Red Leaves and Dreams of Ale

[Victor Valbrand]

A class trip to Forever Fall. The project: study the abnormal plant life of the forest and prepare a written report by the end of the week. Why was Forever Fall the way it was? Why were the plants that grew in that forest red all year long? There were answers to be found, and it was the students' job to find it. whether by their own observations or through other means. To accomplish this, the class had taken a field trip to the forest to study the plant life and collect samples of sap from the trees, accompanied by a pair of teachers for protection, however being huntsmen and huntresses in training, it was expected the students should be able to defend themselves if they were attacked by Grimm. Nevertheless, students were made to work together in groups of no less than two for this assignment, both for academic reasons and for safety.

He'd known about this trip ever since it was announced two weeks ago, and yet Vee felt a sense of dread when he came into class that morning. He had been here since the first day of school and yet he had no friends so far. No group, always the loner in class. Of course he wasn't the only one, but knowing how the young man never interacted with anyone in class, the teacher pulled him aside and instructed him to pair up with... Castor Archomos? Never heard of 'em. Must be another loner with no one to work with.

[Castor Achromos]

It wasn't every day Castor bothered to participate in class though after recent events it had dawned on his dumbass that maybe there was something of value in these lectures. It helped that on this particular day the professor had them group up in pairs, with the goal of the day's lesson was to look and trees...kill Grimm? Truth be told Castor was half awake through the explanation and was banking on the other student to help on that end. In usual Castor fashion, he had not bothered to learn any of the names of his classmates save for the few he's meet outside of school grounds. This new classmate of his seemed to be a loner of sorts also though by choice and circumstances was unknown.

It quickly became clear that the various groups were headed off in different directions, being as it was his first time within this forest going around aimlessly would probably not be for the best. That would just be asking for a surprise from local Grimm...on second thought. Quickly turning to his classmate "all right I'm gonna...scout ahead...make sure no pesky Grimm tries to ambush us, you go get us that grade." and with that Castor quickly went further into the forest without a care in the world.

The intent of his actions wasn't to abandon his fellow huntsman in training but to see what kind of person they were, after all both of his mentors instilled the value of actions over words into him. Besides less time they spent on overlong introductions the quicker they can get this class assignment over with. If any Grimm were to show themselves, they would at least make this day a bit more bearable. Fidi could use the exercise anyway.

[Victor Valbrand]

"Not so fast," Vee spoke up. "You're not going off to have fun by yourself and leave me to do all the work." He thrust out an empty glass jar. "Get your own sap. I've plans for my own, and I'll be using yours too if I collect it myself. Bite the bullet and get it over with." He didn't necessarily mind doing the project himself, as he'd planned on working alone anyways, but to be forcefully partnered with someone who refused to do their share of the work annoyed him. Besides, if he wasn't able to go out and enjoy himself by killing a few Grimm because he had to do someone else's work on top of his own, there was no point in even coming out today, he could have just gone to the library to do the research instead. "Besides, we've a while before we must return to campus, we can hunt Grimm once we've collected what we need."

[Castor Achromos]

Castor was in the least bit surprised by his "partner's" reaction as he was handed the empty jar, the only thing running in his mind was how to make this boring, pointless lesson...just a little more fun. Turning around to face his classmate with a bit of a challenge "tell ya what, let's see which one of us can kill the biggest Grimm before the day ends, the loser has to pay lunch for a whole week, booze and all." Castor was confident that he can easily win such a contest. His semblance was particularly useful for hunting creatures of Grimm and even better at killing them. But of course, Castor would not call out fidi until suitable prey was found or presented itself. Luckily it would not take long for them to catch the attention of the local monstrosities. As out of nearby bushes popped out a boarbatusk, these little bastards were usually smaller than other Grimm, but they were just as vicious and aggressive as any other creature of Grimm.

At first, it seemed to be limping but that quickly changed as the monster quickly curled into a ball and rushed towards him. Snaping back to reality Castor quickly reacts with a sidestep easily avoiding its attack, it may be a stupid monster but its horn can easily impale someone with little effort. When it came back around for another attack, Castor readied himself by going into a grappler stance with his body leaning forward and legs spread out wide. But not before he would throw up an empty glass jar straight into the air. As if taunting both the Grimm and his classmate, at the last moment, before the Grimm could land its mark, Castor would dodge to the side using his hands to grab onto the nearest tusk and yanking it to the side. He wouldn't have to put much effort, thanks to the momentum of the boarbatusk the white bone protrusion came flying off the monster forcing it out of its little spinning death ball, crashing into the dirt face first.

