Dummy after dummy fell, sliced in two. Skyler smirked. He was getting faster. With every round, Skyler cut through all the dummies slightly faster than the previous round.
Why was he training alone? Well, Hazel and Dante were doing their own spar in the arena, while Walker was in the library, studying up on different fighting techniques. So Skyler was here, having target practice.
"You know, you don't improve that much when you practice alone."
Skyler turned to see the green haired female exchange student watching him from the doorway. He caught his breath.
"Oh! Hey," he said, "You're... Emerald, right?"
"That's me," she answered, "Thought you and your team would take a mission."
"If I had a lien for every time I have been told that. Yeah, we just decided to train here. Can't leave the school undefended, right?"
"Right..." Emerald muttered, "Hey. Want to have a sparring match?"
"Dante and Hazel are using the arena right now, but we can go as soon as their done."
"Fine by me."
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Dante and Hazel were really going at it. The two were swiping at each other with their weapons, until finally, Hazel swung vertically down while Dante blocked by putting his axes in an X shape.
The two stared at each other intensely, trying to get an edge. Finally, Dante smirked, confusing her. Thanks to that momentary show of weakness, Dante swept his leg out, sweeping Hazel off her feet. When she looked up, she saw his axe pointed at her. She checked her aura bar, and sure enough, she was in the red.
Dante still had that smirk on his face as he put away his axes and offered a hand, "I win."
Hazel rolled her eyes, a faint blush on her face, "Whatever."
She grabbed his hand and he helped her up, "That was a fluke and you know it."
"Sure it was," Dante grinned, turning, "Now come on. I'm getting hungry. You up for lunch?"
Hazel was glad he had turned around, or else he would've seen the bright blush present on her face, "S-sure. Let's go."
On the way, Hazel began to wonder if Skyler's teasing of them actually meant something.
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Walker in the meantime was studying his geology in the library. He already knew most about the four kingdoms and the world of Remnant, but he was more studying about the areas outside the kingdoms.
Those areas had always interested him. Most of the area outside the kingdom was unknown, due to constant Grimm attacks on anyone who dared venture out that far from safety. Walker wanted to become a Huntsman to try and learn more about these areas and to see if there could be any more places humans and Faunus could survive.
"Whatcha doing?"
Walker jumped at the unfamiliar voice. He turned to see a fellow female student there. She had brown hair, wore a brown beret, brown and black attire, and black sunglasses. The girl lowered her sunglasses, allowing Walker to see that she had dark brown eyes.
"Geez," he breathed, "You scared me half to death."
"At least it wasn't all the way to death," the girl joked, "Sorry about that. You looked like you were giving yourself carpal tunnel."
It was then Walker realized how close his face was to the screen, "Oh... right. Didn't notice that..."
He held out his hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm Walker Elliot."
The girl shook his hand, "Coco Adel."
"Wait," Walker said, recognizing her as he was shaking her hand, "Aren't you the leader of team CFVY?"
"That's me," Coco smirked.
"Oh wow," Walker suddenly got a bit nervous, considering he was talking to a second year student, "Didn't you guys just come back from a mission?"
"Yup. We were taking out Grimm in a sector of Vale."
"How did that go?"
Coco grimaced, "We're fine, but... There was just so many Grimm. We pulled out before things could get worse."
"Geez, if there are so much Grimm that even Team CFVY can't take down, I don't want to see them."
Coco laughed, "Yeah, well, I gotta get going. It was nice meeting you Walker."
"Likewise," Walker replied, watching her leave.
He found himself staring before shaking his head, 'No! No bad thoughts! Stop it Elliot! You are better than this!'
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Now that the arena was open, Skyler and Emerald stepped onto the floor and pulled out their weapons.
"Start now?" Emerald asked.
"Ready when you are," Skyler smirked.
Emerald grinned, twirling her pistols and pointing them at Skyler. She fired rapidly and Skyler began running, effectively dodging the bullets. He shot fire out of his weapon, causing her to stop shooting and backflip away.
She switched her pistols into blade mode and looped around the flames, preparing to slash. Skyler, in turn, switched to sword form and the two began clashing in a series of sparks. The two continued slashing, parrying each hit.
Skyler gritted his teeth. He began to wonder if he should've chosen a better weapon to fight with. Her weapons were curved, making attacks a bit harder to counter. Plus, if things kept going like this, Emerald would find it easier to disarm him.
But he wasn't going to give up that easily. They clashed again, both knocked back a few feet. Skyler activated the flames on his sword and charged. Emerald, though a bit shocked at the fire sword, countered, but was blown back by the extraordinary burst of power.
"Well that was unexpected," Emerald remarked.
"I get that a lot," Skyler replied, charging again.
The two began a series of slashes again, sparks flying. Emerald turned her weapons back into guns, shooting while retreating. Skyler blocked the shots, but then felt something wrap around his legs.
He looked down and saw a chain wrapped around his legs and then pull him off his feet. He landed flat on his back and saw Emerald swing him around and threw him across the arena. He was sent tumbling and he checked his Aura. Borderline orange. So close to red.
"Do you give up?" Emerald asked, noticing his fatigue.
Skyler smirked, "Give up? What's that mean?"
Skyler had one more shot at this. A plan formulated in his head and Emerald was inching closer, swinging her blades around by their chains. He pointed his blade to the ground and fired.
He shot up into the air, surprising Emerald. He let go of the trigger and sped towards the ground, straight at her. She jumped back, Skyler stabbing the ground as he landed. The flames spread out, covering the arena in dust.
Blinded by the dust cloud, Emerald could only wander, with the occasional cough. She shot when she heard something, but hit nothing. But then... sneak attack.
She was hit by a slash, but the figure was gone before she could react. Then just as fast, it struck again. Slash after slash hit her, Emerald unable to react fast enough. Finally, the dust cleared and she was stumbling. She then saw Skyler a few yards away, his gun pointed at her.
"Hi there," Skyler said, pulling the trigger.
The amount of fire that shot out was too much for Emerald to dodge. When the flames stopped, she collapsed to the ground, Aura in the red.
"And that's the match," Skyler imitated Glynda, walking over and helping Emerald up.
"Remind me not to go easy on you during the tournament," Emerald grinned.
"Whatever," Skyler replied.
But from the way Emerald looked when she said that, Skyler couldn't help but get the feeling she was serious.
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Everyone arrived back at their dorm and collapsed on their beds.
"I feel like taking a nap for forever..." Dante groaned.
"Preach it," Hazel agreed.
"Man, I think I did get carpal tunnel for staring at that screen so long..." Walker grumbled.
"Let's just get some sleep," Skyler said, "We've got another day of training tomorrow."
"Good night all!" the team said simultaneously before passing out.
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And that's a wrap! Now for the finale of Volume 2. Till next time guys!