"Hey come on. Wake up or we're gonna be late!"

Kirito groaned as he groggily opened his eyes. Sunlight spilled into the room that he could've sworn was pitch black only moments ago. He glanced up and saw Eugeo looking at him expectantly. Already dressed and ready for the day in his Beacon uniform. Kirito groaned as he forced himself to sit up in bed. He glanced to his right and saw Alice also ready in her uniform. Lying against the headrest of her bed reading something on her scroll. The blonde girl barely looked more awake than he was. He could also hear the sound of the shower running and through the process of elimination he could tell who was using it.

"Morning" Kirito groaned as he rubbed his eyes "What time is it?"

"Good Morning" Eugeo chuckled at his friend's state, "It's about seven-thirty in the morning. I know we don't have class until nine but I figured you'd want to go get breakfast beforehand."

Kirito nodded slowly as he stood up and stretched. "Sure sounds good. I'll get ready as soon as the bathrooms are free" he said, gesturing to the locked bathroom door.

Alice glanced up from her scroll and looked at the door. "She's been in there a while, so you shouldn't have to wait for too long," she said. Her voice sounded just as tired as Kirito's.

Kirito reasoned that it was fair that they would all be tired. After all, they had fought like hell during the initiation yesterday. That combined with their rushed awakening, the formation of teams, the ceremony and finding their dorm rooms the night before had taken just about everything out of them. Medina had been especially exhausted. As soon as they had finished unpacking (which Alice had insisted get done before they went to sleep for the night) Medina passed out basically as soon as his head had hit the pillow.

Eventually the door to the bathroom opened and Medina walked out. Wearing an almost identical uniform to Alice. She looked just about as tired as both Kirito and Alice felt. Kirito was still massively surprised at how much energy Eugeo seemed to have. Realizing that he was wasting time Kirito quickly gathered up his uniform and dashed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Beacon Academy's lecture halls were even grander than Kirito had imagined. From all the universities he had considered attending in the real world he had expected the lecture hall to be large but not quite as large as this. There was enough room for at least forty students, give or take a few. He looked around as he and his team walked into the classroom. They weren't the first ones there as a few other students had made it to the classroom before them and were idly chatting among themselves. Team KAOZ made their way to the front of the class and quickly took their seats in the second row. Kirito stretched as he sat down. Still tired from having to wake up so early

"You know Eugeo, I get that we needed to get up early to get breakfast and all." Kirito began pausing for a yawn in between sentences, "but if it's gonna be like this ALL semester". I might start skipping breakfast.

The boy next to him chuckled at Kirito's complaint. Alice gave a short nod of agreement, "While I do prefer to eat breakfast as the first thing I do, a lot of students choose to eat breakfast after their first class. I think I'll be doing that in the future."

Kirito nodded in agreement. Their short conversation drew to a close as more and more students filtered in and the professor himself eventually arrived. Kirito recognized one of the teams in the room as team CRDL. One of the teams from the ceremony yesterday. As more and more students arrived Kirito couldn't help but feel a little worried. He was pretty certain team RWBY was meant to be in this class and there was no sign of them. Kirito quickly glanced at his scroll and saw that it was 8:58. There was no way they would be late on the first day of class? Right?.

Thankfully Kirito was proven wrong when about a minute later both Team RWBY and Team JNPR ran into the classroom and quickly made their way to the nearest available seats. Team RWBY sitting in front of team KAOZ whole team JNPR sat behind them. Ruby let out a sigh of relief as she sat down.

"Made it!" she cheered. Kirito didn't miss the glare Weiss shot in her direction.

"Did you run all the way here?" Eugeo asked her. Confusion in his voice. Alice also looked at the girl confused.

"Yes we did" Weiss responded annoyed "Because SOMEONE neglected to tell us that our first class was at nine o'clock". Another glare was sent in Ruby's direction

Alice looked at the four team members incredulously. "OK, I get why that would be a problem for you three," she said, gesturing to Weiss, Blake and Yang. "But Ruby… Isn't your semblance… Super speed?"

Ruby paused at that. Kirito chuckled as he could physically see the cogs turning in Ruby's head as she processed what she had just been told. The girl stared at Alice for another few seconds before turning around and slamming her head into her desk in frustration. Drawing audible chuckles from most people around her. One person who wasn't laughing, however, was Weiss. Kirito noticed that Weiss had seemed frustrated since she arrived and her partner's behavior didn't seem to be helping. He was about to ask Weiss what was wrong before a cough from the front of the room drew his attention. It would appear that the professor had arrived while they were chatting and was ready to begin class. Kirito made a mental note about it and prepared to make notes on his first class at Beacon.

