Test and Consideration

During the Combat class, Pyrrha manhandles Team CRDL all on her own. Her skill was shown clearly for all to see, and Ryder was impressed. It had been a little bit of time since the whole Paladin mech incident. While everyone is acting the same, Blake is acting beyond normal. He looked over to her and saw her tired look and was concerned. As Pyrrha lands the final blow, Cardin stumbles back clutching his chest in pain as Glynda walks up to them. 

"And that's the match." Glynda said, ending the match. 

"Lucky shot." Cardin said, in pain, before collapsing. 

"Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." Glynda said, directly to Pyrrha. 

"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha thanked. 

"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match." Glynda said. 

She then looks around at the audience that was watching the fight. At first, she was going to pick Kairos to test him to see how far he's come, but then her eyes landed on Blake who doesn't seem focused on class due to the book in her hands. 

"Any volunteers? Miss Belladonna?" Glynda calls out. 

Blake slams her book shut and looks at Glynda with wide eyes. Not expecting to be called. 

"You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-" Glynda was cut off by someone. 

This someone raised their hand. Ryder followed Glynda's gaze and saw the man in question. 

"I'll do it." The man said. 

"Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent." Glynda said. 

"Actually, I want to fight... her." Mercury says as he points at Pyrrha. 

"Me?" Pyrrha asks. 

"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Glynda said. 

Pyrrha went to interject but Ryder decided to join in. 

"I'll do it." Ryder said. 

Mercury seems surprised and then lightly scowls. Kairos picks up on this and gazes at him with suspicion. Kairos also takes notice of Mercury's friend, Emerald, reacting the same way. Okay now he's very suspicious of those two. Could just be his paranoia speaking so he shrugs it off for now. They could just be mad that Ryder intercepted the challenge. A likely option in his eyes but he'll keep an eye out for them just in case. 

"Very well, Mr. Falcone." Glynda said. 

Both Ryder and Mercury made their way down into the arena. This time everyone was in their combat clothing and had their weapons with them for some reason. Not that Ryder minds. Ryder stands across from Mercury who stands casually. Ryder then takes a starting stance. Mercury humors him and does the same. Glynda steps back to a safe distance to watch the fight. 

"Begin." Glynda orders. 

Mercury charges in while Ryder remained still. As Mercury got close, he jumped up and arced his heel around to lend a downward kick. Ryder smiled and side stepped. Mercury recovered and sent a horizontal kick towards Ryder's face but Ryder dodged it. Ryder was waiting for an opening to strike so he's trying his best to dodge in hopes of making Mercury slip up. He hopes to achive this by making Mercury frustrated. He also isn't going to use his Semblance in this fight as he knows he can't rely on it. He also wants to see how he does without it. This is also the first time he's really fighting another person. Sure he's fought Tai in training, but never in a tournament styled duel. Mercury's still airborne foot is pulled back as he bends leg before he thrusts his foot forward, letting out a shotgun blast. Ryder wasn't expeted it but thankfully his aura ate up the damage. Mercury smiles smugly before pressing his advance. 

Mercury sends a barrage of kicks at Ryder who blocks them with his gauntlets. Ryder then crossed his arms to form an X as he blocks a final kick from Mercury. The gauntlets crackle with lightning as Ryder chambers lightning dust. Mercury sees this and attempts to back up, but Ryder grabs his heel and launches a surge of lightning from his gauntlets which shock Mercury. Ryder then halts this volt storm and hurls Mercury over him and slams him onto the ground. Ryder then chambers wind dust into his boots and leaps into the air, he cups his hands together and charges the still chambered lightning dust. A ball of Lightning forms before he pushes it forward and this time instead of a beam of lightning like he did during initiation, he fires a ball of lightning at Mercury. 

