TKO! (private/Averia)

"How... how did I sleep in today? I remember setting the alarm clock..." Alex muttered to himself as he yawned. He had been up all night making repairs to his weapon the Obilinator, but as a result he had slept through his alarm. While he wasn't teaching any classes today he still had some things planned, such as going into town to buy some bandages, some sleep powder, poison, but mainly some items that could help him defend against dust-based attacks, or at least cure him of a hex. It was a minor problem he always had back in his prime, but now since he didn't have all of his old skill he now wondered if his sensitivity to getting hexed had gone from being a simple problem to being a full on chink in his armor. He was going to have to solve for it, and soon.

However since it was now mid-day on a weekend, he was wondering if the stores were now packed. So instead of trying to maneuver through a throng of people, he would instead train a bit to see if he still had his edge in hand to hand combat. Thanks to the fact that his weapon could easily be ripped out of his hands, he had to be good unarmed or he was doomed. It was that thought that brought him to the training arena. It was the weekend so he wasn't surprised to see no one here. After all, most students spent this time hanging out with friends or shopping.

Alex walked over towards the control panel and examined the list of combat dummies. Beacon had a few old robotic combat dummies, so he had hopped that Syne would have some as well. Turned out they did, but older models. Bellmuse did fund the school well but it was still a much smaller kingdom. After pushing a couple of buttons Alex watched five humanoid robots that were basically just padded exp-skeletons walk into the arena. Alex tossed the towel he had been carrying onto a bench that was on the outer rim of the arena, then walked towards the center before he stopped, turned around, and removed his shirt so he was only wearing pants, socks, shoes, and his magic belt. He was expecting to get very sweaty so he didn't want to ruin his good shirt too much. The pants he didn't care much for though.

With his shirt off all of his battle scars could bee seen cover his back, arms, chest, and stomach. He scars from where he had been slashed, bitten, pierced by what seemed to be the fang of the snake grimm, a long jagged scar that looked like had nearly cut off his right arm at the collar bone, and several circular scars where he had been shot. Yeah, Alex had been busted up quite a bit, put back together, and then he kept on going. He just wouldn't stop moving back then... though now the same might not be the same.

"Begin!" Alex called out, and all 5 combat robots charged at him. The one to his right tried to hit him with a right cross but Alex grabbed the robot's arm, pulled his passed him while slamming his hip into it, and successfully threw the robot over his shoulder and into another one, causing both to crash to the ground. "Look at that! Two for one sale" Alex said with a grin. He then ducked under another one trying to hit him with a straight punch that had been aimed for his left temple, and kicked it's legs out from under it, followed by hitting the falling robot with an uppercut that caused the robot to flip over before it landed. "Hey! Don't flip out just because I beat you!" Alex then had to back flip to avoid taking a round-house kick to the face, followed by lifting his left arm to block another right cross aimed for him, this time his neck. The professor responded by giving one of the robots a back flip kick to the head, and the machine's head flew off it's shoulder with a shower of sparks. "Bet you're head's rolling from that one!" Alex got up and looked at the remaining robot, then froze...

None of the robots that went down had gotten back up, damaged robot not withstanding. The last robot tried to throw a punch at him, but Alex only grabbed the robot by the wrist effectively catching the punch in midair, ripped the robot's arm off and used it as a bat as he preformed a home run swing, knocking the robot's head clean off and sending it into the far wall. "Wow, home run..." Alex noted in a deadpan tone before he dropped the arm. He must of forgotten to adjust the difficulty setting of the robots.

He didn't even break a sweat. With an annoyed roll of his eyes Alex started to walk back towards the control panel, but there was one thing he forgot to do; lock the door to the training arena. Anyone could've walked in and saw this. With his scar covered back facing the door, he'd have no idea he had an audience.

Averia had her attention focused on the book in hand while walking along the hallways of the training building, all the while using her peripheral vision to locate a vacant arena she could use to train her skills. Every room was occupied at the moment as indicated by the red light located on the side of the door. Although glancing up briefly, she spotted a green light at the distance and figured she could use that room instead.

The girl casually went back to her reading and strolled to the room she had seen earlier. The automatic doors opened and she stepped in, only to stop in her tracks upon hearing the clashing and gyrating of metal. Eyebrows furrowed, she looked up and saw a man with a stronger built demolishing about five of the training bots in the arena. Averia was fascinated at his rather creative use of fists alone but she knew she shouldn't be disturbing someone else's training. She was about to leave when the guy turned and Averia caught a glimpse of his face.

"Professor Davis?" she uttered in surprise.

It was the first time she had seen the teacher in a rather ragged state unlike his typical formal uniform in class. Her eyes trailed to his shirtless upper body and saw the long scars lining his back. She stared silently in mixed concern, curiosity and marvel. She tore her eyes away from them and looked at the robots before a small grin curved on her lips.

"Now what did they do to warrant such rough treatment?" She chuckled.

Alex hadn't heard Averia say his name while he was facing the bots, mainly because he was focused on the fight and she was way back at the entrance to that arena. However as he rolled his shoulder when he neared the control panel, that was when he heard the gunslinger's quip. Alex whirled around to see one of his students, or to be more exact his female student. To say that he was ripped and muscular would be an understatement, considering he wielded a massive wrecking ball for a weapon. As a result, Alex was a bit nervous for his student to see him with his shirt off... mainly because there were several rules about student and teacher relationships but they could be summed up in one sentence; don't or you're fired.

