Lamp or Sword? Spring or Summer? The dice rolled and something happened in my (P)(A)(T).
Speaking of it, if anyone wants to support me or just read 3/7 chapters ahead in my 2 stories, that's possible on my (P)(A)(T). If not, I still thank you for reading my stories, thank you very much.
Well, having said that, have a good night and happy reading!
(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori
[...]---[...]
"No, Serafall, I'm not going to 'let' you have priority in talking to Neo." I sighed, ignoring the questions around me and Ozpin, who was looking at me with raised eyebrows.
[MagicalGirlSera-Tan] WHY! I PROMISE I WON'T FORCE HER OR ANYTHING, I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, I JUST WANT TO BE THE FIRST TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO HER IN THE FUTURE! PLS! PLS! PLS! (Emote of a magical girl Devil pleading "Please" multiple times).
"You don't even know if she will want to join your Peerage. I declined, didn't I?" Even though I had declined, I was sure Neo might accept. Borderline immortality, or longevity in the case of Devils, along with easily accessible power and harems, bought most people.
"And what do you mean in the future? What guarantees you're coming to Remnant in the future? Do you think it's going to be that messy?" It could happen, perhaps, but even if it did, I wouldn't let the 'traffic' between worlds be free, the level of trouble it would cause would be catastrophic...
[MagicalGirlSera-Tan] You will still accept, it's just a matter of time, believe me, I'm very persuasive when I want to be~ As for going to other worlds, I know it won't be something disorganized, but who better than me? The Satan of Foreign Affairs to organize everything along with you? (Emote of a magical girl devil with a sign reading "Satan" above her head).
A Devil thinking about the future, I thought it wasn't possible for that race, at least in the near future, but I guess Satans are some of the exceptions.
Serafall might be right about the part that if somehow, I connected the worlds, and DXD ended up being part of that connection, so to speak, she was one of the best candidates to be the "representative" of that world, even among the deities.
But about the part of me accepting to become a Devil? She was wrong about that, I was human and that would remain so...
"Having a chat with your (CHAT)?" Ozpin approached, his voice slightly muffled by the conversations and questions that were dying down as Glynda reprimanded the students.
I pushed the private chat I was having with Serafall aside a few minutes ago and turned to respond to Ozpin.
"Almost, just being tempted by the devil, a devil in this case." I paused. "Do they exist in Remnant?" The question was for the 'legends,' but I didn't specify in case they actually existed.
"Devil?" Ozpin chuckled. "There's no shortage of legends of monsters, demons, and mythical beings in Remnant, but I can't say I've met any personally in all my years lived..." He replied.
With that, the chances of them existing were minimal, since I was probably talking about them.
"In all of them? That must be quite something." I said casually.
"Do I look that old? I'm under fifty." He laughed as if he knew what I was talking about.
"Nah, I'd give you about forty-eight, nowhere near fifty." I joked lightly.
Ozpin and I had been in this "little game" since this morning. I knew he was ancient and had some kind of reincarnation curse, but I didn't know the details.
As for Ozpin himself, he knew that I knew something, but not how much, since I hadn't confirmed it, so we were in this back and forth of inside jokes for a while, which should end sooner or later when we stopped to talk seriously, but it was fun for now.
"SILENCE!"
It seems Glynda had given up on being civilized...
The combat professor's shout seemed to be enough for the students to remember what she was capable of... Well, that and the purple aura surrounding all of them, forcing them to stand still and be silent.
No matter the world, telekinesis was some bullshit. I'll need to guard against this shit in the future, just because I could break Glynda's doesn't mean it would be the same against other beings.
After the calming down of the room, Glynda withdrew her Semblance and let everyone move, which they did, but without the earlier shouting.
"Now that you've all stopped acting like uncultured brutes. Does anyone have a question?" Glynda asked, before the questions even started, she continued. "Raise your hand if you have any questions..." The tone of her voice conveyed the danger that could occur if the students just went back to shouting.
Wisely, all of those who had questions didn't shout them out, but raised their hands, and when I say all who had questions, I mean all the students?
