บท 9: Relics or Chess?
As we stood on our respective spots given to us by our dear headmaster, I couldn't shake the feeling I was constantly in the most danger at this particular moment. Why you may ask. Because Ozpin is staring daggers at me.
"I see this time you grace us with your presence Mr. Rose." He used my official name. I could just see Blake at the other end of the lineup quizzically look in my direction. Shit, now she'll think I lied about my name. For all she knows she'll believe I was trying to shake her off from looking into me. Dammit Ozpin you son of a- "I was going to introduce you during the Entrance Ceremony, but I guess this will suffice for now while I explain the procedure of what this exercise will be consisting of. Everyone if you could give your attention to the young man in the Grey hoodie with dreadlocks. Say hello to our new student that will most likely pass this exam with flying colors. Doug Rose, I'd love to inform all of you that he is our youngest attendee at our most prestigious school at the ripe age of 14, which I believe your birthday is in a few weeks is it not Doug?"
"Yes it's in two and a half weeks to be exact. Thank you for reminding me Mr. Oz." I thanked him with the least enthusiasm as I possibly could. He took notice and decided to cut me some slack for the time being. Thank goodness.
It didn't however help the glares I got from Ozpin's little speech. Especially from a jealous looking brunette behemoth of a guy two persons down from me. Well, let's hope he doesn't end up on my team. Bad chemistry is never good for team building, no matter how into the mission one engulfs themselves in. So I did the best thing possible for the both of us, I ignored that he even existed.
"For years you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Miss Glynda stepped forward. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...Today."
The entire crowd of students began to groan and whine causing Mr. Oz to step back in and take over.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well with." I heard Ruby cry a little. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"W-WHAT?!" Ruby cried aloud.
"See I told you." I could hear Nora tell Ren.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ozpin pushed his spectacles up from the edge of his nose. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You shall find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
Jaune spoke up while raising his hand, "Yeah um, sir-"
"Good! Now, take your positions." But Ozpin ignored him.
After everybody got into position to go, the first person got catapulted into the air.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um, a question." Jaune was still determined to get an answer. I give that boy one thing, he sure can be motivated when danger is involved, even if it isn't what I expected. Perhaps he could be on my team? But then again... Do I really feel like training him to be a better warrior? It seems like a lot. That'd probably be too tiresome. I'll just leave it to fate, if I see him after landing, then I'll decide about him and I being comrades.
Weiss was the next to be flung into the sky over the cliff.
"So, this landing strategy thing, uh w-what is it? You're dropping us off or something?" Oh dear Jaune, this is not good, he's already in the denial stage of what's happening.
"No." Ozpin slightly swished his coffee mug around and looked him in the eyes. "You will be falling."
Just then the next person got catapulted into the sky. He was a scraggly kid with a short, custom Mohawk. As he went he had a devious grin on his face. Great, not only do I have to worry about those who have no idea what they're doing, I need to keep an eye out for the clinically insane.
"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune was starting to come around but he wasn't all there yet.
"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin slowly played by Jaune's game until he could slowly start to see the big picture.
"Uh huh... Yeah." Another one soon followed after insane boy, ever getting closer to Jaune. "So, um, what exactly is a landing strateGYYYYY!" He cried out being flung into the air. Lastly, it was my turn. I was waiting for my turn to take to the skies when I noticed I was still on the ground.
"Uh, hm. Mr. Ozpin?" I called out to the man sipping his coffee. "My catapult isn't working."
He looked at it for a couple of seconds and stated, "It looks perfectly functional to me."
'Are you serious right now. I'm gonna miss my pairing to find a teammate at this rate old man!' I thought. "So I was destined to go solo from the very beginning?"
"Let's be honest, you were always most comfortable on your own anyway right?" One of his eyebrows raised as he took a sip from his mug.
I crossed my arms across my chest with a bitter scowl.
"Don't get into a mood now, young Doug. You have a separate mission to attend to. Miss Glynda if you would please." He motioned to the blonde woman. I swear, is it just me or does the skirt of her dress keep getting tighter every time I see her?
"Your mission is to hunt down a Grimm. One that is highly evolved and dangerous if left alone it could cause a threat level so high even our most distinguished Hunters wouldn't be able to stop- Are you even listening?!"
I straightened my back on reflex. "Yes! Please continue."
She shook her head and kept going, only pausing to look me in the eyes to make sure I was paying attention.
"As of right now all our available cadres for this exam are protecting the students from any real harm only letting a few major Grimm into the area to test their skills and fighting ability. Where the Grimm we are assigning to you, will be in the far East away from the exam area. That being said, we will not be able to assist you in this mission, or provide backup in case anything goes wrong. The only support we will be able to give is directions on where it was last seen by our tracking team. These are the coordinates." She typed on her scroll and a beep echoed from mine.
"How did yo-"
"Whenever a new scroll walks onto campus, our servers automatically scans it and identifies the person. Looks like you've got....ahem, quite the search history. Doug, do you wish to explain the abundance of pornographic material in your library?" The look on her face was utter disgust and shock.
"I'll take a rain check on that offer Ms. Goodwitch, thank you. But I need to pass this test first."
"Ahem...If you succeed in bringing the specimen in alive, this could spell out a new pathway in your life." Ozpin stepped closer to me and began to eye me up and down. "If you are successful with this, not only would you pass this class, but will be treated as a contracted Hunter. You will be exempt from certain classes and given special privileges. The same kind that your dear uncle received back when he was a mere student."
