. He blocked a downwards swipe, then was sent flying once again from a powerful kick to his shield.

"Ha! That all you got weakling?!" A man shouted at jaune from a distance away.

The man was about six feet tall, was lean and muscular and had slightly long black spiky hair that stood up, a few loose strands hanging in front of his forehead. His eyes shone a violet color, and his attire consisted of a black shirt, pants and boots. The only other thing he wore was a white open coat with the sleeves rolled up to show the inner black lining of the coat.

On his arms were black plated gloves, the armor sleek and thin black bone that twisted around his forearms from his elbows to his wrists. Between the twisted gaps were thin, blood red strands that looked like muscle fibers.

The hands were covered in the same thin black bone material that resembled flesh stripped from the body to reveal the bare bone beneath, only, it too was black in color. The tips of his fingers were black bone claws, yet strangely, on his forearms, hands, and fingers, were slits in the center of the pieces.

Jaune had blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and now from his forehead given he spotted a few droplets falling onto his gauntlets.

"With the way things are going you're no better than a damn punching bag! Tch! Unbelievable!" The man said kicking away a stone, "I got the weaker one of the bunch! Typical!" He said kicking at the dirt.

The man looked to the blond knight with a disgusted look in his eye as he walked over. Jaune, still taking the time to stand, rose up, breathing heavily and taking a stance.

The man charged in and thrusted his razor sharp claws at Jaune to stab him, and although the attack was powerful, Jaune was only knocked up in the air a bit before his feet touched the ground again and dug deep into the dirt, eventually allowing him to stop the man despite how hard he was pushing Jaune.

With a loud roar, Jaune swung his blade upwards and across his body, making the man widen his eyes as he leap back. Jaune's blade only nicked him slightly, but deep enough to leave a small cut and draw blood.

That was the only attack he had managed to land so far in the fight.

The man ran an armored thumb across his chest where the cut had been made to rub away the blood. He then stuck his thumb into his mouth and sucked off the blood, much to Jaune's disgust as he grimaced at the action.

"Hmph… You might not be so worthless after all… But I've already beaten the shit out of you quite a lot. How much more can you take before you fall, I wonder?"

"I… I can take more than you can throw at me…" Jaune answered in between breaths.

"Huh?" The man asked with an irritated tone.

"There's someone I know… who's a lot tougher than you'll ever be…"

"A human tougher than me?! Hahahahaha! Did I bash around those pathetic brains of yours too much? There isn't a single human alive who's stronger than me or my own!"

"You're wrong! This person… My friend..! He's the toughest kind of person there is! And he's the best fighter to ever live! People like you would never beat him!"

The man looked around, raising his arms up at Jaune, "I don't see the bastard anywhere. He hiding behind that princessy shield of yours?" He asked laughing, pointing to Jaune's shield, "What the fuck even is all that gold shit?! Did you melt a shitty tiara into it to make it even girlier?"

The blonde knight's grip tightened on the handle of his sword as he silently growled to himself.

"Struck a nerve did I?" The man asked, "Good… At least you won't be so pathetic when I kill you!"

Jaune side-stepped the man and swung down on his head, but the man blocked it with his armored hand and began his counter assault. Previously, he was attempting to crush Jaune with pure force, but now he put an emphasis on speed. The blond knight could deal with this a bit more since he didn't have to focus entirely on blocking for his dear life or risk having a hole bored into him.

But quicker and less powerful attacks meant Jaune had to not only react faster, but move quicker to counter his enemy, and he made it very difficult for the blonde knight to do so.

Jaune didn't spend most of his time attacking, and instead focused on blocking. If he couldn't attack directly always, maybe there was a chance his enemy would tire out if he gave it long enough. But this sort of situation had been going on for ten minutes now, and the man showed no signs of easing up anytime soon.

How can a person keep fighting so ferociously and not get tired?!

The blonde raised his shield up to block a claw swipe, and found that it stayed in place to his shield. When Jaune moved his sword for a side swipe, the man caught it within his armored palm, and firmly kept it in place despite Jaune's resistance.

With a maniacal laugh, the man headbutted Jaune in the face, making him drop his guard and opening him up to a world of pain provided by his enemy. The man unleashed a rapid flurry of punches to Jaune's person, laughing as he kept up his seemingly endless pace of punches.

A final punch to Jaune's face sent him soaring into a rocky cliffside, cracking it immensely from the sheer impact that knocked the wind out of the blonde.

"Tch! It's almost disgusting how weak you really are! No wonder Huntsmen and Huntresses die left and right these days, they're all subpar, just like you!"

