After resetting the firing range, we returned to the workshop and splintered off from each other, filtering off into the different locker rooms. I didn't have much to grab from my locker at this point, save for my leather armor. I wasn't going to put my weapons back this time.

I stripped out of my uniform and pulled on the body suit and leather outerwear that constituted the armor Byz had made me. I'd only gotten limited use out of it so far. It had served me more when I was digging ditches and moving plants than in any actual protective capacity. Today, it would finally start to better fill its intended role.

I fastened the vest in place and checked the spaulder, making sure it wouldn't shift out of place. Then I slid my equipment into place and rolled my shoulders.

It was time.

I walked to the far end of the locker room, to the corridor leading to the fighting hall. Fox and Yatsu were waiting there for me, like they were expecting me to get lost or something. Both were dressed in what I could assume were their preferred combat or training attire. Yatsu in a pair of rugged brown pants and blank tank top. Both covered slightly by an almost robe-like coat that hung down to his knees and, strangely, only covered one half of his body, the sleeve only reaching about halfway down his bicep at that. His other shoulder and arm were covered by an otherwise massive pauldron, painted a light green to match his coat. Short, armored, gloved gauntlets adorned both his forearms, as did armored boots his lower legs, dyed and painted shades of brown and green to match. Over his shoulder hung a massive bronze colored sword. From the little I could see of it, the hilt was adorned in Spartan, almost unfinished fashion. It lacked both a guard and pommel, the handle terminating sharply into the shoulders of the blade and only being wrapped in leather. The point of the blade was off as well. Instead terminating on itself, it curved back, becoming a hook more akin to something I'd see on a fish knife.

Fox meanwhile, was wearing rather basic clothing. A coppery vest the same shade as his hair, black jeans, brown shoes, and a pair of black gloves, reaching about half-way up his forearm. Rather plain, compared to what his contemporaries wore. However, it revealed something else about him: he had more scar tissue than would appear at first glance. Perhaps not as much as the ones I carried back in the Mojave, but certainly more than just that cut on the lips he sported so openly. Just going off the reminders of wounds past that encircled his arms, it spoke that he was someone who fought regularly. Probably well and hard at that. His weapons were already in his hands, unlike his teammates. More accurately, they were braced to him. I'd imagine they were some style of baton, though not one I'd be readily familiar with. A pair of them, with a brace wrapped around his wrist, leading into a combination of handle and knuckle guard. Both connecting back into a mechanism the length of his forearm, with what appeared to be gun barrels at the business end. At the opposite end, each extended into a curved blade, almost long enough to reach back up to his shoulders. Both weapons painted to match the coppery tinge of his clothes and hair.

Honestly, they were best summarized as nasty pieces of work. Both for whoever you used them on, and for yourself if you screw up while wielding them.

But to each their own, I was the guy who blinded himself not even a half hour ago.

They nodded at me as I approached and we started down the corridor.

"So, what exactly am I in for?" I asked, trying to make polite conversation

Yatsu and Fox shared a look, but didn't say a word. They just smirked and kept walking with me.

"… Gotta guess it'll be something crazy." I said, undeterred "I see the way some of you fight, flipping around like acrobats and ballet dancers."

That earned a snide chuckle from Fox, but not much else besides.

"… You two don't talk much, huh?"

Fox shook his head, smirking.

I shrugged "I can respect it; we all got our own quirks."

"You'll probably be sparring with Fox."

I blinked and looked at the two of them. Specifically, craning my head so I could look up at Yatsu. The young giant was casting a sidelong eye down at me.

His voice was… well, being completely frank, he sounded like a grown man. A smooth baritone that was probably only going to get deeper as he got older. Again, give him a few years, he'd be one step closer to being a halfway decent Lanius impersonator.

"… Shit man, what'd you do, replace your vocal cords with brass?"

"And that's why I try not to talk." Yatsu grunted.

"What about him?" I asked, motioning to Fox. Who, once again, smirked snidely.

"Talks in his own way." Yatsu grunted.

"… Really, how?" I said, eyeing the shorter teenager "I haven't heard a peep out of him, what's he use, Morse?"

Yatsu just shrugged, though I honestly couldn't tell if it was out of irritation or indifference. I wasn't exactly being polite. Especially considering my next question would've been what they fed Yatsu to make him so damn big.

So before I got too far off the rails, I figured I was better asking something else.

"Is your name actually Yatsu?"

Yatsu quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Just curious, never heard it before."

"Kind of like being named after the mailman." Yatsu said, before grimacing, apparently realizing he'd just unwittingly hurled an insult at me.

I just chuckled at it though. "Give you credit, you're the first person to actually throw that one at me, and it's actually kind of funny. If you'd called me 'courier' I'd probably have tried to knock your teeth in."

That got a chuckle out of both of them.

