Chapter 2: 1 Year Earlier

"I can't believe that we are Graduating in just under a year!" Nadeshiko yelled, spinning around in the hallway. Draco and Gerard laughed while Rebecca grabbed Nadeshiko and stopped her from running into a wall.

Rebecca dusted her off and asked, "Why are you so hyperactive? Usually the non-stop movements are concentrated on just your hands and legs, not your whole body."

"I'm just so excited! We're finally in our last year of school! We're the top of our game. And after this, we can go out into the world as real Hunters!" Nadeshiko started jumping up and down, her ear twitching with anticipation.

Draco reached over and patted her on the head. "Why don't you keep the excitement bottled up until our practical training next period?" At this, Nadeshiko stopped and nodded. She put on her 'professional face' and strolled into the gymnasium. Draco looked at Gerard and Rebecca with a confused look. "I will never understand how that girl goes from a fountain of overflowing energy to calm and composed in seconds."

The rest of the group entered the gymnasium and stood next to Nadeshiko. The gym was a large square room with extremely tall and reinforced walls. It was the perfect place inside the school for fighting smaller Grimm. Draco started stretching in anticipation, wanting to kill some Grimm.

"This is an amazing start to the beginning of them year. It's the first day and we already have practical training. It couldn't get any better! Do you think we'll be able to actually start doing jobs?" Gerard says, reaching over his shoulder and drew Ragnarok, his giant 8 foot long greatsword. He also touched the earpiece that transmitted Ragnarok's voice into his ear. He still didn't understand how a sword had a personality of it's own and Ragnarok wasn't willing to explain. "I wonder what we'll be fighting today. I hope it's something that puts up a challenge instead of the usual Ursa or Beowolf."

Rebecca, Draco, and Nadeshiko all got their weapons ready and start to get into position. Before Rebecca went into her sniping position, she tapped Draco on the shoulder and said, "You should let Gerard take point this time. He hasn't gotten the experience yet and we might need him on the front lines someday." She nods at Gerard and walks towards the rear of the room, away from the entrance to the cages. Gerard heads to the position closest in the cages in their position. He switched Ragnarok between his hands, testing which one he would use for this fight, finally deciding on his left hand.

There was a loud warning chime from above and the cage entrance slowly started to open. Everyone looked at the door and watched as three large, highly armored Ursa stepped out and into the gym. Gerard sighed and said, "At least they are larger than the others we've faced. And look at that armor. At least this should be interesting." He got into a fighting stance and waited for the attack.

The Ursa noticed Gerard standing in the center of the room, ready to attack. They roared and started running at him. Gerard smiled and brought Ragnarok above his head. When the first Ursa got into range, he swung Ragnarok down and cut through the Ursa as if it was paper. This surprised Gerard and he was barely able to bring Ragnarok into position to block against the second Ursa's attack. He was sent flying across the room, seeing Nadeshiko running at the Ursa as he flew through the air. He tried to twist in the air to land on his feet as he had seen Draco do a hundred times. He only succeeded in landing on his side and injuring his left arm. Ragnarok landed a few feet away and Gerard heard its voice yelling in his ear.

"What the hell, man! I swear that if I got a scratch on me, I will personally burn you to ashes! Now get up and finish your fight instead of letting a woman do it!"

Gerard stood up and quickly looked over at Nadeshiko to see what was happening. She was dodging the attacks and keeping the Ursa busy while Rebecca used supporting fire to slow them down, but nothing was getting through the armor. Gerard ran over to Ragnarok and picked it up. He then quickly slid the thumb of his left had aver the blade, creating a small cut. As he ran towards the Ursa and Nadeshiko, he let 3 drops of blood fall into one of the skulls engraved into Ragnarok's blade. The moment the third and final drop fell into its mouth, the skull lit up and black fire covered the blade. As he neared the battle, he yelled at Nadeshiko to get back. She jumped away, looking at him running past her. She noticed his flaming sword and got a surprised look on her face. Gerard gave her a small smile and sprinted at the Ursa.

The Ursa noticed his approach and turned towards him, one slightly behind the other. The one in front launched an attack, but Gerard brought Ragnarok and knocked the attack away, lighting the Ursa's paw on fire. The Ursa roared in pain, the roar silenced by an upwards diagonal slice, cutting the Ursa in two and lighting the two pieces on fire. Gerard stepped towards the second Ursa with the previous one turning to ashes behind him. He brought Ragnarok to the side and swung it at the Ursa before it could attack again, slicing it clean in half. As the dead Ursa fell to the floor, another chime rang, signaling the end of the practical training. A voice told them to leave the gymnasium and to wait until the end of the period or another practical training, the decision of which would be up to the teacher in charge of the current period. The group nodded and left the room.

When they left, Nadeshiko spun around and faced Gerard, as did Draco and Rebecca. Nadeshiko asked, "What was the whole fiery sword thing you had going on in there? Since when have you been able to do that?" Draco and Rebecca nodded.

