"It hurts~" Ruby grunted "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts-"

"Quit being such a baby." Weiss said "You're the one who's always complaining about being sore afterwards."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt~"

"Ruby" I said with a grunt "If something as simple as this is painful, you should consider making a habit of warming up beforehand."

"S-shut up, Six." Ruby gasped

I changed positions and gently put my hands on Ruby's back. "You're almost there, just a little further."

"Ow ow ow ow ow-"

With a soft push, Ruby closed the remainder of the distance.

"OW!" Ruby gasped

"Done!" I said, satisfied

Ruby made a hissing noise as she sucked air through her teeth. She made it sound like she was in agony.

"… Yea, you should really consider warming up beforehand Ruby."

"S-shut up, Six."

"You're supposed to be the fastest person on the team." Weiss sighed in frustration "How is stretching not something you do regularly?"

"I don't wanna stretch~" Ruby whined "I just wanna run~"

"Suck it up Ruby." I said "We still have to do your legs."

We were in Beacons main gym. The one they kept open near twenty four-seven so people to train themselves. It was something of an odd setup too. The majority of the complex was a large, warehouse like structure. With the majority of the space dedicated to an open area that felt like a man made cavern. Most of the structural parts were visible, there was an echo for days, and the entire place had the feel of being only half done. The floor looked to be some form of laminated wood, with lines painted in a massive oval ringing the gym. In the middle of the ring were rings of a different nature. Their floors padded and marked to denote if someone were to go out of bounds. Though they also appeared to be temporary fixtures that could be replaced. At the moment, they were laden with weights and equipment taken from a separate room. In the midst of them were the students, my team and I included. We were warming up for what constituted the 'exam' of the class. Yang, Blake, and Weiss were showing to have no trouble with it.

Ruby, on the other hand, was acting like she'd never warmed up before.

She was currently sitting on the floor with her legs spread in a V shape. Her upper body bent forward to stretch her back, with a little help from myself. She was about as limber as a knotted piece of dried wood. We'd tried a few other positions before this, and she couldn't even touch her toes. It was a miracle this girl hadn't seriously hurt herself while exercising in the past.

I gently eased off of her and Ruby slowly uncurled back to normal.

"Seriously Ruby" I said, getting to my feet. "How have you made it this far without making stretching a regular thing?"

"I-I do stretch-" Ruby said defensively. "I just… normally focus on my legs."

Ruby began picking herself up off the ground. She was dressed in attire that was… unusual, at least by my standards anyway. When the semester had started and training was regimented, we'd been allotted clothes to train in. It was the same uniform for each person, much as it was with our other classes. A thin white t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of shoes called 'sneakers'. Don't ask me why they're called that, they squeak like crazy.

In contrast to the standard uniforms, however, we'd been free to customize these. Change a few colors here and there, add some designs, things of that nature.

Ruby, for instance, had made her shorts red, scrawled our team name across the front of her shirt, and made sure the shorts reached her knees. On the back of her shirt she'd faintly emblazoned what looked like a rose, coloring both it and the text red. She wasn't dressed in any flashy, eye catching manner. The shirt might have been a tad snug, but that was about it. If I was being honest, Ruby was the most conservatively dressed person here.

I extended a hand and helped Ruby the rest of the way off the ground. She wobbled a little bit, but found her balance quick enough.

"Perhaps you should consider doing this more regularly." Weiss huffed "That way you're not complaining the whole way through."

Weiss was clad in clothes in a similar styling to Ruby, save for a swapping of colors and symbols. Her colors being an icy blue and a snowflake for a rose. Her shirt was still fairly snug, despite her chest being smaller than Ruby's. Something I was both surprised and ashamed I'd noticed. Her shorts were also only half the length of Ruby's and showed off a pair of pale, lithe legs.

"Imagine if she did." I grunted "She might not whine as much after working out."

