Ch 31: On the Nature of Grimm (1)
By the time Weiss and Ray reached the classroom, the rest of Team RWBY had already arrived. The atmosphere was still a bit awkward between Ruby and Weiss, but it was clear that both were reflecting on their actions in the previous class, and they were able to sit together as a team peacefully.
"You look excited, Ray." Blake commented, trying to break the awkward tension in the air.
"Of course!" Ray replied smiling, "I've always been looking forward to debating with Doctor Oobleck over any number of topics from the very nature of Grimm to the formation of the Kingdoms and their different governing regimes. He is one of the greatest minds of our times, even if he is a bit…". Before Ray could finish, a man burst through the classroom doorway. He whizzed down the aisle at a velocity rivaling Ruby's Semblance and slam an oversized thermos of coffee down on the teacher's table, bringing the buzz of conversations around the room to an end. "Energetic." Ray finished with a whisper.
"Good morning, students. I am Bartholomew Oobleck, you may call me Doctor Oobleck or Sir, but I would prefer Doctor. Moving on, welcome to your first of many history lessons here at Beacon Academy. Why is knowledge of history important for a Huntsman, you ask. It is because we stand upon the shoulders of giants. Generations of Huntsman and Huntresses who have gone before us and if we do not learn from their mistakes we are doomed to repeat them." Doctor Oobleck said, his words moving as fast as his body. He never stood still for a moment the entire time zipping about in front of the classroom. It was enough to make one's head spin.
Doctor Oobleck was a 6'7" white male human with messy green hair and brown eyes behind his thick round glasses. He wore a wrinkled white shirt partially untucked into his dark-green pants with its collar raised along with a slack yellow tie and mismatched brown and black shoes.
"Now, for our first topic of the semester, let us discuss something close to the core of who all of us are and aim to be; The role of Huntsmen in Remnant and how the current standards for Huntsmen came to be."
Doctor Oobleck began talking about how the huntsman corp had started when only scattered villages dotted Remnant, constantly on the verge of being wiped out by Grimm. In summary, at that time, all citizens were expected to be able to fight as well as perform their municipal tasks. Eventually, certain warriors were chosen to instead focus entirely on killing the Grimm. This lead to not only superior defensive measures under the leadership of these warriors but also allowed those they protected to focus more on industrial and agricultural development. Creating a positive cycle of growth where the civilians would provide the Huntsmen a stronger foundation to fight the Grimm, and the Huntsmen would give the civilians a safer place to further their development, culminating in the eventual formation of both the Huntsman Organization and the Kingdoms of today.
Many of the students quickly gave up trying to take note because of how fast Doctor Oobleck spoke and ended up only listening with half their attention. Even Weiss had forgone her neat and tidy penmanship to scribble down her notes as fast as possible. As for Ray, he was listening with rapt attention to this man he had admired for so long, not missing a word nor needing to put anything on paper to remember it. However, Doctor Oobleck soon reached a point that Ray felt the need to debate.
"Naturally, the Grimm have existed from before recorded history. Mindlessly aggressive and with a burning hatred towards all mankind, the Grimm have been an ever-present problem that threatens to wipe out humanity and could attack at any time."
Ray's hand shot into the air, "Excuse me, Doctor. You called the Grimm mindless, but that isn't entirely accurate, is it?"
"Ahh, Mr. Rose. Participating on the first day of class. Excellent, excellent. Now, could you please elaborate on your question?" Doctor Oobleck was very enthused to see someone participating in class.
Ray took a minute to organize his thoughts and restructure his question. "If the Grimm are truly mindless, then why aren't they recklessly throwing themselves at our walls? Also, it's not like our defenses can keep out all Grimm. If the Grimm are truly mindless, we should have reports of Nevermores and other flying Grimm attack civilians out of the sky every day. We don't."
"An excellent point, Mr. Rose. To begin with, we don't know entirely how the Grimm operate. It may be that there is a limit to how far they can sense human emotions. Those Grimm farther away from the kingdoms may not know what direction to go in to find human settlements."
"But the Emerald Forest, where we just did our initiation, is right next to the kingdom and is full of Grimm. However, that giant Nevermore and that ancient Death Stalker that Team RWBY and Team JNPR took out had obviously lived for years there yet had never attacked students or the kingdom before yesterday. Those Beowolves that attacked me even attempted flanking maneuvers." Ray countered.
"It is well documented that Grimm are more aggressive in their youth, but older Grimm that have managed to survive conflict with humans tend to learn from their experiences. While sometimes requiring dozens or even hundreds of years, older Grimm accumulate experience throughout their conflict with humans and develop caution. Preferring to wait for the best opportunity to attack rather than attack the school recklessly when they know they will die. It is also why, beyond what their increased size and strength should warrant, older Grimm are considered to be so much more dangerous to face." Doctor Oobleck explained.
Ray smiled. Oobleck had just alluded to the point he wanted to make.
"In other words, they learn."
"Precisely." Oobleck could feel Ray was going somewhere with this and was curious to see just where.
"But doesn't their very ability to learn imply that they are not mindless? Even the young Grimm know to form packs to hunt. A trait that should have no relation to survival instincts that are the reasons why animals form packs. Grimm have no natural predators. The only reason they would form packs would be to hunt people more efficiently. If the Grimm were truly and completely just mindless bundles of violent instincts, then they wouldn't even be able to form packs, let alone the desire to. Therefore, they must possess some level of intelligence from the beginning, not just suddenly gaining it out of nowhere as they get older." Ray pressed his point.
"A fair point." Doctor Oobleck agreed. "Yes, it would be inaccurate to define the Grimm as truly mindless from that perspective. However, there is a difference between sentience and animalistic instincts. A Nevermore may know how to fly, and an Ursa may know how to use its bulk and strength to its advantage. But this does not imply sentient thoughts. Rather a recognition of what does and doesn't work being established through trial and error. It would be good to point out at this time that most of what we know about Grimm is merely theory and assumptions with very little being established facts."
"Then why do we even call Grimm mindless?" Weiss asked, "Doesn't the propagation of such a claim endanger the people who might face a Grimm attack by leaving them unaware of their capabilities?"
"Politics, my dear. Politics, but also necessity… Centuries ago, when the Huntsman Organization was just being established and the kingdoms' safety had not been cemented, the demand for able warriors far outweighed the supply. As such, the politicians of the time decided to lend weight to a study that painted the Grimm as creatures of brawn rather than brain. Now, remember that, even now, we have no way of experimenting and studying Grimm in-depth, so the study was based primarily on theory and conjecture. But the governments saw promise in it. By painting Grimm as mindless monsters and Huntsmen as wise, brave warriors who used their courage, intellect, and teamwork to overcome physically superior foes, they increased humanity's morale as a whole. This heightened morale made it easier to convince impressionable youngsters to follow in the footsteps of these heroes and risk their lives against this most deadly threat." Doctor Oobleck answered. "It was propaganda only, Miss Schnee. However, after being repeated for so long, rumor has become fact. In truth, I would say that the Grimm are of limited intellect… violent, vicious, and savage, yes, and certainly not capable of higher thought and reasoning like that of a human or Faunus, but mindless?"
Doctor Oobleck snorted, "People call the Faunus Revolution a movement of mindless violence, and yet I am sure there are many Faunus who would disagree with such a statement. They had reasons and motives for their actions, after all."