The next day began mostly standardly for Memnol, although he had played along in being dragged to lunch by Ruby straight after class to eat with the teams, her telling him that, "You shouldn't be off on your own every day."

So that was how Memnol had found himself idly speaking with the two teams of mostly inconsequential things.

Weiss said, "On his first day, the first time we met, he tried hitting on me and convincing me to join his team, before we knew how teams were even formed." She turned to Pyrrha, "Thanks for the assist, by the way."

Pyrrha nodded and Jaune said to those not aware, "She pinned me to the wall with a spear toss."

Jaune continued, "Sure, it got me pinned to the wall then, but if I hadn't taken all the risks I have been, I might not have ended up on this team right here."

Memnol said, "I suppose I can understand that perspective."

Jaune snapped his fingers and had a look of inspiration and said, "Actually, how about this; For that favor you said I had at the sleepover, you go ahead and take the next big risk you see and see if it works out. As long as it doesn't seem like it'll kill you or anything."

Memnol said, "Ah yes, I suppose I did accidentally give you an extra favor Mr. Arc. Well then, from hereon, it is just Ms. Nikhos, Mr. Ren, and Ma- pardon, and Weiss, who have favors left."

After a few moments where most everybody had been eating at the same time, a time-honored opportunity for a topic shift, Ruby asked, "Hey, where have you been vanishing to after classes each day, out of curiosity? Maybe we could join you."

Memnol looked at Weiss, who got the question and said, "I can explain, actually. I asked Memnol if he was willing to tutor my little brother."

Weiss looked at him and asked, "How has he been doing, anyways?"

Memnol said, "Quite well on the academic end, so for now we're moved on to other skills, this week being tactile skills. Later today is wine pouring, actually."

Yang said, "What?! You mind tutoring me too, Memnol? I wouldn't mind having some wine after classes sometimes."

Memnol said, "Wine pouring, Ms. Xiao Long, not wine tasting. That is an entirely separate lesson once he's come of age. Speaking of, Weiss, when is Whitley's birthday anyhow?"

Weiss said, "November 18th."

Ruby said, "What about yours, Memnol?"

Memnol said, "Feast of the Moon."

After a small moment of confused silence, Memnol said, "Right, I suppose the calendar difference has never come up before. My home village mainly used a very different calendar to yours, although the number of days is the same. To put it simply, it was twelve months of three tendays each, each tenday being, well, ten days long, with five other days between the months throughout, and Shieldmeet as a sixth day between the months once every four years, what you call a leap year. Feast of the Moon was between Uktar thirty and Nightal one, the eleventh and twelfth months. That would be December first in this calendar, three hundred and thirty-five days into the non-leap year if I am correct. I suppose in both calendars my birthday is easy to remember."

After that, nothing of much greater consequence happened, aside from Team RWBY sharing their own birthdays, although the team knew Weiss had turned eighteen just four days ago on the fourteenth.

----------------------------------------

After the rest of the classes at Beacon and Wine Pouring with Whitley, Memnol returned to both the crocodile and his new anonymous acquaintance, this time without any meat as he had reminded himself that even at this size, the crocodile wouldn't need to eat daily. After some delay, Ms. Mirror Mask did show up again, and with the chairs still in place and the fire pit relit, she told Memnol a story like he had.

"...and that is the tale of The Infinite Man." Ms. Black Cloak said.

After a moment of silence, Memnol said, "I take it by this pause that, similar to how you had chosen to give your thoughts on the story the other day, you would perhaps care for mine, if my guess is correct?" and he thought, "And finally, someone else who can actually see past some of the parts of Vecna's ascension and recognize the merits of the tale."

Ms. Black Cloak said, "That is what I have been waiting for, yes."

Memnol said, "The Infinite Man seems almost supernaturally foolish, particularly for an immortal, worryingly incompetent, and I find myself rather aggravated with him quite frankly, regardless of how childish feeling such to a fairy tale character may seem."

Ms. Black Cloak was silent for a moment, though when she spoke an amusement seemed to leak into her words, "I guess it is shown as a tragedy, or a cautionary tale, most of the time. But tell me, the third feeling?"

Memnol sighed and said, "I suppose with the honesty affordable in anonymity, I can see myself relating to The Infinite Man in quite a few ways, primarily in the ways of power and Magic. Mainly, of the two lines that repeat themselves in the tale, I find myself in great agreement with one and immense infuriation at the other, each of course only heightened by that possible connection I see."

Ms. Black Cloak said, curious, "Oh really? These are?"

Memnol said, "In order, firstly; 'It was a mistake, and it would not be his last'."

