Team SWRZ - Volume 1 - Chapter 11 - In Too Deep!

A few hours passed since the assignment for the first-year students began. At one of the extraction points, Professor Hale sat comfortably in one of the lawn chairs prepared for her and the other instructors. A scroll rested in her lap, showing her multiple screens of the students fighting for their lives in the forest. She absentmindedly swiped through the screens, stopping when she spotted the one she was looking for.

"Playing favorites already, Lilith?" A bold voice reached her ears. The person behind her moved beside her and took a seat. It was one of her colleagues, Professor Patel. A rough and rugged-looking bald woman, wearing casual clothing despite being out in the forest. She took a bite of a tangerine before offering one to her friend.

"No, Clementine," Lilith shook her head, responding to the question and refusing the tangerine simultaneously. "Why play favorites when most of these kids won't even make it past this trial?"

"Harsh as always, but it's why most trust you with this test," Clementine pulled out a scroll of her own, searching through the footage until she found a person of interest. "This student here looks promising. More promising than the one you've taken a liking to."

And so it began, the bad habit the two shared in life. Gambling. Whether in the lower districts of Mistral or the academy, Clementine and Lilith often bonded through making outrageous bets. Even the lives of the students were safe from their addiction.

"Shall we see which one of the students will reach the extraction point first?" Lilith offered, lighting up a cigarette.

"Bring it on," Clementine finished off her tangerine.

With the bet now in motion, Lilith's purple eyes rested on the screen of her scroll, where footage of two particular students played for her viewing pleasure. And those students were Schwartz der Hund and Watchet Amin. The duo cautiously wandered through the forest, or rather, Watchet did. Schwartz took the situation in stride, leisurely strolling down the path without care.

Since there wasn't necessarily a time limit for the assignment, Schwartz planned to take his time and get a feel for the place. He wasn't a stranger to wandering through the wilderness, so he had a good sense of where he was for the most part. His gaze bounced around, trying to spot anything that could give him and his partner clues as to where to head next.

"Is it wise not to have your weapons drawn?" Watchet inquired, taking immediate notice of Schwartz's careless behavior. To him, such a reckless attitude would cost others their lives. If they were to work out as a team, they needed to get on the same page.

"Don't need 'em," Was Schwartz's prompt reply. He waved off his partner's concerns and continued, "I've got you around. You can watch my back while I look around."

"What exactly are you looking for?" Watchet asked.

"Scrolls, obviously," Schwartz rolled his eyes. "We can't complete this thing until we find the blue one."

Schwartz and Watchet walked through the tree line and stepped into an open area. They spotted a group of Grimm, Boarbatusk's, wandering through the place. Schwartz smiled and unsheathed his swords [Bark & Bite].

Just when he prepared to kill them, Watchet grabbed his shoulder. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Trying to kill the Grimm. What does it look like?" Schwartz answered the question with one of his own.

"They haven't spotted us. Besides, killing the Grimm is not part of our assignment." Watchet reminded. However, Schwartz refused to listen. He didn't care if it was part of the trial or not. If he spotted an enemy, he was going to take them down.

Pure and simple.

Not wasting another second, Schwartz rushed ahead toward the unsuspecting Grimm. He cut them down with great ferocity, laughing as he did so. Watchet stood back and watched, unsure if he needed to lend a hand.

From the look of things, Schwartz had everything handled. Only a handful had remained by the time the Grimm began to counterattack. And the sword-wielding maniac took care of them in a matter of minutes. Watchet raised his shades to his forehead, looking better at the exciting sight before him. Schwartz stood in the center of the field, staring at the defeated Grimm that evaporated into nothingness.

"Are you finished?" Watchet called out to his partner. While impressed with Schwartz's combat abilities, his mindset wasn't the most ideal. Well, he figured he'd have more than enough time to correct that behavior later on down the line.

Before Schwartz could respond, the ground shook. Several trees collapsed in the distance as a massive Boarbatusk plowed its way through them. It stopped when it spotted Schwartz and Watchet.

Its red eyes shone with clear murderous intent.

Watchet grimaced and readied his blade.

"That's a big Grimm," Schwartz commented. His body trembled in sheer excitement at the thought of fighting it.

