This was a fun chapter to write.

REAPER IN RED

Chapter 47

By the time I woke up, the rain had stopped, leaving a calm, if not wet, Beacon in its stead. I checked the time. I'd been sleeping for ten hours. It had been a very long time -decades maybe- since I slept ten hours without an injury or something putting me to sleep. I yawned.

Darn. Still tired.

My territory was still humming along as per usual now. I could feel its strength increasing every day now, even as I felt weaker. And to think that it would still be another week or two of this before I could move on to the final step of claiming a territory.

Ooh, did that make me excited! If I was feeling myself, I'd probably do a little dance in bed, but with a heady yawn I slumped deeper into my covers, draping an arm over the side.

At least I wasn't the only one that looked weary. Yang looked like Death, her usually pristine hair, tousled and sticking up at odd ends, didn't seem to bother her as it usually would. She rubbed at her eyes, nearly falling over before the jolt brought her back up to an upright sitting position.

It seemed like Blake was still gone. I checked my scroll.

Her name was still there in the Team RWBY roster. I sighed. At least that meant she hadn't dropped out of Beacon. There was still a good chance that she'd turn up again somewhere.

Weiss's alarm began blaring, shaking me from my momentary stupor. "Time for another day." I stepped out of bed.

I brushed my hair.

I was sleepier than I usually was, so I brushed my hair a second time.

Wiping my face with a towel, I used the time to check my territory. The boundary of it seemed to be growing just a little bit, and I was enjoying the lack of any noticeable holes in it. I yawned and felt a wave of vertigo set in, throwing me off balance.

I grabbed onto the countertop, I fiercely shut as I let the feeling wash over me.

That sucked.

Stepping out of the bathroom holding my head, I passed Yang who had her toothbrush in her mouth.

"Morn'n Rubes," she said between brushes. "You doing alright?"

"Tired. Maybe a little nauseous."

Yang hummed. "Totally. Feel better. I've got some meds in my bottom drawer if you need 'em."

I nodded and went to grab my things.

The walk to our first class of the day following breakfast might have honestly looked like a death march.

Or maybe that was just me.

My legs felt heavy, and trudging along with just Yang and Weiss it was clear that something -somebody more like- was missing.

Professor Goodwitch was setting up her things, just as prim and proper as she usually was. No sign of sleepiness there. Instead of the arena floor taking up the front of the room, it was now configured with a massive chalkboard.

Good, it was a lecturing class today. I didn't know how I'd feel about a combat oriented class today. I probably wouldn't perform that well.

Curiously, I checked my scroll's aura gauge.

I frowned.

It was flickering. Moving from completely full, to just over half and back again, taking awkward jumps to every amount in between. I swiped over to Yang's aura. 100% as usual for this time in the morning. Same for Weiss. As a last thought, I swiped over to Blake's, seeing that it was at 93% and slowly rising. I hoped she was doing alright.

As the rest of the class filtered in, Goodwitch left checked her scroll, growled and power-walked out of the room. She was a woman on a mission and I -even as a mighty Reaper- did not want to be the one on the other end of her righteous fury.

Weiss glanced at me, then over to the leaving Goodwitch, then back. I shrugged. She shrugged back.

The class went about talking as they normally did when no teacher was present. I found a comfy spot on my desk to rest my head. I was still sleepy, and I definitely did not like this feeling.

"Today, we shall be spending this one lecture discussing some important facets of being a huntsman. Or Huntress, as it were," Professor Goodwitch started lecturing as soon as she entered the classroom, waiving around her riding crop to accentuate her words and clear lack of time. As soon as she reached the front of the classroom, she continued speaking.

"While your professor in your final year at Beacon will likely go into a lot more depth into each of these topics, it is important that I give you a basic framework for what is to come in your futures. Classes in your final year are mostly up to you to decide, aside from the few mandatory courses, like this one. The rest will be based on a potential career path in mind. That is not to say once you decide on a path, you shall be stuck in that role forever. For instance, my time at Beacon led me to believe that I wished to be a Frontiersman, while the actual path I followed led me to becoming first an anti-Skin-crawler officer here in Vale, then a Forester, and finally a Herdsman, all before I became an educator."

She wrote down these names on the board behind her.

"Does anybody know the names of any other Huntsman specialties?"

A few hands were raised.

"Weiss?"

"Dust specialists and aura specialists, Professor," Weiss said as she stood up.

The professor nodded. "Good." She wrote the names on her board. "Dust specialists, Aura specialists and Anti-Skin-crawler Officers, more commonly known as ASCOs, all are considered more 'military-minded' specialties. This does make sense, as they all originated as sub-divisions in the military's Special Operative position. Not to say that they are now considered more advanced positions to a special operative. But like how huntsmen originated from Auric Warriors in ancient times, so too did these positions branch off from it's originally military positioning.