After a moment of pause, Ms. Black Cloak said, "Would you care to elaborate any time soon?"

Memnol said, "Mistakes are perhaps a fundamental part of thinking existence, in my view. While they are to be avoided where possible, they will always happen, and though the results may not be desirable, that fact in itself should, no, must be accepted."

Ms. Black Cloak said, "Really now? Say this is a debate, how do you defend that point?"

Memnol said, "In two steps. One, consider a setting in which any distinct entities, plural, exist, and are capable of deliberate individual choice. They need not be even of human intelligence, simply capable of what was described."

Ms. Black Cloak said, "I follow, and the second step?"

Memnol said, "Posit the following; Any two of these entities have entered a 'life or death', or 'existence or non-existence', conflict, where one desires the other to not exist, while the other at minimum desires to exist."

There was silence for a while, before Ms. Black Cloak said, "I see now. For either to achieve their goal, one must have made a mistake."

Memnol gestured to the crocodile, and said, "Precisely. So much as the existence of a single crocodile and a single fish ensures a world with mistakes."

Ms. Black Cloak said, "Now if I remember correctly, the other line repeated would be 'I am just a man, and not even a very good one.' Yes?"

Memnol took an audible breath in and out, and said, "Yes. Childish it may seem if you want, but I despise that line with near all of my being."

Ms. Black Cloak asked, "Why so?"

Memnol said, actual raw passion and aggravation in his voice as he ranted, "It lacks any conviction! 'Just' a man! Not only lacking the will to own his power, as he clearly shows no intent of hiding it, which if he were that line would be excusable, but also completely disregarding his own potential! His own capabilities! Not outright refusing his power or the conclusions drawn, yet not accepting them either, and not even acknowledging whether or not he has the capacity to change that! To me, it is a stance, or rather a kind of lack of a stance, that I hold no respect for and utterly detest, particularly when held by someone of some kind of power, who ought to be capable of such a basic thing!"

After a decent pause, Ms. Black Cloak said with genuine curiosity completely laced into her tone, "Tell me, how would you respond to the Warrior near the end of the story then?"

Memnol said, "Which lines in particular am I responding to? Could you repeat them?"

Ms. Black Cloak said, "The one where the Warrior had said, 'Don't you use magic? Do you die and come back to life? That's a god.'"

Memnol said, "And The Infinite Man repeats that wretched line."

Ms. Black Cloak said, curiosity fully back, "Yes. But, your response?"

Memnol paused for a moment and said, "If it were myself," Memnol allowed a beat to pass before continuing, "'Then yes, Warrior, by your definition, I am a god.'"

There was a long silence that followed, although if there were even one other person among them, that person would endlessly swear that they could've heard a clear 'click' sound, like a lock had been opened just a few moments after Memnol's reply, right when it became utterly clear that that was the full stop of what he said, and that he certainly wasn't joking.

After the minutes-long pause, Ms. Black Cloak said, "So, I can see you certainly value conviction quite the amount."

Memnol lightly chuckled and said, "It's my second highest value, of course I do."

Ms. Black Cloak said, "Well, call me surprised that you have values, having told me that you were an assassin and, gods forbid, a lawyer. Which reminds me, what are you in training for, and I can tell you're rather smart, so why are you being so free with information right now?"

Memnol said, "It's one of the few things I do value. As for your questions, Hunter-in-training, and call it a quirk of how I grew up, being freer with my other secrets when they're effectively locked behind the secret of who I am."

After a pause, Ms. Black Cloak said, "I must admit, for having only known you for barely two days, what I have learned about you is only making me more curious."

Memnol said, "From what I have been able to gather about you from our interactions, I would have to say that I feel rather similarly."

Ms. Black Cloak said, "I guess that's only natural for two people meeting anonymously in a swamp of an abandoned continent, isn't it."

Memnol said, "We both want to know more of each other, don't we?"

Then, Memnol's mind had latched onto something somewhat independently of his conscious thought, namely the idea that they had both wanted to learn more of the other, and so his mind had drawn up some related concepts, and the earlier favor came back to force him into the idea which would have, in any other situation, not so much as been worthy of mention, let alone deliberate thought.

Memnol continued before she could speak, "Perhaps we can agree to call off the story idea for now at the least, since it would simply have us beating around the bush, so to say, for a while, and replace it with something else."

Ms. Black Cloak made a 'Go on' gesture, and Memnol explained and asked.

----------------------------------------

The next day, Memnol went with Ruby to lunch entirely of his own volition, and once there was a lull in conversation, a moment to change the topic, Memnol said, "Mr. Arc. Your favor has been fulfilled."

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Jaune asked, "Nice, what did you do?"

