I numbly stared at the useless class cards in anguish as I keep hearing Professor Oobleck zipping through the lecture hall without rhyme or reason, blabbering about wars between man and Faunus. I should probably use the Cu Chulainn Card. Out of the remaining, he probably has the most useful kit for actually fighting. Battle Continuation, Disengage, Protection From Arrows, those were no joke. And I have an extra skill point, so why not?

I clicked one the card and vaguely watched the card disappear into light sparkles. I'm pretty sure that no one can see it, but…. I hid the card under the oblong table in case the sparkles can be seen. After a short wait, the thing rolled. And…..

I think I'm happy. I'm safe from everything!

[Ding!]

You have learned Protection From Arrows B (1/10)!

Protection From Arrows B (1/10): Cu Chulainn was capable of dodging nearly any projectiles thrown at him, even Noble Phantasms. As long as he can see the enemy, there is nothing he can't dodge. He was also able to dodge blindly, relying on his hearing. However, this doesn't protect him from indirect strikes or explosions and the like.

90% chance to dodge projectiles from enemies you can see

50% chance to dodge projectiles blindly

This is the OP-ness I was expecting from being the Gamer. Sure, I can't take on Gods, but this paired with my shields will no doubt let me tank through a lot of shit. I almost shouted in glee in the classroom. But I didn't, seeing as my classmates would just look at me like I'm a fucking degenerate. Even if I was slightly distracted by the new shiny skill, it immediately forced my body to the right as a ball of paper zipped right by me, hitting Oobleck in the shoulder.

"Hmm, ahh. Mr. Winchester." Professor Oobleck looked at the idiot behind me with a frown. "Good to see you participating in the discussion, even if by unorthodox means."

So Cardin was still trying to "bully" me? Just because he tripped me one time in the locker room doesn't mean that he is allowed to just bully me. It's like he has a radar for me. Sure, I beat him in Combat Training, but it seemed like it just spurred his hatred for me. It's not my fault that all I had to do to beat him was to deflect his heavy mace strikes. I could conjure up a shield and the mace would skate right off, leaving him open for a quick jab or something. No man should just have a plot-driven hatred for another man. Maybe he likes Pyrrha or something? He's fighting for affection? I don't know.

He panicked as the class laughed at his actions before asking the teacher what the question was while throwing me a dirty look.

"The question was: What was the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" he queried the scowling student. His fault for not paying attention, not like I was doing anything different.

"Because animals can see in the dark, hiding from humans," Cardin responded with a pissed off tone as the whole class just winced, Professor Oobleck himself just looked disappointed.

"Mr. Winchester," the normally hyperactive teacher mournfully stated as he shook his head, "Despite what you're saying is the answer, it would've been sincerely better for the class if you worded it differently. We learn the past to avoid the mistakes that our ancestors made, and it seems like you're just following the same thought process as them. See me after class."

"Why am I being shamed for expressing my opinion?" Cardin asked rebelliously as the bell rang. The entire class moved to leave, preferring to avoid listening to this confrontation between teacher and student. I only heard something about knowing what to say in a public setting before I was whisked away by the ever so hyperactive Ruby.

"It's lunch time!" she exclaimed as she hurriedly sat down on one of the cafeteria benches with a large plate of cookies, "More cookies for me!"

"Ruby," I chided her since Yang seemed to be engrossed on a large piece of chicken, I might as well mother-hen the girl, "You can't only subsist on sweets forever."

"But Ezra," she whined as she looked at me with a quivering lip and wide eyes. That's- That's not fair! I abruptly turned away from the cute visage and attempted to ignore her, but she persisted, shifting before my face every single time I turn.

…. "Fine!" I throw my arms in the air as I submitted to Ruby's eyes.

"Yay!" she gleefully shouted before she stuffed cookies into her mouth like a chipmunk before winter. Fuck, why did I even think that I can stand between Ruby and her cookies?

Pyrrha giggled as she watched the interaction before the crashing sound of a metal tray hitting the floor interrupted us. I turned my head to see Velvet's ear being pulled by Cardin. Excuse me? How fast was Professor Oobleck's "talk" with him? Was it just a slap on the wrist and a look of disappointment?

I glanced at Blake and noticed her gripping her silverware so hard that it was starting to deform under her strength.

"That no good.." she started to mutter harshly as she glared hatefully at Cardin, while her bow started to twitch a lot. At this point, she may accidentally out herself as a Faunus by pouncing on Winchester. Even Ruby has started to notice, looking concernedly at the blatant bullying. Pyrrha's good-natured face has soured at the miniature spectacle. And… bystander effect. Welp, Cardin already hates me. I stand up and spawn a paddle made of light.

I briskly walked over and harshly slapped the wrist of the bully, forcing his hand to release before I swiftly grabbed his hand by the same wrist.

"What are you doing, Cardin?" I asked as he winced from the sudden shock. Velvet looked at me thankfully before scurrying away.

"What?" he questioned as he yanked his hand from my grip, "Can't I just enjoy the wildlife here?" His teammates nodded along with him as they started to walk up to me menacingly.

Bro.

"Faunus are people too." I point out, "Even if you may have a reason to hate Faunus, you don't have to act on your thoughts."

"Pshh." He brushed aside my statement, "What are you, a White Fang Supporter?"

"No." I say, "There is a time and place for racism, and that isn't now or ever."

Both of us stared at each other. One with hatred and one with impassiveness. Cardin broke away line of sight and whispered something to his teammates.

"Let's go," he groused.

He walked away, giving me the stink eye before leaving the cafeteria. No physical violence? Weird. I thought that he would've attacked me for even touching him. I minutely shrugged before returning to my table and once more grabbed my sandwich.

