Chapter 2

Three Weeks Later, the Day Before the Students Arrive

"Let's see..." Blackthorn glances down at the map he's been provided with. The map has important locations marked for him, such as the cafeteria, the staff lounge, his quarters and the room that he'll be using for his tutoring sessions. "That means that this is my room."

He stops in front a nondescript wooden door. It's just like any other door he's seen, but his name is engraved on a shiny metal plate.

"Simple enough." He unlocks his door with the key that's been given to him and strides into his new quarters. "Wow."

He's been provided with a luxurious apartment style lodgings. There's a generous sized living room, complete with a couch, inviting looking chair, and a television. Off of the living room is the hallway to the bathroom and his bedroom. The bathroom is a pleasant yellow with plenty of counter space and a large shower. His bedroom though is what really stands out. There's a king sized bed and two medium sized dressers and a walk in closet.

"I get all this to myself?" Blackthorn is staring in awe. "This place is way better than Atlas!"

He practically sprints to the bedroom, lets his meager backpack of clothes and other personal belongings fall to the ground and promptly throws himself on the enormous bed.

"This bed is the best." He melts into the soft mattress.

"Glad to see you're adjusting well." Ozpin says from the doorway with the hints of a smile on his face.

"Sir!" Blackthorn leaps off the bed and stands at attention. "I apologize for my misconduct! I didn't know you were present Sir!"

An awkward silence falls between the two men.

"Heh heh, sorry about that." Blackthorn sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Old habits from Atlas. You'd think that being out of school for so long I'd drop it, but being back in a school brings back old memories. I haven't done that in years. Heck when I visit Atlas it's usually the students who salute me!"

"Of course." Ozpin easily moves on. After all the students quirks he's seen something like this is tame in comparison. "You are aware that this is not a military run school, correct?"

"Yeah, I know that. I won't expect students to salute or anything. Honestly, for the first couple of days I plan on watching the staff to see how they act then I'll base my actions off of that. Monkey see, monkey do. You kinda caught me off guard, and well that happened."

"Indeed." Ozpin takes a sip of his coffee. "So Blackthorn, do you have any last minute questions for me?"

"Well, now that you're here yeah." Blackthorn glances around the room. "There's no staff uniform for me. Where do I get one?"

"One of the many differences between Atlas and Beacon is that we let our professors wear whatever they choose to, so long as it is appropriate to wear in public."

"Would it be fine to wear my Atlas coat?" Blackthorn tenderly pats his stark white trench coat. "I've grown rather fond of it over the years, but I do understand if that's against regulations. This is Beacon, not Atlas so it would be strange to see a professor – that is so weird to say out loud – wearing the wrong school's attire."

"Of course you may wear it. Those coats are only given to graduates of Atlas Academy, they're a representation of your achievements. To tell the truth, I'd be more surprised if you didn't wear it."

"That won't make anyone mad, will it?" Blackthorn asks his new boss.

"Here at Beacon we have a diverse staff, with your addition we have someone from all four of the nations. It won't be a problem."

"Are there any faunus on staff?" Blackthorn asks as he plops down in the armchair in his living room.

"Would it matter?" Ozpin asks, showing just a hint of disapproval for the first time. "Here at Beacon we don't discriminate."

"Hey, just curious is all. I have nothing against faunus." Blackthorn holds up his hands in a placating gesture. "There was this one faunus that I dated for awhile, and let me tell you she was a vixen! I mean both literally and in her temperament. We had so much fun together and why am I telling you all of this? I haven't been this nervous in years and I fight Grimmm for a living! You'd think that facing down a mob of students would be so much easier and… I'm rambling. I'll just be quiet now."

"Then I'll leave it as a mystery for you to solve." Ozpin smiles at his flustered new professor. "Who knows, maybe there's another vixen on staff for you to find."

"I really hope not. She was super possessive and clingy and demanding and never ran out of energy which at first was awesome but then - dammit I'm rambling again. Sorry. I swear I'm not always like this, it's the nerves getting to me." Blackthorn flushes red in a great deal of embarrassment. "So, one more question then. How will I be assigned students to tutor? Will I be given a list or something?"