"… My full name is Yatsuhashi." Yatsu answered after a second "I just know it's kind of a mouthful, so I just ask people to call me Yatsu."

"Yatsuhashi…" I said, nodding "-Yeah, can see how that'd be a bit of a mouthful. Kinda like calling someone Courier Six."

"Hmm." Yatsu grunted, nodding.

We walked a bit further, eventually exiting the corridor and entering the pit of the fighting hall. It was still early into it. People were still filtering into the raised arena seating from the hallway. Goodwitch was standing up there, fiddling with her scroll for one reason or another. Probably getting ready for everyone to start doming one another.

My teammates, plus Velvet and Coco, were loitering near the far wall. Velvet seemed to be chatting with Ruby and Yang about something, while Weiss and Blake stood by. Blake having apparently deigned to bring a book with her, of all things. Coco was, frankly, staring off into space. Tracing her line of sight, she seemed to be looking up at the seats, for some reason. The odd smirk on her face only further compounded things. As we approached, her head swiveled our way. The smirk on her face shifting with a change of intent.

"Nice outfit." Coco smirked "Looks better than the other one."

"Oh don't start that shit again." I said, knowing damn well she'd been present when I had Byz design my current outfit. And whose appearance I'd taken some cues from. "How about we figure out where we're supposed to do this before you start picking a fight, eh?"

Coco shrugged, turning on her heel. "Whatever you say kid."

She walked, and we followed, tracing the wall of the arena around the outside of the ring proper. There were a series of recessed arches along it. I knew there was one for each of the locker rooms, indicating that they were some form of door. Though most of them appeared to be otherwise locked or inaccessible.

Coco walked over to one not far from the hall to the girl's locker room, and pushed inward. It opened easily and without complaint. We filtered into the room and shut the door behind us.

The smaller training room was a bit less ostentatious than the hall proper. Most of the fancier columns and arches had been stripped away. Leaving the room a bit emptier, a bit more barren. That wasn't to say it wasn't over done in its décor, far from it. It still carried the same air as the hall, it just lacked the excess of it. Walls of smoothed stone leading to a vaulted ceiling. Stone and matted floor marked to denote a similar, if smaller, arena to the one connected to this room. Overhead lights, dangling like miniature suns from the ceiling, intercut with skylights, letting softer, more natural light kiss the room.

More fancy than it truly needed to be, but still fully capable of doing the job.

"This is where we'll be training." Coco said, turning back to face us "Don't expect us to hold your hands the whole way through."

"I'm not." I said, pulling my shotgun around front of me. "So, do we start with me shooting you, or do you want to get a free shot in?"

There was something I'd never thought I'd ask someone in any fashion beyond a fight to the death. But having spent as long as I had here, and even seeing that I could point-blank someone and not kill them, I was willing to start taking their approach to things. They didn't care as much about accidently killing each other, so I wasn't going to either. Nope. Not one bit.

Coco looked at me. Then my shotgun.

Then she chuckled. "You can start by putting your stuff over there." She said, motioning to the wall.

"…Pardon?"

"We're training your aura, right?" Coco asked "Step one is learning to actually use it. Which means no weapons."

"… You're kidding, right?"

Coco, still smirking, shook her head, and motioned to Fox. Her blind teammate nodded along amiably, and began to remove his razor-baton-things. He then walked over to the wall and rested them against it, before heading into the ring. I looked back to Coco.

"Gotta walk before you can run kid." She said "Don't worry though, we're not taking it easy on you."

I drummed my fingers across my shotgun for a moment, then looked at my teammates. They'd also taken to leaning on the wall by this point. The most encouragement I got out of any of them consisted of a shrug or nod.

I let out a slow breath "Welp, if you say so."

I walked next to my teammates and began removing my equipment. Setting everything neatly next to Ruby.

"You girls going to just stand here the whole time?" I asked.

Ruby shrugged "Maybe, we're getting extra credit to make sure you're here."

Which I knew already. But it kind of seemed like a waste that they were going to just be standing around the whole time, not doing anything of value. We had the whole room to ourselves, and CFVY, naturally. It would behoove them to do something more than just stand around. But I guess that also depended on how much room they actually had to work with, and CFVY was going to have me doing.

Running on the assumption that whatever way I was going to be training, it would be directly with Fox, I walked into the ring. Doing a few basic stretches once I was standing in the boundaries.

"So again, how does this go?" I asked, twisting at the hip "I'm pretty much in the dark on all of this."

"You can start by drawing out your aura." Coco said "Like you did yesterday."

I nodded and focused for a moment or three. Mentally trying to run through the steps that had let me pull out my aura for the first time while training. I'm not sure how long it took, but it felt faster than it had the first time. So maybe not ten minutes this time, probably closer to five. Still longer than was actually acceptable though. When I was done, I was covered in the faint, weak glow of my aura.