…

…

"Here's what's gonna happen, human." The man said as he took slow strides forward, "I'm gonna kill you, but I'm not gonna eat you. Your other friends might serve as a good enough snack though. I bet the one in the red hood would taste good." He said with a disgusting laugh.

Jaune's fingers twitched briefly before the blond himself finally managed to push himself, his arms barely supporting him.

"Get lost, human."

Jaune was knocked to the ground once again, a loud groan escaping him.

It wasn't one of pain, but frustration.

Dante sighed before he walked over, plunging his own sword into the ground before he extended a hand to Jaune.

"You're fairly durable Jaune. But that won't really cut it in the long run. Sure its useful when defending, but you've got to take opportunities to attack too you know."

"I know…" Jaune said half-heartedly as he was helped up and dusted off.

Dante gave him a glance and exhaled, looking to the knight's shield.

"I see you swinging your sword around plenty. And your technique's significantly improved with Phyrra's help."

"But~?"

"But~ You aren't using everything at your disposal."

Jaune shot a questioning glance to Dante, and the immortal nodded.

"You do realize this thing is just as much of weapon as your sword is, right?" Dante asked tapping the shield on the knight's arm.

"It is?"

"Of course. Sharpen the edges and you could cut into someone or take a limb if you strike them hard enough. Even if you don't do that, it's still good for bludgeoning your enemies or throwing them off balance."

"That's…"

"A different sort of fighting, I know." The immortal responded as he took up his sword from the ground, "But that kind of fighting could be the difference between life and death out there in the wilds."

…

He had a point…

"Learning the proper ways and techniques is good. There's nothing wrong with that. But as you go, you need to pick up things that work in tandem with your skills and combat style. Expand your arsenal, in a sense."

Knowing more was always better. Especially if it could help in a fight.

"So~?" Dante asked with a rather coy smile.

Jaune smiled as he raised up his weapons once more.

"Teach me!" he asked.

Dante chuckled to himself as a shield of white and black Aura, similar in proportions to Jaune's own, apparated onto his left arm as he stood side by side with Jaune, but with just enough room to demonstrate.

"Forms first, live practice after."

The two had readied themselves, Jaune copying Dante's position before he made the first movement, and Jaune mimicking the movement shortly after.

The man raised up one of his clawed, armored hands and swiped them down onto Jaune. Instead of making contact with flesh, his claws struck something hard.

The knight had defended himself, and in spite of the push the man gave, Jaune did not budge.

His white sword stabbed at the stranger, who out of confidence put his palm in the point's path, expecting it to stop there. But then, he felt something that had been foreign to him for what seemed to be forever now. A burning sensation gathered at the center of his hand, as he glanced over to it and saw the tip of Jaune's sword sticking out of the back of his hand.

When he looked back to the blonde, he reciprocated the headbutt from earlier and knocked the man back before smacking him again in the face with his shield.

"Damn it! What the hell?!"

The man stopped yelling and looked to see something strange happening to Jaune. The white coloring of his armor, shield, and weapon turned into a pitch black color, leaving the gold traces of his equipment untouched.

But his shield… His shield began warping itself. The way he normally held it was different. Jaune held the shield with his arm entering the top, flat side of it, and his hand covered by the sharp, end point of the shield. It was then the shield began to shrink down, and mold itself to Jaunes arm just enough so that it'd still offer a good amount of protection.

His eye now… The whites of his eyes were pitch black like his armor, encompassing his blue irises.

"How 'bout that? Looks like you manned the fuck up!" The stranger said shaking his wounded hand, "But it won't matter in the long run since you'll be dead!"

The stranger charged at Jaune, swiping his deadly armored claws at him. What he expected to be a hit was a miss since the knight ducked underneath the claw swipe and delivered powerful uppercut with the pointed end of his shield. His opponent staggered, Jaune quickly spun with an outward slash, only, the stranger recovered enough just to parry Jaune's now blackened blade with his claws.

Jaune could see him clearly now. He could see everything.

"Damn brat! Don't get so cocky because of a few lucky hits!"

The man rushed Jaune again with the idea to kill him now rather than toy with him like he intended. He was pissing him off far too much now to just beat him around like a rag doll. He was going to rip Jaune to pieces.

But he wanted and what was happening where two separate things. Jaune was reacting faster than before and blocking with his shield much more effectively than simply raising it up and hiding behind it like he did before.

He was using it like a real weapon. And it damn well hurt the stranger every time Jaune countered him, and either bashed him with the shield or cut him with his sword.