Nora jumped in, "Did you ask someone out?"

There was a moment of silence, most of them waiting for him to refute it.

Memnol took a breath and said, pointing at Jaune, "Thanks to Mr. Arc's favor, our date is later this week."

After another pause, Yang said, "They said yes?"

Everyone else, Memnol particularly, gave her some kind of look or glare, and Ruby said, "Yang!"

Yang said, "Okay, sorry, sorry! I didn't mean it like that, it's just, well, Memnol does look pretty, out there, doesn't he?"

At this, they all, in unison, turned to look at Memnol. In response, he just raised an eyebrow-spot and deliberately writhed his tentacles among themselves quite the amount more than the normal idle movement.

After another solid pause of silence, Memnol said, "Ms. Xiao Long on one hand has a fair point, but on the other, I hear that uniqueness can have its own sort of appeal."

After a moment, Memnol felt a small buzz from his Scroll, which most days he generally didn't pay any mind. Checking it, he said, "Hm. It appears that for the remainder of this week, as an experiment of sorts I presume, I'll be joining the second-year combat class. Professor Goodwitch has recommended I take some extra time to prepare myself. I suppose an undefeatable opponent would be less demotivating to students that already have a year of relatively normal matches, some might even try to rise to the challenge, I imagine. That might be interesting to see how they attempt to defeat me."

Yang said, "I think one of us here can pretty confidently disprove that whole 'unbeatable' thing, Memny."

Memnol looked at Pyrrha and said, "Ah, Ms. Nikhos, yes. Allow me to make a more accurate version of that statement, unbeatable so long as I am mildly trying, thinking somewhat clearly, and no longer needing to 'pull my punches' quite as much."

Memnol got up and said, "Well, it has been rather nice, but I believe lunch is nearly over, and so I shall be going. See you in class."

As Memnol left, Jaune asked, "Is it bad that I'm surprised he didn't just vanish into thin air this time?"

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Team CFVY had felt pretty good about getting the first match of the week, as they had figured from Ms. Goodwitch telling them to arrive in their combat gear. Then, on walking into class as the last ones in, they saw Memnol calmly standing in full gear, except for his mask of course, and that was where their reactions split. Yatsuhashi and Fox kept calm, Velvet seemed nervous, and Coco looked downright ready.

Goodwitch soon called the class into order, explained that they would be testing if Memnol might be able to join the second-year class, and soon asked Team CFVY which of them would fight against him. It was pretty quickly decided that Coco would be the one to do so, and soon they were facing each other on opposite ends of the arena, aura displays up and showing full for each.

After a "Begin!" from Goodwitch, they simply stood there, sizing each other up for a few moments, the tension in the room quite high.

Then Memnol broke the silence and said, "I see that you use a minigun as your primary weapon. Could you do me a favor and fire at me for a while? I need to test-"

Coco didn't need any more invitation, and immediately the bullets started flying at Memnol.

A few moments into firing the class had realized two things, 1. Memnol's Aura was untouched, and 2. He was deflecting every single one of the bullets from the minigun with the quarterstaff as it spun around in his hand all around in front of him, almost as if it were leading his hand and arm rather than the other way around.

Coco very quickly picked this up, stopped firing, and said, "Let me guess, you made that thing with your Art, didn't you?"

Memnol smiled and said, "It is working just as intended."

Coco said, "Well." She looked at her minigun, "Shit."

Coco quickly shifted Giandjura back to being a dense handbag and started to rush at Memnol. He responded by stretching out his free hand and sending a silent stilled Meteor Swarm directly at Coco, the four initial 2-foot meteor spheres slamming directly into her and each exploding into 40-foot balls of flame, knocking Coco from full Aura to none in a single instant.

Glynda shouted, "The Match goes to Memnol Elodyr! Stop immediately!" and rather quickly went over to Coco, who seemed to be looking at Memnol in a new light.

Memnol slowly walked over as well and asked, "Are you alright, Ms. Adel?"

Coco said, "Like I've been hit by a truck or ten, but also three quarters-numb."

Glynda said, "In shock too, by the sound of it. You're going to the infirmary for when it catches up with you."

Fox said, "I'm her partner, I'll escort her if that's alright."

Glynda said, "Yes, that should be fine, and if Ms. Adel isn't fit to come back to class, you two are dismissed. And Memnol,"

Memnol said, "Yes, Professor Goodwitch?"

Glynda said, "Wait after class for a few moments."

Memnol said, "Of course, Professor Goodwitch."

Memnol soon went up to the stands and sat next to the remaining half of Team CFVY, Yatsuhashi between him and Velvet.

