Reed and Phaedra decided to get something to eat while they discussed Reed's new weapon. Reed recommended Komodo Curry, wanting a hearty meal, and Phaedra agreed.

"I fucking love me some bomb ass curry," Phaedra said as they walked down the street, taking large strides. "There's nothing more rejuvenating after a long day of work."

"What does work entail for you?" Reed asked, the staff Edmund had insisted he take bouncing against his back in rhythm with his strides. "And speaking of what you do during the work day, why were you spying on me while we were training?"

"Oh, we do that every day," Phaedra responded nonchalantly. "The Forgemaster says it helps us to create a tool if we can see it in action. Stupid bastard, what good does it do us to watch a bunch of fucking toddlers learn how to not stab themselves?"

Reed suppressed a grin at that, reminded of his own previous musings during the drill sessions. "Yeah, it must bore you out of your mind to sit there and watch us for hours. You seem hyperactive, I bet you sit there twitching the entire time."

"I am not hyperactive!" Phaedra replied hotly. "I just have a great appreciation for not wasting my time on silly things like walking slowly or listening to retarded old men drone on about bullshit."

Reed let the topic drop. He wasn't sure how he felt about Phaedra. She was crazy, had the mouth of a sailor, was easy to anger, and scary when she was. But she was also honest, obviously cared a great deal for her old man, and the weapons she made were of a class fit for a Hunter. For now, Reed decided that he could at least work with her.

They arrived at Komodo Curry. Reed reached for the door, but Phaedra beat him to it. She held the door open, swept an imaginary hat off her head, and held the door open for him. "My lady," she said, lowering her head in a mocking bow. Reed rolled his eyes and, having no witty response, walked in the proffered door way.

The small restaurant was almost full, the dinner rush in full swing. Melony bustled over on hearing the bell above the door chime, split tongue between her teeth as she hurriedly scribbled an order in a small notebook.

"Welcome to Komodo Curry, how many of you will be dining this eveni- Oh Reed!" She did a double take on seeing Reed's companion, obviously surprised. "Who are- I mean, that is to say, I see you've brought a friend, Reed."

Reed smiled at her awkward fumbling. "This is Phaedra Blau," he said, upon which Phaedra repeated the sweeping bow she'd given him at the door. "She's an apprentice forger at the Town Guard, and we are working on a project together. Do you have any quieter seats available in the back?"

"Oh, yes yes of course, one just opened up." The doorbell chimed again as a rowdy group of four students, out for a night on the town, pushed their way in. "Oh dear. Reed, would you mind seating yourself? Tonight's just been insane."

"Of course not," Reed said, giving her a pat on the arm and sliding a menu from behind the waitress podium. He then led the way through the crowded restaurant to the back, where a small two-person table was the only available spot. They sat, and Reed slid the menu across to Phaedra.

"I see you come here often," she said, looking at the empty table in front of Reed.

"The Komodos are old family friends," Reed said, sliding into a relaxed lounging position in his seat. "I've been coming here since as far back as I can remember. They are good people, and the lady who greeted us has been friends with my mom since before I was born. They are technically the ones I would have gone to live with if anything had happened to-"

Reed stopped there, realizing he was rambling. "Well, I guess now is not the time for that story. You know what you want?"

"Yup!" Phaedra snapped the menu closed. "Killer Curry, spicy level: Fire-breathing Dragon."

Reed raised an eyebrow at that. "You sure you can handle that? They are required to give a disclaimer to non-reptilian Faunus customers, that dish has hospitalized several people."

A gleam entered Phaedra's eye. "Ooooh now that is exciting. I love spicy food, but have yet to find a place in this town that can provide me with anything worthy of the description. Bring it on!"

Reed sighed, fully expecting the worst. "Don't say I didn't warn you. I will go back to the kitchen and place our order. You want anything to drink?"

"Komodo Tea."

"Got it, be right back." Reed slipped out of his seat and made his way to the door behind the counter. He opened it, a wave of mixed scents, steam, and sizzling assaulting his senses. Menlo stood at one of the burners, tossing a dish of fried noodles, meat and vegetables.

"Menlo!" Reed said in a raised voice to make sure he was heard over the clamor.

The man at the stove turned and gave Reed a large smile. Menlo was a thin man, with balding gray hair and slit, reptilian eyes surrounded by scales. He had on a white, food splashed apron that said Curry my favor, which had been a present from Reed when he was ten.

"Reed! It's good to see you, I've been too busy to come out and say 'hi' the past couple times you visited." Menlo's voice was a quiet baritone, strong and gentle. He set the pan aside, coming over and clapping Reed on the shoulder. "The usual I presume?"