Ruby gave me a pouty glare. "Oh, look at me, I'm Six~" She said in a mocking tone "I'm so amazing, I can touch my toes~"

In a spur of childish spite, I bent over and drummed my fingers off the toes of my shoes. "Hey, you're right, I can."

"… Jerk."

My own clothes were nothing special. I kept everything a neutral shade or two of gray. I'd also gotten the shorts lengthened into a full set of pants made from the same lightweight material. I genuinely felt naked in the clothes without showing off more skin. Of course, it didn't help that my shirt was hugging me so close it felt as if it were trying to fuse to my skin. Over it and my pants though, I'd strapped several series of weights. Enough to emulate, say, something heavier than my riot gear.

I un-bent and did a few light stretches of my own. It hadn't taken me long to get warmed up, but it was better that I double back on them than hurt myself.

A hearty thump to my back caught me about half way through a twist.

"Aw, lay off my little sis." Yang said smirking playfully "Even if she's stiff as a board, she'd still beat you in a foot race."

"Mmm, 'til her legs cramp up anyway." I said, averting my gaze

Yang rolled her eyes and came around fully for me to see her. I couldn't bring myself to do it. If Ruby was the most conservatively dressed, Yang was a free-bird when it came to clothes. She, like everyone else, had recolored and symbolized her clothes to match her tastes. Yellow, black, and what looked like a burning heart dyed over her right boob. Beyond that… well… Yang wasn't shy about her body. She'd cut her shirt high enough to reveal her, remarkably well-toned, stomach in addition to trimming the sleeves off. She'd also cut her shorts high enough that they resembled the pair she normally wore. Difference here being they were minus a skirt and stockings to cover her otherwise… healthy legs. She'd also pulled her hair back using the lavender bandana she normally had knotted around one of her boots.

Couple the skimpy clothing with the fact they were hugging her like cling-film and it made me feel awkward looking at her.

It also made my head feel inexplicably warm, but I had only the faintest idea why. Yang looked me over with a smirk for some reason.

"Attention huntsmen in training!" Port boomed "It's time to pay attention, you're about to receive your instructions for the exam!"

The other students began to congregate near Port. I took that as my cue to focus my attention elsewhere, and not on the not so small number of lightly dressed huntresses that were in the class. All of them ranging in dress somewhere between Yang and Ruby. Most of them displaying some amount of skin for some reason or another. As to why, I had no idea. I also I had no idea why I was having trouble focusing on Port and not the female portion of class around me. It's not like I was surrounded by them either, there were guys too. But for the life of me I couldn't help but notice all the… well… skin. I resisted the urge to hit myself and instead just tried to reign my focus onto Port.

Almost mercifully, he was dressed like one of the students. Meaning shorts and a tight t-shirt. Being completely honest, no one wanted to see any more of this man beyond his teaching suit. But in this instance, the sight of a hairy old man in clothes too tight and too small did wonders on helping my focus.

"Listen well students!" Port said, positioning himself beside an overhead rack with barbells and weights. "As you all know, a hunter: must be ready!"

I could almost feel everyone rolling their eyes at this point.

"- and to be ready, means to be prepped in mind, body, and spirit. As has been illustrated throughout the semester." Port moved beneath the rack and positioned himself beneath a bar already laden with weights. "In the prepping the body though, there is no short-cut. No notes, no meditations, and certainly no substitutes. No, there is only one true path to real preparation of the body: effort!"

With a heave, Port hoisted the bar free of the rack. Muscles tensing in his arms and legs. It suddenly became much more apparent how this man continued being a hunter. Beneath his… portly exterior, there was clearly still strong muscle at play. He set the weighted bar on his shoulders and lowered himself into a squat.

"To become a true hunter, you must learn the value of preparation. Of learning your limitations so you may break them. Only through true, concentrated effort, will that ever be achieved."

Port sprang upward, shifting the weight of the bar. With little noticeable effort, he hoisted the bar over his head and shifted it to one arm. Raising and lowering it slowly, exemplifying his efforts and strength.

