Team SWRZ - Volume 1 - Chapter 12 - To The Extraction Point!

Falling from an aerial vehicle wasn't enough for Schwartz der Hund, Watchet Amin, Rowan Cassidy, and Zorina Teufel. Unlike the other students, they took things to another level when they jumped off a cliff into the thick forest below. Sure, only one of them willingly leaped, while the others went along to avoid the stampede of Boarbatusk behind them. Rowan and Zorina screamed their heads off, unprepared for their landing or the rain of Grimm from above.

"Grab my hand!" Watchet pleaded. Rowan and Zorina wasted no time in complying. If the young man could save their lives, they had to prepare to throw all caution to the wind. They locked hands and formed a human chain. Once secured, Watchet launched the blade of his sword, [Serpent's Tongue], into the cliffside. It pulled them to safety and out of reach from the downpour of Grimm.

"We missed one!" Zorina pointed at Schwartz, who resumed freefalling into the forest with the rest of the Boarbatusks.

"Who cares?" Rowan dismissed Schwartz's safety. "Bastard nearly killed us with this recklessness! Leave him to the Grimm!"

"I cannot do that," Watchet shook his head. While their time together was short, they were partners. What kind of Huntsman would he be if he abandoned his partner? "You can go ahead and leave if you would like. But I must go and save Schwartz."

"Well, it's not like we can refuse," Zorina pointed out, helping Rowan realize the helplessness of their situation. They dangled off a cliffside, with their only means of support being Watchet's sword.

"Does anyone have a plan to get down from here safely?" Rowan inquired since she was sure as hell didn't have one.

"Hold on tight, please," Watchet lowered the girls to the bottom of the cliff. His sword returned to its original length as he turned and stared at the pile of Grimm.

Atop of said pile was Schwartz, who casually inspected his clothes.

"Damn it, definitely gotta wash these when I get back," Schwartz complained, brushing off the leaves from his clothes. He looked down and spotted the others. "Oh, you guys survived. Good job."

"Good job? Good job?!" Rowan exclaimed, her face turned red with rage as the Huntsman in training jumped down from the pile of dissipating Grimm. "What the hell was that back there?! You could've gotten us killed!"

"What were you thinking?!" Zorina chimed in.

"I was thinking about killing the Grimm," Schwartz indicated to the dead Grimm behind him. "Plan worked, thanks to me. You're welcome."

"No one's thanking you!" Rowan pointed out.

"I know, and it's rude to the person that saved your lives," Schwartz said.

"This one saved our lives," Zorina placed a firm hand on Watchet's shoulder. "Not you."

"Whatever," Schwartz dismissed their complaints and wandered off randomly.

"Where are you going?! We're not finished here!" Rowan yelled, flailing her fist in the air.

"I don't wanna talk to you anymore. So, it feels like we're finished." Schwartz stopped in his tracks and stared up at the sky. "Damn it. Not much daylight left."

"You don't think the trial will continue even during nightfall, do you?" Zorina wondered. Certainly not out of fear, of course. She was the Empress of Darkness. Twelve mere hours of darkness meant nothing for her.

"I would not put it past them," Watchet answered. "They have already dropped us from airships."

"So, we gonna get moving or what?" Schwartz directed his gaze to his partner. "We still gotta find that last scroll, or else we'll be here all night."

"What color scroll do you need?" Zorina suddenly asked.

Schwartz pointed to the blue scroll secured on his kidney belt. "A red one,"

"Ah, that's the color my destined one has," Zorina revealed, shocking her partner.

"W-What are you talking about?!" Rowan quickly dismissed the revelation. "I don't have a scroll on me!"

"Yes, you do. I saw you steal it from the student you helped earlier."

An imaginary lightbulb appeared above Schwartz's head the moment that words came out of Zorina's mouth. The trial aimed to acquire both scrolls and bring them to an extraction point. The instructors never mentioned any rules on how the students could obtain said scrolls.

Therefore, stealing them was an option Schwartz could use.

"Alright ladies, make this easy on yourselves and hand over the scroll," Schwartz demanded. It was a well-practiced phrase he'd often use when he robbed people with his bandit tribe. Rarely did it ever work, but he figured he'd try it.

