Stranger in a strange land [OPEN]

"Well, here we are..." The blonde young man scratched the top of his head, a pair of sunglasses over his cool blue eyes reflecting the morning sun.
"Syne academy, prestigious school for huntsmen and huntresses from around the globe."
He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, wondering how in the world he had gotten himself into such a nice school. The small brassy pair of tubes strapped to his waist and each other being what amounted to his tickets in.
The device probably had some prestigious name before it fell into the rusty disrepair it was in now, nothing short of a simplistic firearm now that was rather inadequate compared to the weaponized monstrosities other students bustling about had.
In one hand he had a small case containing his main outfit he'd be wearing during fieldwork, the Ogreweave- A fitting name for something so ugly and haphazard compared to the sleek and attractive outfits other people had.
On his back he had a backpack containing all his other changes of clothing, although it pretty much boiled down to sleepwear, cold weather clothing, and a swimsuit.
He himself was wearing a plain pair of jeans, worn from use with small fringes of denim scuffed from the bottom. His shirt was equally plain. A simplistic white shirt that went about halfway down his biceps before ending in some crisp rolls.

Standing around wouldn't do a whole lot of anything, but at the same time he never was really given a refresher on where he should go next.
He swore to himself under his breath, cracked a smile at his own incompetence, and walked from the airship dock to the school's main building.

Excitement seemed to be perfectly palpable on that particularly frigid morning. Granted, it was only particularly cold because on this day, like every day, Albert was cold and thus it seemed to be the only thing that mattered to him. Yet unlike most of the other students, who either remained in their seat and contributed to a wall of white noise as the journey commenced, he instead remained huddled in his chair with an apathetic expression upon his face as per the norm, giving nothing more than monosyllabic responses to his travelling companion.

Incessantly talkative and with a face, nay... a very presence that seemed to blend in with the grey of the crowd, the other student asked the questions typical of small children rather than fully-fledged adults, if only because of the motor-mouthed way in which he asked them. Foolish and repetitive things: was he some sort of snake or reptile related Faunus? No. Was he excited for his acceptance? Certainly. Were his parents proud of hi--

"Now, that's a secret. It's a question even I don't have an answer for."

Lies, blatant lies. It seemed after that the student got the hint and was, for the remainder of the trip, unwilling to speak. The remainder of the trip was nothing short of bliss after that, as one was nothing more than just another face in the crowd, unwilling to say anything due to nausea or a particular longing for home that did not exist in the slightest.

Regardless, the airship soon came to a halt and the people began flooding out, contributing further to the white noise that perpetuated in the male's head. With a sigh he stood as well and, buttoning his jacket and ensuring the fur was free of any sort of dirt or debris, Albert collected his things: a suitcase containing some of his clothing and a second, rather large bag padded with further clothes. In the very core of this was the rigid rifle, poking out like an antenna as he lifted it and began to depart.

It seemed at last that the smirk went from its previous mask like state into something genuine, though that too seemed oddly more unseemly and unsettling than the expression the male had worn before. Syne seemed impressive from the outset, even if the air was particularly cold for him and the sense of altitude, while not staggering, was going to take getting used to.

Immediately bored with that as well, Albert set his sights on the crowd of students as they departed. Where to go and what to do were naturally the questions on one's mind and yet, they were soon vetoed by the existence of someone clearly irate with themselves, that and the weapon attached to their waist.

But how was one supposed to approach?

He could feign ignorance of the fact the other male had swore and seemed wholeheartedly perplexed... or he could pretend like he knew. Both seemed wholly odd for him, to a helpful stranger or an unobservant sort; yet at the same time one couldn't help but feel a malaise over NOT indulging in something interesting.

"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know where we're supposed to go? I... slept through the announcement."

Only a half-truth. It had been boring enough to put him to sleep but it hadn't quite managed. Relief was simply something that refused to come to him...

It wasn't long before him standing in awe of the buildings granted him the attention of another lost person. Misery loved company it seemed.
He turned to greet the man, extending a hand. "Heya, nice to see I'm not the only new guy on the block." A chuckle escaped his lips and he smiled.
"but nah, I missed the statement as well. Best bet would probably be to go find a staff member and have them point us in the right direction."
Fortunately he knew where the one place he could find staff members was the main office building, so chances are he could easily get there.
"So whatcha got there anyway? Long rifle?"

Although Albert had, as usual, been expecting something particularly interesting with regard to this particular person and at first got nothing. He was simply someone to talk to and nothing more, though the sunglasses and blonde hair were at least somewhat unique, at least in a sea of primarily dark or odd colours such as his own black or those who had purples, greys, and so on.

Bringing his hand up to attempt a firm handshake that ended up somewhere on the cusp of flippant and perfectly firm due to the cold and its adverse effects, the male simultaneously adopted something of a grin. To be new was perfect... one had no established connections and thus they could serve to make a few, rendering every experience an interesting one. Though given how the other male seemed at first, it was doubtful he thought in such a bizarre way.

Yes, even Albert was capable of self-reflection. It just so happened that when he did so it was something that was immediately buried in the deepest, darkest recesses of that perpetually turning, ever-so-juicy brain of his. Finishing the handshake and pocketing his hand for warmth, the youth calmly replied,

"The suitcase is a dead give-away, isn't it? I must admit I've never felt this kind of excitement or anxiety before."

The two key words were each punctuated with a slight motion of the hand, as if to showcase that he truly was excited and thus needed to keep from going idle. As they walked, Albert remained almost entirely focused on what was in front of them until the other male mentioned the solution and finally, his rifle.