As a result Alex quickly turned on his heel and started to pull on his combat shirt. How the heck did she manage to get in? Alex thought he locked it, but then realized he didn't so anyone could've waltz right in. Figures it had to be the only student he seen in a bikini. "Okay, I realize that the door was open, soooo next time could you knock... please?" Alex said to her in an awkward tone. He wasn't mad at her, it was totally his fault... still though the situation was a little bit embarrassing.

With his shirt on finally, Alex pushed a button on the control console and the undamaged robots started to get up and dragged the damaged robots out of the arena and back behind the doors they had come from, which closed with a small hiss. Alex then turned to Averia and cleared his throat. "Something I can do for you, Ms. Frost?" Alex asked politely. Addressing her by her first name in this situation was inappropriate.

As the professor whirled around to face her, Averia instinctively averted her gaze from his bare chest. It wasn't as if it's the first time she had seen a topless man but his rather muscular build made on top of his profession as a teacher made her a little embarrassed to be there standing in the same room. It seemed the way went through his head for he was quick to put on his combat shirt.

"..soooo next time could you knock... please?"

Averia raised an eyebrow at the rather awkward tone of his voice not to mention the ever academic professor losing his composure. Now that's a rare sight Averia found adorable, and she simply gave out a chuckle. Being Averia however, she just had to take advantage of the situation. "The doors are automatic, professor. It's the job of the person inside to lock them... especially if they're practicing without a shirt on," she said playfully just to drag out his embarrassment more.

Upon his inquiry of what he could do for her, Averia rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I was supposed to be doing some training but since the room is occupied I guess I'll just have to leave," she said with a frown. All the other training rooms were occupied as well which meant she'd have to wait until someone vacated them. That usually takes hours if she's lucky, most just spend the whole day locked inside. Her eyes shifted to the undamaged robots still dragging the pieces of broken ones back to where they came from. What kind of beast was this teacher to be able to rip those things to shreds? But then again, her own strength, albeit almost perplexing was not to be taken lightly either. She suddenly wondered what it would be like to clash fists against this teacher. She'd probably end up with broken bones no doubt. Or would she?

"But you know, since you seem pretty lonely paired up with mindless targets, maybe I can put up a little more challenge? I need a training room as well anyway," she said, snapping her book close and placing it back to her bag, as though no longer waiting for what the teacher had to say. She was already in the mood to the point of not imagining any other scenario other than a fight in the arena. She walked to one corner, unslung her bag and placed it down before proceeding to tie her hair up.

As Averia responded, Alex knew she was rubbing the situation in his face. Automatic locks... job of the person inside to make sure they locked... and the shirtless comment... yeah she was taking advantage of the situation that he had set himself up for. He slouched forwards a little while clenching his jaw, his facial expression clearly reading 'rub it in why don't cha?' "Noted. Excuse me while I try to put my shattered pride back together..." Alex replied through clenched teeth before relaxing and rolling his right shoulder, the one that had that scar that looked like it had nearly gotten cut off. That arm always felt stiff these days... it had for over 5 years.

With that aside Averia muttered that she was looking for a place to train but since all of the rooms were taken she was gonna leave, Alex sighed and nodded. "Very well. I'll be done here in about in a hour so you can have it then." Alex replied with a nod, and at first thought that would be that. However if Averia was anything, she was unpredictable. When she said that she might make a better opponent then the robots and then started getting ready before Alex could respond, the professor could only shake his head. "Don't get too impressed by the broken bots. All I did was aim for their joints, and it's impossible to armor a joint without sacrificing flexibility. Living, Grimm, or machine, it's a weakness they are share." Alex replied at first, trying to make her seem less impressed.

He knew where this was leading towards, even if Averia wasn't intending it; a tutoring session. He had experienced that many times during his carrier as a huntsman and could pick it out from a mile away, but as the teacher and as the student. However the last time he had tutored a hunter was over 5 years ago. Did he still have what it took to do so? However considering that she was already getting herself prepared for a close quarters combat duel, it looked like he wasn't going to walk out of this one. "Alright. If that's what you want then fine. One moment though." Alex stated as he walked over to the control panel and pushed a few buttons. Another wall panel flipped open to reveal some pads, face masks, and boxing gloves. Alex walked over to them, grabbed a pair of gloves that he thought my be her size and offered them to her. "We doing this carefully or do you wanna do this old school?"

Averia tightened her golden hair into a high ponytail and proceeded to remove her blazer. From her bag she dug out her armour consisting of a simple choker and thigh accessory. It's an advanced Atlesian technology which emits a thin-layer of compact sheath that acts as her second skin to minimise the impact of physical blows. Turning around, she walked to the arena while fastening her choker. She noticed the teacher had gone over to the control panel to activate something again. This time the wall panel opened and she eyed the pads, masks and gloves contained inside. I didn't know there was something like that, she thought to herself. How would she know anyway when all she did was practice her gunslinging and semblance use. When the professor offered the gloves, Averia smiled simply.

"I don't know what 'old school' method is, but if it consists of not using that thing, then I would prefer that instead." She settled a few distance in front of him and stretched her neck from side to side. "Don't worry. I may not look like it but I'm built to withstand strong blows. I have a bit of power myself as well. Maybe. I don't know. I haven't tried actually." She chuckled at her own ignorance. At the very least, she hoped her armour was good enough to take blows from those ripped arms.

"You seem to be pretty experienced yourself, judging from the scars and all. You do know our advanced technology can already do something about those, right?"

When Alex had turned around to offer the the boxing gloves, he noticed that Averia had put on some sort of choker and ring around her leg. For a moment he was having trouble figuring out why someone would put on accessories like that on their person before a battle. But then again someone would ask him the same question about the leather belt he wore that contained plant seeds. It was a magical belt infused with dust to protect him from Dust attacks and it protected his whole body despite being around only his waist, so Alex was wondering if Averia's accessories were of the same type of magical armor. With that in mind Alex decided not to ask about it, though he did smile when she refused the boxing gloves.