It was like Jaune decided he was fighting to win, and dropped the niceties for that sole purpose.

Jaune kept up the tempo, fighting the stranger without pause and without reservation, and he was winning. But he didn't let the sudden shift of the battle make him overconfident. His one and only focus now was the stranger, and no one else.

The knight took a step back and let the man come closer as he swiped down on Jaune with his claws, only for his shield to be in the way. The force sent Jaune back a bit, but it wasn't enough to distract him from the stranger's next attack as he swiped for Jaune's head.

The knight quickly countered with a swing of his sword, and countered with another swing, but his blow had gone through too easily, just as the man intended. Thinking Jaune was off balance, he took the opportunity to pounce at him, his razor sharp claws leading the way to Jaune's chest.

But the knight hadn't been tricked so easily. Rather, it was he who tricked the stranger. He lured him in as intended, making his attacker believe Jaune was open to attack after he missed his own. And the stranger, unable to do anything as he approached, missed his window of opportunity as his claws went overhead of Jaune, who had ducked down, pivoted his foot, spun around and threw both his shoulder and shield into his attacker's body to send him flying on his back.

"Damn human! I've had enough already!"

The air began trembling under the immense pressure of the stranger's light blue Aura that crackled around him in fierce bouts of energy.

The man's armored hands crackled to life as the slits on his fingers, hands and arms let loose blasts of his Aura. The Aura gathered near his arms, forming large, spectral arms three times Jaune's size that resembled the arms of a beowolf.

"DIE!"

The stranger's harsh voice carried through the air as he quickly shot forth his right arm, sending forth his first spectral arm.

Jaune's shield, as if responding to his will, warped itself once more, changing back into its original shape and position, only now, it grew larger and longer. With greatshield in hand, Jaune slammed it into the ground and welcomed the attack head on.

The spectral hand collided with the black and gold shield, turning into a violent, razor sharp torrent of energy that threatened to break the blonde knight at any moment. But both Jaune and his shield held fast against the powerful shockwave of menacing energy.

When it passed, the stranger stood in shock, watching Jaune's shield contract back into the form it took on when the second stage of the fight began. But the shield now had a vibrant glow to it, its gold traces brimming with energy.

Another yell and the man shot his left arm forward to send out the second spectral arm as it shot forward with intense speed. Jaune spared now time, and quickly upturned his black sword and inserted it into its resting place within the shield as it detached itself from his arm.

The knight rushed forward, raising his sword with both hands as shield joined together with blade to create a large greatsword that shine furiously with white Aura. Digging his feet into the ground, Jaune swung his sword with a loud cry and cut through the spectral mass of Aura in one mighty swing.

The destructive force of the blow rushed past the stranger as he shielded his eyes, but when he opened them, all he saw was Jaune in the air above him.

With another powerful swing, the knight brought down his black greatsword upon the stranger, who defensively raised up both arms. But they did not save him.

A mighty cleave from Jaune severed the both of the man's arms at the center of his forearms, just enough to save him from his body being bisected in two, and instead, left him a deep cut across his body as he fell on his back with a pained cry.

The man rolled, and continued rolling on his back until he crashed into a tree. Without his arms, the man only had his legs to help him up as his blood spilled everywhere from the stumps that were his arms.

"You… Damn human… You think you're better than me… because you've won this time?!"

Jaune didn't give the man the pleasure of a response. He only raised up his black greatsword in preparation.

The stranger gritted his teeth as his gaze moved to the floor briefly before angrily glaring back at Jaune.

"Remember this… pathetic human… I'm Grîvâu… And I'll be back for you… someday…"

The man ran behind the tree and kicked it behind him, instantly tearing off the majority of the trunk as the rest of the tree flew at Jaune. The knight immediately dropped himself belly flat against the ground until the tree fly over him. When he looked up, the stranger had fled, but not without leaving a trail of blood.

Even so, Jaune had no intention to pursue. His enemy was beaten. And he wasn't going to come back. The knight let out a sigh of relief, looking to his black greatsword to see how it change its shape. It was longer than the usual when he combined his sword and shield into its greatsword form, almost as tall as he was, and it didn't leave any open space near the tip.

He saw his reflection in the shine of the black blade, looking to his gauntleted hands to see the armor too had turned pitch black, leaving the gold decorations untouched. Some of the armor had warped itself too, taking on a more twisted appearance that almost resembled…

…

Could it be..?