"Schwartz, what are you doing?" Watchet nervously asked, knowing the direction the situation was going. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, preparing for anything.

"See what you did?" Rowan angrily whispered to her partner.

"W-Wait! You're not honestly planning on battling against us, are you?" Zorina asked. It didn't cross her mind that her words would cause a fight between the students.

"Depends on your partner there. Are you girls gonna hand over your scroll? Or am I gonna hafta take it from you?" Schwartz gave them their only options. No matter what they chose, he planned to leave with the scroll and complete the trial.

"We got our scroll fair and square! I'll be damned if I let you take it from me!" Rowan stood her ground, ready for a fight if push came to shove.

Maybe kicking his ass would help him learn some manners.

"That so? Guess that's it then," Schwartz shrugged his shoulders, deciding to go ahead with his second option. The moment he reached for his swords, darkness shrouded the entire area, obscuring everyone's view. "What the hell is this?!"

"A Grimm?!" Watchet exclaimed.

"Foolish mortals!" Zorina's voice thundered through the darkness, alarming the other students. "You dare turn your blades on this Empress of Darkness and her destined one?! You shall pay for your insolence with your lives! Prepare yourselves!"

Schwartz smirked and unsheathed his swords [Bark & Bite], gleefully anticipating the first move in the battle. "So, tall, dark, and gloomy, this is your doing? Alright, let's see what you got!"

Another haughty laugh left the mouth of the self-proclaimed Empress. The fool hadn't realized that he was in the abyss of darkness, a place no mortal ever dared to venture and come out sane or alive. Zorina raised her scythe and launched herself forward, violently swinging away at her enemies.

Schwartz and Watchet stood their ground and readied themselves for anything and everything. Amid the darkness, the Huntsmen couldn't let their guards down. They heard simple swipes of a weapon nearby, which caused their bodies to go tense. An attack was coming.

But they didn't know when.

Rowan, on the other hand, remained on standby. Even when shrouded in the cloud of darkness, the young woman hadn't bothered to retrieve her pistols from her sleeves. She had impeccable vision, even in the dark. She stood there, baffled by the strange sight.

Zorina ran around the area like an imbecile, swinging her scythe [Blood Wing] with no clear target. Schwartz and Watchet kept their guard up but were incredibly tense as they waited in anticipation for something to happen.

"Idiots," Rowan invertedly commented before she retrieved her pistols [Double-Dealing] from her sleeves. Since she could see in the darkness, she fired a few Fire Dust-infused shots at the unsuspecting opponents.

The sudden flash of red caught Schwartz and Watchet's attention. The duo evaded the attacks and rushed Rowan. The young woman let out a small sigh before she spun the chambers of her pistols, deciding to go with another type of Dust. Even as they approached, Rowan felt no fear.

The idiots couldn't see her. As long as she played her cards right, she'd have them beaten in no time. Before they could get too close, she leaped into the air and fired Wind Dust rounds at them. She directed most shots toward Schwartz, and they hit their mark. While the ones intended for Watchet surprisingly missed.

No.

He avoided them. The young man shockingly possessed great instincts. He felt the breeze from the bullets coming seconds before they made contact, dodging accordingly. Although random, Watchet swung his sword in Rowan's general direction.

Rowan shrieked and dodged the blade. At that moment, she realized her mistake when that dreadful sound left her mouth. Schwartz used his ears and pinpointed Rowan's location. He dashed over to her, clearing the distance within seconds. While he couldn't see her, Schwartz could make out a form in the darkness.

Left with no choice, Rowan activated her semblance, [Kinetic Burst]. A pulse of energy enveloped the immediate area, slowing everything down to a halt. Rowan stole the scroll from Schwartz's kidney belt and quickly ran to Zorina. She grabbed her partner and led her out of the darkness, leaving Schwartz and Watchet alone.

Soon enough, the darkness and pulse of energy dissipated. Schwartz and Watchet blinked in confusion, noticing the fleeing women.