"Not quite." Ozpin starts to explain. "Since we added you in at the last possible moment we will have students apply to be tutored by you. Then you'll be given a list of each student that applied and you can choose who to tutor. The selection process will be left entirely up to you as will the amount of students you pick to tutor. Since this is a completely new position you will be limited to tutoring the first year students only."

"That's an awful lot of freedom to give a guy you've just met." Blackthorn pins Ozpin with a serious look. "Especially with new students. I'm not going to be gentle with them, that's not what I'm here for. I'm not here to be their friend I'm here to make sure they survive. If I have to beat the lessons into their skulls then I will. You still trust me with all that power?"

"Of course." Ozpin smiles fondly. The newest professor may be attempting to act stoic and cruel but Ozpin knows his motivation. He's here because he cares about the children, he would never intentionally harm them. There is a difference between harsh and cruel. "I have faith in you."

"So you're okay if I make the students fight against me as part of my selection process?" Blackthorn rhythmically taps one finger on the hilt of his sword. "The best way to get to know someone is to cross blades with them."

"As long as you're not unnecessarily cruel." Ozpin confirms. "There are always students who think themselves invincible or untouchable. It is for the best they learn that they aren't here instead of out on the battlefield. I doubt that any first year student will be capable of landing a single blow on you unless you allow it."

"That'll certainly make things interesting!" Blackthorn is suddenly looking forward to this process. It's always fun to beat down upstarts, it was one of his favorite things to do when he visited Atlas. Without fail one of the more cocky students there would challenge him. Without fail that student would be annihilated, usually he didn't even draw his weapon.

There's a vast difference between student and Huntsman.

"Indeed it will. There is another reason I've dropped by, I want you to be there to welcome the students to Beacon. You'll be by our front doors and have to direct them towards the ballroom. This is more so that the rowdy students don't do anything... rash. It's surprising how much the presence of a professor will change."

"You sure this isn't to show off your shiny new staff member?" Blackthorn cracks a cheeky grin. He knows that he's a recognizable person. People know his face, one can't do all of the things he did and remain anonymous.

"Well there is that too." Ozpin admits. "Forgive me if I want to show you off, it isn't everyday that someone of your skill decides to settle down and become a teacher. Not to mention that you picked Beacon over Atlas. Do you mind if I ask you why?"

"Simple really, it's was the closest Academy at the time." Blackthorn nonchalantly says.

"Come again?"

"Mom lives in Vale. I've been staying with her since... yeah. Beacon was the closest Academy. I may have gone to Atlas, but I was born here."

"Well then, let me officially welcome you home."

"Home, huh?" Blackthorn pauses for a moment and pondered those words. "I could get used to that."

That Night, Around Dinner Time

Two hefty thuds slam into Blackthorn's door, shaking it in it's frame and startling the Huntsman badly.

Badly doesn't do it justice.

"Blackthorn!" Lily shouts as her teammates drag her away while countless Grimmm assault the nearly broken steel door.

Blackthorn reacted purely on instinct and memory, in one fluid motion he spun to face the door, drew his curved blade and cleaved the door in half. He leaped over the bottom half into the hallway and swung his deadly weapon at the beasts.

But he halts all momentum of his swing that's capable of cleaving Grimmm in half. What he sees doesn't make sense. Last time he check Grimmm aren't humanoid. Or have mustaches. Or wear vibrant red.

"My boy!" A jaunty voice calls out from the rather stout man, thankfully ignoring Blackthorn's involuntary response. "Will you join us for dinner? We want to meet Beacon's newest professor! Most importantly we want to meet our new colleague!"

"Though it might be best to put that away." Another voice says, pulling Blackthorn's attention off the stout red man. "Unless you plan on cutting steak with it."

This man is scraggly and unkempt. Half of his shirt is tucked in, he has large round glasses and crazy green hair that is all over the place.

"Huh?" Blackthorn says in confusion as his eyes dart back and forth between the two not-Grimmm a few times. He's not back in the abandoned building. He's not trying to save his team. Those aren't Grimmm. "Oh. OH! SORRY! Ahem! I mean I'm sorry!"

"Then join us for dinner my boy!" The stout man merrily says as if Blackthorn didn't almost cut into pieces. "Let's get to know one another!"

"Uh yeah." Blackthorn slides his blade back in the sheath on his hip with a sharp click as it fully slides in. "Lead the way, I kinda don't know my way around yet."

