"Nice place." I commented as I looked around the gymnasium my test was going to take place in.
It was a lot bigger than I initially expected, but considering the speed and agility of Huntsmen it made sense for Beacon to have some larger spaces available for the students to practice without worrying about bouncing into a wall or something. Especially if they had entire teams practicing at the same time.
"Beacon is one of the best Huntsmen academies in the world. Our facilities reflect that status." Professor Goodwitch stated primly.
I nodded back at her comment. "Since I don't see anything medical related I guess that means I'm going first?"
"No, Leona will be fighting first. While you did mention she is not a primary combatant, it is crucial for all of our staff to be able to defend themselves in an emergency."
Well that could be a problem.
"Um, I don't have my Aura unlocked. Is that going to be a problem?" Leona asked.
Goodwich shook her head. "We're aware neither of you do and will be unlocking both of your Auras before the test."
"Won't that mess with the test results?" I asked, but got another head shake in return.
"Obviously neither of you will be capable of using more advanced Aura manipulation techniques, but the basic protection and augmentation is instinctual. Not only would it be irresponsible to expect you to fight a trained Huntress even in a sparring setting without such protection, it is a crucial tool in measuring when a sparring match should end to prevent injuries on both sides." The professor explained. "If you are worried about it affecting your combat performance, Aura is the light of your soul. We have never seen someone become less capable after theirs is unlocked."
So Leona should be fine…
Goodwich placed a hand on my apprentice and after a moment Leona started glowing a soft green.
I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "That's it?"
"Were you expecting something more?"
Kinda, if I was being honest. "I mean, I thought there was a ritual that went along with unlocking an Aura?"
My comment got a chuckle from the Headmaster. "Usually you are correct. When someone learns to unlock another's Aura for the first time they are taught a mnemonic to help with the process. Once they are proficient enough with their control, many choose to abandon it unless it is for close friends or family. Though I admit Ministrali cartoons do make the process seem more grand to the public. If you want I could…" He trailed off holding his hand out in an unspoken offer.
I flushed. Great, now they thought I was a nerd. "No, no, it's fine. I was just wondering. I'm fine with the silent version."
He chuckled again but thankfully simply placed his hand on my shoulder.
Almost immediately I felt an…intrusion was the wrong word. Probe? Probe worked…into my soul. It felt a lot like what the Twins had tried during their first interrogation and I almost reacted simply because of that, but once I was past the knee-jerk reaction I noticed it was…diffuse…hollow…like instead of a tendril trying to worm its way into my soul it was a light beam being shined into the core of my being trying to coax something out.
What felt weirder was that I could tell the Hogyoku was watching the probe. As if it was somehow analyzing if it was hostile to me and waiting for a moment to attack. Before it could though, Ozpin's aura did…something, and I felt my own soul react. A yellow light surged from the core of my being and began to push the probe back.
The Hogyoku took that as permission and joined in, violently adding to the surge of light and suddenly I was looking at a very stunned Ozpin as he jerked back his hand.
"Well now…how interesting." He murmured, flexing his hand and looking at the small scorch mark left behind. "I believe you have a very potent Aura, Miss Cross. Now shall we proceed to the tests?"
I didn't believe for a second that was going to be the end of that little incident, but there really was nothing else to do but nod and move on.
Professor Goodwich helped us through the process of syncing our scrolls with the Aura readers before escorting Leona to the middle of the room in preparation for her examination. Leona for her part looked distinctly uncomfortable. Which was understandable since despite actively participating in a war, the times she had to deal with anything other than a rowdy patient without her magic could be counted on both hands.
The fight itself was quick and unremarkable.
Leona had a bit of experience using a spear/staff so it wasn't like she was completely helpless, but it was very clear from the beginning Goodwitch wasn't taking her very seriously.
Almost nonexistent guard, overly telegraphed attacks, deliberately missed counterattacks…
Five minutes later, the match ended when Leona's Aura went into the red.
My apprentice trudged over to me with a pout on her face and I couldn't help trying to cheer her up. "Don't worry about it. You'd have done a lot better if you could use magic." I whispered as I gave her a hug.
"I would have, but that doesn't matter when we are trying to hide such things." She grumped. "I'll need to spend some more time practicing for situations where magic or mystic codes aren't available."
I gave her a slightly smug look that got me a huff and a weak shove. I'd been trying to get her to be more proactive in physical training but she had always turned it down because she wanted to focus on the magical side and how to craft mystic codes. Neither of us really considered her needing to hide those things because someone would know it was magic and not something like a very versatile Semblance.
I hadn't pushed because there were only like…twelve?...people on Remnant that even knew about magic and I wasn't really planning on interacting with them, but best laid plans and all that.
"You still did pretty good for a noncombatant. Your distancing was pretty good and you at least tried to use a few feints." I assured her. "Don't worry about it too much and just get ready for the medical test. That's the one that really matters to you."
