Teamwork.
Well, as always, if anyone wants to support me or just read 3/7 chapters ahead, that's possible on my (P)(A)(T). If not, I still appreciate you reading my stories. Thank you very much.
That said, have a good night and happy reading!
(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori
[...]---[...]
POV: Qrow Branwen.
The first thing I noticed when the spar began was that Devas was holding back.
Aside from the obvious lack of equipment, the armor, bone mask, and halberd, Devas was slower, weaker.
I had seen the footage of Devas entering the battle and a few others showing him fighting. I had a vague notion of his speed and strength, something that was much inferior at the moment.
If I were to guess, it would be that he's not using his magic, focusing only on Aura, probably training, since he had just unlocked his Aura.
But it was still surprising to know that his magical mumbo jumbo could be used to reinforce the body like Aura. Could Ozpin do that? Could I do that? ...I'll ask later.
The second thing I noticed was Devas' skill in unarmed combat... Or the lack thereof in this case.
The kid was good with that halberd. I'll admit that, his movements were fluid, fast, and precise, but in comparison, his unarmed combat was the complete opposite.
It wasn't strange for a Huntsman to focus on a single weapon. It was common actually, but most had at least the basics of unarmed combat, even Ruby had, even though I had to bribe her to put down Crescent Rose for five minutes...
Devas seemed to lack even that basic, being completely amateurish, which was odd.
Devas knew how to fight, that was obvious, moving in a fight, but it was instinctive, almost primitive actually...
I could throw away my years as a teacher if I couldn't discern someone trained to fight from a survival fighter, and someone who learned to fight while surviving.
Yang was the former, I would know, I trained her with Taiyang.
The Firecracker had form in her strikes, a mix of boxing, Muay Thai, and wrestling she fused into her own style. Her punches were strong and fast, her defense was solid too, and even though she seemed angry, her steps weren't thoughtless.
As much as I could beat Yang in dozens of ways from here to back to Patch, I could admit she was one of the most talented hand-to-hand combatants I had ever seen in my life.
Not that I would say that out loud, she already had a massive ego, if it got any bigger I was afraid she would burst like a balloon.
Devas, on the other hand, was the opposite. He had no form, but knew where and how to strike, and his reflexes were excellent, even from afar I could see his eyes following each of Yang's blows calmly.
With every punch Yang threw, he managed to dodge, defend, or find an opening and retaliate, making her choose between exchanging blows or defending herself, and that choice needed to be made in moments because Yang was the slower one between the two.
Not only slower but surprisingly weaker, as no matter if she chose to defend or exchange blow for blow, Yang was always pushed back while Devas stood still or moved only a few inches.
Well, at least for now, since I could see Yang being pushed back less and less with each blow she took while Devas was pushed more and more, something he also noticed.
"So this is your Semblance you've been so mysterious about?" his voice echoed throughout the arena, conversations silenced as everyone paid attention to the fight.
No matter the place, whether a civilian or a Huntsman or Huntresses in training, teenagers loved gossip, and Devas was a hot topic for them, after all, the guy had appeared out of nowhere.
"Maybe~ what do you think?" Yang replied, not stopping her blows as she spoke.
I knew my niece's Semblance very well, being a target of it several times, so I could tell she was holding back.
Not the force of her punches or her technique, no, she wasn't doing that, but rather holding back the "energy" absorbed from Devas' blows.
Burn, that was Yang's Semblance, which basically had the ability to absorb kinetic energy from the blows she took and redirect them with twice the force to her opponent, strengthening her with every blow she received...
"You're getting stronger as the battle goes on? Strengthening with every blow I land?" Devas deduced correctly, though not entirely.
...Or she could "hold" that energy for a much stronger attack, as she seemed to be doing.
Yang was plotting something, I could tell from miles away.
She wasn't retaliating with all the force she could, but rather "strengthening" herself gradually, as if it were slow and steady.