Mercury gets up off the ground and sees this before performing a double back handspring. The ball of lighting hits the ground and emits a lot of electricity in all directions and leaves a faint spider web styled crack on the ground. Ryder drops down and lands on his feet. Mercury then charges him, seemingly without a plan besides attacking. Ryder can't tell if it's bait or not, but he'll risk it. Ryder's eyes turn green as an intense green aura bursts out around him Dragon Ball style minus the screaming. Ryder went straight to 4x to end the fight quickly. He dashes at Mercury and gets behind him at lightning speed, shocking Mercury a little. Mercury quickly turns around with an arced kick, but Ryder grabs his leg before he pushes it aside and sends an uppercut into Mercury's jaw which sent him up into the air. Ryder leaped up and flipped around before kicking downwards at the ground. The ground cracks even more under the impact. Mercury lays on the ground as his aura flickered. Ryder lands on the ground and turns off his Semblance. His eyes return to normal as his dragon ball esk aura vanishes. Mercury gets up off the ground and glared at Ryder who just smiles. 

"I forfeit." Mercury said, reluctantly. 

In the stands, Emerald was stunned. She'd never seen a Semblance like Ryder's before. 

"In that case, Ryder Faclone is the victor of the match." Glynda said. 

The bell soon went off. 

"That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." Glynda said. 

Everyone gets up from their seats and proceeds to leave, but as Ryder leaves Mercury and Emerald glare at him. Something that's picked up on by Kairos who decides this time to pay no mind. Outside of the Auditorium, Sun and his team was standing at the entrance as Team RWBY walks past them followed by Ryder and Kairos. Sun takes notice of Blake and runs after her. 

"Hey, Blake!" Sun calls out. 

Sun grabs Blake by the shoulder making her turn to face her. She looked extremely tired. 

"You uh, doing okay?" Sun asks. 

"I'm fine." Blake said, lying, obviously. 

"So i hear there's this dance going on this weekend... ah, sounds pretty lame. But you and me, I'm thinking, not so lame, huh?" Sun asks. 

"What?" Blake asks, sounding confused by what he was trying to ask. 

"The dance! This weekend! You wanna go, or what?" Sun asks, making his question clearer. 

"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that." Blake said, a little harshly. 

Blake walks away and passes her team, Ryder and Kairos. Sun sinks from the rejection. Kairos looks at Ryder who shrugs his shoulders. Before they walked off, the two spotted Ozpin approaching them. The rest of team RWBY saw too. 

"Students." Ozpin greets. 

"Is there something you need, sir?" Weiss asks. 

"Not necessarily. I just wish to speak to Mr. Falcone about something." Ozpin said, calmly. 

Ryder nods at Ozpin before looking at Kairos. 

"Hold out on making strategies while I'm gone." Ryder said. 

"No promises." Kairos said. 

Ryder smiled slightly before walking towards Ozpin. The two then walk away from the large auditorium. It took them some time, but they made it to Ozpin's office, it was a mostly quiet walk to the office. But once they arrived, Ozpin walks out of the elevator with Ryder following him. Ozpin reaches his desk and looks out the window at the atlas airships still present. 

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Ryder asks. 

"I'm sure you've noticed the presence of the Atlas Military." Ozpin said, turning to him. 

"of course. But how is that very important?" Ryder asks. 

"General Ironwood is among a special few whom I trust. He's a... close friend." Ozpin said. "While I'm grateful you've entrusted me with the secret of the Dragon Balls, consulting General Ironwood could be a beneficial path." 

"How so?" Ryder asks. 

"Searching for all of the Dragon Balls with just the two of us in an immense task. While I'm not exactly a push over, I will admit my limitations. I believe that if these Orbs are to be located, then General Ironwood could help us. He has the resources we lack, and it would prove beneficial to us to have him aid us in this quest." Ozpin explains. 

"They'll most likely be scattered across the globe in a wide assortment of places." Ryder said. "Are you certain Ironwood can be trusted with this information?" 

"I'm certain. But if you need time to decide that's perfectly fine. Even if we do not tell him, I have faith that finding the orbs will a simple yet complicated task." Ozpin said. 

Ryder nods. 

"You may leave, that is all." Ozpin said, calmly. 

Ryder turns and walks to the elevator. Once he enters and hits a button, the doors close. But once they closed Ozpin kept looking at the door. 

"If only you knew how helpful these orbs are." Ozpin said.