"All first-year leaders are to report to the strategy room after first period," a voice rang through the halls. The same message was illuminated on the holographic displays mounted throughout the school.

Jake was ready for a great first day at Beacon. Unfortunately for him, the first period happened to be combat class, taught by Professor Port.

While most the other students were skilled enough in unarmed combat, a few students, primarily the long-range users, struggled to keep up with the advanced techniques consisting of throws and strikes to holds and escapes. For Jake, however, he was completely lost. To his merit, he could handle a weapon properly, but when it came to fighting without one, he was dead in the water.

Thankfully, the professor offered to provide extra lessons for Jake. Even though it was probably Ozpin who directed Professor Port to do so, Jake appreciated the offer.

It was their talk after the class that almost caused Jake show up late to the meeting. A last minute call sprang him into a mad dash for the classroom, which Serrah was kind enough to point out before first period.

With less than a minute to spare, he burst into the room. Everyone was sitting around an elliptical table, their eyes turning at the new arrival. There were around ten people in the room, including him.

"Ah! Glad for you to join us, Mr. Kohle," Professor Goodwitch said.

From the far side of the room, Lia beckoned him over to a seat that she had reserved for him.

"I believe that is all of us. Now, Ms. Caeruleus, if you would." Professor Goodwitch invited a girl that Jake did not recognize.

"Good morning to all of you. For those who do not know me, I am Vita Caeruleus. This will be my fourth and final year at Beacon, and I will be assuming the role of the first years' representative. I hope we can work together and that you can have an easy transition into Beacon life."

There was a gentle round of applause before Vita continued.

"Now for the first matters to attend to…" she started, glancing at a piece of paper sitting in front of her, "Your duties as a team leader. You are now responsible for the management of a team. Their health, academics, physique, and mental state are of your responsibility and it is your duty to resolve any internal problems or conflicts. That said… there is nothing stopping you to reach for help.

"This will be your equipment: a scroll," Vita said, as Goodwitch handed her a holographic-display tablet. "This will be your method of communication between anyone else who has a tablet, which includes all staff members and team leaders of Beacon. In combat, it can be used to monitor Aura levels of your fellow teammates. Use this information wisely, as a small mistake can cost you the lives of your team."

They began to pass down Scrolls to everyone in the room. After a quick walkthrough to setting it up, Vita continued to the next topic of the meeting.

"Lastly, there is the tournament, which is fast approaching. In a month's time, every student is required to participate in at least a single event. Currently, there are still details to be worked out, but we want to give you a forewarning. This is an extremely important event and we advise you to take this seriously. Professor, any last comments?"

Professor Goodwitch stood up.

"Thank you Ms. Caeruleus. For the tournament, we want all leaders to encourage strong work ethics with their teammates to ensure a success in the tournament. As for Ms. Caeruleus here, her team, VOLT, holds three consecutive champion titles in Team Battles. I hope all of you follow her example and bring your team a win. That is all. Meeting adjourned."

Jake walked out of the room, his Scroll in hand. He still had to sync up his teammates' aura, but nevertheless, it was an interesting piece of technology co-developed by none other than Beacon's Professor Eisen.

First years' schedule consisted mainly of mandatory courses, with the option of only one elective course, unlike the vast freedoms in Second Year. If they all took the same courses, they should have been all in the class. Unfortunately, there were enough students in First Year to form two separate classes and Team Jasmine and Team Lapiz were split into the different ones.

Jake parted with Lia and met up with his teammates. Although it was the first day of school, the day was filled with hours of classes. Professor's Oobleck's history class and Professor Goodwitch's Introduction to Dust Studies ensued, followed by a quick lunch break. The rest of the day was reserved for self-study in the library.

"Fiiiiiinally!" Myrilly exclaimed, raising her arms out to stretch.

"I certainly didn't expect this much work on the first day," Jake added.

"It's as expected of Beacon, being the best in Vytal. They have to live up to their standards," Nalytha pointed out.

"A history quiz next class about the origins of Grimm, an essay about the best applications of dust in the last century for Dust Studies next week, and an expected three hour intense training every day? I think even that is a stretch for Beacon's work load," Serrah replied.

