Death Match With A Stranger

From his classes Raishun learned a lot of information about the world he now found himself in. He was in someplace called Remnant, where monsters called Grimm posed a dangerous threat. His main job as a Huntsmen... no... a Legion, was to quell the presence of Grimm wherever they appeared.

"A dangerous profession for sure." He muttered, while taking a look down at the meticulous notes he had taken. Upon awakening in the morning, he had found a bundle of clothing as well as several school supplies underneath his bed with a note from Ozpin informing him that he had applied for a special scholarship because of his status as a Legion.

[Sounds like favoritism to me.] He thought, [But I shouldn't tick off the guy who runs this place.]

Many of questions were also answered through classes. The reason he hadn't been harmed in the vale was because of Aura, not luck as he had previously thought. If he ran out of aura, then he wouldn't be able to use his semblance until it recovered. Speaking of, he had no idea what it did other than that it created a wing of energy on his back, and enhanced his strength and speed.

Additionally, he wouldn't need to worry about culture shock, as Remnant seemed to be similar to Earth. Only it was more technologically advanced thanks to something called dust that he didn't quite understand. Though on a sour note, they people of this world had problems with long distance communications. He could overlook this fact for now, he wasn't planning on heading back to Earth until he was strong enough to defeat the person who dragged him to his new world.

Team Regalia's last class for the day was combat training, which was being taught by a woman named Glynda Goodwitch. The class required students to bring their weapons and change out of their uniforms, which helped ease Raishun's worries that he would ruin his only new set of clothes. The view as the class walked into the classroom took his breath away. The large earthen arena in the middle of the large room, the rows of seats circling it, and the two monitors above the arena all made his heart beat faster with equal parts excitement and dread.

"So this is where I'll be fighting him..." He smiled nervously, "It sure takes me back to my drama days. I'll have to put on a good show!"

"Attention, everyone!" A blonde haired older woman called to the students from the middle of the arena. She wore a buttoned up white top with frills near the neck, and a black office skirt with tights. Extending her arm, she pointed a black riding crop at the class while clutching what resembled a clipboard to her chest.

"I am Professor Goodwitch, I'll be your combat instructor this semester. Under my tutelage you'll all be molded into the perfect Huntsmen, able to take down any foe without suffering so much as a scratch." She smirked proudly, "Now, please take your seats, we'll begin by discussing the syllabus."

As the students began to file into their seats, she began to read off course objectives from her clipboard. Raishun listened at first, but his attention quickly wandered over to the familiar trench coat clad boy who was sitting across the arena from him. His brow knotted, "Something's wrong. Why would he challenge a Legion he just met." He thought.

He quickly shook his head to rid himself of his doubts. [Relax, you got this. Just be cautious and smart.] His finger lightly tapped against the Caligula's gem twice, and a smile smile appeared on his face when he saw it flash twice in return.

"With that settled, why don't we have a practice match or two featuring some of the top ranked fighters for this year." Turning her head towards the crowd, her eyes zeroed in on Raishun's general direction. "Mr. Izuna, why don't you come down and demonstrate your abilities."

Gil hesitated for a moment, then looked to his cousin for guidance.

"There's no need for pomp and circumstance," She instructed, "Simply crush your opponent quickly and return."

With a polite nod, Gil jumped down into the arena. "Who will I be facing?"

"Hmm." The instructor's eyes scanned the ground for a moment, then she frowned. "Cardin Winchester!"

A red haired boy in heavy silver armor located a few rows behind Team Regalia stopped talking when he heard his name.

"Yes?"

"You seem confident enough in your skills to speak while I'm instructing the class. Let's test your mettle, please make your way down into the arena."

"Whatever you say."

The boy trudged into the arena, and pulled a heavy looking iron mace from his back. Gil in return, drew his hatchet from his hip. The two silently faced each other, sizing one another up. With a loud click, the screens above them flickered on. One screen showed a picture of Gil with a green bar under his picture, while the other one showed a similar one, only with Cardin's picture.

"Believe in your victory. Begin!" Goodwitch quickly stepped away.

"RAAAAAAH"

The fight was over in seconds. Cardin didn't even have a chance to react before Gil was upon him. His hatchet whistled through the air and crashed into Cardin's chest plate with enough force to slam him into the ground.

"Ghaak!!"

Before Cardin could recover, Gil pinned him to the ground with his knee and began to brutally slam his hatchet into his chest.

"That's enough!!" Goodwitch ordered.

Above the pair, the green meter under Cardin's name had depleted, and was now a deep red color, with only a fraction of the length it had before.

Gil stepped away from his opponent. In one fluid motion he flicked his axe to the side, causing it to fold into a small rod, before sliding it into the sheath on his hip.