"Ok, done." I said, trying to maintain my focus on it. "Next?"

"Next, you're going to actually try and use it for something." Coco said, looking to Fox, who in turn looked to her. A small stretch of silence passed, and I watched Coco's expression fall in exasperation "… Yeah, that's a bit hard to say."

"What is?"

"Telling you how to actually use your aura." Coco answered, shaking her head "It's something most people just know how to do, and get better at with practice. So trying to tell you what to do is kinda… hard."

"So it's like riding a bike."

Coco looked at me in confusion.

"Riding a bike isn't hard." I elaborated "The hardest part about it is learning to balance yourself on something that isn't your own two feet. You can't really explain to someone how they're supposed to balance themselves, just that they are."

Coco stayed quiet for a second, then shrugged "If it helps you learn, sure."

"Ok, then I can see how it's hard to explain. It's less something concrete, and more of a feeling."

Fox nodded, meaning I was closer to being on the right path.

I maintained my focus on my aura, feeling the warmth of it in my chest. A sensation I couldn't quite put my finger on. Something malleable and wanting, but directionless and waiting. Something that was there, but had yet to be tapped.

A feeling.

"…"

I closed my eyes and focused on that feeling, giving it shape, direction. Imagining it as something tangible. I felt it shift in my core, stretching and bending with my thoughts, almost fervently. Growing in force, collecting like tension in my muscles. I pictured the motions in my mind, felt the energy shift with them in the motion. A nice, simple action.

I opened my eyes and followed through on it. I crouched down, bending at the knees. I felt the energy shift, moving into the muscles in my legs. Then I sprang up, launching off the floor. I wasn't trying to see how high I could jump, just get off the ground.

I launched ten feet into the air.

At the height of the jump, there was a second where the world seemed to freeze, and my heart skipped a beat. Without hardly trying, I'd jumped higher than any person in the wasteland could've ever feasibly expected to. Ten feet might not seem like much, it wasn't like I was leaping over skyscrapers. But ten feet pushed well into Olympian territory, if not past it. I'd basically given the laws of physics the middle of finger without even truly trying.

For a moment, I got to feel what everyone else on Remnant apparently did. It was unbelievable.

Then reality snapped back, and gravity sent me to the floor.

I tried to control my descent, but just wound up making it worse, causing me to land in heap. The matting was soft, at least, shame I still came down hard though.

I heard CFVY snickering, and pretty sure my teammates were too. It wasn't funny.

"Well that was quick." Coco said, suppressing a chuckle.

I looked up at her from the floor, grunting "What can I say, I'm a Swift Learner when the mood strikes me."

"Uh huh."

I rolled back onto my shoulders and sprang to my feet. I'd lost focus on my aura, but I knew I could call it back. I began to draw it back again.

"So what was that?" Coco asked.

"Finding my balance." I said, focusing "If it's not something you can completely walk me through, then the fastest way to figure it out was to feel it out."

"You ok?" Ruby called from her spot on the wall.

"Right as rain, Tiny. Only a bit of wounded pride."

I focused for a bit longer, not sure how long, again, but it felt even shorter than the last. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I felt like I was starting to get a handle on it. Aura wasn't something logical. It was an intangible part of the human machine, apparently, so of course it wasn't. It was something rooted in feeling and intuition. You could as readily explain it as you could how to breathe or flex your muscles. It was almost easier just to do it than talk through it.

I let my focus filter to the back of my mind, my aura back to how it was supposed to be.

"Seems like you figured it out at least." Coco smirked.

"Like I said, Swift Learner." I looked down at the glow over my arms, thinking "- So, I can use it to augment my own physical abilities. Meaning I can be even faster and stronger than I already am, on top of it acting like a forcefield."

"Forcefield?"

I shrugged "Basic enough analogy… Running with that though, that also mean I can use it to make my strikes harder, or my 'forcefield' more effective, right?"

Coco nodded "That's the idea, kid."

"…You gonna stop calling me 'kid' anytime soon?" I said, side tracking myself.

She shrugged "-Who knows… kid."

"…" I let it go and continued thinking "Aside from that, I believe I heard that you can extend your aura to your weapons too, right? Letting you imbue the same effects to them instead."

Coco nodded, assenting.

"…Does that apply to things like guns and bullets as well?" I asked, curious "How does something like that work?"

"It doesn't" Velvet answered, choosing to chime in "-While you can extend your aura over a firearm to help with maintenance, once it's fired, the bullet stays the same."

"Unless you've got a semblance that can affect the bullet, anyway." Coco added "Another reason why most hunters tend to find weapons that work best for them. And keep their abilities a secret."