'This was a mistake.' Blackthorn thinks to himself as he smiles politely as the stout man, who he found out is called Peter Port, is wrapping up a tale of heroic deeds from his youth. This is the fourth one he's heard tonight. 'Congratulations, you saved a village from three beowolves. You're making it sound like you fought off an army of them.'

"Enough about us." Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck - extra emphasis on doctor - cuts in before Port can begin another tale. "We want to hear about you."

"Oh. Me?" Blackthorn says as he's stalling for time. "Well I grew up here, born and raised in Vale. Made it into Atlas, got my team and did my four years there. Made a bit of a name for ourselves too, we always were neck deep in trouble. Then we graduated and decided to stick together. We didn't join the Atlesian Military, we didn't really think it was our style but we stayed in Atlas. We went freelancing, took a lot of missions together. Some easy some insanely hard and pretty soon we had people coming to us specifically with the most crazy missions you've ever heard of. Ironically the Atlesian Military came to us frequently, they were our biggest customer. We didn't join them but ended up working for them anyways. Then one fateful mission happened and suddenly I didn't have a team anymore. Came home to Mom and she told me to get off my ass and apply here. That's it in a nutshell."

"It is always sad when good people are lost." Oobleck says in sympathy and Port nods in agreement.

"Good people?" Blackthorn looks at his green haired co-worker. "Nah, we're not good people. We were just good at being Huntsmen, in reality we were a bunch of assholes. Loveable assholes though, we constantly played pranks on each other and tried to get one up on everyone. There was lots of minor infighting and general craziness around us, admittedly most of it came from us. I swear that I was the only sane one on the team, someone had to keep everyone in line."

"Ah the life of a team leader!" Port happily says as he rubs his moustache. "May I ask what were they like? If it is too difficult to remember then there's no need."

"Well there's me, Lily, Napier and Kobalt. The four of us made Team BLNK." Blackthorn smiles fondly at his memories of his team. "Me, well, I was handed the position of leader. It was because of my combat skills I think, not to sound full of myself but I was way better than all three of them. Given with the training and tutelage we got at Atlas that gap closed very quickly until we stood in a league of our own. Regrettably I had to be the voice of reason, being team leader meant that when the other three were up to no good people came to me to corral them. It made everyone think that I'm super serious. In reality I'm actually surprisingly quiet and very laidback. I'd rather observe than intervene, more of a go with the flow kind of guy. I don't really like throwing around my weight, I figure that things tend to just work themselves out in the end."

"Yet you applied here?" Port asks in curiosity. "It is not an easy process, there are many hoops to jump through."

"Mom kinda made me?" Blackthorn says in mild embarrassment. "If you ask her the only reason I'm successful is because she made me get up off my ass."

Oobleck and Port share a smirk. They've already found something to tease their newest co-worker about.

"Anyways, if we stick with going through the team name, then there's Lily." Blackthorn doesn't see the two others smirking in victory. "She was the worst of us. Not combat wise mind you, but trouble wise. She was a very passionate person, never did anything in moderation. It was extreme or nothing. She didn't do happy, she did elated. She didn't do mad, she did livid. You get the idea. Made drinking with her very… unique. Let's leave it at that. She had a mean vengeful streak in her too, no one wanted to be on her bad side. Unfortunately I was usually on it, since I'm the one that put a halt to her fun most of the time. She'd come up with the most elaborate plans and the crazy thing is most of the time they worked. Brilliantly too. To this day I have no idea how she managed to dye all of my coats pink. I had to wear them for a week until a new order came in the mail. Even if I borrowed one from a friend it would turn pink within the hour."

"Pink coats? Why pink?" Oobleck asks for clarification.

"She said that it went well with my eyes? I don't know if that was her being truthful or just some BS reason she came up with." Blackthorn shrugs. It's another mystery that he'll never solve. "Next we have Napier. Always had an air of grace about him, always carried himself in a way that screamed refined and dignified. The ladies loved him, bastard knew it too. He can be summed up in two words: Pretty boy. Or man whore. Both, definitely both. Damn guy tried to seduce teachers! Teachers! Nearly did it too if Lily didn't catch wind of it and bust his balls. Literally, she kicked him in the groin. The only girl he wouldn't go after was Lily because he had enough common sense to not ruin the team dynamic. I know I just made him sound really bad but he was actually a nice guy. Always treated others with respect, was courteous even when talking with someone he disliked, and very reliable. He was very intelligent, had a horde of random facts stored in his head. That alone saved us from numerous binds and made pranks a lot more interesting."