Devas seemed not to have noticed this fact, or if he did, he didn't show it, returning to silence as the blows flew again.
"It seems we're a little late," my boss's voice came from behind me, by the steps, he wasn't alone.
I didn't turn to respond, continuing to pay attention to the fight.
"Not too much, it started not even two minutes ago." I waved them to sit down.
Ozpin didn't hesitate to take a seat next to me, ignoring Tyrian's body on the ground.
Glynda, on the other hand, chose to sit in the lower row, along with the two girls, while James and Winter stood in the aisle.
Would it cost those two to relax a bit? Were all Atlesian soldiers like this? The Ice Queen didn't even greet her own sister...
"He has Aura now," Ozpin stated.
"Yes, Ruby unlocked it." Still in front of me, seems like she had more courage than I thought.
This information seemed to surprise the younger Schnee and the disguised Faunus a bit. Frankly, hiding the ears with a bow was a good idea... As long as the bow didn't move.
"What do you think?" Ozpin asked. Even though everyone hadn't taken their eyes off the fight, I could tell they were paying attention to our conversation. "Who do you think will win in your opinion?"
"Even with Devas holding back?" I asked. No one reacted to that; it was obvious.
"Even with that," Ozpin nodded.
I watched the spar for a few more seconds before responding.
"Devas." I had no doubts about it.
Even though he was holding back, being less skilled and starting to lose in strength and speed as Yang's Semblance grew more and more, he would still win...
He wouldn't win because he would stop holding back, using his armor, weapon, or magic. He would win because he was literally learning to fight as the spar continued.
With each passing second, he got better, his technique improved, he learned with every blow received, every blow landed... If this kept up, Yang would lose, even though she was getting faster and stronger than him.
I didn't know if this was something magical, or if it was just his raw talent, but it was frightening to watch...
"I figured that would be your answer," Oz agreed.
In fact, no one disagreed, not even Yang's two teammates, who nodded in agreement and stood up.
"Excuse me, Professor Goodwitch, could you do me a favor?" The younger Schnee spoke as the Faunus walked away and sat in another seat, behind Devas, out of his sight.
"And what would that favor be, Miss Schnee?" Glynda asked, briefly turning her gaze away from the spar.
Interestingly, the younger Schnee didn't respond verbally, as if afraid someone might overhear, but instead typed on her scroll and showed it to Glynda.
Glynda widened her eyes for a brief moment, before a chilling smile spread across her face.
"Don't worry, Miss Schnee, I'll take care of it." Glynda nodded, returning her attention to the fight, the eerie smile still on her face.
"Do I want to know?" Oz asked with a certain hesitation in his voice, it was strange to see Glynda act like this.
Meanwhile, the younger Schnee went away too, sitting next to the Faunus girl, just a little further to the side, another blind spot...
"It won't be necessary, don't worry, no student will get hurt." Glynda replied calmly and picked up her own scroll, sending a message to someone.
Ozpin wisely didn't delve deeper into the matter, I did the same and remained silent, returning my attention to the spar.
I had some theories as to why Yang's teammates were acting like this, after all, the Firecracker had asked Devas if he was ready to know what Team RWBY was capable of, not just what she was capable of...
Normally, Port would stop the spar if someone interfered, but if Glynda or Oz themselves sent a message to his scroll, telling him not to interfere, that could change...
A good plan on the part of these three, if Ruby wasn't involved of course.
Glynda wouldn't normally agree with such a plan, after all, interfering in a one-on-one spar was something she disapproved of... But it seems she held more resentment towards Devas than we expected, something the younger Schnee noticed...
I didn't stop them or comment on anything, I could see it wasn't malicious or cruel, it was more like the three of them wanted to prove something, whether it was to Devas or to themselves I didn't know.
I just hoped they knew what they were doing, because even though the three clearly knew Devas longer than anyone else, they seemed not to have noticed something...
It was subtle, he had hidden it well, I only noticed because I was used to paying attention to everything and everyone, detail by detail whenever I gathered information on missions Ozpin sent me.