What the hell? Even Team RWBY had their hands raised, was this a joke or something?
Glynda gave a slight nod to the students and turned to me.
"With that, I'll leave the class in your hands." It was kind of weird to be looking up when I talked to a woman.
"I'm just the teaching assistant, remember?" I emphasized the word. "And is it okay to waste time with questions about me?" I looked at the students. "Vytal Festival and all?" I glanced at Glynda and Ozpin for answers.
"Thanks to the Vytal Festival, many classes have had their time reduced to give more time for students aiming to enter the festival to train with their teams." Ozpin explained. "Thanks to this, Glynda's class had its time greatly increased, we can lose a few minutes without any problem."
That... actually made sense. Not the part where I was being thrown into answering questions, but the part where everyone was focusing on the combat part rather than any other class.
"As for why Glynda is leaving the class in your hands, that's something only she can answer, as this decision is also a surprise to me." Ozpin nodded towards the tall woman beside him.
I could feel the stares of the entire room shift from me to Glynda, who didn't seem intimidated at all.
"I thought it would be best for you to have a class with just you and the students, since you're fairly close in age. That way, you can get acquainted with everyone." Glynda replied calmly, so calmly that I almost, almost believed that was the real reason.
She was just going to take the opportunity to rest, wasn't she? The way she was the first to go to the back of the room to sit was answer enough.
At least she had the decency not to just put on sunglasses and lean back in the chair like Ozpin had done next to her, but still...
Who would've thought, I had a Catholic side... Good to know.
"It seems I'll be your not-so-helpful teacher in this class," I said to my students, if I could even call them that. "Let's start this show then." I scanned over everyone before landing on a specific blond and pointing at him. "Jaune, your question."
He looked around confused, as if he wanted to confirm that it was really him, before pointing to himself and asking in not-so-intelligent a manner.
"Me?"
"Yes, you have your hand raised, don't you?"
He looked at his still-raised hand before lowering it slowly and scratching his neck embarrassedly.
"To be honest, I didn't think I'd be chosen, let alone the first to be chosen," he said before asking his question. "Professor Glynda said you're around our age, what's your age?" He asked.
Looks like I guessed right, he didn't ask a shitty question, a good start.
"I'm twenty-one..." I think? Had my birthday passed already? I really hadn't stopped to think about it.
My status said I was still twenty-one, so I hadn't passed my birthdate yet.
There were some murmurs here and there with the 'revelation' of my age, but they were few, since most of the students probably didn't want to risk the wrath of the witch sitting behind them and miss the chance to ask their question.
The girls had told me that Beacon lasted four years, right? So they should graduate at twenty, some who had birthdays earlier even at twenty-one... My age...
I could already imagine the thoughts in their heads, either I had immense credibility because of my young age, or it was just the opposite, since even though I had 'proved' in a way that I was strong, there was always the stupidity of not wanting to learn from someone just because they were around your age or a little older.
"Thanks for the question, Jaune," I nodded to the blond before scanning the room again and pointing to another blond guy in the distance. "You, your name and your question." If they ask me if I chose him because I saw the monkey tail behind him I'll deny it.
"Sun Wukong." No fucking way that's his name! Damn, I should have guessed...
"My question is: which academy did you graduate from?" He asked before adding. "It was Haven Academy, wasn't it? After all, you're good enough to be such a young teacher and Haven is the best academy and all, it makes sense, right?" He said in a light and carefree tone, not caring about the looks he was receiving from those who probably weren't from Haven.
He had the personality of the Monkey King too, I liked the guy.
"If Haven is the best academy, I can't say, my vote goes to Beacon and it's not because they pay my salary." It wasn't, after all, I had only seen Beacon and as far as I knew about Haven was that Cinder had forged documents from there.
After a few short laughs from my 'joke,' I continued speaking.
"As for your question, I didn't graduate from any academy." The general shocked looks were funny. "At least not a combat one, I graduated from regular school, but I never attended any combat preparatory academy or school."
The reaction to my 'big revelation' was what I expected, surprise, gasps of shock, some of indignation, and so on.