"Old school is doing it without the safety gear. No hold bars kinda thing. So, no boxing gloves. Got it." Alex stated as he tossed the gloves he was offering her over his shoulder. so it landed back with the other boxing padding. "You've most likely heard this enough to make your ears hurt, but being strong isn't was brings a person victory. It may play into it, but it's not the deciding factor. Speed and guile plays into it as well." Alex commented in a matter-of-fact tone.

At the comment about all of his scars, Alex smiled warmly. "True, but sometimes you find yourself wanting to keep a certain scar or two as a reminder of certain battles that held meaning for you. You're greatest victories for example, or maybe a battle in where you met that 'special someone' and you never wanted to forget them..." Alex began but his voice trailed off as his smile slowly faded into a somber look as his gaze shifted to the floor, and he began to rub his right shoulder in the same location in where he had a scar that seemed to indicate that he almost lost his right arm. "... or one of your greatest failures so you never make the same mistake again." Alex finally finished before rolling his right shoulder to loosen it up and then cracked his neck by sharply tilting his head to the side.

"When I said old school I meant we do this without padding, but that doesn't mean going all out. Last thing either of us need is to be walking around campus with a swollen eye or missing teeth. If you have any questions feel free to ask, but don't expect me to stop attacking while I answer them. A huntress must be able to keep fighting even while distracted." Alex stated in a stern tone then faced her with his legs a shoulder's with apart, his knees slightly bent, and his hands raised up to chest level. His hands were half closed so they could be quickly opened for a grab or quickly closed for a punch. "Last chance to put on any limits of your own for this. You ready to begin?"

Averia chuckled upon seeing the teacher toss the boxing gloves over his shoulder like they were some garbage. It seemed she was quite wrong with her first impression of the teacher being uptight. Most part of him was just as fun as any other student. She gave a brief nod the person reminded her that strength isn't the deciding factor in victory. She understood this very well as could be seen by her choice of using a pair of guns instead of rapiers to fight. It gave her all the range and firepower she needed without sacrificing freedom of movement that could not be utilised fully in a close range combat.

Her cerulean gaze trailed over to the man's right arm as he held onto it with a soft expression in his face as though reminiscing memories of the scar. Averia herself could not understand the concept of retaining one simply because she saw them as evidence of having been in a state of vulnerability - a proof of weakness. But that was her perception. She respected the teacher's decision and didn't judge. Perhaps she hadn't been in combat for a long time to fully understand what he meant.

Averia placed her left foot directly behind her right as she turned to her side, going into her own fighting stance akin to that of her rapier swordplay. Her left hand locked behind her back and her right raised in front into a loose fist. Its a stance that made full use of her small frame, ambidextrous handling and swift lower body reflexes.

"So, before anything else, just between the two of us... do not be surprised by my rather poor hand to hand combat. I've only trained enough to know how to defend against close quarter strikes, but never to attack since I have my guns to do that for me." She sighed. "In fact, I don't even know how to charge properly without looking like a lost deer."

"But that's why I'm here. To learn. If you would please." Averia said in a rather formal note. When it came to battle she was not one to play around. Her recent defeat against that goddess-wannabe's close quarter combat had her desire to learn intensify. Not to mention in front of her was a respected professor, an experienced one at that who wields a heavy ball and chain weapon and still manage to keep up his speed. She decided she would make the most use out of this rare situation to fight against a veteran.

Alex nodded in approval at Averia's combat stance. It fit her stature well since it took advantage of her small frame, making her even smaller. It would work quite well, though the professor hoped she was good at making side steps otherwise he would end up using it against her. Hearing her comment on that she wasn't the best at close range combat though, Alex simply nodded in understanding. "No one starts out a master of a certain set of skills. We all start at square one at some point. Oh, speaking of your guns..." Alex stated, but then used his semblance to create a duplicate of Averia's gun in his right hand. The wood he chose to make it out of was a light tan. "I noticed on the beach that you holstered your weapons before you dealt the finishing blow on the Grimm with a pair of ice blades. It was good strike, but-" Alex cut himself off by growing a sword out of the top of the wood gun he was holding, though this one was made of red wood so the gun was still visible and acting as the handle for the wooden sword. "-you might want to try making ice blades while still having your gun in your hands. Last thing anyone is going to expect when they are getting slashed with an ice blade is a gun shot wound to the lower half of their body. You'll also remain armed if someone melts your semblance swords. Just an observation; what you do with it is up to you." Alex explained before his wooden constructs shrank back into his hand, and a tiny green glow on the cuff of his battle shirt stopped glowing. He had placed seeds in the sleeves of his battle shirt.

Alex then smiled with a determined look on his face. "Though you're right. We're all here to learn since true lessons never end. Even I still have much to learn." Alex stated. He then he gave her a nod, shouted "Begin!" and just like that Alex lunged at Averia with an attack that he thought would be easy to dodge; he jumped above her while bringing both of his arms above his head and folded his fingers together, then came down right in front of her and brought his clenched hands down on top of her like a hammer blow. When he landed he fell into a couched position and parted his hands before he pushed off the floor with his legs with a considerable amount of force to force him into a back flip kick to see how his opponent would react to a surprise attack. Once Alex landed on his feet again, he paused for a split second before attempting to hit Averia with a back spin kick aimed for her head.

