[B]Gratia Mindaro and Cian Kuze[/B]

Stepping down onto the arena from the seats, hands hidden within her  coat pockets, Gratia Mindaro seemed almost bored by the fact that she would be engaging in combat with one of her fellow students. Her expression had changed not a single bit, the impassive scowl unchanging as if it had been permanently carved onto her when the gods had crafted Man from dust. Yet despite the aura that radiated from her, closer surveyance would reveal that her eyes were staring forwards with remarkable intensity, and that her muscles, hidden behind her bulky clothing, were tensing as if in anticipation.

Underneath the icy exterior, the Mistralese Huntress was eager. Incredibly eager. But she held it in. There was a time and place for everything ... and here would not be particularly suitable for her to let loose, especially when it was really just a class with no importance to her. She would have to keep her inhibitions in check.

Following her opponent with a singular purpose she might not like the whole deal with the arena fighting but it must be done. With a soft sigh she jumped down the last bit of stairs leading to the arena and form the back of her furred trimmed coat appeared her weapon. Holding the briefcase in her had she waited for Gratia to come on down so she could begin. Cian had no thought really pressing on her mind she might be decent at fighting but she knew she was at a disadvantage and she was never one to get excited for battle. 

Gratia shook her hands free of her pockets, before stretching them out in front of her. The weapon her opponent had brought fitted the descriptions in the public files, but whether or not she could deal with was another question. Valens and Valentinian hung from her belt, their simple forms a contrast to the complicated device that was Cian's. She had fought few people with such versatility before, but it would provide her ... an opportunity.

"[color=66cd00]Are you ready?[/color]" she called across the battlefield.

"Very well than shall we dance?" Cian called out as she unfurled her weapon into its long barrel form. Jumping back a distance she started to lead with multiple shots from the gun. Using a wall to ricochet the bullets against the wall to try and divert attention away from some of the other quick shots she took. Though as she did so she noticed her aura was steadilly decreasing chalking that up as Gratia's special semblance she quickly changed to a ice dust cartridge. Letting out some shots she  hoped to cut  use the formed icicles where they landed to create some diversity to trap her and end this quickly or so she hoped. 

Valens gleamed in the light, the mameluke sabre swinging with aura-reinforced blows to deflect as many of the incoming projectiles as it could. The air before Gratia was a lightshow as she parried as many of the dust-infused bullets away from her aspossible. At this range, she had a disadvantage; the profiles were not wrong when they described her opponent as a long-ranged specialist.

That of course dIdN'T mEAn tHAt shE wOuLD lose. The Huntress' composed demeanour seemed to disappear for an instant as she bared her teeth, before dashing forwards through the hail of fire, ignoring the stings of the projectiles against the natural aura defenses of all humans; her Semblance would take care of that, if the slow, intensifying drain on Cian's aura bar served any indication.

The bItCh would not be capable of matching her. Valentinian appeared in her left hand, and even as she rapidly closed the distance, fired off a stream of bullets from the carbine at Cian.

With A grit of her teeth she activated her semblance the honeycombed patterned shield protecting her from the hail of bullets. Though that did not ease the pain she felt from them. With a strong forward push she changed her weapon once more into the machine gun mode and switch catridges once more this time to one of fire dust. With a push forward and her shield strong she charged forward letting out flaming bullets coming out at fast rate. This was not one of her better plans but hopefully it would buy her time.  

Her opponent was charging at her? Gratia did not know what the other student had planned, but it provided her the advantage to rIP and tEAr Cian on her own terms. Valens moved to block the machine-gun spray that sought to riddle her with holes, aura pushing into the weapon to keep it sturdy under the onslaught. Her right arm rumbled against the force of the blows, and the waves of heat and fire that exploded out from where her sabre met the projectiles were positively blinding.

She let out a hiss, the first sound she had made during the match. It was painful, but she could feel herself grow stronger otherwise. The young Huntress' Semblance had begun to act more rapidly, its effectiveness increasing as Cian closed in on her.

Good. She would need that stolen strength and power.

The hail of fire stopped, and Gratia pushed herself through the smoke. She was face to face with her opponent now. Perfect.

With zero hesitation, the Mistralese teenager raised Valentinian, firing a cartridge of bullets into the charging form of Cian Kuze.

She would aNnIhILaTE that shield.

"Tch can't take this much longer" Cian muttered to herself as she jumped back and to the left avoiding the main charge. Using the dust clouds as cover and changing her weapon once more she carefully took aim with Byakko in its sniper form. With careful aim she took a few shots at her back which was unprotected. Though she switched cartridges once more and took aim again this time hopefully going for the kill as she lt out a "tri burst" shot of fire,ice, and regular bullets in quick succession. 

Smoke was anything but adequate cover for somebody wielding such a gigantic weapon, and Gratia refused to allow her enemy to RuN aWAy. Even as the other girl attempted to move the sniper rifle into position, she was already in motion, dropping Valentinian back onto her belt before grabbing the end of Cian's weapon with her left hand, taking advantage of the time it had taken for her opponent to aim at her, pushing the muzzle away from her person.

The heat of gunfire flying past her ear meant nothing to the Mistralese Huntress. What mattered was that she had entered what could be described as "knife-fighting" range. Here, the advantages provided to her eNEmY by the long-ranged weapon would be lost.

Gratia squeezed down on the barrel, her strength continuing to be amplified by the aura she was passively stealing from Cian. It was an iron-clad grip, one that, if not broken, would result in Byakko suffering severe damage to its firing capabilities.

She was, after all, getting stronger at an exponential rate as Bibere Vinum drained away at Cian's aura.

"In lieu of recent events I am going to  have to forfeit." Cian knew there was no way to win at this rate first of all her Aura was all but gone due to the semblance of Gratia which makes such matchups unfair due to the aura drain. Second in the position she was in there was no way for her to do anything. She was not meant to fight people close range it was a simple bad matchup more than anything. With a sigh and folding up her Byakko once more to a storage mode she holstered it on her back one more before climbing a few steps and resting once more in her seat. "There was nothing to do no matter how far I think ahead that spot was just no way for me to win" Cian muttered once more to herself as she waited for this "class" to end.

That had been ... anticlimactic. Gratia dropped her weapons back onto her belt, tension and strength leaving her body as the effects of Bibere Vinum began to wear off. Her blood had been bubbling and simmering underneath her skin throughout the entire fight, but it seemed that somehow ... she had kept it from escaping.

Still, it was honestly disappointing. She had desired so much more. Yet the Mistralese Huntress simply stuffed her hands back into her pockets, refusing to allow herself to show those emotions in her actions. Indeed, she merely seemed bored and aloof, as she usually was.

Such a lacking fight.

Evidently, Ms. Goodwitch shared Gratia's sentiments.  "Another forfeit.  If the situation was truly dire, and your health actually at risk, surrender would be a reasonable option.  In a practice setting such as this, however, where the threshold for loss is the point at which students can even [i]begin[/i] taking actual wounds, giving up so soon screams of a lack of determination.  Both of you will be receiving penalties to your grades."  Goodwitch cracked her riding crop against the arena railing in a decisive and impassive note of finality.  "Next!"

[color=66cd00][i]Wait, it had been a fucking group project?!

[b].	.	.[/b]

SON OF A [B]BITCH[/B]![/i][/color]