I looked at Glynda and Ozpin to see if they would do anything, when I realized they wouldn't, I took the reins to calm the students down using the best way I could think of...
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
... I fired a .38 revolver into the air a few times.
It worked instantly, everyone's combat instincts kicking in quickly, some ducking down, even though they had Aura for some reason, while others turned towards the sound, in this case towards me, ready to fight with their Auras activated, ready for combat.
I tossed the revolver back into the VoidBag without anyone noticing and smiled calmly.
"I'm glad you've calmed down. If you have any questions, please raise your hand." The amusement emanating from Yang and Ruby due to how I was acting was almost palpable.
I wasted no time and pointed to the first one who raised their hand after the entire room fell silent, a girl with brown hair and chic clothing.
"You, with the beret, your name and your question." Why the hell could I feel that her bag had a mechanism inside? That thing was some sort of weapon, wasn't it?
Actually, I couldn't even get mad or incredulous because it was a really good idea. Without the VoidBag, I would have taken longer to realize it was more than just a fancy bag. Against Grimm, it's kind of useless, but against other humans or Faunus, it's an excellent strategy. Even though, by the way she dresses, I'm sure that wasn't the thought when she created or ordered the thing.
"Coco Adel." She introduced herself, raising her sunglasses slightly with her finger. Who the hell wears sunglasses indoors?
"My question is: Why should my team and I stay and watch the class of someone who's only two to three years older than us and hasn't even been to a combat academy?" The silence that followed her question was a different kind of silence from before, more icy and tense.
"First of all, let me say that I saw the video of your battle, you're strong, you know how to fight, but knowing how to fight doesn't mean knowing how to teach others to fight." She added in the next moment.
Well, there's the question I was waiting for, she even took a while to show up. Now, how do I answer that? Her tone wasn't arrogant or mocking, but genuinely curious, as if she really wanted to know the reason to see if it was worth staying here or not. Her addition also confirmed that and she was right, just because someone knew how to fight didn't mean they would know how to teach others to fight reliably. It was a fair question from her.
I'll answer this seriously then.
"I'm not going to lie here, Miss Adel..." I copied the way Ozpin spoke to the students without a hint of shame. "I don't have qualifications as a teacher like the other professors at Beacon do." I admitted calmly, after all, it was true.
"It was kind of a surprise for me to get this job here, as some of you might have noticed." I could see several nods and looks at my 'teacher' badge. Ozpin hadn't really tried to cover up that I had been hired on the fly.
"But even though it's a makeshift hiring, I'll still pass on what I know to you seriously." Even though this job was more of an excuse for me to stay at Beacon than anything else, I would still take it seriously. After all, it could save a life, whether it was a student's or a civilian's that the student saved. I wasn't a teacher, but I was good at improvising.
"And what are you going to pass on to us?" Coco wasted no time in asking, lowering her sunglasses to look at me, I stared back at her.
"How to survive." I replied. "How to improvise, adapt." I heard a slight laughter coming from the direction of Team RWBY when I said the word 'adapt'.
"Survive?" Coco repeated. "Strange word to use, especially for us, who are Huntresses and Huntsmen." Translation: Especially for us, who are the hunters, not the hunted.
It's true, a single Grimm compared to a single Huntsman or Huntress was weak, pathetic, but it was never a one-on-one battle...
"Do you think you can fight against an army of Grimms?" I asked. "A hundred, a thousand?"
The answer was obvious.
"No, not alone." She didn't seem ashamed of that, and she shouldn't be. "And you? You make it seem like you can." She raised an eyebrow.
I could, actually. Against Grimm, I was almost invincible. With each death, something in me would only get stronger. With each death, I would only have more energy...
"Me? I can't, that's obvious." I smiled, preventing the dozens, hundreds of eyes from appearing in my shadow. "But I can survive. And that's what I'm going to try to teach you, how to survive and come back home."
... With each death, I would only have a bigger army...
I wouldn't know how to teach like Glynda does, nor would I have time for it, but I could try to pass on what I knew... Which was to adapt.
I looked at Coco, seeing if she would just leave the classroom or not. When she or her team didn't move, I averted my gaze before clapping twice.