"It is sad to say, many of you will never know the true power you may wield. Either due to unforeseen circumstance… or from lack of motivation." Port lowered the bar down and rested it back on his shoulders before returning it to the rack. "For this final the only thing preventing you from succeeding is the amount of effort you are willing to put forth."

Port pulled out his scroll and tapped a few buttons. A rumbling resounded from the rest of the gym shortly there after and obstacles began to dot the oval that surrounded us. Hurdles, small walls, and what appeared to be a series of small pools.

"Your final is thus: Show your strength with the bar as I have just demonstrated. Then show me your speed and endurance on the track. Your base grade will be calculated on the amount of weight you use, you shortest time, and the number of laps you complete. Are there any questions?"

No one made any motions to say anything.

"Good, then you may begin at your leisure."

The various teams that the crowd consisted of began to group up and break off to the equipment. My own team included. It was about then that Blake rejoined us. I wasn't sure what had taken her so long to get to class, but she was here now. Black bow knotted to her head, A tight, short cropped t-shirt covering her torso and a pair of equally tight sweatpants on her legs. The clothes didn't hug her like they did Yang. Rather than clinging to her every curve, the clothes seemed to more gently caress her features. Showing off her shapely form without overtly showing anything.

It was still somehow trying to rob me of my focus.

Stolen novel; please report.

'Seriously, the hell is wrong with me today?'

"Well look what the cat finally dragged in." Yang said with a smirk

Blake rolled her eyes in response. "How does that analogy even work here?"

"Don't think about it too hard."

I didn't even need to think about it. Yang's attempt at a pun completely broke the phrase. If Blake was the cat in this instance, what did she drag in? If she was supposed to have dragged herself in, then it wouldn't fit the original phrase. But if she was the object being dragged in then what was the cat, her clothes? Clothes can't drag people around, they're made of fabric.

I decided to stop before I hurt my brain trying to comprehend it.

"What'd I miss?" Blake asked

"Just the instructions for the final." Ruby supplied "Just some squats and running."

"What took you so long anyway?" I asked

"I was- um- studying for the Grimm biology exam."

"… aight."

Something about her response felt shifty to me. It was like Blake to run late, nor be uncertain in her studies. But that was probably just paranoia talking. Far as I was concerned, Blake was free to keep her own time.

My team and I set ourselves up at a rack and started prepping to take care of the final. I helped Yang gather as many barbell plates as we were going to need while the others kept stretching. It only took a minute to do and we were set to start not long after.

"Who wants to go first?" Ruby said, stealthily backing away from the rack and trying to put someone between her and it.

"I can go first if no one else is interested." Yang said, stretching her shoulders

"I'll go second then." I grunted

"Do we really need an order for this?" Weiss asked

"Depends, you want to go first snowflake?"

"N-no, but-"

"Then yes, we need an order. Otherwise you and Ruby will be tied for weakest link."

"W-weakest link!?" Ruby squeaked indignantly

"Yes, last I checked the two of you are tied for scrawniest."

Weiss scowled at me while Ruby looked down at herself with a self-conscious frown. It didn't take much for Yang to send a glare my way either.

"Considering your aura hasn't been activated, you're hardly any better off." Weiss huffed

"Bet I can still lift more than you though."

"That doesn't make you any better!"

"But it also means I'm not the weakest link"

Weiss just kept scowling at me as I smirked behind my mask.

"… fine. How about a bet then?" Yang cut in

"Hm?" I grunted, turning to look at her. Then at the ceiling.

"A bet. If Weiss or my baby sis can lift more than you, then you have to…"

Yang seemed to ponder what my end of the bet would be for a moment. She apparently came up with something and began smirking. Whatever she was thinking though, Ruby beat her to the punch.

"You have to take off your mask." Ruby pouted

"My mask?"

"Yea, if we win then you have to take your mask off in front of everyone."

I stared at Ruby for a moment. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, she looked almost hurt by being called the weakest link.

