Chapter 10: Hunting Party
The next morning, the students of the morning combat classes were up bright and early to meet up with their teacher. Hansel Kobalt awaited them all with that same unreadable expression on his face as always. Next to him was a very large traveling pack and a mechanical box. "Hey, come on, come on, come on." Hansel noted how several of them were yawning and clearly not fully awake. "You should be a wide awake for this kind of stuff. Do you really think the Grimm are gonna be afraid of walking zombies?"
"I don't think the Grimm are really afraid of anything, sir." Jaune nervously pointed out.
"Think of it this way, Arc." Hansel said. "Perhaps the Grimm don't seem afraid of anything because they haven't been given anything to be scared of yet. Wouldn't you want to be the first thing they were afraid of?"
"Did you just say something optimistic and encouraging?" Yang teased.
"Hardy har har," Hansel said sarcastically.
The young professor gestured behind him, revealing a large airship. "It's a bit unorthodox, but I managed to secure an airship big enough for all of us." He said. "Let's go, we don't have all day, and I'd like to be near the Neverland Gorge by noon."
With that, Hansel led everyone onto the airship. "Take your seats right now." Hansel ordered. "I'm not interested in wasting either the pilot's time, or mine."
Hansel took a seat at the front of the plane. Ruby, meanwhile, excitedly sat down next to Hansel, while the rest of Team RWBY nervously followed. Hansel looked at her like she had grown a second head. "All these open seats…and you choose here?"
"Yeah," Ruby smiled, not noticing Hansel clearly not appreciating having his personal space invaded, "I want to be the first one off the airship and the first one in the action."
"And she's our leader, so we kinda have to sit with her." Weiss pointed out.
Sheesh, Hansel groaned inwardly, I keep forgetting how enthusiastic this girl is.
"Okay, fine," Hansel sighed, "you can all sit here."
"Well, don't sound so excited, Teach." Yang smiled teasingly. "Seriously, most boys your age would kill to be sitting with girls as cute as us."
"Good, I won't be excited." Hansel replied. "And it's kinda hard to be excited about that second part when I'm your teacher, Xiao Long."
"Oh, so you admit we're cute?" Yang smiled knowingly.
"Yang, I think you've said enough." Blake said tiredly.
Hansel groaned, rubbing his temples in exhaustion. "Just some peace and quiet, that's all I want." He muttered.
He then called out to the pilots, after noticing that everyone had taken their seats. "Okay, you can lift off!" He called out.
"You got it," the pilot said over the intercom before addressing the students, "okay folks, we're looking at a two hour flight. We'll be dropping you all off about thirty miles away from the Neverland Gorge."
Blake was immediately suspicious. Thirty miles? Why so far away? She wondered. Is it to simulate what a Huntsman's journey is usually like on the job?
Blake shook her head, shaking those thoughts away. No, no, I shouldn't be so suspicious. Benefit of doubt, Blake. Benefit of doubt. He's not Adam. Don't treat him like he is.
"So what, we're just gonna go on a nice, long walk to the outskirts of the gorge?" Yang inquired curiously.
"It's won't be a pleasure cruise, if that's what you're wondering." Hansel told them. "We land, walk for a bit until I find a place good enough to set up camp, and then you guys go to work in clearing out the Grimm so we have a nice, safe place to rest and train."
Everyone felt the airship lift off the ground. They were about to be in the air. "So, what's in the bag, sir?" Weiss asked curiously, taking note of her much smaller travel pack.
"Food, food, food and more food," Hansel replied, making everyone's mouths drop open in disbelief. "Also some extra clothes, some binoculars so I can watch you all closely while you're in the field, and some stuff for me to take notes on while I'm training you guys."
Everyone looked at the travel pack. "Sir, why do you have so much food, we're only going be out in the field for a few days." Blake pointed out.
Hansel shrugged. "Look, my Semblance has a bit of a side effect. I burn off a shit ton of calories, so I need to eat a lot."
"Think of it as having a high metabolism from playing a lot of sports…multiplied by ten." Hansel explained.
"And the box?" Weiss inquired curiously.
"A heating box." Hansel replied. "That's for lunch. I wanted a little something special for the occasion. Something to keep me occupied while you guys are hunting Grimm."
"What's in the box?" Ruby asked.
"Uh, my lunch." Hansel replied, as though that were obvious.
"Yeah, but what's in the box?"
"My lunch." Hansel replied again, clearly not interested in telling Ruby just what was in the box.
"Anyway," Hansel continued, reaching into his travel pack, "speaking of food, I think it's time for a little breakfast."
Hansel took out a cup of ready-to-eat ramen. "A bit unorthodox," he admitted, "I'd much prefer some eggs or pancakes for breakfast, but you really can't be too picky when you're out in the field. This isn't even my favorite thing to eat."
Hansel opened the cup of noodles, took a fork out of said cup and began chowing down on his breakfast. "The problem with these instantly ready noodles though is that they're not as filling as the stuff Glynda used to cook." He noted. "You get the essential nutrients, yeah, but it's pointless if you're just going to be hungry again. Meals should be nutritious and filling at the same time. A good balance of the carbs to fill you up, and the nutrients to make you strong."
Are we really getting a food lesson from him? Weiss, Blake and Yang looked at him in surprise.
"I…didn't realize you were so passionate about food, sir." Blake admitted.
"Oh? Well, you learn something new every day." Hansel shrugged.
"Wait, so Professor Goodwitch cooks for you?" Yang asked.