"Well, that's three questions. The norm for teams here is four people per team, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically, but still received several nods in return. "One last question then before we really start this class..."
I scanned over the students, lingering for a few moments on Team RWBY, before looking away and laughing when Ruby pouted and Yang flipped me off. Blake and Weiss were more composed and just glared at me.
"You, your name and question." Finally, I stopped my gaze and pointed to a girl with platinum blond hair and tan skin.
"Arslan Altan." She responded with a serious voice. Arslan like the lion? Good name. "My question is simple: will we be able to spar with you in class?" Almost everyone in the room got excited about the question. Should I be worried? Am I surrounded by battle maniacs?
"Today, no." That disappointed many, at least before I continued. "But yes, you'll be able to spar with me in the upcoming classes." That was enough to cheer them back up.
Was it because I was about their age? Because I don't think they would have the same reaction with Glynda...
"Well, now, everyone outside." I gestured towards the door; their looks of confusion were immediate. "As Glynda said earlier, she left the class in my hands, and I want to continue it out in the Emerald Forest." I waved and started walking out of the room.
The joyous look on the students' faces was only matched in size by the anger on Glynda's face when I made her stand up and follow me outside.
Ozpin still wore sunglasses, and I'm sure he would continue pretending to be asleep if Glynda hadn't forced him to come with us.
My newly discovered Catholic side was appeased for now.
Being a teacher was actually quite fun.
[...]
POV: Weiss Schnee.
"I'll forgive him for not choosing any of us four for a question because he's taking us to the Emerald Forest... Because we've never had a class there, after all?" Yang asked somewhat excitedly; we all were, including me, I won't lie.
"It was obvious he wouldn't choose any of us four; we know him." I replied.
"Jaune knows him and got a question." Ruby pointed out, almost bouncing beside me. The shout of joy she gave when Ozpin pinned that paper badge to Devas' chest made my ears ring.
"Jaune can't chat with him anytime during the day via the (CHAT) on the stream." Blake pointed out in return.
"That doesn't change the fact that I wanted to ask a question." Yang replied. "Damn, it was the perfect opportunity for a prank..." She punched her palm.
As if Devas would fall for that, he even smiled when he pretended to point at us, just as we knew him, he knew us... But that had annoyed me a bit too.
"Ruby!" Jaune waved to Ruby as soon as we stepped out of our dorm. Devas had said to meet him at the cliffs where the initiation took place, but before we could go grab some extra stuff besides our weapons, in case we forgot something or needed something.
Many simply ignored it or thought it was just a warning for the forgetful ones; I felt sorry for them...
"Do you think we'll need all this?" Jaune approached, he, like his whole team, carried a medium-sized backpack on his back, large enough not to hinder movement but spacious enough to contain some supplies.
"I don't know." Ruby's response was instantaneous. Before anyone from Team JNPR could speak, she continued. "But I know Devas well enough to know that he plans something, it's better to be cautious."
All of us, me, Yang, and Blake, nodded in agreement. If the items we were carrying weren't needed, that was fine, we'd just throw the backpacks somewhere and pick them up later, but what if they were?...
"What do you think will happen?" Pyrrha asked as we began walking towards the cliffs. "Are we going to fight Grimm? Or is it some kind of survival test?"
"Like Ruby said, I don't know." It was me who answered this time. "It could be anything, and from the way Professor Ozpin and Professor Glynda seemed to want to leave everything in Devas' hands... Just be prepared." Especially because he said he would teach us to adapt, to survive.
"Do you think this lesson will be extended?" Nora chirped. "Like, are we going to camp in the forest? All of us? It'll be like a big summer camp!" With all the first-year students, some from the second, and the transfer students, the number of students was large, almost a hundred.
"Maybe. But I don't think that's going to happen; we still have class tomorrow." Ren spoke in his usual calm tone.
It didn't take us long to reach the same cliff where we were launched during initiation. We weren't the first to arrive, but from the number of students, I could see we weren't the last either.
"And do you throw the students down every year?" I heard Devas ask in the distance, he and Professor Ozpin beside the launch mechanisms.