It was with a grin that the male stopped abruptly and began to undo the various fasteners on the clearly worn bag. The pale hands disappeared inside for a moment, and rose holding the gun as though it were some sort of trophy despite the obvious lack of care put into it. It wasn't so much that he didn't want to clean it, it was just that the huntsman-to-be had better uses for his time and fared better with it, as though the scratches and dings were a handicap for Grimm, not that he'd ever fought one.

"You have good instincts. This is my Pion Coiffe. It's chess terminology, for 'capped piece.' I thought it sounded interesting, and fitting..."

He began, before promptly depositing it in the bag with less care than he had lifted it out. When they started again, the sniper again spoke,

"Albert Camaieu. And you are?"

As if to ensure that his name would not be infringed upon in some unseen way, he pronounced every syllable it should have been. Al-BAIR rather than Al-burt, with the last name receiving special attention despite the fact most wouldn't use it. Ka-Ma-Yo rather than any other oddity.

It seemed almost as though he never realized the other person would recognize how to say it solely from his own.

The hint of depression on his fellow new student, Albert, made it seem like Claus was boring him at first.
"Yeah, a school for killing stuff and protecting people. Looks really nice too." He said, a hint of whimsy in his own voice, wondering what might have brought the black haired man to the school, but at the same time didn't want to pry.

As his wailing companion unleashed his weapon, he whistled. "Nice." Despite noting the level of disrepair it was in, not that he was one to talk.
His own hand guided back to the rather unassuming contraption at his back, and grabbed the almost pistol-like grip, flipping the weapon out and causing the tubes to snap together and forming the familiar shape of the beaten, battered, and rusted shotgun.
"This here's my baby. Sour Deal. Not her first name, granted. Bit of an heirloom even. Pump action, and can fire anything from slugs to dust shells. Though those are a little expensive for my taste."
He paused to stow the precious firearm away once more. "Hoping to end up getting her repaired back to what she once was. Has a bit of a legend to live up to now."

"Name's Claus Lytton though. Nice to meet you Albert. Still, head office can't be too far off, yeah?"

Perhaps if he were a more amoral or cliched sort the male would have begun laughing immensely at the notion of protecting others whilst simultaneously killing things. Certainly to prepare for peace one had to prepare for war, but both of those things conflicted so harshly with one another it was almost the point of comedy. It just so happened that Albert was in control of himself, stifling the laughter and instead focusing on what came beyond.

Instead it was met with only a slight nod of acknowledgement, until the male revealed his own weapon. Despite the sheer hypocrisy in it, the youth's previous grin seemed to only widen at the very sight of it. A shotgun was an impressive weapon for close range, and yet this one had seen so much wear and tear it was almost unrecognisable as a functioning gun. Instead, it seemed as though it belonged in a museum or above someone's mantle, nothing more than a record of conflict passed.

Regardless, this time Albert saw fit to reply. The notion of a legend to live up to certainly piqued his interest, if only because he knew so very little of his own lineage. His weapon was plain, something he'd bought and named solely because he felt he needed something upon enrolling at Syne... His parents too, were of the boorish sort. One only had to wonder what his grandparents were like, or their parents before them.

"Well Claus..."

He began, again adjusting his coat in the hope that such an action would dampen the cold. Instead it merely intensified it as a negative creep across the skin of his torso, from spien to head and then down the other side. Not even the fur trimming seemed to warm his hands or wrists, due to the sheer dampness of the weather. Or perhaps it was simply his imagination, but regardless, Albert continued.

"I bought a bit of Dust before I left home. I've never used it before, but I figured it would be a unique experience. Anyway, I'd hope not... it's very cold.

How on earth are you not wearing a jacket right now?"

"Eh, you get used to bein cold if you eat right." He replied, eying the sniper's wiry frame. "Ain't much of a problem for me at least." He chuckled.
"Still, must have a lot of lien to toss around if you can afford dust as a pet project, you know? Was thinking if I could have the money for some decent quality dust it could help me figure out what to do with the Deal. Maybe make an alternate firing mode or something." He continued to go on as they walked about the concept of dust-enhanced munitions, especially for something as close-range as the Deal was.
One of his ideas was to use wind augmented dust to create a concussive blast out the front of the muzzle.
Another was fire to super heat the rounds, but then the concept of the bullets warping was stopping him.
There was a lot he could do with Dust if he just had the chance to study it and to learn how to use it and implement it properly with the rather archaic gun, although a reforging would be important to properly fix the mechanisms for different parts of the gun that had fallen to age and combat wear.
It wasn't long until they made it to the head office, and it wasn't long after that that he had realized they could have followed the other transfers this entire time, and were now even more lost.
He swore under his breath realizing his own idiocy shining through once again.

Funnily enough, the instant Claus made his statement about diet, Albert did action begin to reflect on his own. Though it seemed no one in his immediate family could cook proper meals, at the very least his mother was able to make heavenly sweets. Though not nutritional in nature, it was still something to maintain some semblance of a healthy weight between the ruined meals, the days when one did not feel like eating, or the days when things simply wouldn't stay down for whatever reason.

Yet regardless, the youth had stifled a small laugh. To state that one was cold was nothing more than a fact of life as opposed to being genuinely distressed about it. Albert had grown accustomed to the feeling of being cold and indeed, had come to like it more than the heat that once permeated his bedroom at home. It just so happened that the cold also seemed to render him susceptible to further illness or unable to breathe, both of which were issues in and of themselves.

"Come now, I didn't say I didn't like being cold. I was just wondering if you were. Given the time of year, you may just get sick and... well, we can't have that, can we?"

