"I want to quit."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do! I am a teacher, damn it! Not some scientist! I can't keep up with those guys in the department!"
I chuckled at Tai's ridiculous expression and comical tears on the video call.
"Tai, if you really wanted to quit, you would have done that years ago. So, tell me the truth, you are just bitchin' about it, aintc'ha?"
"Your accent is slipping again. But yes, I just want to complain about the tough day I just had. I mean, who has ever heard of a man juggling between being a teacher at Signal Academy and being the Director of a multi-kingdom company?"
"Heh, that's true. In that record, you've got a record to keep, eh?"
"Not funny, Ignis. Not funny at all."
I smiled at the old man's words and stared off into the night sky, thinking about the next few projects lined up at TCS as well as the eventful day we had at Beacon.
I guess I, too, am juggling two responsibilities at once, just like him. But, just like him, I chose to carry these responsibilities, so there are no regrets to be had.
"So? Any update?"
"Hm? About what?"
Taiyang growled as he spoke.
"You know, the pests that will inevitably approach Yang and Ruby."
"Tai, first of all, Ruby will be 15 this October. I don't think there is any guy here who is brave enough to face jail time in such a way. Second of all, it has been one day, Tai. One day. We don't even properly know who our fellow first-year students are, much less any dating prospects."
"Now, that being said..."
I felt a strange rush of righteous anger flare from within my very core.
"If some guy is brave enough to hit on Yang without the intention of being serious, well, I guess they will meet the same end as what happened to that stupid Megoliath during Initiation."
"You never know, Ignis. After all, back then, it was during our very first day at Beacon that Raven and I....err, never mind."
I leaned forward with my chin in my palm.
"Go on, that sounds like an interesting story you never told me."
"Forget it, I am not going to delve deeper into that black history of mine. But speaking of black history, your curse followed you to Beacon as well?"
I immediately grimaced at his words.
"Yup. I was rather happy at first, thinking that I had finally left behind that damned headache, but to the end of the Initiation, a Megoliath showed up all of a sudden."
"...Only you, Ignis. Only you."
I really felt like crying at his words.
His tone softened as he spoke.
"So, how was your first day?"
"...I think it went well. I think I like it here. It feels....nice."
"Good. Feeling nice is a good thing. I just reached home, I'll check in on you tomorrow."
"Alright, good night, Tai."
"Good night, Ignis."
I disconnected the call and lay down for a bit under the night sky, feeling the nice breeze.
———————————————————-
Combat Class in Beacon is a session where the students are placed in duels where they fight their fellow students with live weapons and their full skill sets. The only two rules are that the fight must stop when one of the students' Auras drops to red and that stepping out of the large ring around the arena is considered an automatic loss.
Aside from following these two rules, the students are told to use every advantage they can get to defeat their opponent.
Because this class is meant to train them to handle enemies that are not Grimm.
Teams RIWBY and JNPR watched as Jaune Arc, the leader of team JNPR, got his ass kicked very badly by Cardin Winchester of team CRDL.
Jaune panted in exhaustion as Cardin baited the teenager while holding up his mace, The Executioner, on his shoulder.
"Is that it? Jauney boy?"
The blond responded to the taunt by rushing in with a roar, slashing his sword vertically, trying to execute an overhead sword, but forgetting that he was using a long sword with a different reach than the kind of weapons that are usually used for such an overhead attack.
The result was obvious.
Cardin easily sidestepped the attack and swung his mace with full strength, sending the unprepared Jaune tumbling as he was caught in an awkward position, while his shield fell to the side.
Gripping his sword with both hands, Jaune once again tried a vertical slash, but Cardin used the handle of his mace to block it and smirked.
"This is the part where you lose."
Jaune glared at the taller boy.
"Over my dead body-Oof"
Cardin kicked Jaune in the stomach, making him drop his sword midsentence.
However, before Cardin could come in with an overhead strike to fully take out Jaune, the buzzer rang out, indicating the end of the fight.
"That's enough."
Glynda Goodwitch calmly walked between the two students and took out her scroll while Cardin put down his mace, placing his palms on its pommel.
As for Jaune, he was still lying flat on the arena, sullen from his loss.
"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. If we were using tournament-style rules, he would have been eliminated at this point."
Glynda turned a sharp gaze towards Jaune, who was only now starting to get up.
"Mr. Arc, it has been weeks now since you arrived at Beacon. Please try to use your scroll for its intended purpose so that you may keep an eye on your Aura levels during combat."
"We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf because you ran out of Aura without knowing, would we?"
"Speak for yourself."
Cardin muttered as he left the arena, earning a light glare from Goodwitch for his comment.
"Remember, everyone. The Vital festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale. So keep practicing."
"Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."
As the bell rang, the students started to get up and move out, except for the two sister teams who waited for Jaune to change and come back before heading for lunch.
———————————————————————
"So, there we were. In the middle of the night."
Nora said seriously.
"It was daytime."
Ren interrupted casually.
"We were surrounded by Ursai."
"Beowulves."
Yang listened to the story with rapt attention, as did Ruby.
Weiss was busy filing her nails while Blake was busy reading a book.
Ignis was not at the table as he was getting more food because he was still hungry.
"Dozens of them!"
"Two of them."
Jaune played with his food with a glum look while Pyrrha half-listened to Nora.
"But they were no match. And in the end, Ren and I took them down and a buttload of lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"
Ruby's attention moved to Jaune, spotting his expressions, as did his partner, while the conversation continued on.
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."
