Chapter 27: State of Mind

A steaming cup of hot coco warmed Ozpin's hands as he poured over the numerous laws of Remnant, many of which he had written himself. Finding the law in question, the one that Coal had informed him about, he let out a sigh. It was just as Jacques Schnee had said.

Coal Calavera now legally owned a portion of Anima.

It was likely that Jacques Schnee wasn't the only one to realize Coal's new status… He was simply close enough to inform him and offer a deal that would benefit the both of them. Others were likely watching to see where this would all lead.

Ordinarily, that wouldn't be an issue at all. Coal didn't seem to have any ill intentions… quite the opposite, actually. He wanted to help protect people by taking on the never ending fight against Grimm. He was a Huntsman through and through.

The issue came from what would happen when others wished to exploit his old blunder of a law.

Originally, he had written it in an attempt to get Huntsmen to band together and rid the world of some of its larger threats and while it had worked in uniting the Huntsmen and even helped form a military that was still in place today, it had ended in disaster with an entire army massacred and one of his previous lives being snuffed out.

He had learned that Ancient Grimm were not to be trifled with… That they were too powerful to eradicate. The world was better off if they were left alone.

However, things had now changed. Salem's attempt at causing a disaster had ended in one of the Ancients being slain and with it, their status as being unkillable had fallen away. The rest of the world, or, more specifically, those seeking to expand their reach, would see this as a great opportunity.

Not all was bad, though. There were a number of laws in place to prevent cities from being wiped out from the actions of careless Huntsman. Disturbing an Ancient Grimm was still incredibly illegal and those found to be involved would face the full brunt of the law.

That, however didn't mean much when an ignorant Huntsman looking to make a name for themselves ended up waking something that really should have remained asleep.

Sighing to himself, Ozpin took a quick sip of his coco.

There was no guarantee that he would be able to prevent another Ancient Grimm from being awakened… especially with Salem still scheming in the dark. The best he could hope for was that, if another ancient was disturbed, Coal would be able to do the impossible once more and end it.

"That just might work," Ozpin hummed to himself.

On his own, Coal had managed to kill one of the ancients after fighting off a pair of Salem's agents. Now, however… He had his own apprentice that was learning his technique and he would have Ironwood's and Ozpin's full backing.

What once was an impossible fight would now be a little more possible.

"Perhaps things will end a little better this time," Ozpin muttered softly.

…Breathe…

Pyrrha's Aura briefly flickered as she slid backwards with her sword stabbed at the ground, helping slow her momentum. Shifting her sword to its spear form, she launched herself forward.

Right as she entered my range, she changed her direction, jumping to the side, she landed firmly against one of the artificially constructed walls before kicking off, landing behind me.

Half unsheathing my Katana, I blocked her surprise attack and I noticed her Aura flicker again. Holding my hand up, Pyrrha instantly stopped her attack.

"Why are we stopping?" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head in confusion. "I can still keep going."

"You can," I nodded, before pointing to the display above her head showing her mostly depleted Aura. "But you'll be taking a much longer break if I accidentally shatter your Aura… besides, it looks like we've got a visitor," I explained, pointing towards the entrance where Ironwood stood with his hands clasped behind his back. "Why don't you get some water so long and I'll go see what he wants."

Pyrrha let out a frustrated sigh, before sheathing her weapon on her back. "Alright… We can begin again in a few minutes, Right?"

"Sure," I chuckled.

I understood her frustration. That had been the longest she was able to keep Total Concentration Breathing active without her body locking up. She had been well within the zone, however she was in need of a break. I would have called the match sooner or later, even without Ironwood's arrival.

"General," I nodded my greeting as he approached.

"I hope that I'm not interrupting," Ironwood began.

"Not really," I shrugged. "Pyrrha needed to take a break before she ended up exhausting her Aura. What can I do for you?"

"I didn't come here to ask any favors," The General explained. "I came to inform you that the Ace-Ops… Atlas's finest Specialists have some free time. You mentioned that you wanted to have a spar with someone that would push you… you'll find no stronger Huntsmen in Atlas than them."