Even though Devas' chest and shoulders rose and fell repeatedly...
... He wasn't really breathing... Devas had been holding his breath since the battle had begun...
[...]
POV: Yang Xiao Long.
Fighting against Devas was probably the toughest fight I've ever had in my entire life.
He was holding back, I wasn't foolish to think otherwise, this fight wouldn't have even started if he wasn't, but it was still one, if not the toughest fight I've ever had in my entire life.
Fighting Dad or Uncle Qrow was tricky, they were much stronger and more experienced than me, but I could still see that with training, I would eventually defeat them.
Not Devas, as the fight went on, I felt like I was being suffocated, all the light in the surroundings was dimming as his punches got better and better, and when the light disappeared, I knew I wouldn't have a chance to win.
The feeling was horrible, fighting knowing that no matter what I did, the opponent in front of me wouldn't fall, wouldn't lose.
With every punch I received, Devas closed his defense even more, perfected it, to a point where I knew I wouldn't be able to land a hit anymore.
With every punch I defended, I felt my defense slipping even more, his blows getting better, more accurate, less telegraphed.
Devas hadn't gotten faster, stronger, I had, my Semblance, even though I was holding it back, made me stronger, faster, but it seemed to be the opposite.
The blows were like a torrential rain, no matter how much I tried to dodge the drops falling in my direction, I was hit anyway.
Dodging didn't help, counterattacking didn't help, even running wouldn't help, his blows had effectively trapped me like a cage I couldn't escape from...
I did the only thing left then, I defended myself, defended myself as best as I could, even though I knew it wasn't enough, that it wouldn't be enough.
Was this the feeling the goblins in Jille village felt?... What the Deerclops felt?... How terrifying...
"Are you laughing?" I heard Devas' voice echoing amidst the endless blows.
Was I?... I realized I was, when I heard my laughter, it started with something contained, low, until it evolved into a full laugh of pure and unadulterated joy, joy that I knew the reason for its existence.
Even in this horrible situation, even without seeing a chance for victory, I was still laughing because I knew the man in front of me wasn't my enemy...
My body, Aura, soul, my whole being was laughing with happiness because I knew Devas was an ally, a friend...
"You're amazing, you know that?" I managed to speak between the blows.
... And that this wasn't a fight to the death.
I could see confusion instantly appear within the two honey-colored orbs that Devas called eyes, which amused me even more.
How can someone like this exist?
Someone who at this moment was so terrifying, that my being was happy he wasn't an enemy, but at the same time, whose mere presence gave me an immense sense of security.
Someone who had literally traveled from another reality to our world just to help us, and if I asked why, I was sure he would say it was because he considered us his friends.
So confident in himself, yet at the same time so insecure.
Someone who would advance against a damn monster from a nightmare to face it alone, but who, when praised, became confused, not understanding the reason for such praise.
AH! What confusing feelings this guy gave me!
I seized the brief moment of hesitation that Devas had to strike him with a punch while distancing myself and creating distance between us.
My blow didn't land, Devas dodging only by tilting his body back a little, but that gave me time to step back and whistle, signaling for Weiss and Blake to come.
It wasn't just me who wanted to fight Devas, Weiss, Blake, and especially Ruby wanted to fight too, the reasons were varied, but there was one in common: to show that we could help him.
It was a silly, foolish reason, as Devas liked to say, but it was something that all of us, without exception, wanted, to show that we were strong and that we could help him.
It was obvious that we couldn't win one-on-one, even with all of us, if Devas fought seriously, the battle would barely last a minute, maybe less, we knew what he was capable of.
But still, we wanted to show that we wanted to help him, that we were strong enough to be able to help him, even though not as strong as he was.
Devas always seemed to end up fighting alone, always outnumbered. Team RWBY wanted to show him that he had allies he could rely on... To repay the help he had given us, just for doing what he did.