"…heh, alright-" I said "Then what do I get if I win? This is a bet after all, so both sides have to wager something."

"hmm…"

"How 'bout a kiss?" Yang said, a playful smirk on her face

"Psh, I'd rather you put some pants on."

Yang's smirk dissolved and she just gave me a blank stare.

'… shit, I said that out loud.'

"… Ok." Yang said with a shrug "If you win, I'll 'put some pants on'."

"Wait, I wasn't being serious-"

"Too late" Ruby said quickly "Let's go."

I felt a jolt pass through me for a moment. The thought that if I failed here, I was going to have to take my mask. In front of everyone.

It passed quickly though, because it hinged on a very prominent if. I knew Ruby and Weiss were far from the strongest people on the team. If I'd been challenged by Yang, I might have actually been in a pickle. But I'd seen how Weiss and Ruby exercised. Neither of them ever focused on strength training. To them, being Agile was always more important. There was no way I was going to lose such a simple bet to them.

"… Alright." I sighed "I'll go first then."

"What about having an order?" Weiss said snidely

"Screw Order, I've got a contest to win."

I began grabbing weight plates and sliding them onto the bar. At first I assumed it wouldn't take much to put me ahead of Ruby and Weiss, but decided it wasn't worth the risk. I went for a full three hundred pounds. Under normal circumstances, my upper limit for acceptable weight would have been a slightly lighter load. But I felt confident in the training I'd done. Going the full weight would be a good way to test that.

I removed the extraneous weights from myself and settle beneath the bar. Cool steel pressing into my shoulders.

"You ready?" Yang asked

I nodded and she gave the motion for me to start. With a small heave I lifted the bar from the rack and set myself into a stance. I could feel the pressure from the concentrated weight dig into my shoulders a little. I sucked in air as I lowered the weight with my legs, then expelled it evenly as I rose back up. With a small burst I forced the bar over my head, completing the motion. I then lowered it back to my shoulders and returned it back to the rack.

"Three hundred pounds." I said "Your move."

I stepped away from the bar and Ruby took my place. At first she looked warily at the mass of metal. As if she was seemingly afraid of the inanimate object.

Then she grabbed more plates and slid them on.

'what?'

She positioned herself beneath the bar and repeated the motion I'd done just prior. On what skin was exposed, I saw muscle tense and watched as Ruby completed the exercise smoothly. She returned the bar to the rack and sighed with relief.

"Three thirty." She said, smiling innocently

'what?'

Then it was Weiss's turn. Though unlike Ruby she refrained from adding weight, she actually even removed some before completing the exercise.

"Three hundred and twenty-five." She said Haughtily

'… fucking what!?'

I couldn't help but stare at the two of them. Ruby smiling like she had just played some massive joke on me and Weiss smirking proudly.

"… Sooo, Six." Yang said, a broad smile on her face "How attached to your helmet are you?"

"You… you hustled me." I said in surprise.

Yang's smile melted into a coy smirk. "Hustle? That's such a dirty word. There's gotta be a better one."

"Trick, cheat, swindle, con, fraud, and gyp" Blake supplied, a small and satisfied smile on her face.

I could feel something rising up from the pit of my stomach. It felt like anger for getting tricked over something so juvenile. But I had a feeling it was more disgust for falling for something so basic. I should have known something was up the moment Yang suggested it.

Before I could capitalize on my impotent anger and disgust though, I was brought back to reality. A reality where I felt the, surprisingly soft, hands of Yang trying to remove my gasmask. Her fingers had just begun to curl around the strap under my chin before I snapped back. Narrowly avoiding cold-cocking her for violating my personal space.

"Hey~" Yang said, smirk vibrant on her face "A bet's a bet."

"You cheated and you know it." I growled

"You agreed to it though." Blake added

"You stay out of this."

"Seriously, what's the big deal?" Yang asked "You trust us, don't you?"