Eugeo wasn't sure what he was expecting from classes at Beacon but he'd be lying if he said he was expecting what he was witnessing. The professor teaching the class had introduced himself as Professor Port. He was an older man whose defining feature had to be the large mustache on his face. He was a very well spoken man which had led Eugeo to believe that the class he was teaching "Grimm Studies" would be a very informative and direct class. He couldn't have been more wrong. The man had almost immediately broken out into a story about himself, and despite Eugeo being a morning person, he was finding it hard to keep his eyes open. Eugeo glanced over his teammates. To his surprise Kirito was diligently taking notes. Eugeo didn't know what useful information the swordsman was getting out of the lecture but at least someone was. Alice was resting her chin in one hand and while she was still clearly awake. She had almost certainly zoned out. Medina was taking notes as well but hers were a lot shorter and further between than what Kirito was taking.

It was then Eugeo's attention was drawn to Team RWBY in front of him. Namely Weiss. He had noticed before the class began that she had seemed unhappy to say the least and even though he couldn't see her face he could tell that she was slowly getting more and more frustrated. Eugeo realized that she kept glaring over to her left and he very quickly realized she was getting angry at what Ruby was doing. The Red Reaper was not paying attention to the class at all and was doing literally everything in her power to entertain herself. Eugeo was about to throw a note down to her asking if she was OK when his attention was suddenly drawn back to the lecture.

"The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honourable, A true huntsman must be dependable, A true huntsman must be strategic, well educated and wise." Professor Port explained as he looked out to the students in the audience. So who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" He asked

Almost immediately, Weiss shot her hand up. "I do sir," she called out. Eugeo glanced to his left and right and saw that none of his team had raised their hands. He figured that maybe Weiss felt she had something to prove.

Professor Port raised an eyebrow "Well then, let's find out!" He called out jovially. He turned around and gestured to the cage that must've been brought in during the lecture because Eugeo swore it wasn't there before. Loud snarling noises came from the cage and bright red eyes glared out from the inside. It was obvious to everyone in the room what was inside,

Weiss quickly got up and left to go and change into her combat gear in preparation to fight the creature of Grimm. Eugeo watched her leave before turning to Kirito. "You seem to know a lot about Grimm," he said, gesturing to the box. "Any idea what she's up against?"

Kirito stared at the cage for a few seconds before shrugging. "No clue. Judging by the size of the cage it's not something large like an Ursa or a Beowolf but looking at its eyes it's almost definitely not a creep either," he explained.

Alice nodded in agreement "I can't imagine it's anything threatening. It is day one of classes after all. At most it'll be a minor threat".

"We'll see. Either way, I'm sure the princess will be fine." Medina said disinterestedly. "Of course she'd be the one to make a big show of volunteering for a simple battle".

Eugeo and Kirito looked at each other uneasily. They still had no idea what was the deal between Weiss and Medina but it was clear that it ran deep. Eugeo added that to the long list of things that needed to be dealt with before they got out of control.

A few minutes later Weiss walked back into the class in her combat attire. She refused to meet any of their gazes as she walked up to the stage at the front of the class. Eugeo just sighed and leaned forward in his chair. Prepared to witness the soon-to-be battle.

Weiss fought well. Was Kirito's overall opinion on the display. She started off rough getting knocked around a bit by the Grimm which was eventually shown to be a Boarbatusk. A Grimm shaped like a boar but with huge tusks. Eventually, though, Weiss had managed to hit it in its weak spot and kill it in a single precise strike. This wasn't the concerning part of the fight though. What was concerning was the exchange Ruby and Weiss had during. Ruby had tried to offer Weiss some advice by pointing out its weak point while cheering for her. Weiss however had fully snapped at her. Weiss hadn't even said anything after the fight. She had just stormed out of the class as soon as Professor Port had dismissed them virtually as the fight ended. Ruby quickly running after her.

"Wonder what that was all about," Kirito said as she left.

Eugeo looked in the same direction as Kirito. "No idea. I could tell Ruby and Weiss had some issues they needed to work out." He mused. "I didn't think things between them were that bad though." He continued as he gathered his things.

"Of course Weiss is angry. Isn't it obvious? The princess wasn't put in charge and now she's throwing a tantrum." Medina gave her explanation. Once again Kirito and Eugeo shot each other uneasy looks. This was going to be something they needed to deal with.