The class went on mostly normally, and without much nervous whispering once Glynda stated that Memnol wasn't on the list of potential random candidates. There was still whispering, just the only ones doing so nervously were those nearest to Memnol who also hadn't heard much else about him and so weren't as certain if he was the type to violently take offense.

Soon enough, the class had ended, and while most of the class was still just getting up, after sending a few messages off and getting one in return, Glynda walked over to Memnol, who promptly stood up, and she said, "Memnol Elodyr, after consulting with Headmaster Ozpin, in light of your performances, you are hereby exempt from all combat-based classes with top marks."

Memnol inclined his head, "My thanks to you and Headmaster Ozpin, Ms. Goodwitch."

Glynda said, "As well, at Headmaster Ozpin's decision, your student huntsman license now has the same restrictions and allowances as a second-year student, and so long as they don't exceedingly interfere with your normal classes, you have access to the mission boards as well."

Memnol said, "My thanks again to Headmaster Ozpin. Is there anything else, Ms. Goodwitch?"

Glynda said, "If you're going to get started as quickly as I suspect you are, then I would personally recommend opening a bank account and tying it to your license."

Memnol said, "I'll do so today, then. Thank you for the advice. Am I dismissed?"

Glynda nodded, and Memnol said, "Pleasant day to you then, Ms. Goodwitch."

As he left, not paying much mind to the deliberate stragglers, five of which were outright on their scrolls now, he said the remains of Team CFVY, "My regards to Ms. Adel. If I am to be called upon, I will be remaining within Scroll range today."

----------------------------------------

Going through the full process of setting up all of his personal checkings and savings accounts, tying those to his huntsman license, which apparently netted him quite a few bonuses for being a huntsman-in-training, and setting up the accounts for the Weave Solutions Corporation, had taken Memnol a solid hour.

As Memnol stepped out from the bank and looked around, he had noticed that there certainly seemed to be a few people whispering and pointing towards him, more than the last time he was out in the town, which in fairness was nearly a month ago. Although, Memnol swore that this time many of the whispers were that of the excited kind, for some reason, and they weren't waiting for when they thought he couldn't see them as well.

As Memnol walked back over to the bullhead docks however, partway through his blindsight and IA's had picked up a pair of some kind, one with camera equipment and one with a microphone near a van he hadn't seen the sides of, who, having spotted Memnol, started trying to catch up with him.

"-spotted up and coming huntsman-in-training Memnol Elodyr," The woman spoke into the microphone.

Memnol turned in place suddenly to face them, though only the one with the camera hesitated briefly, and the woman with the microphone kept going.

Once she caught up with him, she said, both to him and the microphone, "Excuse me, I'm Lisa Lavendar with the Vale News Network, would you be Memnol Elodyr and do you have time for a brief interview?"

Memnol said, "Yes, I would be Memnol Elodyr, and I would much rather an interview without worrying about needing to overly shorten my answers. However, if you and the cameraman would be willing to walk and talk, then I would find it acceptable to answer some questions on my way back to the academy. Are you, or we I suppose, live now, by chance?"

The cameraman quickly circled around as Memnol started to walk to film the two from the front, Lisa visibly keeping up her faster pace to match Memnol's strides, and she said, "Yes, we are currently live."

Memnol said, "I see. In that case, for the people at home or elsewhere, and the cameraman whom I am indirectly addressing, do not be concerned if you notice me occasionally pointing, I am simply trying to signal to the cameraman to either avoid backing into something or someone, or that I am about to turn. Thumbs up if you understand me sir," a brief pause, "Grand. For those watching, the cameraman has indeed just given a thumbs up."

He turned to Lisa and said, "Pardon me for ignoring you for a second, I simply figured it would help things run smoother. Before your questions, if I might ask, why do you seek an interview with me in the first place? Have I become sort of celebrity?"

Lisa said, "Yes, many huntsmen are, and huntsmen in training such as Team CFVY, who you are supposedly well acquainted with, correct?"

Memnol said, "Yes, we've conversed a decent amount, helped each other on various things. I hadn't known that, I suppose that explains the looks I've been getting, aside from the obvious ones. And so we do not waste time on the equally obvious question, I am quite aware of how I look. Still, I must admit I wasn't expecting any sort of celebrity when I began, though I am neither overly surprised in thinking it over. Not in relation to myself specifically, I realize that may have sounded unduly arrogant, in relation to the profession as a whole."

Lisa said, "Of course. We've heard rumors but would like to hear it directly, as a prominent Faunus figure, what are your feelings towards the White Fang?"

Memnol said, "Before I answer that, I'm a prominent Faunus figure?"

