Ep. 18 - Cinder, Sparring again

I should probably say that, due to that video of me absolutely destroying Torchwick and the destruction of the White Fang HQ in Vale, Blake is much more relaxed now. She hit it off with Sun, somehow. In just a day. I am happy for her, to be honest. Sun is the complete opposite compared to her, but they somehow work together. If needed, I'll be his wingman.

Anyway, this means that she didn't become a nervous wreck and is enjoying a normal student life at Beacon. As Weiss said in canon, we are students and shouldn't worry about this stuff.

'Well, I want to kill our enemies for personal reasons (read as 'allowing RWBY and JNPR to have a normal life'). Plus, I kinda enjoyed killing those guys.'

Plot struck again. The evening we met Sun, Ruby remembered her board game and rushed out of the room. She bumped into Emerald. I decided to mess with them a bit so, after they rounded the corner, I activated my armor and started following them. To scare them, I decided to levitate off the ground Warlock style. They didn't notice me, so I made a decoration fall.

Cinder's face was golden when she turned around and saw me.

"What is that face for, Cinder? Also, why aren't you talking? Cat caught your tongue or something?" I asked her, just to put her on the spot. 'Will she reveal herself and attack me out of rage? Oh, I can't wait. I still haven't fought with hand-to-hand combat. Though I liked the Gun-Fu style I used against Pyrrha. I should try that with a Hand Cannon and sidearm at the same time.' While I was thinking that, Cinder composed herself.

"Sorry, do I know you? I don't think we've ever met… " she said. 'Oh, look at that! She wants my name!'

"Tula. Welcome to Beacon. Oh, and don't cause too much trouble." With that said, I trasmated back to my room.

The girls did ask me why I was wearing armor, but I just told them not to worry.

"I was playing a prank on someone I know." is all I said. Yang was ecstatic at the idea that I was becoming a prankster, Blake surely didn't believe me but didn't say anything, while Ruby just accepted my explanation. Weiss knew something was up. I winked at her and she didn't ask anything.

The week was pretty damn monotonous: breakfast, study, lunch, study, sparring, dinner, free/study time, sleep, repeat. What I did notice is that Jaune and Pyrrha are making great progress. They probably heard of the ball. Nora and Ren were also sticking closer than usual. Sun started eating with us or, should I say, with Blake.

Finally, a week passed from the arrival of the international students. Today, they will be participating in the classes, including the sparring matches. I waited impatiently for this moment, since me and the gang always look cool as fuck with the armor on. Plus, I wanted to see Mercury and Emerald's reaction. I mean, people can tell that our armor is the same kind. Different specialties and different specialization, but the same kind nonetheless. A single person with this type of armor destroyed their plan single handedly. What will happen when nine people wear it? What will they think? At the moment, any one of us could have taken Torchwick in.

I am digressing and not making any sense, right? The point is: I want to see if I can mess with Cinder and her team some more before getting rid of them.

Sparring matches, arguably my favorite class when I get paired with interesting students. In particular the matches between me and my friends. They always last long and they learn something new or become better at what they can already do. To be honest, I think Glynda hates me after that time I defeated the entire class. The only challenge was defending from the combined attacks of RWBY and JNPR while damaging them. I had to break out the big guns, but a 'Monte Carlo' was enough to take care of them. I must say, they are becoming insanely powerful. Guardians are boosted by the Light, so they can be considered superhuman cheats. These guys are using their own power, and are reaching a seasoned Guardian level.

'I'm digressing again. Damn it, what's with me not being able to have coherent thoughts?'

Anyway, sparring matches. As usual, me and the gang went to the arena together, all geared up. I had my 'Last Word' holstered already since I mainly use that during the matches. If I want to switch it up, I usually look at my opponent before deciding.

Everyone had their turn. Then Glynda spoke and the climax of this lesson came.

"Any volunteers for the next match?" she asked. We had plenty of time since RWBY and JNPR took only a few moves to beat their opponents.

Mercury raised his hand and said plainly: "I'll do it."

When asked for the person he wanted to go up against, he pointed to me. "Him."

'This will be interesting. Plus, I've got to hand it to him. He's pretty cool. He has the 'just go with the flow' kind of vibe.'

"Ah, the monster." Glynda said.

"Hey! That's not nice!" I retorted. 'She hates me! Why?! What did I ever do for her to hate me?!'

She absolutely ignored me and told us to take our positions.

Before we could start, Emerald looked at the aura meters and noticed mine was blank.

"Hey, where is this guy's aura meter? Surely he has aura, right?"

"Oh, that. Aura meters just won't work on me. I have to monitor my aura levels myself." I said, before Glynda could rat me out. 'I should really get my aura unlocked. That's if I have one.'

"You are a close range fighter, right? Help remember the basics, will you?" I said to him. Heh, he looked pissed.

Without any other interruption, Glynda started the match. I had already stored my weapon, so I took a rather relaxed stance, raising my fists. I was just going based off of my memories here, so I really needed to review the basics.

Mercury rushed at me. When he was close enough, he used his left leg as pivot and kicked with his right leg. It was directed towards my neck. With his weapon, a direct hit would be deadly to a normal student.

I used the palm of my hand to hit the leg from below, causing Mercury to miss and lose his balance momentarily. I did not continue as I wanted a refresh on my cqc skills.

He switched legs, aiming a quick kick to my gut, followed by my chest.

'This guy is serious. Without aura, he'd be aiming at all the most vulnerable spots.'

I took probably half as step back, just enough for him to miss. He fired one of his bullets, but it just got crushed against my armor. I didn't even flinch, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.

"Want to step it up?"

He didn't answer, but put his guard up. 'He's no fun.'

I blinked to his right, kicking him in the back. He was falling forwards, so he decided to do a capoeira-like move. He supported his body with his hands, spread his legs and used his air blasts to increase his kick's speed. I again used my palm to move his leg upwards, causing him to miss.

This time, I hit his side, causing him to crumple on the ground. I didn't notice whenever fighting my friends due to the armor, but my punches are apparently quite powerful.

Mercury got up and looked at me. He went in for another series of kicks. These were faster and sharper than the previous ones. I decided to try my kick as well, so I took a step back and countered his kicks with my own. After having his kicks blocked, Mercury clicked his tongue, then jumped in the air after being boosted by his air blasts.

I got what I wanted from this exchange, so I took the opportunity to take out my 'Last Word' and went ham on the trigger. I didn't target vital areas, as these bullets were likely to penetrate or break something.

He obviously didn't expect my quite underhanded move. 'I mean, it's a spar, sure, but did he really expect me not to shoot him when he shot me first?'

I thought the bullets would cause more damage, but they only caused some serious bruises, at least it looked like it. His aura meter just had a sliver remaining, so Glynda announced my victory.