Raoul POV Ruby vanished with a flicker of pink light.
“Here I come!” “An ambush doesn’t work if you call it out!” I yelled as I blocked her scythe slash with my own.
I twisted my wrist, digging the end of my scythe into the joint of her mechashift weapon.
“Told ya a sniper scythe is dumb!” I said as I pulled my weapon back.
“Nuh-uh!
You’re just a weirdo!” — Ozpin POV There were prodigies, and then there were children who made old men reconsider their definitions.
Ruby Rose was the first kind.
Raoul Kurokaze was becoming the second.
I watched the two young scythe users clash across the examination field, one a burst of red petals and impossible momentum, the other a steady grey shadow that refused to be moved more than necessary.
Ruby was faster.
That much was obvious.
Her instincts were remarkable, her weapon handling bordering on absurd.
She did not merely wield Crescent Rose.
She argued with it, laughed with it, trusted it, and somehow the weapon answered.
Raoul was different.
He absorbed everything he saw.
Every exchange.
Every adjustment.
Every mistake.
His style had become so deliberate that it was almost unsettling.
He recognized patterns quickly, then altered his countermeasures in response.
His strikes were simple and repeated, yet his movement was swift, efficient, and almost military-like.
At first glance, it looked crude.
At second glance, it looked disciplined.
At third glance, it became difficult to tell where the simplicity ended and the complexity began.
He reused the same movements again and again, but they never felt like the same pattern.
The simple became complex.
The complex returned to simple.
It was difficult to explain.
It was drilled into his body.
He understood it.
I did not.
The young man’s Aura flared.
Grey, like his eyes.
Speaking of his eyes, did they just flicker through different colors?
A red, smoke-like Aura joined the grey.
Weird.
Perhaps it was his Semblance?
But no.
A Semblance was, as its name implied, a semblance of magic.
That was not magic.
I looked at the scales flickering across his arm.
Undeniably real.
That was almost magic in itself.
Remnant had many mysteries.
I had lived long enough to see more of them than most.
But I was reasonably certain children were not supposed to grow scales.
I was getting too old for this.
— Raoul POV Lying on my back, I groaned.
“Ruby is a meathead!” “WHAT WAS THAT?” I heard both Yang and Ruby yell at me.
“I WAS COMPLIMENTING YOUR BEAUTY AND GRACE.” Ruby nodded, seeming satisfied.
Yang called out once more.
“THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT.” Damn it.
Once I’m stronger, I’m going to get so much payback.
Gender equality, dude!
I’m gonna kick her ass!
“WANNA GO?!” Ruby looked at me nearby and shook her head.
Only a few more days until the Beacon exam.
Ozpin was a weird guy.
He reminded me of the Elder, at least in mentality.
Comparing the two in terms of power was like comparing a lightbulb to a moon.
He wanted to give Ruby and me scholarships, bypassing the exams, but I felt that was the cheap way out.
Ruby and Yang kicked my ass all the time.
My record with Ruby was like 30:90 or something.
The thirty wins were mine, of course.
She was strong.
Yang?
No.
I had never beaten that gorilla woman.
She was lucky she was cute.
I wanted to test my strength.
The written part of the exam would be easy.
Basic arithmetic and grammar.
Remnant’s language was weird.
Anyway, it was not a big deal.
I just wanted to be strong.
But I was also afraid of being strong.
Would this world vanish when I left it?
— Over the years, I’ve learned to cook.
At first, it was because I didn’t want to impose on my neighbors, despite them telling me that I wasn’t.
I got pretty good at it, and now Ruby demands I go hunting with her as well as cook for her.
Because.
“Your bestest friend is going to starve!” Haaaa.
I’m glad I’m here.
System, will this timeline freeze when I leave?
[No.] Shit.
Does it…
cease to exist?
[Yes.] Is there any way to stop it?
[No.] Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Is there a way to bring them with me?!
[…] [Insufficient authority.] That’s good enough for me!
I didn’t notice Ruby watching worriedly as I cooked.