Chapter 35

[||||=LEVEL 35= ||||]

"Scooorch! Can I get a refill?!" The voice carried throughout the wide tunnels used for mining dust and I sighed in exasperation.

Ever since I showed Basalt I could transfer aura he got a little bit selfish. He trained incessantly to get better with aura. Literally the entire time he was in the tunnels he was training.

He kind of reminds me of myself.

I normally wouldn't indulge a kid doing that. It was almost like spoiling him. The problem with that was that Basalt was improving. Rather quickly, I might add. With my aura at his disposal he could essentially train constantly. He never seemed to lose enthusiasm either.

So far he consumed about ten percent less aura enhancing his body with the same results. He still had problems controlling aura quickly but once he got a flow going he had no trouble keeping it that way. It didn't seem like a lot but over just one week it was quite good progress.

Somewhat more impressive was that his aura skill, or his equivalent, leveled up twice. His physical stats got a fifteen percent boost from his aura rather than a measly five.

Best of all was that his wisdom grew a staggering two times. I think that I'm either an incredible teacher or the kid never bothered to think before now. I don't much care which one it is but the results spoke for themselves. I wonder what he could do with reading material?

The results of my little whimsical training showed. Those with aura worked noticeably better in the mines. Well, noticeable if you paid attention, which the council did. I was getting subtle encouragements from a few people a day to go for council.

Obviously I'm not doing that. My time in the mines was planned for between one and two weeks. Signal starts in six days now. I need to check on everything and get ready for school.

The plan was for Bella to pay a parole based on my money so I would get in for free and stay a week or so before getting out legally.

I considered taking Basalt but a lot of problems came up with that. He was legally a ward of the SDC since he was born in the mines. Theoretically he could be adopted and whisked away but that raises the question of how the adopter would know about the ward in the first place.

I could just take him and change his name but I don't have the time to take care of a kid as troublesome as Basalt. I would also be taking him away from friends and family. It's not my place to take him.

Besides, Basalt is amusing but he's not very important to me. He's like a friend I met while on a trip. I can just move on easily enough.

Don't get me wrong, what Basalt has to go through is shitty and if I could save him from it easily I would. The kid's future is essentially taken from him. He's destined to work in the mines as mandated by the law. All the kids in the camp are. It's unfair and amoral. If life was fair they'd be emancipated.

Unfortunately, life isn't fair. A majority of the kids wouldn't be able to cope with the outside world and all of them would miss their families horribly. The camps aren't legally prisons either so visiting hours aren't provided. They just get to suck in convicts for labor.

The verdict was clear. I had to leave the kid behind. Sad, but leaving him won't tear me up inside. It'll just make me a little mopey for a while. I'll get over it.

Unfortunately for the camp, that day I'm going to get paroled is today. Bella was getting impatient. She pranked the camp a little but that became boring quickly. She also couldn't call Qrow. I had left the ship hidden away from the camps and she just stayed there for a few days idly.

She really needed to check in with Signal too. She had some stuff to set up for future classes apparently.

"Scorch!" The SDC supervisor called out.

"Yeah?" I asked. I already knew what was happening but I had to play dumb.

"You're paroled. A lady paid you out. Paperwork was submitted and you leave now. She's already at the gate. Get moving."

"WHAT?!" Basalt yelled. "YOU CAN'T GO! YOU'RE AWESOME!"

"True." I admitted with all the humbleness in the world "But I'm a good student. Signal starts soon. Likely a friend of mine paid me out. I thought it might happen but I wasn't sure."

"Well that came out of the blue…" Kale frowned. "I'll miss you kid. The whole camp will. You've been a huge help."

I shrugged off the praise. Unlocking auras was easy. The camp was just helped as a side effect of getting things done quicker.

"Come on. I have to escort you." The SDC supervisor looked faintly annoyed I was saying goodbye. How rude of him.

"Fine, fine. Let's go." I said exasperatedly.

"I'm coming with you!" Basalt jumped right by me and clung to my leg. I tried to move but found that without aura I couldn't. I seriously couldn't. Basalt was a big kid that was tall enough to reach my chest in height. I mean, I'm what, seventeen now? No wait, sixteen. Basalt was twelve.

Besides that his thick armor-like skin made him really heavy. End result was me doing the obvious. I pulled my foot upwards strongly enough to slip through his grip.

Basalt gave me puppy dog eyes as a last resort for… Something. Even if I didn't want to go I had to. I wasn't allowed at the camp anymore.

"Are you coming?" I asked. Basalt nodded and got up to trail behind me sullenly.

The walk through the camp was somewhat quiet. News apparently traveled faster that light since a small crowd of people gathered up around the entrance. Probably to see me off.

Bella stood around the entrance building chatting with an SDC guard. I didn't pay any attention.

"Who's she?" Basalt whispered, his voice a little hoarse.

"A teacher I'm friends with. She's a huntress." I said. Basalt's eyes widened.

"A huntress." He breathed out in awe. By his tone Bella may as well have been a unicorn. "She's so pretty…"

"Aura naturally makes your body better. You look healthier and better as a result." I gave the short answer as an explanation.

"Can I someday look like her?" He said. I withheld my laughter.

"You'll, um, yeah. Sure." I decided to humor him. He didn't respond, too busy staring at Bella. She noticed him and waved. He shyly waved back. Seeing him so passive was weird.

"HI PRETTY LADY!" He shouted out of nowhere. That's more like it. Bella laughed a little at the pretty lady part and turned back to talking with a guard.