"All that, and that's what you get?" Hansel looked at Yang in surprise. "Well, to answer your question, she used to cook for me, back when I lived and trained at Beacon."
"You were a student?" Weiss was surprised. "What kind of student got that kind of treatment from one of the faculty?"
"Sort of," Hansel shrugged, "I was…well, my living status at Beacon was complicated, to say the least."
"Why is that?" Ruby asked, still very curious about her teacher's past. "I mean, I know you were like Professor Ozpin's apprentice, but…"
"I lived at Beacon for seven years, since I was ten." Hansel explained. "Then, I went out into the field on my own for a bit, and then, a year later, Professor Ozpin calls me back to train you guys."
"But, Glynda doesn't cook for me now, in case you're wondering." Hansel changed the subject back to food. "I cook for myself, nowadays."
"You cook?" Yang was surprised.
"Is that a problem?" Hansel frowned.
"No…you're just not really the type to stand in front of a stove with an apron on." Yang pointed out.
For crying out loud, Hansel groaned inwardly, why can't I just find a way out of this conversation already? Everything they ask me just compels me to answer them.
For the first time in a long time, Hansel found himself frustrated at Glynda drilling him on manners. If someone asks you a question about yourself, as long as you are comfortable talking about it, you answer it politely.
Yang grinned teasingly. "Who knew the big bad Teach had a more domestic side to him."
"Okay, Yang, I think that's enough." Once again, Blake cut in to stop her partner and best friend from saying too much and pissing off their teacher.
The group sat in awkward silence for a while, while conversations stirred in the back of the airship between Team RWBY's classmates. Ruby then cleared her throat, curious about something, making Hansel groan inwardly.
Damn it, I just want two hours of peace and quiet.
"Yeah, Rose?" Hansel asked, barely skipping a beat on devouring the noodles in front of him.
"So, did you ever figure out what you wanted us to do after we set up camp?" Ruby asked curiously.
Hansel sighed. Of all the questions she had to ask, it was the one he would have to give a long winded answer to. "For starters, we're going to push your Semblances to their absolute limit." He revealed. "When I was training under Professor Ozpin, he had a very simple method: one should push the body first, and then most of the time, the Semblance should follow suit."
"I never realized that Professor Ozpin was such a taskmaster." Weiss admitted.
Hansel gave Weiss a confused look. "Isn't he still launching you first years into the Emerald Forest?"
At that moment, the members of Team RWBY shuddered simultaneously. It should not surprise any of them that Ozpin was such a taskmaster.
"Anyway, I wanted to be strong." Hansel shrugged. "And the professor had only one way to make me strong, in the way I just mentioned. Glynda yelled at him on more than one occasion if she felt he was going too far."
"I should warn you guys. You're gonna be sore. You're probably gonna hurt a little. But I need you to trust me when I say you're going to be stronger from the experience."
Yang grinned. "Well, I still think you were full of crap when you said I needed the most work."
"Really? Good to know, Xiao Long, because I plan to find out just how much pain you can convert to power before you pass out." Hansel flatly told her. "Hope you like torture."
The blonde went pale at that statement. "Kidding," Hansel said flatly, "but that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. You're probably going to be taking in a lot more power in that meter of yours than you're used to, so get ready."
"And afterwards?" Blake inquired curiously. "We can't possibly be spending the entire time driving ourselves into the ground."
"Well, if you must know." Hansel really just wanted to relax. "This is just as much a learning experience for me as it is for you guys. I want to find out just what I can expect you to improve in, and what will always be a weakness of yours."
"Huh?" Weiss was surprised. "Then all those weaknesses you pointed out to us…"
"Do need to be addressed," Hansel admitted, "however, there are certain things we'll always be better at than others."
"Take me for example. I'll be the first to admit it. I'm no strategist. My 'strategies' boil down to two things: attack and instinct."
"I can get away with that because of how much I've honed my body though." Hansel admitted. "I didn't get better at my weakness. I just covered them up with my strengths."
"Well, why don't we just cover up our weaknesses with our strengths?" Yang asked curiously.
"Because frankly, putting in the effort to overcome and improve on those weaknesses is a better long-term plan." Hansel admitted. "Look, I'm in damn good shape. I'm faster and stronger than quite a few veterans. I fight by overwhelming people, keeping them off rhythm. However, what if someone manages to keep pace with me? What if they manage to find a rhythm in the fight?"
"You're screwed." Yang noted.
Hansel nodded. "You saw it in my sparring match with Professor Ozpin. As soon as he got into his rhythm, it was over. I had no answer for him."
"No matter how clever I am with my Semblance's applications, how fast, strong, or aggressive I am, if someone manages to keep to their own rhythm in a fight, they can find a way to beat me." Hansel freely admitted.
"So you want us to…be better?" Blake asked curiously.
"That is one way to look at it." Hansel shrugged. "But here's a fact: not everyone's going to be able to beat their weaknesses. For all we know, Rose may never be an effective hand to hand fighter."
"Well, I'm trying." Ruby noted.
"Or, perhaps Belladonna will never be able to make clones that will help her fight." Hansel noted.
"When that happens, you need to instead make it a point to make your strengths so powerful, that it takes a very strong opponent to exploit your weaknesses." Hansel told them. "But make no mistake, some of you need to try and beat your weaknesses first."
"Xiao Long definitely needs to fight more conservatively and build up her 'meter' gradually. Schnee needs to be able to summon fully. Belladonna needs to consciously push herself and improve her Semblance. And Rose needs to at least be able to fight well enough with her fists that she can push her foes back and get her scythe back."