"Very impressive Mr. Izuna. While your methods were rather... spartan in nature, it was still an astounding match." She wrote something on his clipboard, "You may return to your team now."

"So strong..." Raishun said in amazement. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as the realization that he was outclassed sunk in. "I'm supposed to fight like that?"

"Of course not." Laura retorted, "Gil was trained from the moment he could walk in order to be a perfect fighter." Her voice was filled with pride, "We Izunas are a proud family, it would take at least a full team of Huntsmen to bring a single member of our family down. I am no different."

Gil returned to his seat, and adjusted his cap so that it covered his eyes. Moments later, Cardin limped his way back to his seat.

"Now I believe we have room for one more match today. Are there any volunteers? You needn't worry, your performance today will have no impact on your grades for the semester. It is merely a way for me to gauge your skill level."

"I volunteer!" Eric declared as he rose to his feet. His hood obscured everything above his nose, but did little to hide the confident smirk on his face. "If you'll allow it, I promise I'll put on a hell of a show."

Goodwitch's eyes narrowed, "Normally I don't tolerate glory seeking students in my class. But considering it's the first day of class I'm willing to make an exception. Who would you like to spar with?"

Her venom laced voice did little to dissuade the hooded student. "I want to fight our new Legion, Raishun Alenko."

"It's been years since I last saw a Legion fight. This should be an interesting match up. Please take your positions."

Eric nimbly jumped over several rows of students and gracefully landed on the floor of the arena. The hem of his coat flew up in the air as he spun in a circle. Out of nowhere, bright orange embers flew up into the air, obscuring him from view for a second. When they faded, he was holding an intricately carved rose gold coloured sickle in his hand. The air around the weapon seemed to distort in an effect similar to pavement on a hot summers day.

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves excitedly at his entrance, Raishun even heard a few girls squeal in excitement.

"Well well well, he really means business!" Alisa chirped from behind a heavy looking tome. She was frantically scribbling notes in the book, she even had a well drawn picture of Eric beside the words. "This fight is gonna be so juicy. Hey leader, make sure to get in a good hit for the rest of us." Her eyes briefly flicked over to him, "And if uh, you just so happen to rip off a piece of his coat during the fight, try to throw it this way. I can sell it for waaaaay more than it's worth to his fan girls!"

"I'll just try and win." He grinned, "Buuut if one of those pauldrons on his shoulders just so happens to pop off in the middle of our fight and fly towards you, I don't know anything okay!"

She smiled at his comment, and playfully slugged him the shoulder. "Go get em'"

He nodded, and turned to the other two members of his team, expecting to receive some words of encouragement. Instead, he received a small huff of annoyance from Laura, and a thumbs up from Gil.

[She's still upset.] He thought, then an idea popped into his head.

"Hey Laura?" He chirped playfully.

She looked over at him like he was some annoying bug that kept buzzing overhead, but was always just out of reach.

"Yes?"

"No kiss for luck?" He smiled widely while tapping the middle of his cheek with his index finger.

"Please don't do anything that would besmirch the name of our team." She scoffed and turned away from him.

For a moment, he could have sworn he saw the edges of her mouth curl upwards in a small smile, but he couldn't be sure. What he was sure of however, was that Gil was suddenly staring at him with murderous intent.

"Don't worry, I'll make you guys proud!" He cheered, before vaulting over the edge of the balcony where they were seated and falling several feet towards the ground below. He tried to do a front flip midair, only to fail and slam into the ground face first.

Alisa chuckled, and took a photo with her scroll. "That one's going in the book."

"He really is a fool." Laura sighed, and covered her eyes with shame as small fits of laughter erupted from the crowd.

"HEY! I'm not a fool, I just didn't warm up is all!!" Raishun quickly jumped to his feet, the tips of his ears were bright red with embarrassment. He took a deep breath to steady himself, and let the ambiance of the arena wash over him. The murmur of the crowd, the ground beneath his feet, to him it was home.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Eric covering his mouth in an attempt to surpress his laughter. He frowned, and took his place across from the hooded boy.

"Just you and me Cali." He said confidently, "Let's show this guy what we're made of."

"Ready? Begin!"

The two Huntsmen in training charged at each other, meeting in the center of the arena, their blades clashed against each other in a shower of sparks. Slowly, Raishun felt himself being pushed backwards by Eric.

[He's stronger than me!]

Stepping backwards, Raishun broke away and aimed a thrust at Eric's chest, only to have his sword easily batted aside by Eric's sickle.

"Is that really the best you've got?" Eric looked at him with eyes full of disappointment. "Here I thought you were gonna be a challenge."

"What are you talking about? I'm just getting warmed up!" Raishun charged forward again, right as he was about to run into Eric's swing, he dropped and slid forward. He smiled as he felt his blade scrape across Eric's leg.

