Happy Thursday!
REAPER IN RED
Chapter 55
The next class of the day was Professor Goodwitch's. Sitting in the second row from the front, I settled into my seat and unpacked my things. By that, I mean I put my Crescent Rose on the desk in front of me. Weiss looked at me as she took out her own notebook and huffed, giving me an eyeroll of appreciation.
Or maybe it was annoyance. Those two still confused me and it was that much harder to tell with Weiss.
The professor was at her desk, leaning against it and scroll in hand. Whatever she was looking at brought a frown to her face. A few minutes later and we were all ready for class.
"Alright, it is time that we begin," Professor Goodwitch called out, placing her scroll down gently beside her. "As you've all likely noticed, there are a lot more of you in my classroom today than you might have otherwise noticed."
Oh ya. It did look pretty crowded. I looked around. Plenty of people I definitely didn't recognize. Sitting a ways away on the far side of the room was Sun Wukong and his teammates. He gave me a little wave and a wink. How did he notice me so quickly across the classroom?
I turned to my left.
Oh, Weiss was shyly waving back.
That made sense. I hadn't spoken much with him before.
"We will be doing simple one on one bouts," Professor Goodwitch continued." "Two and a half minutes per bout, or a twenty-five percent drop in aura. Whichever comes first. You will be graded on these fights, so I expect you all to perform to your utmost abilities. That being said, I am looking for quick reflexes, strong special awareness, and most of all, your ability to continue fighting without rest. As soon as I start your match, you must be moving constantly. Be it defending yourself, attacking, or moving into a more suitable position to defend or attack."
Did I squeal as loudly as it sounded in my head?
Maybe.
It sounded like a very loud squeal to me.
This would be so much fun! Ha! Nobody could top my magic in this. I have a need, and it is for speed. And strawberries. But at the moment, I would make do with just speed.
"Now, going first, I would have Miss Yang Xiao Long, facing off against Miss Nora Valkyrie."
Two equally vocal shouts of "yes!" and "ya baby!" round out as the two girls got up and made their way to the arena stage at the front of the classroom.
Yang stood across from Nora, gauntlets locked and loaded. Her playful smirk and confident eyes shining against Nora's own. Nora cocked back her grenade launcher.
"Miss Valkyrie," Professor Goodwitch warned.
With an exaggerated sigh, Nora wailed, "aww! You never let me blow stuff up."
"Begin."
And they were off. Yang flew into Nora at breakneck speed, a fist coincidently punching at Nora's neck. Nora's grenade launcher quickly shifted into a war hammer, landing a solid strike on Yang's side, sending her flying.
Yang's eyes flickered with rage, and once more she flew at Nora, fists ablaze. Punches upon punches. Strikes upon strikes. The two danced with an insane amount of fury, landing blows which would have knocked each other out dozens of times were it not for their auras.
"Ruby, look." Weiss said, holding out her scroll.
With each hit Nora made, Yang's aura fell. But not by as much as I had thought.
Then I took a deeper look at Yang's movements. It was remarkable. Subtle moves and each solid strike turned into a glancing blow, sliding off of her body.
Yang punched, just as Nora smashed down with her hammer, cackling with glee. The two weapons collided with a loud crack, sending both of them spiralling away from one another and breathing hard. With no time to stop, the darted back in. Glancing blows and feints. Ducks and dodges keeping them from making contact.
And all too soon, the fight was over.
"A satisfactory first bout," Professor Goodwitch called out. The two panting combatants smiled at one another, sharing a fist bump before walking offstage. "Were this fight to continue, who was in a better position to win?"
Dozens of hands were raised.
"The blonde one," a guy answered once the professor pointed at him. "The redhead was getting in more hits, but they were all glancing. The blonde was landing fewer hits but much harder ones. Also, no matter how strong the redhead is, there's no way that she can lug that war hammer around for longer than the blonde's lightweight gauntlets."
"Very good answer." The professor gave a small smile. One she always saved for students who looked like they were paying attention. "And your name?"
"Mercury Black."
"Good. Then you shall be fighting next. Against… Neptune Vasilias."
The blue haired boy sitting next to Sun Wukong stood up, giving a small salute to Mercury. The two made their way to the front, spending a few moments chatting before Professor Goodwitch told them to take their places. With a fist bump and dual smirks, they got ready. Neptune with his trident out front, and Mercury with hands in his pockets.
"The same rules apply. No pauses, no breaks. Begin."
Neptune charged, striking out with his trident. Hands still in pocket, Mercury ducked. He weaved. Hands still in his pockets, yet Neptune could not land a single hit on him. As he turned his head away from an incoming thrust, the prongs narrowly missing his ear, Professor Goodwitch slapped her riding crop on her thigh.
"Please don't make a mockery of this exercise, Mr. Black."
"I guess breaktime is over," Mercury said with a surprisingly realistic fake yawn.
Neptune spun his weapon over his head, bringing it down into a fierce sweep. The wind sung as the trident moved, stopping with a metal bang.
Huh, I wouldn't have expected Mercury to stop a trident with his foot. Mercury's leg was over his head in a near-standing split. His foot had caught between two prongs of the trident, halting its advance. All while his hands remained firmly in his pockets. A quick spin, and Neptune was disarmed.