He didn't care, but still... it seemed to give an air of kindness or credibility one felt suddenly obligated to voice, if only to avoid further questioning about his sudden tolerance for the temperature.

And when the topic changed to Dust, the youth simply gave a faint nod of acknowledgement. The most he knew about his own weapon was simply that it fired bullets, or made use of that very same Dust the blonde so coveted. Why bother with simple rounds when you could simple chamber and fire small amounts of powder? Granted, a close range weapon was sub-par for a such a thing, as it COULD have harmed the user as well.

"Well, that would be very interesting. I've read that an application is to simply chamber it into your weapon, but I've never gotten the chance."

Exhaling as they came into the warm main-building, the male undid his coat to reveal the simple black shirt beneath. Yet upon realizing no one who seemed to be staff was present in that instant, Albert again adopted his typical smirk and turned to Claus, in part speaking for the sake of doing so, in part to keep from going idle, and in part because he didn't want to admit his own foolishness, which in turn overlapped with the blonde's.

"Well, if we're unable to find the group then may I make a suggestion? Reckless and unplanned as it is, it feels like the only thing we -can- do right now is to wander around campus for ourselves.

We don't really need a tour anyway, and I'm sure we may encounter a professor at some point. Variety's the spice of life, after all."

He gave a slight shrug as if to indicate that his last point was a wholly flippant one in comparison to the remainder of his speech, yet in all honesty albert truly saw no other options besides that. Chance was all that mattered in this situation, and though it sickened him it felt like very little could be done until they found a teacher or at least someone who knew where they were going.

Alex let out a small sigh as he had watched the aircraft transporting new students approach Syne Academy, and his eyes were now scanning the students departing the aircraft and headed for the main building.  Every now and then he’d stop watching the students and instead would scan the horizon and then closely examine the Academy’s perimeter from where he was standing, but then he’d turn his attention back towards the students.  Under normal circumstances Alex would’ve already had the grounds completely clean, the building would be spruced up, and he would be doing the final touches on the dorms in preparation of the students moving into them.  This is what was done in Beacon which was why students stayed in the main hall the first night.  Normally this was the same thing in Syne.

However these days weren’t normal.  Grimm had not only gotten onto the campus property alive, but they had managed to get within the walls and fought several students in the courtyard.  It happening once is a freak accident, but since it happened more than once there was no way it could be e by chance.  Last time they had shown up the Grimm were under the command of a person which was rather disturbing.  So this time when the students were arriving several professors and Alex were on guard duty to make sure that the students and aircraft were safe.  They’d work in shifts so none of the professors would get over tired, but the students would be protected around the clock until they were fully settled in their dorms.

Till then Alex was outside watching the students from his perch in a tall branch, with Wrecker in backpack form slung over his shoulder, the standard backpack straps replaced with the lengths of chain that would become the long chain the wrecking ball would be swung from.  The extra chain that didn’t make up the backpack straps were coiled up and hanging from his belt so he looked like he had a chain whip for a weapon, meant for speed and pension instead of power which was what Wrecker was meant for.  There were also several seeds in Alex’s pocket and on his belt so if anything showed up, he’d own them.  Still though, the idea of the Grimm being controlled was a disturbing one.  He had ran into something like this before, but it was just theoretical back then and the research for it was completely destroyed by his own hand.  Whatever was controlling the Grimm, it couldn’t of been the Dust enhanced fungus that Alex had destroyed.  There was nothing left of it.

Alex he scanned through the students again he noticed a couple that were heading in the wrong direction.  The two were male and seemed to be showing off their weapons to each other, both ranged attackers.  Interesting.  Got ourselves a pair of rangers that are starting a friendship.  That’s a good sign all things considered… he thought.  The pair continued so far off course that Alex was thinking they were trying to tour the campus before they headed indoors, and normally that wouldn’t be a problem but right now they were on alert.  Because of this, Alex had to get them to where they belonged.

Hopping down from the tree, Alex quickly made his way over to the young men, catching up to them with a light jog.  His black pants and red long sleeve shirt protected him from the temperature though he still felt a little bit of a nip.  ”Excuse me you two.  Are you lost?” Alex asked in a kind by firm voice.  It was best to give them the benefit of the doubt at the moment.  To his surprise though he was panting slightly.  Despite having a six-pack, Alex was a little out of shape at the moment.  Happens when you go several years without a single battle.

"Well, I tried chambering before, but the barrel's too large to properly shoot dust cartridges out at once like normal. Plus it'd be a waste of money. I'm probably going to have to get the newer firing systems most commercial guns use just to chamber Dust anyway." He shrugged, patting the weapon.

In truth, it was rare for him to get sick as it was, simply because he kept his nutrition up.

"Sure I guess, but i'd rather know the place over before anything goes hairy, yanno? Grimm are all over the place in this neck of the woods, and it technically is our job to kill 'em after all. Spices don't mean a whole lot if you can't taste them."

It was then that they were approached by a rather handsome fellow. Claus turned to look him in the eyes as he approached. "Yes sir, we kinda got lost right off the airship. New students and all."

The thin male simply gave a slight shrug when the blonde explained his inability to properly chamber the cartridge. Unfortunate though it was, the short range nature of a shotgun coupled with the positively ancient status of his weapon would have made such a choice a perfectly reasonable one. After all, why would one bother summoning forth a flame or wave of any kind when they could have been hit by some kind of backlash? Worse yet was the notion of misfiring...