In reality these moves were rather easy to dodge, but that was the point; Alex wanted to first gauge how she did with these attacks at first, but then he'd turn it up a notch if she seemed to be doing fine. Now he had to see how she did on the offensive.

OOC:

Averia listened as the professor gave a constructive criticism about her fighting style during their hunt in the beach. He even went as far as demonstrate what he meant with the use of his own semblance. Her eyebrows raised a little and she nodded. That was a useful advice indeed and she knew she'd take it into account from now on. Heh. This teacher might not be that bad after all.

"Begin!"

That was the cue for the start of the spar as the teacher lunged right at her. She watched his movements closely in hopes she could learn something about how to charge properly. However, he apparently had a different plan in mind for he started off with a jump attack - the easiest one to dodge since it's akin to a projectile strike and the motion was predictable. Averia waited until he was in the air before she simply moved two steps back. The smash came down and missed her frame by inches as usual, but then came the back flip. She brought her right foot behind her left to switch sides and took another step back to accommodate his larger frame. This ended with her standing to the right of the man and having effectively dodged his attack by inches with minimal movements. A brief pause, then from the corner of her eyes, she saw the incoming back spin kick and she knew she couldn't avoid the attack with simple footwork.

Her mind raced for an effective way to dodge and attack at the same time. She bent a knee to drop low on the ground, avoiding the kick in the process. Placing her hands on the ground for leverage, she twisted her body to allow her outstretched right leg to deliver a swipe kick underneath the heavy-built man, taking advantage of the fact that his leg is still in the air. Completing a full turn, her bent knee then sprang towards him and her right hand shot forward to strike with open-palm thrust aimed towards his lower torso. Unable to follow up with another strike due to her position, her instincts as a gunslinger kicked in and she would attempt to jump back to gain distance.

Battle Log:

As Alex brought his hands down in an over head strike, he was happy to see that Averia was more then capable of avoiding his first attack with ease, along with the second one. Clearly she wasn't a complete novice at this. However when she ducked under his back spin kicked and attacked his other leg, Alex was unable to avoid it and was knocked down onto his rear end. Because of this when she went for that palm strike of hers it was actually heading for his head instead of his chest... though avoiding that was easy since all Alex had to do lean to one side or the other. Instead he rolled to his left to avoid getting his while also getting his feet back under him.

"I thought you said you were poor at this." Alex said with a smirk, clearly glad she had caught him off guard like that. True he had really been holding back just to see what she could do, but being taken off guard is being taken off guard no matter how you look at it. Seeing this made Alex realize that she had real potential, so what he did next was exactly what she had she needed to work on; how to charge. She had even set herself up for a short range one.

With that he did what could be described as a horizontal jump towards his opponent which landed him right in front of her. Instead of absorbing the landing and attacking, Alex instead took advantage of his forward momentum and actually leaped forwards again while crossing his arms over his chest as if he was freight train barreling forwards... and Averia was in his way. If he plowed into her or not Alex then turned half way around and swung his left fist towards Averia's gut. After that he did a reverse somersault to increase the distance between the two of them. "Looking like a deer in the head lights is kinda common when it comes to charge attacks. I'm pretty sure I looked like a fool a moment ago. They're also real easy to counter. Hence the reason why I don't use them very much." Alex stated as he took another step back to increase the distance more in case Averia wanted to try out a charge attack of her own.

OOC:

Averia released a soft sigh, calming her pounding heart. Close-quarters combat always made her more jittery than a ranged fight. Perhaps because she's unused to the fighting style. It warranted her whole body to be in a state of alarm since she often relied on her reflexes instead of planned attacks. At the professor's somewhat compliment for landing a hit, she gave a small smile and shook her head. "It was more of you lowering your guard than me landing a decent hit. You know you could've dodged that if you really wanted to," she said, pertaining to the leg swipe.

The girl went back to her fighting stance as she saw the professor charging towards her in a full-frontal charge - an attack of which is most effectively countered by her stance. She simply spun on her heel to the left, the left hand locked behind her was now to the front due to the spin, and lightly tapped the man's upper arm to push herself back. She then used the palm of her right hand to block the punch to her stomach, though the strength coupled with her light frame sent her propelling back. She pressed her feet down hard against the ground to skid into a halt.

"Come on now. I know I said I suck, but I don't suck that much. At least take me seriously," she grumbled. One thing she didn't like was being underestimated. What good way to show him she's capable than to bring a fight of her own. Eh. But how? It was her turn to attack but she was unsure how to charge. What should she do with her arms? Should she go for a running style? Or the folded-in-the-chest style? or like a football player? Eh. So awkward. Ah! Maybe... if she imagined holding her guns, it would be less awkward.

Averia dashed forward, her arms to her sides as she closed the distance, meanwhile thinking of an effective attack. With the length of her arms compared to his, she most likely would get punched first before her own fist would connect. She needed a better way to deal with this. Once she was an arm's length away from the man she pulled back her right arm and delivered a open-palm blow towards the centre of his chest, only to stop at the very last second and took a step back - a feint, to draw a movement from him. Immediately she flipped back, utilising their short distance and the length of her legs to kick under his chin. Right after landing on her feet into a crouching position, she would spring her left leg forward to close the distance then spin her body to the right and jumped into the air, delivering a powerful flying backspin kick with her right leg to the teacher's right side of the face. Whether it connected or not didn't matter for she would follow up. Still with both feet in the air, she planted her hands on the ground and used it to twist her body around a full turn and send a kick to the teacher's lower left torso. Thereafter, she would use her arms to push herself off the ground away from him to gain distance.