Quick as lightning, Mercury rushed forward, jumping into a spin kick. It was followed by a roundhouse, then a spinning roundhouse. Then a cool jumpy-two-kick attack that I had only thought possible in videogames.
Neptune tried his best to counter, blocking strikes with his forearms, but each blow sent him staggering. Blow after blow, strike after strike. They were fast, but…
Wait, was I seeing that right?
I leaned in a little closer, my body almost fully over the desk. I felt Yang's hand on my back, expecting to need to pull me into my seat.
Yes, I knew there was something fishy about Mercury's kicks. Each one, at the last second, was being pulled back. None of his kicks were landing. Each blow Neptune was feeling was the air and wind his kicks brought with them. I whistled in appreciation.
And then, with a loud buzzer, it was over. Neptune's aura was down below the threshold. Looking bummed, he still gave a nod to Mercury before heading up to his seat and team.
"If that's who we're gonna need to beat for the Vytal tournament, then I don't see us having any problems at all," Yang said with an overconfident huff.
Weiss crossed her arms. "I'll have you know that Sun has informed me that Neptune is the best all-around fighter on his team. Surprising considering his performance, as well as what I know of Sun's skill."
"Ooh la la," Yang mused, leaning her elbows on the desk and chin on her palms. "Tell me all the hot gossip."
"I-it's not like that, you cretin!" Weiss gasped, a light blush flickering onto her cheeks.
I wonder what sort of gossip Yang knows. It could be interesting!
"All I am saying," Weiss continued, doing her best to not look at Yang's waggling eyebrows, "is that Neptune is a much stronger fighter than he might have appeared. Which also shows that Mercury Black is much stronger as well. We do know that he prefers his legs, which gives us a good sense as to his range. And another thing! Sun is a talented fighter and leader, and I trust his judgement into the martial prowess of his teammate and partner."
"Weissy's got a cru-ush!" Yang sang out, cackling as Weiss smacked her with a textbook.
"May I please have Miss Rose and Miss Emerald Sustrai come forward for our next match."
"Professor?" Mercury said, standing as he raised his hand. "Em's not here today. Said something about a burial she had to attend?"
"Alright then. Mr. Winchester will take Miss Sustrai's place in this bout."
The cocky buffoon made his way towards his doom.
I mean me.
No, I mean his doom.
My Crescent Rose was itching for a beating. She was nice and sharp and just right. Cardin stood across from me, mace out in front of him in a defensive stance. That was a nice perk from my many weeks of class with Professor Goodwitch. People for some reason just aren't that good at hitting me, so they've been trying a whole lot harder to not lose.
The professor looked at me. "Stay on the move, not that it will be a problem for you."
I nodded, yawning into the back of my hand. "M'kay."
"Begin."
I fell forward into a leisurely spring, rose petals flashing out through smoky shadow. I let Cardin block my first swing, striking at gently as I could.
The clang of metal scythe on metal mace was ringing in my ears, as the block sent me clamoring. Darn, he must have been practicing. That block was a lot faster and a lot stronger than I remembered him being.
Spinning around, I moved in for a second strike, picking up my speed a little to try and match his newfound talents.
Cardin ducked under, shooting forward to strike me in the gut.
I coughed out, doubling over. Ow. That hurt. How did he move that quickly?
I blocked with my scythe's shaft, trying to counter-attack, only to feel a fist strike my cheek.
I slammed on the ground, hard. Glaring daggers at him, I rolled out of the way of a downwards blow. Oh how I wanted to wipe the smirk off his stupid, little face. All he had to do was stop. Moving. So. Damn. Quickly!
How was he so fast!
As I narrowly dodged, I felt a yawn building up in the back of my throat.
Salem! This was not the time to yaw-
Oh.
I knew what the issue was.
Using the butt of my scythe, I lunged. He parried swiftly, countering into a perfect riposte.
"Not so tough are you," he taunted. "Guess the crowds are getting to you. Would hate to see how pad you are in front of ten times this amount."
Sweet little child. Did Cardin Winchester believe that I was struggling because I was being watched by so many people? Well, there were a lot of people. Four school's worth of people, in fact. So many people I didn't know and didn't know me. All the people that I'd have to fool into thinking that I wasn't a Reaper living in their midst. All their constant watching and staring and scrutinizing my every move.
That was a lot of eyeballs.
"Oh no," I mumbled, starting to feel lightheaded.
In my confusion, I didn't notice Cardin move. But, I did feel as the made struck the crown of my head, sending me toppling to the floor.
Everything was ringing. I heard shouting. I think my blonde haired human shouted my name, but I couldn't be quite sure. The world was fuzzy and the room was spinning.
"Enough!" Came the slow, deep voice I associated with my professor.
I felt something inside me crack. Almost like an invisible something shattering.
Salem forbid it was me losing connection to my magic.
I tried to call it forward.
And with that added exertion, I succumbed to darkness.
Thank you all once again for helping me reach this super incredible milestone. The next one is the big one!
jaclea - Interesting thoughts indeed.
Nekojules - Finding out what happens in a bathroom is paramount to Reaper's understanding humanity!
Dragon Lord Draco - I know I like to have things play out in quite a long form, but sometimes, you just need to move the story along. :P Oof. That felt weird to say.
Shadow Walker of Fire - Thank you!
Until next time!