TKO! (private/Averia)

No, she didn't know who this Qrow was. Probably some hunter hero or something. But as the professor stood there with a smirk on his face, she wondered what he had in mind.

Her eyes widened and her arms dropped to her side as the next few moments caught her breath. Avery stood there, staring in marvel as the boring and flat arena turned into a paradise straight out of a fantasy book. What started out as a wooden chair grew into trees, flowers, going as far as change the terrain and even the visibility of the air. Ever since her shadow mission with that gardener, she grew to love nature and had come to appreciate the beauty of it. Thus this was a spectacle to her.

With a smirk, she focused her eyes back to the man responsible for all of this. "You're not so bad yourself, professor. Although there is a function in the arena's control panel to change the simulation. You just wanted to show off, didn't you?" she teased playfully. "Well, it's effective. I'm awed."

She went back to her stance, more excited for this battle than ever. Her eyes caught sight of a small log by her feet. Raising her right foot, she stomped against the log to split it in half, then kicked the back half towards the professor. Using her momentum, she spun around and followed with another kick to the front half so both logs were heading towards him. Then she dashed towards the man. Wherever he was after the log attacks, she jumped to the air and twist her body to deliver a flying back spin kick towards the right side of his face.

Battle Log:

Alex saw how Averia marveled at the arena he was creating and that made his smile grow even more. He knew from his class that she would only eat veggies but he didn't realize that she really like plants... that or she was impressed by his capabilities. In reality it was only the tip of the iceberg of what he could do. However he never even tried to go all out ever since that horrible day 5 years ago. However this wasn't a full on duel to the death, it was a simple training session so all that was needed for this was a simple light show. "Meh. Those holographic battlefields might be able to make a forest but they really can't limit visibility and do a water hazard and all of... this, at the same time. Besides, I been needing to give my semblance a good stretch." Alex said with a smile.

And with that the second round began. The first log that came flying at Alex he simply leaned to the side and let it fly passed him while he slapped the second one to the side with his left arm so it didn't hit him straight on, but he did have a graze on that arm now. As the foot came up towards his head though, Alex lifted both hands and stopped the leg by grabbing it in mid-air. Then with a grin he turned to his left while trying to throw Averia towards the nectar pond with just enough force to land near the edge. Getting out of his grip would've been rather easy as to prevent, and if she knew how to land from a throw like that she'd be able to get through it without getting hurt. Now though the big question was could she regain her footing on uneven ground?

Not letting her get back on the offensive, Alex charged at her and tried to kick at her legs with his left leg to knock her off balance... or so it seemed. At the last second the attack became a feint as he changed the angle of the kick to go upwards towards her stomach. Hit or miss the foot then landed onto the ground so Alex's back was facing Averia, but he quickly swung around to give her a horrid backhand with his right fist. This battle was just getting warmed up.

green:

Avery already anticipated a grab to her leg as that would be the most logical thing to do to counter an air kick. She twisted her body and hands locking to grab at his arm for a followthrough but apparently she had underestimated his strength. The force of the throw was strong enough that her hands slipped from her hold and she was propelled back. Cursing at her own mistake, she turned her body and performed a back flip in the air to land on the ground on her feet by the edge of the dip.

The blonde-haired spared a glance over her shoulder towards the nectar pond and grimaced slightly. No, she wouldn't want her feet stepping on that at all. All too soon, the professor was at her again, kicking towards her legs forcing her to jump lightly in the air, but her eyes widened when the direction changed and headed towards her stomach. Still in the air, she placed her hands over the leg and used it as a leverage to push herself higher to dodge the attack. She did the same to the incoming backhand - blocking it with her own forearm first before grabbing it and using it as a leverage to manoeuvre herself to land on the ground behind the professor.

Standing back to the back now, she hooked her right arm around his neck, using that as a distraction to strike at the back of his knee just like he did to her before, then used her strength on her arm to bend forward to slam him on his back towards the nectar pond. During the back slam, she had angled her right knee so it'll hit him on his side as well.

Battle Log:

In all honesty Alex had half expected Averia to be unharmed by his attempt to throw her, though he didn't anticipate how she would avoid damage. Grabbing his arm to use his own attack against him? That was smart! "Good try! Little faster and you would've had me." Alex commented with a smile and a nod before resuming his attack. Neither one of his next attacks hit the mark either. She was good at evading him and using his own moves to assist her, so he was rather pleased with her.

Now they were back to back, which was a rather awkward position to be in weather as the attacker or the defender since anything could happen. Turns out though that Averia was prepared for it by trying to wrap her arm around Alex's neck. The professor quickly lifted his arms and grabbed the student's arm to pull her limb of his neck, but also lifted his left foot to knee height to be planted into the ground farther behind him to act as support in case she tried to toss him to ground. As he had his foot up in the air he felt something hit his left foot and he realized she had tried to kick his leg out from under him. Soon his left leg was planted on the ground behind him and Averia did what he had expected from her; attempting to throw in him into the ground. His braced left leg prevented this though so all she managed to do was tilt him back a little. He felt something hard jab him in the side but ignored it, even though it was going to leave a bruise.

Alex then grabbed onto the shoulder of the arm that was wrapped around his neck and quickly bent forwards while pulling Averia with both arms, trying to throw her over his shoulder towards the nectar pond. As she came off he tried to kick her with his leg to send her farther into the pond. "We've been throwing each other into the ground most of the first bout. You repeatably use the same tactic against your opponent they will learn from it and soon figure out how to stop it or use it against you. Mix it up a bit. Use the unorthodox." Alex stated while he ran his left hand through his hair to smooth it back into position. As he said this though a slightly nervous look crossed his face. He might of changed the battlefield but the fight really hadn't increase in intensity. He was stuck in 3rd gear now, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out how to step it up another notch.

OOC:

"Heh."

Avery managed a small laugh as she was suddenly thrown over his shoulder. Unlike before where her competitive spirit was overflowing, this time she was beginning to treat everything like a game. Her eyes widened, sparkling with thrill, very uncharacteristic of her usual full concentration in battle. It was like her personal playtime now. That didn't mean she was losing focus. No. On the contrary, it only meant one thing: she was beginning to take this seriously.

Her forearms raised to easily block the kick that sent her farther back into the pond. But not too far. Almost immediately a platform of ice appeared midair vertically and she flipped around so her feet landed on it. The platform shot forward, giving the girl a high-speed boost towards the professor and she pulled back her arm, delivering a powerful punch to his exposed stomach strong enough to drag him off his feet along with her momentum. With her fist still in his stomach, she planted her feet on the ground hard and slammed him on his back to the floor with the same arm. She raised her leg and stomped him on the chest, putting pressure on it before kicking off to propel herself back. Her feet landed on a trunk of a tree to which she kicked herself again for a speed boost to deliver a punch to his face.

"Hehe.. better step up your game, professor."

Battle Log:

As Averia started to laugh as Alex flipped her over his shoulder, Alex couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at this. It was strange that made Alex think she wasn't really paying attention. He was also wondering why she seemed unhurt even though his attempt to throw her was successful. However as she blocked his kick and then stopped herself from falling into the nectar pond by landing on a floating ice platform, Alex realized that Averia wasn't losing focus but was actually going all out. Well... This is a training session for her capabilities to get better. Which means that if she wins then it was a overwhelming success... and that I'm only a shadow of what I used to be. Alex thought as Averia came flying at him, using her ice platform as a magic carpet or some such.

However she wasn't the only one that could use her semblance to move at high speed. As she rocketed towards him the vines under his feet disconnected themselves from the surrounding vines, twisted together to become a log under Alex's feet that had centipede-like legs. The Just before Averia's attack hit Alex the legged log quickly took off with Alex still standing on top of it, thus pulling him out of Averia's reach. The log continued pull Alex out of Averia's reach when she tried to send him to the ground, and again as she tried to kick him in the chest. The centipede log just kept going as it carried Alex out of range of Averia's final punch, though by now he had reached the small hill and the centipede log started to carry him up the hill. "Step it up? All I did was stand here! I bet you couldn't stand that, could you?" Alex quipped with a mischievous smirk, pleased with his bad pun. If she was gonna treat this as a game, then so was he.

Suddenly the walking log stopped and the legs dug into the vines that made up the hill before the log suddenly tripled in size, sending Alex rocketing up into the air as if he had just hit a spring platform in a sonic game. After doing a single flip in the air, Alex came down towards Averia. However instead of landing beside Averia to attack her, or behind her, or in front of her... Alex came down right on top of her feet first in a slam, and then quickly swung both fists at her at the same time, his left hand aimed for her stomach while his right was aimed at her head. "Is this a spar or are the two of us just seeing what the other is capable of?" Alex asked with a smirk, ready to take on a rather long battle.

OOC:

Avery frowned as she wasn't very pleased with the way he dodged her attacks. It was very... mediocre, to say the least. Sure she used her semblance to attack, but she didn't ride it. It was aimed to propel her forward in the air for a speed boost and after that, everything was done using her own punches and kicks. He, on the other hand, outright used his semblance to do everything for him and even seemed to be proud of it. If this had been that type of battle, Avery could just sit down and let her ice do all the talking. But maybe he simply misunderstood what she meant? Perhaps she should tell him in detail so they could come into an understanding.

The blonde-haired watched as his log tripled in size and sent him up into the air, the very same thing she did with her semblance a while ago albeit it was towards him instead of the air. And she wondered why he didn't do the same - just use it towards her direction for a speed boost. That would've caught her off-guard for sure. Instead, he gave her enough time to prepare for his landing, to which she simply took two steps back to easily dodge a slam, then brought her two hands up to easily block the punches with her palms. No. This was too easy for her. Both her hands grabbed his wrists but she just stayed in that position for she had something more to say.

"This is what I'm talking about, prof," she said as she looked at him eye to eye. "Your defensive manoeuvres are excellent no doubt, but that's a nature of us humans. Our survival instincts allow us to become better in defending ourselves. Even I told you beforehand that I'm good at it. But what I'm here to learn is your offense, remember? Did you notice that you've been recycling your moves or even using mine ever since the break? And since I'm human too, I learn to adapt. You need to step up! You're stuck and I don't appreciate that! I'm here to learn from the best, you, so what's taking you so long to bring me down?!"

With that, she pulled him towards her harshly then tapped a foot on the ground which immediately shot up an ice-pillar from underneath her. The pillar was thick enough to support only her, thus its edges would've smashed up against his chest or under his chin as it went up. By this time of course she had let go of him already. The pillar's motion sent the girl high up in the air to reveal that there were actually 5 pillars overall summoned around the professor, evenly spaced and placed with him in the centre. As she started to descend, she planted her feet against the body of the first pillar then kicked off to propel herself to the second pillar, landing on its body, then kicked herself off again towards the next pillar. This continued throughout the five pillars, bouncing off from pillar to pillar to gain momentum and building up speed. With the combination of her light weight, above average speed and strength, she was zooming in blinding speed.

Once she found an opening, she bounced off a pillar and punched him in the face, landing on another pillar behind him then bounced off again to send a kick to the back of his left shoulder. She built more momentum again both to increase his speed and to distract him, before sending another kick to the back of his knees this time.

"Ahahaha! Remember, I'm here to learn from you, not the other way around. So, show me your creative moves that caught me off-guard and helpless like the first half of this spar! Hahaha!"

Avery knew she wouldn't win against him and thus was prepared to lose even before the start of the match. He was a teacher and a veteran after all - an opponent she acknowledged as someone 'stronger' than her, at least, in this type of combat. However, Avery was unforgiving as well. She wasn't planning to hand the professor his victory just to appease him. No. He had to take it by force, literally.

Battle Log:

His attacks missed again. No surprise there for him, though it quickly became apparent that he was starting to disappoint his student. As she started to explain this Alex listened closely while trying to figure out why he was having so much trouble with this battle. He was seriously stuck in third gear and he couldn't get himself out of it. Why couldn't he bring himself to fight any harder? The thought started to nag at him with the same intensity as a spider in someone's ear; it couldn't be ignored. Yeah he was a shell of his former self but surely he could do better then this. At this rate he might as well stop the fight, tell her he's a wash out, and then leave with his heart on the ground. However something was preventing him from doing that, but he wasn't sure as to what. In the end Alex sighed and nodded. "True. You do deserve a bit better then this." Alex responded before he was nearly pulled into an ice pillar, but he prevented himself getting her by lifting his right leg and planting it on the pillar and pushed himself away from it.

As the ice manipulator started to dart between the pillars and gaining speed, Alex in turn kept his gaze locked onto her while the large arena that he had made with his power started to shrink and vanish. Even any nectar that might of been sticking to Averia just seemed to vanish. Just before the gunslinger attacked all that was left of the beautiful field that Alex had made was the walnut that he had used to grow it all, and it sat on the floor just outside the ring of ice pillars. Avoiding Averia's next two attacks was rather easy; for the attack aimed at his head he simply leaned to the right, followed by him ducking to avoid the kick aimed for his shoulder. He might of been slower but that didn't mean he couldn't dodge her attacks. It's just that the distance that he was moving was a lot smaller then what she was doing. She was going to tire herself out again before too long... and there was another form of combat he didn't use yet. It wasn't fancy but it was very effective: pressure points.

As the attack aimed for Alex's knees came, he stepped aside to avoid getting his knees busted, but as she passed he cupped his right hand and slammed it against her right ear, a move commonly known to discombobulate opponents by forcing a large amount of high pressure air against the ear drum, making it ring and vibrate to the point that people have trouble functioning. It was quickly followed up by a punch from his left hand aimed at the nerve cluster located in her right armpit. The fly by assault was finished by Alex using his right leg to kick her in the back just above the kidneys were another nerve cluster was located. The blows wouldn't do much damage but the pain was paralyzing. "Alright then. No more semblance from me then." he said while he glowing emerald eyes were locked onto her to see if she was able figure out how to shake off the crippling blows.

OOC:

"Hehe.." Avery grinned as the first two attacks missed the professor. She expected just as much. Her eyes was still glowing a bright blue from the overflow of her aura. When her last attack missed with a simple sidestep she clicked her tongue. That would've been a nice hit. Through the corner of her eyes she saw movement from him but the rest of the attack was cut off for it was aimed on her blind side. Probably a normal jab.

She raised her forearm to block the incoming hit to her face, but the target wasn't her face. Her eyes widened as within split seconds something exploded in her head and a loud ringing sensation echoed through her ears. Clenching her jaw, she tried to withstand the pain just for those few seconds in order to defend herself against the followthrough attack, but without her hearing - a vital part in close-quarters combat - she was fully vulnerable. A strike to her side then a strike to the back.

Avery dropped to the ground with an agonized scream. Her left hand clutched her side as she reeled in pain, breathing erratically at the excruciating pain that coursed through from her head, side and back. It was like she pulled a muscle but ten times worse. All her strength was seeped out from her. 'Don't stay on the floor at all when you're knocked down.' His words reminded her of her current position.

Her eyes glowed once again as she attempted to produce a temporary ice sphere to encase herself within, but even that was halted as she couldn't focus away from the pain. In the end she laid there on her side, defenseless and panting to recover her strength. If she had been in a real battle, she would've died by then.

"Heh... I don't know what you did... but it's brilliant.." she said. Perhaps provoking the man wasn't a very good idea in her part. "I didn't say you shouldn't use your semblance, but... if this is you without even using it, then you're a beast." She grinned.

Sighing one last time, she flipped herself up, staggering a little before facing him again. Avery now saw the professor in a whole new light. It only took her a few words to say he needed to step up his game and he did bring it to her. Quite a fighter this person was. He was in an entirely different level from her, or even that stupid old hag. "Alright... that was a thing. I'll make sure to keep an eye on it from now on, Alex. "

Battle Log:

Averia's scream echoed in Alex ears as she collapsed to the floor, clearly in pain. Seeing this made Alex wonder if he had gone too far, but in truth it was another form of combat that he could teach her... and judging from her reaction it was clear that she had never encountered it before. As Alex looked down at her while she writhing in pain, he decided that the spar should stop for now and he relaxed his stance while his glowing emerald eyes slowly returned to their normal dark brown. He saw small frost crystals form around the fallen student, but nothing else had formed. Now he really knew he went too far.

"Cupping your hand and slamming it against someone's ear greatly increases the air pressure in their ear to the point that it causes confusion and a dazed state, along with a ringing sensation. Striking at pressure points can quickly disable an opponent. Any opponent, no matter how study they are, can't withstand having a direct strike done to a nerve cluster. They won't be able to think about anything but how much it hurts. No one would want to continue a battle after feeling that kind of pain because they might fear the same kind of pain is in store for the rest of the battle." Alex explained. He gently grabbed her by the arm as she stood up and steadied her as she got to her feet. He wasn't picking her up off the ground, she had to do that herself, but he would prevent her from falling down again. "If you think that was something, consider that I wasn't using my semblance or my weapon. 'Beast' doesn't exactly fit the bill."

He then gave her a warm smile. "Well, Averia, withstanding attacks like that isn't easy, and yes I'm speaking from experience. It's best to attempt to avoid getting hit by them, though this isn't easy because the only way you can tell if it's a pressure point attack is if you can predict where the hit is gonna land. So..." Alex began before the walnut that had been used to create the large arena for them started to glow green again and began to grow. Once it was done, it looked a lot like a practice dummy, though it was clearly made of wood with vines and leaves tucked in here and there. "You have to learn where the pressure points on the human body are located. You can do this easily by memorizing them in a health book, or I could show you on this dummy where they're located. Up to you." Alex said with a shrug.

"Pressure points... I see."

Suddenly, Avery found this very interesting. It fitted her style perfectly. If she could master this technique, combined with her minimal-movement defense, she could preserve energy to cover up her lack of stamina and still manage to inflict just as much damage if not more. Yes, that could work. Just thinking about it and how she could incorporate it with her semblance and gunslinging made her eyes sparkle. But her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an amusing statement.

"If you think that was something, consider that I wasn't using my semblance or my weapon. 'Beast' doesn't exactly fit the bill."

Avery grinned and rolled her eyes at him. "Alright, braggart. We don't need to hear how great or godly you are, I get it." She chuckled.

Her eyes directed to the lone maple tree in the middle of the arena as it shifted into a dummy. She raised an eyebrow. Sure she was a fast-learner, but were pressure points that easy to master? Since it was setup anyway and she kind of needed a break after that shocking encounter, she might as well try.

"You can show me the basics for now and I'll study in detail on my own." She said then blinked and looked at him. "Is that fine with you?" she asked, suddenly sounding polite.

Upon seeing the interested look in Averia's eyes when Alex explained that he had attacked her pressure points, Alex realized that it was this type of fighting that Averia truly found interesting. Was it because she could see how much it hurt with such little force, or was it because it inflicted quite a bit of damage with little effort? What ever the case it was making her eyes sparkle like her ice pillars had sparkled when the light hit them just right. However when she made the godly comment, Alex couldn't help himself. "Yes! I am godly! I am awesome! I am full of myself! I am, wait wut?" He stated with a boastful voice but ended it with a rather baffled look... but the corners of mouth were twitching in an attempt to hide a smile. He loved to ham it up sometimes, and he couldn't miss that opening the gunslinger had made for him.

He calmed down after hearing her reply on wanting to practice with him first and then go study on her own. "Actually I was hoping you'd make that choice. Tells me that you really want to learn this." Alex stated with a nod before turning towards the wooden dummy. "The concept is fairly simple; you hit someone in a tender spot and the only thing they can fathom is the pain, in which case they will do one of several actions; they'll turn tail and run, they'll collapse in pain, they'll go completely defensive, or the pain will make it impossible for them to focus during the battle in which case they'll start fighting like a wild animal. There is no way to completely focus and fight normally if enough pressure points are hit."

Alex then placed his hand on the dummy to indicate a part of the chest, just at the bottom of the breast bone. "The issue with pressure points is that your targets are very small. Half an inch off the mark and you won't get the desired results. Same thing goes with trying to hit a small target with a rather large object; the force of the blow is more likely to be absorbed into the areas surrounding the pressure point then the pressure point itself. For instance I can get a good hit on a point with my hands, but there's no way my weapon Oblivinator could nail one even if I make a perfect bull's eye. Considering your wielding guns your bullets would have a better chance since their small, but hitting a target the size of a quarter at 100 paces isn't easy." Alex continued, pointing out some of the cons of attacking pressure points.

After that Alex started to point out each pressure point on the human body. "Some of the easier pressure points to hit is the Adam's Apple, which will not only hurt but will cut off air for a moment thus giving you a better chance to hit them again. Another one is striking just under the nose with an upwards thrust and it will send your opponents onto their backside. Under the arm is another one, along with the funny bone but that one's a little hard to hit when you want to. Just above the kidneys is really good since if you manage to get a really good hit you can paralyze you're opponent to the point that they'll be unable to even fall over. They'll be stuck standing till their top heavy heads makes them fall to their needs and then the floor. Ears are also good but you have to hit them with your hand cupped since you're forcing air into the ear to strike the ear drum. Then there's the obvious pressure point that most guys have. I shouldn't have to explain that one since the media loves to harp on that one." Alex explained, pointing at each pressure point on the wooden dummy as he explained it.

He finally turned back to face Averia. "At each pressure point on this dummy is an empty walnut. If you manage to hit a pressure point, you'll be rewarded with a satisfying cracking sound. If not, then you'll simply hear a thump. Ready to have at it?"

What a dork. Avery thought to herself with an amused smile as the professor showed his playful side.

As he began to explain the concept behind pressure points Avery was listening intently but at the same time her eyes occasionally shifted to the man beside her. She honestly didn't expect him to be this... knowledgeable in this field. Behind his humble facade was man with both brains and brawns. And he wasn't talking crap as well. He knew what he was teaching and was able to relay it in a brief yet understandable manner. A perfect teacher.

In a way she felt like it's such a waste of his talents to be in a small school like Syne when he could be shining in the Kingdom of Vale or Atlas. And yet, if he didn't become a teacher here, she wouldn't have met such an awesome person. So perhaps it's not such a waste after all.

Avery faced the dummy after he explained to her everything. Alright. So it wasn't as hard as she thought. It's just like applying CPR but with a more controlled force. It's time to show off her skills! Pulling back her hands, she used the hard part of her palm to deliver pressure point blows at the dummy on the adam's apple, kidney and a side blow under the arm. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Her face burned red at the three consecutive fails. "T-that was a warm up! I was just testing it out!" she explained. Facing it once again, she sent three strikes on the same target parts. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Frustrated, her jaw clenched. She took a step back and sent a kick right in between the dummy's legs, feeling satisfaction at the audible crack that followed. "Heh." She spared a glance at the professor and smirked.

"What? It's the easiest pressure point to hit." She shrugged. "But you know, I'm a visual learner so I get it faster when I see it even just once."

Alex crossed his arms and shifted his weight onto his left leg as he watched Averia take her first attempt at striking the pressure points of the dummy he had set up. The first time she struck at it all that could be heard was her hands striking the leaf padded branches that made up the dummy. She didn't hit any of the pressure points. "You came really close. Give it another try." was his only response before his student struck out at the dummy again, but got the same results. However clearly she was frustrated with it since she kicked it between the legs, and seeing it made him wince. "Ouch." was all that came out of his mouth though. There were several bad puns or dirty jokes he could make at that, but now wasn't the time.

"Like I said, you did get close. Don't fret on not getting it already. It took me a whole month before I was proficient enough in it to start using it in a real fight. However you've shown a lot of promise thus far so I'm guessing you'll get it before long. And since you said you're a visual learner, allow me." Alex stated before pulling another seed off of his belt, tossed it on the ground, and soon there was another wooden dummy that also produced an emerald glow. The second one was facing Alex however. "Now to hit the pressure point on the neck..." Alex began as he took a combat stance, then delivered a straight punch to lump in the dummy's throat, causing a loud CRACK. He then swung a right cross towards the dummy's right ear, but his hand was opened and cupped, the same way someone would have their hand as if they were swimming. The instant his cupped hand hit the ear, there was another CRACK though it came from deep within the dummy instead of on the surface. Alex continued to demonstrate on the dummy, including hitting under the arm and the kidney blow.

Afterwards Alex dusted off his hands and turned to face Averia. "Now you."

"I wasn't fretting," Avery said in defense as she folded her arms and watched closely as he demonstrated the proper way of doing the attack this time. As expected, she could hear nothing but cracks with every time his fists and hands came in contact with the dummy. Suddenly, thoughts of her striking everything perfectly flashed in her mind. It must feel heavenly.

All too soon, he was done and it was her turn. Avery gave a quick nod and faced her own dummy. Shifting into an offensive stance, with her side facing the wooden target, she brought her fists up to her chest and started. First target: adam's apple. Crack. Her eyebrows shot up at the sound as her open-palm blow hit the dummy's throat. Well that was easy. She shifted to her right to attack the ear this time, cupping her hand the way he did and delivered a swing full force strike to her target. Crack. Ooh, another one. Seems she was getting the hang of it. She proceeded with under the arm. Thud. Then to the kidney. Thud. Heh. So the last two was harder than she thought.

Not one to waste time, Avery began the ten consecutive strikes to these parts, ending with four cracks and six thuds. Forty percent accuracy. What a blunder for a gunslinger. She sighed and dusted her hands. "I think I got the gist of it. I'll just have to practice when I have the time. And of course try with a moving target next time."

Her eyes shifted towards him and she smirked teasingly. "Wanna volunteer to be my live dummy? Don't worry, I won't hit the pressure point between the legs. Well. No promises, but I'll try~"

Once again Alex had shifted his weight to one of his legs in a relaxed stance as he watched her go at her second attempt of attacking pressure points. As she struck out and started to get in good hits Alex nodded with each successful blow, showing his approval. However when ever she missed the mark he didn't react at all. It was as if he didn't care about her failings at first. In truth he didn't. This was only her second attempt at attempting to do something she only just heard of a few minutes ago. Of course she wasn't going to get a perfect bulls-eye. No one would first time around!

When she finally stopped and said she had it, Alex clapped his hands together, applauding her accomplishment. "Told you you could do it. You're actually doing far better then I did back when I first learned this." He said with a warm smile with a twinkle in his eye. However when she asked him if he'd be willing to help her practice this on a moving target, he bit his lower lip in thought. "Why me? I'm more then capable to making those dummies fight just as effectively as I can, and this way you can also learn how to handle yourself in a fist fight against multiple opponents. Two for one sale, right?" Alex said while motioning towards the dummies.

Right afterwards he said, "Meh." and quickly did a forwards flip kick aimed at her right shoulder. However instead of landing on his feet he actually started to roll forwards till he was upside down before he shot his feet up into the air and grabbed onto the ground with his hands and executed another helicopter kick aimed for her left hip. He then quickly flipped over onto his feet so he landed on her right side and attempted to hit her right ear with a cupped hand. He wasn't going to make this easy on her at all. The dummies, in the mean time, had fallen to the ground and had returned to being seeds.

OOC:

Avery gave a small shrug in bemusement when the professor applauded her 'accomplishment'. To a perfectionist like Avery, she didn't see it as an achievement as much as it was a disgrace. She knew the professor was merely raising her spirits up and she did appreciate the effort, but it didn't mean she wasn't aware of her current incapability of the matter. "Heh. Don't worry. I'll be better at it than you just you wait," Avery said in her typical confident tone. She wasn't talking brash however; she did mean what she said.

The gunslinger was in the middle of taking into consideration the man's offer with using wooden dummies and being efficient with handling multiple enemies at the same time when all of a sudden, a sharp blow managed to come in contact with her shoulder. Another of Avery's glaring weaknesses aside from dust was her lack of general awareness when out of combat. The force of the kick managed to catch her off-guard causing her to drop to one knee in bewilderment. The followthrough aimed at her hip connected with her arm instead and she winced, realising this was really happening. At the strike towards the ear, her reflexes woke up and she slapped his wrists with the back of her hand, causing the blow to breeze past the back of her head. Quickly she sprang up and gained distance from the man.

"I said next time, not now." Avery grinned. "But since you don't seem to mind. Why the hell not." She dashed forward and pulled back her hand, aiming to strike a kidney blow but changed the angle at the last minute and shot it up towards his neck. At the same time, her right hand curved to deliver a strike to the pressure point below the arm. Almost immediately, her left leg moved swift to kick him on the pressure point just above the kidney.

Battle Log:

Alex's attacks had caught her by surprise at first, resulting in his first attack striking home and knocking her lower, thus allowing his second attack to hit higher up on her then he had originally aimed.  She managed to block his third attack, but it was the final blow that would've done the most damage.  Still though, he had managed to get in a couple of good hits before she reacted.  "Little faster on getting your defenses up.  Grimm won't care what you're in the middle of.  They'll just strike no matter what." Alex stated in a stern tone.  He wasn't trying to put her down or be mean, he just wanted her to understand that she let her defenses down a little too much.

As Averia went on the offensive Alex bent his legs so he was a little lower to the ground and held his arms up in preparation for Averia's attacks.  He expected her to aim for his pressure points so that's what he intended to protect against.  His assumption was right and he was able block her attack aim for his throat by lifting his forearm to knock her punch to the side, and blocked the blow aimed for his under arm by ducking a little to the side so the blow glanced off his shoulder.  However thanks to his dodge in a partly crouched position he couldn't get out of the way of her kick, and it nailed the pressure point on his back.  Pain shot up his spine and made him growl like an angry bear.  "Gah.... good." Alex grunted through the pain, through the small smile on his face showed that he was pleased with her hitting the mark.

However before Averia could lower her leg Alex tried to hit her kicking leg just below the knee cap with his right fist, knowing that it would hurt like heck even though it wasn't a pressure point.  Right after the blow struck he tried to back flip kick her in the throat, aiming for the pressure point there though he doubted he'd hit it with a back flip kick.  That was followed by him lunging forwards towards her as fast as he possibly could with a straight punch aimed at the pressure point in her gut.  He had to be careful though since hitting there hard enough could make Averia puke on him.

OOC:

"I know. I'm working on it." Avery groaned at his reminder about her defenses. Her first two attacks were easily avoided just as she expected. But when she was able to connect a hit to his back, she felt an odd sense of satisfaction. Perhaps due to it being technique-sensitive that hitting one gave a feeling of fulfillment.

But that didn't last long as her eyes widened upon seeing his next move. There was no way in hell she could've done anything other than receive the full impact to her leg. Avery exhaled in pain and all the more so when she brought the leg down to support her weight. It would've collapsed under her had the professor not follow up with a backflip. Bringing both hands by her throat, she managed to block the kick and the upward force allowed her to stay on her feet. The next attack was easier to block with the palm of her hand since the landing from the backflip gave her time to prepare.

Avery clenched her teeth as she applied equal force against his fist. Due to her light weight, she had always been skidding back and applying force from her lower body whenever she blocked an attack. This time was different however for her left knee was still recovering from the pain. The momentum of the punch, made her skid back and a single step from her left leg caused it to collapse, sending her on her back against the ground just as she'd expected. A few profanities aside, Avery used her lowered advantage to raise both feet and kick off the professor on his stomach, at the same time flipping herself back up her feet and immediately sending a side blow to his right ear with her cupped left hand. She then spun past him and delivered a backhand fist towards his back, on the area just below the kidney.

Battle Log:

As Alex's attack on Averia's leg connected, he started to consider how much of a beating she had taken thus far. The amount was considerable, more then enough to make most people worried. While it was true that Alex had taken a pounding as well, the fact of the matter was that he had trained himself to take such punishment and keep going. Each time he had hit his student he could tell that she had trained to take a hit as well considering when he hit her her muscles felt like a rock. However just because you could endure a hit didn't mean that you could keep taking them, and even though Averia kept on going Alex thought he saw a little bit of weariness in her eyes. This might be the last spar they do today.

His next two attacks missed but they did send her sprawling backwards and he noticed her leg was having trouble supporting her. "Use your semblance to brace your leg. Every little bit helps in combat." He stated, and demonstrated what he meant by wrapping his own right leg with a semblance knee brace. When he normally did this Alex used vines that could bend with his leg, but this time he used hard log pieces that had what looked like a mechanical hinge joint on the knee, the same way bending knee braces did. His witty comments seemed to be fading, a sign that he was getting serious.

Take his advice or not, Averia started to go on the offensive again so Alex had to cup his hands over his stomach to catch the blow, preventing her from hitting him and making him lose his lunch. Ducking allowed the blow aimed for his ear to pass right over his head, though when the back hand blow came at him the most he was able to do was leap forwards so it hit his waist as he moved. It didn't hit the pressure point, but he was still hit and now slightly behind his opponent.

However Averia's hand had knocked a small pouch that was sown into Alex's magic belt, causing it to open and a tiny platinum band with a sapphire on it fell out. A ring. There was an engraving along the inner side, along with red specks staining the ring. Dried blood, and it had been that way for a long time.

However the professor didn't even realize he dropped it. Alex quickly spun on his left foot to kick Averia in the back of the head with his right leg, which he followed trough with a punch aimed for the pressure point just above her left kidney. The semblance knee brace he had created turned back into a seed and stored itself on his magic belt. It was after this that Alex jumped and flipped in mid-air, landing on Averia's left side and aimed to hit her in the throat with his elbow, but at the last second his arm dropped so his hand was level with her stomach and Alex jumped forwards while thrusting his fist forwards towards her stomach. It was quite a hit, and it almost promised an upset stomach if the blow connected.

OOC:

Avery's stamina and endurance were definitely not the best, and coupled with the fact that her pain tolerance was weak, she wasn't one to be good with taking physical blows. What she lacked in these aspects, however, she made up with her concentration and control, allowing her to recover faster and last longer in combat. Dust-based damage, of course, was a different matter.

"I'm fine. I can manage." She responded honestly as her knee was quick to recover. She'd feel the bruising later in the evening while in bed maybe, but for now her aim was to get as much experience from this spar as possible. Her three consecutive hits were a failure and she clicked her tongue in frustration, but at her last hit, she heard a faint ping and her eyes trailed briefly to the ring that fell out from his pouch. A glance was all she needed to take in all its features.. including the red specks that didn't appear to be part of the design.

Just like Alex told her, she shouldn't be distracted enough to leave her guard down thus she was quick to crouch upon the kick towards her head. But due to the positioning with Alex's back towards her, she wasn't able to see the follow through and the strike aimed for her kidney hit her shoulder instead, gasping at the strength that threatened to dislocated her joint there. She sprang back just as Alex flipped in mid-air and as he landed to her left, she raised a hand to block the incoming elbow to her throat and her eyes were quick to flicker at the instantaneous change of direction.

Heh. Due to that old hag's lesson about feinting and how much she'd been caught off-guard with it, Avery was literally trained to react to feints. She shifted in place and used her other free hand to strike back an open-palm against his fist using equal force to stop his blow. The collision was massive that Avery felt the wind brush back her amber hair.

"Hey.." She looked up at him and met his stare before grinning. "We can continue if you want but... you dropped something important."

Battle Log:

When Alex saw that Averia was starting to handle her leg better and heard that she was doing fine, he nodded in approval. "Good." was all he said as the battle continued. The fact that she was able to duck under his kick was expected since it was a fairly ordinary attack, though when his blow to her shoulder connected Alex wondered if he'd dislocated her shoulder and might have to put it back into place, but that thought quickly faded when he saw she was fine.

It was her block of his feint attack that got Alex's attention though, and he couldn't help but smile at her skill. The shockwave of their hands connecting also blew back Alex's short hair, but it continued to expand and it knocked over both of his semblance dummies and reverted them back to seeds, which were now cracked and dead. "That was impressive!" Alex exclaimed with a smile at met her gaze. Seeing her smile make Alex think she was proud of her own block as well.

That was when she said that he dropped something. Anything that he could've dropped could simply be picked up during or after the battle, so why would Averia suggest stopping? "Eh? What did I drop that could warrant..." Alex asked as he glanced around, and his eyes saw something shiny on the floor. A quarter of a second later Alex realized what he had dropped, and the color drained from his face as his eyes widened. Without a word he walked over towards the fallen ring, knelt down, and picked it up. He stood up slowly while looking it over carefully to make sure it was undamaged. "... Sasha..." was all that came out of his mouth, and it was so quiet that the student nearby might not of heard him. Besides the specks of dried blood, it was perfectly fine. Alex glanced at the pouch on his magic belt to see that it was open and damaged, most likely from Averia's attack.

So instead he put it in the breast pocket of his combat jacket before clearing his throat and whipping away a tear. Only then did he turn back to Averia. "Thank you. It's replaceable. You're doing well by the way. I was going to teach you how to block against feint attacks next, but you seem to have that down already. You wanna keep going? You've been going at it for quite some time."