That sounded a little fun. While I had enjoyed my time in Atlas so far, I had been craving a good fight. The icy tundra's surround Atlas and Mantle were so harsh that very few Grimm could survive and those that did were swiftly taken care of by the massive guns mounted on the walls and the military.

Come to think of it, outside of my training with Pyrrha, the only real fight that I had since I'd come here had been with Robyn Hill and her team of Huntresses which, in itself was rather sad as that fight had lasted less than a minute and turned into a political power play.

"That's not the only reason you're here, is it?" I asked. If that was all Ironwood had to say, he could have easily just sent a message to my Scroll.

"I also wished to see your training first hand," Ironwood explained. "Even though it has only been a few days, I wanted to see if any progress had been made."

Ah, that would do it.

"Why don't you take a look at Pyrrha's Aura," I suggested, pointing to the holographic display at the top of the room.

Ironwoods eyes narrowed as he watched Pyrrha's mostly empty Aura bar. Nothing appeared to be happening, but upon closer inspection, he realized that her Aura was regenerating faster. Grabbing his Scroll, Ironwood quickly linked it to the training rooms electronics.

"You've…" Ironwood began, looking up from his scroll. "You've managed to double the rate at which her Aura regenerates in only a few days?!"

While that may have sounded like a massive improvement, it really wasn't. Aura regenerated at a rate of 1% per minute. Pyrrha's now regenerate at 2% per minute and only while she was able to maintain Total Concentration Breathing.

Instead of taking nearly 2 hours for her Aura to fully regenerate, it now only took 50 minutes. Not exactly game changing for a fight, but it was definitely a start.

"I didn't do anything. Pyrrha's the one that put in all the work to improve," I hummed lightly. "She's roughly a tenth of the way through her training… Although the last step is definitely going to be the most difficult, it'll probably be a few months before she's fully mastered this." It would all be worth it in the end.

"Incredible," Ironwood muttered softly. "This is… it's proof that your training works. This changes everything."

He wasn't wrong. This would inevitably change everything once it gets out. Whether that was a few short months from now or several hundred years, it wouldn't remain secret forever.

Hopefully by the time it becomes public knowledge, Salem will have been dealt with and the White Fang will either no longer exist or will have become less aggressive.

"So when do you think I'll be able to have a spar with your Ace-ops?" I asked, changing the subject.

Ironwood continued to stare at his Scroll's screen for several more moments before looking up. "Yes… the Ace-ops," he muttered before recomposing himself. "I believe that tomorrow would be best. They're often needed to complete some of the more dangerous missions, so I believe it would be best if there are as few delays as possible."

Tomorrow, huh? I could work with that.

"I'm not cutting into their time off, am I?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Ironwood replied. "Quite the opposite actually. This match is being counted as a training exercise for them. They've been offered some extra time off afterwards to incentivize them into participating."

That was a bit of a relief. For a moment, I thought that Ironwood was ordering the Ace-ops to participate in this spar. Now that I knew everyone was a willing participant, I could look forward to cutting loose and having a little fun.

Checking the time on his watch, Ironwood sighed. "I believe that's all the time that I can afford today. The work of a Headmaster is never done…that goes double for a General as well."

"Then I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, General," I said, offering my hand.

"That you will," Ironwood affirmed, shaking my hand. "And please… call me James."

"Alright, James," I replied, letting go of his hand. "I always preferred people calling me by my first name, so just call me Coal."

Nodding, Ironwood left the training room, heading back to his office where his work awaited him.

While a little strict and Justifiably paranoid, James Ironwood wasn't a bad man. He wanted to protect the world by ridding it of Salem, which was an admirable goal. The only problem was what would happen if he was overwhelmed and ended up going off the deep end.

That however would take a lot of bad things happening over a short amount of time, starting from one of the Academies falling to learning that Salem is immortal and literally having her show up on a giant Grimm whale with her agents already having infiltrated Atlas.

