CBLT: Huntsmen in Training

Chapter 3: Second Meetings

"No?" she questions

"No" restates cobalt, walking past her to another mine tunnel entrance.

Bianca stands in place briefly confused. Gathering her thoughts before chasing after him.

"I don't understand" Bianca tells him, Cobalt stays silent walking forward down the tunnel as it takes a downward bend, sending the two deeper into the mines.

Bianca spoke again "I'd be nice to have strong teammates on my side."

"Why?" he asks her.

"Strong teammates give you better chances at increasing your overall team rating, and more so towards your individual rating." Bianca responds. The two traveling in silence for some time. The threat of grimm seeming to have disappeared for now.

Cobalt breaks the silence "Convenience then."

"Is that a problem?" she asks him.

Cobalt thought. "It's... shallow." Bianca couldn't find the words to respond. They continue traveling together in silence. 

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Elsewhere, the bulky knight in techno-armor Tanaka, crashes down from his own entry point, landing inside one of the many tunnels. Taking a quick look down both paths, any thoughts completely interrupted by a petite girl crashing down on top of him. From the same tunnel no less. Tanaka falters but keeps his ground. Catching himself and the girl.

The girl was rather small compared to him, almost like holding a child. She wore a black sleeveless top, matching spandex shorts, while white stockings ran along her legs to a pair of pale blue sneakers. A puffy pale blue jacket shielded her from the cold and bronze headphones laid around her neck. Black sleeved gloves. They looked to have dust vials attached to large rotating bracelets. Brunette bob cut hair. Hazel eyes stared widely at him. She smiles gingerly at him.

Tanaka releases her from his grasp now looking down the two pathways of the tunnel "Do you know where to go?"

The girl shrugs at him with a defeated look. She nudges towards one side and begins traveling.

"I'm surprised they sent us to a place like this, hard to get in and leave, which is probably the entire reason but if students get hurt it would make it pretty hard to save them." Tanaka says aloud. The tunnel walls shifting from stone into pure ice as they walk. A thin sheet of ice appears at their side.

"What do you make of this place?" Tanaka asks.

The girl shrugs at him unsure. "Lapis, my name" she tells him. Her voice was soft, yet it has a pleasing resonance to it. Tanaka stares at her for a moment. Lapis slaps her hands over her mouth suddenly. Staring at Tanaka expectantly.

Tanaka blinks rapidly "Tanaka uh bright." He pauses, "Did something just happen?"

Lapis nods at him and gestures to her throat. "Your voice?" he asks.

She nodded once more. A deep growl pierced through the surroundings. The two paused and looking to their side at the thin sheet they had been walking along, they find a pair of bitter yellow eyes staring back at them. The black figure backs away. The freshmen pause for a second. The creature crashes through the ice like it was nothing and pins Tanaka against the wall with its teeth wrapped around his arm. A manticore grimm.

Its jaw scrapped against the armor on his arm. The wall behind him cracked with the monster's force. A metal silvery plate attached to Tanaka's arm, the one inside the creature, suddenly expanded. Blue light emerged, hard-light construct that connects different edges of the breaking silver plate. The manticore's mouth is forced open slightly. The hard-light shield expanded again to force the grimm's mouth wider. Unable to crush the object, the manticore lifts Tanaka away from the wall and slams him into the ground. The scorpion tail whipped over its head and dives down towards Tanaka. Ice suddenly erupts from the air trapping the tail in a frozen pillar. Lightning strikes the manticore's head.

No time to waste, Tanaka activates the full extent of his weapon. Metal plates all along his body spark to line and connect via hard-light. A similar steel helmet forms around his head, locking into place with a wide V-shaped visor lighting up. He grabs a yellow dust crystal from his side, plunging it into the back of the shield. Lightning spark all around.

The manticore roars in pain and flings him into Lapis. The two knocked to the ground. Reeling back, the monster launches a ball of fire from its mouth at them. Tanaka braces himself lifting his shield. The blast crashes against him with flames trailing past the shield's edges. Several more fireballs crash into the shield in rapid succession. Unyielding, the ice below them breaks with every blast. The ice below them gives out, causing the pair to fall down an unknown tunnel into the depths of the mountain. The manticore lunges at the hole, finds it too small and runs off.