I nodded, that was a good practice to have for a whole host of reasons. Even if it did make working together harder. "So, theoretically, I could use one of my guns as a club, and apply my aura with it, but the moment I used it for the appropriate reason, my aura falls out of the equation."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Pretty much, yeah."

I nodded "Well, guess it's better than what I had at least… so, what now?"

"Now, we start teaching you how to use your aura for more than jumping around."

"Aight, howzat?"

Fox cracked his knuckles, the only warning I was going to get.

Coco smiled. "Like this."

Fox launched at me like a missile. Arm cocked back at the shoulder. I had hardly a moment to react, pulling my arms up in a guard. Fox slammed into me, fist hammering into my forearms before transitioning seamlessly into an upward knee strike. His knee split my guard like a wedge to a log.

I back pedaled, narrowly avoiding the kick that followed his knee. Fox kept the pressure on, hounding me. He lunged at me again, his left leg sweeping up, angled at my chest. I reeled my arm in, curling it into a tight guard. His shin contacted my arms with bone rattling force, sending a dull throb of pain through them. Considering that it didn't break my aura, that spoke just how hard he'd actually hit me.

Small miracle though, my aura didn't break.

Shame it didn't last.

In the same motion Fox used to retract his leg, his opposing arm lashed out. His fist coming around to hook me. I began to move into it, aiming to slip it. Then his arm curled in, transitioning seamlessly and swiftly into an elbow strike. Instead of slipping the blow, I ran face first into it, catching the edge of my mask on it.

My aura rippled, breaking as a concussive blow rocked me backed, sent me spinning. For my part, I didn't falter at least. I used the momentum to put space between us, compose myself with the scant second it afforded me. The instant I regained my footing, I was back into a stance and ready to fight. Fully ready for Fox to continue assaulting me like a fiend on a psycho-trip.

Except he didn't.

Instead of lunging at me again, he stood his ground, and calmly lowered his stance. A quirked eyebrow and half smile aimed my way.

Behind him, Coco nodded.

"Not bad." Coco said, playful "I was expecting Fox to get you with the first one."

"…Almost did." I grunted, relaxing out of my stance "But I've fought guys that move faster. Most didn't have that much coordination though."

It did make me glad we weren't using weapons though. If he'd kept those arm blades on, that last strike would've taken my head off.

Fox's half smile gained a pleased edge to it.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Your aura broke." Coco said "You didn't expect Fox to keep hitting you without it, right?"

"Actually I kinda did, that's pretty much how it's gone for me so far."

"Well we're not, but we could if you'd like."

I pretended to entertain the idea for a moment, before shaking my head. "Nah, I'm good. But what happens now?"

"Now, you're going to learn how to re-summon your aura." Coco said.

"…I can do that?" I asked.

I wasn't completely surprised by it. Given long enough stretches of time, my aura did seem to naturally recover. So it made sense there might be a way to speed up the process.

"It's the same as how you've been focusing your aura so far." Velvet explained brightly "Part of us helping you is making it so you don't have to keep that level of focus to use your aura. But focusing like that is also how to quickly recover it."

"Really?" I asked, putting that to the test, placing my focus back onto my aura.

"Getting your aura broken during a fight will happen eventually, and you won't have the luxury to wait for it to come back." Coco continued, notably imitating a certain witch "But if you can avoid dying in the time it takes to happen, you can recover your aura back to usable levels. Doing so can be rather taxing however. Since you're new to this, it'll probably take a few-"

Green light shimmered over my body as I felt my aura return to me with a flush.

Coco blinked, going wide-eyed. "… minutes."

I smirked at her, even if she couldn't see it. "I don't have a lot of it to work with, but when it comes to endurance, I'm basically Unstoppable…" I took stock of my aura, feeling it out. There was something off. "I do feel different though, so I see what you mean. It's better to let it come back naturally, but if I need it, I can call it back in exchange for the physical toll. Which I'm guessing gets harder each time I need to force it, right?"

Coco nodded, looking impressed "You definitely learn fast kid."

"There's always a catch." I grunted "So, before Fox and me start swinging at each other again, is there anything else I need to know? Things that might keep me from calling my aura back up."

"There is, don't get maimed." Coco answered.

"If you get hurt before your aura has a chance to recover, it will prioritize healing you over shielding you." Velvet explained "You can still force it to happen faster, but it'll take even more time and energy. The worse the wounds are, the longer they'll take."

"And if it's bad enough, I'm pretty much out of the fight regardless, right?"

"Mhmm" Velvet nodded helpfully.

"So basically: don't die… noted." I nodded clenching my fists, trying to shift my focus and aura to the muscles in my arms. One thing this single session had proven so far: it was all a matter of focus. A matter of control. If I couldn't make my aura do what I wanted, keeping up was going to be that much more difficult. But I was getting a feel for it, slowly.

At least my ridiculous Endurance meant I could keep trying until I got it right.