Oobleck and Port are eagerly waiting to hear about the final teammate.

"Last we have Kobalt." Blackthorn snorts in amusement. "Dude was short. There's no way around it. He tried to compensate for it by getting insanely ripped and having a short fuse. It didn't take much to make him mad, especially if you made a short joke. As you might imagine him and Lily were constantly bickering. He also had this amusing habit of giving people nicknames. I lucked out with Boss-man of all things, though it was fitting. Kobalt was a very blunt guy, he'd tell you how it is. If you messed up he'd call you out on it, if he thought we were doing something wrong he'd speak up, basically he called me a dick a lot cuz of the whole 'I'm the team leader and have to keep you in line' thing. But oh man did he have some jokes! Most were terrible but some of them were hilarious! He had a horrendous sense of timing though, we'd be wading through a horde of Grimmm and he'd be cracking these lame jokes every thirty seconds. Then he'd get a good one and we laughed so hard we could barely hold onto our weapons!"

"I would have enjoyed meeting them." Port smiles warmly at Blackthorn. "They sound like wonderful people."

"They are the best." Blackthorn's happy face dwindles, his wide smiles fades to a resigned grin and his eyes lose their gleam. "They were the best. I wouldn't have changed it for anything."

The Next Day, at Beacon's Front Doors

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this. Why did I think this was a good idea?" Blackthorn says as he's watching a mob of wild children scramble all over the courtyard.

It's complete chaos. Some students are moving in small mobs, others are wandering around alone, there's even a few just hanging back and observing everyone else by themselves.

"How does anything ever get done around here?" Blackthorn is looking at the scene in disbelief. "Where's the order? Where's the professors? Shouldn't they be around to – oh wait. That's me, I'm supposed to corral the kids. I have a better idea."

Blackthorn turns on his heel and promptly walks into the Academy. Only a quick five minutes pass before he's back, but he's holding a self standing sign with directions on it. He firmly places it down right in the path of all the new students, they have to walk past it before being able to go anywhere else.

"There. Problem solved. Now I can sit back and relax." He casually leans against one of the walls with his arms crossed. He's striking a rather intimidating pose, although it's completely unintentional. "Now it's time for one of my favorite pastime activities, people watching."

He gazes out over the mob of hormone fueled monsters- er teenagers. He meant teenagers. There are too many to count, yet a few stick out in the crowd. A loud blonde girl and her gaggle of friends, a lonesome black bow wearing girl, a -

BOOM

He's yanked out of his hobby by the sudden explosion. "Okay that has to be a new record. Causing an explosion on the first day? It took me and my team a week to do that."

The source of the explosion was two arguing girls, and he's being very generous by saying both of them are arguing. There's a very pale white haired girl berating a red cloaked girl.

The white themed one is dressed in very expensive clothes and has an obscene amount of luggage behind her. To further give proof that she comes from a family with money she has butlers picking up the spilled luggage and restacking it on a cart.

"Right." Blackthorn says after his brief observation of her. "Comes from a rich family, probably never had to want for anything, used to always getting her way. Fantastic, just like her. I swear this is karma coming back to bite me in the ass. I don't want to deal with her type, the self entitled ones are the worst."

The red cloak wearing girl is trying her best to sooth over the white themed one. Her clothes are new but broken in. Her cloak - Hood? Cape? - is very well worn, she obviously loves it. Yet she seems very socially awkward, she has no idea how to handle the stern talking to she's getting.

"Great." Blackthorn heaves out a sigh. "Socially awkward, probably homeschooled or didn't get out much. Knows the value of things though if that cloak is anything to judge by, it definitely has some kind of sentimental value. Will they solve this themselves?"

They don't, instead they keep arguing. Slowly getting louder and starting to attract attention to themselves.

"Ugh, I have to step in now don't I?" Blackthorn grumbles. "Stupid professor duties."

Blackthorn sluggishly pushes himself off the wall and walks over to the two girls. But then he notices that another student, the lonesome girl from earlier stepped in to say something to the white dress wearing girl.