Alice seemed to not have noticed, or if she had noticed she chose to ignore it. "So what's the plan for the next few hours? We don't share all of our classes today if I recall correctly."

Kirito nodded "Right. I'm clear for the next few hours. What about you guys?" He figured he'd at least ask. He found it strange that he didn't share all of his classes with his team. Then again he wasn't going to pretend he understood any kind of school curriculum let alone huntsmen academies.

"I've got history with Medina now. Then after that we all meet back up for combat class right?". Eugeo asked.

"That is correct" Alice nodded. She then looked over to Kirito "I am also free until combat class. Would you like to go get lunch or something?" She asked.

Kirito was a bit taken back by the offer. Sure Alice had seemed more comfortable around him for the last few days but their first interaction still lingered in the back of his mind. Alice was a hard one to figure out in Kirito's mind. One second she was trying to take his head off and the next they were laughing and chatting over dinner. So any chance to get a better idea of who she actually was immediately appealing to him.

"Yeah sure. Sounds like a plan." Kirito agreed with a smile.

Alice seemed to brighten up at his agreement. Kirito figured she had maybe figured he would decline. "Great! Shall we get going?" she asked

Kirito nodded before looking over to Medina and Eugeo. "Guess, we'll see you guys later then."

Eugeo sighed before standing up to leave. "Let's get going then I guess," he said to Medina. If Medina had heard him she didn't acknowledge it she just got up and left. Eugeo let out another sigh for what felt like the hundredth time that day before following her. Giving Kirito and Alice a small wave as he went.

The two watched him go with confused looks on their faces. Stunned at Medina's behaviour. Kirito was the first to speak out of the two of them. "Is it just me or does Medina not like any of us all that much?" He asked Alice.

"I... am not sure how to answer that question." Alice responded slowly. A frown making its way onto her face. "She seemed fine with me after we met in the forest. It was only after yourself and Eugeo met up with us that she became like this," she explained. "I do not think it is her being shy but I also don't think it comes from a sense of superiority".

Kirito thought about it for a few seconds before shrugging "Eh I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, what did you want to do? I know we said lunch but isn't it a bit early considering we just had breakfast two hours ago?"

Alice nodded "Indeed. We have three hours before combat class, correct?"

Kirito paused for a second before pulling out his scroll. A few seconds passed before he nodded "Yeah that's right combat class is at 2pm so we've got a while. Why?" He asked

"Would you like to take a trip into the city? There are a few supplies I haven't had the chance to pick up yet?" She suggested.

Kirito nodded "That sounds good to me. There are a couple of extra things I should pick up."

With that the two got up and headed towards the exit of the class. Kirito wasn't fully sure what hanging out with Alice would entail but he was sure it couldn't be all too bad. He was honestly just hoping to make sure that they were all good and that Alice didn't have any resentment towards him. With that goal in mind Kirito began to mentally prepare himself for whatever this trip into Vale might entail.

Hanging out one on one with Alice turned out to be a pleasant experience, Kirito thought. He had expected things to be awkward or something along those lines but to his surprise it wasn't. Conversation between the two flowed decently naturally as they talked about various topics such as the initiation, food, and what they thought of Port's lecture. Of course it wasn't constant conversation. Alice wasn't exactly a people person and while Kirito was better at it than her, at least a little bit, there were inevitably some moments of silence but it overall wasn't too bad.

After stopping at a few stores they eventually found themselves at a book store named "Tucksons book trade". Alice wanted to grab a few books, both for personal and school use and Kirito figured grabbing some books couldn't hurt. He ended up picking up a copy of a book called "The man with two souls" which the premise of Kirito likened to that of "The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and another non-fiction book on Grimm biology. He figured it might be a good read to help him get ahead in Professor ports class. Considering they hadn't learned much in his actual class. Kirito had done his best to take notes on anything relevant he thought Port had said, but even then most of it was likening it to what he already knew from his previous research into Grimm.

"Thanks please come again." The owner of the book shop, appropriately named "Tuckson", called out to them as they left the store. He was friendly enough Kirito thought. Alice had seemed to like him as well. Having a discussion with the man about each of the texts she had purchased.

The Blonde girl had a small smile on her face as they emerged from the store. "I see why Eugeo likes that place so much now. They really did have everything I was looking for," she said with an enthusiastic tone as they began to walk down the street away from the store.

Kirito smiled. This was the first time he had heard the girl excited, "Your right it was a nice place." He agreed, before realizing something she had said. "Wait. Eugeo likes that place?"