I eased back into a fighting stance and nodded to Fox. "Aight, let's keep at it then."

Fox didn't say a word. He just nodded and glided easily back into his stance, clearly ready to fight.

"Just try and last more than three moves this time, ok?"

Coco, on the other hand, couldn't help but talk trash.

Two could play at that.

"Only if Fox doesn't pull his punches this time.

Fox smirked, and Coco kept going "He won't, trust me."

"Good." I said brightly "Because he hits like a bitch."

The neutral expression on Fox's face shattered into a look of incredulity, jaw going slack. A look mirrored by Coco, but fading past her. I could at least tell that Velvet and Yatsu were left wide eyed by it.

Coco blinked, once, twice, then shook her head, an amused grin on her face. "You know he just put you on the ground, right?"

"Yeah, and Yang's put me through a wall." I shot back, motioning to the girl in question "You think a few love taps are gonna be enough to slow me down?"

Confusion replaced the surprise on their faces, and they turned to look at Yang. I heard her chuckle, muttering "Heck yeah I did."

"I thought you weren't going to go easy on me." I said, challenging "Is a few cheap shots the best you got?"

Fox turned back to look at me, staring for a moment. Then he made the first sound I'd actually heard from him: he chuckled. His jaw regaining its rightful form, lips curling up into a determined smile.

It appeared I had his attention.

Good.

Fox sprang at me again, launching into the air with a cleaving kick, twisting at the hip and descending at the right height to connect with my shoulder again.

Shouldn't have tried the same trick twice in a row.

I pulled my arm into a guard once more, trying to maintain my aura with it. Letting the tension form into a cushion against the strike. His shin collided with my arm again, but the impact was nowhere as intense, I was ready for it. Before Fox could continue, my left arm lashed out at him in a Scribe Counter. A jab to his lower right ribs. I didn't count on it hurting, he had more experience with aura than I did. Even if I struck fast and hard, odds were good he knew how to tank it better. But I didn't need it to hurt, just push him off kilter, even just a little.

If the surprise in his blind eyes was any indication, it worked.

I relaxed my guarding arm, before letting it spring out in a hook, aimed at the outer edge of his jaw.

Fox seemed to realize his mistake, and moved to cover himself. He raised his own arm in defense, intending to guide the blow off course. Spoke of experience on his part, but he was too slow, half a second faster would've been the difference, as my arm scraped past his. My fist caught him on the jaw, wrenching his head to the side.

He took it like a champ.

My other arm coiled back, and shot off at him again, aiming to seize the growing opening my one-two had made. But his other arm succeeded where the first had failed, deflecting my blow as Fox lunged upwards. His knee driving towards the hollow below my sternum. I crossed my arms in a guard, catching it, if barely. He capitalized on this, his arms racing skyward before racing towards my shoulders, seeking to drive the hit home in both directions.

I held my focus, concentrating my aura around my shoulders, my head and neck.

Before his hit landed, I crashed my head into his.

Bells didn't ring, for once. Fox's head snapped back, dragging the rest of him with it. He stumbled on the first step, but quickly recovered with the second. I was on him before the third. I returned the gut shot to him with interest. His abs tightened as my fist hit home, breath escaping him in a hiss. I followed it with an uppercut, catching him clean on the underside of his jaw.

I rolled with the uppercut, using the upward moment to leap into a flip. His leg arcing upward like an inverted axe. I dipped backward, the tip of his steel-toed boot narrowly missing the tip of my mask.

Fox returned to earth before flying at me again, his knee aimed square into the air space of my head. I didn't have time to pull my aura up to guard my head. Even then, I knew there was too much force behind it for me to tank it. So I switched tactics, extending my focus through my arms and shoulders, I put myself into a half guard. As his knee came close, my guarding arm came to meet it, while my free arm reached past him. I pivoted at the hip, using my guard for added leverage, power. I pushed my aura into the motion, put control to his motion.

I half slipped, half redirected Fox, using my aura and strength to push him off course. The action caused him to falter mid-flight. He didn't come down as gracefully this time, but he didn't crash either. He skidded to a halt, and turned face me, several feet between us. One of his arms reached up and rubbed his jaw, clearly pained.

Then his blind eyes focused on me, a look of genuine surprise on his face.

Without letting him leave my vision, I let Coco slip into my peripherals. Her glasses had slipped half-way down her nose, failing to hide the bewilderment in her eyes. Looking to my teammates, I could see that Ruby, Weiss, and Yang at least were watching with rapt attention. Blake, on the other hand, was still reading.

Part of me wanted to find out what, so I could look it up later.

I let Fox re-take my attention as my body re-adopted a proper stance. "You said you weren't holding back. I'm gonna hold you to that, because I've got a lot of ground to cover, and I'd like to do it sooner rather than later. If a little pain is the only thing standing in my way, then I'm going to make this simple for you: Bring it."