Battle Log:

Alex wasn't to surprised that his attacks missed. It was a simple charge and a simple punch. Nothing fancy, nothing trying, just simple attacks. However at her comment about underestimating her, Alex frowned. "It's not that I'm underestimating you. It's more like I'm stuck in first gear." Alex replied with a shrug and a grim look on his face. It was sort of true, since the last time he had tutored anyone was over 5 years ago and the talk about his battle scars had actually made him slightly depressed. His adrenaline wasn't even kicking in. As a result he found himself having trouble going all out. This was a problem because if he went into a real fight in this condition he would've been forced to eat his teeth.

The next set of attacks from Averia however seemed to trigger something in Alex. Seeing her palm come at him Alex took a few steps back to get out of range of her hit, only to see her foot coming towards his head. Alex barely avoided the hit by jerking his head back and leaning back, and her foot barely grazed against his chin. Considering the action he had done to avoid her first attack was going to result in him falling flat on this back, Alex turned it into a back flip to catch himself, and that in turn actually got him out of range of her next two attacks. Rolling his right shoulder again as he took a step back, the Professor's head started to fire on all cylinders again. Now he had an idea on how to attack her.

With that he charged at her with what appeared to be a simple run, but when he was five steps away from her he dove head first towards the ground, landed on his hands, and spun himself around in a helicopter kick aimed for Averia's right shoulder. He then pushed off the ground with all his might, which actually flipped him over Averia in an attempt to land behind her, but as he landed he kicked out with his right leg, aimed at her left knee. He then quickly planted his right leg on the ground and kicked out with his left leg, but instead of it being aimed at Averia his foot went passed her on her left side. It was a feint of his own. He then quickly bent his left leg to bring it back to him with all of his might, trying to hook the ice manipulator with his heel on the return. It if worked it would swipe her legs right out from under her. "Hows that ice knight?"

OOC:

Averia nodded when she was informed he was stuck in first gear. Well, as long as she's not underestimated she wouldn't mind. As the professor charged towards her, she went back to her stance. But this time he didn't went full-tackle. He dove front first and delivered his own version of a whirlwind kick. Averia was quick to bring her right arm up to block the attack and stop his motion but his strength and her light frame was beginning to bother her as she had to put so much strength on her lower body just so she wouldn't be thrown off from the impact.

Right after she blocked, she planned to counter only to find that her target was nowhere in sight. Her eyes widened as the next thing she knew, her left knee collapsed under her causing her to lose balance and unable to register the following attacks. She could barely react as her feet were swept beneath her and she fell flat on her back with a soft gasp.

Averia laid on the ground for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. Glancing up at the professor, she gave a grin and flipped back to her feet to face him again. "Yeah. That's more like it," she said brightly. Almost immediately she dashed towards him, then flip forward with a leg outstretched in an attempt to deliver an axe kick down his head, whether it hit or not, she'd land on the ground dash, then crouch low on the ground before springing up giving much force to a punch towards his stomach. Right after she'd spin on her heel and backhand him with her close fist towards his right torso/arm

Battle Log:

The fact that the helicopter kick has missed didn't surprise Alex at all. It was a risky move and Alex assumed there wouldn't but much of a chance for it hitting, though it would throw her off guard. Turns out it was his flip over her that caught her off guard since both attacks to her legs hit the mark. "I should've have to say this but don't stay on the floor at all when you're knocked down. In a real fight your opponent would be kicking you in the teeth by now." Alex stated in a firm tone. He did give her a nod of approval when she kicked herself up off the ground.

Soon the two of them were at it again, and Alex darted to the left to avoid getting hit by the axe kick, but instead of dodging the uppercut he instead cupped his hands together over his stomach so her hand slammed into his palm. She hit with quite a bit of force, to the point that Alex wondered if the two of them were equal in strength. Alex then held up his left arm so the next attack was blocked by his forearm instead of hitting his chest. However instead of simply waiting for her to pull her arm back before he attacked, Alex instead turned sideways so his right shoulder was facing the ice manipulator and shifted his weight so most of it was on his left leg and swung his elbow towards her nose.

However at the same time he was swinging his elbow at her face kicked at the back of her legs with his right leg to trip her up. If it worked he might send her down onto the ground again. To show her that he wasn't kidding about kicking her while she was down, Alex then quickly planted his right foot on the ground so he could lift up his left leg and bring it down on top of her stomach if she had fallen over... or onto her feet if she was still standing. Either one would really hurt.

"A huntress needs to be able to keep fighting even while distracted. Tell me Averia, what is the reason you came to Syne?"

OOC:

It wasn't that Averia chose to lie down on the dirty floor, oh no. Dirt was a taboo to her. Her stamina just couldn't keep up with the teacher's pace; her body wasn't trained for prolonged close-quarters combat.

Just as her backhand was blocked, the professor was already delivering an elbow strike directed to her face. Her right hand shot forward to block the elbow with her palm. But just as quickly, a swipe underneath her legs caused her to lose her footing. W-what.. Again?! Accompanied by the force of this elbow strike, she gasped as she couldn't do anything but fall back onto the ground helplessly. A painful impact and she winced as she hit the floor for the second time, knocking most of the wind out of her.

"W-wait.." she whispered, still a little lightheaded from the fall, until a large foot came crashing down to her stomach.

Her eyes blazed a bright blue and her left hand shot up to block the oncoming foot with her palm. That caused the elbow of the said hand to be propped against the floor, effectively stopping the kick. Now it was her time to strike. The left hand grabbed the ankle, then she pushed herself to sit up to make him lose his balance and at the same time used her other hand to strike a blow behind the knee of his other leg. She used all her strength and what little weight she had to counter-balance him and slam him on his back, immediately assuming a position on his torso to straddle him and deliver a punch to his face and left gut.