You have learned "Intimidation"!

Intimidation (Lvl 1/100): The art of causing your opponents to shit themselves. Right now, it is more like a weak glare that will only make your opponents laugh. Unless you do it properly, of course.

10% chance to inflict "Fear" (Reduce attack chance)

-5% per inferior level difference

"That was awesome!" Ruby shouted out as she hastily swallowed the cookies that were stuck in her mouth. "You told him off with only a few words and a slap!"

"It's fine." I took another bite.

"That was very considerate of you for helping a student in need," Pyrrha remarked as Blake finally laid down the bent fork and left the table.

"Blake? Blake!" Ruby cried out as she rushed out to catch the addled catgirl. We're in the pair of episodes where Jaune grows a spine, right? Then this may go badly, seeing as Jaune wouldn't be here to prevent Cardin from actually yeeting those hornets and honey at Team… well, REBW and WYRN. Cool. Time for combat class once again. I followed the two's relative path. I'm assuming that it's toward the combat room, but whatever. Pyrrha hurriedly finished her meal before tailing me. Is she still suspicious of me? I doubt it, seeing as we are teammates. But something of greater concern is rising. The second beating of Cardin is about to come, and somebody's ass is not going to enjoy it.

Professor Goodwitch stalked into the darkened auditorium with her weapon in hand.

"Class," she announces as she looked at us, "Please don your combat outfits and weapons. We're doing another sparring exercise."

Oh boy. Another sparring exercise. And knowing the canon, Cardin is going to say that he wants to fight me.

"You cannot spar with people that you have yesterday. Unpredictable opponents are important for a Huntsman to react to accordingly."

Or not.

"Mr. Scarlett, you'll be sparring against Mr. Thrush." the good professor continued as the two of us were lifted from our seats and plopped standing before the locker room. I walked in as I heard Cardin yell about getting revenge and something while Ruby just cheered at me.

Whilst in the locker room, the two of us quickly stripped out of our school uniforms before slapping on our combat gear and exited the lockers. Professor Goodwitch emphasized quick changing, even dragging out people from the locker if they were at least decent, never mind those who had to put on heavy for fights. She just had a timer for any state of wear. At least she has a sense of decency.

The crowd yelled at us, wanting the fight to commence as if this was a gladiatorial event. It might as well be. They are watching a 1v1 fight down in an arena.

I held Sun Shard in one hand as I looked at Thrush's weapons. A pair of daggers. Probably a tricky fighter like Ren. There was no natural sunlight leaking into the arena, so I can't abuse Sun Shard's boosted damage to destroy Russel's Aura reserves, but I still have Thompson Contender that dropped from that Elder Grimm. The aura counter on the big screen finally flickered on as the professor stood on her short podium while observing the both of us.

"Begin." she sharply shouted as both of us stood there. I know that his knives were also pistols, judging by the glint of a barrel by its handles. He's unlikely to come at me, probably referring to flit around my attacks. I grab my holstered gun and fired a shot at him, which he simply deflected with a simple flick of the wrist. He's already a hundred times better than Cardin, who would just charge at me like a raging bull.

Stowing my pistol, I walked up to him, keeping my sword at guard for anything he might plan to- He leaped up, his knives smoothly transitioning to pistols as they started to fire upon me as I was forced to generate a shield to block before I turned it into a whip to try to grapple him. It should catch him as he was already falling from his jump.

He jumped again in the air to dodge the weapon. So, his semblance has something to do with air maneuverability, eh? I create a platform for me to jump onto as a chase ensued between him and I. Him leading me on a merry chase. I don't know who is wasting more Aura, but I wanted to see this end. So I formed a stair to quickly run up and jumped down on him. My leg slamming into his shoulder as he falls to the floor screaming.

"Hey! Watch it!" he bellowed as he tumbled into a roll. His roll was cut off as I fell in front of him, my sword sinking into the ground. With a growl, he recovered with a somersault before continuing to fire upon me with his pistol-knives. My skill allowed me to block and dodge most of the shots. All I had to do was concentrate on slowly walking towards him. With a dash, I quickly appeared before him with a heavy slam at his face, forcing him to block it with crossed knives. I Sparta-kicked him before I swept the blade at his chest, catching him off guard as he reoriented himself, only to catch my blade to the side. Ouch. His aura dropped to red from the heavy blow.

"Mr. Scarlett wins the bout." Professor Goodwitch announced as the screen abruptly cut off, "Both of you stop fighting. The next one will be Weiss Schnee and Wulf Schwarz."

Was that supposed to be a reference to the Wolf and 7 children? That's hilarious. I stifled my laugh as I walked back to the locker room before I was roughly body-checked by Thrush.

"What you giggling about, huh?" he growled as he invaded my face privacy.

"Oh, just the name of Schnee's opponent." I explained, "There was a fairytale back in my hometown bears similarity to that name."

"The wolf Faunus." Thrush looked at me before moving to remove his combat gear. Wulf walked into the locker room and looked awkwardly away from us as he started to don his gear. From my peripheral vision, I saw severe lash marks on his back, long healed and scarred.

Is he? That was bad. There is no doubt that cheap attacks were going to be used in the next fight. Especially if he was from where I think he was. Maybe I'm overthinking the scars, but still... Yeesh. I finally dressed back up, leaving to join my team in the audience.

-0-

Did anyone hear d4nte write something? I don't know, me either. So… funny story, I forgot that I wrote fanfiction. For all of November. Errr, yes. That happened. It also didn't help that when I tried to get back into it, I forgot the plot of all of my stories and ended up blankly looking at the screen as Thanksgiving is happening around me. Sorry about neglecting my readers, but hey, I got priorities in my schooling.

Tata!