The sound of bone breaking along with the boar's roar in pain echoed throughout the air. As Castor inspected the horn in his hand and the rest of the monster as it fumbled around on the floor, he had realized that the monster had already been in a fight earlier today. Judging from the numerous breaks...and bite marks throughout its body. He believed maybe an animal like a bear or wolf took it by surprise. Either way, fighting a half-dead Grimm had no appeal to the huntsman in training, so he would fling the worn-out tusk at the boar as it rose from the ground. Unlike the boar. Castor would find his target as the broken-off bone would find its new home between the Grimm's eyes, lodged into its skull before dying and disappearing into nothing as all creatures of Grimm do. Castor would out his right hand as he yawned before letting his classmate "this small fry doesn't count" as his glass jar falls back into his hand perfectly intact.

[Victor Valbrand]

Vee was rather annoyed by his classmate's insistence on being a nuisance. Still before he had a chance to protest, a wounded Boarbatusk came out of the bushes and began attacking Castor! Vee reached into his coat to draw one of his guns, but it seemed his help would not be necessary as Castor had the situation well under control. An easy victory. "As I was about to say, what do you mean "including booze"? You have a way to procure alcohol without being caught by the professors?" That tidbit had caught his interest. He'd intended to brew his own ale with this syrup but that would take weeks at best.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor was unsurprised by the person's initial reaction, but when the person started to ask about the booze did take him by surprise. Given their reaction and questioning Castor believed he had finally met someone who shared his appreciation for alcohol. Castor quickly going through his scroll before he comes across a small list of ingredients of items, "if you're planning to make your stuff, there's a few ways to hide the materials needed in plain ordinary purchases." Castor tap his school again with a new photo. This time it showed a fancy flight of several drinks, all of them being much more expensive than any normal person let alone a student would be expected to afford. Of course it doesn't show Castor downing them like he normally would, after all if a school official found these photos he could lie and say its just photo of a drink he saw.

"I happen to know a small little place that has no problems providing their...product to all who are willing to pay, sides the owners and I are friends...of sorts so there's that." Castor would put his scroll away before heading towards to the deeper area's of the forest. If nothing else this little contest of Grim hunting just got a lot more interesting, "come on we aint got all day." He yelled back towards his classmate, Castor finally realized he never bothered to ask for their name....meh he'll ask later once the day is done.

[Victor Valbrand]

Vee listened to this explanation with rapt attention. He'd had his first drink on the ship ride over from Menagerie long, long ago and he'd often sneak drinks in secret, only to be scolded by Véra when he was inevitably caught. Nevertheless he acquired a taste for rum, whiskey, and ale, so now that he was no longer entirely under his adopted mother's thumb he intended to indulge his worldly desires. He'd spent the entire semester until this point searching for a way to do so, only for it to be handed to him on a silver platter? He was sure this Castor person would prove to be someone worth knowing. With a smirk he followed after his companion, heading deeper into the forest in search of the best tree to get sap from, and of course some Grimm to give him a good fight.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor quickly realized both he and Vee were the type who truly appreciated alcoholic drinks, unlike many at Beacon. If nothing else it was a small bit of common ground the two shared. As the two made their way into forest proper, he figured it would be better to get the tree sap first before they started their little grim hunt. Castor would look around going from tree to tree trying in vain to harvest the sap from them, but either by misfortune or his incompetence, nothing seeped out of them. Upon further inspection Castor noticed small holes around each of the trees he tried, it seemed someone had been beaten to the punch.

"Well while this is still a work in progress, got any fun stuff to talk about ?" Castor asked not sure how Vee's progress was going but it at least killed the impending sense of doom and boredom overcoming him. Their short conversation would be cut short when something started breaking through one of the trees from...the inside? This new intruder didn't take long to reveal itself as the Grimm's white boney mask soon broke out of the wood. The monster was a kind Castor wasn't familiar with, it seemed similar to other insect-like Grimm he had seen but as it struggled to get out of the tree Castor noticed its body was bloated like some kind of waterlogged corpse. It didn't seem to pay any attention to either him or Vee as it crawled across the ground and soon started digging its way into a new try.