Gerard explained how Ragnarok, or rather the AI in Ragnarok, had told him that if he did a 'blood ritual' with the sword, then it would grant him the power to destroy all that opposed him. This being the black flames that devoured everything it touched, the only exception being him, the owned of the sword. Gerard then told them that he did not understand the need for blood to make the flames appear, but that it worked.

The group was then told that they could go back to their dormitories until their next period in an hour. The four of them went through the day as they usually did, being bored in classes that involved sitting through lectures, sending each other messages using the Scrolls, and basically doing teenager things. When it was dinnertime, Rebecca told them that she wanted Gerard to protect her from then on, using Ragnarok's 'power' as a last resort. They all agreed and ate their food.

The following day, they each got a message on their Scrolls from Headmaster Ozpin to meet in his office. When they got their, he opened the door and let them in.

"Did you know that the practical training yesterday was actually a test to see if you were ready to start taking small jobs? Because you were the only group this year that passed on the first try. Everyone else was not able to defeat the three Ursa without sacrificing one of their teammates or without someone getting injured enough to not fight anymore. Luckily, nobody dies as a teacher intervened before anything serious happened. By the way, Gerard, how is your left arm holding up?"

Surprised that Ozpin knew of his injury, Gerard told him that it would only take a few days to heal and that he could still use his right arm to fight. Satisfied, Ozpin took a drink from his mug and went back behind his desk.

"Well, now that you guys have passed the test, would you like to start taking jobs for extra money and experience in the field?" He takes another drink from his bottomless mug.

"Of course we would!" Rebecca replied immediately.

Ozpin nodded again and gave them each a card and a map to the job center. "You will give this card the woman at the desk in the job center. She will then verify whether or not you are qualified to take the job or not. If she deems you unfit for a job, you will not be able to do said job until she deems you worthy, whether you like it or not. If you complain, these cards will be revokes and you will have to take another test, only this one will be much harder and you won't be able to cheat this time, Gerard."

Confused, Gerard asks, "What do you mean, sir?"

"You didn't give all the specifics of your weapon. Like it's ability to cut through Grimm armor and the ability to become covered in black flames and burn everything it touches. Those are a bit cheaty, don't you think?" He takes yet another drink, this one long and noisy.

Gerard looks away, ashamed. Rebecca saves him by asking when they could start with their jobs.

After another drink, Ozpin answers, "You can start anytime. If you take a job that requires you to travel, then you will need to ask your teachers for the assignments for those days. Don't forget to pack. Blah blah blah, I'm pretty sure you know all this already. One moment." He drinks. "God, this is delicious. I don't even know how this little mug hold over 700 gallons of whatever is in this. But that aside, just make sure that you guys finish the jobs and don't give Beacon a bad name."

Draco stood up, "If that's all, can we go get a job? I want to see what we are able to do."

Ozpin nodded then took a drink out of his mug, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that you are actually above what the others would start at. But that's only because of you finishing the test the first try."

The group nodded and then left his office. Draco immediately looked at his map and headed for the job center. Rebecca and the others followed and they eventually arrived at a small building that was old and weathered. Draco made sure he had the right address and walked in, followed by the others.

The inside of the building was surprisingly larger and pretty well taken care of. The paint was new, there were tables with people sitting at them, and it had a cozy feeling to it. Along one wall was a the counter with the woman who determines whether someone gets a job or not. Along another wall was a window that had the scent of food and drink wafting from it. And the last, non-entrance wall was covered in posters of jobs. Every inch of it had some job or another. Thousands of jobs just waiting to be picked. They were categorized by difficulty, the most difficult jobs being at the top, and the easiest jobs at ground level.

Mesmerized, Draco walked up to the counter. "How does this work? Do I just grab a job and bring it to you and you tell me whether I am able to do it or not?" he asked. The woman nodded at this and Draco turned around to grab a job. He quickly scanned the wall and found an Ursa Hunting job. Taking it off the wall, he brings it over to the woman and hands her the poster. She looks at it and holds out her hand. It takes Draco a moment to realize that she is waiting for him to hand over his card. He does so and she scans both the card and poster. She hands both back and nods. She then gives him a verification slip and goes back to work behind the counter.

Draco quickly asks, "Is there a way that I can put this card on my Scroll so that I don't have more things to carry around?"

The woman nods and takes both his Scroll and the card. She does a complicated procedure that ends with a scanning of the card. The card appears on the screen along with the information of Draco and his team, such as how many jobs they have completed and how difficult those jobs were. Draco takes back his Scroll, but the woman keeps the card. He then brings the poster over to the rest of the group and they designate him the job picker. Once everyone had seen the poster and agreed that it was probably the best job to begin with, they headed for the entrance.

As they headed out, Draco looked back into the job center and smiled, knowing he would be there a lot throughout the next year. He then left, going towards his first job and the beginning to the rest of his life.

End of Chapter 2