"Mhm" she nodded "Eugeo likes reading a lot so one of the first things he did when we arrived in Vale was find a book store that he liked" She explained "Although I haven't seen him read very much recently"

Kirito nodded "So I take it you like reading as well?" He asked

"Gods No" was her simple response. Kirito was taken back by that. He stared at her briefly stunned by how short her response was. She looked over at him and saw his expression and let out a brief chuckle. "Don't get me wrong. I enjoy stories and some literature is interesting to me. But I've always associated reading with work related things so I just haven't been able to enjoy it very much outside of that," she explained.

"I get that" Kirito nodded in understanding "Still judging by how many books you bought I thought you'd like reading more," he told her. Gesturing to the decently full bag she carried.

She shook her head "Most of these are necessary text books. Only one is for me to read in my own time and the other is a gift for Eugeo," she explained. Kirito nodded in understanding. "Any ways is there anywhere else you would like to go before we return to beacon?. We still have some time before we need to return to beacon.

Kirito thought for a few seconds before responding "I think some food would be great now. It's about lunch time anyway". He suggested.

Alice nodded in agreement. "There's a nice cafe nearby that's pretty good if that's OK with you."

Kirito nodded in agreement "Yeah that sounds good. Can't be worse than the cafeteria food," he joked.

Alice smiled "I liked the cafeteria food!" She responded. Clearly incensed by his comment.

"You didn't eat the Bagels" Kirito shot back "I swear it was like biting into rocks."

The duo's conversation continued in a similar way to this as they headed towards the cafe. Kirito was honestly enjoying his time with Alice. However despite this he still didn't feel like he fully understood her. He figured that sitting down and eating together would be a good chance for that. He also hoped that he could get an answer to her initial distrust of him or at least get some confirmation that she wasn't going to try and take his head off again.

It hadn't taken long for the two of them to reach the cafe. It was a moderately sized place that mainly focused on hot drinks and baked goods. Kirito and Alice ordered their food before taking a seat at one of the balconies on the higher floor. It didn't take very long for the food to arrive and the two soon began eating. They didn't chat much during the meal but that was expected. The two finished their food quickly. Alice let out a small sigh of content as she finished.

"Damn this place is good!" Kirito exclaimed as he finished his food. A pastry listed on the cafes menu as a "Honey Pie". Kirito had thought it sounded good enough so he tried it and he did not regret it one bit.

"I really do like this place," she told him, "not just for the food but the atmosphere is just right."

Kirito only nodded in agreement as he took a sip from his drink. A hazelnut latte. Seeing the drink on the menu had thrown his mind back to his first discussion with Ozpin. Where without knowing anything about him the man had handed him one of the things he drank the most commonly in the real world. Kirito needed an answer to that but didn't know how to approach Ozpin about it without revealing the real world and if he was wrong the consequences would be serious.

"So Kirito" Alice began regaining his attention. "Me and Eugeo have told you where we're from but I don't believe you've told us where you are from? Or anything about yourself other than your semblance and that you had an encounter with Roman Torchwick."

Kirito paused as she brought this up. He had been expecting this question for a while and was honestly surprised it hadn't come up sooner. His only debate now was where to lie to them or not. He didn't want to and as he was now the leader of the team he felt like he should be as transparent as he could with his team. But telling them the truth and about the real world could lead to major issues if they didn't believe him. So as much as he hated to he decided to keep up the lie

"That's because I don't know where I'm from," he responded.

"You don't know?" Alice asked curiously.

"About two weeks ago, I woke up in an alley in vale. With no memories. No idea where I was, nothing except my name." He explained "It's kinda hard to explain but this led to me getting involved in a fight with Roman Torchwick and meeting Ozpin. Ozpin was impressed with my skill so he gave me a chance at the entrance exam." He finished his story. He still hated lying but he felt like he didn't have any other choice.

Alice just looked on at him for a second. Her expression wasn't what Kirito would have expected. He thought it would have been shock or maybe distrust as she might've seen through his lie. But instead the look was a sympathetic one.

"I see, '' Alice said after a few seconds. "So when you said you were looking for knowledge, what you really meant was a way to restore your memories or to find out who you were?"

Kirito nodded "Something like that I guess" he agreed.

Alice smiled sadly, "I know this is going to sound strange, but… I... Understand how you must feel," she told him.

This intrigued Kirito. She understood?. "What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

Alice sat up in her seat and paused for a second. She seemed to be debating on what to say. "Before I tell you this I must ask you to not repeat what I am about to tell you to others. I… am afraid they may view me differently if they were to know."

