Chapter 3

[Lie Ren]

"Your weapons are weak, the bullets are small and so are the blades," Vincent told him bluntly as Ren battled some of his Shadow Grimm, as the man himself called them. He'd been at it for a while, shooting and cutting them with StormFlower but the things never went down. They sustained wounds alright, but never did those injuries cause any trouble for the summoned creatures.

"I know that," Ren replied, trying to keep his calm as he dealt with the criticism and the increasing exhaustion from the battle. How long had he even been fighting for now? He'd lost track of time already, but the sun had moved quite a bit from when they had started at the crack of dawn. "Nora's the one that deals damage. I cover for her."

"And that's all well and good, but what are you gonna do if you are alone?" Vincent asked mercilessly.

"I won't-"

"What are you gonna do if she's down and needs you to do the damage?" the man asked and Ren faltered for a moment. It wasn't the first time he was confronted with that kind of question, admittedly. But he'd always… He'd always shrugged it off. Now though, with the point being made as more and more Shadow Grimm spawned and charged at him. Face to face with an increasingly bad situation… Suddenly, Ren wasn't so sure of the answers he usually gave. "No answer?"

"That's what we are here for. To learn, to get better. That's what learning at Beacon is supposed to teach us," Ren said instead, feeling disappointingly weak at having to admit that. After so long depending only on himself and Nora… It felt like they had achieved nothing, to need the help of someone else.

"And that's what I'm trying to help you with right now too," Vincent told him with a nod and if Ren hadn't known any better, he'd have thought the man was proud. "You are officially under our wing, kid, you and your girlfriend," the self-proclaimed teacher declared. "And Silver might not care with all his perfect hero thing, but I'll be damned if you give a poor showing when you go to Beacon. If you aren't among the best students there by the time we are done with you two, I'll have to smack someone and you better hope it's not you."

"Noted," Ren muttered through gritted teeth.

"Now, your weapons are weak, but that's not the end of the world. People would say the same thing about daggers, after all," Vincent told him, twirling one such blade in his hand. "Smaller weapons are good for getting where bigger ones can't reach, slipping through the defense of your opponent. You have to learn how to find those and how to target them."

"How do I do that?" Ren asked then, struggling to get away from the Ursa Major while a pack of Beowolves charged at him.

"You have eyes and a brain, right? Figure it out," Vincent said, and the man was definitely laughing at Ren, if the grin on his face was any indication. "You've got all the enemies you want to practice on, I promise," the man assured him then, as if he were doing Ren a favor by throwing enemies at him non-stop.

Suddenly, he realized Vincent was, maybe, a bit of a sadistic teacher…

[}-o-{]

[Nora Valkyrie]

Nora moved her body back and forth while sitting down on the clearing herself and Silver were. The grumpy old man said that she needed to learn to focus and be more aware, but she disagreed. She was plenty focused and smart. It was other people that couldn't keep up with her thinking.

"Nora. Focus," the grumpy old man told her. Scrambling back into position she crossed her legs again and went into the meditation position Silver taught her. And how cool was that?! She and her Renny were getting taught by veteran huntsmen before even going to Beacon. That is like, a dozen steps ahead of everyone else. Maybe by the time they get there she will truly be the queen of the castle that was Beacon! And whoever dare to say otherwise will have their legs broke-

"Nora!" Silver called out again. Oops, it seemed she got distracted again. "Pay attention and calm down, meditation will help you focus more," said her teacher. She had a teacher! She was like those protagonists in martial arts movies from Mistral, though for real, instead of all those silly movements they did there that she knew had nothing to do with actual fighting.

"This isn't going to work," Silver said with a sigh. He was being Moody again. She didn't get what was wrong. It wasn't like sitting is going to let her fight better. Plus, her butt was already itchy and her legs had that fuzzy feeling that made you feel like you had static running on them. Of course she knew it wasn't real static, because real static always made her feel strong and more energized. Well, more energized than usual. Especially in the mornings! This one was fake static.

