"Hello class, I am Peter Port, but you may call me Professor Port or Mr. Port." The teacher introduced himself at the very start of class. Professor Port was an older gentleman based on appearance, he had well combed gray hair and a large handlebar mustache. He was rather short, only an inch taller than Yang, when compared to some of the other teachers at the school, and he had his eyes closed. He was a rather "Port-ly" man as Yang would have put it who wore a dark red suit with golden buttons on it.
His weapon, hanging on the wall, was a cross between a large barralled rifle (blunderbuss) and an axe, with the axe blades coming from the butt of the gun.
The walls of his classroom were decorated with drawings of Grimm, and there was a bust of his shoulders and head sitting on his desk made from stone.
He even had a replica of a Grimm body part hanging from the wall.
Looks like Team White Moon didn't get this class with us. Yang thought as she looked around the room at the students. There were a few students from the upper years in the class, showing that not all students were equal in the academy.
Man, this guy's voice just... makes me want to sleep. Haru thought as he set his chin down on the desk.
Pyrrha elbowed him in the ribs, and he sat straight up again. Pyrrha sent him a look, telling him with her eyes to pay attention and respect the teacher. Of course, he wasn't the only one that was bored out of their minds in their first class. Most of the people in the class were that way, and Ruby was already sleeping. Blake didn't even have a piece of paper out yet, she was paying attention, but she had zero interest in the subject at hand.
"Monsters, deemons, prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them... as prey! Ah HAA!" Peter called out loudly, using his prepared speech with his laugh waking Ruby up from her unscheduled nap. Haru looked at her with a grin on his face, she looked like she had no clue what was going on at all.
There was total silence in the room, not a single person laughed or agreed with Peter's joke.
I feel sorry for him, his humor is worse than Yang's sense of humor. Haru thought to himself, and the man himself looked awkward for even saying his joke.
"... Uh... And you shall too upon graduation from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying—" Peter started on his prepared speech for the class, the same speech he gave every single year in a row. Most teachers had some of their speeches done by memory, and Haru groaned and his head thumped onto his desk.
Pyrrha elbowed him again.
"Stay awake." She whispered at him, not wanting him to get in trouble for his act.
"Vale, as well as the other 3 kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces." Peter lectured, and Haru rubbed the visible scar on his arm when he mentioned that. He knew firsthand what a Grimm could do to a person, his arms, chest, and back were all proof that a Grimm wanted nothing more than to rip a person to shreds.
Yeah, you're telling it how it is. Haru thought to himself, but his actions did not go unnoticed. Ruby looked at Haru touching one of his scars with a slightly sad look, but he was okay so she got over it rather quickly.
"That's where we come in, huntsmen... huntresses tch tck." Peter said as he looked towards Yang with a PLAYFULLY flirtatious tone of voice. Even Haru could tell he didn't mean anything by the flirting, he was just playing around, trying to get the class comfy with him, making some jokes to ease the mood.
He failed.
"Uuuuh... haha?" Yang couldn't help but look away with a mildly annoyed/awkward look on her face, she looked at Blake next to her for some support. Then she looked at Haru, who gave her a dark grin.
"Suffer." Haru whispered at her, and she looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Traitor." She whispered right back at him.
"Those who have sworn to protect those who can not protect themselves... from what you ask—" Peter continued with his speech, ignoring the comments from Haru and Yang directed at each other.
If he says the world, I might just laugh. Haru thought, since that would be the most cliche thing that Peter could have said.
"The very world!" Peter finished strong, and one student wearing a green shirt stood up in the row he was sitting at and raised his fist into the air.
"Eeeeyep!" That one student agreed, and everyone in the entire class looked at him. Considering it was a class of about 20 students not counting him, he suddenly sat down feeling very awkward at being the ONLY excited person.
"That is what you are training to become, but first... a story. A tale of a young... handsome man... Me! When I was a boy... gna bla ha blah blah blah bla bla." Peter started to tell one of the most boring stories that Haru had ever heard. Grabbing his piece of paper, Haru drew a circle on it, before he drew a star inside of the circle and gave it some arms and legs.
Ruby was drawing her own picture.
Pyrrha was trying to pay attention, but found that the story was too boring for any normal student to listen to.
Blake wasn't even attempting to listen to the story.
Kill me now, this is so boring. Yang thought with a dead eyed look, something that Haru could agree with.