Kirito nodded "I promise". He didn't know what Alice was about to tell him but he figured if she was being this serious about it then it had to be something big.

Alice hesitated for a few seconds. She looked at him as if she was trying to see if he was telling the truth. After what felt like minutes had passed, she spoke, "I too am missing my memories. Not to the same degree as you. But there is a significant gap in my memories from when I was eight to when I was around thirteen." She explained.

Kirito immediately felt guilty. Here he was lying about missing his memories when Alice was actually missing hers. He had been telling himself it was for the greater good but all of a sudden he didn't feel so sure.

"My last memory from before the gap is meeting a woman who I had never seen before in my home town, "Rulid", " Alice told him . "She said something to me, I can't remember what, before I blacked out. When what I can remember starts again. I had woken up in a bed at my house. Eugeo watching over me."

Kirito didn't know what to say. Whatever had happened to Alice had clearly stolen her memories and technically years of her life as well. "I'm... Sorry"

Alice let out a small sigh. "Don't be stupid, you have nothing to apologize for," she told him. "It is something that troubles me almost everyday. It's part of why I want to become a huntress. I just know that the woman I saw has something to do with my missing memories and I need to fight out what happened to me," she declared. Her hands balling into fists as she spoke.

Kirito nodded slowly in response "I understand and I'll do what I can to help you." He declared

Alice seemed to be taken aback by that "You want to help me?" She asked. Clearly not having expected that response

"Of course I do" Kirito told her "You and Eugeo were the first friends I made outside of Ruby and Yang and I was kinda forced to be friends with them. Not that I don't like those two. But you and Eugeo have had my back since the entrance exam and I'll do everything I can to help you out!" He told her, "I'm not just saying this because I'm your team leader either."

Alice paused a few seconds before a smile made its way onto her face. It was probably the biggest smile Kirito had seen from her. "I… Thank you Kirito, that means a lot to me."

Kirito smiled back, "Anytime, and I do mean that literally".

"I know what I am about to say may sound hypocritical, especially since I asked you not to tell anyone about my situation." Alice began "But it may be wise to tell at least Eugeo and Medina about your memories being missing. I believe that keeping secrets such as that from our teammates may only prove detrimental in the long run. I plan on telling Medina about my memories eventually and Eugeo obviously knows already. I would understand if you decide not to though."

Kirito was silent for a few seconds as he thought about what she had said. It made sense. It would also save him a lot of hassle later on. But at the same time that would mean lying to more people he cared about. He decided that telling them was for the better though. He'd just have to apologize later.

"OK, I will." He agreed "I was planning on having us all get together to get dinner in the city on Friday after class. I'll tell them then." Alice smiled at what he said "You're gonna have to help me drag Medina along though". Even if it's kicking and screaming.

Alice laughed at that, "I believe I can manage that" she said as she checked her scroll. We should get going. We only have about an hour before combat class.

Kirito agreed and the two headed out. Overall Kirito felt good about their outing. He had learned a lot about Alice as well as managing to shake the feeling that she didn't trust him. However he was still worried about lying to her and he had agreed to do it to the rest of his team as well. Still he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Soon after arriving back at Beacon the two met up with Eugeo and Medina. They greeted each other before splitting up to change into their combat gear. While they were getting ready Eugeo revealed to Kirito that Medina still hadn't said a word to him. Kirito told him he would try and talk to her to see if he could work out what was up with her.

Eventually Team KAOZ found themselves in combat class. To his surprise it appeared that the entirety of the first year was here. Team KAOZ were almost certainly the last to arrive as they made their way and sat down next to team RWBY and team JNPR.

"Hey, you guys made it." Yang cheered as they sat down "Looks like we aren't the only slow ones."

"Better get faster slow pokes" Nora called "Even Jaune could out run you like this."

Kirito heard the boy in question groan at that. Apparently Nora was getting along with her team well. Kirito glanced over at Ruby and Weiss and the two were sat next to each other. Weiss seemed drastically less frustrated than she had been that morning.

Every student's attention was drawn as Glynda Goodwitch walked to the front of the class and stood in the middle of the combat arena. Even Professor Port had needed to get the students' attention. Glynda's mere presence apparently commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

"Students!" Glynda declared "Welcome to your first combat class. Normally this many students will not be in the same combat class. However, for this first combat class, Professor Ozpin felt that some changes were needed".