Her thoughts were stopped once more as she heard a groan from the very moody man. For a second she wondered if he was moody because he also had that fuzzy feeling in his legs. Maybe that'd get him to change the exercise? If it could be called that, of course.

"Don't worry, Mr. Grumpy! We are almost done already! After that we can go ask Vinny to ride more Grimms and break some legs!" she said, trying to cheer him up. It was important to let your blood flow after sitting still for too long, her Renny told her that.

"Mr. Grumpy?" Silver asked himself as if he was completely lost on what she was saying. Nora got those looks a lot, but it was alright, she will let him catch up. Not everyone could keep up with her queen mind. Renny was pretty close though, that was why she liked him.

As a friend! She liked him as a friend! And not in the like-like way!

"Nora, do you even know what we are trying to do here?" Silver asked after a few moments of thinking.

"Of course I know, silly," Nora replied. "We are trying to make time for Vinny and Renny to finish their training so we can go riding again!" A queen can't be a queen without her mount after all.

Silver just looked at her for a moment, before pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers. A lot of people do that too! Nora wondered if they just told each other how to act in front of her without her knowing. But how would they communicate, though?... Aliens? It had to be aliens.

"I am trying to teach you to center yourself. While you are certainly a natural with the hammer-" she preened at that. She knew that, of course, but hearing it from a veteran huntsman made her feel a little giddy inside. "-you lack the battle awareness to make full use of your weapon."

"What?!" Nora exclaimed. "I know how to use my weapon just fine! Did you see how many Grimms I killed the other day?" Did he miss it? Maybe he was sleeping during that time. He looked kind of tired while resting against that tree. So maybe he had mastered the art of sleeping with his eyes open. Ooh! Could he teach her that one? Nora could bet that it would be super cool-

"Nora!" Mr. Moody rudely interrupted her plans for world domination through sleeping with her eyes open. How would her enemies strike her if she looked to be always awake after all? "This is exactly what I mean. Your mind drifts away dangerously. It wouldn't be a problem if you did it only outside of combat but while in it," Silver continued while raising to his feet. "It could get you killed, a minute distraction might mean the difference between victory or defeat."

"Pshh, it will be alright. I am strong after all!" she exclaimed with full conviction as she patted her biceps. True, they weren't as big as Mr. Moody here, but she knew she packed quite a punch. All those rude people that insulted Renny and her for being living in the streets, can attest to that. "Even if they hit me, I will just hit them back!"

"Oh? You think yourself invincible then?" SIlver asked.

Nora preened, glad that the man finally understood. She knew she wasn't invincible-invincible, but she knew that she could take pretty much anyone and give as much as she takes. Silver just looked at her for a second, seemingly thinking about something.

"I see," he mused out loud before his blue crystal started manifesting on his hand. Nora smiled as she finally got to see the awesome cow-grimm hammer that was taller than her. Instead, however, a gigantic shield manifested in its place.

It had to be the most sturdy looking shield she has ever seen in her entire life. The thing would probably reach her upper torso if it was on the ground, it was thick enough for her to put her hand on the edge and still not be able to grab both the front and the back simultaneously. Right at the center of it, what looked to be a ram's head protruded from it, coiled horns poised to strike against whatever was in front of it.

"Let's see if you can give as much as you get," Silver said suddenly. She suddenly wasn't so sure about breaking through that. True, it looked to be made of that weird semi-translucent glass but if it was as hard as the real thing…

"Here, take this. I am glad Vincent gave them to me. Didn't think I would use them, but in the end they might just be useful," He said as he threw a bag towards her. Once she opened her mouth opened wide in shock at the sheer amount of high grade Lightning Dust Crystals inside of it.

She wouldn't be able to pay for it even if she gathered all the savings she had made in the last few years she had been traveling with Renny. Nora frowned a bit in slight anger. She had told both Mr. Moody and Vinny what her semblance did. How her strength increased the more electricity she absorbed inside her body.