It would take a lot to break Ironwood. Hopefully I wouldn't have to worry about that with all the things I had already altered.

Turning my attention to Pyrrha, I found her sitting some distance away, holding a bottle of water. It appeared that she decided to give us some privacy while she rested up. Judging by how far her Aura had regenerated, she hadn't stopped practicing her breathing.

It was funny to think how worried she had been that she was doing something wrong with my training, only for her body to suddenly start adapting. She had improved massively in only a few short days, but her journey wasn't over yet. It had only just started and it was an uphill climb.

That did bring up an interesting thought. Ironwood had asked me to consider taking on another student. There were only two other people in Atlas that I might consider teaching and funnily enough, they were both sisters.

...Breathe...

Standing in a different training room than the one Pyrrha and I had been using, I stood silently, watching as the Ace-Ops filed into the room alongside Winter Schnee. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't been looking forward to this match.

The Ace-Ops all seemed to hold themselves to a professional standard... at least until the larges one rushed forward and grabbed my hand, shaking it enthusiastically.

"Hello there, I'm Elm Ederne and can I just say that I'm really happy that you asked to have this match with us," She said rapidly. "I went back and watched all your matches from the Mistral Regional Tournament."

"...Ah, nice to meet you," I hummed my own greeting, a little taken off guard. "I'm Coal Calavera."

"Yeah, we know," The other woman... Harriet snorted. "There's probably not a person alive that doesn't know who you are."

"Now, now, Harriet," Clover chimed, stepping forward. "I'm Clover Ebi and this is my team, the Ace-Ops," he introduced himself. "I've heard that you know Specialist Schnee."

The last I'd heard of Winter, she had been called in to act as a witness for Robyn Hill's actions back in Mantle.

"We've met," I noted. "Good to see you again, Winter."

"And you," Winter nodded in return.

The remaining two members of the Ace-Ops introduced themselves. Vine was a relatively quiet and passive man while Marrow acted confident, he seemed almost unsure of himself.

"Has General Ironwood arrived yet?" Clover asked.

"He's up there with Ozpin and a few others," I said, gesturing towards a small booth to the side of the room with stairs leading up to it.

"I see," Clover hummed. "Then I believe that we should get this match started. I think it would be best if we break off into pairs, that way we won't have to have as many individual matches."

While that didn't sound too bad, it wasn't exactly ideal. I needed to test how powerful the demon slayer mark made me and I wouldn't be able to do that if I wasn't forced to my limits. Fighting teams of two didn't sound that hard, fighting the entire Ace-Ops however...

"Or..." I began. "We could have one single match... All of you versus me."

"Hah, good one," Harriet laughed, stopping once she realized no one else was laughing. "Wait, you're serious?"

"I am," I nodded.

"I... don't believe that's a good idea," Clover said slowly. "While you are strong... the strongest Huntsman in the world, we're currently listed as the strongest team. I don't mean to offend, but I don't believe you'll be able to fight all of us at the same time."

"You'll never know until you try," I shrugged. "Besides, this is a training exercise. It's not about winning or losing, it's about improving."

Clover glanced at his teammates before sighing. "If you're sure... But don't think that we'll take it easy on you just because it's six against one."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I replied.

...Breathe...

Standing across from the Ace-ops, I briefly shot a glance to the observation booth, catching sight of Pyrrha standing next to Maria. Ironwood and Ozpin stood to the side, watching as the match was about to begin.

A loud buzzer sounded through the room as the match began. Gripping my blade, I began to rush towards the Ace-Ops, only to come to a dead stop as Marrow held his hand out, snapping his fingers.

"Harriet," Clover called out.

Harriet rushed towards me at blinding speeds. Coming to a stop directly in front of me, she grabbed onto my sheath, before rushing forward, tugging it free from my hand.

Straining against Marrow's Semblance, I suddenly felt it fall away and chased after Harriet, only for her to throw my sword into the air where it was swiftly pulled back by Clover's fishing hook.

"Winter," Clover yelled.