Though the idea of Claus without eyebrows was certainly worthy of laughter. Just... not external laughter. Rather, Albert remained as calm as he had before, simultaneously giving nothing more than a slight nod of the head at the notion of knowing the place before any issues whatsoever. It seemed any school with a sufficient enough number of students would see its fair share of incidents, solely because it seemed as though good luck was a finite resource. One could prosper, but at some point they would see a fall or decline in some form.

Regardless, Albert replied. Initially the youth had thought to touch upon his dislike of spicy food, solely because it seemed right at the time to make some kind of small talk. Soon he found the topic irrelevant to the actual meaning of 'spice' which, when coupled with his general disinterest in small talk (indeed, even answering questions of himself was a stale affair due to the generalization of such questions) he replied in affirmation and only affirmation.

"That's right."

Despite his ravenous readings, Albert had never once bothered to glance at a newspaper. Certainly the goings-on in the world were good to know about, yet in the past several weeks he simply hadn't bothered in the excitement of Syne and the sudden lack of parental approval that followed.

Gently toying with a bit of fur that stuck out on the collar of his jacket, the youth's red-brown eyes roved their immediate area in the hopes of finding somewhere they could go. A first stop of many that didn't involve a classroom (given how many they would be seeing) or the dorms (as one would have desired sleep.)

And then suddenly there was another, with a purpose this time. Immediately coming to adopt an expression of slight apathy, Albert nodded his head at the very notion. After Claus explained their situation, he in turn began to speak,

"As for why we didn't follow the others..I can't quite say, but before we knew it we were separated from the crowd."

A small smile crossed Alex’s face upon hearing their response.  ”Happens to the best of us.” Alex stated with an innocent shrug then offered them a hand to shake.  ”I’m Alexander Davis, the academy’s grounds keeper.  Welcome to Syne.”  Glancing around for a moment, he noticed that the other professors that were watching over the area pretty much had the area under wraps and guessed that it would be alright for him to give these two a personal escort to their destination.  However since the two had gotten far enough off course Alex could’ve given them a partial tour of the academy on the way to the central hall.

However it was best that he get them both with the rest of the new students so they could get the full introduction to the school.  ”Come on.  You’re introduction to your time here is in the main hall.  Follow me.” he stated calmly while motioning with his head to the left, and then turned on his heel to lead them towards the main building.  ”I hope you guys like it here.  If you have any questions while you’re here, don’t hesitate to ask me or any of the professors.  There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” Alex continued as he led them down a sidewalk that was taking them around the building.  Sure the easier thing to do was take them back to where they had been dropped off and then take them to the main hall, but taking an alternate route was faster at this rate.

Under normal circumstances Alex would be cracking a few jokes or puns, but he decided that for now he would just lead them to where they needed to go.  The two of them didn’t seem nervous, or at least no more nervous than he was when he first got to Beacon.  Then again this wasn’t Beacon, or Atlas.  Might as well break the ice. Alex thought before saying ”You’ll settle in quickly.  This place as a way of growing on you…” He started to say, then an emerald glow appeared on the ground next to the path they were walking, and a tree encased by a similar glow rapidly grew out of that glowing patch till it was nearly triple Alex’s height.  ”… in more ways than one.” he said with a smirk as an emerald colored aura swirled around him as if there were lush green leafs fluttering around him.  From the lowest branch of the tree two apples started to grow rapidly, so they looked like filling water balloons.  After 5 seconds of growing the apples ripened and the grounds keeper picked them, offering one to each young man that had been following him.  ”Apple?” was all that came out of his mouth as the tree shrunk back into the ground and Alex’s aura faded.  The only evidence of the tree having been there were the apples in his hands.  The ground was completely undisturbed.

"Nice to meet you Mister Davis. Claus Lytton." And he shook the groundskeeper's hand. "It's a pleasure to finally be here." He was glad that the first member of the staff was such a jovial and helpful sort.

He followed the friendly groundskeeper without a fuss. "Might not be stupid questions, but there are stupid people." He joked, of course, clipping his sunglasses to the front of his shirt.

As the groundskeeper made his pun and caused the plant life to sprout and spawn some apples, Claus smiled warmly and grabbed one, exhaling onto it and rubbing it on his shirt to make sure it was clean before taking a bite.
"Nice semblance you got there, Mister Davis. I'm hoping you'll teach me about it some day." He chuckled. While he didn't know much beyond the basics of Aura, he knew the near-magic effects of a semblance when he saw it.

A human being was a fascinating creature solely due to their ability to adapt. For example, the human liver was meant to detoxify the body of drugs or alcohol. Yet the same statement could have also applied to the adaptability of human thought: when one was sad, typically they were remedied by any number of things and, while not instantaneous, self-medication was typically involved in some form. It was this unique ability that allowed humans and Faunus to survive, to make the best out of most negative situations and things of that nature.

So of course, it served to reason that Albert's motivations would change on the fly. First from making an acquaintance with someone who seemed remotely interesting to, upon getting lost, finding a professor. Then when it seemed that idea was moot, to simply exploring the campus as though that had been his intention all along. Now, however... it was almost sad that they could not do such a thing on their own, not that he would have ever made such a statement aloud. Nor was it particularly resonant in his head but rather, remained a small kernel in his myriad trains of thought.

Back in reality as opposed to whatever deep recesses constituted the male's head, he quickly pocketed his hands and, observing Claus' introduction, was rather prompt in giving his own.

"Albert Camaieu, a pleasure."