Castor would have killed it in most circumstances and left it at that but it gave off this sickening sweet aroma, just bearing near was starting to make the huntsman lightheaded. Almost like...." this little shit is eating the sap!" he said realizing what had happened with the tree earlier but why would a Grimm go after sap made no sense to him at all?

[Victor Valbrand]

Vee was inspecting one tree after another with disappointment and building anger. "These are all bled dry, we might be out of luck here," he muttered. "No luck on your end? I was sure we were the only ones to come this way." He'd missed Castor's initial question but his attention was taken away from the trees when he heard the sound of something pushing through the woods toward them. He put his jar down safely and drew one of his revolvers cautiously as a... Grimm? emerged from the forest and... seemed to ignore them in favor of the trees? "What.... is that?" he questioned. He'd never seen a Grimm like this before. "Wait, what?" He sniffed the air, and sure enough, this Grimm reeked of sweet sap. "Bastard. We'll need to find a way to harvest the sap from it before it can dissipate then. We'll need to incapacitate it without killing it."

[Castor Achromos]

Castor already knew they would have to be careful with this strange Grimm, one wrong move, and who knows what could happen? Part of him was wondering if killing would leave the sap behind given that creatures of Grimm don't normally consume. Ideas of what to best do spiral out of control in his mind. before each one was discarded, anything that involved physical force or his semblance was too much of a risk. Besides that, the disgustingly sweet smell was only getting worse, Castor was unsure if it meant the Grimm was using the smell as a way to defend itself or that it was starting to digest the sap...Regardless as the two discussed how best to handle the situation, the strange Grimm started digging its way into another tree.

No doubt to find more sap for whatever purpose, before either of them could get a grab into the tree's bark, both Castor and Vee were interpreted by some unexpected but still the same unwanted guests that littered the forest. A small group of Grimm, Beowolves to be exact had noticed them and with a quick howl of the alpha soon charged towards with fang and claw ready to tear into rip all in their path. Castor paid no attention to them still focused on the bug Grimm from earlier, "you got this, I'll just focus on getting this little shit out of the tree." and with that Castor turned his back on both the approaching Grimm and Vee with an idea in his head.

Focusing his aura around his fingers tips, Castor pressed against the base of the tree and slowly started scraping away at the bark like a cat playing with a scratch post, doing his best not to dig too deeply, or else he may accidentally harm the little freaky bastard hidden inside.

[Victor Valbrand]

"Whatever you're gonna do, best do it fast," Vee said as he drew his guns and turned to face the approaching Beowolves, putting his trust in Castor to deal with that bug Grimm. This pack was rather small, but he wasn't sure if they had reinforcements waiting or not and he was not to keen on finding out. With a grin he cocked the hammers of his revolvers and took aim, gunning down two Beowolves that were charging at him.

"Welcome to the firing range, lads!" He mocked as he shot yet another Beowolf that has foolishly stopped in its tracks in confusion. "You'll not be stepping one paw beyond, and none of ye will leave this place in one piece." Another shot, this time aimed at the ground between two Beowolves charging together, the resulting explosion of fire Dust igniting the two of them. One died instantly and the other stopped in its tracks to put the fire out, exposing itself for an easy kill.

"Five down," he declared. "Have none of ye the stones to even be a threat?!" He heard rustling to his right and knew one was trying to flank him. His silver Aura flickered momentarily and his eyes began glowing gold as he actovated his Semblance. "Don't think I'll be fooled so easily, mutt," he said as he raised his arm and fired without turning his head, slaying a Beowolf that was indeed trying to flank him. At the same time, he raised his other revolver and fired two shots at the Alpha, who managed to dodge one and caught the other bullet in the arm with an angry roar. "Well, well, last two already! Think we'll get extra credit if we bring back a captured Grimm?" He asked with a grin as he aimed his guns at the two Beowolves. He intended to shoot the first to run in the back as punishment for cowardice.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor heard the sound of gunshots behind him as his partner in crime was making quick work of the Grimm, luckily he was slowly making progress as well as it only took a few moments for Castor to finally reach the center of the tree where his prize awaited. Initially expecting to see the same disgusting little shit from before gorging itself on sap, he instead came upon a strange cocoon made out of hardened sap. It's red shine made it look like the Grimm was sleeping in a bubble of hardened blood. Pressing his hand against it, he expected the Grimm nesting inside this strange construction to jump out and attack. Instead, all he felt aside was a faint tingle run up his arms before quickly pulling it away, like when a person accidentally places their hand over a stove, quickly moves their hand in a vain attempt to not get burned.