Before Jaune could pursue the thought any longer, he watched his armor slowly warp itself back into its original shape as the pitch black colored broke off of the metal like petals of black ash that scattered with the wind.

His sword too had reverted to its original shape and color, and back into its standard sword and sheath form. It wasn't until then Jaune felt a wave of exhaustion and nausea hit him. His entire body felt sore as his muscles screamed at him.

Even so, he still reached for his weapon and grabbed hold of it, glancing it over briefly before placing it back on his belt.

"Jaune!"

"Ruby!" Jaune said turning to the sound of Ruby's voice.

"You're okay!" Ruby said as she stopped in front of Jaune and helped him up.

"I'm… I'm okay… Sort of…"

The two looked around at the destruction that was caused by the stranger and Jaune's battle. The knight himself was still in awe at everything that happened, looking to hands and slowly clenching them.

"Jaune… Did… Did it happen to you too?" Ruby asked him.

He only gave her a small nod as he lowered his hands to his sides.

"What's going on Ruby? We were attacked by that scorpion maniac a few days ago, and then those people that Dante and his partner's father fought off, and now whoever these guys are."

"I don't know Jaune. I don't know…" Ruby said looking to the ground, "But we can't sit around here thinking about it. We need to find Ren and Nora before we find Dante."

As she spoke, the ground trembled as an explosion sounded through the air, making the two look up at the pillar of smoke in the distance.

"Let's hope it's Ren and Nora and that they're okay..! Come on!" Jaune motioned as both he and Ruby ran of into the distance.

(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning 6, by Xera Stark)

«»

"You know, I have the sneaking suspicion Ciel's not actually trying to get me home and just wants to camp with me..." Skyla wondered, looking up to see Irene's face glancing down at her.

The wolf girl's two cute feet bobbed and kicked before Irene gave a toothy grin, obviously having no idea what Skyla was talking about.

"You're a very good actor…" the brunette murmured to herself, pursing her lips in a pout of thought.

They settled down for camp again. This time at a riverside, tucked in a grove of trees where they had just enough elevation on their outcrop to see over the forest. Skyla's amethyst gaze glanced back to the sky as she kicked her own dangling legs over the flowing water below, watching as the stars glinted through the clouds.

"You two seem to have bonded fast." a relaxed voice came from behind her.

Two careful steps took it to the ledge with Skyla before the brunette watched Musashi sit herself down beside her, hanging one of her feet over the rocky edge. The dragon faunus wrapped her arms around one risen leg, a gaze turning Skyla's way.

"If I didn't know any better, you might actually be able to have a full conversation with Irene and know what she's 'hmphing' about." Musashi said, imitating Irene's favorite noise.

Irene just crossed her arms and made an approving "hmph!" of her own.

Skyla smiled and giggled at the exchange. "Maybe. Irene just said you sounded pretty funny though."

Another "hmph" came down from above as Irene nodded. The light from the campfire behind them kept their silhouettes illuminated, letting Skyla catch the small grimace scrunching up Musashi's face.

"I'm crossing that off my list of things to ever repeat...," she said, her eyes turning to the campsite behind them.

"Ciel didn't take you along to hunt dinner?" Skyla asked, reaching up to distract herself with the two tiny little feet bobbing in her vision.

Musashi groaned, but a side glance caught an annoyed blush taking hold in her cheeks all the same. "I still have a long way to go if I want to keep up with her."

"She would've slowed down for you if you went." Skyla pointed out. Irene knew it too, because the wolf faunus nodded with a flutter of her own ears. They were sure of it.

"You think I don't know that? I didn't go because of it." Musashi rested her chin on her raised knee as she looked out over the trees now. "Besides, we haven't talked much."

Skyla caught a narrow glint pass over her eyes just then, right before she blinked. The brunette just giggled at the strange dragon faunus.

"You're a funny person, Musashi."

All she got was a quirky confused expression in return. "Huh?"

"You keep trying to impress her. Right?" Skyla asked, and suddenly Musashi's face reeled back and looked away.

Sputtering to hide a blush.

"L-Like hell I needs to-!"

"She's strong. And pretty too, but we'll get back to that," Skyla cut her off, holding up her finger as Musashi's form slouched a little. "You like running after what's stronger than you, just to get stronger yourself and eventually surpass it. But I don't think you've ever bumped into someone like her. Do I have that right?"

Musashi's eyes narrowed into little slits as Skyla caught her pouting behind her knee, arms starting to tighten around her leg. "Can you blame me?" she replied quietly.