For a guy who claimed to be bad at strategy, Hansel had a tremendous understanding of one's weaknesses. Then again, one did not need to be a good strategist to understand weaknesses. He just needed to know them and then exploit them.
"Consciously, Professor?" Blake asked in confusion, not understanding his criticism of her. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm not holding your hand through everything, Belladonna. You need to figure this one out yourself." Hansel told her.
"So then this trip is also about finding out what kind of fighters we're going to be? The balanced kind, or the kind that covers up our weaknesses with tremendous skills in other areas; a specialist." Weiss realized.
Hansel nodded, noting that his cup of noodles was empty. He sighed and quickly got another cup ready. "Exactly," he said, not missing a beat as usual, "it's kinda like I said when I was talking about how Scarlatina's actually the strongest in your class. Different methods work for different people, and different things make different people stronger."
"The reason Professor Ozpin trained me by encouraging me to push past my own limits was because that was what worked for me. I wanted power, so he showed me how to seize it. If the professor had someone like Rose as his apprentice instead of me, it's likely he would've taken a vastly different approach to her training." Hansel explained.
Ruby nodded in understanding. "So yeah," Hansel said, "we're going to use this trip to figure out how to make you all semi-decent Huntsmen. Then maybe, just maybe, you can graduate to decent."
If I can just wear them out and keep them occupied, they'll stay out of my way when I go after Corleone. Hansel noted to himself.
Hansel then gazed behind his seat to check on the rest of his students. Well, some of them are at least doing a good job at wearing each other out…
Nora Valkyrie was one such person, as evidenced by her loud and boisterous singing. "Ninety-nine waffles and sap on the wall, ninety-nine waffles and sap! If one of those waffles should happen to fall, ninety-eight waffles and sap on the wall!"
Ren was quick to interrupt her. "Wouldn't the waffles be too dirty by then?"
Nora smiled. "Silly Ren! Five-second rule, remember?"
Ren sighed, knowing that would be her answer. In front of Ren and Nora were Jaune and Pyrrha, and unfortunately, Jaune was going through a very familiar issue. Five minutes after the engines launched, it all came back to him so rather suddenly: the short breath, the dizziness, the drowsiness, the pallor, and a particularly familiar nausea.
Oh boy, here we go again , thought Jaune Arc, who was attempting to steady himself.
At least I came prepared with spare garbage bags this time, he reflected, looking down to check that they were still in his backpack.
No matter how many times Jaune went on an airship, this was one of the constants of life that would never get any easier for him. Vomit Boy was about to make a triumphant return.
Or so he thought.
Because as soon as he was about to resign himself to vomit-filled sadness, a certain redheaded partner came to the rescue.
"Jaune, get yourself into posture," instructed Pyrrha.
"On-the-spot training? Not sure if this is the right time or place for-"
"A different kind of training for your more immediate problem," corrected Pyrrha, "Now, do you trust me?"
"In a heartbeat," he replied, while (densely) not realizing what sort of heartbeat he was instilling in the (slightly) blushing Pyrrha.
Noticing Pyrrha's blush, Jaune inquired, "Oh my goodness, is the airship making you feel feverish too? I've brought more than enough garbage bags for the both of us in case-"
Pyrrha raised her hand to cut him off. She wasn't quite sure whether to feel heart-warmed by his dorky generosity, or frustrated by his (usual) denseness.
"I'm fine, Jaune," replied Pyrrha, "But we should really get back on topic, especially with regards to the new training."
"Right, something about getting a proper posture."
A pause between the two took hold for a moment, and then…
Jaune turned his head in confusion. "So um, where do we start?"
"We'll start with a demonstration from my end," reassured Pyrrha, "Spine straight, chin tucked, and look straight ahead."
She pulled off the posture with ease.
After taking a few seconds to process what he saw, it was Jaune's turn to try.
The tucked chin and the straight tunnel-vision look were easy enough for him to imitate, but Jaune's definition of straightened spine was clearly different from Pyrrha's.
And as usual, Pyrrha was quick to catch on.
"You're still in the 'slouching in the classroom' pose, Jaune," she observed, suddenly recalling all the previous times that Jaune had trouble paying attention to Oobleck's lectures.
"Aww man…I am?"
"Yes, think of your lungs as two big balloons that need to be blown up to full size." Pyrrha told him. "They can't be expected to reach full size if you're slouched over and compressing them, preventing their growth."
Pyrrha placed her hands on Jaune's chest and back and straightened him out. "Try it now." She said. "In and out, slowly."
Jaune did as asked, and as he kept following Pyrrha's instructions, he felt his nausea leave him. His eyes widened. "Thanks Pyrrha!" He exclaimed, as usual, you're a lifesaver!"
Giving a slight bow in acknowledgement, Pyrrha then admitted, "Well, I did have a good teacher."
Jaune's eyes glimmered with slight curiosity. "Oh, who was it? Port? Oobleck? Peach? Glynda? Maybe even Ozpin himself?"
"No, it was someone from my pre-Beacon days," further elaborated Pyrrha, "Considering the many high-elevation, steep wind-carved cliffs that Mistral has, growing up there meant that I had to learn to adapt against altitude sickness."
"From a personal trainer who helped you win the Mistral Regional Tournaments?" guessed Jaune.
"If by 'personal trainer,' you mean family member, then you're half-right," admitted Pyrrha, "my aunt, Circe was the one who taught me the breathing technique I just showed you recently. It's got several variations and different names depending on which kingdom you live in; but here in Mistral, we usually refer to the technique as Qigong."