Sure enough, the pain in his palm snapped him out of his though a small gash wound seemingly from nowhere appeared. There was a small bit of blood dripping from his palm but it didn't seem to be a deep cut, what did worry him was Castor knew his aura was up the entire time he was working on the tree. As far as he could tell his aura wasn't damaged in any way either...

Castor was unsure how to proceed, maybe use the jar? it was at this point his fellow huntsman seemingly almost finished with his hunt asked if they should capture Grimm for extra credit.

"well these furballs are a dime a dozen, it'll be a waste of effort," he said knowing that the sap cocoon before him was infinitely more valuable grabbing one of the jars Castor would slowly press against the tree bark right under where the Grimm was and quickly in one swift motion scooped upward. Normally the tree bark would stop his plan but with some focus and aura the jar cut through the wood effortlessly and the Grimm cocoon slid into the jar where Castor quickly place top in afraid the Grimm sleeping inside the cocoon might burst out at any moment.

"Well that's one prize down, how your play date with the pups?" he jokingly asked

[Victor Valbrand]

"If we aren't going to capture them, best not to let them live," Vee insisted. The moment he turned his head to speak the beowolves had started charging and were now in striking range. Without even looking Vee put his gun into the mouth of the smaller Beowolf and bulled the trigger, killing it instantly. "Eight. Eight bullets wasted on you mutts." He spat in the Alpha's direction as he holstered his revolvers. "Don't think you'll have an easy death, lad," he said as he slowly drew his swords and aimed the blade towards his opponent who roared in response to the challenge.

Vee stepped to the side slowly, never once lowering his blade as the Beowolf turned to follow. This continued for a few moments longer until the Grimm had made a full 90 degree turn before losing patience and lunging at Vee, swinging its claws to knock the sword away. Vee had been waiting for that of course and swung his other sword upward, slicing the Grimm's arm off at the elbow before lunging forward, stabbing it through its throat. He pushed forward, countering the Beowolf's momentum with his own to drive the sword in to the hilt. He then swung both swords, cleaving the wolf's neck in two and severing its head while simultaneously freeing Vee's sword. He clicked his teeth in annoyance as the corpse disintegrated into a shadowy mist. "Killed it too quickly."

[Castor Achromos]

Castor saw the huntsman in training carve up the remaining Grimm into little meaty chunks, even if they were just some beowolves his classmate at least was able to back up his confidence. Now that they were finished with the task at hand it shouldn't take long for either of them to find some sap for their assignment. As Castor made his way to the nearest tree he handed Vee the jar, the Grimm cocoon remained still frozen in place sticking to what little bit of bark that got scooped along with it. Any hopes of finally getting this stupid assignment over with quickly and thoroughly dashed when Castor noticed a small hole not too different from the one their little freaky guest had made when it dug through the tree.

But there was only one way to be sure. Focusing the aura around his hand in one quick spear-like motion shoved his hand into the tree with little effort and ripped out an all too familiar Grimm...

It was another strange Grimm insect but fortunately, this one had yet to eat its fill of the tree's sap, before it could realize what happened Castor already had his hand around its neck. With a quick squeeze, he ended the little monster's "life" as its body practically popped like a balloon with whatever was left of its corpse soon withering into nothing. Checking on his hand, he didn't seem to have received any injuries aside from the one the bug Grimm earlier gave him. He did notice the sap from the Grimm's body remain as it glazed a good portion of his forearm.

"you get the rest of the crap I need to clean this shit off," he said to Vee using a small bottle of war he had "borrowed" from another student earlier today to try to clean the sap off. As they finished they could hear the sounds of gunfire, screams not too far off from them, before said noise was suddenly cut off...