"All the students who come for initiation know that Beacon isn't an amusement park. If they can't even survive a fall like that... At least death will be quicker than against Grimm." Professor Ozpin explained.
"True..." Devas replied, looking out at the forest in the distance. "Did you patent this?" He asked.
"I don't think whether I answer yes or no will make a difference to you." Professor Ozpin's voice was amused.
"Good thing you know. I'm thinking of opening a school just for this." Devas' voice was as amused as ever.
"Is there time to back out?" I heard Jaune murmur the question behind me, probably talking to himself because no one responded.
"No, Jaune, you stepped in here, you're in." Devas replied from afar.
"Can he hear us?" Nora muttered as quietly as she could, so low that I could hardly hear, even though she was beside me.
"I can, Nora, I can hear all of you." He replied. "No, it's not my Semblance." He replied again, someone I couldn't hear. "Repeat that out loud; I'm sure the owner of certain pairs of airbags would love to hear such compliments." He replied once more.
Whoever that last person was, they didn't have the courage to say what they had said out loud.
"Well, now that everyone's here, I'll be kind and give one last option to leave," Devas spoke after a few minutes of waiting. "Except you, Jaune, you stay." He pointed in our direction.
After a minute with no one leaving, Devas spoke again.
"I'll explain a bit of what's going to happen; I talked to Ozpin and Glynda here, and they gave me permission for what I want to do, so if anything goes wrong, blame them." If I was worried before, that concern only grew.
"First of all, I see that some of you brought some supplies; congratulations on thinking deeper about why the hell I wanted to come to a forest." Devas clapped.
I could hear the cheerful and some indignant conversations, from those who had the supplies and those who didn't.
"What's unfair?" Devas turned his head in the opposite direction of where the four of us were. "Because I didn't warn you that you'd need supplies? Or because you think I told something to team RWBY, so they brought their supplies?" He continued, without naming names.
I could feel the stares in our direction the moment he mentioned our team.
"For those who think that, you're mistaken; I didn't warn anyone." Devas spoke with a calm voice. "Or do you think I would tell a few and not others?" Yes, I was sure he would do that just for fun, but that wasn't the case.
"Miss Adel, why did you and your team bring supplies?" Devas turned again, looking beside where we were.
"Precaution. A class in the Emerald Forest? Either you're going to throw us into Grimm, or you'll want us to camp for some reason, maybe both." The CFVY team leader responded. "Not to mention you literally said you would teach us to survive; it was obvious."
"Take this as a lesson; learn to pay attention to the nuances, see the context of everything, you can think, so think." Devas raised his voice.
"Continuing. Today's class will be extended." He turned to look at the Sun, or at least where it should be if it weren't cloudy. "It's exactly four twenty-two in the afternoon..."
"How does he know?" Nora asked, looking at her Scroll, probably confirming that it was that time.
"Maybe he has an invisible magic clock?" Yang replied with a smile, a small one also appeared on my lips, after all, the stream really had a clock.
"Your classes usually end at six, but not today, congratulations! Today they'll go until midnight!" Devas turned while spreading his arms with a smile on his face. "Before anyone asks in a whisper just to test my hearing." Devas turned, facing someone who was probably in the middle of a whispered question. "Your classes tomorrow have changed a bit, so you can rest."
The sighs of relief I heard were from people who hadn't understood the real reason why we would need rest tomorrow, even though we had Aura to help us recover faster...
"It was nice knowing you, girls." Blake sighed. "It was good while it lasted."
"I wish I could say goodbye to dad, too bad." Yang sighed resignedly.
"Fifteen, almost good sixteen years of life. I guess that was enough." Ruby did the same. "Do you think Devas will spare Zwei?" She asked.
"Maybe, he said he liked dogs." I replied as Blake muttered 'Blasphemy.' "Well, at least we'll die together." I sighed.
"You guys are joking, right?" Jaune asked. None of us laughed. "Right?" When he started to look really scared, Devas spoke again.
"One last thing about the supplies before we continue." Devas waved his hand, making several sealed boxes appear above the launch devices. "There are some boxes already in the forest; congratulations to those who find them."