Funny how, in the passing moments, the blonde seemed to almost read his mind with his little retort. Certainly if Albert had been bold enough to say it outright, it would have been far more serious in nature, but regardless it was at least somewhat comforting to know that even as a joke they had shared that one thought. Regardless, Albert did feel like adding something to the conversation, so he replied,

"Well, so far it seems like a rather nice place. If I'm being honest, I'm excited to start classes."

He mused in a wholeheartedly unexcited way. Indeed, this apathy (or rather, faux-apathy in this particular case) was only abolished when Alexander displayed his semblance. Smirking as he so often did, the youth took the apple and calmly bit into it. Partially overjoyed to see something he'd only read about in action and partially pleased to have an apple, the youth calmly turned it about in his mouth and seemed to suck the juice from the piece before chewing and swallowing. An odd ritual, to say the least, but after doing so he spoke again,

"Impressive indeed. I take it your job as gorundskeeper must be much easier with a talent like that. Say, Claus... do you know what your semblance is?"

He didn't really feel like talking about his own and so, he instead asked for information on someone else's. It was a perfectly natural reaction, even if one couldn't help but anticipate the inevitable question and supposed demonstration that were to follow.

After learning the names of the two new students, Alex nodded in thanks and continued to lead them to the main hall where they could check in and get the locations of their dorms. Though when the young man Claus commented on his semblance and if he could teach him someday, Alex’s smile faded slightly as he shook his head. ”Sorry to break it to you, but I… um, I’m not a professor here. I’m the grounds keeper and a custodian, and that’s about it. I can answer just about any question you’ve got though.” he said with a shrug and an apologetic smile. While in truth he could possibly teach quite a bit, the fact of the matter was that Alex was still stuck in a depression from his past, and until he got over it more he couldn’t really bring himself to instruct a student in anything. How could he justify teaching someone how to fight Grimm if he hadn’t fought any in over 5 years? Ethically it was impossible. Now Alex was starting to regret showing them his semblance.

However it seemed that the other young man wasn’t going to leave it at that and continued the conversation, although it did go in a direction that was more favorable to the grounds keeper. ”Actually I can’t use it to manipulate plants that have already started to grow, so no my power doesn’t really help with doing my job… save for analyzing a new plant I’ve never encountered before.” Alex responded before he held his hands up at chest level, roughly four inches apart, and the emerald glow of his aura appeared between his hands. ”Not really useful for combat either. Sure I can make the plants I have control over grow anyway I want, but they’re just wood, and Grimm are known to smash through trees without breaking stride.” Alex added before letting his power fade, hoping they wouldn’t catch on his lie. In truth his semblance was quite powerful. Back when he was in his prime Alex was known for taking out entire hoards of Grimm on his own using his semblance alone. Those days however were long gone. He didn’t even remember how to use his semblance to that degree anymore. He was nothing but a has-been now.

”However, that doesn’t mean I’m useless against the Grimm. Wrecker here handles them quite nicely.” he stated as he pulled the two foot wide metal disc off his back and held it up in front of them as it unfolded into a spiked wrecking ball. The weapon was heavy and awkward to wield thanks to it having a 2 foot diameter and a long heavy chain. However he wasn’t just telling them this. In a way he was reassuring himself that he wasn’t useless and he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. The iron sphere folded back up into a disc, which Alex slung over his shoulder and attached the long chain to it in several places so he could use them as backpack straps, thus keeping the weapon on his back.

”If you two would like, I could show you around the whole place once you’ve checked in.” Alex stated in an attempt to change the subject… only to have that hope dashed when Albert had asked Claus what his semblance was.

"Well, of course you're the groundskeeper! Still, wouldn't be any trouble for a would be hunter to know what semblances do, Yeah? Wouldn't help any if something bad happened and we didn't know what we could do."

As Alexander explained the semblance, Claus attempted to look distracted by Albert's question. "Well, my semblance is pretty dangerous to show off, really. Nothing fancy though, don't gotta worry about it!" He chortled, smile on his sunglasses-clad face.

As Alexander revealed the giant mace, Claus whistled. "Niiiice. Probably packs a punch too. Betcha any Grimm you've fought haven't had much of a good day."

"How about we take you up on that offer. Maybe I can spar with Al here later so I can show my stuff if he wants to. Probably would get into trouble if I did anything funny at the front door."

It was nothing more than a momentary, fleeting sort of thing that anyone "normal" would have been perfectly content to ignore, but Albert was not normal by any stretch of the imagination. Instantly the male's mind went to work at why their guide had started frowning all of the sudden, either apologetic due to the nature of Claus' original question or simply regretting not having the opportunity to be a professor. Though the former was more likely, the male went with the latter -the more interesting- of the two.

Similarly, his own smirk faded into an apathetic expression at the very idea of questions. It was a shame, to be blessed with intelligence and yet... to simply not know how to ask anything. In school he either knew, or when prompted to do something open-ended was stricken by so many possibilities it was as though all of them had been wedged in the space between tongue and mouth.

Exhaling, the sniper once more adjusted his jacket as if to ensure maximum warmth, when in all actuality it had done nothing more than slightly ruffle some of the fur on his cuffs. Taking in every word Alexander said as though it were the most important thing in the universe, the youth calmly wondered how such a thing was a problem. Even if he could not manipulate plants that began growing, surely the initial pains of actually growing them must've been moot points?

That, and the very idea of overgrown plants not being useful in any way seemed almost foolish. Yet Albert was quite sure how to phrase such a thing, or whether he really should have. Merely that a large enough tree, when felled, could create a sizeable impact. That, or perhaps he could have bound them with vines, pierced them with massive thorns!