Every student in the room started whispering to each other after that. Wondering what that meant. Glynda waited for the whispering to die down before continuing. "As many of you may know the Vytal festival is coming up and with it a tournament." Kirito paused. He had briefly heard of the Vytal festival before but the fact there was going to be a tournament was news to him. "As such most of your combat classes leading up to the festival will be determining which of you will be allowed to enter. Allow me to be specific. Only teams with at least three members within the top fifteen performing students will be allowed to participate in the Vytal festival."

The murmurs and mumbling increased in full force at that announcement. Kirito was intrigued by the announcement. He figured that at the very least Alice and Eugeo would want to compete. Meaning that if he wasn't fighting at his best he would be letting his team down. However if he wasn't in the top fifteen as long as Alice, Medina and Eugeo where it would be OK. Still he wasn't about to let himself fall behind.

"You may be wondering how the ranking of students is going to be done. In previous years it would have been based on a multitude of factors including prior accomplishments and performance in the Initiation. However due to this being in preparation for a tournament this year the ranking will be done in a combat tournament hosted today."

The whispers turned excited at this and Kirito was honestly surprised. A combat tournament?. On the first day of class. It sounded extreme but then again what about beacon academy hadn't been. He looked around to see his teammates' reactions. Alice had a confident smirk on her face, Eugeo looked more surprised than anything and Medina didn't seem to have any reaction.

"The tournament will be single elimination and how you perform will determine your ranking. Your round one opponent and match order has been sent to your scrolls. Please check them now."

Everyone's scrolls beeped with the notification and everyone immediately checked their scrolls. Kirito checked his and looked at his opponent. It was some from team CRDL. Cardin Winchester. He was the last fight of the round.

"I am up first, it seems," Alice said out loud, "Against… Jaune Arc"

The boy in question let out a cry of despair and Kirito felt sorry for him. Even he wouldn't want to be up against Alice.

"I'd wish you luck but I don't think you'll need it." Medina told her partner. Kirito almost jumping at the crimson haired girl speaking.

"Holy crap I forgot you talked!" Nora exclaimed causing Kirito and Eugeo to burst out laughing and Medina's face to go bright red before looking away.

Alice chuckled before standing up. "Good luck everyone, I hope to see you in round two!".

Alice walked to the center of the arena. Calmly and confidently. Jaune followed behind her looking a lot less confident. Both took their places at the opposite side of the arena. Alice looked over to Jaune "I wish you luck Jaune. Here's to a good fight," she said as she drew her sword. The Fragrant Olive Swords gold blade shimmering under the lighting of the room.

Jaune gulped and drew Crocea Mors and deployed his shield. "Uhh yeah you too," he said nervously.

Goodwitch took her place at the side of the arena. "The rules of the duel are as follows. Any and all tactics are allowed. Do whatever it takes to win but try to keep things clean. The duel can be won in one of two ways. "Either knocking your opponent out of the arena or your opponent's aura reaching the red zone. You can keep track of your own aura levels on your scroll, students ready yourselves. Round one begins in ten seconds!" She announced

Alice stared at Jaune as she studied his stance. There was … a lot to be desired. He might have his shield raised but with his posture one solid strike would knock him off balance. Alice realized at that moment that despite somehow having made it into beacon academy, Jaune Arc was a complete novice. She looked up at Jaune with a sympathetic smile. "I'll make this quick." She thought.

"Begin" Glynda declared

Almost as soon as the word left Glynda's mouth Alice flew forward and was in striking range of Jaune within seconds. Jaune panicked and raised his shield but it did little as Alice raised her sword and slashed to the side. Knocking the shield out the way. Alice followed the attack up with another quick horizontal slash that connected with Jaune's chest and sent the poor boy flying. He crashed into one of the walls of the Arena and let out a yelp of pain. He fell forward but as he landed on his hands and knees he felt the cold steel of Alice's sword press against his neck.

"Tha.. That's enough!" Glynda quickly called. Surprised at how quickly things had happened. Jaune Arc is in a position where he cannot continue and thus I will be declaring Alice Zuberg the winner."

Alice whipped her head around in shock. "But Professor, you said as long as we have aura left we can continue fighting."

"No it's OK. I forfeit." Jaune told her his tone was clearly dejected. "You're clearly way better than I am."

"But…" Alice went to protest

"Miss Zuberg, please return to your seat and wait for the next round." Glynda instructed finality in her tone.

Alice sighed. Not wanting to argue with her teacher any further. She sheathed her sword and offered Jaune a hand up which he gladly took. "You shouldn't give up so easily." Alice told him "As long as you can fight, you should". Alice didn't give the blonde boy a chance to respond to that as she spun around and walked back to her seat. The boy was stunned for a brief second before following her.