Battle Log:

Alex was glad to see that see that she was able to block his first attack even while her own attack was still going, showing him that she was more then capable of adapting to the battle at hand. However now that she found herself on the floor again Alex was hoping that she was now learning on how to see when that attack was coming. "If your opponent finds a way that they can get inside your defenses, they'll always try to exploit it. Think about how I'm knocking you down and WHOA!" Alex had started to instruct her on how to better her defense around her legs when she tried to use his own tripping attack against him.

However Alex knew how to avoid it by simply jumping in the air over the blow aimed for his knee, but when he landed on only one foot and saw that she had a good hold of his other foot he had a feeling as to what was coming next. He also knew he was going to have trouble avoiding it... and from the look in her eyes it seemed as if she was getting serious. Sure enough he was right and he found himself falling onto his back with an "Oof!" Now the tables had turned and Alex clearly saw that she had learned from the times she was on the ground by trying to pin him with her weight.

However when the punches came at him, Alex managed to hold up both hands and catch her attacks. "Good! Nice to see you've already learned that trick. Most others don't learn it till the 5th time they've been knocked down." Alex stated with a smile, clearly happy about her capabilities. However just because he was glad to see her improving already didn't mean he was going to let up. He quickly slammed both feet on the ground just behind Averia in an attempt to flip them both over so Averia would be on the ground while Alex would be on top of her. Instead of pinning her down with his weight though he was up on his knees with his hands trying to slam her wrists to the ground. He viewed holding her down the way she tried to hold him down as rather inappropriate on his part. Now was another test for her; getting out of a ground hold. "You still haven't answered my question though. Why did you come to Syne? You clearly look like you're from a rich family, so you could've gotten into any of the academies. Why this one?"

However Alex did noticed that she was having trouble catching her breath. He might have to call a break soon...

OOC:

Clearly Averia wasn't staying on top of him for long as the strength of his legs was strong enough to flip them around again. The girl managed to use her forearms to soften the blow of having to be slammed on her back for the third time, but that didn't help with her dilemma as she was now underneath him. Her wrists were next to be pinned down though she was able to put an equal amount of strength to resist the damage from the force of the slam.

Averia huffed, her eyes returning back to their opaque blue colour. She didn't perspire for Frosts had a natural cooling mechanism that didn't involve sweating. But that didn't mean she wasn't tired. She was clearly exhausted.

She looked up at the teacher to answer his question all the while thinking of a method to get out of the hold. "Why did I come to Syne? Cause I want to. It's fun." She said simply before using the same technique her professor used to flip them around: slamming both feet on the ground. However, that didn't seem to do the trick since her wrists were still pinned and thus couldn't use much of her upper body strength. She kicked her legs behind him in desperate struggle, trying to roll to her side as well. "This.. grr.. get off! How do I get out of this?!" She growled.

And then an idea popped in her head. She hooked each leg underneath the professor's arms, before pressing them down to once again push the man on his back. At the same time she'd use his momentary distraction to free his hold on her wrists to push herself up and pounce back on top of him, straddling him once again. She located his wrists, grabbed them and slammed them to the ground just like what he had done to her. But this time she let go of her hold. A thin layer of ice had solidified around his wrists and to the ground to pin them in place.

"We agreed it's an unarmed combat, but you didn't say semblance is not allowed. This is still unarmed close-quarters," she said, still panting with a rather evil smile on her face. The ice wasn't meant to keep his wrists for long, but it was enough to buy her time to clasp both hands with each other, bring it up over her head and slam it back down to his chest for a hammer blow.

"How about you, professor? Why are you a teacher in Syne?"

Battle Log:

Alex nodded upon hearing Averia's answer, though in truth it wasn't much of an answer. "Fun eh? Well if that's the case then you could've done that at any of the academies... or a theme park for that matter." Alex replied as he nodded in approval of her ability to flip them back over by learning what he did a few seconds ago, though he had managed to brace himself for it. "I can think of, meh, about three to four ways you could get out of this right now. Don't give up now though." Alex responded before he noticed her locking her legs under his arms. What was she planning?

Next thing he knew he was on his back again and she managed to pull her wrists free of his hands... but what he didn't expect was for the sudden chill around his wrists... or for them to be completely immovable. He glanced upwards, saw his arms stuck within icy shackles, and he looked back at Averia when she grinned. "Very true, but you don't have to rub it in." Alex stated as an emerald glow started to shine from within the ice. Alex was growing the seeds that were attached to the cuffs of his combat shirt to grow into wooden bracers. He was in a sense expanding his forearms to break the ice that held him.

Just before Averia slammed her hands into chest Alex managed to break free of the icy bonds with his own semblance and quickly lifted up his hands to catch her attack within his open hands. He could clearly she she was breathing hard even though she wasn't sweating, though he was starting to sweat and began to breath a little harder himself. "Need a breather? I've been pushing you kinda hard." He offered while the wooden bracers that had been grown around his wrists began to shrink back into their seeds. "As for coming to Syne, well that's written all over my interview in the Syne Post. I wanted to help this academy become even greater to the point that it would be considered the 5th symbol of peace for all of Remnant. Now, would you mind getting off? This position is rather awkward." Alex stated as he rolled his right shoulder, and this time what sounded like knuckles cracking could be heard coming from the shoulder.