"Yes please," Reed replied. "Also, my friend would like the Killer Curry, fire-breathing level."

Menlo raised an eyebrow at that. "Made another reptilian friend I see? Careful, we might get jealous."

Laughing, Reed said, "Nope, she's actually human. She's insane, but I have a feeling she is up to the challenge."

Menlo's other eyebrow rose to meet the first. "Oh, on a date are we? Well why didn't you say so! I can arrange a tomato ornament in the shape of a heart, place a cucumber garland around the edge. What's her name? I can carve it into a slice of carrot or-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up Menlo!" Reed exclaimed, waving his hands. "We are just working on a project for the Town Guard together. In fact, considering the beating I just received at her hand I don't know if I can even say she's a friend. I know you are a romantic, but please, just the normal spread."

"Oh, is that so?" Menlo sagged a little in disappointment. "She must be quite the fighter if she gave you a run for your money. Well, if you say so. But listen, Reed, you should consider getting out there and dating. I know becoming a Huntsman is all you think about, but you should still take the time to enjoy being a kid while you can."

"I will take that advice to heart," Reed said, giving Menlo a quick side-hug to avoid staining his shirt with food. Menlo patted his shoulder again, and returned to the stove. Reed headed out of the kitchen, grabbing two glasses of Komodo Tea from behind the counter.

Phaedra had pulled a pad of paper from her bag, a colorful array of pencils lined up next to it, and was scribbling furiously with her tongue between her teeth. Reed sat, and slid her tea across the table.

"What are you working on?" Reed asked, trying to get a better view. She turned the page as she finished whatever it was and set her pencil down.

"Just a couple of ideas I had for your weapon," She said, chewing on the end of the pencil. "But before I share them with you I want to hear what you are looking for."

Straight to the point, no messing around with pleasantries. Reed had to admit that he liked that. "Well," he said, sitting back contemplatively, "Before today I just assumed I would use a staff with one or two dust crystals. However, that weapon of yours opened my eyes to the possibilities of fighting with a blade. If I were fighting a Beowolf I would like the ability to dismember it, making steady progress on wearing it down rather than just bludgeoning it to death."

"Good," she said, tapping the pencil on the table, "If all you wanted was a staff, I would have just told you to take the one my old man gave you and get lost. What were your other thoughts on the weapon you tested?"

"The blade on the chain certainly gave me more range," Reed continued, thinking back, "But once it was extended I was extremely limited in how I could wield the staff. If I had tried to do a vertical spin, say to deflect an oncoming attack, the blade would have stuck in the ground. I just don't think it's viable for how I was taught to wield a staff."

Phaedra nodded at that and began to scribble some notes. "Alright, so something that can be wielded like a staff, with a fixed blade rather than one that can detach. I noticed that, despite your admittedly impressive control of the weapon, you never went above a certain speed. Is there a reason for that?"

Reed shrugged. "My semblance is the ability to slow my perception of the world. Everything seems to move in slow motion, so I can notice when the staff is starting to slip out of balance and correct it. My body still moves at the same speed, however, so the speed I wield a staff is limited by how fast I am physically capable of making it go, not my ability to control it at greater speeds."

"Interesting," Phaedra said, continuing to write, "Well that certainly explains how you were able to adjust so quickly in our fight, despite your classical training. There is definitely something there, I will have to think on it. Maybe some sort of propulsion based on dust or ammunition. As for the base weapon," She flipped several pages back and slid a sketch over to him, "What do you think of this?"

The drawing depicted a staff, the normal diameter in the middle, with two slightly larger cylinders on either end. A close up of one of the cylinders showed a concave ax blade hidden in the tube, and another sketch showed that when it was full extended a spear head jutted out of the top. A spur stuck out the other side, giving it the appearance of a Halberd, an ancient anti-cavalry weapon.

Reed liked it, but he could see one flaw. "Won't it be unbalanced if it only has a blade on one end?" He asked. Phaedra snorted.

"Please, I could make it balanced if it had a mace head on one end. However," here she pointed at the sketch of the bottom cylinder, "I was thinking the bottom end could be capped with metal. We could always attach a second blade there, if you prefer, but I think it would be more prudent to have a bludgeoning option. A dust crystal could be equipped there for more power, or to freeze an enemy in place, giving you more options in a fight against a larger group. Plus, it will probably take you a while to adjust to using a bladed weapon as instinctively as a staff, so this will give you a sense of familiarity even when the blade is extended."

Reed nodded, satisfied. It was a very good start.