The gears in Jaune's head began to turn. His eyes then widened. He recognized that name. "Circe? As in Circe Ithaca, the current top candidate for Remnant Digest's 'Woman of the Year' award?"
Though Pyrrha was surprised (and pleased) to learn that Jaune was gradually expanding his reading tastes beyond comic books, she kept the conversation on track.
Pyrrha nodded to confirm Jaune's question. "Yep, that's the Circe I'm talking about. How did you know?"
"While studying for Oobleck's latest homework, I stumbled across several magazine pages supporting Circe's nomination," explained Jaune, "I'm not sure if I understood all the big words and events involved in the articles, but it's clear that she's made quite a name for herself."
Pyrrha smiled in response. "That's Aunt Circe for you. Point a worthy enough noble cause in her direction, and she'll always find a way to successfully promote it. She's widely regarded as one of Remnant's finest philanthropists and savviest politicians; that combination makes her infallible. I feel proud to have been raised by her."
"Raised by her?" repeated Jaune, "Wait, so what happened to your parents?"
Realizing her slip of the tongue, Pyrrha briefly considered changing the subject before ultimately deciding to once again trust Jaune. "They died when I was young," she slowly explained, "I don't have many memories of them, just stories they used to read to me before bed. Anyway, with Aunt Circe being the only listed name on the emergency contact form, she adopted me into her household. It's just been us, ever since."
Jaune stepped back briefly, having now realized that he awkwardly struck a sore point. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry Pyrrha! If you don't want to talk about it anymore, then-"
"No, it's okay!" reassured Pyrrha, who put her hands on Jaune's shoulder, as if gesturing him to come back. "It's actually quite a relief to get this off my chest, really. I appreciate that you care enough to ask and listen."
Moving closer (thus reciprocating the gesture), Jaune nodded in response. "If you say so, Pyrrha."
"I can't bring my parents back," Pyrrha admitted while holding back her tears, "But I still plan on doing my best to live up to their examples and Aunt Circe's example at making the world a better place."
"And you won't have to do it alone," reminded Jaune, "It's like what I said earlier, Team JNPR is here for you if you need us."
Pyrrha smiled gratefully and rested her head on Jaune's shoulder. "You have no idea how much that means to me. Nor do you have any idea how much confidence I really have in you, Jaune." She told him.
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.
Pyrrha placed a hand on his heart. "This right here is why." She told him. "You're kind, Jaune, incredibly kind. Frankly, the world needs Huntsmen like you, more than they need ones like me."
"Well…why not give them both?" Jaune suggested.
"…Yes, I guess that's an option too." Pyrrha admitted. "But seriously, Jaune…promise me you won't ever lose that kindness of yours, even if it means throwing away the strength you want."
"Because that kindness makes you wonderful, and if you lost it, then the world will have lost something truly wonderful."
Jaune was speechless. He honestly could not believe Pyrrha thought that highly of him. Meanwhile, behind Jaune and Ren, Nora was giving a big shit-eating grin. "Yep, still shipping it." She whispered.
Ren shook his head. "Nora…" he groaned.
Finally, Cardin Winchester took a deep breath and addressed the focus of much of his bullying. "Hey, Rabbit," he said to Velvet Scarlatina.
Velvet winced at Cardin's voice while Coco, Fox and even the normally peaceful and serene Yatsuhashi instinctively glared at Cardin, ready to come to Velvet's defense if he tried anything. "What do you want, Winchester?" Coco demanded.
"Cool your jets, Adel, I come in peace." Cardin assured her.
Cardin looked at Velvet, who was refusing to look him in the eye. Cardin sighed, expecting that. It was time to take a page out of his teacher's book and be the bigger man. "Look…I just wanted you to know that…I saw videos of you and Schnee destroying those Atlesian Paladins…and I thought you looked…pretty cool."
Velvet looked at Cardin in surprise. Coco lowered her sunglasses, curious of Cardin's statement. Cardin sighed. "That's…all I wanted to say." He said, looking away from Velvet.
"Cardin…what was that all about?" Russell Thrush asked curiously.
"Just…been doing a lot of thinking, okay?" Cardin responded in a sharp tone that left no room for continued conversation.
Thinking that…I don't want to die being remembered as a total bastard. Cardin thought to himself. I'm an asshole, but I'm not a bastard. If Professor Sunshine can be a big enough man to apologize and try not to be one hundred percent a dick…then maybe I should try the same.
And so, the airship continued its travel for the next several hours. And soon, they were several miles away from the Neverland Gorge and landing. And as soon as the plane landed, Hansel was out of his seat and clapping his hands. "Okay, no dawdling!" He ordered. "I refuse to burn daylight here, and you should too!"
Hansel walked up to the pilot. "Make sure the folks at the airfield are reminded that we expect to be picked up in the time period I told them when I set this whole thing up, got it?"
"You got it, boss." The pilot said.
With that, everyone was quick to get out of their seats, grab their things, and follow Hansel out of the airship. Here, everyone got a good look at the area out before them. At the very end of their journey straight ahead was a narrow valley beyond the forest with steep rocky walls surrounding the valley, and what appeared to be a small stream running through.
Blake Belladonna spoke up. "Sir…could we maybe go fishing later?" She asked nervously.
"Huh?" Hansel gave Blake a deadpan expression.
You can't be serious. Hansel could not believe what he was hearing. You are not doing yourself any favors by being a walking stereotype, Belladonna.