Nora knew that the shield looked very sturdy, but was Silver mocking her? With this amount of dust, she was pretty sure she could bring entire buildings down with a swing of Magnhild. That just wouldn't do, she had never liked when people looked down on her. As much as she started to like Silver and Vinny, it wouldn't do to let them think she was a little girl to be coddled.

Without saying a single word, she grabbed the Lightning Crystals inside the bag and mentally apologized to Vinny for sending his friend to the hospital. She wouldn't do much harm to him, of course. Nora really hoped that Vinny had the money to pay for the treatment, at least. Then again, if they could afford to just give her that amount of Lightning Dust, on top of the high end hotel they were staying at and the place they had gone for dinner… Well, she was sure they could pay for the hospital bills.

It was Mr. Grumpy's fault for being overconfident anyway.

Crushing the Crystals in her hand with a savage grin, she felt the electricity course through her body and be made hers. Its power was tamed and added to her own as the currents of energy ran across her muscles, bones, and skin. Her mind snapped, things seemed to move in slow motion, almost painfully slow if she was honest to herself. The rush of adrenaline, greater than any sugar-filled coffee she could drink.

As her power rose, Nora started to move. Her foot sunk into the ground below her, too weak to handle the pressure and force. Small arcs of residual energy danced away from her body and charred some of the grass blades close to her.

She looked back to Silver. He was still looking towards her previous position. His arms hadn't even moved from his resting position. He probably couldn't track her at her increased speed. Nora didn't remember the last time she was this fast, this strong. It was probably only surpassed by the first time she got her semblance when a lightning bolt struck her.

With a windup of Magnhild, she brought herself up to a halt at Silver's right, the side opposite to his shield. While Nora was fairly sure she could break through it, it didn't mean she had to. Using her hammer has always been natural for her, and finding the right spots to strike to make the most amount of damage was pretty much instinctual. For all his cockyness, he was still a veteran huntsman, she was like, high number percentage sure he could take it. Nora only hoped his ego wasn't too bruised once he woke up. Her Renny was really happy to finally get a pair of huntsmen to train them, after all.

All of these thoughts happened in less than a blink inside of her boosted mind. Her muscles tensed and coiled as the hammer reached its perfect momentum. Her foot dug deeply into the earth as the force threatened to drag her too in a cyclone of displaced air and electrical currents. Her hips rotated, accompanying the movement and angle perfectly. Her grin grew wider, with every passing moment in the slowed down world she could live in when her semblance activated.

"Pretty good posture, like I thought. You are a complete natural with the hammer. I didn't notice a single glaring mistake," a voice intruded in her own personal world. She looked up to notice that Silver was looking right at her.

His body tilted slightly backwards. Just the right amount to get away from Magnhild path, but close enough to let the winds carry him a few dozen meters away from her strike zone.

She tried to follow him but Magnihild kept moving with momentum. Making her realize that she overshoot. She put all her strength into that one swing and was unable to correct herself now. If she continued, she would leave herself wide open, practically presenting her back to her opponent.

That would have been a guaranteed defeat, or at least a heavy punishment for anyone. Luckily for her, she wasn't just anyone.

Pressing the trigger of Magnhild a grenade was shot through the head of the hammer. The added inertia was enough to redirect the momentum of the swing into a full arc that let her twirl around completely, flawlessly blocking her previous opening. The grenade arc also calculated to be directed away from her and right at Silver's new position.

"Forget about natural ability. This girl is a monster of talent," she heard him mumble as the explosive approached him. At the speed it was going he would dodge it with ease.

But that was alright, it wasn't meant to hit him, just take his eyes away from her.

While the shell sailed at an angle that blocked SIlver's vision off her body, Nora rushed forwards. Magnhild swung again and struck said grenade in the air pushing it forwards again towards Silver. The hit was strong enough to detonate it in its path.