"Maybe you should get her to stop eating all those pancakes?"
Ignis finally joined in while carrying a large tray of food, earning a glare from the Valkyrie.
"You take that back, mister!"
"Hehe! Sorry, just messing with ya."
Pyrrha, unable to take her partner's situation any longer, decided to finally speak up.
"Jaune? Are you ok?"
Her worried tone finally broke the blond out of his funk.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Why?"
Ruby shared a look with Pyrrha and spoke up as well.
"It's just that you seem a little....not ok."
The rest of Team JNPR, Yang, Ignis, and Ruby stared at the blond, making him shift nervously before putting on a fake cheerful look.
"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously."
The sudden noise of loud, obnoxious laughter interrupted his words, making the two teams turn to the source.
It was none other than Cardin Winchester and his team, who were harassing a rabbit Faunus girl.
"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school."
Pyrrha's words brought attention back to Jaune.
"W-Who? Cardin Winchester?Nah. He just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes, that's all."
"Jokes, is it?"
Ignis muttered while eating his food, while still staring at Cardin with his scroll pointed at him.
Ruby stared at Jaune seriously, worried for her friend.
"He is a bully, Jaune."
"Please, name one time he's 'bullied' me-"
"Shoving in the corridor after Port's class in the first week and purposefully swatting your scroll out of your hands. Activating your sheath's mechashift right as you were passing through the door just before Oobleck's class on Thursday in the same week. Throwing you in a rocket launcher and sending you to a random coordinate set in the Forever Falls on Tuesday, Week 2. 'Accidentally' throwing you face first into the mirrors in the changing room after Friday's Combat Class, Week 2. Purposefully destroying your notes with his energy drink right after Dust Studies on Monday, Week 3. Shall I keep going?"
Silence reigned across the table as everyone, including Weiss, who stopped filing her nails and blinked in shock, and Blake, who had a stunned look, stared at Ignis as he spoke out that long laundry list of bullying incidents while still distracted with his scroll that was still pointed at Cardin and his team.
"...Hot damn, Ignis. How did you remember all of that, with the exact day and week?"
"I've got a good memory."
This time, Pyrrha's worry was very much clear on her face.
"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask, right?"
Nora shot to her feet excitedly at those words.
"Oh! How about we break his legs!?"
"Hm. Pretty good suggestion. Though you will have to give a solid reason to avoid prison, since the law clearly prevents Huntsmen-in-training from deliberately harming each other. That being said, if you were to 'accidentally' break his legs during combat class? That's another matter entirely."
Weiss swatted Ignis on his head with an annoyed look.
"Don't go giving her ideas."
Jaune stood up from his seat with his half-eaten food tray.
"Guys, really, it's fine. Besides, it's not like he is a jerk only to me. He is a jerk to everyone."
"...That is not something to be proud of, kid."
Suddenly, a shrill scream tore through the atmosphere, making all their heads snap towards Cardin.
"It hurts! Stop it!"
"Hehe! I told you guys they are real."
"Ahaha! What a freak."
Cardin pulled on the rabbit ear of the Faunus, causing her great pain with a gleeful look before finally letting go.
The moment he did, the girl ran away with tears in her eyes, making the two teams glare at the all-male team.
"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him."
Pyrrha growled at the behaviour, while Blake glared at them.
"They are not the only ones."
Yang sighed.
"Must be hard to be a Faunus. I mean, we knew there was discrimination, but we don't see much of that on Patch. At least, not as much as we see here in the city."
"Hm. How interesting."
Those amused words instantly drew the gaze of the rest of the group, especially Blake, who glared at Ignis for that comment.
However, her expressions quickly changed to one of shock as her mouth hung open. Because she saw exactly what he had been doing with his scroll all this time.
Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren shared the same kind of shocked look, while Weiss's shock lasted only a few moments before nodding in approval, with a smirk making its way onto her face.
After all, how could she not enjoy such a subtle but devastating blow after being raised on the arts of subterfuge and politics all her life?
"Heh, I wonder what kind of headline those guys down in Vale will make by tonight?"
"It will be interesting if nothing else."
Weiss commented with an amused tone at Ignis's question while Blake gave a grateful look towards the boy.
Because with this livestream that Ignis had carried out from the very beginning of that whole encounter while blurring the faunus girl's entire body, there was no doubt that Cardin Winchester and his team are going to quickly become the face of anti-faunus sentiment and public enemy number one for basically anyone who hates bullies.
However, suddenly, Blake had a worried look as she tugged at Ignis, catching his attention.
"Won't you get into trouble for doing this? I hear Cardin's father is a powerful man."
Ignis just smirked.
"Don't worry. He may be powerful, but I am even more so. Who do you think they will side with? Some sleazy politician? Or the chief engineer of a company that now literally owns 60% market share in the IT sector? The very same company that the other kingdoms are desperate to poach and are willing to pay any price to have their HQ moved to their kingdom's capital?"
"And all of this is only if I am discovered, which is basically impossible given that this scroll-"
He tapped at the one in his hand.
"-Is a burner Scroll with a dummy account which is protected by firewalls of my own make. And given that Beacon still uses WunderOS, that proprietary OS from Atlas, they have no chance of penetrating the defences of my custom Linux OS."
Those words finally allowed Blake's worry to gave way to gratitude, and then amusement as she too enjoyed the show, waiting for the fireworks to start along with the rest of the two teams.
And sure enough, within a mere few minutes, a fuming Glynda Goodwitch barged into the cafeteria.
"Team CRDL, Headmaster's office. Now!"