"Yeah how do you like-- GUUGH!!"

The blue-haired boy grunted in pain as the flat of Eric's sickle slammed into the side of his head with enough force to send him flying to the edge of the arena. As he lay crumpled in a heap, he looked up at the screens and felt his stomach drop into his feet. His aura was being shown at being near empty, with only a few inches between the red zone and yellow, while Eric's was only missing a small portion of the bar.

"All that for a drop of aura?" The hooded boy clicked his tongue in annoyance, "One hit took out that much aura? How did you even get an Imperial Arm anyways."

[This isn't good, at this rate I'll be killed.] He grit his teeth in frustration, and with some effort was able to rise to his feet. He could feel pressure building in his stomach, it was the same as before when he fought the Grimm. [Time for the trump card!]

"Let's see you handle this!" He hunched over, as the all to familiar pain returned. His head pounded, and his back began to burn with a fiery pain. Then like a valve being opened, he straightened out as the pressure burst from his back in an explosion of golden shards. Unstable energy crackled between the shards, forming the very vague outline of a wing.

In the blink of an eye he was on top of Eric, his blade already cutting through the air towards his neck.

"What the-" Eric barely had enough time to parry the attack with his sickle and deflect the next attack that came.

"Hey now, what kind of joke is this?" he said between grit teeth, Raishun was slowly forcing him back. With each strike he blocked, the ground below his feet began to crack. "I take back what I said, you're half decent once you use your semblance."

Grunting in effort, he was able to throw the Legion off long enough to regain his poise. "Lucky for me, mines better." His orange-coloured eyes locked onto the blue-haired boy, and a wave of aura burst out of his body and swept across the arena.

Raishun flinched as the ring passed right through him, but he didn't feel any pain. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the meter under Eric's bar drop to just below 50%. "What are you trying to pull?" He asked in the calmest voice he could muster, his instincts were going haywire, something wasn't right.

"Just evening the playing field is all. Now let's see you try that little trick of yours again." He taunted, while beckoning him over with his middle finger.

"Don't blame me when you get you ass handed to you!" Raishun dug his foot into the ground, and prepared to dash forward once more. He saw Eric's glowing eyes lock onto him, and suddenly the power that coursed through his body dissipated. He kicked off the ground, and stumbled forward, barely catching his balance before he fell.

"My semblance!?"

He tried to activate it again, he felt the pain and the pressure build up, but when it was released oly a few faintly sputtering sparks flew off his back. There was no overabundance of strength in his legs, or a lightness in his body, only normal. He paled, the one thing he had to beat Eric was gone.

But there wasn't much time to focus on the loss of his semblance, as Eric suddenly charged at him with a flurry of slices and stabs. It took all of his focus to dodge and deflect them, but he could feel his strength slowly being sapped with each blow that landed.

[I can't lose!! He might kill me!! I don't wanna die!!] He took a step back, preparing to run from the fight, then stopped. [But what if Ozpin finds out and decides to track me down for the Caligula. And my team, I can't just abandon them...]

Suddenly an idea popped into his head, it was crazy and suicidal, but it could work.

"I think we've done enough dancing for one day don't you think Eric?" He broke away from the Huntsman and gestured toward the crowd with arms outstretched. "It's time for the final act! I'll show what a Legion is capable of!"

Turning to face his opponent, he charge forward once more, holding his blade waist level with the intent to impale Eric through the stomach.

"Seriously!? Is charging in the old strategy you know?" Eric sighed and half-heartedly raised his sickle above his head. "I'll at least make this quick."

He brought down his sickle, and was surprised to meet no resistance. Raishun had spun around the attack, and with his back to Eric, he started activating his semblance over and over again. Hot blinding sparks flew from his back and into Eric's face, causing him to cry out in pain and cover his eyes.

With his opponent open, Raishun spun and swung his sword upwards, but Eric swung his sickle down once more to block the attack. Without a second thought, the Legion released his hold on his weapon as it was swatted to the ground.

[This is it!] With a roar, he slammed his fist into the side of Eric's head, then followed with an uppercut and a jab to his nose. He couldn't help but smile as each blow was followed by a satisfying crack.

"ENOGUH!!!" Eric flicked his sickle through the air, sending up so many embers into the air that they obscured him in a flaming ball.

The heat from the flames forced Raishun to back away. The embers dissipated abruptly, revealing nothing in the center of the ball.

[Shit...]

Time seemed to slow as the Legion looked upwards, and saw Eric dropping down from the sky. He was scowling, as his sickle rushed down towards his head at a frightening speed. There was no time to dodge, no time to run. He suddenly felt light-headed, and the last thing he heard was the sound of Goodwitch yelling before the world turned black.