Hansel regained his composure and shook his head. "Let me make something clear, Belladonna." He said. "You are all forbidden from going anywhere near the Neverland Gorge. Even veteran Huntsmen don't go near that place."
"No…" Blake whined softly.
"Now listen up," Hansel said, "I hope you all brought good walking shoes, because this is going to be one hell of a hike. And I also hope you brought plenty of good food, because I can promise you, there won't be many wild animals here. With Grimm roaming about, most animals live in farmlands nowadays. That means no hunting."
"And for God's sake, do not just go and pick random berries up. That's another reason why I had you pack your own damn food. You don't know what's poisoned and what isn't. If I find one of you foaming at the mouth from eating poisonous berries, I'm going to be pissed."
"You'll save us though, right, sir?" Jaune asked.
"I'll think about it." Hansel growled, though there was no seriousness in that statement. "Now let's move. I want to find a good spot to camp before lunch."
And so, the long hike began to find a good spot to camp. Hansel led the way, cutting through thick bushes with his katana. "Okay," Hansel suddenly spoke up to pass the time, "pop quiz, right now!"
"Wait, what?" Cardin was surprised at this.
"Winchester, thank you for volunteering." Hansel said. "Now, you're confronted by someone who has a more maneuverable weapon, like a sword. Against your mace, which is heavier and lacks that maneuverability, you are at a disadvantage. What do you do?"
Cardin stammered at this while Ruby smiled at Hansel's latest pop quiz. This had become a thing as well ever since he had worked to improve himself as a teacher. Hansel gave specified pop quizzes to each of his students. Each student got one question to answer that was geared towards their current combat specs.
Cardin then got his answer out, much to Hansel's displeasure. "Wrong answer," he said, "when you lack maneuverability, you can't afford to go on the offensive. One false move, and you are at the mercy of a much nimbler opponent. You instead remain on the defensive and wait for your own opening. To improve your maneuverability, use two hands on that mace to steady yourself. Just remember that you risk leaving yourself open to punches and kicks."
"Belladonna, you are next." Hansel immediately moved onto the faunus girl.
This continued on for a few hours as Hansel made sure to take his students through every square inch of the forest in order to find the perfect camping spot. Eventually, they reached a small clearing, where Hansel held up his hand, forcing his students to a stop. "We'll make camp here." He said. "I don't think I need to tell any of you to keep your hormones under control when we're all trying to get some sleep. This is a class trip, not a lovers' rendezvous. And trust me, lovers' rendezvous' never end well in worlds like this. Ever seen Nightmare on Almond Street? Every single movie in that series has two people dying because they can't keep it in their pants."
"Sir…that's just a movie." Velvet pointed out. "A scary movie, yes, but a movie."
"And do you really think that the world we live in isn't a living horror movie?" Hansel asked.
"…Fair enough," Velvet said simply.
"I've never seen Nightmare on Almond Street," Ruby said to Jaune, "is it scary?"
"Umm…I have to watch it through my fingers." Jaune admitted, leaving it at that.
Ruby got the hint and shuddered at how scary the movie must be. "I'll give you two minutes to drop your things. After that, you're going hunting and clearing a perimeter so no Grimm are stupid enough to come anywhere near here."
"But let me reiterate," Hansel sat down in the middle of the clearing, dropping his heating box next to him and taking out a pair of binoculars from his bag. "None of you are going anywhere near the gorge. If I see anyone close to the gorge, you're in trouble. I'll just leave it at that."
At that moment, the group heard the telltale growling and hissing of Grimm. They had been lucky throughout the hike, but now, as soon as they stopped to put their things down, their mortal foes had arrived.
Hansel smirked. "Well would you look at that," he said, "the welcoming committee has arrived."
"Are we surrounded?!" Jaune shrieked.
"If we are surrounded, that just makes things better." Hansel reached into the box and revealed just what was inside, an entire pepperoni pizza, compliments of Pleasure Island Pizza, the best pizza in all of Vale. "The Huntsman's life is one of adversity. Better get used to it now rather than later."
"The Huntsmen Academies are supposed to put its students through the wringer to prepare folks like you for that life." Hansel reminded them. "So show the world that you can survive the wringer. Me? I'm going to sit right here and eat this whole pizza. It is lunchtime."
That looks delicious. Several students lamented.
"Good hunting everyone," Hansel said to them as his students broke off to hunt Grimm.
And so, the class went hunting, with Hansel Kobalt observing them all through his binoculars while munching on pizza. He started by watching Team CRDL team up to take on a small pack of Beowolves. "They're still far behind their classmates in terms of single combat. But as a team, they're solid. They can all soak up damage for each other with those tough bodies."
Hansel watched as Dove Bronzewing, knocked a Beowolf away from Russel Thrush. Sky Lark then stabbed the Beowolf in the throat. Cardin then slammed another Beowolf in the head with his mace.
"They're tanks," Hansel noted, "they're biggest strength is their durability. It's a far cry from some of the stuff I found on their files. They've come a long way from the guys who got stomped by Nikos in a 4-on-1 fight."
"Still, we need to toughen them up to stand on their own. They need to be prepared for solo missions. Academy teams don't always stick together." Hansel watched as Dove and Sky pushed a Beowolf back with Russel leaping up and decapitating it. "Still, they don't have zero potential. That's good at least."