The rest of the fights flew by. After Alice set the tone with an impressively quick victory in the first fight so the rest of the fights had seemed more even. Team RWBY had managed to win all of their round one fights as had the remainder of team JNPR.

Eugeo had been paired up against a member of team CRDL just like Kirito had "Dove Bronzewing". After a short skirmish Eugeo had frozen his opponent in place leaving him unable to continue fighting and thus Glynda declared that it was Eugeo's victory by means of "Technical Ring out". Medina's fight had gone just as quickly if not as quickly, as Alice's. She had been fighting against another first year team. Team AMST (Amethyst). Kirito realized that she had been charging up her semblance before the fight even began and defeated her opponent with a single strike from her semblance. While Kirito respected the strategy he knew that she couldn't keep using it. Especially considering how tired it made her after just one use. They still had at most three more rounds of combat left.

Eventually, however, it came down to the last fight. Kirito vs Cardin Winchester. Kirito realized he had never seen Cardin fight before so he had no idea what to expect. His teammates apparently were clueless as well. Kirito could only sigh. He was going in blind but then again his teammates had as well. It only made sense that he would be too.

"Good luck man" Eugeo told him, "I know you won't lose!" The boy in blue cheered

"Good luck," Alice agreed . A smile on her face which Eugeo didn't miss. He looked between the two curiously

"Kick his butt Kirito!" Ruby cheered.

The black swordsman flashed her a smile as he got up and made his way to the arena. When he got there his opponent was already waiting for him. He was a tall boy wearing silver Armour with a golden trim, he had short orange hair and. too Kirito at least. Looked like the stereotypical high school jock

Kirito took his place standing in front of Cardin and drew both of his swords. Cardin was wielding a large mace-like weapon. To Kirito this spoke volumes about his fighting style.

"Students take your positions. Combat starts in ten seconds." Glynda declared

"Haha so you're the pipsqueak, I'm supposed to beat round one huh." Cardin taunted, "Hey, if you back out now I won't have to hurt you."

Kirito said nothing. He just rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to let petty trash talk get to him.

Cardin laughed again at his silence. "OK then. But just remember. I gave you an out" he taunted as he got into position. He raised his mace above his head and positioned as if he was about to charge.

Kirito immediately recognized the movement. "That looks like the heavy strike skill from SAO,'' he thought, confused. "But it's like a supercharged version of it. Not only that but how does he know a technique from SAO? Doesn't matter now. I'll just have to match its power. Like with the four part vertical square" he planned as he leaned forward and angled the Elucidator behind him as the sword began to glow. He raised the dark repulser behind him in the same way but the crystalline sword had no glow to it."

"Begin!"

Immediately Cardin launched himself forward, rushing towards Kirito. The Black swordsman met him in the middle. As Cardin swung his mace down Kirito met the strike with a vertically upward slash with the elucidator. The two weapons grinded against each other however the first strike of the sword skill overpowered Cardin's initial strike and knocked the weapon out of the way. Kirito followed up with a horizontal slash with the Elucidator across the boy's chest. Forcing him to skid back across the floor as he dug his feet into the ground. His aura flickered but it wasn't broken.

Kirito continued with another horizontal slash with the elucidator but Cardin had regained his footing and blocked the strike. Kirito finished the skill with a final vertical slash that Cardin blocked once again but was knocked further backwards. Cardin swung at him with his mace again and Kirito was forced to raise the dark repulser to block the attack but Cardin activated his mace's dust feature. Causing an explosion on impact and knocking the weapon out of Kirito's hand. Kirito had little time to react as he was sent skidding backwards and quickly blocked another overhead smash attack from Cardin's mace.

Kirito struggled to keep his blade raised as Cardin pushed down harder and harder with his weapon. Kirito was pushing back with everything he had but even he could tell it wasn't enough. He glanced over and saw that the dark repulser was way out of his reach. Even if he managed to disengage the lock he was stuck in he wouldn't have time to reach his second sword.

Cardin leaned forward so that his face was inches from Kirito's. "This is the part where you lose," he taunted. Trying to get into Kirito's head

"Like… Hell" Kirito responded but the struggle was evident in his voice.

"Is... Is this everything I've got? After all this time?" He thought. He'd beaten way stronger opponents than this before. He could do this. How would his friends, both from the real world and from remnant, feel if he just gave up? He thought about Asuna, Klein, Suguha ,Ruby, Alice, Eugeo and everyone else he'd met over the course of whatever twisted journey he'd found himself dragged into. No this wasn't his limit and there was no way in hell he was going to let it be.