[Victor Valbrand]

Vee smirked in amusement as he watched the Grimm pop, coating Castor's arm in sap. "Sure thing," he said as he set about trying to collect sap from the tree his partner had just.... "rescued". He'd managed to get enough, but he had only one jar's worth. To be expected of course since they'd captured an unknown Grimm with the other one.

Suddenly there were gunshots and screams that ended far too abruptly for comfort. "Sounds like we may get a more interesting fight that way. Let's see what the commotion is." He put the jar away and began in the direction the screams had come from, hoping they wouldn't be too late.

[Castor Achromos]

It didn't long for them to follow the scene of the crime as whatever had caused the fight seemed to have left behind a trail of destroyed burnt wood, weapon, and a whole lot of blood. They would eventually reach the end of the trail at a small clearing, ahead of them they could see a group of people, maybe professional huntsmen? they were four in total all of them in a various assortment of gears. Regardless of who they were, this group seems to be too focused on trying to hunt the Grimm they have surrounded to have noticed either Castor or Vee. The new monstrosity in question looked like a horse...though only barely as it was several times larger than any normal animal Castor had seen. Compared to it everyone else looked like toddlers, it also of course barely had the same bone spikes and mask over its face like all other monsters of Grimm. This strange horse Grimm also seems to have a mane that moved on it's like if it was made of flames. In a single moment, all four opened fire on the monster, hailing it will rounds from the guns for a solid minute before it became clear none of the rounds made any damage.

Castor had a clear viewing of what just happened, not a single one of the shots reached their target as they all seem to evaporate the closer they got to the Grimm horse's body. He wasn't sure what was causing it exactly but every part of his mind and body told him this thing could easily kill him, with a twisted grin on his face, Castor readied his weapon waiting for the best chance to join the fight...

[Victor Valbrand]

"What in the seven hells is that monstrosity?" Vee asked as he approached the scene next to Castor. "I've never even heard of a Grimm like that."

[Castor Achromos]

Despite his urge to jump into the fray like a wild animal, Castor held back hoping his gut feeling about this new Grimm was wrong. The group that was already fighting seemed much older than him or Vee, at least from what little he could tell from them as all four of them seemed to be full-body armor. For a second Castor thought they were professional huntsmen out hunting Grimm. The grim masks over their helmets made it clear that wasn't the case.

"either their bandits or white fang members," Castor said to Vee, but in all seriousness, Castor couldn't be sure which group they belonged to. Wearing masks of Grimm had always been a thing for bandits or highwaymen to instill fear, and the crazy bastards in the white fang were just as happy to do the same. The only person he knew who wore such a thing for a different reason is his mentors, "let's hope they can handle it but worst-case scenario Fidi might be able to handle it."

He's used his semblance on large Grimm plenty of times but this horse monstrosity was a first, Castor would slowly make his way around the edge of the clearing hoping the trees along with the ensuing battle would cover his approach. The group fighting the Grimm was three in total with the leader seemingly larger in stature than the other and wielded a maul with the head of his weapon being fashioned to look like a Grimm's skull. The two behind him seem to be using more conventional weaponry with both of them using guns, one holding some kind of machine gun and the other one to Castor's surprise seemed to be sporting a tranq rifle.

"they're trying to capture the dam thing?" he thought to himself both curious and worried about what that could imply.

[Victor Valbrand]

"Mayhaps we should retreat for now and inform the professor. Tis beyond our skill level," Vee pointed out as he followed Castor into cover. "If a storm is enough to sink a ship, that Grimm is a gods damned hurricane with legs. With such a creature prowling the forest, the Headmaster and huntsmen need to be made aware of it. What concerns me more is these unknown brigands assailing it. If you're right, there could be trouble in the near future and we are the only ones who know what's happening." Discretion was the better part of valor, and Vee knew when to run from a fight he couldn't handle. This was the time to exercise that caution which had kept him, and his adopted mother, alive for so long.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor knew Vee was right it would be better to get out of there and let a real huntsman handle this, none of the strangers fighting it seemed to be making any lasting damage to it. Bullets either burnt to a crisp on impact with its hide, falling to the floor like little lumps of coal. At one point someone tried stabbing the beast with a sword of some kind, at first, it seemed to have found its mark and struck the beast. It soon became clear that wasn't the case as molten metal started pouring down the poor bastard's arms.