Hansel then looked for other students. He caught Fox Alistair speeding about, knocking out more Beowolves with his arm-blades, singlehandedly cutting down each one with a single attack. "Alistair's fast, he arguably has the best natural speed in his entire class. The guy can cut you down before you even notice him coming, why he wasn't in the doubles round in the Vytal Festival, I have no idea. I guess Adel and Daichi wrongfully thought focusing on heavy firepower would've been better."
"Or perhaps Alistair is very fragile in battle." Hansel speculated. "Typically, people who focus on speed neglect their durability. After all, why soak up a hit when you can just dodge it?"
"Two perfectly valid schools of thought, but we'll definitely look into improving Alistair's durability, because there's always the chance you'll run into an enemy that's quicker than you. And if that doesn't work, we'll just make him too damn fast and nimble to tag."
Hansel then turned his attention to a different member of Team CFVY. "Yatsuhashi Daichi, the muscle of the team," Hansel noted, watching as Daichi cut through three Ursa with a single swing of that giant sword of his, "definitely the most physically powerful person in his class. Looking at his combat specs, his physical strength is off the scale for a student."
"He's already strong enough to actually send out razor winds with that big-ass sword of his." Hansel noted. "As someone who can do that myself, I can appreciate how impressive that is. And it at least gives him range."
"Still, Daichi is a big target." He noted. "And his fight with Cinder Fall's two flunkies proves that. That Mercury Black had him completely outmatched in close combat. Yatsuhashi's fast and keeps good control in spite of his size. But in his case, instead of dodging, he should've stood his ground and not tried to outpace Black to get back on the offensive."
"We'll have to work on balance with him. Daichi's a big guy, so him getting off balance would be a disaster."
"Next, Velvet Scarlatina," Hansel turned his attention to Velvet, and watched with satisfaction as Velvet singlehandedly took down an Ursa by mimicking that monkey faunus from Haven's fighting style and weapon.
"She's definitely proving I'm right about her." Hansel nodded. "And it looks like she's responded to my issues with her lack of confidence. According to her files, Scarlatina has been the victim of bullying for years, even before coming to Beacon. Her membership in Team CFVY has helped her come out of her shell, but for some reason, that was never enough."
"What she needed was for a teacher to boost her up." Hansel said. "It's one thing for your friends to believe in you but teachers are quite another. I can understand why morons from the prep schools wouldn't do it, but why the hell did no one in Beacon do so, especially when we know she has a lack of confidence from bullies?"
Hansel thought more on the matter. "Why didn't Ozpin structure Beacon's teachings in a way that would allow for more personal tutoring?" Hansel pondered, "Having a one-on-one mentor from the get-go (like I did) would've given Scarlatina the stronger backbone she sorely needs."
"That really doesn't matter anymore, we're fixing that now." Hansel said. "And now that Scarlatina is getting out more in the field, she needs to build up her endurance. I'll be sending her out and doing a ton of when we get back."
"And that leaves us with Adel, the leader of Team CFVY." Hansel turned and watched as Adel mowed down a Deathstalker with tremendous ease thanks to her mini-gun. "I was trying to figure out why she was made the leader, considering her status as the support fighter. Adel's actually a tactical genius; she knows exactly what to order Daichi, Alistair and Adel to do."
"But, looking back at Adel and Daichi's fight with Sustrai and Black, they were outmaneuvered. Adel had no answer for any of Sustrai's attacks. She dodged, but she could barely fight back. Without that mini-gun of her's, she's—for lack of a better term—useless in a fight. Perhaps I should get her involved in the hand-to-hand lessons that Rose is gonna get?"
"Overall, Team CFVY is a better balanced team than I gave them credit for." Hansel noted. "As a team, they've got all their bases covered. However, with the exception of Alistair, they all have maneuverability issues. Black and Sustrai could've outpaced every single one of them in that doubles match. To be fair, those two weren't students, but it's an issue that they need to deal with before they run into another gruesome twosome like them."
"Next up, Team JNPR." Hansel started by gazing at Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. Pyrrha seemed to be hanging back while Jaune cut an Ursa across the stomach, felling it.
"Well, what do you know, Arc doesn't have zero potential either." Hansel noted. "Whatever Nikos is teaching him, she should keep at it. Who knows, maybe I can get away with having her sub for me?"
Hansel paused for a moment, considering the consequences. Knowing Glynda, she would probably scold him for "looking for sneaky excuses to skip teaching duties." Then again, she could also praise him for "making the effort to give his students leadership opportunities."
"Yeah…maybe I should ask for Professor Ozpin's permission first." Hansel decided.
"Anyway, Arc's files noted his tremendous amount of Aura, ever since Nikos unlocked it." Hansel remembered. "In fact, he's arguably got the highest amount of Aura in his class. Of the other students who even come close to him, Schnee and Daichi are probably the closest. Although Schnee's Aura has barely been tapped into yet. Xiao Long's varies because of her unique ability. Rose has a ton that hasn't been tapped into yet because her…special powers. But Arc's so damn behind in everything else. All that Aura stored up in some kid with motion sickness. Seems almost like a crime."
"Still, he took down that Ursa exactly like a pro would. A slash at the biggest target on the body, the center of mass. That's always the best way to start." Hansel could not help but compliment.
"As for Nikos, she's every bit the champion of Sanctum Academy she's advertised." Hansel noted. "A great control of her Aura, and speed and reflexes that might even put me on guard. I'd actually have to try a bit if I sparred with her. And I've been getting reports from the other teachers that she's taking my lessons to heart, and staying in the arena to lift heavier masses with her Semblance. Nice to know she responds well to commands."