The number of times he had helped all of us just by shivering, it was usually immense. Showing him that he could have help was the least we could do... But the surprise attack was just our pettiness.
Was it payback for all the stress Devas had put us through every time he put himself in ridiculously complicated situations? Yes, but if he asked, the attack was because we were taking him completely seriously and using every chance we had.
Even Weisscream, who was treating Devas like some kind of super mega important foreign ambassador, and Ruby, who was totally infatuated and treated Devas like some kind of idol, had agreed to the idea.
That's the extent of the stress he had put us through...
The moment I whistled, the ground beneath Devas' feet shimmered with dozens of blue Glyphs, Weiss activating her Semblance at full force.
At the same time, Blake didn't hesitate and ran as fast as she could towards his back. Being silent and sneaky was useless against someone who literally had a game Minimap... Cheater!
"Knowing what Team RWBY is capable of..." I could hear Devas' voice just before Weiss' Glyphs activated. "I should have guessed it would be something like this." He shook his head amused, with a slight smile on his face.
Even before finishing his sentence, Devas kicked the ground and jumped backward, towards Blake. It was obvious he had seen her on the Minimap, since even before turning completely, he had already thrown a punch in her direction.
The slight widening of Devas' eyes when Blake switched places with her clone was priceless, even more so when he exploded into ice made from Ice Dust.
Of us four, Devas only knew Ruby and Weiss' Semblances, my dear and stealthy sister sharing the information with Devas long ago, while Weiss didn't keep it a secret either, asking for help because of the Runes and Mystical Symbols.
As for me and Blake, we didn't directly disclose the information, but only asked for advice here and there from (CHAT), especially Blake, when she found out that Fukasaku, Jiraiya, and Minato could clone themselves too.
Devas had asked once why so much secrecy, to which I replied that there was no reason, if he asked I would answer, which was true. My Semblance was something I never made a point to hide.
To my not-so-surprise, he simply denied with a simple "Nah" and said he would rather guess or find out when he came to Remnant.
So, even though he knew Blake could clone herself, he didn't know how, or the limit of these clones, and knew nothing about my Semblance, something we were going to take advantage of...
When Blake's clone exploded, Devas managed to react, even with the surprise, and put one of his arms in front of his face to protect himself from the projectiles, at the same time moving the other, hitting the flat part of Blake's sword, throwing it down.
"Clones that explode, are they made of clay too?" Devas muttered to himself.
"No, just Ice Dust." Blake replied, even though it was a rhetorical question. She raised her pistol-scythe to shoot at him.
"Is everything half gun here?" He didn't seem irritated, just incredulous.
Blake's shot managed to hit him, even if only grazing him, when he dodged by tilting his body, his Aura protecting him. How did he have such good Aura control, after all?
He hadn't been on Remnant for even six hours, Ruby had unlocked his Aura at most two hours ago, how could he do this?!
"Jealous?" Weiss' voice came followed by dozens of ice projectiles made from Ice Dust, accelerated by the Glyphs.
Devas didn't pull them into his inventory like I was sure he would normally, but dodged and punched the ones he couldn't avoid.
It seems he really is just using Aura...
"Maybe a little..." Devas replied, before standing still as he looked at Weiss with a look of someone who couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"What?" The blush on Weisscream's cheeks was cute, she was embarrassed by his attention?
"You're wearing a skirt... And high heels?" His voice was completely incredulous. "Please tell me you didn't have time to change clothes..." He almost pleaded.
"Yes?" Weiss replied somewhat confused. "This is one of my battle outfits, what's wrong? It's an automatic battle skirt and Huntresses heels." She stated.
I took advantage of this pause to catch my breath a little.
"I..." Devas spoke, as if he was going to contest Weiss' statement before sighing. "Forget it, I feel like even if I explain it won't make any difference, so forget it." He just gave up.
Before anyone could say anything bad, Devas widened his eyes and threw the upper part of his body backwards, looking to the right.