But they wouldn't worry about any lasting burns...as their head was pulverized in an instant. The horse Grimm would spend the next few moments tenderizing what was left of the corpse. As it did soon it began to open its mouth, at first it seemed no different than any other Grimm monster that bore some resemblance to animals. Once the top and bottom portions of its head continued separating revealing even more rows of fangs, now to the point that its mouth more resembled the jaws of a crocodile made it clear that they both should get out of there.

With a quick bite and snap of its neck, the horse...thing tore of a chunk of its latest victim before forcing the meat of the corpse into itself. Castor could have sworn he saw the Grimm's body grow in size...at most a few inches. Whether Vee or the strangers noticed to was unsure, more importantly, it seems the Horse had chosen one of its new...victims.

Not one of the masked fighters currently...and failing to fight it off no, those bastards were in the middle of reloading their guns. with the larger of the remaining three grabbing something from their belt. Castor could not get a good look at it. Was it a new weapon or were they planning something else?

He would bigger things to worry about though as it seemed the Horse had noticed him in the back and was eyeing him down ad it finished off the rest of its "meal"

Unsure how/when it happened Castor figured its escape was impossible.

"Vee gonna need you to run back to get some help, I got a date to entertain." Despite his fear, Castor's face did its best to hide it with genuine excitement.

Stepping forward stretching his arms out quickly in multiple directions, Castor figured the best bet was to play keep-away with the use of his semblance? Metal and simple brute force didn't seem to hurt so maybe some lightning and aura could do the trick.

in a split second Castor clashed his fists against each other, creating a spark of lighting around his arms. Thanks to the unique properties of his weapon the charge would not be nearly potent enough to hurt or kill the nasty little shit in front of him now.

Of course, Molon Labe always worked best with Fidi...

red Aura energy soon started to swirl around him, starting off as a spark before growing into an inferno around him. Before quickly turning into a ghost white in color, the white flames around soon started to take shape around him were bone fragments of some kind of bizarre creature. Chances are Vee and the strangers might have figured out he was summoning...something.

The summoning itself looked less like the huntsman in training was calling forth something and more like something was growing out of his body and aura altogether. The bones would only grow denser and larger as they put themselves together, Castor would step on top of these aura creations and while he rode out this swirling storm of aura around him, it became clear what exactly he was summoning.

Castor had never introduced anyone in his new home to Fidi yet...not like they would believe him if he said his semblance was a big ass skeleton snake the size of a house...would they?
"all right little lady, it's time we went hunting," he said with a cocksure smile, and with a snape of his finger, The giant snake would rear its head back, bearing its fangs towards its master's prey.

[Victor Valbrand]

"You and I will be having words upon our return to campus," Vee pointed out. "Clearly you need to be taught the finer points of stealth. See to it you live long enough for me to teach you!" With that Vee withdrew from the field, leaving Castor to hold the beast at bay while he went to summon reinforcements. He looked back over his shoulder as he ran upon hearing what sounded like an actual storm. He had quite a fright when he saw a giant skeletal snake growing from the ground and Castor climbing atop it like it was his mount. "What have I gotten myself mixed up with?" he questioned aloud. Soon enough he made it back to where the professor was meant to be waiting and informed them of the situation. The professor called for huntsmen to be dispatched from the school immediately. They would be coming by airship and would be on the scene shortly.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor hadn't heard what his fellow huntsman in training was saying, he was starting his possing death in the face after all. The horse Grimm kept its distance from its new opponent, seemingly sizing both Castor and Fidi. These brief moments between him, the monster, and even the stranger hunters from before felt like they went on forever. It was the sound of clouds hanging overhead and slowly drops of rainfall that broke the tension, in a split second both the Grimm and Fidi charged towards each other. Castor still riding on top of his aura semblance quickly released a strike, not aimed at the horrifying monster but instead at his creation. The moment his weapon made contact with it the electricity was taken in bis his snake companion. The dust within Molon Labe was rather weak and seemed to be more designed around stunning or weakening an opponent rather than outright killing them. Fidi on the other hand could use that same power and use it to a much more lethal degree, that became clear within the inside of her jaws started to burst with electricity. The moment the two beasts clashed it was clear which of the two was stronger physically as the horse Grimm nearly forced both Fidi and Castor into a nearby tree. It was only stopped when Fidi shoved its fangs into the beasts' neck where it injected its "victim" with a constant stream of lightning into it. Forcing the Grimm to jump back from its assault. Castor was nearly knocked off from his foe's stampede but from that brief interaction Castor knew he had the speed advantage, maybe the extra mass was slowing it down? Glancing at both Fidi and the Grimm horse he could see both had sustained significant damage. The Grimm had half of its neck charred to a crisp while most of fidi's face and body were starting to melt away. Fortunately for him, a little bit of dust and aura would fix that right up. Castor would quickly raise his right hand and shove it through one of Fidi's bones like a needle, in a few moments aura seeped from his arm and into Fidi causing the enormous summon to recompose its broken body. Not only that but the dust melded into Molon labe seemed to interact with the summon as well, feeding the snake with even more power. The hunter from before might have thought the fight already won, the Grimm was stronger and sturdier, but they fail to realize that what they saw was only the first round.