"Nope! It's not fair, is it?" Skyla spoke with another laugh, reaching up to idly tickle Irene's sides. As the small wolf faunus buckled and kicked at her hands, Skyla continued. "What makes you funny is that you act like a different person around her. Shy, but also after her attention. Did you realize you always smile whenever she says something even remotely about you?"

Skyla's gaze tossed Musashi's way again just to see the girl's blush worsen. That, and a healthy thwack of Irene's little hand helped turn her face anyway.

However, the brunette didn't relent her tickling conquest.

Musashi eventually peeked back at her. "How do you know so much after only being in this reality for a few days?"

"Hm? Oh, good question." Skyla looked up with a hum as she lessened her attack, letting Irene slump over on her shoulders and catch her breath. "You tend to notice things when you're jealous."

She could feel Musashi's gaze widen. "Don't tell me a girl like you is jealous of…?"

"A girl like me, huh?" Skyla wondered. She turned her gaze back to the sky as Musashi jumped a little.

"I didn't mean anything by it! It's-"

"I come across that way a bunch, don't I?" Skyla asked instead, her view of the stars getting obscured for a moment as Irene gave her a weird look. The brunette just reached up and lightly pat the girl's head, then tickled her again for getting worried. "I like to pretend I'm selfish, but people always tell me I'm the opposite. Isn't that funny?"

"Not to me…" Musashi voiced. Skyla didn't need to glance her way to know she was staring. "You're strong too, you know. Didn't you survive the fall coming here? I heard you fell from the sky, and not a scratch was to be found on you. Come to think of it… you also landed on your face…"

Skyla giggled at that. "Did I? I think that was more the ground coming up to catch me. It's dependable like that, just not always soft."

"I don't think that's how it works," Musashi replied, but she quickly shook her head to get back on topic. "You're strong. I can tell. You know how?"

Skyla gave the girl a curious look.

"Because I want to fight you." Musashi said simply, lowering her leg to dangle with her other one now. This time, any embarrassment left her. And her face was just left in a firm look of determination.

"You really are a funny girl…" Skyla laughed, smiling amusedly at the challenge as she brought her gaze down to the river. Even in the dark, she could spot a long fin swimming through the current. "Oh! Fishy!"

Irene jumped in a startle as Skyla reached out and an explosion of steam erupted from the riverbed. Jets of boiling water shot into the sky in torrents before a hot wind blew through the trees, Skyla lowering her hand a moment later to a loud, quaking thud behind them.

Musashi and Irene glanced to the tents to see a sizzling, massive fish resting on the stone near their campfire. Motionless and blown out of the water.

"Huh…" Skyla looked down at her fingers, the dry riverbed below her slowly starting to refill with water from upstream. "Weird how it landed right behind us..."

She glanced Musashi's way again, but found the girl's mouth hanging open and eyes twitching.

"That's what you're pointing out about what just happened?!" Musashi asked.

"Yeah, why?" Skyla asked, watching as Musashi's wide eyes narrowed after blinking.

"Now I really want to fight you…" the girl muttered.

Amethyst eyes stared for a few long moments before Skyla cracked another smile. "Okay."

"Hey guys! I'm- whoa, who put this here?" Ciel's voice called out, another thud hitting the stone behind them.

Skyla glanced back with Musashi to see Ciel standing next to the body of a boar, the girl leaning over the sizzling fish with her hands on her hips.

"And here I thought I was catching dinner..." the girl said, poking at the steaming scales.

In the end, it really wasn't fair… to leave things the way they were.

Semblance Encyclopedia 16

«»

"Good evening everyone." Leo stated as he bowed on stage, "Welcome back to another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia. Thankfully it's only me today, so today's explanations will be clearer than usual. Now then, let's begin."

Leo took a few steps back and let the projector screen emerge from the ceiling. On it displayed a cute and chibi-ish Alice, standing around with her arms crossed.

"Today we'll be discussing Alice Lianna's Semblance. Last week, my brother and Ms. Rose briefly touched up on her Semblance to explain her weapons and their functions. But now, we'll go into deeper details of what we've seen so far."

The cute and small Alice on screen had drawn her swords and was in a readied position.

"Her Semblance is Polarity Reversal, where she can wield powers with a Shadow or Light aspect. The idea is that she switches the polarity between the types she's currently using. If she's using her Shadow Aspect, the polarity can be switched, which will then allow her to use Light abilities."

The cartoonish Alice demonstrated so on screen, her Aura blazing up like pitch black fire before shining into pristine strands of white light.