"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man, 'Peter' he told me ah bla bla bla—" Peter continued his story, and Haru wanted to laugh so hard. Haru continued his drawing, despite the urge to laugh.
"Pfpfpfpfpfpft!" A higher pitched almost fart noise sounded out quietly, and Haru looked over at Ruby and saw her holding up a picture on her notes. The picture was poorly done, but it was a bad picture of the teacher... with a caption saying "Professor Pork" instead of the teacher's actual name. She was giggling like an idiot, which she was, and Yang was joining in on the laughing, without even trying to hide her laughs.
Haru raised an eyebrow, but still let loose some chuckles of his own.
Blake snorted once, while Pyrrha covered her mouth and muffled a small laugh of her own.
"UhHUM!" Peter cleared his throat loudly, and the laughing instantly stopped. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero." Peter said, and Haru raised an eyebrow.
He captured a Beowolf alive?
That took a good amount of skill, this guy had to be pretty good if that story was true.
Hmm, maybe this guy isn't just all blubber and talk. Haru thought to himself, noticing out of the side of his eye what Ruby was doing.
She... was balancing an apple on a book on a pencil on her finger, while making a strange cross eyed look, with her lips puckered.
She was socially awkward.
"The moral of the story a true huntsman much be honorable, a true huntsman must be dependable—" Peter went on, and Ruby dropped the stuff and tried to go to sleep, something that nearly had Yang cracking up once more, "a true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise." Peter finished off, and Haru looked at Ruby.
She was picking her nose, while looking at the ceiling.
His twin... was very socially awkward, picking her nose like that without a care for who was watching her.
Way to be strategic, well educated, and wise sis. Haru thought with a small grin on his face.
"So who among you believes yourself to be the embodiment of these traits?" Peter asked, and Haru raised his hand with a small smile on his face. He did believe that he had all of these traits, he was strategic, wise, dependable, and honorable.
"Yo, Haru Rose, at your service." Haru answered with a larger grin than before.
"Well then, let's find out... step forward, and face your opponent." Peter said, and he gestured toward a steel cage in the room. Haru, and everyone else, blinked in shock at the fact they hadn't even noticed the large Grimm in the cage, its glowing red eyes.
"I'll face it sir!" Yang interrupted loudly, and Haru scowled at her.
"No, " I answered first. I'll take it on." Haru said as he looked at Yang harshly, and she stared back at him. He didn't need her to fight his battles for him, and he didn't need her to protect him from a single Grimm. Haru hopped over the desk, and Peter gave him a strange look.
"Why don't you go get your weapon, and get dressed... what did you do to your uniform Mr. Rose?" Peter asked when he noticed the state of Haru's uniform.
"Modified it, and I don't need a weapon for a single Grimm. I have this." Haru said as he gestured to the pipe he had attached to his belt. It was recently refilled with dust, and he was just itching to kill something.
"Haru, don't use your Semblance while you're mad!" Ruby reminded Haru, and Haru looked at her for a second. Peter did raise an eyebrow, as did many other people, at the fact she mentioned that, and Haru looked at the Grimm in the cage.
"It won't take long." Haru told her, and Peter seemed to nod.
"Very well, if this is how you wish to fight—" Peter started as he grabbed his weapon, and smashed the lock on the cage. "So be it." Peter finished when a Boarbatusk rushed towards Haru from the cage.
Haru crossed his arms in front of his chest, and he jumped over the charging animal and kicked it in the back of the hind leg. The grimm tripped and slid across the ground on its side, before it started to curl up and spin quickly. Like a rolling ball of death, it rushed towards Haru's exposed backside. Haru jumped to the side, and kicked the Grimm in its exposed side, that wasn't protected by armor even while spinning. The creature of grimm stopped spinning and landed on its other side.
He had some anger issues to work out right now, he was going to work them out on this evil creature.
The boarbatusk growled at him and charged towards him again, Haru grabbed it by the tusks and jerked his entire body to the right, sending the creature sprawling on its side.
A crimson aura arm came out of his back, and gripped the creature and lifted it up into the air. Then it slammed the creature into the ground, before lifting it up even higher than before, and armor on the grimm shattered when Haru slammed it into the ground this time.
Oh no... the Face of Wrath is awakening. Ruby thought nervously, knowing what was happening.