The supervisor walked past the gaggle of faunus without a care, opening the big chain link gate pretty easily. "Go." He said shortly.

I walked onwards, holding Basalt back a little. He got the message and stayed in place.

As I walked past the crowd they all cheered and clapped and said goodbyes. One guy was close enough to clap me on the shoulder. I didn't even know him.

The gate closed behind me and I turned to wave while I walked.

"GOODBYE SCORCH! I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!" The voice grated against my ears as usual and I kept walking.

"Geez is the kid always so loud?" Bella muttered.

"Yeah." I said idly. "There's no papers or anything to sign?"

"Not for you." She said with a scowl. "Thirty four forms, 'Scorch'. Thirty four filled with information to fill out."

"Thank you." I said.

"You better be thankful." She rolled her eyes. "You know that stuff you wanted an answer to?"

"The whole 'Ozpin versus me' deal?" I asked.

"I got an answer for you." She said. A glance at me showed that was not all. "And some requirements."

I sighed. Bella knew some important things. I couldn't really say no. "We'll discuss them." That was my way of not admitting she had me by the balls.

"Now get in that damn car. The SDC guys will take us to the docks and we'll leave. Once we run into the woods at the mainland we have to travel two miles to a nice little ravine I found. It's quite nice."

[|||| == ||||]

"Remember to distinguish yourself among the staff."

"Yes father."

"They are not as important as the heir however they are your teachers. It would beget the Schnee name to cast such a poor image of ourselves. On that note, I expect your grades to be stellar."

"Yes father."

"Of the reports I have received the most favored class of Abyss' is subterfuge and information gathering, although I'm told an acronym is prominent among your classmates. You are to register for this class though I do not expect you to excel. You are not trained in stealth. Simply pass the class and leave a good impression."

"Yes father."

"You are to arrive on time always. An apartment has been furnished and bought for you on an address two blocks from Signal. Abyss unfortunately lives anonymously. Klein will be with you to attend to your needs although he may be recalled should he be required."

"Yes father."

"Your future as the Schnee heiress depends on your success here. Befriending the heir to nature's bounty will offer untold profit to the SDC. You already know the booming success they have had with white bloom sap."

"Yes father."

"Finally, train to be a stellar huntress. Mediocrity is unacceptable."

"Yes father."

"The airship to take you to Patch is waiting with your luggage. Collect your belongings, say goodbye to your sister, and embark. Remember your lessons."

"Goodbye father. I shall."

[|||| == ||||]

"You want what?" I said scathingly.

"You heard me." Bella said with hard eyes. "Work with Ozpin."

"Not a chance." I said venomously. "To that man all of humanity consists of his pawns to be moved around his board. I coexist with him. I do NOT work with him."

Bella set me with a steely look. "What do you have against him?"

"I value my freedom far too much to resign it to serve him."

"And what have I said about serving him? I said work with him. Not throw your lot in with him."

I had to force my teeth to not clench. "Ozpin is a manipulator of the highest order. He has centuries of experience ruling Remnant even when he doesn't directly seem to be doing so. He is immortal, powerful, and skilled. Besides all of that his and my methods greatly differ."

"Differences can be bridged." She retorted.

"He refuses to acknowledge his allies. He hides information on a need to know basis. He shuffles naive children around in a game they aren't allowed to know about. I don't accept that. I don't care about the common masses and what they know but I will not ally with anyone who treats their allies with the disposability he does."

"Then barter a change with him." She said that as if it were obvious.

"On what ground?" I challenged her. "He is as powerful as me or perhaps more so but he doesn't die. He has centuries of experience in deception and politics. Perhaps even millenia. He wants only to gather the relics to serve his demise."

Bella was silent as she stared at me. A long stretch of time passed between us as we stared off.

"Fine." She relented. "You don't have to work with Ozpin, however you have to pursue the good of remnant independently."

"I improve Remnant plenty already." I pointed out. "I stabilize a racial inequality publicly, supply a critically important good to repel grimm, and I'm actively working towards several other plans that will improve Remnant drastically."

"Are these plots actively for the good of remnant or just helping along the way?"

I was silent. I don't care about the overall good of remnant. It's just convenient to me for remnant to be a better place. Bella took the cue to continue.

"How will your plots help remnant?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm currently engaging in diplomatic relations with the white fang. These relations will hopefully improve the fang's disposition towards humanity in general."

"Now there's nature's bounty. It sells tools against the grimm to hunters and has already drastically improved general safety."

"Last in this little list would be Roman's empire. I helped set it up. He works for my 'uncle' but knows I'm on par with him in terms of authority. Under his hand controlling Vale's underworld criminal elements have been brought to a controlled level with somewhat more profit since there's no conflict to hinder him or his underlings."

Bella digested all of that for a few seconds. "What are your actual goals with this?"

"I just want to make the world a better place." I said with thick sarcasm. Bella rolled her eyes and I got to the actual reason.

"The white fang is a wild card that could disrupt my plans for the SDC. I need influence over them. Weiss Schnee has some of Ozpin's attention with her training to be a huntress, a Schnee, and a somewhat curious person. Finally controlling the underworld has a range of benefits for me, all of them criminal."

Bella was silent and clearly her mind was whirring. I waited for her to think before she finally spoke.

"I'm not going to work under you… But I'm not going to oppose you or tell Ozpin anything. If there's an operation that I approve of I'll help. If there's one I disapprove of I'll stay out of it. In exchange you protect me from magical means and don't antagonize Ozpin."