Fox stared at me a moment longer, sizing me up. Then that determined smile made its way back onto his face and, for a moment, his gaze shifted back to Coco. Then it found its way back to me, with an added determined gleam. He calmly glided into a stance to match my own.

He got the message.

No more waiting.

The two of us surged at each other, feet pounding the ground as we closed distance. Right before impact, I launched into a Legion Assault, closing the gap. The hit connected with Fox's arm, brought up in a guard, aura glowing around the impact point. His leg snapped up in a switch kick, and my punch reared back into a guard, catching the brunt of the blow. He then twisted at the hip, pulling his opposite leg around in a scything heel kick to my flank. I pivoted at the hit as well, tensing my stomach as the strike landed. The increased surface area spread out the impact of the strike. Before he could retract his leg, I clamped down on it, holding it close as I pushed into him. I drove him off balance, and he rolled with it, allowing himself to fall in controlled fashion back towards the ground. Using his leg as a fulcrum to vault me over him. I allowed it, sailing over him easily and into a roll on the ground, springing to my feet with ease.

"You got this, Six!" Ruby shouted from the sidelines.

"Whoop his ass Fox!" Coco echoed.

Fox rolled to his feet and lunged, arm snapping out in a straight. I slipped into it, returning the favor with a cross to his sternum. I continued to press in, following with a hook to his cheek. His arm came up in a guard, before guiding the blow off. Then he brought his arms in close and lunged upwards at me, the close quarters ensuring a clean hit. The air left me in a burst, aura glowing, and I was driven back. His arm snaked back, reeling for what appeared to be a punch. Then it snapped forward, curving into another elbow strike. I was wary for it this time, dipping low enough to avoid it. Then using my legs to drive into an uppercut, knuckles barely catching the side of his head. Before I could pull-back, his arm clasped onto mine, grappling it. He pulled me in, using the leverage of my arm to force an opening, make a better strike.

Unfortunately for him, I had two arms as well.

What was easily leverage for him could be reversed, with some pain.

As his free arm reeled back, mine snaked under it, driving into his throat. A rasping cough escaped him, and I pushed forward with my legs, using the momentum to break his grapple.

It was in that fashion that we settled into a rhythm, neither side willing to let the other gain a lead without the other recovering shortly after. Every strike dodged or guarded against, when they failed to strike home. The few to make contact were returned in kind, with equal ferocity. Neither side willing to give the other an inch, a stalemate. The rest of the room filtering to the background, and growing further with each exchange. Until the only things I was conscious of were myself and Fox. A dangerous place to be in a real fight, unaware of your surroundings. But in a spar, where no one was going to intervene, I could allow it, devote more thought to the task at hand.

So I did, and let the fight flow on. Letting myself watch the way each strike flew, gauge where it would land. Learn his tells and weaknesses, which if Fox was worth his salt he'd be doing in kind. All the while keeping my aura focused, shifting it with every move. A slow, almost lethargic sensation, of something just barely able to keep up with the rest of me. With every strike given, and taken, I felt it shudder. Felt it struggle. An aura was meant to shield you, and strengthen you past your limitations. At best, I'd say it was letting me operate at them. Something that might improve, given time.

In the moment, it would have to be enough.

I'd learned enough about Fox to end this spar, at least. His style of fighting was loose, fluid, as any good one should be. On top of punches and kicks, his arsenal included the use of his knees and elbows. Made him harder to predict, put his speed to good use. But there was kink he needed to iron out: he needed momentum. He'd won our first bout handily because he was able to build and keep steam throughout. Complimented by the fact he had willfully taken the initiative.

Now he struggled, because I wasn't letting him gain the momentum he needed. Both physical for harder strikes, and metaphorical in cumulative damage. He was actively trying to build it, but I was keeping pace with him handily. Never letting him push so far ahead it made a difference. Keeping him at just the right spot, until-

I pulled my arms in once more to guard as Fox pivoted, twisting as he drove the kick into my forearms. My aura glowed brightly at the contact, strained like over torqued steel.

Then I spread my arms, letting the kick slip past my guard. I lunged in, dipping past the leg as it flew under my arm. Surprise spread across his face as I closed in, off-hand flying low, striking and colliding once more with his ribs in another Scribe Counter. But it was half-hearted, lacking in follow through.

Because it was a distraction, just to make him flinch.

Distance closed; I brought my right hand down on him in an overhead strike. Knuckles hammering down into his scalp, bringing his head closer into range.

His arm came up, a hook coming around for retaliation.