I looked at him confused for a moment, Blake was to his left, Weiss to his right, but far away and me in front. Why did he do that?
The answer was given when hundreds of rose petals covered the arena around Devas, who narrowly dodged Crescent Rose's blade heading for his chest.
Ruby didn't continue to attack, but disappeared in a rain of rose petals and reappeared on Devas' back, effectively surrounding him.
"Sorry for the delay, girls, Devas." Ruby smiled sweetly, which, combined with the huge scythe and Devas' axe on her waist, created quite a scene, especially since her hair was wet.
[...]
POV: Devas Asura.
Thinking about it, it was kind of obvious that I would be attacked by all four of them. Yang even subtly stated that... I reflected to myself, slowly looking at the four surrounding me.
What a combination they had here... Yang got stronger as she got damaged and was good in close combat.
Weiss had this world's version of runes embedded in her soul, which made her extremely useful as support.
Deida - I mean, Blake was agile, and I could see her clones being tricky to deal with...
Lastly, Ruby, who was supersonic and had a giant scythe that could cleave someone in two...
("Hey, long time no see, Lucy's buddy! Me and friend Ruby took a bath, it was nice!") Lucy "shouted.
... And Lucy too... Traitorous axe...
I was surrounded on top of that, quite a complicated situation...
I took advantage of the moments of inaction, while they all stared at me, and changed my fighting style.
As much as keeping my guard up and jabbing quickly was excellent against a single opponent like Yang, it would only delay me here. So, I started hopping around and moving my arms to acclimate myself.
I was already warmed up, but getting my body used to the rhythm of the fighting style I would try to use was good... For some reason, I felt like I should do this, funny...
I was the first to act, moving between hops not towards Blake, who was the closest, but towards Weiss.
Ignoring that she was the most "fragile" of the group, from what I could tell, I didn't want to deal with her Semblance.
Damn, these Glyphs seemed more like magic than Mystical Symbols!
She was wearing high heels in a battle too, I felt obligated to show her that was a shitty choice.
The moment I moved, they all reacted, which meant I had to pause my movements for a moment to defend myself, as Ruby appeared behind me in an instant.
"Plan D-Three." The scythe wielder shouted.
You little fast thing... And why do I feel like this plan was specifically made for me?... And what the hell was this "three" about? How many plans for me did you have?!
I quickly halted my steps and stepped back at the same time I raised my right elbow parallel to my body, hitting it against the handle of Ruby's scythe.
Even though I knew the scythe blade inches from my face wouldn't be able to harm me because of Aura, I still almost pulled out Houtengeki out of reflex.
The moment my elbow collided with the scythe handle, it was thrown backward, pulling Ruby along thanks to the weapon's weight, both of them becoming unbalanced.
I gave up going towards Weiss when Blake and Yang jumped at me simultaneously, and Weiss took even more distance, leaving plenty of Glyphs on the ground.
I turned first to Yang, who, as she approached, started hitting me again as she was doing in the one-on-one.
I lowered my body slightly, letting her punch pass over my shoulder, and took a step forward, getting inside her guard and holding her arms with both hands.
She barely had time to widen her eyes before I spun my body and tossed her towards Blake, who caught her partner by reflex, making both of them fall to the ground.
I didn't need to turn around to know Ruby had gotten up, the smell of rose petals coming from behind me gave it away, the Minimap too.
I could only see that Weiss was creating more and more Glyphs before I was forced to turn to defend myself from Ruby, or try to.
This time it wasn't as easy as the other two, since Little Red Riding Hood decided to first strike with the scythe, which I narrowly dodged, and then fire a rifle shot at me.
It didn't hurt as much as it should have, my Aura absorbing the impact, but I still ended up flying backward, towards Weiss and all the Glyphs on the ground.
I stomped both feet on the ground forcefully to prevent myself from going into what I was sure was a damn giant trap and lunged forward, where Ruby had appeared again.