"I see. Well, I don't really think it's -useless- per se. A giant tree is different than a normal one, after all. Then again, you've seen Grimm in action, we haven't."

He simply gave a nod of acknowledgement to Claus' refusal to demonstrate, only to again turn his attention to the groundskeeper. While not necessarily invigorated by the giant wrecking ball as Claus had been, one soon began to wonder exactly how that choice had been made. Surely it was difficult to wield, powerful in its own way but still... it seemed it could have posed as much of a hindrance for the user as for the enemy, particularly in cases of dangerous humans.

Regardless, Albert soon stifled his own thoughts as they came to their destination. With a small nod of affirmation, he turned to the blonde and then began smirking yet again.

"I'd like that, though you'll have to go easy on me. I'm afraid I'm not... physically inclined like most other Hunters-to-be. But then again, you already knew that just from looking at me."

It was painfully obvious, to the point where he had to dash the very notion that it wasn't. From the lack of any real physique and the notion of being perpetually cold right down to the paleness of the skin, it was obvious why Albert had chosen a ranged weapon, if a little ambiguous as to why he'd been accepted in the first place.

At least it wasn't like before. Being bedridden was comparable to being dead: motion would be limited if not entirely ceased, the brain slowly but surely decayed as thoughts began to slow from lack of stimulation...

Putting those negatives away, the youth again spoke,

"Regardless, this may seem like an odd question given the security here but... have you had many -incidents- in the past?"

To stop himself from letting out a sigh of relief Alex bit his tongue hard enough that he almost caused it to bleed.  The young men before him seemed to have bought his lie about his semblance not being useful in combat.  He really didn't want to lie to them but at the moment he couldn't trust himself in combat... or so he thought.  However at Claus's comment he couldn't help but smile again.  "Actually in most cases your semblance is only limited by your imagination.  Your semblance is part of you, and your mind controls you and thus your semblance.  If you can think it can be done with your semblance then chances are it can be done." Alex began.  Old habits die hard I guess.  Ethically speaking I shouldn't be teaching them anything, but then again I can't let all the knowlage I have go to waste. he thought as he continued.  "For example I once knew a faunas that could produce explosions with his kicks.  At first he only used them for attack until he kicked the ground by mistake and launched himself several dozen yards into the air.  After mastering it he became one of the few huntsman that could quite literally fly, and as a result he took away the advantage that Nevermores always had against hunters." he finished.

With a glance at Albert when he commented that his semblance could be used for attack, he shrugged.  "Grimm are known for plowing through trees with ease, so one falling on them won't do much, especially since most grimm have armor on their backs.  However as I said your imagination is the only limit to your semblance.  Why attack with a tree when I can grow one horizontally and ride it at high speed?" he said with a shrug.  That time he didn't need to lie.  It was one of his favorite tricks.  With a chuckle at Claus's remark about Wrecker, Alex folded the wrecking ball weapon back into disc form and slung it over his shoulders.

However when the two young men commented on the idea of students sparring each other, Alex let out a sigh.  "You two would be surprised how often some of your fellow students spar each other in the courtyard or out in the forest.  Each student has they're own reason; some ask to spar another student if they respect them, others do it to let off steam, and some simply want to test what they've learned in class.  However there are one or two that simply do it for fun or because they want to seem stronger then those around them.  If you run into one of those don't hold back... that small group needs to be knocked down a peg in my opinion." Alex remarked, though the last bit was more of a scoff.  He ran into a member of that group on his first day here.  It was quite the exchange, but at least it ended on a calm note.

A moment later, they arrived at one of the gates that led to the main hall. "Alright, we're here. Any questions?"

Zun was a person with very few physical weaknesses: he was abnormally strong for his age, both in striking power and his endurance, and even with a rather stocky figure he was incredibly fast and also agile. If he knew a bit more about Semblances and how his worked, he would be even stronger, maybe even a bit too strong...

Most of his weaknesses were all mental: he wasn't very bright, and he didn't really come up with any tactics or strategies. He pretty much just charged forward and attack with full brute force...which had been working for him so far, but who knows how long that would last. Fortunately, he had great instincts and an incredible amount of luck by his side, but that doesn't wholly make up for a lack in smarts on the battlefield.

This lack of smarts also got him in trouble with the locals...locals being fellow students, and the worst part was that Zun loved meeting new people, and what better way to meet new people than to check out the acceptance...thingy! Zun had noticed a whole bunch of new students gathering in the hallway and had tried to talk to them, but he had either annoyed them or scared them, and they moved away and wouldn't talk to him. This didn't effect Zun in the slightest, however, be it a mix of fortunate and unfortunate: it didn't bring him down, but he also didn't learn from it.

He was just about to go get something to eat from the cafeteria when he spied what seemed to be three stragglers to the new people party. He noticed one of them seemed to be an adult and seemed a bit familiar, although he wasn't sure why, but the other two were fresh new faces. This made Zun supercharged with excitement, and just as quickly as he had climbed the steps to leave he jumped off them and landed right in front of the group of three, a jump that was nearly ten feet and a landing that probably startled a few of the newbies behind him as well as maybe broke some nice pottery and the like.