She nodded but I could tell how easily she was beaten still bothered her.
I made a mental note to talk to her more about it later, but right now it was my turn for a fight.
"So how did you want to do this?" I asked as I took my position across from the blonde professor.
Goodwitch adjusted her glasses with one hand while brandishing the riding crop she used as a weapon at its full length. "We are determining your suitability as a combat instructor's assistant. It should be obvious, no?"
Well if she wanted to put it that way…
"Alright, any limitation on weapons?"
"Use what you plan to use in a classroom, miss Cross. Now unless there are any other questions, are you ready to begin?"
"Yep, you asked for it though." A simple bamboo shinai appeared in my hands, the only distinguishing feature a cute little tiger charm hanging from the guard.
A perfectly normal training weapon in most cases, except for the unfortunate fact this sword gave off the same amount of bloodlust as Gae Bolg.
"W-what is that?!" Goodwich stuttered slightly.
I didn't blame her for it. It wasn't like there were a whole lot of demonic swords floating around on Remnant. Anyone would be startled having one show up out of nowhere all of the sudden.
I was going to mess with her though. "Oh you know, just the killing intent of an ancient Grimm I've faced bound in a sword. Don't worry though Tora Shinai here is totally harmless." Which was actually true, from a certain point of view. The second part that is.
Honestly I was surprised to see the sword in the Unlimited Blade Works because it was more of a meme than a real sword, but it was there. A Noble Phantasm of the lowest rank that was honestly useless outside a sparring match.
What Tora Shinai actually was, was two contradictory things taken to their extremes. A blade that wanted to bathe in the blood of its victims, yet because of its nature as a training sword was incapable of causing real damage. It would hurt if I landed a hit, but even using my full strength against someone who never trained a day in their life Tora Shinai would leave a minor bruise at best.
It would still hurt like hell though. Which when sparring, wasn't exactly a bad thing.
Goodwitch obviously didn't know any of that though and looked mildly disturbed by my choice of weapon. "We are trying to train Huntsmen, not scar them Miss Cross. Do you really plan on using…that, in a classroom?"
"Better they get used to being the target of bloodlust and killing intent in the classroom than out in the field where a mistake can mean death." I shrugged. "Does Beacon not do something similar?"
It seemed that was point to me, because Goodwitch said nothing else and simply motioned for the fight to begin.
Both of us started off relatively slow.
Goodwitch wasn't using her Semblance and I wasn't using my own bag of tricks. It was a purely physical fight and even then Goodwitch was holding back. Significantly less so than when she was facing Leona, but it was still noticeable. Somewhat sloppy guard, an over extension after a lunging attack that I was initially convinced was a trap, and a bad habit of twirling her weapon before charging.
Not the kind of things I would expect from an experienced teacher, until I remembered her words before the beginning of our match. She was judging me on my suitability as a teaching assistant, not my skill as a fighter in general. Which meant she was probably acting the role of a student with those issues to see how I responded.
Well, if she was going to keep purposefully making mistakes then it was only fair if I punished her for them, right?
"You're overextending." I commented lightly as Goodwitch lunged again. This time I brought Tora Shinai solidly down on her arm.
Professor Goodwitch actually yelped from the unexpected pain and almost dropped her weapon. Then suddenly I wasn't facing a woman playacting as a student with bad habits but a seasoned Huntress as the professor not only retreated easily twice as fast as what she had previously shown, and looked fully ready to smash me into the ground if needed.
I just planted the tip of my sword on the ground and leaned on it, very obviously not ready to keep attacking.
That was enough for Goodwitch to calm down a bit and inspect her arm. Sure enough, there wasn't even a mark on it despite what must have felt like something cutting right through her aura to hit her arm directly.
Which was kinda what happened.
Tora Shinai couldn't deal damage, but was also mostly immune to magical defenses in return. The only way to block it without feeling the pain the demonic sword wanted to impart was to deflect it with a weapon or catch it on a piece of armor.
And Professor Goodwitch's blouse sleeves certainly didn't rate enough to count as armor.
"It really doesn't cause harm, does it?" She muttered as she finished her inspection. "Fascinating. We heard about you managing to create specialized weapons when we talked to the refugees from Crossbell, but we had no idea you could do something like this."
Ah, I guess I had shown off something like that when I turned a bunch of arrows into a minefield.
Oh well. Unless I was going to massively limit my arsenal, that particular detail was going to come out sooner or later. Might as well have it be now.
"Yep, ready to get back to it?" I gave the professor a taunting smile. "I noticed a few other bad habits you were showing off. I'd hate to end my evaluation early without the chance to point them out."
I got a thoroughly unamused glare back from the Professor. "Is that so? Then why don't we try something a little more…advanced." She deadpanned, smacking her riding crop into her other hand as several patterns on her blouse started glowing purple.
…I didn't remember her being able to do anything like that.
I think I might have made a mistake.
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