"In the case of her Shadow Aspect, Alice's physical capabilities are bolstered tenfold, giving her incredible strength and durability for however long she is using her Shadow Aspect. In addition, she is able to outwardly project her Aura into powerful shockwaves, and in the case of defense, can either erect barriers of Shadow for protection or sink into her own shadow to retreat if need be."

The projector demonstrated Leo's explanations, from Alice lifting extremely large and heavy objects effortlessly with a single hand to her jumping into her shadow and it moving around.

"Swapping polarities to her Light Aspect offers Alice new approaches to combat compared to her Shadow Aspect. Whereas her Shadow Aspect focused on overwhelming strength and high endurance, her Light Aspect places a focus on speed, maneuverability, and highly amplified Aura abilities."

As he said this, the small Alice on screen posed briefly before her Aura turned a bright white color.

"Alice's when swapped to her Light Aspect, Alice's movements become incredulously quicker. To add to that, she is able to freely control her movements with more accuracy, be it in the sky or on the ground, to effectively evade or outmaneuver her enemy."

As he spoke it, the Alice on screen moved about at blinding speeds, and easily evaded a target dummy with a smug look.

"Regarding amplified Aura abilities, as opposed to her Shadow Aspect that grants her immense physical abilities, Alice's Aura abilities are significantly quicker, more powerful and explosive. For instance, her shockwave projections would have much more power and speed behind them."

With Leo stating such facts, Alice performed numerous actions that resulted in her emitting arcing waves of light that quickly traveled and devastated her targets.

"Lastly, her channeling abilities for both aspects. With her Shadow Aspect, Alice has immense knockback power and breakage force, allowing her to easily shatter the defenses of most enemies."

The Alice on screen demonstrated by shattering the shield of a target dummy.

"With her Light Aspect infused to her weaponry, her cutting abilities are significantly enhanced to the point she is able to cut through most object effortlessly. As Ms. Rose stated last time, it would be like a hot knife through butter."

As he spoke, Alice used her katanas to easily cut through sheets of metal, boulders of stone, and other objects before she plunged her swords into the ground and gave a proud smile.

Leo himself smirked at the action of the small and cute Alice on the screen, before clearing his throat and facing the audience.

"Now then… I believe that is all for this week. Tune in next time for Weapons Illustrated. Farewell everyone."

Oh boy, things are heating up for Dante and the gang. For those of you wondering, I think at the time I'm writing this I remember making mention previously that RNJR would be getting something akin to upgrades. If not, now you know. Ruby's was something of a simpler mechanic meant to boost her overall speed and leg strength tremendously, which would basically make her movements seem like her Semblance is constantly active. When she does use her Semblance with this upgrade, she quite literally becomes far too fast for mostly anyone to see her.

Jaune's upgrade took a bit more time to flesh out. For starters, remember how it was mentioned his shield "warped" its shape? If anyone reading has seen Avengers: Infinity War and remembers how Captain America's new shield(s) look like, I had Jaune's shield take on a similar shape, since I like those shield types, for the duration he uses the upgrade. Now, as for the mechanics of his upgrade, I did something a little interesting.

Playing MHW with over 600+ hours of gameplay, I've found the longsword, charge blade, and switch-axe to be my favorite weapons. So when deciding how to upgrade Jaune, I went with the charge blade approach given his weapon already somewhat resembles one in a sense. But here's the kicker. I didn't simply make it into a charge blade. I actually changed the mechanic for storing energy.

Essentailly, Jaune's shield or sword has to defend against damage meant for him, and gathers the energy of the attacks. When enough energy is gathered from blocking attacks, Jaune can either plunge his sword into his shield for a quick and incredibly deadly and powerful draw slash, or combine his sword and shield together to transition it into greatsword form to deliver a heavy and devastating cleaving blow, as he demonstrated with his opponent this chapter.

Know where the inspiration for this came from? You guessed it, Black Panther. T'Challa's newer suit in that film absorbed kinetic damage and redistributed it into a powerful concussive shockwave. In Jaune's case, he absorbs any damage that he can take with his sword and shield, and then combines them together to perform either of the two powerful cutting attacks mentioned above.

Next time, we cover Ren and Nora, move back to Dante, and then have the group move on to the final road block of this section of the arc, allowing us to move on closer. I know I haven't been quick with these updates recently, mainly due to minimal time that I have since I'm in my final year of college and severe exhaustion in some cases, but I'll try to get these out as soon as possible.

With that, I have nothing left to say. So with that...

I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.

Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!

Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!

Bye-bye now!