Zun looked at the group with eyes nearly exploding with glee. 'OH BOY, NEW PEOPLE, THAT MEANS NEW FRIENDS! WELL, I DON'T THINK YOU ARE NEW, BUT I'M NOT SURE!' Zun was pointing at the adult with the newbies as he said that. He then turned his attention back to the newcomers. 'WELL, ANYWAY, HI THERE! MY NAME IS ZUN! GLAD TO MEET YOU BOTH! WHY DO YOU WHERE DARK GLASSES INSIDE? THEY LOOK PRETTY COOL THOUGH! OH, YOU LOOKED BORED, LIKE REALLY REALLY REALLY BORED! WELL I KNOW LOTS OF FUN THINGS TO DO! WE CAN GO GET SOME AWESOME FOOD FROM CHEF GUY, OR WE CAN GO TRAIN IN THE FOREST AND MAYBE FIND SOME BLACK AND WHITE AND RED GUYS...OH OH OH, OR MAYBE WE CAN FIGHT! YEAH, FIGHTING IS LOTS OF FUN, PUNCHING STUFF IS THE BEST!' In what was mere seconds, Zun had addressed both the blonde one and the not-so-blonde one, and had gone back into his own world of things that make sense. He now just stood there in front of them, shuffling his feet and throwing air punches like he was ready to take on the world.

Despite mister Alexander's self depreciation, Claus was no fool to creative thinking. Plants were dangerous as much as they were helpful. He remembered back to his grandpa's lessons of wilderness survival, pointing all the medicinal plants as well as the horrible effects of others, even if they were seemingly innocent looking.
However, the idea of explosive kicks caused his eyebrows to raise in interest, although he only responded with a nod.
"Seems interesting enough. would hate to see people just kind of squander their talents without thought of how else they could be applied."

However, when Alexander explained how folks sparred wherever in the school, he smiled nice and wide and nodded once again, hands back into his bluejeans.
The nodding was almost punctuated by a man landing behind him.
And then yelling directly in his ears.
Nonplussed, but still primarily instinct-driven through the whole deal, Claus's hand slipped out of his pocket and grabbed the weapon strapped to his back with one hand, it unfolding as he turned around to face the newcomer and training the weapon one-handed at him all in one smooth motion.

"Why yes, I'm new. Same with the dozens of other transfer students that came in on the same airship.
And according to Groundskeeper Davis here, I am more than welcome to take you up on that offer without any sort of ramifications.
However, I'm not quite clothed for a fight as it were, so allow me a moment of your time before we get to the fun stuff, yeah?"
and with his free hand, he set the smaller of his two cases on the floor before lowering his weapon and dropping his backpack as well.
Through his shades, he shot Albert a look, and a wink. "I guess we'll have to hold our little rumble for later, Al. Unless you wanna fight with this guy too."

The groundskeeper's explanation only managed to illicit a nod of particularly swift affirmation, simply because it was logical. To limit oneself to only a handful of uses or abilities was simply foolish, and even the most specific of semblances could, by this logic, have many different uses. His own was rather sub-par in this regard, for the male recognized the potential applications of creating swift bursts of wind from one's own body and yet, found it perhaps too general of a power to do much else with it.

In short, the notion of "moving things with wind" was the most basic of explanations, and that seemed rather boorish. Certainly that category could have been broken down further: propelling a projectile, trying to deflect a projectile, increasing one's own jump height or breaking a fall. However, all of these seemed almost like something from the fiction he'd indulged in as a child, and so Albert was perhaps slightly embarrassed at his lack of originality with such an ability.

It almost made one feel as though it was ill-suited to their personality, desires, and the like. Yet much like the man who reviled his own name, Albert could say and do nothing about it, it felt like insulting a gift one had been given, after all.

Regardless, he simply began grinning again at the notion of riding a tree at high speed. With enough force, with enough growth or in this case -overgrowth,- couldn't he impact a Grimm with significant force regardless as to its natural defences? It only seemed natural to question it, and so he did.

"Well, what if you rode one horizontally and struck an enemy with it? Or I suppose you could increase the force of your weapon that way as well. Frankly, I can't help but see several offensive uses for this supposedly lackluster ability of yours."

Exhaling, the student simply took in the remainder of Alexandeer's statements with a bit of disinterest. It seemed so terribly obvious that students would want to improve themselves, especially against other humans due to their sentience and the potential dangers that could cause. Or... perhaps animal instincts were more dangerous than well thought out strategies solely due to the brute force behind them?

No matter, for whatever thought was travelling through Albert's head in that instant was done away with when a blast of noise resounded in his ears. Though he did not turn to face the person in question at first, instead letting out a sigh as he did so, one couldn't help but feel as though his volume had ruffled some of the fur on his collar, made it stand on end or something of that sort.

Granted, it was childish folly. It wasn't -really- that way, but he certainly wished the jacket alone could somehow express his distaste for him. After all, it was impolite to blatantly tell someone that their offers were much too loud and much too... well, single minded. At the very least it as kind, but kindness didn't amount to much when you inadvertently annoyed the target, now didn't it?

"A battle royale? I'd be happy too, but on two conditions: Mr Davis must observe, just in case... and secondly, we do it somewhere more open ended. Like... I'd be right to assume the school has a training facility, right?"

He shot Alexander a glance at that, simultaneously trying to wonder exactly how he could even match someone with such boundless energy. Distance tactics, no doubt...

Alex's eyes twinkled slightly as the two young men seemed to take in his tale about a certain huntsman he had mentored at one point. He was glad that his words hadn't fallen on death ears like that one kid he ran into on his first day of work. However when Albert spoke up, Alex was now really wishing he never showed them his semblance as his smile faded slightly. He understood that the young man was just trying to help and point out that his powers could be use for battle... but that wasn't the problem. Alex just couldn't bring himself to fully use his powers in battle. His depression over what happened over 5 years ago was holding him back and he couldn't shake it. Chances were he'd never use his powers to their full potential again. However understanding what the student was trying to do, he gave a respectful nod.