"The huntsman and huntress broad classification itself has divided numerous times into the specialties we see on the board, along with a few more."

Professor Goodwitch began drawing out a diagram. She labelled Huntsmen at the top, then drew two lines branching off of it. On one side, she wrote Special Operative, with three lines branching from it into Aura Specialist, Dust Specialist and ASCO. On the other side, she wrote Frontiersman. A line underneath that to Forester, then three more lines: Symspirit Guide, Reaper Hunter and Grimm Specialist. From That third point, she drew a new line to Specialized Archeologist and one more under that to Cataloguer.

She whipped the board with her riding crop.

"This here is the official breakdown of all huntsmen specialties. While all huntsmen and huntresses share similar training, these specialties are just that: specialties. As I explained regarding myself, my schooling was as a Frontiersman, yet I did not work in that position. These are plenty of terms, but I shall endevour to explain them. Please note that in your textbooks, the final chapter covers all these terms in greater detail. I highly advise you read them all, along with the courses Beacon offers in your final year, so that you know which courses you would like to take. And once more, remember that what you choose does not dictate your path, but may help or hinder it."

With a further clap of her weapon, she continued on. None of the 'specialties' were that interesting to me. Except for Reaper Hunter. I jumped in my seat when I saw that written down. There was a full specialty dedicated to hunting down Reapers? Was that taught at Beacon?

Did that mean that there were courses all about finding Reapers?

Did other people know about me?

Was it just Headmaster Ozpin? And Cinder, my brain reminded me.

"No, Beacon does not have courses related to all these specialties. No one school does." Professor Goodwitch explained when a few hands were raised. "And some specialties don't have any school training associated with them. They are professions where the current membership selects those who can join their ranks.

"Now to explain. The easiest three to explain are the ones referred to as 'specialists'. Dust, Grimm and Aura specialists, like their names imply, are those huntsmen and huntresses with further training and experience with handling dust, working with aura, or in combating Grimm specifically. While all huntsmen must have a background knowledge on all three, it is these specialists who are a cut above the rest. We do have courses regarding these three. All three do require certain grade percentages to get into however, so do pay attention to what courses are considered prerequisites of you plan to choose one of these."

I peered over at Weiss who was flipping furiously through the back of her textbook for the Dust Specialist section. In her notebook, she began writing the courses she would have to get high marks in. Not that I had any worry for her. Weiss was super smart. And of course she'd want to become a dust specialist. I can already hear her voice in my head. "Of course Ruby," she'd say. "As a member of the Schnee lineage, it is my duty to become a master in all things dust related. How could I do that unless I am a dust specialist?"

I snorted. I think I got her voice down pat.

"ASCOs are one of the best huntsmen occupations in terms of job security. Every kingdom on Remnant has a force of anti-skin-crawler officers on duty twenty-four-seven. Most larger towns and villages also hold an ASCO team or two. Skin-crawlers, while not particularly frequent, they are not rare either. As such, it is important to have a force prepared to end any infestation before it has a chance to truly take hold. ASCO forces are generally comprised of teams which have recently graduated, looking for experience as well as a good paycheck, as well as huntsmen near retirement age. Almost every staff member here has experience as an ASCO, save for Doctor Oobleck.

"Now, Frontiersmen refers to the occupation which was the original goal for huntsmen. These are the people which work, often alongside kingdoms, to travel to unoccupied territory to kill Grimm, Lower Order as well as Higher Order creatures to prepare them for human settlement. Foresters are an offshoot of Frontiersmen, who travel to established settlements getting rid of current infestations. Often they handle large amounts of Grimm, as well as zombies and mummies. Beacon has courses regarding all the specialists, as well as ASCO and Frontiersmen. While there are no particular courses to help with being a Forester, your missions often handle dealing with large quantities of Grimm. It is experience in facing overwhelming odds, which helps with this duty. Of course for all of these, experience trumps education every time."

I heard the professor whisper to herself, "as much as I hate to admit that."

She continued on. "Specialized Archeologists are just like their name explains, huntsmen with additional education in the field of archeology. Doctor Oobleck spent the better part of his career as a specialized archeologist. Their additional education allows them to better explore the more dangerous archeology dig zones. This is extremely important to understanding our history in this planet, as most, if not all dig sites outside of kingdoms and settlements have now been claimed by either Grimm or creatures of the Higher Order. The caves in particular are places in which one can often find witches, necromancers and ancient Grimm."

And Reapers! I helpfully added in my own head. Caves are the best places to sleep. They are nice and covered, so no rain. They have one entrance, so they are safe, and it keeps the wind out. They don't get too hot or cold either, which is always great.