Nora took the opportunity to shoot three more rounds from Magnhild and hide inside the pink smoke, flanking through the side she left open, prepared to swing her hammer. If he can dodge her attacks, then she will just bomb the whole place and leave him without an escape route. Or so she thought as she felt something bouncing off her forehead. It took her less than a second for her to realize it was one of the grenades she just shot.

"Pretty smart, but you still fail to take into account your environment," a voice said from inside the smoke.

She backtracked by placing Magnhild under her feet and pressing the trigger again. The force was enough to take her away from the blast of the deflected projectile that smacked her in the face, and landed with ease away a couple of meters back.

She was sweating profusely now, but she wasn't really tired though. Her grin was the widest that had ever been. 'So this is a veteran huntsman,' was the only thing Nora could think about. Silver- Mr. Moody hadn't even attacked her yet, but she was almost taken out twice already by her own blunders.

As much as her semblance increased her strength, it also consumed her aura proportionally to the amount of electricity she absorbed. And she just took a tad more than she should have. In her defense, though, Mr. Moody made her really angry with all his bravado. She wondered if she could prank him tonight in retaliation. No, he knew the sleeping-with-your-eyes-open technique. That means that he is immune to sneaky attacks-.

"Your mind is drifting again," a voice said right from behind her. Nora's hair stood on end and she felt herself tense up. She turned sharply, Magnhild already arching in an ascending swing from under her. However, before it could even reach her knees it was stopped by a thick shield blocking its path. The floor shook at the force of the impact. "You are failing to take into account your environment, like I told you. The grenade smoke, while clever, also covered your vision from an opponent that has already shown to be faster than you. It practically left me free to move as much as I wanted."

Nora paid no heed to his words. Struggling to push the shield upwards with Magnhild that found itself stuck between its edge and the ground. The thing seemed to weigh as much as ten Ursas. The head of the hammer acting like a hook under the shield's edge making her push the shaft as if it was a lever. Mr. Moody for his part, sighed again.

"Nora? Are you listening to me?" he asked.

Nora kept making an effort. Even with her Semblance-induced strength she could only push the Shield just enough to lift the head of her hammer off the ground. But that was enough for her.

"I am, Mr. Moody!" Said Nora with a vicious grin. "I forgot to take into account that the smoke would block my vision and not only yours," she said. A clank resounded and the shield went down suddenly, destabilizing Silver for a moment as he looked down. "Though you also forgot to count," she continued her grin growing as she looked down. The head of the hammer fully passed the edge of the shield. And right at the other side facing directly at Silver.

"Grenade launchers have 6 shots," She said as she pulled the trigger. The last of her ammo coming out right at the other side of the big shield. Too big to move out of the way and too cumbersome to remove before the grenade explodes right in between the shield and Silver.

The man chuckled.

"Clever girl," he said, wiping the grin right off her face. "But, again, you are missing awareness. From allies and enemies this time." His shield suddenly disappeared making her lose footing as all the strength she was using to keep Magnhild in position was left without an opposing force. The grenade sailed upwards between them. "Aries is part of my semblance. I can dispel it," he said as he drug his hand back towards his body. The grenade shining, ready to explode. "And summon it back," He finished as the same shield came back in front of him leaving her the only one exposed to the explosive this time.

The ram head on it almost seemed to mock her.

Then, Silver pushed his newly summoned shield forwards, ramming the grenade and herself. The force of the shield bash was enough to make Nora see stars, leaving her unable to put up any kind of resistance. The grenade exploded right at that moment adding to the destructive force.

The world became a blur of colors as it passed by at fast speed. She crashed through what she was sure were dozens of lines of trees that were at the other side of the clearing. The sound of glass shattering signifying her aura fully depleting.

She didn't manage to touch the floor before sweet unconsciousness took her away.

