[b][u]Reaper 3.1[/b][/u]
"And that's the match." Professor Goodwitch announced as Pyrrha finished demolishing Team CRDL in a 4-on-1 match.
"Lucky shot…" Cardin wheezed, before collapsing on the floor.
I sighed.
This was supposed to be a display of how teamwork could overpower a single individual and get the students used to fighting against superior numbers as most Huntsmen found themselves doing out on the job.
Instead, CRDL had found themselves getting picked apart by the masterful display Pyrrha put on and had devolved back into individual fighters – even causing some friendly fire incidents – that I'd hoped I'd beaten out of them in the first semester.
"Well done, Miss Nikos." Goodwitch continued, only sparing a glance to the now unconscious leader of Team CRDL. "You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Alright, while I know that's a tough act to follow, we do have time for one more sparring match." Professor Goodwitch continued. "Any volunteers?"
Normally that offer would have gotten a dozen eager hands in the air as students squabbled to show off… but no one seemed to want to step up after Pyrrha's performance.
"Miss Belladonna," Goodwitch eventually called out, getting a startled jump from the hidden catgirl, "You've been rather docile for the past few classes, why don't you–"
"I'll do it." One of the visiting exchange students interrupted, raising his hand. And I had to hide the almost instinctive scowl from showing on my face.
"Mercury, was it? Then let's find you an opponent."
"Actually, I'd like to fight… her." Mercury made a show of almost pointing out someone in the stands before snapping a finger down at Pyrrha.
Professor Goodwitch was less subtle than I was about her disapproval. "I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished a match. I recommend you choose another partner."
"No, it's–!" Pyrrha started to protest before I rapped her on the head with Torashinai.
"You already heard the Professor. Let someone else fight." I scolded. "If Mercury really wants a match with you he can request one at the beginning of class like everyone else."
In reality, I was just taking any opportunity to limit the interactions between the 'students' from Haven Academy and the others. Because while I knew Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald were agents working for Salem… officially they had been cleared by Headmaster Lionheart, a supposedly close associate of Ozpin's.
It was another instance of where my metaknowledge was hard to act on simply because explaining my reasoning was impossible or would be dismissed based on a lack of evidence.
I couldn't even raise an objection about their behaviour of obviously scouting out the other students because the Vytal Festival was right around the corner. Obviously the students would be sizing up their competition.
I could however force them to be a bit more blatant about challenging the better fighters in my classes. If they wanted to get more information, they were going to have to reveal some of their own skills. No hiding behind excuses like 'fighting a tired opponent allowed them to last longer than normal'.
Professor Goodwitch at least partially agreed with me and looked back up at Mercury. "Is there someone else you wish to challenge, or should I pick one out at random?"
"Well then, what about her? She keeps giving me bedroom eyes." Mercury shifted his finger to point at me. "If the assistant teach wants me so bad, I'd be happy to dance with her."
It was a cheap taunt, and I'd already been exposed to Mercury's cocky attitude to not really care about what he said, so I just looked towards Goodwitch to see if she was fine with the challenge. Whatever her decision was, it didn't matter much to me. Unless Mercury started fighting at a significantly higher level than what he had shown in the past, he wasn't going to force me to use anything that I hadn't already shown off in class previously.
"If you're sure, then yes. You can have a match with Miss Cross." Goodwitch said neutrally.
-o-
While we waited for Professor Goodwitch to start the match I looked Mercury over.
Unlike most people, he didn't have a handheld weapon. Instead, he had a pair of boots that looked like they functioned very similarly to Yang's Ember Celica. Basically belt-fed shotguns attached to his limbs. He also was one of the few that consistently wore armor, even if it was mostly just thin metal plates that covered both his arms.
Even if I hadn't seen him fight before now it was pretty obvious he favored a kick based fighting style and while he preferred to stay evasive, he wasn't incapable of taking a hit.
"Fighters ready? Begin!"
At Goodwitch's announcement, Mercury shot forward and kicked at my head. It was showy, dramatic, and just begging for his other leg to get swept out from underneath him – so I parried his initial attack and did so with a quick kick of my own.
He went down hard, but recovered almost immediately by rolling away and kipping back to his feet. I wasn't just letting him run away though, and had dashed after him the second I saw him move.
I had the satisfaction of watching the smug half-smirk slip off his face as my first attack almost caught him in the ribs, and the next four got even closer. Mercury didn't just let me beat on him though. He threw several kicks at me and even redirected a few with some well timed blasts from his boots to attack from unexpected directions, but I could tell he was more focused on probing me than actually committing to an attack.
The two of us fell into a brief rhythm where he would try to overwhelm me with a flurry of kicks while getting nearly up in my face, and then I would counter and launch several attacks of my own until he backed off to recollect himself before rushing in again.