OOC:

Averia's eyebrows raised in approval as he used his own semblance against hers to break free from the ice and catch her hammer blow inches before it hit his chest. And now she was bloody tired. Once her hands were released she placed them against his chest for a moment to support herself while catching her breath. "A rest would be good... right about now." She said softly and chuckled at his response to her question. "Ah yes, I remember reading that in the newspaper. Quite the noble hero, aren't you?" she teased.

At the mention of their position, she nodded and got off of him. With a wave of a hand she produced a royal ice chair to which she sat on tiredly, crossing her legs as she did so. She propped an elbow on the arm of the chair with her cheek on her fist and took the time to rest. Looking at the professor, she couldn't help but notice he didn't look tired at all. It's no surprise really; judging from his muscular frame, his strength and speed, it's expected that his stamina developed over time as well.

"So what happened to your right arm? I see you keep rotating it every now and then. Careful now, you wouldn't want a student accidentally attacking that arm during a spar~" She grinned. It was a casual question to open a conversation. Whether he answered or not didn't matter for she understood that some things are meant to be kept a secret.

The moment that Averia had called Alex a noble hero, he just had to look at her like she was crazy, then laughed. "Me? A hero? Heck no! A hero doesn't completely blow it in the finals of the Vytal festival by gloating, resulting in him taking himself out. No, I am nooooo hero." Alex responded, knowing that Averia should of seen that part of his interview in the article. It was partly meant as a joke, but on the other hand he did have a point. A person that makes that type of mistake normally didn't last as long has he had. Once the young woman finally got off of him, Alex stood up, created his own chair made of wood and padded with leaves, and took a seat... though unlike the ice manipulator Alex's chair grew a set of leg rests like how a recliner had, so his feet were off the ground.

As he sat there catching his breath he looked over to his right and saw a vending machine off in the hallways. He pulled out his wallet, grew a single vine, and held a couple of dollars above. A pair of leaves grew out of the vine and grabbed the money by pinching the cash together with the leaves, and then it grew towards the vending machines. A few moments later there was the sound of a Ka-CLUNK, followed by another one, and the vine retracted with two water bottles. Alex grabbed one and tossed it to Averia, then he started to open the one he had to have a quick drink. "Judging by the fact that you can create ice out of the water in the air, one could make the assumption that you can absorb the water from the air so you don't have to drink, but it's there if you want it."

However when his current pupil asked what happened to his arm, he gave her a look that basically said 'are you kidding me?' "Uh... you saw me wielding my wrecking ball on the beach, right? You just faced me, right? Did you see me having any trouble? No? Then theirs your answer. Anyone that tries to take advantage of that gets a really rude wake up call in the form of my weapon flattening them." Alex responded in a flat tone, but because the edges of his mouth was twitching it was clear that he found the situation a little humorous. "As for what happened to my shoulder... well..." Alex glanced away as his voice trailed off and as he rubbed his shoulder. He knew what happened... it had been done to him by his old teammate while he was under the control of a mind control dust... and after it happened Alex was forced to kill him and the rest of his own team to catch the man responsible for destroying the minds of his team. After a moment of silence, Alex looked back at Averia just as a single tear started to roll down his cheek. He couldn't talk about it, nor could he bring himself to lie to her either. "As I said, some of my scars are for remembering my failures. That one is for my worst failure. I might tell you about it, but not now." Alex replied.

He then wiped the tear off of his face. He had to change the subject. "Out of curiosity, have you ever considered combining your weapons with your semblance to pull of some trick shots? It could give you a tactical advantage against a stronger opponent."

Averia raised a hand to catch the water bottle he threw, then twisted the cap to open it. "Actually, I can only turn water into ice then manipulate it, not direct water control. So yes I do need a drink. I appreciate it." She smiled and took a sip. She chuckled when he humoured her with how he'd flatten everyone that attempts to strike his right arm. Though what followed was silence. And then a tear. Her eyes widened as she saw him shed a tear and she quickly averted her gaze, unsure what to do. It was meant as a question. She didn't mean to invade in his personal miseries. It must have been a very painful failure for a tough guy like him to shed a tear over a memory of it. Good thing, the professor was quick to change the subject asking if she considered using her semblance and weapon to defeat a stronger opponent.

"Stronger opponent?" Averia snickered at that and shook her head lightly. "I don't know the meaning of that, professor. I never really considered anyone stronger than me. Even you. No offense. Once an opponent defeats me, then I'll acknowledge he's stronger. Until then... I'm better."

Averia's gaze landed on her bag and she raised a hand towards it. Immediately the guns in her holsters shot to her hand, its surface covered in ice that enabled her to manipulate them. "And to answer your question, yes, I know how to use my semblance well with my guns. Even better since there's two of them and they're ranged weapons."

She let go of the guns and they floated in midair supported by the ice coating their surface. They spun around her for a brief moment, aimed towards the professor and fired four bullets at him. Just before they would hit though, the bullets stopped midair then turned around to show that the back of the bullets were covered in ice. "Not only the guns, I can completely alter the movement of my bullets."

The four bullets spread out on each side of the professor and almost immediately, ice spikes elongated from the bullets, still just floating in the air. "And create larger projectiles out of them." She snapped her fingers, exploding the ice spikes into sharp tiny ice shards that also stopped midair before they can cause him damage. "Explosion." She waved a hand to show that the bullets are still there free to be manipulated and to be used for a follow up attack. "and Distraction." Another snap of her fingers and everything turned into water. Her guns dropped back onto her hands while the bullets landed on the ground.

"Like this, there is no 'stronger opponent' for me. I have more tricks up my sleeve but what use are they if I'm fighting mindless grimms anyway." Averia sighed.