Watchet slowly backed away, "Schwartz, I believe it would be in our best interest to slowly back away and--"

"This is more fun!" Schwartz wasted no time charging headfirst into battle, much to the chagrin of Watchet.

Schwartz altered his swords to their SMG form and unloaded several rounds into the giant Grimm. Each shot bounced off the tough hide of the Boarbatusk, only proving to annoy it. It squealed and rolled into a ball before barreling towards the Huntsmen.

Schwartz jumped aside and watched the creature head toward Watchet.

"Watch yourself," He laughed, passing that off as a form of warning. Either his partner would evade it or get himself flattened like a pancake. Schwartz secretly preferred the second option. It would be one less pain in the ass.

Watchet took those words to heart. The blade of his sword extended to the nearest tree, pulling him out of the way of the Grimm. The Boarbatusk plowed through several trees before coming to a complete halt, turning around and glaring at its enemies again.

"C'mon, you overgrown roast, let's see what you got," Schwartz taunted. He rushed the creature of destruction again and fired more shots. Meanwhile, Watchet attacked from afar, extending the blade of his sword again.

The Boarbatusk endured the attacks and charged, leading with its tusks. Schwartz leaped into the air and hitched a ride on the beast. He aimed his guns at its eyes and fired mercilessly. He held on for dear life while the Boarbastusk thrashed wildly, squealing in pain.

Watchet dropped to the ground and ran alongside the Grimm. "Schwartz, we need to get the Grimm on its back! The underbelly is the weakness!"

"Kinda busy up here at the moment!" Schwartz responded, knowing he'd get thrown off if he let go of the tusk.

Watchet rolled his eyes from behind the safety of his shades. Afterward, he slashed away at the Grimm's leg. Stopping its momentum was the first step in his plan. It took a few well-placed swipes to topple the Boarbatusk. It sprawled violently across the ground, eventually stopping on its back, exposing its underside.

"Finish it off!" Watchet called out to his partner.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Schwartz ran up the tallest tree and leaped from it; his swords raised above his head. After dropping down to deliver the finishing blow to the beast's stomach, maniacal laughter left his mouth. The Grimm vanished once Schwartz removed the swords from its body.

"Nice work," Watchet smiled.

"Any other Grimm wanna be next?!" Schwartz looked around the area, hoping for an immediate answer.

"Please do not antagonize them," Watchet pleaded. It was bad enough that they had already wasted enough time in the trial. He didn't want them losing anymore. "We should get searching for the final scroll."

"Yeah, fine," Schwartz pouted and sheathed his swords. When the two prepared to leave, they spotted several Boarbatusk's coming out of the treelines. Each one was as large as the last. "Me and my big mouth, huh?"

"Indeed," Watchet groaned and reached for his sword again.

Meanwhile, Rowan and her fellow students gathered around to compare notes. They were unsure how to proceed through the rest of the trial. Out of the six students, none of them possessed any of the required scrolls.

"So, does this mean we should all team up to get all the scrolls we need to pass this assignment?" The one that asked was the tallest out of the students, The Bull Faunus, Sunil Ambrus.

In theory, it wasn't a bad idea. The trial would be a breeze if the group put their heads together and worked as a unit. However, Rowan immediately spotted a few problems with that plan when she noticed the expressions that crossed the other students' faces.

Most students planned to help themselves rather than work together. Rowan was in that category. Unfortunately, one of the people she never wanted to see again became her partner.

Rowan looked at Zorina, who had long settled down by that point. The silver-haired woman stared back with great admiration and expectancy, probably for when she saved her life not too long ago.

"Maybe I should've let her die?" That wicked thought crossed Rowan's mind.

"Walking around with this many people is already going to cause problems," The White Tiger Faunus, Wei Tian, callously pointed out, turning his back to the group. "Come on, Emma. We're not sticking around with them anymore. We've wasted enough time."

"Hold on, Wei. What's wrong with teaming up?" Emma Asulf questioned.

Wei stopped in his tracks and took a moment to answer, "It's bad enough I'm stuck with you. Lugging around, everyone else will only slow me down."

Rowan opened her mouth to counter the statement. However, some of the other students beat her to the punch.

"Whatever, I'm fine with not teaming up," Ilma Aden nonchalantly said and made herself comfortable against a tree.

"Now that this Empress of Darkness has formed the soul-binding contract with her destined one, I see no need in bringing on any more subjects at this time," Zorina arrogantly boasted.

"Well, I guess if the others are so against this," Sunil seemed hesitant, but the majority didn't want to team up. So, he figured he'd stick around with his partner and keep her safe. The students prepared to split off as they witnessed a stampede of students run by, screaming their heads about the Grimm. One student bumped into Sunil, falling flat on his ass.

Rowan helped the student to his feet and patted him down, checking on his condition.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"G-Grimm! A large pack is coming this way! We gotta run!" The student answered before he ran for his life.

Wei clicked his tongue and muttered, "Cowards. All of them."

The students grew alarmed when they felt rumbling beneath their feet. Schwartz and Watchet came from the tree line; behind them was a stampede of angry Boarbatusks.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Rowan's jaw nearly hit the ground. Not only did she not plan on seeing Schwartz or Zorina again, but she never expected to see such large Grimm so soon in her temporary status as a Huntress. "We can't deal with that!"

"W-W-We should flee!" Zorina urgently suggested.

"No other choice!" Ilma was the first person to break away from the group.

Sunil stood his ground, shield in one hand and doubled blade ax in his other. "You're not getting through me!" He shouted as he bashed his shield into the face of one Boarbatusk. To the surprise of everyone, the Grimm hit the ground and stayed down.

"Impressive," Wei commented before he slid under a Boarbastusk and sliced its stomach open with his claw weapons, [Severance], killing it instantly.

Emma planted her feet and focused. When the Boarbatusks entered her range, she opened her mouth and roared, unleashing a tremendous shockwave with catastrophic proportion. It sent the Grimm and plenty of the landscape around her flying.

"Shit! Shit!" Ilma cursed as she reached into her coat, pulling out her throwing knives. She hurled a few into the eyes of the Boarbatusks, blinding them. However, one of them blindsided her, ramming her into a nearby tree. A tan light flickered around her body before dissipating. She slumped to the ground; blood decorated the tree behind her.

"Ilma!" Sunil shouted, horrified at the sight of his defeated partner. Some Grimm surrounded the wounded Huntress in training; their intent to kill her was evident. The large man kicked off the ground, quickly launching himself across the battlefield. He stood protectively in front of his partner, brandishing his weapons. The first poor creature approaching him found its head severed from its body, courtesy of his ax. The next one got pummeled to oblivion by his shield. He continued with his pattern of brutality until all his enemies were dead.

"I didn't sign up for this shit!" Rowan complained and ran off alongside Zorina. Unlike the others, they weren't going to confront a stampede of Grimm.

"Retreat is the best option in this situation!" Zorina agreed.

"I'm glad someone agrees with me!" Rowan and Zorina turned their heads to the side and realized they were running alongside Schwartz and Watchet.

"Attracting the attention of this many Grimm was not part of the assignment, Schwartz!" Watchet chastised his partner.

"Oh, quit complaining! This is a lot more fun than collecting some stupid scrolls!" Schwartz exclaimed. He looked over his shoulder and noted that the number of Grimm following them had dropped significantly. "We should be able to take them now!"

"Are you insane?! If you want to tackle that many Grimm yourself, then be my guest! But keep me out of it!" Rowan protested against the idea, not wanting to get roped into more danger. What the hell was up with this school and its suicidal students?

"It is a little too late for that, you think?" Watchet questioned.

"We've got a problem!" Zorina pointed ahead, spotting a cliff in the distance.

"Oh, that's perfect!" Schwartz smirked, a devious scheme having already formed in his head. "We'll jump!"

"Jump?!" Rowan and Zorina exclaimed.

"You guys ready?" Schwartz wondered, not bothering to care if they were or not. Regardless of whether they survived, he knew that he was going to.

"Maybe we should come up with another plan?" Watchet suggested. But at that point, it was too late. They were too close to the edge back out. With no other choice, the four students jumped off the cliff alongside the horde of Boarbatusks. Gravity took its course and sent them plummeting further into the thick forest.