"But she hasn't made any efforts to manifest the Fall Maiden's powers." Hansel noted. "That makes things a bit difficult for me since her being the new Fall Maiden was one of the reasons I was brought aboard. Perhaps she's nervous? Perhaps she's scared? Either way, that's not gonna fly forever. Her mental tests noted a sort of shyness, an inability to connect with others. Later tests actually praised the pairing of Arc and Nikos for bringing her out of her shell. Perhaps she's struggling because she's treating this whole merging of the souls thing as connecting with a new friend?"
"Either way, I need to find a way to get her comfortable with her new powers. Huntsmen that have her kind of struggles tend to have short lifespans." Hansel grimly pointed out. "I suppose I could start by sparring with her to try and force her to tap into the power. Last time I sparred with a student though, it didn't go well for either of us."
Hansel sighed. "I'll have to table those thoughts for later. Maybe I'll ask the professor if he has any advice."
"Next, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren," Hansel gazed at the two, working together to take down more Beowolves, "an excellent combination of power and speed together."
"Ren's had to train his body up more to compensate for the fact that his Semblance right now is not very useful in a fight, only when you want to avoid confronting Grimm. That's why I want him to try and evolve his Semblance into a power that can actually help him in a fight."
"Valkyrie's the same, except her Semblance is useful in a fight…as long as someone is dumb enough to hit her with electricity, or she's working with a partner who uses electric dust. Both of them have worked hard to compensate for these limitations, I'll give them that. But now I want to see if we can make those Semblances of their's more applicable in a fight."
"Not only that, but from what I can tell from the past week, Ren's got something of a durability issue, and Valkyrie's got a balance issue because of that hammer of her's. Valkyrie lost a sparring match with Rose for that reason and Ren was completely outmatched against Daichi because Daichi beat him out in endurance."
"Anyway, it's showing here. Ren sometimes slows down a bit after exerting himself. When that happens, Valkyrie picks up the slack. And Valkyrie's got a window of opportunity where she's wide open due to a lack of a balance or the recoil of swinging that hammer of her's. There, Ren picks up the slack by attacking at high speeds. We'll have to get back to the basics in form for Valkyrie, and train Ren to build up his body a bit more."
"And that leaves us with Professor Ozpin's favorite team. Team RWBY." Hansel turned his attention to his last four students.
Yang Xiao Long roared with her eyes shining red as she wailed on a large Ursa. "Yang Xiao Long," Hansel remembered her file, taking a look at his scroll for reference, "trained by her father, a teacher at Signal Academy. Much of her fighting style is apparently a more aggressive version of her old man's."
"She's a hard hitter that can take it as well as she can dish it out." Hansel noted. "It's no wonder the other members of Team RWBY chose her to duke it out in the singles round."
"But she's got a bit too much pride." Hansel noted. "It looks like she hasn't really taken my advice to heart yet. She's leaving too many openings. An unintelligent beast like a Grimm can't take advantage of those openings, but people can. Eventually, she's going to run into someone like Adam Taurus, who's going to take advantage of those openings."
"Xiao Long's got a lot of confidence, and stubbornness. Is it a familial thing? Qrow is the same way."
Hansel heaved a sigh. "That's another one I'll need to go to Professor Ozpin for advice on. Actually, talking to Glynda about this might be better…dealing with a stubborn girl like Xiao Long needs a woman's touch. I just don't know how to deal with people like Xiao Long without humbling them through a beatdown…that didn't fly with Rose, and it shouldn't with her."
Hansel then turned his attention to Belladonna. He watched as two Beowolves attempted to pounce on Blake, only to instead cut a clone into three pieces. Then, Hansel watched as the clones burst into flames and exploded, destroying both Beowolves in the process. "Blake Belladonna, a secret faunus, skilled swordsman, who is skilled in the use of her Semblance."
"Belladonna uses her Semblance for misdirection the way I want Ren to eventually use his Semblance." He noted. "She's not as heavy a hitter as Xiao Long, but I honestly would've picked her for the singles round in the Vytal Festival, and not Xiao Long. Black wouldn't have been able to gain any momentum had Belladonna focused on tricking him with her shadow clones."
Hansel sighed. "However, she's not durable at all. She relies on avoiding hits with her Semblance, but if she takes one or two solid hits, she's down for the count. I noticed as much when I had her and Nikos spar earlier. Nikos tripped her up with her Semblance, slammed that shield into her stomach, and that was it. We'll have to work to build up her endurance."
Next, the Schnee Heiress, singlehandedly taking down an Ursa like Yang. "Weiss Schnee, second daughter of Jacques Schnee and younger sister of Atlas Military Specialist Winter Schnee." Hansel noted, munching on more of his pizza. "She definitely had all the best combat teachers growing up. Maybe there is a benefit to being rich."
"Arguably, she's the most well-balanced member. Good speed that's amplified by her glyphs, powerful attacks, and an ability to put up a strong defense when she needs to." Hansel complimented.
"However, she's also arguably the weakest because of how little she's actually tapped into her abilities." Hansel bluntly pointed out. "The reality is, Schnee is like the sickly child on the playground that tries to play dodgeball with the other kids. She's behind, and that's going to catch up with her."
"She can take a hit better than I gave her credit for though," Hansel noted, "that fight with Team FNKI was impressive. However, because she's tapped into so little of her power, she has even less Aura then her teammates right now. It probably goes—from least to most—Schnee, Rose, Belladonna, and then Xiao Long."