At least until I caught his hip with a glancing strike that momentarily broke his mask.
Before anyone participated in the Combat Class they were exposed to Torashinai to know what they were getting into. But feeling actual pain through your Aura when you were expecting it and feeling it in the middle of a fight were two very different things, and Mercury immediately kicked away from me almost twice as fast as anything he showed until now.
He recognized the slip though, even as gasps sounded out among the students, and moved to end the spar.
Mercury fired off three blasts from his shotgun-boots that rapidly repositioned him right behind me… and right into the blind sweeping slash from a second Torashinai.
It was entirely intentional on his part I was sure, but I enjoyed the fact he would feel that hit even if it still did no actual damage.
The exchange student was sent flying across the combat ring until he managed to turn it into a roll back onto his feet and glared sharply at me.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see everyone lean forward in expectation about what his next move would be even as Mercury stood straighter, raised his hand–
"I forfeit."
–and promptly gave up.
"Good match." I said politely since I had an image to maintain, ignoring the outraged cries of the other students for the anticlimactic end.
I was rather happy with it actually. Not only did I get a bit more information on how strong Cinder's teammates actually were, I also didn't reveal anything new.
"In that case, Alexandria Cross is the winner of the match." Professor Goodwitch announced before fixing a hard look at Mercury. "Though in the future I recommend being a little more serious in these matches if you want to be a licensed Huntsman."
"I'll be sure to do that." Mercury waved her off, already walking away with his cocky smirk back in place.
Anything else Professor Goodwitch would have liked to say was cut off by the bell, so instead she just announced to the rest of the class, "Alright, 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!"
"So be safe and if you're going to break the rules – don't get caught!" I added cheekily, and only partially joking.
Afterall, I had my own plans for the dance, and they definitely broke a few rules…
Along with probably several laws.
-o-
"So you failed to scout out Pyrrha Nikos." Cinder said, not very pleased by her minions' failure.
"Not my fault the teachers decided to stop me." Mercury shrugged as best he could while laying on the floor reading a comic book. "Or that, that team of weaklings demanded to fight her before we even finished walking into the classroom."
"We did manage to get a look at how Alexandria Cross fights though!" Emerald spoke up eagerly in hopes of impressing her boss.
"Oh? I thought she was avoiding one on one matches with the tournament around the corner." Cinder raised an eyebrow at the mint-haired girl.
"Apparently no one just thought to challenge her, or Mercury's face annoyed her enough for her to decide to fight anyway."
"Also not my fault if the teacher's hot for me." The silver haired boy snarked. "Not that it really meant much. She didn't try at all during our fight, even when I got serious for a second."
"Really now…"
"She easily followed his movements, even when he used his boots to rapidly reposition." Emerald explained. "Not only did she know where he was, she didn't try to escape or reposition. She just countered whenever he left an opening."
"No, not whenever I left an opening. Only when she could attack without showing off." Mercury countered, sitting up and scowling. "I saw her watch me moving to block and then doing nothing to change her angle of attack. Not only that, she wasn't even trying all that hard when she did hit me."
Cinder frowned. "Would that have even mattered? Her 'Semblance' allowed her to create a weapon that couldn't cause physical damage even if the wielder used their full strength."
"Yeah, there's a difference between someone wanting to hit you because they can and someone wanting to hit you. Trust me, I would know." Mercury said. "Cross was going through the motions and definitely not using the style she normally fights with."
"So you failed to scout out one of the students I specifically asked you to look into, got beaten up by someone not even trying, and apparently failed to even get more data on her actual fighting style." Cinder was definitely unhappy at how the report was going.
"Well, we did confirm two things." Emerald said hesitantly.
"Yeah, Cross is definitely a dual wielder and can definitely use magic." Mercury nodded. "No idea if she is actually another Maiden, but no Semblance can just bypass Aura like that. Her sword didn't project the feeling of getting hit like the school said, it straight up ignored my Aura like I never had it."
He paused and looked directly at Cinder. "As for her fighting style, she actually reminds me of you. That's the feeling I get anyway."
"The same as me, hmm? How interesting. I suppose that's better than nothing." Cinder mused. "Make sure you send everything to Roman. His plan to capture her should almost be ready but every little bit helps."
Emerald and Mercury shared a confused look before Emerald raised a hand.
"I thought we were moving towards the second phase of the plan. Will Roman even have a chance to do anything before that? Cross hasn't left the Academy since the semester started."
Cinder waved dismissively. "He can delegate it to someone else if he needs to. Besides, I am already expecting his attempt to fail. I'm more interested in determining if Alexandria Cross is a Maiden or more about her actual fighting style for the next attempt. What you discovered in class is potentially helpful, but an attack outside the school will give us much better information to work with."
She gave her two subordinates a chilling smile.
"That's all for the future however. We have a fun weekend ahead of us…"
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