"Great." He groans out. "Now it's a three way cat fight. How does she possibly think that she can make it better? Oh great she's acting all confrontational. Please say they don't know each other, I don't want to break up a fight between rivals from a previous school. Gah! Why did I want to do this again?"

With each step towards the trio of girls he takes, his lazy persona fades. His back straightens, his shoulders become square, he regally clasps his hands behind his back like he was taught to at Atlas and he sets a determined look on his face. A look that brokers no arguments, one that demands respect. No longer is he Blackthorn the lazy, he's Blackthorn the Huntsman.

"Is there a problem here?" He barks out with maybe just a little too much aggression in his tone.

"No there is not!" The white themed girl rounds on him and her eyes widen a fraction when she sees his white trench coat. "What are you doing here? Father and I agreed that I don't need any bodyguards while I'm here! I can handle this myself I don't need a mindless thug stepping in. Go away! Shoo! Begone! Or better yet go help with my things. At least then you'll be doing something useful."

Blackthorn doesn't do any of those things. Instead he simply stands there and narrows his eyes at the girl. He's letting her dig her own grave.

"Well?" She starts tapping her foot impatiently once it becomes apparent that he's not budging. "I'm waiting! Do you not know who I am?"

"Do you not know who I am?" He scathingly says to the sassy teen.

"Another nameless hired person. No, I have no idea who you are nor do I care to learn your name." The girl waves him off. "Now go do something productive or get out of my sight!"

"OhMyGodIKnowWhoYouAre!" The red cloaked girl points at him with stars in her eyes. "HI! I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose! You're only like one of the coolest Huntsmen EVER! Can I see your weapon? Can I? Can I? Can I? I heard rumors that it's completely experimental and that only the top minds in Atlas can work on it! No one else knows how it works! Oh wait is that supposed to be hush hush? My bad!"

"Hm." The white girl says with a little less disdain than before, she's looking at Blackthorn in a new light. He could be useful if Atlas, or more than likely the Atlesian Military, gave him a top secret experimental weapon. "Perhaps Father hired someone competent this time. Tell me, what is your name?"

He narrows his eyes. "You can call me Professor Blackthorn and unless your daddy happens to be Headmaster Ozpin I don't work for him."

"Professor? Professor!" There's a tinge of fear and an overwhelming amount of shame flooding the white themed girl's face. "I am so sorry!"

"This is your one pass." Blackthorn leans down to look her directly in her eyes. "You do not get two. Are we clear?"

"Yes! Perfectly!" She instantly shouts out. "It'll never happen again I promise!"

"Good." He returns to his normal position. "Now who are you?"

"Wait you really don't know who she is?" The bow wearing girl, who has smartly remained quiet until now, asks. "That's Weiss Schnee. Heir to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the most profitable companies in the world. Aren't you from Atlas?"

"You're a Schnee then?" Blackthorn looks at the white haired girl in a new light. "Didn't know she has a sister."

"You know my sister?" Weiss asks in surprise.

"Even better. I know your daddy, he owes me a couple of favors. I helped clear out a few Dust mines that Grimmmm swarmed. Nasty business that was. Close quarters, no good escape routes, and Kobalt was practically useless with his weapon. News flash, huge shield and small spaces don't mix that well."

"Who are you?" Weiss says in shock.

Blackthorn pointedly ignores her. "So now that that's taken care of, I came over here to make sure everyone was okay. I heard a Dust explosion. Everyone is okay, right?"

"Black hair with a green tint. Vibrant green eyes. No nonsense attitude." Weiss mutter under her breath as she tentatively nods that she's fine. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Uh yeah?" Ruby says while looking down dejectedly, then quietly whispers to herself, "She's just so scary when she's mad! I just want to apologize and make it better but I could barely get a word in!"

"I'm fine." The bow wearing girl starts walking away and Blackthorn let's her go. He will find out who she is later unless she fails the entrance exam. If that happens then it won't matter if he knows her name or not, she'll be another nameless civilian to protect.

"Alright then. Make sure to be in the ballroom soon. Ozpin plans on speaking to the new students." He turns to walk away, leaving the two girls to themselves.

They quickly break apart from each other.