"And because of how little Aura she has, that means she can't take too many heavy hits." Hansel noted. "What is up with this class and their lack of endurance? They're just students, yeah, but it's still a bit disturbing."
"And finally, our Silver-Eyed pet project, Ruby Rose." Hansel turned his attention to where Ruby was, expecting to see her clashing with one or two Grimm. Then, much to his surprise, he was treated to the sight of Ruby Rose ripping through a line of Beowolves with deadly speed. His mouth dropped open, he found himself unable to eat his current piece of pizza.
"Holy shit…" he muttered in shock.
"…Okay, new notes on her. She's more of a threat against large groups than one on one fights. Hell, once she gets into it…she's actually unstoppable." Hansel could not believe what he was seeing. "It's like she's a completely different fighter now. Where was this during our sparring match? If this was the opponent I had gotten I'd have been screwed."
Hansel then got over his awe and shook his head. "Shit, Hansel, don't let yourself get stars in your eyes." He criticized himself. "There's a reason for this."
"Rose's fighting style is more suited for fighting groups. Her speed and use of momentum is perfect for catching large groups off guard. When you fight against groups the way she does, there's no way to track her and attack her without risking catching your allies in the crossfire."
"That doesn't work in one on one fights because her opponent can track her easily." Hansel noted. "If she's going to fight the Queen and her cronies, she needs to be able to stand in a one on one fight. And, just as I originally thought, her fighting style entirely revolves around Crescent Rose. No scythe means no victory for her. That lack of diversity could one day make her a liability for her team."
"It looks like I'm going to have to not only help her build up a more diverse fighting style, but I'll also need her to develop a style suited for one-on-one fights as well." Hansel concluded.
Hansel shook his head. "Kinda ironic, actually, that she needs to relearn how to fight alone against a single person. The initial reports on her described her as a bit antisocial. When asked what she thought about working with others during the screening process, Rose responded: 'I don't need friends to grow up, I have milk.'"
And Hansel did not know that Ruby had repeated the same thing to her sister back then…she was definitely consistent.
"Okay," Hansel took a deep breath as he remembered all of his assessments, "so we've got durability issues and endurance issues galore, some balance issues, and plenty of other problems to work through."
"But from watching all these guys operate in the field, they definitely have potential…they just need to be prepared to be pushed even harder than they've ever been." Hansel concluded. "The sad thing is…some kind of war's coming. These students…they need to be ready…and as they are now, they're not ready. If an all-out war broke out with the Queen, the Organization, and all the other enemies of the world right now…they'd die for sure."
Hansel sighed. "I still don't know why I was picked to teach them…but just like Professor Ozpin did for me, I now have to make sure they're sent out into the world ready to survive."
Hansel reached into his box to get one more piece of pizza, only to find out they were all gone. "Damn," he cursed, "now I have nothing to eat while I'm stressing about death."
Hansel noticed they had cleared out a majority of the Grimm and nodded. That was quicker than I expected. He noted. I guess I can give them a break.
"Alright, that's quite enough!" Hansel yelled, letting his voice carry across the forest. "Everyone get your asses back here!"
And so, the students of the morning Combat Class returned to their campsite, where Hansel quickly debriefed them. "Not bad," he complimented, "you all came back alive and uninjured. You passed in that regard."
"Take a break," Hansel told them, "I'm going to type up some quick reports and send them to your scrolls one by one."
"In general, you all did well, let me tell you that much. You all took down Grimm exactly like Huntsmen should. However, do note that each of you have crucial weaknesses that you need to improve on. We'll go over that soon."
"But rest up, get some drinks, get some lunch in you."
And so, the class ate their lunches, rested, recharged, and were then debriefed by Hansel about their fighting styles; their strengths; their weaknesses; everything. From there, Hansel allowed each of his students to offer ideas on how they could improve on these weaknesses, and they worked together to put together lesson plans for the next few days.
Then, that night, as the students went to sleep, Hansel left them, comfortable in the fact that they would be safe after clearing such a huge perimeter. However, he was quick to do a quick check around the perimeter, cutting down a few stragglers with ease.
He also subconsciously let out some of his Aura, along with a bit of his pent up anger to draw any Grimm that were still around to him. However, this had the added effect of waking a certain student up, who could not help but wonder why Hansel was leaving the campsite.
With that Hansel sped through the forest cutting down any Grimm that was drawn to his negative emotions. He quickly arrived at the clearing where the Neverland Gorge, where he hid in a tree to get a better look. Hansel calmly looked through his binoculars to get a good look at the operation of Don Anthonio Corleone.
He frowned when he could not see a single thing. Damn, looks like I'm going to have to climb. He noted, leaping from tree to tree and then reaching one of the walls of the gorge.
Hansel then began climbing up the gorge with incredible ease. Hansel noticed the moon and could not help but relax when he saw it. The moon looks great tonight. He whimsically noted.
Hansel continued to climb until he was well out of regular eyesight for any sentries that could be nearby. He then moved inside of the ledge, continuing his climb. Hansel looked for a ledge inside of the gorge to safely perch on, eventually finding it.
Then, he finally got a good look at Corleone's operation and narrowed his eyes. Deep below him was the twisted operation of Don Anthonio Corleone, the most powerful crime boss in all of Remnant.
"Weapons, Dust, just like the operations in Mistral." Hansel noted. "No, even worse than that. This far surpasses the number of weapons and dust they were trying to move in Mistral."
"They're preparing for war…Gray Jackal is preparing for war." And with that, Hansel came to a very chilling conclusion. "I'm looking at a nightmare in the making."