Kirito dug his feet into the ground and with a new found resolve let out a yell. "I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU BEAT ME!," he yelled out.

As soon as the words left his mouth the Elucidator began to glow a bright orange colour but Kirito was certain that he hadn't activated any kind of sword skill. As the sword grew brighter and brighter he could've sworn the blade… Grew. Either way he wasn't about to give up now. He reached down and grabbed the blade with his other hand and as he did the colour of the blade changed from a bright orange to a shimmering blue. Kirito gave everything he had into pushing back against Cardin's attack. The boy let out a cry as he began to push Cardin back. The once confident boy looked completely shocked at what just happened. Didn't seem to know what to do as with a final yell of effort managed to knock back Cardin.

Cardin was once again set skidding back but Kirito didn't hesitate. He threw himself forward, both hands still gripping the Elucidator. He slashed upwards which Cardin blocked but that slash was so strong that it knocked the mace from his hands. Kirito wasn't done however he slashed back down again before once again slashing upwards. He then quickly slashed at Cardin horizontally to the left and then again to the right before he quickly pulled the sword back and lunged towards Cardin stabbing at him.

To everyone watching it looked as though Kirito had missed. Until Cardin's aura suddenly shattered and the boy fell forward. Having fallen unconscious, his weapon hit the floor next to him as he did.

The room watched in stunned silence for a second as even Goodwitch took a second to process what she had just witnessed. Eventually though she snapped out of it and made the call. "Cardin Winchester has run out of aura. The match goes to Kirito!"

As soon as she said that, all the students began to cheer. Amazed at what Kirito had managed to pull off. Kirito took a few deep, labored breaths. He had done it. He took a look at his sword. Double checking to see if there were any changes but it appeared to be the same. Had… Had he imagined it growing? The boy shrugged as he walked over to pick up Dark repulser and sheathed it. He turned around to look at Cardin and saw that the boy was still knocked out. What… What had happened at the end there. Kirito thought he recognised the skill he had used to win. It was called "Calamity Disaster" and it was one of the strongest sword skills… from the two-handed sword skill tree. Kirito had no experience with two-handed swords, though, so there's no way he should have been able to call upon the skill. Especially with a one-handed sword. So that left the question. How the hell did he pull it off?

"Mr. Kirito please return to your seat and await the next round." Goodwitch instructed. Snapping Kirito out of his stupor as he saw two of Cardin's teammates carrying him back to his seat. Or maybe the infirmary . Who knew.

Kirito quickly made his way back to his seat and sat down. Only to be bombarded with questions by everyone... Except by Eugeo and Alice.

"What the heck was that!?" Ruby asked ecstatically, "You've never used that skill before or done that thing with your sword!"

"Seriously the was so god damn cool!" Yang agreed

"Did…Did what with my sword?" Kirito asked. He had a hunch as to what they were talking about but he wanted to hear them say it so he knew he wasn't going crazy.

"You know when you were about to lose and then the light show began and your sword grew!" Ruby tried to remind him. Clearly excited about whatever had happened in the arena.

Kirito didn't answer immediately. So he hadn't imagined it but then what the hell had happened during that fight. As far as he knew magic was only available through semblances in this world so unless it was a part of his semblance he was stumped. He opened his mouth to give an answer but was cut off by Professor Goodwitch addressing the class.

"Students. Congratulations to those of you who were victorious in round one. However your battle from now on will only be more challenging. Round two will begin in five minutes. Please check your match-ups and be ready for them".

Everyone's scrolls dinged once again and they all opened them to check their matches. Except Jaune. Who apparently was the only one of their group who didn't make it past round one.

"Looks like it's me and you Ren!" Eugeo told the boy sat next to Nora. "Let's give it our all."

The silent boy nodded and smiled at Eugeo "Here's to a good match."

"It seems as if you and I will be facing each other Blake." Alice mentioned. Showing her the scroll.

A small smile made its way onto Blake's face as she shrugged. "Sure. Bring it on." Blake taunted.

One by one everyone looked at their matches. Medina and Weiss glared daggers at each other so that match-up was obvious. It seemed like everyone else had avoided pairing up into one another. That was until Kirito saw his match-up and his eyes went wide.

"Who have you got Kiri-dude?" Yang asked curiously.

Kirito didn't say anything. Instead he just held up his scroll to show them his match-up and most of them all gasped in shock. The scroll read clear as day, with both students' portraits displayed.

Kirito vs Pyrrha Nikos.