A large swarm of miniature Nevermore suddenly materialized, circling around the training room, obscuring my vision.

Rapidly threading her way through the storm of Nevermore, Harriet landed a blow on me, before disappearing.

-450 AP

"So that's how you want to play it," I hummed softly to myself.

Feeling a fast moving presence to my side, I rapidly stepped back and caught a hold of Harriet's fist.

"Huh, not bad... It's been a while since someone was able to catch one of my punches," Harriet said, before smirking. "You've got some speed, but do you have strength?"

The flock of Nevermore suddenly shifted violently, revealing Elm in mid swing with her massive hammer, the rockets on the back lit up, increasing the speed.

Letting go of Harriet, I jumped towards the rocket. Grabbing on, I contorted my body and flipped over it, avoiding the blow.

Attempting to gain some distance, a black glyph appeared beneath my feet and I suddenly felt heavy, before a pair of large yellow hands locked themselves in place around my body.

...Breathe...

"That was odd... he seems to be almost holding back," Ozpin noted. "But for what reason."

"That shouldn't be too hard to figure out," Maria hummed, shooting a smirk towards the Headmaster. "Hell, I'm pretty sure that red here knows what he's doing."

Suddenly finding herself being scrutinized by the pair of Headmasters, Pyrrha shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

"Well... If I were to guess, I would say that he's learning their patterns," She announced. "He's figuring out how they fight so he can perfectly counter them, it's one of the first things he taught me... back before the tournament."

"I see," Ironwood said.

Ozpin turned his attention back to the room below. "If that's the case then this fight is about to take a sudden turn."

...Breathe...

"I believe that's the match," Clover announced.

"Actually," I began, a grin came to my face as I shifted my body into a lower stance. "It's just begun."

"Sun Breathing: Flash, Three Steps"
-150AP

Launching myself out of Winter's glyph, I made sure to hold onto Vine's Aura as I passed by Elm, using it as a rubber band to slingshot her to the other end of the room.

Not stopping for a moment, I released my hold on Vine's Aura and raced towards Marrow before he could lock onto me and use his Semblance.

Harriet rushed after me, managing to keep up with my speed as I raced around the training room. Bounding off a wall, I brought my arm up and clotheslined her as I passed by, stopping just next to Marrow.

Being sure to stay just outside of his sight, I decided to test something before the other Ace-Ops made their way here.

Landing several strikes on his body within the span of a second, I aimed Marrow's body towards Winter who seemed to be in the process of summoning a new flock of Nevermore and extended his arm, before snapping my fingers.

"Stay!" I yelled out.

Winter froze with a look of shock on her face.

"W...What?!" Marrow stuttered as he struggled to realize what had happened.

It seemed I was right. Marrow had conditioned his body to use his Semblance in a similar fashion to Pavlov's dogs'... It was either that or I had somehow managed to shock him into using his Semblance.

Grabbing his weapon, I placed my fist just below his solar plexus, I gave a heavy push, sending him flying back while knocking the wind out of his lungs.

Before Winter fully regained her ability to move, I rushed off towards Clover, only to come to a sudden stop as he whipped his weapon forward, sending a tangling mess of thread along with the bladelike hook.

Everything slowed down as I briefly accessed the Transparent World, using it to help track the fishing thread in order to avoid being tangled by it.

Weaving my way through the thread as Clover whipped and pulled on his fishing rod, I stopped in front of him and grabbed a hold of my sword. Kicking off, I launched myself away from Clover, throwing Marrow's weapon at him as I gained some much needed space.

"I may have underestimated you," Clover hummed as the Ace-Ops began to regroup. "You're a lot stronger than I thought you would be."

"Your team's pretty good too," I replied. "You're definitely among the strongest people I've fought."

The only one that I could think of that exceeded the Ace-Ops was Raven, but that was due to her being a Maiden. Clover fought pretty well, his experience with fighting people faster than him showed, sparring with Harriet likely helped him develop his tactics.

If nothing changed, I'd likely win this match through attrition. Eventually the Ace-Ops would be too tired to continue... however, I still had one last thing I wanted to try before this fight was over.