[Victor Valbrand]

Vee was tasked with rounding up the other students, but he knew Castor wouldn't be able to hold out against that monster forever. He could do nothing against it, however, with his limited firepower. If only he had a cannon.... or several. With that lack of power in mind, he decided to focus on the task at hand instead of worrying about Castor. That giant snake skeleton thing would be able to protect him, he hoped, so Vee decided he needed to focus on finding the other students, who no doubt would be able to at least hear the commotion by now. He activated his semblance again and again, searching the forest for the students who had split up to complete their assignments. Each group he found he instructed to return to the meeting point before moving on to the next.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor's semblance was incredibly powerful even for an ability of its type, Fidi could easily crush bone, stone, and metal. But such impressive strength requires concentrated pressure like a constrictor snake choking the life out of its would-be meal. The constant heat coming from the monster's body made it impossible for Castor's summon to maintain a hold of it. The other strange hunters from before could do little to harm the beast, but it seemed they were more interested in capturing it than slaying it.

"speaking of those bastards" Castor would look at the corner of his eyes to see those same people started to slowly make their way out of the fight, even going as far as leaving some of their equipment behind and they faded into the obscurity of the forest around them. Most of it looked useless burnt and partially melted guns and whatnot, but one item did catch Castor's interest a small round object. It was a small explosive device of some sort, though given its shape it wasn't the type intended to do lethal harm.

If his memory served him correctly such a device was intended to blind those around it with a flash of light. Seeing an opportunity Castor had Fidi fling him through the air like a rock towards the grenade, the horse Grimm abomination instinctively reacted and went after Castor would normally be helpless in the air...

However, a benefit of having a summon for a semblance, is that Castor didn't need to be in physical contact with Fidi to control her... As the aura snake pulled a nearby tree from its roots with its mouth and threw at the charging beast. Shoving the shaft of the tree partway through the monster's spine and stopping in its tracks. Giving it's master enough time to reach the grenade, it wouldn't take more than a moment but the Grimm forced its body back upright with the foreign object lodged into its body soon turning to ask from its heat. With a click flick of his wrist, Castor threw his newly quired toy at the monster and a bright flash soon covered their small battlefield. The horse may be near a monster that eats people but he figured the dam thing still needed to use its eyes? It would be enough time to pull off one more trick up his sleeves.

Luckily the plan worked forced the Grimm to back away and stop as it recovered, by the time light faded away Castor's plan was all set up as only a few meters away from the horse was Castor once again riding his snake summon. The beast fashioned by Castor's aura however seemed different after having gorged itself on its master aura once more and was seemingly feeding off the electric feedback his weapon gave off. Before the horse could make another charge at both of them a stream of thunder and lightning spewed forth out of the Snake's mouth. Crashing into anything and everything before it like a wave of destruction, the Grimms heads soon became little more than soot on the ground as its body lay mangled and fried by Castor's last attack.

Castor was unsure of the thing was actually dead or not as the body for some reason was not disintegrating like those of normal creatures of Grimm. Unlike Fidi who had just consumed the last of his aura and thus started to "decompose" into nothing.
"can't believe I'm saying this but...that's enough fun for a day...two." He said doing his best to keep distance from himself and what was left of the Grimm.