"I have to say, I am impressed," He said grudgingly, handing the notepad back to her. "You must have been analyzing my style the whole time we were fighting, and were able to pick out my strengths and weaknesses. I was having a hard enough time just keeping you from killing me."

"It makes it easy that you are trained in a specific martial art," She said, taking her note pad back. "I've watched enough practitioners to know their general style, although at least your semblance gives you room to improvise. That will give us much more interesting possibilities."

It was here that their food arrived, and conversation halted as they tucked in, both devouring their food ravenously. Phaedra attacked her food like someone who hadn't eaten in a week, not even breaking a sweat from the dangerously spicy curry.

Ten minutes later she sat back with a satisfied sigh, plate completely clean. "Aaah, that was fucking fantastic," she said happily, finishing her tea as she reclined in her seat. Melony came over with two more teas and set them on the table.

"How was your meal?" She said, addressing Phaedra.

"Most places don't have the balls to serve curry that spicy," Phaedra replied, earning a startled look from Melony at her crass word choice. "Damn good meal, I will definitely be coming here more often."

"Well," said Melony, recovering quickly, "Any friend of Reed's is a friend of ours. We hope to see the two of you here more often. It's nice to see Reed with a female companion."

Melony cleared the plates as Phaedra smirked at Reed. "So I'm a female companion now, huh?"

Reed shrugged and started on the second tea. "They seem to think I need to date more, and anytime I have the slightest contact with a girl push me to make it romantic. I explained that we are just working on a project together, but they only hear what they want to." He grimaced slightly. "I hope they don't mention it to Mom, she will go ballistic if she thinks I am dating and didn't tell her."

Phaedra smiled widely, a devious grin on her face, and said in a carrying voice, "Oh Reed you are just so charming! How could I possibly say no? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I would love to go back to your place tonight!"

Choking on his tea, Reed spluttered. "Hey, don't give them the wrong idea!" he groaned when he saw Melony's look of astonishment at the front counter. "Great, I hope you are happy in the knowledge that this misunderstanding will take at least a week to clear up."

"Quite happy," she replied, laughing at him as he mopped up the remainder of his tea from the table. She finished her own and reached into her wallet, smacking a stack of Lien onto the table. "I'm sure the fact that I am paying for your meal will make it all the more scandalous."

Reed protested vehemently, but to no avail. She even left enough to pay for the whole meal, plus a generous tip, despite the fact that the check was half of what it should have been. They left, Reed waving awkwardly at Melony as they passed. He would have to call his mom tomorrow to explain what had happened before she ran into Melony.

Reed and Phaedra split up outside of the restaurant. She wanted to get started on the shaft of the Halberd tonight, and Reed wanted to pick up a dust crystal for the staff before heading home. As he walked down the street, his embarrassment from the scene at Komodo Curry changed to excitement. He had a weapon, which meant he could finally spend a night outside the walls.

The dust shop was a small, local establishment, run by the same old woman that Reed had seen behind the counter since he was a child. He had just enough Lien to afford a crystal that would fit the staff, the smallest, standardized cut size. Reed decided that Ice would be the easiest to work with at first, and would also give him the option to retreat if things got too sticky.

He returned to his apartment and stood by the window to observe the rotations of the night-guard on the wall below. A pair of guards walked by every five-minutes, and were out of sight within two. Another minute would pass before the next pair came into view, giving him that much time to slip out over the wall without being seen. The twenty-foot drop to the ground from the top of the wall wouldn't be a problem if he rolled with the impact, and the ten-foot drop to the wall itself presented no problems whatsoever.

Reed installed the ice crystal, giving the staff an experimental swing to make sure it was secure. He then slid the window open and waited for the guards currently on the wall to pass out of sight.

Planting one foot on the window sill Reed leapt from his room, wind pulling on his hair. He landed on the wall in a crouch, checking that no one had seen him. He pushed to his feet and vaulted over the low battlement, rolling as he hit the ground outside the wall. He waited until he heard the next patrol pass overhead before sprinting to the edge of the woods a quarter mile away.

Once he reached the woods and heard no sound of alarm he relaxed and his mouth spread in a small, grim smile. He had waited for this moment for so long, now he could finally start working towards becoming a Huntsman. He took a minute to locate the position of the moon in the sky. It had been partially destroyed in an event lost to time, and the crumbling quarter pointed directly to the city. As long as Reed didn't spend too long in the woods, he would easily be able to find his way back using the moon as a guide.

Satisfied that he wouldn't get lost, Reed strolled into the forest, looking for any sign of Grimm passing. After half an hour he found a set of tracks. Two sets of clawed footprints flanked a line of indented dirt, as if something heavy had been dragged across the ground.