I continued to step in, my off hand reeling upward, curling in at the elbow until it jutted out like the point of a knife. It connected at the side of his head, a mirror of what he'd done to me. His head snapping sharply to the side, killing the momentum he'd tried to build. He tried to fall with the blow, spinning into another heel kick, aiming high. I back stepped, concentrating my aura, all that I could given the little I'd learned. Felt the tension spread through the muscles in my arms, shoulders, back. Lingering there like liquid fire.

His kick passed, barely scraping the furthest point of my helmet.

Then I launched in, palm flying out, connecting with his chest. The Ranger's Takedown hitting him with everything I could throw behind it. His breath left him in a sharp bark, then he went flying. Normally when I do it, I could knock people a good ten, fifteen feet back. If I really pushed it, threw everything I had behind it, I might scratch twenty.

Fox flew thirty, and continued to tumble across the ground for another ten after that.

The aura glowing over my arm shattered, scattering across the rest of me, and a wave of exhaustion crashed in after it. Not enough to bring me down, not by even a small stretch. But I felt my lungs burn, muscles ache, both crying out for oxygen. I kept my breathing even, if only so.

Fox finished rolling, and I eased out of my stance. I breathed, turning to look back Coco

She looked shell shocked. Velvet and Yatsu did as well, frankly. My teammates seemed less surprised, but no less pleased.

Except Blake, who was still reading her book.

"So, who's loss was that-" I asked "Mine or his?"

Coco stood there a moment longer, blinking and clearly trying to process the fact that her teammate got tossed across the room like a ragdoll. After a moment or two, she seemed to realize she was standing there slack jawed, and started pulling herself back together. "I- uh- don't think it's a matter of losses. But I'm gonna say Fox won anyway since your aura broke."

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my arm, as I started to walk over to Fox "Yeah, I kinda noticed that. I'm pretty sure I didn't hurt myself, what gives?"

"You pushed too hard." Yatsu said, deciding this was the spot to join the conversation finally "You tried to use too much of your aura at once and it burned out."

"You can do that?" I asked, before shaking my head "No, no, that makes sense. If it's like a muscle, of course you can over do something."

"It's not easy to do." Velvet chimed in "You'd normally have to try a lot harder for it to happen, or already be worn out. But with your aura being in the state it's in…"

"With it being complete garbage, it took a lot less to do the same thing." I answered.

I stepped up to and loomed over Fox, who was slowly recovering. He was half way to sitting upright, leaning back on his elbows. Grimacing as he rubbed his chest in soothing motions. Despite being blind, he turned his head my way, looking up to me.

In response, I extended a hand out to him.

He eyed my hand for a moment, strange as it was for a blind man to do that, before shaking his head and picking himself up.

"… Ok, so what the fuck was that?" Coco finally asked.

"Coco." Yatsu admonished.

"Ugh- Heck, what the heck was that?"

"A sparring match." I answered curtly, walking back "Just like you wanted."

"But you just learned how to use aura."

"Yeah, which is why it took as long as it did. You didn't think I made it this far on a fluke, did you?"

Coco shook her head, whether in answer to my rhetorical question or disbelief, I wasn't quite sure.

"So, aura breaks if you push too hard." I said, walking up to Coco "Is there anything else I should know about, any other chinks in the armor I need to watch out for?"

"Umm…" Coco looked to Fox again, letting a moment pass "… Oh, yeah, don't get taken by surprise."

"That just seems like common sense."

"When it comes to aura, its bigger."

"Aura is less effective the less warning you have." Velvet said "You've practiced guarding with it, so you know it takes focus. In a similar way, if you know you're about to be attacked, your aura will still protect you, purely by instinct. But it's less effective, and wastes more energy."

"Meaning my aura will burn out faster-" I surmised "- and if I can't even tell I'm going to be attacked, that just compounds it, right?"

Velvet nodded.

"In the worst case, it'll bypass your aura altogether." Coco said "Leaving you open to getting hurt far more easily."

Which was just the polite way of her saying it'd kill me.

It made sense, however. Anytime I'd gotten into a fight here, fighting people head on was made more difficult by the fact that most of them could use their aura to tank what I'd thrown at them. But anytime I took a smarter approach, acted with stealth or ambush tactics, it was different. People tended to go down as easily as they would back in the Mojave. This was the answer why: fighting this way basically negated their auras.

That was a useful bit of information to finally have confirmed.

"… So you knew that if I got taken by surprise you could potentially kill me, but had Fox try and jump me anyway?"

Coco shrugged "You saw him coming, we figured you'd be fine."

"If I wasn't?"

"… Well, we did say we weren't going to take it easy on you."

I shook my head; she was almost as bad as Goodwitch. But at least she'd taught me something worthwhile.

"With all that out of the way, I guess the only thing left to do is keep practicing, right?"

"Pretty much Kid." Coco confirmed.

"You're doing great Six!" Ruby called, supportively, from the sidelines.

I turned and looked at them all for a moment, before turning back to Coco. "Mind doing me a favor?"