[}-o-{]

[Lie Ren]

"She's fine," Vincent reassured him from the side, leaning on a tree trunk where the two of them rested… Well, Ren more than the huntsman. He didn't remember the last time he was so tired he couldn't even move, if it had ever happened. Somehow, he thought it was likely that he'd be in similar situations from then on. "If you can trust anything in your life, then trust that Silver would never hurt someone that didn't deserve it. Actually, if I had to bet then-Yeah, I figured," he added then, grinning as Silver produced yet another weapon, a rapier of some kind. This one looked different than the others, the blade was still see through, but it looked like real glass, rather than the previous light-dust look-alike versions. Odd.

"... How many weapons does he have?" Ren couldn't help but ask before narrowing his eyes as Silver pointed the sword at Nora. "And what does it do?"

"I wonder about that sometimes," Vincent answered, his smile turning wry. "And don't worry, that one helps to recover from exhaustion. The brat will be fine soon enough. I do wonder what she did to get Silver to do that to her though. Normally he's pretty calm. I am the one that usually has to smack people around, after all."

Ren would have liked to think that Nora wouldn't do anything like that but… Well, he knew her well enough to know that would be a pointless lie. She'd probably show him to be a liar as soon as she woke up, anyway. As it was, he was glad that Silver and Vincent had taken the two of them in after seeing Nora's… Noraness. He loved Nora, he really did, but she could be a bit much for most people.

"Ain't you glad that I am the one teaching you?" Vincent asked him, making Ren wonder for real. He wasn't sure the answer to that would be what he expected. Sure, they'd seen the fight between Nora and Silver, but even with that… Vincent's Shadow Grimm could be very brutal, but pulling their punches just enough to keep Ren fighting.

Ren was, at that moment, thinking that maybe getting knocked out after a short fight didn't sound so bad.

"Oh, that's how it is, huh? I see," Vincent commented casually, making a cold shiver travel down Ren's spine. Maybe he should have lied through his teeth. However, when he turned to regard the man, he saw his usual grin melt away as he turned to look at his friend, who was now making sure that Nora was in a more comfortable position and then sitting beside her. "... I guess I should be thankful to you, guys," the man said, a sad smile on his face.

"Why?" Ren asked, although he didn't feel like it was his place to do so. Maybe he was more exhausted than he thought, if he couldn't filter his words. Still, it was baffling to think that a huntsman as strong as him could be thankful towards literal nobodies like them for… He didn't even know what they could have possibly done for them, quite honestly.

"Let's just say that Silver and I… We are going through some stuff. Have been for a while. It's hit him especially hard, even more so this last few days," Vincent answered vaguely, but that was understandable. As much as they were offering Nora and Ren himself, they were still basically strangers. It was already unbelievable that two huntsmen like them had decided to take street rats like them under their wings. "So, thank you. It seems you've given Silver something to focus on. Something to push his own thoughts away."

"... What about you?" Ren asked, and now he had to wonder if he'd been hit over the head at some point. There had been quite the solid hit from the Shadow Ursa Major… Maybe he'd have to get himself checked or something?

"Me too, I guess. I've always been better at dealing with this stuff though…" Vincent answered, surprising Ren just by the fact that he did so at all. "Silver gets hit harder, because he cares more. He's too nice for his own good. As for me… Well, I'm a bit of an asshole," he commented with a chuckle. "Anyway, I think that's enough chatting, don't you? Can you stand?"

"... I can try?"

"Yeah, we gotta work on that stamina, buddy," Vincent decided with a grin that made Ren feel nervous. "You'll probably need it, with that girlfriend of yours."

Suddenly, Ren really wished that he'd been knocked out too.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Training chapter! Because of course there's a training chapter in a story I'm involved in. If you didn't see this coming, you are a fool.

Arc: It was good training at least! Even though I am sure Nora and Ren do not think the same.

Adrian: They are fine.

Arc: But leaving that aside for a moment, we wish you a happy new year and a great start for 2024!

Adrian: Our wish for the new year is getting more Validation!... We are not addicted, you are. In all seriousness, hope you liked the chapter and that 2024 is good for you.

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