I considered everything in that deal. It could be worse. Definitely worse. I keep signal standing and in exchange I have an operative I can use sometimes and silence from Bella.

Now that it's come to this I admit that bringing Bella into the fold was a bad idea. She's too loyal. Too military. Too nice. I would have had to lie to her to convince her my way was the right way.

"Deal." I agreed, though I wish I was getting a more solid agreement from Bella. She nodded to me solemnly.

"I don't want to fight, Abyss. I'm not an enemy that wants to bring you down. I really do want the best."

Somehow I doubt that the best applies only to me. I think if Bella was tasked between my life and two others she would choose the 'greater good' one. She was one of those people. The ones that want the best for everyone.

If she met Ruby they would get along famously.

"Ready to get back to Patch?" She asked with a less harsh tone.

"Yeah." I sighed. "This trip has been mostly pointless. At least I got the truth about the mines."

Bella nodded. "They could be worse I guess… being illegal isn't good for a company. It makes sense that the camps, being their main mode of production, are legal."

"It's sad but I can't do anything about it from the camps themselves."

"I know. I can't blame you for that."

A moment of silence went between us. I had a feeling that things were alright between us although we would never agree on some topics, Ozpin being one of them.

That's alright I guess. I can't expect everyone to go along with my ideas. I am somewhat concerned that Bella just became the most dangerous person to all of my plans though. At least she isn't directly against me.

[|||| == ||||]

"That's checkmate."

"Ugh."

"Don't be sad, sweetie. Losing in chess just means you're stupid. I'm sure you can use you manly muscles to become a street thug."

"That's harsh, dad."

"Come to think of it, yeah that was a little harsh. Hmm, don't worry about it."

"I'm kind of done with board games."

"Are you going to practice that railgun again?"

"Yes. I need to control it. I can't have another accident."

"It wasn't your fault, sweetie."

"It was! I should have been more careful! I should have looked where I was shooting those things! I destroyed several buildings!"

"Pyrrha. It wasn't your fault. It was an accident. When you saw what you did - on ACCIDENT - you literally dove into a fire to make up for your mistake."

"I shouldn't have had to do that in the first place. I ruined homes, dad."

"And now you know to respect your weapons."

"And my semblance…"

"Especially that. The kid was right. You were holding yourself back by not experimenting."

"Flying is really uncomfortable though."

"It's flying, sweetie. Flying. You literally lift yourself up and FLY."

"And it's not useful for combat, severely draining on my aura, and really uncomfortable."

"There's no satisfying you women, I swear…"

[|||| == ||||]

"Abyss, there's someone outside." Ruby told me from the doorway to my room, scroll in hand. She had gotten back from the Xiao-Long family home yesterday and we had two more days until Signal. "She's got kitty ears on her head like you and some bags. She looks really confused."

"Oh. That's Blake Belladonna." I barely looked up from my book. "She's probably confused because she'll be attending Signal with us but she's in an apartment in Vale. Remember the white fang diplomat that's supposed to arrive?"

"Oh yeah! She's the diplomat? She seems kind of young." Ruby smiled and looked at her scroll, on which there was a cat faunus standing awkwardly checking the address of our apartment building with a slip of paper in her hand.

"People relate to others their age. I also had some somewhat specific qualifications for a diplomat." Oh so that's where the gyro for the airship was! Remnant was really quite clever making their airships. I never thought of using wind dust that way.

"Huh. So she'll be living with us?" A more critical look went towards her scroll.

"She'll be our neighbor and classmate. Try to be friends with her. She has a hero complex like you." Ruby's smile brightened and she might have just marked Blake as a friend already judging from the enthusiasm in her eyes. "Want to go meet her?" I offered. Ruby nodded happily and I got up from the common room's couch with a small groan.

I should probably introduce Raven too… I flashed mage sight for a moment and found her drinking and supervising one of the weekly tournament style competitions the bandits did. It kept their skills up. I teleported to her.

"Raven." She glanced towards me from her chair.

"Hm?"

"We have a new neighbor. The white fang one. I don't care if you're friendly with her but you should at least meet her. Come on. It'll only take a moment." Raven scowled and looked at the tournament going on. That captain guy that got alcohol last christmas was kicking the ass of two generic bandits.

I sighed at the hesitation. She needs incentive then. "I'll let you decide dinner if you come along." Raven was up in an instant.

I teleported us to the elevator and stepped through, where Ruby was just running in. She pressed the first floor button and looked at her scroll again to look at Blake. Ruby doesn't have many summer friends. Or neighbors, now that I think about it.

The elevator doors opened too slowly and Ruby slipped through the cracks in a little whoosh of rose petals. I saw Blake looking at her in surprise before her eyes locked onto me in the elevator. Her eyes switched between us a few times and I thought I could see a light bulb turn on above her head as she made the familial connection.

Ruby threw open the doors to the apartment with a wide gesture. "Nice to meet you! I'm Ruby! Abyss' sister!" Ruby seemed to barely hold back from hugging Blake but she at least had the presence of mind to not hug complete strangers. Blake clearly had no idea what to do so she put on a practiced smile and nodded politely.

"I'm Blake Belladonna. Nice to meet you."

"Ruby is… excitable." I said in a form of apology. Blake looked over to me with that polite smile. Hey wait she's actually a pretty good diplomat. What do you know? I thought she would be antisocial and barely willing to say two words.

"It's fine." She said.

"You'll be living on the floor above us!" Ruby said excitedly. "We can totally be apartment buddies!"