Coco quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Any chance you could make sure they're not just standing around the whole time?" I asked "We're probably going to be doing this training for a couple of classes, it'll probably get boring quick."

"For who, them or us?"

"Both of you, frankly. Unless you enjoy standing around while other people are having 'fun'."

Coco pursed her lips in thought, allowing a moment for consideration. Then she nodded, assenting "Yeah, guess it'll get boring after a while."

"Thanks." I nodded, then turning and waving an arm to my teammates "Mind coming over for a moment?"

My teammates eyes lit up and, gingerly, they all moved off the wall and towards us. "What's up?" Ruby asked.

"CFVY's agreed to spar with you guys while Fox and me are busy kicking each other's asses."

"Language." Velvet said, quietly.

"Eh, really?" Ruby asked, surprised "Cool!"

"Aren't they only getting extra credit for helping you?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, same as you, but are you going to tell me you're willing to pass up the chance to spar with upper classmen?"

"… fair."

"Besides the fact, if you all stand around waiting for me to get up to snuff, you'll get rusty. Then we'll have to do this song and dance all over again."

"It wouldn't be that bad, would it?"

"Wouldn't it?" I asked, eyeing Blake "Considering someone has been opting to spend this entire time with her nose crammed into a book?"

Blake finally looked up from her book, blinking, and realizing that Ruby, Yang, and Weiss had left her standing on the wall. Having been completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She promptly snapped the book shut, and trotted over to us, cheeks flushing slightly.

"If nothing else, I figured it would at least give you all something to do other than just standing there watching me." I continued.

"Are you kidding, this'll be awesome!" Ruby shouted, bouncing on the balls of her feet

"Heck yeah!" Yang shouted, eyeing Fox dangerously. Fox looked about as intimidated as a deathclaw would be to a gecko.

"Nuh-uh, he's mine." I said, stepping between them "Find your own."

"… tsk, fine" Yang shrugged, moving on to Yatsu "You'll do."

Yatsu smirked, and began to walk further into the room. Ruby and Yang bounded after him, While Weiss and Blake stayed behind. Coco turned her attention to the two of them and smirked, shooting them a look over her shades. "Guess that leaves you two with me."

"What about her?" Weiss asked, nodding over to Velvet. The young rabbit-eared girl looked top her leader with a bright, admittedly hopeful, smile.

But Coco just shook her head. "Velvet's off limits."

Those three words wiped the hope from Velvet's smile, if not the physical thing. She nodded, wilting a little, and walked over to the nearest wall, looking like a kicked rabbit.

"Come on, let's get started." Coco said, apparently ignoring Velvet's obviously crestfallen state. She turned and jabbed a finger at me "-and you better get back to it."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." I said, waving her off "Thanks."

With a nod, Blake, Coco, and Weiss started to the far end of the room themselves. I had next to no clue what they were actually going to be doing, but that was their problem. As long as they weren't just standing around, I considered that more of a win. Though I did turn back to Velvet once more. She was resting quietly against the wall, observing the room. I still got the impression she was a bit sad.

"This a normal thing?" I asked, turning to Fox.

The blind man shrugged, gesturing in a way that said 'kinda'.

"She gonna be alright?"

Fox pursed his lips for a moment, thinking. Then he nodded. I was a bit worried about the fact it took him a moment to answer that. I turned and looked at Velvet, leaning reservedly against the wall, watching with visible melancholy as her teammates and mine began to spar. This was normal?

I really wanted to know why.

Velvet's gaze shifted, meeting mine. She gave a small, timid smile, and a wave. Which I returned with a nod. Fox stepped up beside me, looking at me, then back to Velvet, a smirk on his scarred lips.

Velvet's eyes widened more than I could recall seeing, as her head turned a shade of red I couldn't blame on my gas mask. She promptly looked away, hands fidgeting. I in turn looked to Fox, wonder what just happened. He didn't say anything, obviously. He just smirked and motioned for me to get moving, walking back out onto the mat himself.

I lingered there a moment longer before stepping back out onto the map. Taking a second to find my focus again, try and get my aura back up to something usable. A few seconds of steady breathing and concentration.

They were right, it took longer than it did the first time to pull it back. I noticed it left me feeling tired too. Still not enough to stop me, but having to stop, focus, and expend energy wasn't something I'd be able to do practically in a real fight. Something I was at least able to learn now. It meant I could focus more on actually using it while I had it. It wasn't perfect, but I didn't need it to be. I just needed it to work.

I closed the distance between myself and Fox, focusing. Using Fox's elbow strike was pretty effective last time. I was going to add that one into the repertoire if I could work it out properly. Maybe see if I could weasel some more moves out of him too.

But for the moment, the only thing I had any real plan to work out, was who was going to spend more time on the ground.