Chapter 182 - Unknown Crystal
Qrow rushed back in rushing past Ironwood with Ironwood maneuvering with Ozpin over his shoulder. He didn't have time to make sure to move carefully since he noticed that the person was targeting Ozpin anytime he tried to defend.
Qrow rushed toward 'Glynda' swinging his scythe at their legs.
'Glynda' jumped into the air landing on the scythe while stabbing toward his arm holding the scythe. Ironwood stretched out his right arm shoving it in front of Qrow.
The rapier stabbed into his hand with him gripping his hand around it.
"You're crazier than me sacrificing your hand for someone else." 'Glynda' said while trying to pull the weapon back.
Qrow didn't wait and sent his Scythe toward her neck.
The other person rushed forward placing his left gauntlet out blocking the attack. His aura glowed brighter after taking the hit. He threw a simple right punch toward Ironwood's chest. Ironwood couldn't dodge since his right hand was stuck stopping the weapon from the imposter.
Qrow tried sending a kick but a hand stopped him.
Right when the punch was about to hit Ironwood a flurry of red and white petals appeared on the side of Ironwood and Qrow hitting the plain-looking individual. He was sent flying backward into a wall breaking through it.
"Uh-Oh, seems it's time for me to go." The imposter said while letting go of the weapon, throwing a smoke bomb onto the floor, and dashing toward the sidewall that was just broken while laughing.
Everyone covered their mouths and noise in case it was poisonous. The smoke was red and they all backed away from it giving the imposter enough time to getaway. They could see that there were more smoke bombs being left being at the hole to stop them from following.
Ironwood coughed having inhaled some of the powder. He only was able to cover his mouth and nose somewhat due to the hole that was in it.
Qrow turned to see who had helped him and saw that it was Summer and Ruby. Summer had a frown on her face while looking at the hole.
"Did you notice it, Ruby?" Weiss said rushing in stopping next to Ruby.
"They were using ki. They shouldn't know how to use it though. I'm sure that Shallot hasn't taught anyone but us." Yang said walking in seeing the destruction that the office was in.
Summer walked next to Ironwood and could see that his eyes were red.
"It was chili powder in the smoke bombs. I need to wash my eyes so that they aren't damaged." Ironwood said already figuring out what it was after the taste was in his mouth.
Summer grabbed Ozpin off of his shoulder.
"I'll take him to Oobleck. I'm guessing he should be in the nurse's office as some students probably went there." Summer said. A flurry of white rose petals flew out of the room leaving the others standing there.
Blake casually strolled in and looked around. She walked to the weapon that was on the ground and picked it up.
"Nice sword but there seems to be something odd about it," Blake said while looking at the sword.
The handle was thicker than a regular sword and she could see that there were lines on it. She could tell that the sword could be taken apart. It didn't seem like it at first but something must be on the inside.
From the hilt was a line that ran up the side of the blade where red color lines followed the silver blade.
She looked at the blade thinking it was peculiar and squeezed the side of it toward the hilt. The hilt started to crack. Blake squeezed a bit harder breaking it completely. Inside of it was a faded red crystal on the inside.
Blake lifted the crystal and looked at it. It looked similar to a carved dust crystal but she didn't know what kind it was. It wasn't the same as a fire dust crystal. She turned to Weiss and held it out toward her.
"You think you know what kind of dust crystal this is?" Blake asked Weiss while handing her the crystal.
"Hmm... of course. I'm the heiress of the Schnee family. I have some of the best knowledge over dust since our family is the best." Weiss said while sticking her chest out proudly.
"The Schnee company has a monopoly on the dust industry and is the only one you can order dust from and have it delivered. They either bought out the competition or undercut the prices around places that had other companies." Qrow said while taking a sip from his flask and slumping against the wall.
Qrow released a tired sigh getting a chance to breathe. His aura was low and he just wanted to head to a bar to get some good liquor.
Weiss turned toward Qrow.
"That's only happened recently. Before we were the upstanding business." Weiss said while giving her a glare.
"Guess you are the ice queen's little sister. Same glare and everything." Qrow said while standing back straight.
Qrow was going to head over to see if Ozpin was doing alright while also making sure that he got looked at also. He looked down and saw a shallow stab point that had some blood under his shirt.
Qrow walked toward the front door when Ironwood stopped him.
"Seeing that they didn't leave after attacking Ozpin and waited for me to appear means that they most likely were targeting me also. They could either be after just me and Ozpin or they could be targeting the headmasters of the schools. We may need to call the other schools and see if they have been attacked." Ironwood explained.
"If they are after all the headmasters then it is a problem. Have you been able to use your semblance to figure out why they attacked you two?" Qrow asked.
Ironwood already had some thoughts and was going to need to prepare. His right arm was damaged and he needed to repair it. Ironwood looked at the hole in his right hand before putting it back down.
"Is your hand going to be ok?" Ruby asked.
Ironwood lowered his jacket showing that the right side of his chest to his arm was completely mechanical. They could see puncture points and scraps throughout his mechanical right arm.
"You don't have to worry. My arm is mechanical and I just need to replace it. I think I know who is attacking us though." Ironwood said.
"Who is attacking us, James?" Qrow asked since he hadn't heard him talk about people this dangerous before.