"My trust is feelin' real stretched right about now Yang."

"Can we just get on with the test?" Weiss complained "We can waste time on this later."

"No way! If we give him enough time he'll just weasel out of it."

"Hey! I resemble that remark!"

Yang turned her attention back to me and made it plain with her body language what she was planning. I had no idea what the sudden renewed interest in my face was about, but it made me quite uneasy. Unfortunately, she also had me in a bind. I'd technically entered into an agreement with her. Unless I was suddenly willing to turn back on my word though, it meant I had to follow through on my word. It wouldn't be hard, I'd done it in the past. But I liked to make sure I didn't undercut the value of what I say by doubling back on it without good reason. Which left me with two options: take my mask off or dig myself in a bit deeper.

"Double or nothing." I said, moments before Yang took another lunge at me

Digging deeper sounded more appealing.

Yang lost her smirk and gave me a deadpan look. "Tsk, called it."

Weiss pinched her brow. "This is getting stupid."

"What?" I goaded "Feeling like you can't win without tricking me?"

That got a rise out of Yang alright. She glowered at me for a moment. "Is taking your mask off really that bad?"

"Maybe it is. Maybe I'm so damn hideous that I'd blind all four of you. "

"language." Weiss said

"… Fine." Yang shrugged "Double or nothing. If you lose this time, you… have to buy us dinner again."

"Sounds a bit steep." I grumble "… If I win, you have to put a shirt on too."

"Whatever" Yang rolled her eyes.

I moved back to the bar and began placing on a few more weights, just enough to put me past Ruby's three-hundred and thirty pound feat. I pushed it to a cool three-fifty and moved to get back underneath it.

"… Uh, what are you doing?" Yang asked

"Winning a bet, why?"

"Because it's double or nothing, remember?"

"Yea… and?"

"And that's not double."

I looked at Yang in confusion as I stepped back out from under the bar. "That's not what 'double or nothing' means."

"It is here." Yang said "If it was just as simple as letting you use slightly more than Ruby, it wouldn't really be a bet would it?"

"…" I couldn't help but feel like Yang was still trying to cheat here.

"Of course, you could always call it off." She smirked "Just take your mask off and forget about it."

I couldn't help but glare at Yang now. She was making this needlessly difficult. On top of that, I felt like my pride was being attacked.

"Six, just ignore Yang." Ruby finally broke in "You don't need to follow through on this whole thing."

"Why not?" Yang asked, confused

"Because he doesn't have an aura, remember?" Ruby answered, just a little softer so any prying ears couldn't hear.

"Oh… I kinda forgot about that for a bit."

"It's not fair to him if we try and hold him to something like this. Especially since he's so much weaker than us because of it."

I almost physically recoiled at that last bit. As though Ruby had just stabbed me with a shiv made of words. Unfortunately for Ruby, while it seemed she was now on my side, she'd succeeded in having the opposite effect.

"Double or nothing…" I grumbled, getting Yang and Ruby's attention back "That'd be what? About six hundred and sixty something pounds?"

"Six, I just said you don't-"

"I'll make it seven hundred just to be safe." I finished

Before Ruby could correct me, I moved back to the plates and began slapping the requisite metal discs on the bar. In the blink of an eye I'd doubled the weight hanging on the metal cylinder. It looked like a piece of sports equipment ripped straight from a comic book now. The bar was almost bowing under the newfound weight.

"Uh…" Yang said, suddenly wide eyed

I put myself under the bar and raised it off. My body screamed almost immediately in protest. But I pushed until the full weight was rested on my shoulders. It was a struggle just to keep balance with all that weight piled onto me. Every errant muscle twitch made it seem like I'd topple over. With seven hundred pounds of metal in close proximity to my neck, that would be a bad thing.

I sucked in a steady breath and allowed my legs to curl downward. It was the easy part. Well, easier part. I had to control the fall down anyway. Keep it slow and controlled, make sure every muscle did their job and keep something from breaking.

