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Chapter 18: Vytal Festival (Part 5) Round 1

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“Hey. Thanks for helping out earlier.” Robin looked at the girl in front of him. She wore a black t-shirt with red markings on the sleeves. On the back, the white silhouette of a bird could be seen.

Identify

Raven R. Branwen (Lvl 18)HP:274/320Aura:153/645

Robin's eyes bulged out. If one included the experience gained through the preliminary, Robin would have advanced three levels and was at level 16 at the moment. This was beyond his expectations.

= Not only is she two levels above me, but she has innately more aura as well! And even after volunteering to help me out, she only took 46 damage? Unbelievable! =

Robin mentally noted her name and stats. Out of all of the competitors here, she definitely had the most aura. Not only that, her skills in hand-to-hand was nothing to laugh at either. The fact she didn't get so hurt proves she didn't rely entirely on aura. However, he wasn't the only one taking notes.

Identify

Robin S. Wolfheart (Lvl 16)HP:223/385Aura:95/605

= Hoh. So there's someone else here with decent aura. He also seems to have experience with fighting too. = Raven thought.

The only reference Raven had was Qrow. Although he said she was gifted with huge amount of aura and rapid growth, she had no idea anything over 600 was preposterous for a four year old.

“Hello. No problem. It just didn't sit right with me to see that happen. Just like the announcer said, my name is Raven.”

When she was fighting, the sight of the boy getting bullied by the group of older kids had reminded her of the one she betrayed not too long ago. With her new resolve, she hurried to help him in order to help alleviate her flustered heart. However, hearing his name did not help.

“I'm Robin. Nice to meet you.”

The sound of the name caused her to flinch, but her face soon returned to normal. Maybe helping this kid was a sign she was on the right path, she thought. Well, who would have thought it was more than just a sign. It's the real thing!

“It's nice to meet you Robin. I hope we ca-”

“OI!”

Thomas called out to them and hurried them over. After they came over, a vial full of purple liquid was given to each of them.

Identify

Lesser ElixirA potion created through modern alchemy and Dust. It's effects are not so great, but are adequate for beginners.

+500 HP

+500 Aura

= So I'm still classified as a beginner? Well alright. Looks like I can still improve a lot. Sweet. =

Opening it, Robin swallowed the elixir. It tasted like graped-flavored soda. He hated graped-flavored.

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As the kids were resting up and the officials were determining the match-ups, a man and his daughter sat in the stands to watch the tournament.

“Daddy! Daddy look! Yang got in!” Rose jumped up and down on his lap, excited that her sister made it through.

“Haha. I know. Your sister is amazing isn't she?” Taiyang smiled at his daughter, all the while hiding his worried thoughts.

= Branwen? Isn't that Udane's last name? She couldn't be Udane's daughter. Not unless... =

“Mind if I sit here?” A silver haired man walked up to him.

“Brother! You're here! Go right ahead.”

“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Hello Ruby! How are you today?” Qrow smiled at his niece.

“I'm good uncle. Daddy and sis took us to the coliseum and we saw people fight!”

As the young girl went on and on about her day, Qrow smiled and listened. He was very caring towards children. Once Ruby was done, she turned back towards the front and stared at her sister. The two brothers sat close and whispered so Ruby couldn't hear.

“If you're here, then that's my daughter isn't she?” Taiyang asked with a gloomy face.

Qrow nodded.

“Yes, that's Raven.”

“Raven.. Why did you change her name from Reah to Raven? Even if it reminds her of her mother, how is it any different from her last name?”

“She was very stubborn about it. Every time I 'accidentally' called her Reah, she would pout and refuse to budge unless I called her by the name I gave her. In the end, I forced her to keep it as a middle name and her mother's last name as her own.” He sighed.

“Sometimes I wonder if she is really four years old.”

“... You don't think she has brain problems?” Taiyang looked worried.

“No, I've checked and even gone to the doctor's. She is just naturally bright so don't worry.”

Taiyang sighed in relief.

“By the way, where is Summer?” Qrow questioned.

“She's still out on her mission. She'll be back tomorrow, so you'll need to convince her that keeping Raven with you is for the best. You know how she is. She takes her role as a loving mother very seriously. I think it might have something to do with Udane's treachery.”

“Sigh..I'm sorry Taiyang. If I was just a bit quicker in finding the hideout, Raven would've been saved.”

“Don't even talk like that Qrow. I know just how hard you tried for our sake, and for Yang's. I just hope when she finds out, she doesn't break down even worse than Raven.”

Taiyang looked at both of his daughters at the arena. One he couldn't bear to tell the truth and let her know her mother was not the one she grew up with. The other he could not show his affection as a father, in fear of giving his other daughter a wound that could not heal. The two beauties stood side by side. One smiling without a care in the world, the other with a burden unknown to all. The holographic screen then popped up to show the match-ups.

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Round 1Robin S. Wolfheartvs.Lie RenYang Xiao Longvs.Bob FrankRaven R. Branwenvs.Joe CunninghamSteve Gatesvs.Bill Jobs

= Oh great. I'm up first. Ha.. Lets see how far I can go without using my semblance. Though other than the intimidation, there's really no point in using it... I'll just use it when I'm in a pinch. =

The stage at this moment, transformed into a smaller version. The previous one that could hold the hundreds of kids for the preliminary round now had dimensions of 30x30 feet. (9.144 meters for you metric people

At a closer look, the kid named Lie Ren had a small thin line of hair that was dyed pink to match his eye color. He wore a green shirt with a design of a dragon on it. He looked at Robin and bowed his head.

“My name is Lie Ren,” he said. “Lets have a good fight.”

“My name is Robin Wolfheart. Likewise.”

The two kids stood at opposing sides of the stage. Thomas, who was to the side, raised his hand into the air.

“Are the combatants ready? Begin!”

Heeeeeeey. Since I am still trying to figure out the entire fighting sequence. Filler! Also I'm gonna be pretty busy this week. So I might not get to updating it so soon. I'll try my best though! Comment, rate, and tell me your thoughts! *psst I hope I did better at getting the kiddy voice go through. Although it wasn't really much. Thanks for reading!