"Bunch of cowards," Schwartz commented, resting the dull side of his sword on his shoulder. His eyes widened when he spotted a familiar scroll in Rowan's hands. He patted down his kidney belt, not feeling his specific item. "Son of a bitch! They stole the scroll!"

"We must retrieve it!" Watchet and Schwartz chased after them.

"They're gaining!" Zorina yelled.

"Yeah, I know!" Rowan turned around and fired a few shots. Schwartz ran out before Watchet and deflected the bullets with his swords. Afterward, Watchet jumped out from behind his partner and swung his sword. The blade extended and chased Rowan.

The con woman activated her semblance again, unleashing an energy pulse that slowed everything down. She grabbed Zorina and jumped into a pile of bushes, undoing her semblance simultaneously. Schwartz and Watchet stopped once again, puzzled about how they managed to lose their targets similarly. In their eyes, it appeared that Rowan possessed a speed semblance.

"Shit! Where'd they go?!" Schwartz cursed, looking around for any immediate sign of Rowan and Zorina. "We can't let them escape with our scrolls!"

"They could not have gotten too far," Watchet assumed.

While Schwartz and Watchet continued to converse, Rowan and Zorina kept their heads down, concealed in the bushes. Rowan's hand was placed tightly around Zorina's mouth to keep her from revealing their position. With her attention directed toward her opponents, she was unaware of the danger that lay before her.

However, Zorina wasn't ignorant of it. Her eye went wide at the sight of the Grimm slithering toward them. A King Taijitu. The girl's body trembled in fear, but Rowan paid it no mind. It wasn't until she heard the dreadful hiss did she realize their dilemma.

Rowan carefully went for her gun, but it was too late. The Serpent Grimm lunged, intending to swallow the girls whole. The girls closed their eyes and braced for death.

But it never came.

Bullets from Schwartz and a few slashes from Watchet rendered the Grimm blind when their attacks struck it in the eye. It reeled back and screeched in agonizing pain, which case caused the second head to take its place.

Schwartz leaped over Rowan and Zorina, spiraling toward the Grimm with his swords in hand. He sliced the head of the King Taijitu and jumped away for Watchet to deliver the finishing blow. The Huntsman's blade lashed out and decapitated the beast while Schwartz dealt with the other head.

Schwartz pointed his swords at the damsels in distress when the two finished while Watchet looked on ahead.

"Ladies," Schwartz smiled. "Think I'll be taking those scrolls back now."

"You saved us just to rob us?!" Rowan exclaimed. She'd expect someone like her to pull that kind of stunt.

"Schwartz, we do not need to rob them," Watchet tugged on Schwartz's clothes. Schwartz turned and looked ahead, spotting several scrolls spread out around the field. The black-haired Huntsman approached the scrolls and picked up the ones they needed.

"There's blood on these," Schwartz commented. He looked onward and spotted corpses of mangled students. "Whatever did that to those guys might still be here."

"Then we should leave!" Zorina suggested, getting sick and tired of the forest. She'd seen more than enough danger for one day.

"Anyone know where the nearest extraction point is?" Rowan asked.

"How about we check the scrolls," suggested Watchet as he grabbed the ones in Schwartz's hands. Without a second thought, he opened them and placed them on the ground. "It looks like the contents of the scrolls are of a map."

"But, it's incomplete," Rowan complained, noting that the map didn't specify an extraction point.

"What's the point of these scrolls then?!" Zorina exclaimed.

"Maybe we need to combine them?" Watchet held his hand out for Rowan and Zorina's scrolls. While reluctant at first, the young woman handed them over. Watchet opened the scrolls and placed them on the ground.

The four scrolls formed a perfect map detailing several extraction points across the forest.

"Closest one is over here," Schwartz pointed. "We can get there in about another hour if we hurry,"

"No time to waste," Watchet collected all four scrolls and gestured for Schwartz to lead the way, which the Huntsman gladly accepted. Rowan and Zorina once again hesitated, not feeling too giddy about following people that were their enemies not even five minutes ago.

But, when they considered their options, it was better to follow them than to stick around in that area. And with that, the four students decided to hold together and reach the extraction point.