Creeper tracks, perfect.

Reed followed the tracks as they moved through the forest, parallel to the line that marked the end of the trees. It was circling the city, the Grimm must have been attracted to some disturbance in another part of town. After half an hour he came across a clearing and squatted at the tree-line to take stock of his surroundings.

A single Creeper was wandering aimlessly around the clearing. Like all Creatures of Grimm its body was the deepest black. A bone white mask encircled its reptilian head, dull red markings on the mask only accenting the evil red glow shining from the eye holes. It was about three feet tall, with powerful front forelimbs ending in wickedly clawed paws. The back of its body tapered down into a short, thick tail, which Reed knew could be used to whip the creature around in the blink of an eye. Three low rows of bone-white spikes lined its back, their short length marking this Creeper as a juvenile.

It was the ideal first target. Creepers were some of the weakest Grimm, but they were still more than capable of causing damage or death to any unprepared human or Faunus walking the woods alone. Good thing Reed was not unprepared.

Reed stepped out of the trees and the Creeper immediately oriented on him. He activated his semblance as it let out a malicious hiss and launched itself at him without any hesitation. The Creeper flew across the ground, aiming to rip apart his legs. When it was less than two feet away, Reed side stepped and smacked it a stunning blow across the side of the head. Momentum redirected, it veered and crashed into a tree on the edge of the clearing.

Reed stumbled, momentarily taken off-balance by the sheer weight of the creature. Despite its short stature, it easily weighed as much as Reed himself. He settled into a low stance, twirling the staff for momentum as the Grimm turned and charged him again. This time, rather than redirect the Creeper, he sought to make it less maneuverable. He side stepped again, this time landing two quick blows to the creatures left leg.

A satisfying crunch and howl of pain told Reed he had accomplished his goal. The creature balanced awkwardly on one leg and hopped to try and face Reed again. He didn't give it the chance, stepping in and sending a powerful over-head blow at the creature's head with the dust-equipped end of the staff.

Ice blossomed in a flower, encasing the creature's front half and causing the tail to twitch violently. Reed brought the staff up with the momentum of the blow, spinning it up and around his back before swinging it in a powerful horizontal slash at the ice-encased head.

The ice shattered, along with the entire front half of the Creeper. The twitching tail dissolved into black mist as Reed went down on one knee, panting slightly. The physical exertion hadn't tired him too much, but the adrenaline of fighting something actually trying to kill him was intense. Still, he grinned manically. His first Grimm. He had just slain his first Grimm!

His elation was short lived. A rustle at the edge of the woods made him look up, as two more Creepers entered the clearing. He cursed softly, berating himself. He should have remembered that Creepers rarely traveled alone, preferring to hunt in packs of at least two or three. He hauled himself back to his feet, glad he hadn't deactivated his semblance, as the two Grimm charged him.

They were side-by-side, so a step to the side or a redirect would be difficult. Instead, Reed waited until they were almost upon him and slammed the dust equipped end of the staff down onto the creature on the right. Reed pushed off the staff, vaulting up and over the charging Grimm as ice encased it.

The tail of the trapped Creeper thrashed wildly, but for the moment it was contained, so Reed turned to face the second Grimm. He grunted in surprise when a clawed paw caught him in the side, causing him to stagger. The creature landed behind him, and launched another attack at his back.

His Aura prevented any serious injury, but the sheer speed of the creature had caught him off guard. Reed berated himself for not locating the creature while he was still airborne, and spun his staff to block the blow aimed at his back. Ice blossomed on the Creeper's arm, and the momentum of the strike caused it to spin away, dragged by the weight of the ice. Reed spun the staff to full speed and hammered blow after blow into the creatures back. White spikes snapped and the creature's thrashing slowed. Finally, Reed spun an underhand blow into the creature's chin, and the head snapped back with a crack.

When Reed saw it start to dissolve, he returned his attention to the Grimm he had previously trapped. A sharp retort signaled its escape from the ice. It launched itself at Reed again, its body becoming airborne as it aimed at his face.

An idea forming in Reed's mind, he planted one end of the staff into the ground, and centered the other on the creature's chest. It struck, the grounded end of the staff digging into the dirt, and was vaulted over Reed to smack into the thick trunk of a tree.

As it collapsed on the ground, Reed got a running start, staff swinging in a fast circle on his right side. As the Grimm recovered, Reed stepped to its right, spun his left leg out in front of him, and brought the staff in a full circle around his body. The end of the staff struck the side of the Grimm's head, trapping it between the staff and the tree. Its head exploded into mist from the force of the blow, its body shortly following suit.