"Great first impression there Blackthorn." Blackthorn sighs to himself as he's moving back to his spot on the wall. "Could you have scared that poor girl any more? So what if she thought you were an employee, it does make sense. Why did you have to let your need to prove otherwise get in the way?"

He takes his place against the wall again and looks out over the sea of children.

"This is going to be a long year. That's alright, I'm making a difference here. This is what I wanted. I can do the most here, I can make the biggest difference. I just have to keep telling myself that. I'm making a difference. I can do his. They're just kids."

"Hey watch where you're going punk!"

"You're the one who ran into me!"

"That's it!" Blackthorn pushes of the wall again to stop a fight before it can happen. "I'm never having kids!"

"I'll..." Ozpin look out over all of the new students, "keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin then walks off the stage and out of the room, leaving the kids in Glynda's care.

"Thank you Headmaster Ozpin." Glynda says to the new students. "We also have something more to tell you, we're offering another course. It's completely voluntary but there is a limited number of open spots. You will have to pass a certain criteria of the professor, he's choosing who he will be teaching so try your hardest to impress him. Students, I'd like to introduce someone you've all probably already seen. Professor Blackthorn."

Blackthorn boldly walks onto the stage to a surprisingly quiet crowd. Some of the students are shocked by hearing his famous name and others simply are curious as to why he's that big of a deal.

Those that know who he is quickly fill in the blanks for the other students and soon the whole hall is looking at him in awe and anticipation. Who wouldn't want to be taught by a world renowned Huntsman?

"Hello everyone." Blackthorn gazes out to the gathered kids. "I'm a combat tutor here at Beacon, I'll be working with a select few on their combat skills. I'm not looking to train the weak students." There are a few grins from those who think they are strong and dejected looks of those who consider themselves weak. "Nor am I looking to train those who are strong."

All of the students are interested by his contradiction.

"I simply want to train those who have a desire to improve, those who have motivation to excel and become better. I want to train those who have the spirit of a Huntsman and Huntress. I don't care if you're a prodigy, I don't care if you can't shoot a target ten meters away. You have to prove to me that you have what it takes to be a Huntsman. You can learn how to fight, but you can't learn the mentality of a true Huntsman."

A devious grin forms on Blackthorn's face.

"That means I'll be testing each and every one of you who decides to sign up for my class. Who knows, maybe it'll be a written exam. Maybe it'll be a spar between us. Perhaps I'll throw you into a room full of Grimmm. There's only one way to find out. The sign up sheet is on the back of the ballroom doors, I'll be taking it tomorrow morning. Of course, you have to pass initiation first then I get to test you. Good luck with that."

He turns around and walks over to the a chair on the side of the stage. He wants to watch the kids and see who signs up for it. Besides, this is a test in its own right. By limiting the time that the students have to sign up he's seeing if they have the courage to act quickly with new information. That's one of the skills of a Huntsman, the ability to adapt at a moment's notice.

"I think I messed up big time." A certain white haired individual says.

Later That Night

Blackthorn is sitting alone at a bar. It's not that he's without a companion for the night, but rather it's that he's the only customer currently in the club. It's him, the bartender, the DJ, and the other staff members who are scurrying around while desperately trying to avoid the glare of the bartender.

"First timer." The bartender leans on the bar casually, like he's greeting an old friend instead of meeting a new person. "It's a company policy that if it's your first time here you get a free drink. So, what'll it be?"

The bartender slides Blackthorn a drink menu.

He doesn't even bother picking it up. "Something that will knock me on my ass."

The bartender raises an eyebrow at the Huntsman sitting at his bar. "That's a new one. Any type preference? Whiskey, vodka, gin, rum -"

"Do I look like I care?" Blackthorn monotonously says. "Just give me the strongest you have."

"Rough day?" The bartender snags a bottle out from beneath the bar, it was hidden away from customer's sight. This is one of the owner's personal stash, it just so happens that the bartender is the owner. He expertly pours the brown liquid over ice and places it before his customer. "Of course it was, you're here ordering that."

"Rough day? You could say that. First day on the job and I'm almost regretting it already." Blackthorn takes a healthy swig of the drink and promptly makes a foul face.

"Ha! You asked for the strongest we have so that's what you get! Tastes like boiled goat piss doesn't it? Junior, by the way." The bartender offers a friendly grin.

"Thanks for the warning." Blackthorn takes another hearty swig. "Boiled goat piss. That's surprisingly accurate."