Turning my attention inward, I began to focus on the smallest movements of my body, from my breathing to the faintest twitch of my muscles. Slowly, I began to seal off all unnecessary things, focusing solely on myself.

...Breathe...

"What the hell are you doing now, Coal," Maria muttered under her breath.

Ozpin looked up. "What was that?"

"Oh...you weren't supposed to hear that," Maria replied. Seeing that she now had everyone's attention, she let out a sigh. "My Semblance is going haywire and the thing that's making it act up seems to be Coal himself."

"...Your Semblance?" Pyrrha asked.

"It's called Preflexes. It gives me an extra sense and allows me to react to attacks that I don't see coming," She explained before tapping her goggles. "It came in really handy when I needed to get these."

"Oh," Pyrrha hummed lightly, realizing what she meant.

"If I may ask," Ozpin began. "What is it that you're sensing from Coal that's making your Semblance act up?"

"The feeling I'm getting is that he's becoming more dangerous. It flares up, before suddenly dying down completely," Maria replied. "Whatever he's doing down there, it's something that I've never seen him do before."

...Breathe...

Unsheathing my sword, I slowly opened my eyes and calmly regarded the Ace-Ops.

"Now," Clover began. "Let's try this again."

"Let's," I agreed calmly.

Harriet raced forward once more, her fist reared back. Stepping around her, my blade stuck her metal exoskeleton several times as she passed me by.

"You might want to go sit down," I said while turning around to face Harriet.

"What for?" Harriet asked. Clenching her fists, her Aura suddenly shattered and she fell to her knees.

"That," i said before turning back to the remaining Ace-Ops. "This shouldn't take too long."

"Marrow!" Clover yelled.

"St..." Marrow froze.

"Your Semblance only works when I'm in front of you," I said, stepping out from behind Marrow.

A black glyph formed beneath us as Clover's fishing line hooked onto Marrow, pulling him out. Anchoring herself to the ground, Elm fired a pair of missiles at me.

Peering through them in an attempt to figure out where to cut in order to disarm them I brought my blade up and sliced through them several times before turning my attention to the Ace-Ops while the pieces of the missiles clattered to the ground.

There were five of them left.

"Sun Breathing: Flash, Five Steps"
-250AP

Darting around the training room at high speed, I landed several blows on each of the Ace-Ops before coming to a stop.

In the Selfless State, there was no hesitation to attack... more than that, there was no will to play around. All that existed was the fight, nothing more, nothing less. Finishing the fight as quickly and as efficiently as possible was the main goal.

"Ugh," I grunted as the state faded and I felt a faint stinging sensation in my muscles. "That felt weird."

Turning, I caught sight of the Ace-Ops. Their Aura was exhausted, but luckily it seemed that was the worst of their injuries.

The Selfless State worked well... A little too well. I was still in control of my actions, but everything felt a little cold and almost mechanical. The fun that I normally had in a fight was completely drained away. Perhaps that's what the state was naturally like, but there was another possibility.

Iron Mind... The status effect that I had gained after mastering Total Concentration Constant may have been affecting the Selfless State. I couldn't be completely sure though. As it stood, it would probably be best if I only used it when it was necessary.

Feeling something weakly hit my back, I turned around to see that it was a sword... more specifically, a Saber. It seemed that even in her exhausted, Aura depleted state, Winter Schnee continued to fight, refusing to give up even though it was hopeless.

"I'm... not finished," Winter said, panting heavily.

"No... you're not," I hummed, impressed by her fighting spirit.

I glanced from Winter to Pyrrha and then finally to Ironwood. As he was the General of Atlas and Winter's employer, I would need to talk to him first before I made my decision.

The Demon Slayer mark with Sun breathing techniques and Aura might be a little too much, even for the Ace-Ops to handle.

Pyrrha's making some solid progress and might just find herself learning alongside someone else fairly soon.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 32 on the P word website.

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

The next chapter will be posted on the 4th of November.
See you all then.