So he managed to get a chuckle out of her. That was good, though it was of no surprise that she went silent when some of his weakness showed. That was of no surprise. After all he was a veteran huntsman that she had seen wielding one of the hardest weapons to utilize and partly throw her around like a rag doll, only for him to cry when asked about his shoulder. Unlike most seasoned hunters Alex didn't put his emotions on ice. From his perspective, putting aside emotions just made them more like the monstrous Grimm. Considering how dark humanity could go, Alex saw that removing emotions completely was just another step to humans becoming Grimm altogether.

However when Averia responded to his 'stronger' comment, Alex bit his lower lip and said. "Okay, wrong word. How about 'dumb ass that refuses to go down to conventional means?' That work for ya?" Alex asked with a small smile. That was when Averia started to show off what she could do with her ice powers and guns, and Alex's eyes widened in awe with each demonstration of her capabilities. By the time she was done, Alex started to clap. "That was F****** awesome. You don't need my help when it comes to semblance. Seriously, put that ice on different parts of you and you could out right fly! Anyone's jaw would drop at that. I've never met her but I'm pretty sure even that Professor Haze wouldn't be able to deny that semblance of yours is awesome." Alex exclaimed.

However he started to wonder. "Now I know you said that you find coming to Syne fun, but mind if I ask why you decided to become a huntress?"

Of a very rare moment, Averia bit her lower lip and lowered her head, letting golden strands of hair cover her flushed cheeks. Growing up from a family of perfectionists, she had never heard someone compliment her skills like that before, especially her semblance use. Most people would simply nod and drop the 'as expected' response, like it was just a normal thing. Thus she never truly felt 'strong' due to her own efforts but simply as a result of genetics. This was severely amplified when that old-hag defeated her semblance with a simple use of fire dust; the only thing she took pride of and still wasn't enough. Deep inside, Averia had a lot of insecurities she constantly tried to cover up by looking down on people. So it was a good change of pace that this veteran fighter complimented her skills, albeit a simple one.

And of course it just had to be ruined by that old-hag's name.

"Did you really have to mention her? Did you really have to change the mood that fast?!" Averia groaned. "You know what, now that we're in that topic, do me a favour and used that right arm of yours to squash that woman's face. Actually, just go meet her now and see for your yourself. I'm pretty sure that'll be the end result anyway." She huffed.

The mere mention of that woman's name was enough to make blood boil again. Her eyebrow twitched at every memory from that spar. Gah! She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Just as he asked why she became a huntress, Averia hopped out of her chair and waved a hand. The chair broke into tiny ice shards, the water on the floor crystallized into ice, the bullets and her gun floated midair, and with another flick of her wrist, everything swept out of the arena to clear their fighting space.

She jumped lightly on her feet while stretching her neck from side to side to loosen her muscles before facing the professor in her unarmed stance.

"Let's go. I'm pretty sure a man of your calibre doesn't need that much time to rest." Averia smiled. "And to answer your question, I became a huntress because it's fun. It's all for the fun~"

As the Professor gave Averia the complement he noticed a change in her posture.  Was she not used to getting compliments on her capabilities?  If that was the case then he felt a little sorry for her.  Her abilities with her semblance were amazing, she learned very quickly, and thus far she hit rather hard.  Give her time, she very well might be able to complete with some of the greatest hunters out there.

However he was rather taken aback by Averia's reaction when he mention Haze.  I should've said Headmistress Leena Lilac instead. Alex begrudgingly thought as he looked down at the floor and shook his head.  "I'm sorry.  I wasn't aware that she irked you so much.  If it helps at all, feel free to take your frustrations out on me during our next spar." Alex apologized, then he looked up at her.  "You don't have to tell me why she bothers you so much if you don't want to." Alex finished before he saw Averia stand up and eliminate her ice throne, stating that she was ready for round two now.  "You're right.  I've been ready for a while.  However since this is your training session, we were going to wait till you were ready." Alex responded as he stood up, but his chair didn't vanish.

Alex then glanced around the training arena they were in, snorted, and then looked back at Averia with a smirk and his eyes were glowing with emerald light.  "You know, I believe that in time you'll be capable of making the legendary Qrow sweat bullets if he ever had to face you in battle.  Lets turn this spar up a notch so it's worthy of your potential." Alex stated before his emerald aura started to glow and shimmer as it floated around him like fluttering leaves.

The wooden chair that Alex had been sitting on started to glow with emerald light and it quickly melted into a pile of vines that quickly spread across the floor of the arena and wrapped around each other to make the floor uneven but to also make the rear left corner of the arena a small hill while there was a low area that made up the entire front right part of the arena.  2 story tall trees grew up around the outer edges of the arena and some vines hung from the trees, clearly meant to be swung from, while other trees had vine bridges stretching between them on the second story level.  Every tree had several limbs sticking out that would allow someone to climb them while some were thick enough for two people to stand on them and fight.  Several logs grew out along the ground in the center of the ring, while a lone log stretch across the dipped area like a bridge.  Flowers bloomed all over the place and they started to shoot glowing pollen into the air so the air had only 80% percent visibility.  The flowers that bordered the dipped area started to overflow with nectar, filling the dipped area so it was now a small nectar pond that was roughly two inches deep.

Alex had transformed the arena into a battlefield out of some sort of fairy tale, and he just stood there in the center with his arms crossed over his chest with a smile on his face.  Not a mocking smile, or a proud smile, but rather a smile that said 'I look forward to this so you can impress me yet again.'  "Very few battles are fought in a clean and flat environment such as our training arenas.  You must learn to fight in environments that will test you at every moment.  You must learn to use your environment to your advantage against your opponent.   Are you ready?"

OOC: