Alex Vs Haze (open)

"Hm... Interesting looking storm cloud." Alex muttered as he looked up at the sky from in the middle of the academy grounds.  He was sitting on a bench wearing the old fashion uniform he always wore while he was teaching his classes.  He had just finished up with a meeting with some of the authorities from Bellmuse and was now relaxing a little bit, more then glad that the hearing having to do with the bent police officer he had busted back in town was over and done with.  That cop had realized he had no way out and confessed on the condition that he kept his job so he could continue to provide for his family.  He was allowed to stay, but was no longer allowed to go on patrols and was now stuck behind a desk where he couldn't do anything wrong.... they hoped.  "Pfft!  As if that was justice!  If an idiot who is suppose to be enforcing the law tries to break the law doesn't deserve to keep their badge." Alex fumed.

With that out of his system he started to calm down, crossed his arms over his chest, and shifted his gaze onto the horse that had laid herself down onto the grass and was enjoying eating her way through a short pyramid of apples.  Yeah Silvana might be feisty and had an attitude all of her own, but she was still a horse, and all horses love them some apples.  It was true that Alex really didn't need to bring Silvana, but when he got her he was given 3 months of free food and that was far cheaper then a tank of gas for his car.  She was also fast so if he was needed anywhere he could get there in a hurry.

However today he was needed right where he was.  A few days ago he had gotten a phone call from Averia of all people and she had asked him if he'd be willing to give her another one-on-one training session.  He was more then willing to do so, and was already considering several things that he could teach her.  While one was teaching her a couple of hand to hand combat styles he was aware of, a few others was to see just how far she could take her ice manipulation powers.  Yeah she could so some rather impressive stuff, but he also wanted to see how far her imagination could travel.  That or she might make a request upon what she wanted him to teach her.  She knew her limitations and maybe he could help her with them... as long as it didn't involve dust that is.  For now though all he could do was wait for her while watching Silvana chomp on some apples.

In the meantime he had time to think about what he wanted to do for his next class session.  He was stuck on either an obstacle course or taking anyone that showed up out into the nearby forest to teach them how to track Grimm.  Either one would teach them how to work together, which would help in the long run.

Avery had just finished one of her theory classes and while she'd normally be bored to death, she had scheduled an appointment with Alex for another training. The previous one, albeit unplanned, went better than expected and she gave credit when credit was due. Alex was one of the few that earned her respect - the only one in the academy so far. And thus, in a very uncharacteristic trait, Avery looked forward to another training session.

Riding on the custom hoverboard her roommate gave her, Avery sped around the campus to locate the said professor. The device moved just like any other hoverboard; the difference was it floated a good three feet in the air and Avery was sitting on it with legs folded like the queen that she was~

From a distance, she spotted Alex sitting by the bench. Since he had his back to her, Avery smirked as her mind came into play. She hopped off her board and stealthily sneaked close to him. Catching sight of the horse though, she mentally groaned. She'd heard of rumours of Alex getting himself a pet but she didn't think it's true! Nevertheless, she sped forward silently and once in range, skidded into a halt and used the momentum to deliver a reverse roundhouse kick to the side of his head - using the angle and power to trigger the pressure point on his ear. Whether it hit or not, Avery grinned and jumped back to gain distance.

"Alex~ You're free, right? Of course you are! Let's fight." Avery mused, quickly unbuttoning the blazer of her uniform and placing it somewhere she already forgot where. Rolling her sleeves to her elbows, she slid the ribbon from her collar and used it to tie her hair up into a ponytail before undoing the top buttons of her blouse to give her breathing room.

"The pressure points you taught me is pretty handy. And as promised, I've improved a lot with it. Want a demonstration before we move to semblance training?" She taunted as she moved to her fighting stance, eyes glimmering of thrill and excitement.

Alex hadn't been waiting all that long, though he wasn't sure how long he'd have to wait for Averia to show up. As it turned out he didn't have to wait long but he did get some warning. Silvana was well content with chewing and eating the apples, though something caught her eye... which was easy considering the field of vision for a horse was almost 360 degrees. She lazily glanced over towards Alex, then quickly turned her head in surprise with her eyes going wide. Seeing this Alex quickly ducked. He didn't even think or try to figure out what his horse was reacting to, so instincts took over and made him duck... resulting in the kick aimed for his ear to graze against his hairline instead.

When he stood up and saw Averia and found that his ear was ringing simply from the rush of air that had been forced into his ear from her foot, the professor realized what had happened and smiled. "Hello to you too Ice Knight! And no kidding you've been improving, the air pressure from that kick of yours was enough to make my eardrum ring." Alex stated as he put his index finger into his ringing ear and wiggled it around a bit to see if that would help fix his ear. It didn't help, only time would. However Alex's smile turned into a grin at seeing Averia's eagerness and took a defensive fighting stance as well. "However battles rarely happen when everything is hunky dory. En Gard." Alex stated casually before he quickly rolled to his left...

... And Silvana stampeded passed the spot that Alex had been standing, the horse aiming straight for Averia intending to trample her. The only sound she was making was an angry snorting sound. Silvana barreled towards the ice manipulator and if the girl didn't move the horse would slam into her and trample her, only stopping once the horse had gotten passed her. "Where are my manners? Averia, Silvana. Silvana, Averia. She has a rather short fuse if you haven't noticed." Alex stated with a cheeky grin as he used the distraction to close in on Averia and flipped over her, trying to clip the back of her head with his foot as he flipped through the air. The instant he landed his spun around and then did a backspin kick aimed for her left knee cap.

"Quit horsing around by the way, you have a battle to fight!" at that comment Silvana let out an angry neigh and stomped at the ground with her front hooves. "I mean the student! Not you ya organic lawn mower!" At this Silvana's eyelids lowered half way as if she was saying "Seriously?"

OOC:

"Hmm~ Either my stealth is that good or your awareness has dropped significantly. You were the one who taught me to be alert too." Avery bit her bottom lip with a smile as she looked at his ear. "And please, Alex. Knight? I'm a Queen!" she mused.

Watching closely at his defensive stance, Avery prepared to strike forward only to be caught off-guard by a raging horse stampeding towards her. "Ah.. wha-" How do you defend against a horse without killing it?! Avery broke from her own position and awkwardly shifted different stances before giving up and just bolting to her right to dodge the equine. "Feisty huh? You got yourself a good pet."

And a good diversion. The blonde thought upon realising Alex was nowhere in sight. Despite glancing over her shoulder and her reflexes reacting to manoeuvre out of the kick, it managed to connect against her shoulder. Shrugging the light sting, the girl regained her bearing as she saw Alex was heading for a low backspin to her knee. Instead of leaping away, Avery crouched down and used her left forearm to block the kick, skidding a little at the force. However, this way she was nearer to Alex and had an increased chance of landing an attack of her own.

With a single bound forward, she had sent two attacks at the same time: her left arm shot forward, using two fingers to strike at a pain pressure point by the front of his right shoulder near the area connecting it to the neck, while her right arm which would have been hidden by the angle of her body from Alex's view, triggered a pressure point by the upper part of the outside of his thigh. This pressure point was different though for it was a paralysis point - a nerve block or sort aimed to momentarily paralyze his leg. "And I see you've added a new section to your pun dictionary," she said, smiling at his 'horse' comment. Avery was a big fan of puns after all.

Meanwhile, had she not discarded her blazer, she would've felt her phone vibrate on her pocket at an incoming call from someone very important.

Battle Log:

"You've gotten stealthier, hands down! You used to announce yourself all the time. Case in point, wanting me to call you an ice queen. By the way I don't think that nickname fits you since you're really social and the term 'ice queen' is meant for people that refuse to relate to anyone. You on the other hand are a warrior, so ice knight." Alex responded in a matter of fact tone before rolling his head to get some rather satisfying cracks from his neck. Then it was on. Averia had managed to avoid the charge from Silvana, but in all honesty that wasn't really surprising. True no one would expect that horse to attack if you didn't know her, but Sivana was a fully grown War Horse, even bigger then a Clydesdale, and her brown coat contrasted a lot with the snow that was on the ground. As a result you could see her coming from a mile away.

Still though Silvana's distraction had done it's job and Alex's flip kick had managed to get a blow on Averia's shoulder, though his kick aimed for her leg was deflected, and the end result was her being right next to him. On the spot Alex jumped backwards, not out of Averia's reach but it gave him enough time to see what she was planning and gave him the chance to raise both of his hands and hold them up in a defensive position so he was able to catch both of her attacks in the palms of his hands. "Thank you for noticing my new selections of puns. That was ice of you." Alex responded with another bad pun that just wasn't worth the oxygen he had used to make it.

Silvana snorted and scrapped her left front hoof against the ground before she turned her head and used her mouth to open one of her saddle bags, and pulled out Obliviator by grabbing onto the backpack's chain straps with her teeth. Alex didn't have the weapon with him because he had gone to a criminal hearing and no weapons were allowed so he had left it with Silvana. Now the horse clearly intended to toss it at Averia, but instead of simply throwing it at the student she instead threw it skywards, turned around and then kicked out with both hind legs. She hit the backpack with both of her rear hooves and sent it flying towards the back of Averia's head. If it hit or missed Averia, Alex grabbed it out of the air and slipped it over his shoulders. "Silvana! This is a training session between student and teacher! Not a death match! I didn't need Oblivinator!" he called out, to which the horse responded by rolling her eyes and banging her head against a nearby lamp poll. "Hey! I don't need to tell you everything! You were the one who chose to get involved!" Alex groaned and turned back to Averia. "I'm sorry, where were we?"

Then he smiled and rushed forwards intending to plow into Averia, but at the last second he did something that was rather risky, but if it worked Averia would really be taken aback... and maybe she'd learn to use it with her ice powers. Alex dropped to the ground without trying to cut out his momentum, the result was him sliding feet first towards Averia on a patch of ice. If it worked he could very well take out her legs. Once he slid passed her he jumped to his feet, turned to face her and cracked his knuckles. "You and any hunter that uses guns could have a lot of fun with that trick. Think you can pick that up?" Alex asked with a smile. He knew that the hot head Akui would use that trick alot, though Averia could make use of it even more thanks to her ice powers.

Alex then took a few steps back, ready for anything that Averia might throw at him. This was, after all, her demonstrating what she had learned thus far.

OOC:

Deep crimson eyes met a pristine, white, ceiling. The late morning sun had finally awoken the Goddess, having granted her a few extra hours upon her own request. A, naturally stylish, purple evening gown was tightened at her waste. She stretched passed the duvets, her shoulders clicking as they themselves awakened. She glide from atop the Goddess Sized mattress, her naked feet finding themselves garbed in velvet slippers.

The Perfect Huntress craned her neck as she made her way down the long hall, passing various prestigious awards she had pinned to her wall. Trophies, weapons and diplomas. She let out a laugh at the sight of herself in their golden reflection, even in her morning state her radiant beauty far exceeded that of the ditzy fools she was surrounded by. She made her way to her front door, finding a new package had intruded upon her doorstep. She could recognize the barbaric scrawl written on it's front.

She set it upon her table before going to the fridge, pulling forth a box of eggs. She then drew forth a single of her pretty wine glasses and a somewhat cheaper bottle of wine... deserving of the sender for certain, even were it not quite fitting of the Goddess who would consume it.

She tore open the packet first, ignoring the letter that was fixed atop it. The parcel bled  golden chain, connecting to a sapphire organelle. It was... rather tacky, but fitting of it's past owners. A light blue, sapphire, snowflake. Still, appeared to be worth far more than previous payments. Raising an egg to her mouth she swallowed it whole soon after washing it down with a glassful of wine.

She finally opened the letter. Dearest blah, blah... Thank you for dealing with my insufferable daughter, blah... blah... I think I'm better than you even though I'm clearly not, says this second generation icecube, blah blah... please train my daughter today. I have sent her a message to go to the training area, Blah blah.

The Goddess sighed, today was supposed to be her day off... she supposed this would only take a few hours at most. She chose to garb herself in her usual attire, rather than the combat sort. She doubted it would be required, as she had no intent to fight her. No, rather -collecting her stylish handbag which contained many trinkets- she would tire her to the bone and use the items she had purchased to force her further.

Post driving to the Academy, the Goddess was surprised to find the training hall barren of Pyrite.
The Goddess began to search the inner halls around the area, armed with more than just words. She did however hear something on her searching... seemingly from the courtyard. She would check that area next. The longer the Goddess searched however, the harder the mortal's training would be.

"Heh. You're weird." Avery grinned at Alex's claim she could relate to anyone as though she was some good person or something. Nevertheless, it came as to no surprise that he had blocked her attacks. She'd hoped the attack to his thigh connected though, since it was on a blind spot and triggered a different type of pressure point that would impress him... maybe. Dusting herself, she stood up to face him but cringed at the pun.

"Keep that up and you'll earn yourself an-- ack.." Avery staggered forward from an unprecedented attack to the back of her head. Looking over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes at the chestnut equine now bashing its head on the lamp post. She couldn't even comprehend how Alex could communicate with that thing much less how the two understood each other perfectly. It was funny and cute how the horse tried to help its owner though Avy wished she wasn't at the receiving end of it.

The gunslinger shifted to her stance seeing him charge forward. At this momentum, she realized he wouldn't be able to stop even if he tried and concluded it's a forward attack. She swiftly moved to her right in time to see it as a sliding attack instead. Seems he was teaching her a new move. That's good. Yet why would a gunslinger do something like that when they prefer a long-range combat?

"Hmm. Quite risky for my taste. It's the same motion as charging forward - it can be dodged by sidestepping. Not to mention it exposes the back completely when it misses. As you may or may not have noticed, I'm bad at dealing with attacks coming from behind me," Avy explained. Even in their previous spar, most if not all of the attacks directed to her back connected. "I'll show you how I do it my way and see if you can add anything." She dropped down and placed a hand on the ground, immediately spanning an ice floor a good 10m around her.

Coating the bottom of her shoes with a thin layer of ice, she zoomed forward. She wasn't manually skating; the ice beneath her was propelling her forward and in all directions giving her freedom of mobility without having to deal with building up momentum. She could switch between going forward and backward in a snap whenever she pleases. This was her domain. She sped straight to Alex but at the last second made a sharp turn to his right, moving to his back and sending a kick to the side of his knee. She zoomed around him, zigzagging in all directions, to confuse him of her real target, until when he was directly behind him, shot an open-palm blow to his upper back just beside the spine.

Battle Log:

"I'm not weird. I'm a complete loon. Get it right." Alex responded with a smirk before he barked a laugh.

As Averia remarked on the move that Alex had demonstrated in an attempt to teach her a new trick, the professor couldn't help but nod as the ice queen pointed out several different problems that move had. "True. It does expose you, but if you can shoot your target while sliding you can hit your target from an angle they wouldn't expect. High risk, high reward type of move. Also really useful for sliding under closing shutters or gaps." Alex responded, then lifted one eyebrow at Averia's remark on her showing him her own version of it.

"Alright then, show me." Alex stated, then found himself standing on a large sheet of ice. "Okay so you made it difficult for me to stand. That's good, turning the field to your advantage- wait wut?" Alex started to say and then saw Averia darting around like an angry hornet. Silvana, who was watching, shook her head while her eyes went wide with surprise, followed by her jaw dropping. "Okay! I'm shutting up!" Alex called out as he tried to move only to slip on the ice with one foot going one way and the other foot going the other way. End result was Alex doing a very uncomfortable split and Silvana whinnied while rearing and kicking her front legs in the air in response. "STOP LAUGHING!!" Alex yelled as he lifted a hand to block Averia's kick that would've headed towards his knee if he had been standing, but was now heading for his side and it was much easier to block.

Now he finally managed to stand up as Averia started to dart around him, fast enough that Silvana stopped trying to track her because she was making the horse dizzy. "Okay Ms. Zippy, you really improved what I had in mind teaching you... but..." Alex smiled as he activated his aura, causing what appeared to be glowing emerald leaves to flutter around him, followed by logs suddenly growing out of the bottom of his shoes where he had placed tree seeds. The sudden growth of the logs shot Alex up into the air several meters with the logs still attached to his feet, avoiding Averia's attack. Alex pulled his power out of the logs, causing them to turn back into seeds, and fell to the ground outside the plate of ice. When Alex landed it was in a kneeling position with one hand on the ground, a typical super hero landing complete with sending out a shock wave on landing that cause some of the nearby snow to go flying away. He then stood while rolling his right shoulder. "You might want to work on how to use it against airborne opponents." Alex stated with a smile. "Shall we continue?" Alex asked, not realizing that they were being watched by more then just the horse.

OOC:

Heels clicked down the halls, drawing eyes on either side. Most of the eyes quickly turned away, hoping not to draw spite from the Goddess of Toxicity. Finally, with no where left to turn, she arrived at the courtyard. She raised a brow at the scene unfolding before her, her own pet combating some garbageman with a horse? Hardly proper training, you grow better by surpassing those you defeat so beating this man? It'd hardly elevate Pyrite's skill, if it would at all judging by how this fight was going.

The Goddess turned away as the plants began to spring forth, such barbaric and crude combat. It wasn't even worth her gaze. Plants? Seriously? Weak to fire, poison and ice. No matter how efficient this janitor got with it, those were weaknesses he would never be able to overcome. Pyrite's semblance was weak to fire as well. While Haze could, hypothetically, form a flammable miasma she found little reason to do so. Could form something similar with fire dust alone.

The Goddess went through her handbag, yep; Mace, dust, ect. All was there. As soon as Pyrite had bested this fool they would begin their training... although, at this rate it could be some time. Purple heeled toes tapped impatiently, red eyes glowering at her pet in an attempt to urge her haste. Watching two amateurs fight was hardly a worthwhile expenditure of a Goddess time.

She drew forth a mirror from her bag and proceeded to marvel at herself. This was far better. She could observe such a beautiful sight for months and years on end.

Avery skidded into a halt as her last attack missed, with the professor using his semblance to get off the slippery floor. She gave a small nod and chuckled a little at his dramatic ending pose. "Well, it's not meant for airborne opponents just like the sliding move you did before. My ice floor is used to make the ground inaccessible; it's meant to force them airborne." A snap of her fingers and she produced a replica of her desert eagle pistol which she pointed at where his location was above the ground before. "Dodging in the air is a lot harder than on the ground. So regardless of staying on the ice or not, it'll give me a bit of an advantage," she explained.

The ice pistol and floor shattered into pieces and she went back to her stance to proceed with their hand-to-hand training, that was, until she caught sight of someone from her peripheral vision. Her eyes widened as she turned to the woman standing there with a mirror in hand. She didn't have to see her face to recognise her frame.

"You.. what are you doing here?" She asked, sounding hesitant. Anything associated with this woman was bad news. She was quick to piece together the situation and went to take out her phone. Three missed calls and a message telling her to go to the training arena for another session with her 'tutor'. She frowned and glared at the woman. "Well as you can see, I'm having a more productive training session with Alex here than you. So really, just tell them we had the session and get your freaking pay. More convenient for the both of us that way."

Alex watched and listened as Averia responded to his own comment when it came to her technique of coating the battlefield with ice. It was true what she said, in that the ice covered battlefield allowed her to move with ease while it inhibited her opponent, though she could simply shoot them if they tried to go airborne or get away from the ice. "All true. Some would call this use of your semblance nearly flawless. One could argue that fire could melt the ice to water and then water vapor, but you said yourself that you use the water in the air to create your ice. So if you constantly turn the water vapor back into ice, you could in theory maintain a constant ice wall against said fire till it runs out of fuel. A nearly perfect defense. Though you most likely already know this so I just wasted my breath didn't I?" Alex said with a smile an approving nod. Averia truly was becoming a powerful huntress. She could truly become the best huntress out there in time... though many others were aiming for that so she'd have a lot of competition.

However instead of the combat resuming, Averia instead reacted to an observer that had showed up... or at least she would've been an observer if she wasn't ogling at her own reflection. Glancing over Alex couldn't really tell who it as at first, but after looking at the woman for a moment or two he realized just who she was. Professor Eminence P. Haze, teacher of combat tactics. If so, she was supposed to be a combat expert. However after her interview in the school paper and all of the other stuff that had been in the paper, Alex was starting to wonder if the woman wasn't that great of a person. Since she seemed to be enamored with looking at her own reflection Alex also thought she might be full of herself. "Professor Eminence Haze, I'd suggest you put that thing down before someone hits you from the front. You won't be able to see it coming like that."

However it was how Averia was reacting to her that got Alex intrigued... and worried. It was clear that Averia harbored a dislike for professor Haze, though something about it was... off. It took Alex a little bit to identify it and even then he wasn't sure if he got it right; fear. Was Averia afraid of Haze? Sure there was such a thing as a bad teacher but this was something else. However since Alex and Haze hadn't ever had a chance to truly meet then all the professor could do was speculate. However it did seem as if Averia was refusing to do some sort of training with Haze, though the pay comment bothered Alex. "Hm... the staff is supposed to be paid by the Headmistress for doing private lessons. If Haze doesn't do any training with you then she doesn't get paid at all. Let me guess; someone else is paying her to train you... and you absolutely hate the training. Do I have it right thus far?"

"An insect knows my name? How perplexing... I don't believe I've told anyone here that name, the newspaper themselves must have pried it from the front of one of my trophies... Could it be that a stalker lies before me? Would seem even the weeds come flooding to me, FuFuFu~ To remember my name from an issue long ago, then again how could one ever forget the Goddess Haze... however. Was that a threat? Telling me to lower my mirror or face combat, how unprofessional of you... whoever you are." The Goddess, ignoring a majority of the male's auditory drivel, continued to bask in her own reflection and proceeded to talk over him; "As for your Pyrite, mummy did indeed call me for you. She continues to request me over...The Cabbage you have acquired. And while it may be more convenient... what can I liken it to, something that you'll understand..."

The Goddess shifted her stance slightly, now standing with her mirror completely obscuring her face from the two's vision. She stared into her own eyes, delving deep into them for inspiration.

"It would be like, trusting the care of your ailing relatives to a world renowned doctor; only for the doctor to sit in a chair, watching from afar, and leave them with a far inferior practitioner. Of course, they may succeed in the surgery, but they won't have done nearly as good of a job if they do. To put it even more simply, it is a waste of what potentially could have been almost perfect in exchange for the sub-par. To call whatever you just performed, more productive? When are you going to fight Grimm that conjure magic oaks I wonder... You'd be far better off sparing with the horse." She concluded, pressing a button on the bottom of the mirror and causing it to spring down into a more compact form.

As she returned the item to her bag she swung her hair backward, allowing the black strands to flow down her back.

"Come now Pyrite, or would Mummy perhaps like to receive a report card from me? FuFu~ I do have a lot to relay about your behavior as is..."

Avery didn't respond at Alex's inquiry. He was pretty spot on but it was obvious at this point. On the other hand, this woman was simply unbelievable. Avy was pretty vain herself but nothing close to this person's egocentricity. She couldn't even ponder where the woman was getting all her confidence when she had nothing to prove - all bark no bite. The more Avy had gotten to know her, the more idiotic she seemed in her eyes. And annoying at that. When idiots are oblivious of their own stupidity, that's what's irritates her the most. Comparing herself to a world renowned doctor... what a joke. Avery scoffed.

More than that, she couldn't understand her persistence to continue their session when clearly all she had going for her was the gold reward. At her notion of inquiring when Avy would fight grimms conjuring magic oaks, she rolled her eyes. "And when am I going to fight grimms that use dust, I wonder?" She replied back, reminding her of their unnecessary 'tutoring' involving dust endurance.

Avery folded her arms and shifted her weight on one leg. "And stupid as you are, how many times do I have to remind you that I don't care what they think before you stop using that as your threat? Go on, give your report. That's all you're good at anyway."

The moment that Haze had started to reply to Alex, the plant manipulator's jaw started to clench and he's eyes narrowed slightly. Insect? Weed? Seriously? Alex was having a little bit of trouble believing his ears. He knew that she thought really highly of herself thanks to reading her interview in the SYNE Post, but this was beyond thinking high of one self... waaaaaay beyond. Just how important did she think of herself? What's more was that she didn't even know who he was! A fellow professor and she didn't even know his name?? What the heck was going through her mind. And she thought he had threatened her to boot? Now Alex could tell why everyone found her annoying. "It wasn't a threat, it was a suggestion. Case in point, you almost stepped in that pile of horse manure by your foot." Alex responded, surprised she couldn't smell the steaming pile of poo that Silvana had left.

However when the female professor addressed Averia, Alex's jaw dropped. Pyrite? She was calling a student that she wasn't worth anything? Now Alex really was started to fume and wondering if he should bother being patient with this woman. He knew he should, but this woman was already proving herself to be a piece of work. However thus far it seemed that Alex's assumption about the relationship between Averia and Haze was right. So Averia's mother was personally paying the female professor to tutor Averia... but as far as Alex was concerned the ice manipulator didn't need any. She was fine on her own, but was trying to improve herself anyway. So she had the right to choose how she improved, including choosing who aided her.

However the instant that Haze started her doctor analogy, both Alex and Silvana tensed. "Did you just call me incompetent? You are in no position to make that claim since you know nothing about me. You don't know even know my name!" Alex fumed as he walked passed Averia and placed himself between the ice manipulator and the toxic professor. He then cleared his throat and calmed himself before looking over at his steed, whom as about to charge at Haze for saying such things about her master. "Silvana, stand down. I'm more then capable of standing up for myself when it comes to another professor." The horse snorted at this in response before walking towards Alex, pass him, and back towards the small clearing where her pile of apples were.

Alex then turned his attention back to Haze. He was calm again, and attempted to reason with Haze if it was possible. Negotiation was an avenue that should be ventured when possible. "Professor Haze, the two of us chose how we trained to become the hunters we are today. We also chose whom would train us, and whom wouldn't. It's only fair that we allow the students to have the same freedoms. If Averia doesn't want to train with you, then that's her decision. If she decides that she doesn't want to train with me either, then that's fine too. Neither of us has the right to force her to train with us. So please stand down from your demands."

"It's clearly mud. Were it not then you'd be leaving horse excrement around the academy grounds and I'm fairly sure the headmistress would have words with you about that," The Goddess simply flicked the mud from her heel, "And calm yourself, this is highly unprofessional of you to shout like that. I'm not calling you incompetent. I'm calling you incompetent by comparison. Everyone on this and every other rock in the universe is, try not to cry about it."

"And for someone claiming that I know nothing about them and shouldn't make assumptions, you seem to have made a rather large one yourself," The Goddess smirked, "I did not choose who trained me or how I trained. I trained myself out of necessity, to do what had to be done. There was no decision made, it was train myself in a specific way by a specific regiment or fail. Wouldn't you know it, I took that path with no resistance and now I possess more trophies for hunting than you have hairs on your head. You have some rather silly ideas about how huntresses should be trained Cabbage."

"How much control do military personnel have over their training? Especially in their early years. The answer is little to none, they don't get to pick out their favorite commander for all their drills. Likewise hunting should be treated this way," The Goddess informed him, "It's a do or die job, training shouldn't be pleasurable activity. You should be forced to the breaking point and back by whoever is hired to train you, not whomever you wish to train you. Otherwise death is certain. If you waste time resisting proper training, or attempt to alter your regiment by your own accord,you'll end up with improper training will you not? Imbalanced with skills unlearned."

Red eyes then locked to the blonde's blue ones, "And as for your snide comment Pyrite have you seen Grimm use the environment to their advantage? Ursa throwing boulders, Nevermore whipping up sandstorms. The latter is a good comparison to our training, helping you adapt to the loss of your eyes in a hostile environment... even if it's primary function was to up your pain tolerance." The Goddess continued; "No creep however will make trees spawn out of nowhere... I suppose you better clean them up. Someone might have a heyday over the damage to the grounds."

Everything was escalating quickly it seemed. Avery already expected this type of situation yet it still amazed her how this woman could speak to another professor with the same rudeness as she did with her. She wondered how this snake was able to be accepted to the academy as an instructor with an attitude like so. It's close to impossible for her to ever be in good terms with anyone other than herself, what more with the headmistress? Skill-wise, she's not all that great. Avery bore witness to that and she could safely say she could take her down in a one-on-one fair fight. The only thing was... this woman never fought fair.

The gunslinger's eyes shifted to the aggravated equine before looking at Alex who had positioned himself in between her and the woman. For some reason she found the simple gesture comforting. It didn't last long though as the voice of the woman was soon directed to her. Avery clenched her jaw and glared at her.

"Don't try to justify our session as something benefitting. We both know your real intention was nothing of sort," the girl said with much animosity. "Grimms using the environment to their advantage is something I can deal with. Dust resistance has absolutely nothing to do with it. A creep won't spawn a tree, but it will use it to its advantage by leaping up on its branches. What a creep won't do though, is summon a fireball or a tidal wave, or expose me to boiling hot dust sauna."

No. Today was different. Avery was so done with their 'training' sessions and with Alex here perhaps he could do something about the situation. Judging from his initial response to the woman's claims, Avy's insinuations were no longer needed to worsen the argument. The woman was doing a good job with it.

Alex cocked an eyebrow at Haze's comment that everyone and everything thing was concomitant when compared to her.  Now this conversation was starting to give the plant manipulator an upset stomach... which was bad since it had started only a moment ago.  He was really going to need to talk to Leena about Haze and figure out why she hired this woman.  When she continued in saying that no one trained her at all and she achieved her greatness this way, Alex shook his head with a disappointed look on his face.  Now he knew why she didn't have any respect for him or Averia... she didn't let anyone teach her to respect others.

He was about to talk when she continued in saying that Huntresses and Huntsmen must be trained by those that were picked for them and not by them.  At the mention of this Alex's eyes narrowed slightly, but the corners of his mouth started to twitch.  Was he hearing this right?  Haze had just said that everyone needed to be broken by their instructors or they could never be a good hunter, and yet she was boasting about her never getting any instructions at all.  However Haze kept going, which meant she was serious, so Alex's mouth twitched even more.  The instant Haze finished, Alex couldn't hold it in any longer and busted out laughing right in Haze's face.  "GAH HA HA HA HA!!  And I thought my jokes were bad!  Do you have any idea how much you just contradicted yourself??  I've seen hypocrites of all shapes and sizes and egos, but Haze, you just took the entire cake, gorged yourself on it, and asked for seconds!  Ha ha ha!  Give me a moment to catch my breath and I'll explain why I'm finding this funny." Alex managed to get out even though he was nearly doubled over from a belly laugh.  Silvana, meanwhile, was giving him a curious look with her head tilted to the side, which was her way of saying "Did you just go mad?"

After taking a deep breath, Alex finally spoke up.  "First of all that military analogy is wasted here because we hunters aren't military.  Prospective hunters choose which academy they want to go to, and when they arrive they choose which classes they want to take, so yes they do choose our teachers.  They also choose if they want some private lessons, in which case they choose whom they want these private lessons to come from." Alex pointed out, but he had only started.  "Now to the part that made me laugh.  You made the choice of having no one train you and thus the path of least resistance and you still won several rewards.  And yet you are demanding that everyone be forced to train under someone they didn't choose, which could lead to personality conflicts.  That and they must have their will broken to have any chance of becoming a good hunter, and yet you took the path of least resistance so your will hasn't been broken.  So, by your own perspective, you, Professor Haze, are incapable of becoming a good huntress because your will has never been broken, and thus you are doomed for failure if you ever go hunting for a Grimm.  Yet you say that everyone is incompetent in comparison to you, which makes me think you are completely blind to your own short comings." Alex finished, then chuckled again.  "If you're trying to prove to me that you're the greatest there is, you might want to try a different tactic.  From my prospective all you have done this whole conversation is shoot yourself in the foot."

Off to the side, Silvana started to whinny with laughter, now understanding why Alex had laughed and found the situation funny too.

Alex glanced back at Averia when the ice manipulator spoke up, and sighed.  "I don't think she was trying to train you yet Aviera.  I think she was trying to break your will first.  If you keep training with Haze I fear worse is to come.  It's up to you but I suggest you tell whom ever hired Haze to train you to stop paying her and keep your distance from her for now." Alex stated, then turned to face the toxic professor again.  Now things were going to get interesting since he had just thrown her own words back in her face.

"Mortals with their weak little ears... FuFuFuFu~ I did not say anyone must be broken, simply take to the breaking point and back. Regardless, once more you seem set in the belief that you know my character down to the cellular level. If I had implied that one must be broken I would still be in the right. I was broken once, twice, quite a few times actually. Beaten down in the courtyard of my the training academy I attended by the prejudice and the ignorant," The Goddess closed her eyes briefly but they returned, red and gleaming, "It was after that final defeat that the path to becoming a Goddess was revealed to me, I forced myself to train for months on end when all I really wanted to do was run home and cry to dear mother... how weak I was. FuFuFu~"

"She wouldn't let me of course, If a woman truly wants something she should let nothing discourage her. She hired no one to train me and so I was forced to employ myself. I took the path with no resistance, meaning that I did not attempt to break my training cycle. As a result the marvelous Goddess of Toxicity Haze stands before you today. As a prolific huntress of my caliber it is only right to want to train others so that they can come as close to my skill level as possible, doing so requires I train them in a manner similar to that I taught myself."

"So, before you make irresponsible and unprofessional suggestions to a student about me breaking them, I implore you to read up on the person you're attempting to insult. I hold my beliefs of how Hunters should be trained more along the lines of Atlas... or do you know nothing of them either? How they recommend their huntsmen and huntresses take station in Atlas, treat it like a military. While I can't say I'm all for mechanizing hunting, androids seem far too flimsy, and the debate around what happened at Beacon is still ongoing, it is rare for even mortals like you to be entirely wrong... as you seem to be." The Goddess sighed, rolling her eyes; "I'll forgive you if you apologize now, otherwise this lack of professionalism will not go without consequence. You are setting a rather bad example."

She once more looked passed him to Avery; "Oh, so you want your pain threshold to be low so you'll really feel it when a deathstalker hits you? You expect never to have to defend civilians in a burning building and never to hunt by the coast where a nevermore can whip up watery waves? I'm a teacher for a reason you know."

Avery sighed. So this apparently ended up being an argument over their own beliefs of the hunters' training system. Personally, the girl wasn't sure of her stand over the matter. She didn't quite hold the same values and passion the two professors had for hunting and she certainly couldn't be bothered getting into the specifics of training. All she knew was that she was killing grimms for fun, nothing more nothing less. She desired to improve for self-accomplishment and to add excitement to this 'hobby' of hers. But military? Huntress for a profession? None of her concern.

Thus it came as to no surprise that she left them to their discussion. The blonde walked to the side, removing her ponytail and unfolding her sleeves in the process as she settled on the bench next to her blazer. Crossing her legs, she folded her arms and listened silently at their exchange of words, occasionally glancing at her wrist watch for time.

It was only when the woman directed her response to her that she even as much as raised her head to look at the latter in mild bemusement. The woman had a point, though it didn't quite apply well for the girl. Instead of improving the pain threshold which was an absolute waste of time, she could've taught her various defense techniques she could use against grimm attacks to avoid getting injured in the first place. The rest of her examples about burning buildings and watery waves were all things that Avy could easily find a way out of with with just a little use of common sense. For instance, using her semblance to nullify the fire or manoeuvring out of the waves. Pain threshold would be the the last thing an aspiring huntress would need to train, if there even was a need for it.

In the end however, Avery stayed silent. She didn't see the point of adding anything to the argument when it was both their concern anyway.

At first Alex only half listened to Haze's reply.  This woman was really wearing on his nerves.  He had started to wonder if she truly thought that she knew everything and couldn't be wrong no matter what.  Alex rolled his eyes at one of her comments, though this resulted in Aviera entering his gaze, sitting down on a bench and not listening to the conversation at all.  A second later it clicked; Alex had stopped arguing for her and was now simply trying to dispute with the toxic woman that stood before him.  A pang of guilt ran through Alex's chest when he realized how far off the mark he had gotten.  His features softened as he turned back to face Professor Haze, but out of the corner of his eye he could still see Averia.  Sensing a dormant seed in front of the bench, he used his aura to make it grow in front of her, first into a simple poll that then widened so it looked like a sign.  Some bark fell off in places to reveal a note carved into the plant sign that Alex had just grown, and from this angle only Averia could read it.

"You have continued in your disrespectful conduct, continuing to call me out. Not only am I a Professor at this Academy for Huntsmen and Huntswomen, deserving that respect at the very least, but you continue to do this before a student. Tarnishing both my and the school's reputation, do you not understand? Your apology means little if you then proceed to repeat the action that led to the apology," The Goddess Red eyes flashed once more, clearly this man was thicker than the wood he could grow.

"As for Pyrite's choice in her training you know fine well such goes against the very code I just established, one could assume the death of a mortal means very little to a Goddess as it is natural she will outlive the mortals she rules over. However; no Goddess of any sort wishes to see their creations tarnished. Especially when they could have prevented such." Haze retorted.

"And as for your continued ignorance, implying I am not worthy of my title, do you truly believe the headmistress you praise so would hire one so incompetent as to take a title and meet the expectations raised by it? I do believe that was a direct insult to her as well as me, your ignorant and possibly misogynistic tendencies have been noted. Disrespecting a female member of staff, as well as the female head teacher, believing a woman cannot be taught by another adequately and thoughts that the instant a woman takes a title that is above your own, such as myself and Goddess, it is not good that she rightfully believes in herself and abilities. She must be delusional and growing weaker as she's unable to handle being praised and retaining power simultaneously. All of this being evidence toward the latter." The Goddess sighed, "Unlike your offensive claims I have stated evidence to back mine up."

"And to conclude on why calling myself a Goddess is only good, even were I not as great as I truly am, the positive self view and thus lack of negative emotion around my person would help as a deterrence to Grimm. The negative emotions you are exuding however may attract them."

While barely listening to the two's conversation, a sprouting plant by her foot caught her attention and she smiled a little at the message on the sign. She couldn't help but appreciate his efforts of standing up for her - something she couldn't do due to circumstances. Not to mention she called the snake out on her egocentric ideology of being a 'goddess' as though she was a supreme being of sort, when in reality, her skills were medicore.

"However; no Goddess of any sort wishes to see their creations tarnished."

Avery eyebrows raised at that statement. Being branded by this filthy being as her creation, Avery could only sigh. Typical. The snake also went off-topic about women empowerment when Alex never said anything about it. At this rate, the argument would be endless. These two professors were simply polar opposites, their ideas, teachings, beliefs, everything.

While she preferred Alex's methods, she couldn't turn a blind eye on the snake's words for it was similar to her family's beliefs - something she disapproved of and contradicted. Yet they're a powerful family for a reason which made her wonder... who exactly of these two is right?

"All this senseless talk about who is mightier in skill. Even a child can brag of their non-existent expertise if it comes down to it. Anyone can talk... but not all can prove it," Avery finally interrupted their conversation because it was dragging. "Why don't you two just settle it out with a friendly battle? A healthy competition of sort. To see who is right. I'm curious as to which professor is more capable anyway." Avery shrugged. "But of course it's just a suggestion. You don't have to do it if you prefer to waste your time continuing this verbal argument."

While Alex was standing there he had placed his hands behind his back as a gentleman would, he did have a chivalrous nature after all... but Haze was really starting to ware on Alex's nerves, to the point that Alex wondering if he should just walk away. However if he did walk away then the toxic professor would declare herself the winner and Averia would find herself high and dry... and any time she tried to come up for air she'd find herself breathing poison. There had to be a way to get Haze to back away from Aviera, but for the moment he just wasn't sure how. Heck, he shouldn't even have to do this considering just how strong the ice queen was, both of physical strength and of mental strength. However this Haze... her words seemed to have a way at chipping away at a person's resolve, as if every single one of her words were toxic as well. However thus far her words didn't hit anywhere near home with Alex just yet...

Wait a moment... that's it. Alex thought as he glanced back over at Averia for a moment and then back at Haze. In that brief glance over the sign in front of the ice queen increased in size slightly and the current layer of bark peeled off and fell to the ground to reveal a new message.


Meanwhile, Alex started to shake his head at Haze. "Your creation? Excuse me? I'm not sure if I heard that right. Did you just declare all of Averia's skills, her abilities, her successful hunts, her grades, and her accomplishments are all because of you? That without you she'd be nothing?" Alex stated before he pulled out his scroll and looked up Averia's record, then compared the dates in it to when Haze was hired. "There's actual proof that argues the opposite ma'am. Averia joined this academy long before you were hired and her accomplishments were already stellar and were always in a constant state of growth. Compared to when you were hired, her capabilities have remained unchanged, as if you didn't have any effect on her at all. And yet you claim that everything she's ever done is all because of you? Bull s**t. Professor, I suggest you watch what you say because if someone took that out of context they might consider you delusional." Alex stated flatly. Now he was starting to lose his cool again and he started to ball his hands into fists behind his back, his nails digging into his palms though his gloves in an effort to make himself calm down.

Then Haze continued and Alex almost lost it. "My ignorance? I said nothing about a woman not being able to teach another woman. Headmistress Leena earned her title, just as you and I earned the title of Professor. I don't view myself above you at all, and it's going to remain that way no matter what you say. As for the deity complex that you seem to have, anyone who calls themselves a god or goddess is setting themselves up for a fall. I do not deny your capabilities as a professor or as a huntress, but you are steering yourself towards a cliff edge and barreling towards it at top speed, convincing yourself that you can't fall off of it simply because you say you can't."

Hearing what Averia said about a duel though, Alex fell silent and thought for a moment. As he did though the sign by Averia changed again. Does it have to be friendly? I'm losing my patience here and I really need to smash something! was written on the sign now. However to Haze he said. "She has a point. At this rate a duel is going to be the only way to settle this once and for all. A fair combat. We keep going till one of us yields. No tricks, no cheats. Skill against skill. What do you say professor?" Alex said with a smile while beckoning with one hand before letting it fall to his side. He did everything but make an official declaration on SYNE post that he was willing to face her.

The Goddess was briefly gobsmacked but quickly recomposed herself, Inexcusable, utterly inexcusable. Not only have you sworn in front of another student, without good reason, but you've directed your disrespectful tone toward me once again! You then proceed to claim that we should fight, on open school grounds no less! You're just asking for someone to walk into the cross fire and get injured, did you not even conciser a risk assessment before beginning this training session with my pupil? You were so ignorant to let a horse freely wander around during combat, so I'd assume not."

She took a moment to compose herself, letting out a sigh and briefly closing her eyes; "Now I shall deal with your other misguided claims. Creation of her was a metaphor, was I as unprofessional as you I would call you dense for this assumption. Of course she has had training before I arrived, she made it to this school did she not? By creation I meant student which I have trained the most. Now, back to the Goddess topic. FuFuFuFuu~"

"As I stated prior, clean out your ears I implore you, even were I not as great as I am; by having the self confidence of a Goddess the creatures of Grimm are less likely to detect me. Thus such would grant more opportunity to ambush the monsters in the darkness, got it? Good. Now, on to the evidence. You were more than willing to look into a student's records directly in front of them, look into mine. Learn something. With little to no training until I was seventeen I completely dominated Hunting competitions in my second year of Schooling, only my second year. All self taught after I beat a teacher." The Goddess smirked, "If such an abnormality is not a sign of inherit greatness I don't know what is. And, to conclude, once again; the headmistress hired me knowing I call myself such, she likely even believes I am such. Do you have quarrel with her to?"

She shook her head as if at a petulant child; "And finally, without tricks and cheating but skill on skill? Cheating and trickery are skills in themselves, a hunter who is overly chivalrous will die to the grimm far faster than one who believes themselves a deity... though that does not give you ground to be unprofessional. Please, dull the broadsword that is your tong and speak with some tact. FuFuu~

Avy's eyes shifted to the sign as it peeled and revealed a new message. Well this was a convenient way to converse with someone. However, she could only smile back at Alex after reading his suggestion. Avery wasn't a fool enough to not have thought of that solution. In fact, she had done that after their first session. Yet the circumstances didn't allow her to do so which resulted in her getting stuck in this type of scenario. She appreciated the thought though; as expected of Alex.

And then they were back at the debates again. Avery sighed. From how she saw it, Alex was ready to fight. The snake, obviously, was just too scared and kept making excuses to prolong the inevitable and hoping someone would stop it from happening.

If these two were students, Avery'd take the initiative and force them to fight, willingly taking the role of a referee to start the match. Yet they were both professors and it's not in her place to do that.

So instead, she placed her earphones and laid on the bench, placing an arm behind her head and another over her eyes to rest and leave the two to their conversation.


OOC: feel free to skip me from now on. I'll post back when the actual match starts. tata~