Neither Blake or I had any idea what apartment buddies were, apparently. Also, Blake wasn't really 'buddy' material. I was getting a little concerned over Ruby since she was acting socially erratic nearing what Penny was like in the show. Not quite there but social decorum was being thrown out the window with her.

"It will be… nice to be friends with you, Ruby." Blake said, settling with friends before being a… buddy. Ruby seemed to compose herself a little bit, realizing labelling Blake as a 'buddy' was too much too quick for her tastes (or anyone's comfort really). She backed up a little bit and left Blake some personal space. She gratefully walked through the doors with Ruby no longer blocking them.

I started walking towards the elevator and the others followed me. "The apartment is mostly empty at the moment. It has a bed leftover from the old owners but it's inn poor condition. I think the springs are broken." I said casually. Blake relaxed a little at the mundaneness of the conversation in comparison to Ruby's enthusiasm.

"That will be fine tonight. I can furnish my rooms later. Thank you for your concern." Blake kept her tone even and polite as we filed into the elevator. Ruby pushed the button for Blake's new floor.

"It's no trouble." I said, waving off her thanks. "To get to school I'll just teleport you to school with Ruby and I."

"I was wondering about that." Blake's small smile became somewhat more genuine as the air around us became more relaxed rather than awkward. "Can you tell me about your semblance a little? Not all that much is known about it."

"It's multi-faceted." I started the lecture I've doubtlessly gone through many times once more. "I can teleport, warp space, and a few other effects. Most important are my hammerspace and my ability to make portals. I use the portals for a variety of things, of which not walking to school is included." An amused twinkle entered Blake's eye at the small joke.

"The hammerspace is just a pocket dimension I use to store objects I care to keep. I hold weapons, dust, school supplies, and everything I care to have." Blake nodded at all that.

"I always wondered. Thank you for telling me." She stated. The elevator doors opened up and Ruby was the first one out. We all trailed behind her.

"Are there any official matters to do in your time here?" I asked curiously. The white fang didn't say anything about any specific goal or association or anything between us. I don't have anything to ask for anyways.

"Just to make relations better between our two groups and manage things as they come." Blake said with a slightly more casual tone than before.

"Sounds fine to me. Do you have to write reports or just be friendly?" Blake's small smile dropped.

"I do have to write reports. Not on a daily basis but more on a monthly one on how relations are between the company, you, and people of interest."

I shrugged it off. I'm not going to trust Blake with anything sensitive. She was self righteous in the show and I don't want to see if that trait was prominent before her defection. That righteous attitude could have her disapprove deeply of a lot of my actions.

"Ah, and you are?" Blake looked at Raven pointedly. Raven had an almost lazy droop to her eyes. I haven't been working her enough lately it seems. She's like a cat I domesticated that's growing fat and lazy. Maybe she should get information on Cinder Fall? Or something with more fighting…

"I'm Raven." She said carelessly. "I'm Ruby's aunt." Blake looked between the two and looked pointedly at Ruby, seeing little similarities.

"My mom and auntie Raven were on the same team." She explained. "Auntie also had my half sister Yang before she divorced dad and then mom got dad." Blake seemed to make sense of that messed up family tree for a moment before realizing she couldn't and just went with it.

"Alright. Nice to meet you, ah, Raven?" Raven looked amused by her hesitation about using her name and nodded.

"I won't be seeing you often. I'm just here since Abyss promised to let me decide dinner today if I met you."

Blake seemed to decide whether she was insulted by being worth selecting a meal it decided on just being resigned about it and putting it past her.

You know, with Blake being this mature I kind of like her. I was worried she'd be offended about everything and blame all her problems on her heritage. I suppose I was making an assumption there.

Blake surveyed her room easily. It wasn't like there was much to look at. A small kitchen area, a bed in an alternate room, and a dull brown carpeted flooring. A wooden chair was left in the corner.

"I got you some dishes in the cabinet and some food in the fridge but ultimately it's yours to furnish however you want. I'll give you an allowance to decorate it at first."

Blake looked at the space easily before shrugging and dropping her suitcase down on an unoccupied space of carpet. She probably has some things to decorate the room with in her bag unless what I saw of the show was wrong. I wonder how many books she has? Come to think of it I haven't read a dirty novel before…

"Do you want to go get furniture, relax, or something?" Ruby asked thoughtfully. Blake seemed to consider some options before settling on one.

"I would prefer to get some furniture for the place soon enough… I also need to learn how to cook."

"There's a store five blocks east." I informed her. "As for cooking… Have fun. Or go out to eat. Here." I flicked my writs, taking the card out of my inventory and setting it on the counter of the three room apartment. "It's got a limit of five hundred lien a week, which I think is generous. Bills and such are paid for by yours truly. I'll see you soon and at Signal. Goodbye Blake."

I stepped out while Blake was trying to figure out what to do first. Raven followed quickly through my portal to our floor. I heard Ruby call "Bye Blake! I wrote all three of our scroll numbers on this." A papery sound was heard. "Call if you need anything. Bye!"

I walked back to my book, happy that that was over with. I think Blake has some independence. I'd rather not hold her hand through the whole process of having your own place.

[|||| == ||||]

"Hey, uh, Abyss."

"Bella? What brings this on?"

"We have two applicants requesting to be a part of subI but they're both year two students. I almost always reject them out of hand but these two… Well I thought you might want to meet them."

"Names?"

"Blake Belladonna."

"Let her in. She has training in wet work and life and death situations. Possibly even taken a life. She also has experience in diplomacy."