"Is this a trap?" Pyrrha was the one who asked.
"Maybe, I give fifty percent chance it is and fifty percent chance it isn't." Yang shrugged. "I'm not going to risk it, good luck to whoever goes." Neither am I, no one from our team actually.
"Now, about what's going to happen here, you'll have ten minutes to talk to each other, make strategies, plans, and everything else, and then you'll be launched into the forest." He pointed behind.
"And then, are we going to fight each other?" Cardin was the one who shouted; I recognized his annoying voice from anywhere. "Everyone against everyone?"
"Glynda didn't let me do that." Devas replied before fake coughing. "Anyway, no, after that, you'll have an hour head start to set up traps, shelters, hide, or run away, whatever you want to do out there in the forest." He pointed again behind.
Don't tell me...
"Are you going to release some Grimm? Or are they the ones that already exist in the forest?" Cardin asked; ignorance really was a bliss, wasn't it?
"No, only me hunting you." Devas smiled, a smile that to me was as beautiful as it was terrifying.
"Okay, before it was a joke, but are we really going to die now?" Blake took a step back, her bow lowered, close to her head.
"Those were good years of life..." Ruby's eyes were dull, two empty silver spheres. "A hug?" She opened her arms towards Yang who hugged her in silence.
I turned to Jaune who looked terrified at my team's reactions.
"You know, I apologize for everything, for how I treated you and the insults, I'm sorry." I'll try to be better in the next life.
"Are they okay?" I think it was Professor Ozpin who asked from afar.
"They're just being dramatic; ignore them, no one's going to die." I'm almost sure it was the devil who replied. "Oh, yes, the last team gets a prize, good luck."
At least I'll die together with my friends.
[…]
POV: Devas Asura.
"What prize are you going to give to the last team?" Ozpin asked as we watched the teams being catapulted one by one.
"I don't know yet; I just said that to create some internal competition among them." I waved to team RWBY, who looked like four prisoners heading for the gallows. What drama, what do they think I am? A monster?
"Do you want to check the cameras in the forest?" Ozpin asked, holding a Scroll in his hand.
"No, it won't be necessary," I replied.
"I thought it wouldn't be, just offered out of courtesy," he replied, knowing about my Minimap.
I pressed the button in my hands again, and four more students were sent flying.
"Having fun?"
"A bit." Quite a lot, actually.
I kind of improvised this idea; my original plan was to make groups of four teams and take one member from each group to form four new teams, so they would have to adapt to their new 'companions' and their fighting styles, while also worrying about their original team members, who would know how they fight.
That idea kind of went down the drain after I realized that as useful as it would be and it would be good training, it wouldn't be good for the Vital Festival that was around the corner. As much as I didn't care one bit about this festival, it was like the Olympics of this world and everyone seemed to care, so I changed it to this current idea, which wasn't bad either.
With this, I could learn about the Semblances of this world in real time and see how some of them behaved in battle, fight against various fighting styles, and hopefully unlock my own Semblance, even though I was sure that wouldn't happen.
Of course, I wasn't underestimating any of the students; they were Huntsmen and Huntresses, even if in training, I wouldn't underestimate them, I never underestimated anyone, but I had an advantage over them here... Several advantages actually...
One of the last teams to be catapulted was Arslan's team, which I had no idea what the name was.
Before I could launch four more people into the sky, she turned and asked.
"You said you would look for us in the forest, but you also said we wouldn't have a spar with you today, did you lie?" She asked.
"No, I didn't lie." I nodded, and before she could respond, I pressed the button, sending her team flying away.
This wouldn't be a spar, and she had misspoken...
... I wouldn't be looking for them in the forest.
"Do you want to press the button, Glynda?" I turned to the woman who had been silent until now with a serious face.
Without saying a word, she took the button from my hands and pressed it, sending the students flying.
Being a teacher was really fun.
[...]---[...]
Well, I won't ramble on too much here.
Devas became a teacher, something that should help him in some ways, even if it takes up some time. Well, it's going to be fun at least.
As always, have a good night and happy reading!