Haru's Semblance had an effect on his personality, Haru explained it to her that Asuras were known as Anti-Gods of Wrath, Pride, and Boasting. When Haru used his Semblence, his emotions were always heightened. He was easier to anger, and the angerier he got the more powerful his arms got.
Asuras had 3 faces, and Haru's Semblance affected his personality in 3 ways.
Haru's face, the Calm Face, his normal face that could think more rationally and that he used in everyday life.
If Haru became angry while using his Semblence, and he stayed angry too long, he would awaken the Face of Wrath... his Semblance would become 10 times more powerful than before, but Haru would become obsessed with fighting, and his anger would completely overpower his rationality. He would be constantly looking for an excuse to fight until he calmed down, and returned to normal... and he would be cruel to his opponents.
Ruby didn't know about the "Third Face", and neither did Haru since he had never used it before.
Haru sucked in on his pipe, before 3 more arms appeared out of his back and he formed 3 ice swords in their hands.
Haru stabbed the Grimm 3 times in the chest, and then holding it up in the air, Haru crushed the Grimm before it had the time to die from the stabbing. Haru took a breath, and dropped the Grimm corpse to the ground with a wet splat... though its body was already turning to mist.
Haru took a deep breath of his dust, before he gave Yang a look.
She got the look just as the bell started to ring... the look told her that the reason he did that to the Grimm was to prove to her that he didn't want her to protect him.
"Well done Mr. Rose, a little drawn out, but very well done. You made sure the Boarbatusk was without a doubt doomed to perish to your force. Very good use of Ice Dust." Peter congratulated Haru for his victory, while the students started to leave the classroom.
Haru stormed out of the classroom as well, not wanting to talk to anyone before he was fully cooled off.
Normally, he could use his Semblance without doing this... but when he was angry before using his Semblence, he tended to get even more angry while using it. In the stress of battle, where he was more concerned with surviving than he was with being angry, this wasn't that big of a deal.
Haru felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Pyrrha behind him.
"Hey, can we talk before the next class? I want to ask you about what happened in that fight." Pyrrha asked him, and he gave her a light smile.
"Actually, I think it would be if you let me be for a bit. I kind of need to cool off, Ruby'll tell you." Haru told her, and Pyrrha nodded with a soft look as he walked away.
"Okay then..." Pyrrha muttered to herself mostly. She saw Haru suck in deeply now his pipe, before he let loose a stream of ice mist and the slightly annoyed look on his face visibly lightened up.
"Sorry about that, normally he can ignore the negative effects of his Semblence... I guess this is my fault. I didn't mean to make him angry, but he just got out of the hospital... I wanted to protect him... I think he took that as me calling him weak. Give him a few minutes to collect himself." Yang told Pyrrha, and the girl nodded for a second and calmed down.
Okay, so the issue wasn't that bad.
"Why does his Semblance make him angry?" Blake asked Ruby not that far away, she herself had noticed that Haru's anger had gotten worse the second he used his Semblance.
"Asura's Blessing is the name of his Semblance, but that is only the first part. Normally he is in full control, but Asuras are beings of pleasure and rage... when Haru is angry, his Semblance gets more powerful, but he also gets even more angry... Asuras are beings with 3 faces and 6 arms... Haru's Semblance gives him 4 extra arms... and 2 separate 'faces'." Ruby admitted to Blake now that most of the people were out of the room, and nobody was really paying attention.
"Calm, Angry, and... Pleasure?" Blake guessed, and Ruby nodded.
"Blessing and Wrath, we don't know what the 3rd face is... he never used it. Haru is normally really, really calm... but as he gets angerier, his Semblance gets stronger... and when he hits the boiling point... it changes from Asura's Blessing, to Asura's Curse. Ice dust really cuts down on the time it takes to cool down though." Ruby assured Blake, who nodded for a second and thought about some of her books.
"Hmmm, he used his Semblance a lot during the test." Blake thought out loud, and Ruby nodded.
"Haru was protecting us... Haru told me, when you protect something precious to you your head is always more clear than ever... when Haru protects things he loves, he has never been overcome by anger." Ruby said with a small smile on her face. She loved the fact that Haru could become immune to his Semblance because of love, his love for his family and friends... She thought it was really sweet.
"Something precious... thanks Ruby." Blake said to Ruby, before she started to walk off, leaving Ruby alone.
"Don't leave me!"