"Don't like your new job, huh?" Junior picks up a dirty glass and starts cleaning it with a white towel. "You look like a strong guy. I know a few people who could use good strong men if you ever find yourself wanting a change of career."

"Thanks for the options, but I should at least do my job before I decide to quit." Blackthorn takes another drink and his face cringes once more. "Wow it gets worse with every mouthful. Who knows, maybe I'll end up liking my job once I get settled in. It's just... they all signed up for it. Every single one of them."

"Who all signed up for what?" Junior asks.

"Oh, sorry. I suppose I should properly introduce myself." Blackthorn tosses down the rest of his drink in one go and places the empty glass upside down on the bar. "I'm Blackthorn, a first year professor at Beacon. I'm teaching, well, I suppose additional combat would fit. My class is voluntary and every damn first year student signed up for it."

Junior's eyes flash in shock for a moment before he forcefully brings himself back under control. "You work at Beacon? The Huntsman school?"

"There another Beacon around here?" Blackthorn snorts out. "Yeah, that's the one."

"So... you're a Huntsman." Junior pours a new drink, this one a clear liquid and slides it to Blackthorn.

"Yep." Blackthorn takes a sip without cringing this time. It's much less potent.

"And you're here." Junior bluntly points out while gesturing at the bar

"Yep." Blackthorn stirs his drink lazily.

"In the seedy part of town."

"Yep." Blackthorn drinks a bit more.

"In an even seedier bar."

"Yep."

"At one in the morning?"

"Yep."

"Don't you have to teach tomorrow or something?"

"Don't remind me. Oh god don't remind me of that. Do you have any idea how difficult it is going to be to weed out students? I have to deny like 90% of them simply because I don't have enough time to teach them all! But I can't just tell them that, I have to come up with a valid reason. Why isn't 'I don't like you' enough?"

"You're preaching to the choir. I own this place, hiring good staff members is a nightmare. Either they quit within a month, they just slack off and don't actually work, or they die! I mean come on! How hard is it to get good help? All the good ones leave, all the bad ones die. The turnover rate is ridiculous!" Junior freezes. He said a little too much. After all, why would there be deaths associated with a club?

"Please," Blackthorn scoffs, "I'm a Huntsman. The turnover rate for us is worse than mercs. We die way more often. Usually with a lot more pain too. Nothing beats getting ripped to shreds by Grimmmm."

Junior coolly observes Blackthorn. He's still completely relaxed, he's not taking an hostile actions. It's... weird. Usually Huntsmen are all up in Junior's business once they hear he's a mercenary supplier. "You knew about that already?"

"Yep. Doesn't bother me any, it's just a way of life. Do be warned, that if I see any of your boys – or girls I don't judge – up to no good I will stop it. But why should I care about it if they're just being hired as bodyguards or for security patrol? I know that all mercs aren't bad." Blackthorn downs the rest of the drink.

"You and I will get along just fine." Junior cracks a friendly smile, a true one, for the first time that night.

"Cool." Blackthorn sets his latest glass upside down next to the first. "I don't have to pay for that one do I?"

The Next Day

"So." Blackthorn gazes out over the considerably smaller mob of students than yesterday's. "You're the ones that passed."

All of the gathered students are looking up at him in anticipation. Each and every one of them wants to land a spot under his tutelage.

"Sucks to be you." Blackthorn goes against the expected script and the twist jolts the students back to reality. "The life of Huntsmen and Huntresses are full of peril and danger. You'll never know exactly what will happen or when. Your lives are always on the line, any moment could be your last. So I'm going to offer this once, this is your only chance to back out. Once you're in you're in until the end. Even if I have to force you to attend lessons. If you don't want that then walk out the door now, you have five minutes."

No one leaves. They all think they understand what they're getting into.

They've never been more wrong in their lives.

"Okay." Blackthorn pulls a long piece of paper out of his coat and places it on the table. "On here is a timetable of when you will report here for me to test you. If you pass my test then congratulations, you're in. If you fail you're out forever. I would wish you luck but you'll need more than that on your side."

Blackthorn dramatically turns, flapping his coat in the wind, and leaves the classroom.

"This is going to be so much fun!" A yellow haired girl slams her two fists together. "When do I get to punch him?"