"With his added experience and education, Doctor Oobleck has been given access to some remarkable excavation sites around the world. The one site which no archeologists are allowed access to, even those with huntsmen experience are the caves nearby the Plains of Araguba. There may still be Grim Reapers living in there, and until a solid count of potential numbers is discovered, it remains off limits.

"While at this school, we primarily focus on the more dangerous of creatures in our world, there are those huntsmen which gain experience in handling the less dangerous and oft-times friendlier creatures we share this planet with. These huntsmen are referred to as Symspirit Guides. Which, like the name suggests, handles matters regarding sympathetic spirits. Or Symspirits. These are your will o' wisps, the Aziza, Brownies, Aumakua and Golems. Speaking of which, we shall be meeting this building's Domovoy -house-dwelling spirit- next lecture, so please do not under any circumstances bring any seeds or raspberries to class. He… lacks any fondness for these items and you likely will anger him.

"Anyways, bringing us back to our lecture, Symspirit Guides are brought in when handling situations featuring these beings. Peris and Jinn for example, are considered friendly spirits, but they often mistake commands and questions, which can lead to a great deal of trouble, if not handled correctly. Similarly, there are certain creatures which are too dangerous for huntsmen to deal with, such as the Acheri. It is often up the nearby Symspirit Guides to track the creature and ensure its path does not intercept nearby towns and villages. Or, if abandoning the settlement is impossible, up to them to find a way to change its path."

"Cataloguers are similar in a way to specialized archaeologists, as they have additional education. Cataloguers like their name suggests are huntsmen specializing in field research. Rather than killing Grimm and other creatures, they are focused on understanding the movement patterns, biology and other important facts about the creatures we often fight. Cataloguers are essential to understanding the creatures and beings we fight. Without them, we would not understand why Grimm attacks are more common in certain parts of the year. This allows us to better plan and manage the situations we find ourselves in."

A hand was raised. Pyrrha's.

"What about Reaper Hunters? Does Beacon offer courses regarding that specialty? Or is it similarly experience based?"

Professor Goodwitch nodded slowly, her fingers gripping tighter on her riding crop.

I inched forward in my seat. This was the inly important part of this lecture.

"Reaper Hunters are those huntsmen which have experience and training regarding the killing of Grim Reapers. They are the only huntsmen tasked with carrying out this duty, and due to the nature of who and what they are combatting, they make up the elite of the elite. You don't necessarily train to become a Reaper Hunter. More so, those in the ranks determine the best and most prodigious students and follow their careers. Huntsmen that have the correct battle movement patterns, experience and, in all honesty, natural talent, are selected to try out for this position. There are only a handful of Reaper Hunters in Remnant. Not for the lack of trying to bring in more. The testing is rigorous and extremely important. Too many huntsmen and huntresses without this training who search for Grim Reapers often find themselves dead not long after. Even those Reaper Hunters who a plethora of experience can be killed from a moment's inaction. It is not a position for the faint of heart. I like to tell my students that if your dream is to join this group of people and kill Reapers, it is a dream that you should abandon. I do not wish the experience on anyone. Regardless of how important it is."

There was a grunt from the back of the classroom.

"She makes it sound so much worse than it actually is."

The deep, grizzly voice left me wide eyed, a chill running through my spine.

Professor Goodwitch sighed. "Students, please welcome a… dear friend of the headmaster. I will let him explain himself now. Ah, Miss Belladonna, it is a pleasure to see you back in this class, please take your seat."

Blake Belladonna was hunched over, scurrying around the huntsman at the door to take a seat beside Weiss, far away from me. I glanced at her, to see her return my gaze with her own shy, possibly frightened one. She curled in more into herself, not giving me, or the rest of her team another look. Her eyes were firmly on the desk in front of her.

"Please, join me at the front. And do remember that there are only a few more minutes of class."

"Don't I always?" He gruffly replied.

"Class? Please meet Mr. Qrow Branwen."

Been a while since I did a mostly world-building chapter.

lasereye27 - You're going to enjoy these next few chapters. :P

TM Calypso - Ruby is 115. The big thing is that I never actually said how long ago Summer's death was. It's not as long ago as you probably think. Also, I've been giving you different interpretations of Reaper strength. Things will definitely be better explained in the coming chapters.

Summer-Rose-RWBY - Yup. Yikes indeed.

veqis - I definitely don't want to reveal to much, so I plead the fifth for all your questions. :P

Dragonqueen1993 - You can't see me, but I'm laughing maniacally.

Somebody Someone - To answer: Soon, now, maybe and who knows? :D

firewyrm2 - The chapters are all over 2k; the same lengths as most chapters of this fic. As for your other review (thank you for the both!), we shall see soon!

seed of bismuth - Phew! I'm safe.

Until next time!