"He was given special treatment?" I had no idea that he was given privileges above the rest of his peers. To be honest I haven't heard of what his school years were like now that I think about it. I've only heard about some of his missions that he went on. He was a very secretive man.
"Oh indeed." Ozpin began to pace back and forth. "I can even remember the times where he pulled so many pranks on multiple teachers in the same day. Poor Professor McKinnon, he's still self conscious about his eyebrows to this very day."
My dad was a prankster? Now that is some surprising news that I never knew about him. I wonder if I could get a little inspiration from him in that regard. Starting to pull pranks that even he never thought of.
"Although a word of warning, if you start to take up his mantle in pranking, we shall revoke those same privileges." Ozpin gave me a daring look, one that I was not expecting to receive.
But it's bizarre, he never told me that he was a prankster. My own father no doubt was the king of Jesters. I wonder why he never told me this. Speaking of which, I hardly know anything of his highschool years. Only thing I know about is his unclassified missions, where he goes to get his intel and find his next target. And most of those are when after he's come back from said targets.
"Oh alright. I'll accept your offer in exchange for special treatment in school. Now, where do I begin?"
A small grin formed on Ozpins face as I agreed on his terms.
"You will be headed in the opposite direction as everyone else. Also, it goes without saying that anything you hear or see is confidential and should be treated as such."
"Of course." I agreed, a little suspicious of what awaited me in this forest. "So, what does this Grimm look like exactly?" I asked kind of hopeful it'd give me another warm up of sorts. "Can you tell me if it has any features that I'd notice right away?"
"Even better than telling you, we can show it to you." Ms. Goodwitch swiped her hand across the screen of her scroll tablet and a Grimm that took the shape of a Beowulf showed up on a holographic projection. The only difference between this Grimm and the others was its size, eye and fur color. Instead of all black fur it was silverish white while its eyes glowed a prominent gold. Also something worth mentioning is that usual wolves stand at a approximate 6 ft. tall roughly. This thing was easily 9 ft. tall. Something that has yet to be seen by any Hunter in history. I can only guess at what weight class this thing is considering how massive its body is.
"Wh-what exactly is this, a new breed of Grimm? You caught this thing before while it was in the wild? Who caught it?"
"I can't speak too much on what it is or where it came from. However I can tell you who caught it first. Your uncle Qrow and another Hunter first discovered this creature years ago while it was still young, about twelve years ago now if I am not mistaken. They were on a separate mission entirely when they came across this fellow. Since we had him in our custody we have been studying him, running tests on him, and even seeing if he could reproduce himself with other Grimm. It was a failure as he would just consume them. Something that we could never understand why."
I could see that the Dean had begun to lose himself in deep thought and decided to let him continue when he was ready, but Glynda had other plans and cut him off short with a sharp cough.
*Ahem* "Mr. Oz if you would be so kind, we are pressed for time. Doug needs to go before the others complete their assignment."
"Very true Ms. Goodwitch. My apologies, sometimes I can get a little off track and start thinking up a storm." Ozpin slightly shook his head hoping to get back to business. "If you however don't find the creature don't worry you will still pass as long as you find evidence of it being in the area. It shouldn't be so difficult since the last report of it being sighted was only four days ago. And you are still required to locate the relic in that area as you conduct your hunt. Wouldn't want you being the only one who didn't have an alibi to go off of, do we? Now then, any questions?"
"None from me." I replied, getting ready on my platform once more.
"Then I wish you luck and happy hunting. Ah, here you are. If you do come across the beast you'll want a way to bring it back without putting up a fight." He said as he pulled out a collar with crystalized dust studded around the leather strap. As the boy was putting the collar in his duffel bag Ozpin took out a switch and pressed the button.
And just like that Doug was sent flying off into the sky going close to the speed of a bullet train.
Goodwitch: Do you think he enjoyed being shot into the air that fast?
Ozpin: Waaait for it.
....."WOOOooooHOOOOooooo! HELLLLLLL YEAAAAAHHH!"
Ozpin: I believe he enjoyed it.
Goodwitch: I'll never understand that boy or his uncle. They're beyond redemption at this point. Speaking of which, do you think he'll be able to bring Experiment #7 in without any problems?"
Ozpin: It's not that I don't think he will, it's if his pride will get in the way is what I'm most worried about. That and his curiosity. He reminds me of myself when I was just a mere student. Always wondering and never talking his ideas out. That will be the end of him one day if he doesn't change his way of behavior. But enough about what ifs. Have you done what I asked?
Goodwitch: Yes. We have dispatched over seven-hundred and fifty drones and cameras into the forest, however almost half of them have been destroyed by the local wildlife or by Experiment #31.
Ozpin: As long as we can get a live feed from some of them it shouldn't be a problem.
Goodwitch: Do you think it was a mistake not telling him there are five escaped creatures instead of only the one?
Ozpin: It is highly unlikely they all kept in a pack. Remember when they first were experimented if they could be used as a unit? They couldn't wait to tear each others throats out. In an open environment such as this I conclude that the Alpha will hunt the others down and consume them, or they shall all go their separate ways.
Goodwitch: I hope you are right.
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K_Log
K_Log This episode was basically filler. You can skip it if you want, but for those who like character development and seeing the MC make life changing choices by all means keep reading XD.
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