Reed remained tense for a long minute, making sure no other Grimm were in the vicinity. When none emerged, he breathed a sigh of relief and deactivated his semblance. It was exhausting using it for that long, he would have to work on extending the amount of time he could keep it active. Reorienting on the moon, Reed made his way back to the city. He had had enough excitement for one night.

Reed sat alone at the back of the dining hall during his lunch break, picking at the bland cafeteria food. He was exhausted, having spent the last three nights in the woods tracking and fighting Grimm. He had yet to encounter anything more dangerous than a Creeper, but the night before he had been ambushed by five of them, and they were more than dangerous enough in those numbers. Before finishing off the last one, his Aura had shattered from the cumulative blows he had been unable to deflect or avoid. He had received a relatively deep slash to his shoulder from the last Creeper, and had been forced to run back to town after dispatching it.

Reed hadn't seen Phaedra since the night he had received his staff, and jumped when she dropped her plate in the spot directly across from him and flopped into the vacant seat.

"Fuck, I'm beat," she said, laying her head back and staring at the ceiling. She had forgone her usual attire. Instead, she was wearing a no-nonsense leather apron over a black, fitted tank top and green cargo pants. Her hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail, and it and her face were stained with smoke and ash. Her muscular arms were bare to the shoulder, and her blue eyes were tinged with the red of exhaustion.

"I've been up late every night working on a prototype of the weapon," She continued, dropping her gaze to glare at someone across the hall, "And then that dip-shit, waste of space instructor decided to have us all shovel coke for the blast furnace as some sort of stupid fucking training exercise."

She turned to look at Reed, and raised an eyebrow at his haggard appearance. "What the hell, you look as bad I feel. What's wrong, Town Guard a little tougher than you thought?" She smirked at Reed.

Heat rising at the jibe, Reed replied, "I've been having my own share of sleepless nights, I'll have you know."

Her grin widened maliciously, obviously enjoying the prospect of heckling him in his exhausted state. "Well I feel bad for whatever poor girl you convinced to let into their bed. From the look of you, I am guessing you don't have much experience, and I bet you're a truly lousy lay."

Groaning, Reed replied, "Do you have to take everything to some demeaning sexual extent? That's not why I am tired, I've just spent the last several nights out in the woods."

Reed had the satisfaction of seeing her start at that. Her eyes lost their joking edge. "Are you serious?"

When he nodded, she sat back, appraising him as if she had just truly met him. "You have more drive than I would have given you credit for," she said. "I figured you would wait until we had a full working model of the weapon and had trained extensively on dummies and targets before risking your life fighting actual Grimm. I'm assuming you used my old man's staff?"

Reed nodded again. "I hadn't expected anything better than that by the time I finished my year in the Town Guard," he said, "So once I had it I didn't see any point in delaying further. It's been an educational couple of nights, to say the least."

"I can imagine," Phaedra said thoughtfully. She hummed, tapping a finger on the table. After a minute had passed, she said, "Well then, we can move along more quickly I suppose. I wanted to ask you to come over and practice with the weapon some so I could see it in action. However, if you are already fighting Grimm I see little point in you testing it on static targets. What do you say to a little expedition?"

"Wait," said Reed, "You mean you want me to go out and field test it right off the bat?"

"No, I want us to go out and field test it. Second hand accounts aren't worth shit, I want to see how you wield it myself."

"Are you sure that's wise? Have you ever been outside the walls, in Grimm infested territory?"

Phaedra brushed his objection aside. "From the sound of it, you have a good idea of how to fight Creepers, and we are unlikely to run into anything else this close to Adigiar. Besides, I'm not some helpless lass. I've trained with more weapons than you can probably name, and have spent my entire life wielding heavy hammers. If push comes to shove, I can defend myself."

"Well, if you're sure," Reed replied, suppressing his doubts. "When do you want to go?"

Phaedra thought about it for a minute. "Tomorrow is Sunday, so we have the day off. Why don't we meet at the gates at dawn, and leave as soon as they are open? Then we can spend the entire day out in the woods weapon testing."

"I was planning on spending the day in the woods anyway, so that works for me," Reed said.

"Perfect, I will see you then." Phaedra shoveled the last of her food into her mouth before standing up and striding from the hall, leaving her dirty dishes behind.

Reed sighed and finished his own meal, then took both of their dishes to the return station. His head ached, and he still had to sit through Captain Dumbass's daily lecture. He decided he would go to bed as soon as he got home that night.

He would need a good night's sleep to deal with Phaedra for an entire day.