Once I was down, I knew it would be a struggle to get up again. But I hadn't had a clear idea of how much. From where I was now though, it was plain as day. My legs practically locked into position once I'd reached the lowest point. Refusing to put out the power necessary to reverse the motion. The weight on my shoulders began to dig further down into me. It was getting harder to breathe with all the excess weight wanting to keep the air out. It took a deal of concentration to keep the breath I had trapped where I needed it.

I stayed like that for a second. Then two, as I realized just how heavy seven hundred pounds was. Then three, as my legs refused to listen. At four, my teammates seemed to realize I was stuck.

"D… do you need a hand?" Yang asked, surprisingly concerned

I didn't say anything in response. I was trying to keep focus and my lungs were starting to burn.

"… Six-"

"I'm fine." I seethed

I realized my mistake a moment too late to regret it. I'd just let loose the air I needed to actually push upward. Making what was already difficult now feel nigh impossible. I could slowly start to feel myself go light headed and darkness was creeping into the edges of my vision.

'great going idiot, now you're going to asphyxiate yourselfn hav te durfjnabh'

With an even greater effort, I pulled some air in. not enough to help, but at least it was something. What I really needed though, was to get back up. But I knew it was going to hurt. With a steady hiss like a pneumatic piston, I exhaled and pushed myself upward. The progress was almost non-existent at first. But I had to roll my way through the muscles, that's never a quick process if you need to get the power out of them. Which is the reason I normally avoided pushing myself to this point. Strength only has meaning if it can be used effectively. If it's too slow, you'll never hit anything. If it burns through steam too fast, it won't last. I had strength, more than I ever regularly used. But it was useless if I ever needed to survive for long periods. I'd figured that much out once before, when I'd had to carry a weight more than twice this. It was strength that was completely worthless. Perhaps that was the reason Port hadn't run the track after his little demonstration.

I ran out of breath halfway through my rise, but pushed my way through the rest. Ignoring the burning in my chest. I managed it, somehow. I stood for a moment, weight still pressing into me, as I took a few deep breaths, wiping the burning from my lungs. There was a twinge of pain in my back, running down the middle of it long ways. Briefly I wondered if I'd hurt something. Then I remembered I had a Reinforced Spine. So unless something had disappeared on the trip here and I just hadn't noticed it yet, hard as that may be, I was probably fine.

I used the pain as a focus, driving my strength into my shoulders as I pushed the bar off of them. It felt good for a moment to not have the weight there. Then the pain flooded into my arms alongside the pressure. I continued the motion, slowly raising the seven hundred pound bar over my head until my arms could straighten out any further. It hurt the whole way through. It also took no small amount of effort to slowly, and carefully, lower the bar back onto my shoulders so I could put it back onto the rack.

As soon as I heard metal collide with metal, I felt my whole body relax as blood began to flow properly once more.

"Seven… Hundred… pounds" I seethed glaring out through my gasmask.

If my teammates were stunned, I couldn't tell. I was getting tunnel vision. My mind was indulging in having fresh, oxygenated blood put back into it. I wasn't going to be fully coherent again for a few minutes.

As I passed Yang though, I gave her a bleary look up and down before I thought of something to say.

"Go put some clothes on."

I trotted past Yang and headed for the track. I wasn't going past seven hundred pounds. I just wanted to finish the test and be done with it now.

I passed by a few other teams as I went. I didn't recognize a few of them. But I recognized one or two faces and voices.

"Five-hundred." Cardin smirked, resting the bar.

"Six hundred." Velvet said springing upward.

"ONE THOUSAND!" Nora boomed

I slowed down as I passed by team JNPR. I saw Nora standing under the rack, a cartoonishly oversized bar held over her head.

By a single arm.

If the large, block letters were anything to go by, the bar did indeed weigh a thousand pounds.

Nora then pumped the bar overhead like it weighed the same as a ball-peen hammer.

'…fucking show-off.'