"Well, maybe they are trying to scare everyone; to weed out the weaker bunch," suggested Jake.

They all turned to stare at him.

"What!? It's not like I'm going to be the one who drops out!"

"Let's hope that's true, Red Leader," Nalythia told him.

"Sooo! We have four hours until dinner! What do you guys want to do?" Myrilly asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure. I saw a pool table in the Recreation Room earlier and we definitely can take a break," Serrah said.

"That sounds great, except I got a meeting at soon with Professor Port," Jake told them.

Nalythia's eyes twitched. "What do you have to do with him?" she asked.

"Ahhh… Just some extra help…"

"What extra hel- " Nalythia started, before she was interrupted by Serrah.

"That's fine, you go do that. We'll meet you later."

"Alright, I'll see you later."

"Bye!" Myrilly called to him, as he walked out of the library.

A bunch of head turned to her and created a symphony of hushes.

"Sorry!" Myrilly whispered back.

"So what is this about Jake and Professor Port?" Nalythia venomously whispered.

"It's his own business. We should trust in him. He's a good guy at heart; he's an innocent idealist," Serrah retorted.

"An innocent leader isn't what we need here! It's about experience! It's about who clawed their way up from the ashes and made it here when all of them said that they were worthless! And look at me now! Look where I am! Here, at Beacon! I am better than all-."

Nalythia was standing up. Her outburst caught the attention of almost every person in the library. Realizing what she had done, she sank back down into her chair and buried her face into her opened book that lay on the table. The librarian walked over to them and tapped Nalythia on the shoulder.

"Is everything all right?" the librarian asked, concerned.

"Everything is fine. We were just in a heated debate," Serrah told her.

"Perhaps you should do that elsewhere," she replied, clearly annoyed.

"Of course, we were just on our way out."

Myrilly and Serrah got up and started to pack their bags; Nalythia still was face planted in her book, not saying word.

"C'mon, let's go," Serrah told Nalythia, poking her in the arm.

She refused to budge, so Serrah started to pack her bags for her.

"I'll carry you if you don't come," said Myrilly, jokingly.

There was no response from Nalythia, so Myrilly made the decision to carry her. Flaring her aura, she picked her up and tossed her over her shoulder, like a sack of potatoes.

"Aaaaaand we are out of here!" Myrilly exclaimed, again disrupting the silence in the library.

The librarian gave them the evil eye, as Serrah silently apologized.

Jake made his way towards the room, where Professor Port had requested to meet.

"Ah! Mr. Kohle. Unarmed combat was it?"

"Uh, yes sir."

"Good, good. Now, are you ready to train?" the professor asked.

"Yes."

He had only been to the gym once before, during the quick tour of Beacon. Like he remembered, it was littered with an overwhelming amount of fitness equipment ranging from a dozen treadmills to multiple rowing stations. Everything that Beacon's students needed, it was there.

In the centre of the room was a large area of mats. Professor Port temporarily disappeared, only to bring out a typical fighting dummy.

"I want you to strike it," he told Jake.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

Jake took a stance, recollecting memories from action movies he used to watch with his friends late at night.

"Hyaa!"

He punched the dummy straight in the chest, causing it to rock, despite its heavy foundation. He punched it again, now with a combination of a jab to a cross.

"Hmm… Good… Looks like we don't need to start as far back as I thought. For starters, your form is wrong."

His hand pushed down on Jake's shoulders, forcing him to spread him legs further apart.

"Bend your knees! It lowers your centre of gravity so you don't fall over so easily. Turn towards me."

Jake complied.

"Not your entire body! Only show your side, your left foot in front of your right; or whichever side is more comfortable. It minimizes the area at which someone can strike you. Good! Now face the dummy one again. Strike on my mark."

Jake tensed himself, preparing to strike.

"Strike!"

"That was very good, considering this is your first time. Of course this is nowhere near the standard of which Beacon's students must perform at, but Ozpin has made this an exception. Unfortunately, I will be unable to give you further extra lessons, so I suggest you may ask your teammates to give you a bit of coaching. I believe Ms. Ledo can assist you for that. That is all."