Lisa said, "From my sources, many Faunus have been looking to you as an ideal to live up to over the past month, having heard about your exemplary academic record and seen the videos of you in combat training. With this in mind, in addition to the previous question, do you have anything you'd like to share with any who may be watching?"

Memnol stopped walking, gave a notable pause, smiled, and said, "Though the vast majority of those watching may not be able to tell, I am smiling a great amount, and I am honored that I have been chosen in this manner as an ideal. I suppose in keeping related to the previous question, before I address it directly, I would like to share something from my own personal code."

Memnol gave another pause and said, "Number Five; Self-Control is the highest possible virtue. It is one of ten points containing how I conduct myself and my own beliefs. I have refined it over my life, and will likely continue to do so, but I always try to put each one through at least one test; 'If all beings followed and or believed this, would that be a better world?'. I believe this one to pass that test with flying colors."

After letting another brief pause hang, Memnol said, "You had earlier asked about the White Fang. For the clarity of those watching at home, could you re-state the question?"

Lisa said, "As a prominent Faunus figure, what are your feelings towards the White Fang?"

Memnol said, "In their current state, I find them to be frankly doing far more harm to their claimed cause than good. It is a shame, in their past state as a unified group of protestors, remaining civil, I believe they could have possibly reached equality in as little as a couple of decades, perhaps less, assuming they kept up the dedicated pace of peaceful protest. But now, the current White Fang is doing more harm towards any goal of equality than there was before the protests began, so far as I see it."

Lisa said, "Claimed cause? You believe their true cause isn't Faunus equality?"

Memnol said, "I am sure many still within believe that they are acting in that interest, but their actions to me simply don't align with any reasonable path to equality. Quite frankly, by their actions they far more promote Faunus supremacy than equality, except in not outright stating that they are doing so they are hindering even that. It is quite simply, an absolute mess, that I hope to assist in cleaning up as soon as possible. In fact, may I say a few more words?"

Lisa said, "Go ahead."

Memnol took a moment to audibly breathe and said, "I would hope this message reaches as many White Fang members and other independent Faunus who have used similar tactics in recent times. I urge you to well and truly consider if you want equality or supremacy. Please, though it may sound odd that I say this, do not forcibly deny yourself in one way or the other, truly give the matter at least five minutes, by the clock, of thought. If you have decided Supremacy, then I suppose there is not much more for me to say to you, other than that I personally disagree, and that we are bound from that moment onwards to be against each other, as soldiers to our causes."

A pause for breath, and emphasis, "However, it is to those of you who shall choose equality that I now speak to. If you hold that belief, then I urge you to both leave the White Fang behind, and just as importantly, if not more so, turn yourselves in for anything and everything you have done. If you truly do wish for equality, then you will not allow yourselves to slink away from what you have chosen to do, you will hold yourselves to a higher standard than that. You must let yourselves face the consequences of what you have chosen to do, on the same ground as all others. You have acted as the judge, but if you wish to truly show in your actions that you want equality, then you will bring yourself to be judged."

Another pause, "That is all I ask. If you wish for equality, then please leave behind those who are harming your beliefs and using them as nothing but a body to hide behind, and demonstrate it in your actions by facing your consequences as all others must. I understand some cannot turn yourselves in immediately after you leave, some may need to speak with family, and otherwise manage what, I will admit, may for some be your final affairs as free people. I must insist however, that if you truly hold that belief, you will hold yourself to going in at one week after leaving at the absolute latest. Short, perhaps, but more than enough to reconcile with family and friends, and steel yourself."

After one more pause, Memnol said, "That is all," He turned to Lisa, "If I were to continue beyond this, I fear it would only dilute the message. I am certain you understand."

Lisa said, "Of course, thank you for your time and words."

Memnol said, "And thank you, for allowing me the opportunity to spread that message. Before I leave, here." He took out his scroll and handed it to Lisa, who promptly got the idea and started exchanging the contact information, "I am sure those at home won't mind a few moments of silence to be with their own thoughts."

Rather quickly, Lisa handed Memnol his scroll back. He extended his hand for a shake, which Lisa soon took, and afterwards, he had just walked off.

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"...and I'm Lisa Lavendar, signing off for now."

In their room in Beacon, RWBY looked away from Weiss' Scroll and at each other.

Weiss said, "That, Yang, is the reason why I always keep the news on."

Far later in the night, in the dark of the room, below Yang's bunk and on her own, Blake had no what the knots of air and lead in her chest had begun to mean. The only thing she felt certain of at that moment, was that many people she had known before, seen every day, eaten with, played with, grown up with, were going to die. No matter how she rolled her head around, she couldn't seem to find a spot on the pillow that stayed dry for long.