... which was quickly followed by him covering his ears when a new student seemed to jump in out of Alex's blind spot and started to yell at the top of his lung. The kid was so loud and hyper that Alex thought that he had drunk a whole gallon of that 5 hour energy drink that was so popular these days. Without thinking, Alex reached out with his hands and had actually covered Zun's mouth. "Take it easy! We're right here, you don't need to shout. You're voice was loud enough that it hurt." Alex exclaimed before he released Zun from his grip, dropping his hands to his sides. Anywhere else and Alex could've been arrested for assault... though for some reason the Academy's rules overruled the laws of the kingdom.

However from Alex's perspective the situation continued to spiral out of control as Claus not only accepted Zun's request for a battle took Alex's words out of context. "I didn't say there wouldn't be consequences for you all dueling where ever ya feel like it! There's such a think known as property damage ya know!" Alex responded, a bit more forcefully then he had intended to do, and his old accent was started to push through. If Albert hadn't requested that they hold their battle in one of the many combat rooms held in the training facility, Alex would've said it. Calming down slightly he finally nodded. "Yeah, there's several rooms that you can hold a battle in. We can be at the closest one within 5 minutes." Alex stated as he conceded to the fact these three were going to have it out right now, but at least it wasn't going to happen here.

Alex pointed in the direction they should start walking. "Any rules you want in place for this bout? No Semblance perhaps so you have to rely on only your weapons and dust? Or hand to hand combat only with bare knuckles? There are also foam wood weapons available if you want to go all out without the risk of killing each other." Alex stated as they started to walk.

At the thought of being able to battle Dark Glasses guy and the bored looking guy, Zun got even more excited, and was about to say something until the adult guy that looked kinda familiar but his hand over his mouth. Zun didn't react though, he was used to such a react from adults, although he never understood why. He just mumbled a bunch of stuff and eventually the man dropped his hands and spoke, and this made Zun even more excited. The adult guy was talking about some sort of rules or something, something about weapons or whatever.

'I DON'T USE WEAPONS! I BELIEVE THAT WEAPONS ARE ONLY AN EXTENSION OF ONE'S BODY, AND THEREFORE IF THE BODY IS WEAK OR NOT USED TO BATTLE, A WEAPON DOESN'T DO YOU ANY GOOD! BESIDES, PUNCHING STUFF IS A LOT MORE FUN THAN CUTTING OR SHOOTING, BUT I UNDERSTAND THAT SOME PEOPLE NEED THEM BECAUSE THEY AREN'T AS GOOD AT PUNCHING! I WANT TO FIGHT PEOPLE AT THEIR BEST, SO IF THEY WANT TO USE ALL THEIR COOL STUFF, THAT'S FINE BECAUSE I WANT TO USE ALL MINE TOO!'

Zun then took off in the direction of the room the adult guy had mentioned, and even though he was already there, he zoomed back to the group. 'I'LL BE IN THAT ONE ROOM THAT GUY MENTIONED! I CAN'T WAIT TO FIGHT YOU GUYS! THIS IS GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN!' Zun then zoomed back to the room the guy mentioned, waiting for them, still shuffling and punching the air.

Once again Alex covered his ears as Zun yelled at the top of his hyper lungs, but passed all of the hyper ramblings and mile a minute rate of speech, Alex managed to make out what the speedster was trying to say. Basically he was saying that while weapons were extensions of a person's body, their body had to be strong if they wanted to be good at fighting and hunting Grimm. "True, but strength isn't-" Alex started to reply, but was cut off by more shouting and Zun rushing off. Alex at first only grumbled, but then saw something wrong. "Hey! The door is on your right, not your left! That other one is being rebuilt!"

With a shrug and shaking his head, Alex led the other two into the training room, which looked like a simple flat floor made of metal. "This training room was modeled after the arena used for the Vital Festival, thus it's capable of changing what type of arena you fight in, although you'll only be on one type of battlefield instead of the two types of fields that the Vital Festival area is capable of. The rules are simple; no killing blows, once your endurance has dropped to a certain point you're out of the fight, semblance and dust are allowed for use." Alex stated as he walked over to the control panel and started to set everything up. Soon the three students' faces were up on the display screen with what looked like a life bar for each of them. Alex then pressed the randomize selection for the type of battlefield.

The screen rapidly spun around and landed on a grid that made Alex smiled; swamp. "Looks like all three of you are gonna be inhibited for this one." Alex commented as a new field raised into place. There were several trees in this new field that each had several vines hanging from them that were strong enough to swing from, and the trees were strong enough to support Alex's weight so they would surely hold the young men here. However, that's where the advantages ended. The floor of this arena was half knee deep water, and the other half was thick mud with roots running through it that one could get their feet caught in because you couldn't see the roots. What's more was that a moderately thick fog was filling the room, making it humid and hot. Zun's speed would be limited by the terrain while Albert's and Claus's aim would be limited by the fog. With their advantages gone, the three were going to be forced to fight on even terms.

"Ready?" Alex asked as he raised his hand up into the air to signal the beginning of the battle when his scroll went off. "Uh, one moment." he muttered just loud enough for them to here as he pulled his scroll out and his eyes widened when he saw the caller ID and quickly answered the call. "Headmistress Lilac? What can I do for you?" there was a pause, followed by Alex's smiling. "You're giving me the open professor position?! Thank you! I'll be right over!" Alex almost squealed with delight before turning off his scroll and then shot out of the room like a rocket jacked up on caffeine. He was so taken up by this sudden news that he didn't even say goodbye to the boys.

(exit)

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