"Thank you sir."

"Good night Mr. Kohle."

Peter Port left the gym. Jake took a deep breath and did some final stretches before packing up.

He passed by the Recreational room, expecting to see his teammates, but instead found Team Lapis.

"Hey Jake!" David Aureolin called to him.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Playing pool. Want to join us?" said Zack, "Lia's clearing the table! She beat us like… six times!"

"Maybe later. Have you seen any of my guys? They said that they'd be here," said Jake.

"Didn't you hear?" asked Aureolin.

"Hear what?"

"Nalytha had a huge breakdown in the library a couple hours ago."

"What!?"

"Yeah, everyone's talking about it. Though you already had a handle on it."

"No, I was busy…"

"Then you'd better go."

"Check your room, they most likely would be there," Lia said, now joining the conversation.

"Gotcha."

Jake ran through the twisting hallway and made it to their room. He fumbled for the key card, but before he could unlock the door, it opened. Serrah was there, her expression pained and stressed.

He got in and found his entire team. Myrilly was sitting on her bed, uncharacteristically saying nothing, only raising her head to see who came through the door. Nalythia was in her bed, either sleeping or just unwilling to talk.

"What happened?" Jake whispered to Serrah.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, but Nalythia refused to talk ever since you left."

Jake was about to approach Nalythia, but then reconsidered.

"I think we should leave her alone for a bit. C'mon."

"Alright."

Serrah left the room and Myrilly got up from her bed and joined her outside.

"Um, Nalythia. Are you alright?" Jake asked.

There was no answer from the girl.

"If there's anything wrong, we're here for you. Um, if you don't want to talk now, we'll leave you alone for a bit. When you're ready, we'll be in the Recreational room. Lia, Pearl, Zack, and David wanted for all of us to play pool together, so you can come and join us. I guess I'll see you later."

Jake switched off the light and let the door close shut.

From beneath the covers, Nalythia stirred and then sat up.

"Since when did I get so weak..." she mumbled to herself.

She rubbed her eyes and then got out of bed, but not before tripping over a suitcase that she left out from the night before. Cursing, she inched towards the light switch and managed to turn on the light without stubbing her toe.

She walked to the Recreation room and found the rest of her team and Team Lapis. Jake, Zack, and Aureolin playing pool, while the girls were playing cards together in the other corner.

"Hey Nalythia!" Aureolin greeted her.

Everyone else looked up. There was a bit of tension was in the air.

"Come join us, Nalythia," Serrah said, with a slight nervous tone, "We got you some dinner."

She pointed at a plate cover on the table.

"Thanks," she mumbled, walking over to the plate.

There was a moment of silence as Nalythia sat down.

"You know what?" Myrilly shouted, breaking the awkward silence, "Let's play some poker!"

"Sure," replied Zack, grabbing the poker set from the shelves.

After a few rounds of poker, the tension started to dissipate and before they knew it, hours had already gone by. It was late at night and they had class the next day. Fortunately, Nalythia was back to her normal self, criticizing everyone for the stupid things they do. Jake was glad that everything worked out all right. It would have been a terrible start if there would be conflicts within the team.

As for the poker game, they all learned not to call Lia out on a bluff. Zack learned the hard way, after going all in on a flush when she had a straight flush.

If you're still on board, thanks! Finally toning down after the action packed initiation test, we get to have some character interactions and character development. On another note, we broke the 10,000 word milestone! Yay! Like I mentioned in last chapter, there may be a few postponed chapters due to the busy time of year right now, but just keep holding on. More content will come!

Now to answer a question asked by a reader:

I see this strange contradiction in this chapter where a Nevermore can physically rip a airship from the sky, but are so frail that a handful of initiates can defeat them.

Grimm come in different sizes and some are stronger than others (other reasons to follow in later chapters). The nevermore that picked up the airship was a larger variant. In terms of the initiates, the disparity between combat abilities is huge. Some students are way more capable than others, but they have the ability to participate in the initiation test, as long as they pass the preliminary test (applications, etc.).

Thanks for reading this week's release, and I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave comments on what you think! I'd love to answer any of your comments or criticisms.