It must be hell for the students of this place to fight her; I, who was ridiculously fast, even while restraining myself, and had good reflexes, was having trouble, I could only feel sorry for the others.
I managed to stop the scythe strike by extending my left arm and grabbing the weapon's handle and then pulled as hard as I could.
Both the scythe and Ruby came at me; the former I held with my left arm, the latter I intended to catch with my right arm, if she didn't choose to climb onto the scythe handle and kick towards my face.
As I leaned my body to dodge the kick, I reflexively realized that even with Ruby kicking me wearing a skirt, I couldn't see anything underneath her, everything was dark, was that automatic battle skirt talk true?...
Fighting in high heels was still an abomination, but I can forgive the skirt in this case.
While Ruby flew over me, Yang and Blake decided that the best option to reach me was by throwing each other, which in this case was a yellow bear throwing a black cat.
To my immense dismay, when I threw Ruby at Blake, the latter caught the former and substituted herself with a clone, kicking it towards me.
Damn substitution jutsu!
I spun Crescent Rose, which Ruby was forced to let go of, and cut the clone in two, realizing two things there.
The first was that using a scythe was kind of cool, the second was that when Blake said the clone was made of Ice Dust, it didn't mean they all were.
The moment the clone was cut in half, it exploded in a blast that didn't harm me at all, it was wind, but it sent me flying backward quickly.
I managed to plant Crescent Rose into the ground, which prevented me from continuing to fly, before I resumed imitating a bird when Yang came running, a Glyph accelerating her movements, and punched me... Hard.
I knew her Semblance probably had something more than just taking hits and getting stronger, but absorbing kinetic energy from the blows I dealt her was already screwed up.
When am I going to get my Semblance? Can I know? I want my exclusive stolen power too!
Even raising my arms to block Yang's punch, it was still damn strong and ate up a good chunk of my Aura, throwing me far away.
I fell almost exactly on top of Weiss's Glyphs, who smiled at me from afar and spoke, at the same time as the other three.
"Freeze!" The synchronization was so perfect that I'm sure they rehearsed it...
I could have done a few things here, thrown the Slime Hook to the side and gotten out of the Glyphs, used the double jump and gone far away, stopped restraining myself and used the Sun Breathing, or even pulled the Bone Helm out of the inventory and torn the Glyphs apart with the shadow hands.
I ended up not doing any of those and accepted my "defeat."
Even though someone could say it was unfair to fight four against one, they still managed on their own merit to drag me, or rather, throw me into this trap.
If they had messed up any of the synchronization of the blows, the whole plan would have gone to hell, they deserved this "victory."
My body was almost instantly covered in ice on all sides, even inside I could see that the structure holding me had the shape of two human hands, with me trapped in a ball in the center of the two hands.
It wasn't so cold, well, at least for me, even without Aura I would be hardly affected by the ice, but I could tell even before moving that the whole structure was ridiculously resistant.
By the Glyphs on the fingers of the hands, it seems that the entire structure was reinforced as well, this was a ridiculously strong prison... Even the air had been frozen almost instantly... Almost...
"You girls are really amazing." I praised them, not sure if my voice was heard, but I did it anyway, because it was the pure truth.
Then I breathed...
"Crrrak!"
... And my prison was shattered by the Sun.
[...]---[...]
I'm better (or almost there), thanks for the messages!
Apologies for the delay in posting these last few chapters. I've been feeling a bit discouraged with some personal and work-related issues, life happens sometimes. Well, because of that, I even took a slight hiatus in Hunter's story, which I plan to resume writing; I just need to research some things from Bloodborne for the upcoming chapters...
Well, as for the chapter, I crafted it to delve into how Yang and the other girls perceive the Devas, as well as to showcase the difference in power.
In case anyone's curious, Devas will be fighting seriously in this arc, and there will be more spar's; one of them I really enjoyed thinking about. Let's see how I'll write that.
That's it, I won't prolong this. Good night to everyone and happy reading.