Avery watched silently as the professor turned around to walk towards the object that he dropped. Right when he wasn't looking, the girl hissed and pouted as she waved her hand. She had to admit, blocking an attack like that hurt. It wasn't anything tragic though but it made her all the more impressed of his skills. Maybe she could ask her step-mom to hire this person instead of that gold digger if she was so adamant to get Avery a private tutor anyway.

Nonetheless, her eyes trailed to the man as he crouched down and held the ring with utmost care. Avery might not know anything, but it was apparent it was something special that belonged to a woman - once belonged to a woman. The specks of blood was all she needed to see in order to get a grasp of its history. And even with his back towards her, his arm motion alone indicated he wiped his eyes. She wasn't intrusive though, opting to stay silent and give him a moment to gather himself.

Once he turned back to ask if she wanted to continue, she knew she could but Avery folded her arms and stared at him. "I should be asking you that question. Physically you're fine but..." Her eyes briefly glanced at his breast pocket before she started to walk to her bag. Once she was in range, she snapped her fingers and the water bottle that had turned to ice shot towards her hand which immediately turned back to its water state. She threw it towards him.

"...we can talk about it if you want instead of bottling up those emotions." she said simply, indicating to the matter with the ring.

Alex didn't give Averia any reaction when she basically asked if he was the one that needed the break, and that he wasn't emotionally fine. Catching the bottle of water was easy, and Alex considered what to say as he took a sip from it. The water was ice cold since it had just been frozen, and he shivered slightly as he felt it go down his throat. "One doesn't get the option of fighting their battles when everything is all hunky dory. More often then not you end up fighting when you're not ready for it, either physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically, or a combination of the above. As a result you should be ready for a throw down at any moment... helps being a light sleeper." Alex responded at first, though in reality he was trying to change the topic.

However all he needed to do was look his student in the eye to see that changing the topic wasn't going to fly. He needed to give her a yes or a no... anything else and she'd just bring it up again. Alex fell backwards as a hammock chair grew out of a seed behind him, and he slumped into it while making a sound that was half groan, half sigh. He then tossed another seed at the control panel for the whole room, which turned into some sort of plant that was shaped like a spider and it pushed a few buttons. The door into the arena shut and locked, then the entire room darkened as all power to the room was cut. The only light was coming from Alex's aura, and the control panel. "Averia... I can't talk about it. I'm not allowed to." he finally said after what almost seemed like an hour of silence, but in reality was only 5 minutes. "Ever heard of Mountain Glenn? That extension of Veil that got overrun by Grimm so now all that's left are ruins the size of a city? Well, all over Remanent there are ruins like it, most of them are smaller, some are even bigger, but all have the same story; the defenses failed, the Grimm invaded, the people try to evacuate as fast as they can. During such evacuations some stuff gets left behind. Could be meaningless stuff like a half eaten meal or maybe a movie ticket... though in some cases something valuable gets left behind... something dangerous that shouldn't be revealed to the public." Alex began to explain as he rubbed his eyes since they felt like they were on fire.

"As a huntress you go into places that no one has been for years or decades that hold secrets that should never see the light of day. When, not if, you find these secrets and report them, the secrets are confiscated by the government before they can do any harm, the situation is classified, and you have to shut your trap about the whole thing." Alex continued, then paused as he pulled out the ring and turned it over in his hands. "Some classified situations are mild so if anyone finds out about it they are simply told to keep their mouth shut as well. Other ones are dangerous enough that anyone who finds out the secret need to be imprisoned until the government is sure that said person won't say anything. In that situation they are given absolutely everything they could want to be comfortable, but they can't leave till they can keep their mouth shut."

Alex then held up the ring and focused his aura around it so the ring was clearly illuminated. "Averia, you never saw this ring, you have no idea that I'm still carrying it. Got it? The secret linked to Sasha's death... if anyone found out about it I'd be forced to kill them. You never saw this ring. Understood?" Alex's voice had an edge to it. A lethal edge, as if he could cut Averia apart with his words alone.

Avery was not the type of person to pry as her previous statement was a mere suggestion if he ever needed someone to talk to. Thus when the professor said he couldn't talk about it, the gunslinger merely gave a short nod, a little confused at the darkness that he created though.

Then he talked about city ruins, confidential information, involvement by the government and other things that made the girl feel uncertain if she should be hearing this. Avery was not prepared for such type of conversation. When she asked him about the ring, she expected something like the memento belonging to a fallen comrade or love interest. Nothing overly complicated.

By the end of his explanation, Avery stared at the glowing ring with her eyebrows lowered. There were so many questions running on her mind, but everything was pushed aside when he ended his statement with a... threat? Forced to kill anyone who found out? Wasn't he the one who told her everything in the first place? "You never saw this ring. Understood?"

Avery averted her gaze and played with her choker as force of habit. She wasn't one to take kindly to threats, but she also wanted answers. "Well if it's such a confidential thing, you should probably store it somewhere safer than your back pouch."

She shifted her weight on one foot and nibbled on her bottom lip. Since she was treading on thin ice, she might as well push through. "Why is the government keeping silent about it? Isn't it better to inform everyone, at the very least, the academies to help them prepare for the threat? If it's so dangerous why is it a secret?"