"… Wow. She's a shoe-in then. Does she know about everything?"

"No. She's white fang. Not dangerous since she's a white fang representative to nature's bounty."

"Got it. I've made an exception and accepted her. Now for the second one, and this one is a good deal trickier."

"Who?"

"Weiss Schnee."

"…"

"She has experience being persuasive and an array of ways to be a good spy but I'm really interested in her charisma. I've heard her sing and I'm certain that whatever I can teach her will really help her future. Persuasiveness is always helpful but her skill in negotiations is helpful too in an information exchange and two faced talk."

"Weiss Schnee - THE Weiss Schnee is attending signal."

"Yeah. Why?"

"Let her in."

"Look as useful as she seems she also seems like a moralist. Blake is one too but only on the subject of racism and honestly I couldn't care less about that. None of my business."

"I'll take responsibility for Weiss Schnee. If she causes trouble I'll take care of her."

"Hmm… Fine. It's going on record that you've vouched for her."

"Fine."

"I'll see you soon, Abyss."

"You too, Bella."

[|||| == ||||]

I lay on top of the main signal building, looking down on all the freshmen scurrying to their first classes.

My classes were almost the same as before. SubI was the first class of the day now being the only exception. Then I had the educational classes before combat at the end of the day. It was why I was fine being a little late.

Besides, Kerrigan and Cesium were late and Bella was playing a scroll game. Ocean seems to have started a journal of some sort on various poisons she can concoct. She also seems to have branched into explosives and various payloads for delivering said toxins.

Sitting in a chair looking haughty was Weiss Schnee. THE Weiss Schnee. She seemed mildly disgruntled by the late start but was too polite to disrupt Bella's activities. She probably thought Bella was doing real work. It almost looked like she was with how focused she was on her scroll.

A bow-less Blake was in the rafters looking incredulously at Weiss. I don't particularly care why she was in the rafters but I'll pull her down as soon as I find Cesium and Kerrigan. Especially Kerrigan. He's not one to be late.

I finally found Cesium a mile away looking furious on a ferry to Patch. Kerrigan was in the stairwell working on a summer packet he seemingly hadn't finished.

I teleported to Cesium first, grabbed him, and teleported into the subI room, dumping him in a chair.

"What the-?!" A shrill voice exclaimed. I winced. Weiss' voice was high pitched. I really hope she can learn to be quiet. I noticed Blake wince as well.

I quickly teleported to Kerrigan and teleported him in too. He didn't look particularly surprised. When he was suddenly sitting at a desk he didn't even look fazed. As though it was completely natural to be abducted. I quickly gathered his packet and such and had a parallel quickly start completing it for him. It wasn't very difficult.

Bella glanced up and sent a sad look to her scroll before pausing her game. "Now that we're all here we have two new students here. Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna."

Blake dropped down from the rafters and to my happiness only Weiss looked surprised. Blake wasn't terribly good at suppressing her aura so we all sensed her.

"Introductions, please." Bella said casually. "Just you two. We already know each other otherwise."

The silence lasted barely a moment before Weiss started. "I'm sure you all know who I am." Cesium and Ocean quite clearly didn't, though I know they memorized her name the moment Bella said it.

"I hope we can have an amicable relationship as classmates." I wondered how quickly her excessive formality would last.

All eyes turned to Blake and she seemed to tense as Weiss sent a judging look to her ears. Blake sent a hostile stare right back. "I'm Blake Belladonna. I like books and I have experience in espionage and wet work."

Weiss' eyes seemed to narrow and I wonder if she just pegged Blake as 'white fang scum'. Let's see if I should do something about that… later. I have to make sure they're actually friends first. Possibly figure out what Weiss wants. I doubt Jacques would let her out without good reason.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way we need to fill you two in on how things work around here." Bella said while spinning around in her chair. Weiss' staring at her was kind of funny. I'd bet a thousand lien she was wondering if she was actually the teacher.

"See first of all is the whole confidentiality thing. You get in here and you've made an agreement to not talk about ANYTHING that would put the class in jeopardy. Recently this has been expanded to include illegal activities, should they happen." Blake looked pretty nonplussed by this but Weiss seemed almost scandalized. I glanced around and saw everybody else looking on in amusement at the two newbies getting adjusted.

"If you do violate the trust in the group majorly you get a target on your back and we're all looking to make a dent on it. Small breaches in trust are, while certainly disagreeable, not worth kicking you out or anything. All of us got one strike last year."

"What did you do?" Blake asked curiously.

"The strike was because we went looking independently of our spymaster, the class leader, for information on him." Bella said. A hint of seriousness went into her demeanor. "The whole class minus the spymaster was in on it and received a 'strike' on their records for it. Do not betray the trust of your classmates. Secrets should stay secrets."

"I think we understand." Weiss said even toned. She didn't seem too shaken up. Then again we weren't really trying to intimidate her.

"Good." Bella said. "Now as for what we do here we practice espionage. This means ambushes, information gathering, wetwork, sabotage, thievery, we actually tried assassination last year, and there's some more miscellaneous stuff like thuggery or persuasion of a more criminal nature. Everyone trains in everything at least a little bit although having a specialization is fine. Cesium is shit at takedowns, for example."

"Actually I trained over the summer." He spoke up. We all looked at him curiously.

"Where?" Bella asked. Cesium made a grimace.

"Our criminal friend. He wanted favors. Now I owe him." I almost frowned at that. I'll need to have a chat with Roman. Having his paws on signal is not something I want. In fact I should inform him to stay away from unknown huntsmen altogether. Ozpin has his fingers everywhere in that area and he's bad for business.

"Don't be dumb." Bella said in warning. "Anyways, he WAS crap at takedowns. Now he might be better. He's also the most charismatic teenager I've ever met and is a good pickpocket. He's the talker. Kerrigan has knowledge of the gangs of Vale and knows a bit of everything as well as being good at acting as muscle. He's an all-rounder basically. He also has some creative ideas once and awhile. Ocean is a stealth specialist. That means she can't do hand to hand if it was her life at stake. She does, however, know how to wield a stiletto quite well in conjunction with her semblance and makes some really scary poisons."

"What about Abyss?" Weiss asked.

"He's the best." Ocean said quietly. Weiss and Blake still looked confused.

"She means that he is the BEST." Cesium stressed. "He knows people we don't, he's stealthier than Bella when he cares to, his semblance is one of the most versatile I've ever seen, his aura is huge, he knows secrets Bella doesn't, and to top it all off he can fight on the level of a veteran huntsman even if not for very long. That still makes him one of the most powerful students in the school. He is the spymaster."

Blake looked at me with an evaluating look, like she was determining how much of that was truth and how much was hot air. Weiss seemed to view that as a challenge, like she wanted to fight me for the throne I held.

"Now then," Bella continued, still swivelling in her chair, "As Abyss is spymaster that means he dishes out monthly assignments. He hasn't given anyone crazy hard jobs all of last year and those that were difficult were taken in groups of two. He's also not mandated to give out rewards but he usually does so anyways if you do decently."

"Not something like lien or a ticket to a show." I clarify. "I give real rewards. I gave Cesium three teleportations to Vale and back no questions asked. I gave Ocean exotic poisons. I gave Kerrigan a contact he could use, and so on. You might think you don't need anything but my gifts make things just a little bit easier should I think you've done something worth them."

"So anyways, Don't stab the backsides of your immediate classmates, don't slack on getting new skills, and don't cross Abyss. One final piece of advice. We've got a hierarchy here. Abyss first. Then comes me, Cesium, and the rest is yours to work out. We never had any issues before so please don't start any and make them a group problem."

"In regards to monthly assignments…" Everyone's attention snapped to me. "They're in your lockers. See them after class."

"But I was just there." Blake said with an inquisitive look. "I was only in class for a minute and a half before you appeared. I was at my locker just before that."

"Teleportation solves many issues." I said plainly. "Bella if you would start us off?"

Bella smiled slightly. "I was planning on getting to know the new kids' skills a little so I know what to work on but with Cesium practicing and a whole summer gone by I suppose I'll just test everyone! This will be fun. Abyss can you make your way to that field south of that lake?"

"The one with the waterfall?" I asked. She nodded. I had a portal up quickly. Our new arrivals looked to it with fascination while everyone entered without a blink.

Then the test started.

[|||| == ||||]

"You what?"

"I got an assignment for you."

"I'm on vacation."

"And living like a bum. How many beers have you had today?"

"..."

"You're bored. I thought about sending you off to haven to take the relic-"

"The relic is at Haven?!"

"Yes. Don't go for it. I doubt you could find the sanctuary anyways. Instead of riling everyone up and possibly making a horrible mistake you're going to track down Pyrrha and check on her."

"Lovely. Give me until signal starts and I'll get moving."

"Keep lazing around and you're going to get fat."

"The day I get fat is the day I wear a tutu."

"I'll go buy one. You'll need it soon."

"… Fine. I'll go tomorrow. Do you know where she was last spotted?"

"Western Vale most likely. A small high speed projectile destroyed several houses. A rail gun. I think it's Pyrrha that accidentally fired her semblance railgun and destroyed some property. There's a news article on it."

"Flying too far gives me sore wings and that transfers to my arms. Is there an airship I can take?"

"Didn't I say that you're doing this specifically to get off your ass and do something? Take your time if you want but I'm telling you you're getting soft. Stop being so and exercise a little. Spars aren't doing it for you."

"You flatter me, really. Calling me fat, lazy, AND saying I'm getting soft?"

"You're welcome. It gives you motivation."

"Aren't you the nicest nephew in the world? Maybe I should spar with your little white fang friend. She seemed rather soft to hang around you."

"You can violently play with Blake when you get an update on Pyrrha. Maybe spar with Pyrrha when you find her. I'd appreciate that, actually. I doubt Pyrrha is that strong but it will give you a small challenge at least."

[|||| == ||||]

Three poor bodies lay in some agony on the ground in various states of emotion. Two seemed as though used to it but not quite able to deal with it enough to stand. The other seemed out of her element. One stood in a combat-ready stance with the expression that spoke of being used to this. The final was standing tall and proud though heavily beaten. All of them were in various states of low aura. The two standing were at roughly a quarter each while the others were all around or lower than a tenth of their maximum.

On the other side was myself. I had one thick stick in my hand. Technically it counted as a short sword so long as I used it as one. That let me use it as a conduit for my fighting skill.

The two standing were Kerrigan and Cesium. Cesium was heavily beaten and Kerrigan was resilient and had a high tolerance for pain given his combat training. He once mentioned his family putting him through an anti-interrogation course with his approval. That probably helped build the willpower to stand tall.

Both of them were wielding their actual weapons. Kerrigan had his war axe in hand. It also transformed into a lever action shotgun. A buckler shield was in his hand - a buckler as in a buckler shield for him.

He had actually grow a lot over the summer. He stood at a solid six feet with a little extra. He was the tallest in our class for sure and he wore thick boots on top of that that made him a little taller. That and his large frame made his buckler far larger than normal. Around the size of a kite shield. He also had the muscle to make it heavy and still swing it around like it was made of plastic.

Cesium had upgraded the dual swords he had used all of last year for an average steel sword and long dagger. Neither were good or even mechashift but merely okay. He also had basic armor now. Simple synthetic materials and the basics of all military grade plastics but armor nonetheless. It dampened blows and

His fighting style had grown far more vicious and focused on offense and getting in his opponent's face. He used every advantage he could when he saw them and he was quite adept at seeing them. Any time he saw danger he could step back and immediately dash back into the fray to attack. Despite the seeming frenzy to this style I could see that he kept his front foot slightly more forward than he would going forward as well as his balance being slightly farther backwards than most attack based styles would use. I should know. I was there when Ruby was being taught, after all.

This wasn't at all the fighting Cesium had been capable of before. Before he was more timid. He struck for openings and could block and parry but he had plenty of issues. He thought too much. He tensed his attacking arm too much. He used two full length shortswords when he really shouldn't when practicing dual swordsmanship. His stance was always leaning slightly forwards or backwards when attacking or defending. He wasn't hopeless but he wasn't good. Now he wasn't the best either but he was a huge improvement from what he once was. I would have to fix his aggressiveness a little when fighting a clearly superior opponent but otherwise most of his flaws were corrected. I wonder who trained him? Most likely Neo but it never hurts to make sure.

Weiss was crap when it came to real combat. She had the swordsmanship down to a science but she wasn't trained in huntress swordsmanship. I simply switched to a halberd when I fought her. She had no idea or way to fight that other than to throw dust at me, which was easily countered with my own dust. Her semblance was versatile and powerful as well as quite cheap aura-wise but she hadn't yet found a way to properly merge it with her swordsmanship.

She had a lot of potential at least. Her dust technique and aura control were fantastic for her age and her swordsmanship and dust use blended together seamlessly. She just needed to e a more versatile and agile swordswoman and find an opponent that can't handle dust like it was second nature (it actually was second nature. The dust usage skill was maxed out and higher understanding allowed me to use the skill without thinking about it).

Ocean had always been the sneaky type. I allowed my mind to be influenced by her semblance and she nearly got me a few times but I always had the reflexes to defend against her. I could tell it was frustrating to her but it wasn't something she could fix until she finally got the cat-step technique Bella taught her down. She was too loud otherwise and if not her sound then my nose smelt her. Everyone smelled of something no matter how hard they tried. And if it wasn't one of those things it was my instinctual skill yelling at me, which happened every time. She just needed to have more avenues of attack. Cloak and dagger tactics only went so far against certain opponents. Hopefully her research into homemade bombs yields fruit.

Blake was just barely below Ocean in terms of stealth and her weapon's unorthodox nature made her able to restrain me (or try to, which was distracting), pepper me with bullets I had to avoid, or attack at close range so others got a breather. I had trouble hitting her even with all my skills since her semblance was a bitch to get a visual lock on her and with all the commotion around me I couldn't hear her footsteps since Blake constantly endeavored to make as little noise as possible. Her only weakness was stamina, low pain tolerance, and a weak aura. That last one explained a lot sadly. She was poor at handling dust based attacks as well. I could blanket her general area with fire and her only defense was to run for cover and wait to attack again. She was still one of the most troublesome opponents to face.

Besides the flaws they had all done pretty well. Just not well enough.

Cesium must have seen something in my guard since he lunged in close. I slashed out at him but he dodged and parried to divert my strike. He slashed upwards with his sword but I moved aside swiftly and batted his sword away. With a scuff of dust he was away from me once more. I decided to be done with him and sent a bolt of lightning at him.

To my annoyance Kerrigan closed in and predicted where the bolt would land. His large buckler took the hit. It was insulated so it easily absorbed the charge. He crouched down and Cesium took the cue to run forwards and use his back as a stepping stone. He went into the air with a dagger sliding out of his sleeve already in motion towards me. I could tell it was headed towards my throat. While he was in the air Kerrigan was charging towards me.

I funneled ice dust with some ice mana to add to it and slammed my fist to the ground. The earth didn't budge but in front of me a barricade of ice with slightly blunted spikes grew. The knife still made it over so I caught it.

Cesium barely made it over the barricade but that was fine. He slipped on the angled ice and fell down. I hit him with a blast of lightning and he was out. Kerrigan got creative and used a spike of ice to try to scale over the barricade. Rather risky with his size and momentum if you ask me but it's his choice.

I threw the knife at his left foot. I'm no great knife thrower at all but prediction solved that little issue for me as well as telling me where Kerrigan would be. The knife flew towards him and right into his knee. He nearly buckled under the force of the throw but prevailed towards me. I prepared a lightning bolt as I teleported behind him and threw it the moment I teleported. And like that Kerrigan was out.

"Good job everyone." Bella said from above. A journal of hers was being quickly written on with a complete evaluation. Her eyes didn't even leave it. "Except for you, Weiss. You're showing a lack of adaptability. Dust is versatile but it can be countered by quick reflexes and superior skill at dust handling. Fix that. Also you need to incorporate your semblance into your movement and your swordsmanship into that too - and yes I know that disrupts your whole style but that's too bad. You're too traditional and not mobile enough. Fix it. Oh, and great job Cesium." Bella's eyes flicked to him and made contact with his gold ones. "You showed a lot of improvement. You'll probably be around the top ten now. I can easily see that you didn't slack at all over the summer. Unlike Ocean. Where the hell was the knife throwing I told you to work on?! I didn't even tell cesium to work on that and he got it down!"

Ocean didn't respond other than a rollover and a small groan. I had drop-kicked her in the face and into a tree. She had aura so she was fine but she probably had a bruise. She's be fine by combat class if I gave her a boost and I'm giving everyone one anyways. Just channeling aura to a wound healed it pretty quickly disregarding major wounds.

"I think that settles that for today." Bella said in a satisfied tone. "Kerrigan you're absolved of getting worse at pickpocketing. Your hands were always just too big for that anyways. I can see you've gotten better at planning though so I suppose it's fine. Persuasion is always hard to grade but I think everyone had an overall improvement there too although you, Blake, need some training. You've got the goods to do well at least so I'm not letting that talent go to waste."

"Goods?" Blake wheezed out.

"Boobs." Bella clarified. "And face. And definately body. I saw Ocean giving you jealous looks by the way. Shame on you Ocean." Ocean rolled over again hiding her face. She was not a large chested girl. "You're actually the most capable person for seduction training here. Weiss is a second but I already know she's too prideful." A look from Weiss confirmed this. "So you've been conscripted. Congratulations. I'll give you some private aura sensing lessons in exchange."

"Aura sensing?" Blake moved upwards and seemed to mostly recover from the hits I'd given her. "I thought only special operators knew that sort of thing? Isn't that military level techniques?"

"I AM former military." Bella said with a fox-like grin. "So you get to learn some serious skills. I'll show Weiss the basics of course and she'll be in the lessons we occasionally have. You'll catch up quick I'm sure."

"That sounds… amazing." Apparently Blake was not as recovered as she appeared and she fell back onto her back.

"Just don't spread it to your friends." Bella advised. Blake looked with slightly widened eyes to Bella but She was already jumping down from her spot in the trees. "Let's go wash up a little. We have about fifteen minutes until class ends. You have ten to rinse off and the rest to put your normal clothes on. I have a free period second period so I'll wash everything before combat class. We have a laundry guy for all the combat uniforms after they've been used. I'll call in a small favor. And don't worry about doing this every period. We won't be doing this often at all although we do go on field trips with Abyss often and train in stealth outside. Abyss, the portal please?"

[|||| == ||||]

"You mentioned my friends?"

"White fang and stuff. I got it and I'm not going to yell it from the rooftops. Kerrigan's the second or third heir to one of the most prominent vassal gangs to Roman Torchwick in Vale, Ocean's a creepy little thing, and Cesium's lived in constant poverty. Being a part of a terrorist organization is the most extreme case we have but not really scary. If anything it gives you a headstart since you're trained in covert operations and have a powerful contact."

"I… I see. You really don't care?"

"I do care. I just don't care in a negative way. I care since it gives the class a new potential contact in the fang and that you're ahead of the curve compared to Weiss and not baggage."

"I see. I actually have to ask, how did the Schnee get in?"

"Call her Weiss. She's your new classmate now. And for your information I originally wasn't going to allow her in but Abyss vouched for her. I let him know that she was behind the others already. He said he has some plans for her so I'm just going to let him do as he pleases with her. As far as I'm concerned that I even let her in is a small favor to Abyss."

"Why would he do that?! She's a Schnee!"

"Abyss isn't really biased like that. He met the Schnee heiress briefly in the past. I don't know the specifics of it but he feels that she can change things for the better. Ask him. It's nothing I want a part of."

"Thank you but… you mentioned seduction training?"

"You're doing that starting tomorrow."

"I already know about using my… goods in diplomacy training with the fang."

"Show me."

"No."

"Do it or I'll force you to be in seduction training anyways."

"… *Ahem* Oh hello there. And how are you d-"

"That's awful."

"It's not that bad! Sienna thought it was passable."

"It's horrible. She probably got sick of you trying to seduce her for practice and decided you'd only ever be able to flash your boobs at drunks as far as seduction goes. Here… excuse me, your hair is out of place… There… back where it belongs."

"I… oh."

"Aha! A blush! See?! Close contact, skinship, trailing hands, and plenty of other things. I've even got a secret technique passed down to me from my bestie in my time in the field. I'm willing to pass it down."

"Can you teach me to do that?"

"Well yeah. I kept it light that time since you're, you know, like fourteen?"

"Fifteen."

"Right. Well I didn't use my special technique or have the time to really get started. If I had been too intense you would have recoiled from the contact since you're skittish by nature. When you get more in the mood your inhibitions drop and you become more susceptible to all manner of fun interrogation techniques. Or, just fun techniques. I did, however, use your fetish against you."

"What?!"

"Ninjas of love volume five: The trials of chains. It was in your backpack along with a few others, two of which were based around submission and domination. You have a slight submission fetish judging from that submissive nature though you're a pervert so I would guess that you're comfortable being dominant as well."

"This is NOT a subject to be talking about with a teacher."

"As if. I've read the whole series. I had to read it as homework for my seduction training. Believe it or not that series actually uses advanced interrogation techniques in some parts and seduction techniques thrown around like candy. It's why the series is so detailed. You're being 'seduced' by the details. It's gripping, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"So you're up for seduction training?"

"Yes."

"Great. I'll start with you today then. Just stay an extra hour after class and I'll get started teaching you all I know along with that sensing training. You're almost late for your next class by the way. Get to it."

[|||| =NEXT LEVEL= ||||]

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