Chapter 175: The Lesson Begins

Professor Goodwitch came to stand before the two meter high door with eyes half lidded, she was tempted to knock but was quick to put that thought to the back of her mind. This was meant to be a classroom—or she was guessing this was the classroom based on Parc's guidance—so having the door unlocked to allow the students in should they opt to arrive a few minutes early was a necessity. It gave the students a chance to settle in and for them to possibly ask the teacher a few questions from the previous lesson or of anything they were curious about without interrupting the true flow of the lesson or risking forgetting it afterwards.

Reaching down for the handle, a large, solid iron hunk of neatly curled and twisted design, she pushed and opened the weighty thing with only a hint of effort on her part and entered into the building.

It appeared relatively hollow on the inside and immediately fell into more stone staircases on either side flat hunks of stone curled in a near semicircular fashion around. At the bottom of the stairs was the largest arena-like portion where a strange purple stone that gave Pyrrha a feeling like it was criminal in nature, that the stone was somehow connected to evil. The roof was raised quite high from the bottom arena portion of the room rising nearly a full ten, maybe twelve meters high and was beamed with stone trusses.

From a few of them hung several unusual banners that mimicked the appearance of creatures Pyrrha hadn't ever seen before. One such seemed to be human in appearance though festering and decrepit and almost looked like leather skinned from a rotting human carcass.

Along the walls of dark grey were several indentations and pedastles upon which were golden idols, bobbing up and down like they were floating in the air, 'some form of gravity dust?' Pyrrha guessed eyeing the relics a little closer. One was just a simple ovoid with a seemingly crown like structer on top of it. Another was something quite similar though had various tentacles descending from it and had a noticeable maw with jagged teeth presented across it. The third and forth were the most strikingly different, one was a curled worm with many eyes across its segmented body and the last was a literal floating golden brain.

Pyrrha felt like there was some meaning to them, like trophies gifted to someone for a feat or defeating some powerful creature. Some unknown grimm most likely.

Pyrrha's, Professor Goodwitch and the students attentions were all taken when they heard a sawing noise coming from the arena portion of the room where a man dressed in neat black pants, a white top and a faintly red vest was currently pushing and pulling a saw to cut off a lump of wood from a plank. The man was familiar, Parc Evans, he'd come to their class not to long ago and was introduced as their new teacher for the hour they were now to be participating in. Though his assistant was nowhere to be seen, or was that faunus girl in the back sleeping on a doggie bed his assistant?

She seemed a little young, Pyrrha reasond. Her eyes narrowed as she eyed up the girl, taking in her black and red sailour uniform, short black hair topped with two dog ears with tufts of white fur sticking out of them. Most disturbingly though, the girl had around her neck a thick, red, leather collar. Something which had become a taboo with faunus—especially the canid and felid species—due to the way it represented them as nothing but animals and pets.

Professor Goodwitch's eyes also narrowed at the appearance of the girl. Even the way she was sleeping on the doggie bed like an animal was disturbing. Hearing a slight angered hiss from her side, Pyrrha turned to see Blake's face simply seething as she stared hatefully at their new teacher. Understandable considering how Blake had shown herself to be particularly sensitive to topics around faunus and their rights. Quickly darting her gaze to Blake's bow, Pyrrha noted the odd twitch it gave, 'I wonder when she'll tell them?' she eyed the rest of team RWBY who were gawking a look around the room.

Pyrrha had long since figured out that Blake was secretly a faunus, her constant attraction to fish, the twitches of her bow and how she often lick her hand and stroke it across her hair like a cat grooming itself was all the real evidence she needed.

"Well, looks like you all made it here in one piece," professor Evans spoke from the workbench he'd been sawing over. His striking red eyes rolling over each and ever person who'd entered the room. Halting on a few of them, namely the members of team RWBY, Lili and Ferry, Glynda and even Pyrrha who locked her emeralds with his and felt an urge to gulp and reach for Miló—her javelin that could mechashift into a xiphos sword and a rifle—as he was setting off all of her battle instincts.

The new professor's lips tilted amusedly at noting the twitch coursing through him and proceeded to wander his eyes over her body, taking in the sight of her combat clothing that she and all the others were required to wear to the lesson. Pyrrha wore a hybrid between functional armour and general movable clothing. On her chest she word a bronze, leather corseted with a copper strip running down the centre before ending just above her waist forming a gap between her black A-line miniskirt which was covered by a ankle length sash wrapped around her waist coloured in a similar shade of bloody scarlet that tinted her hair. From waist down she had on copper thighhigh bronze greaves. Accessory wise she dressed a elaborate over bust corset , opera length gloves—on one hand of which was bracer she could connect the shield on her back to, and finally an elegant circlet.

As Parc smirked and a heated look to his eyes, Pyrrha clenched her fists tight, feeling all her fingers crack before loosening loosening and wriggling her fingers and wrist readying them for any hastened movements she needed to make. 'Why do I feel like I'm not being looked at like an opponent… is it something else he's looking at me for?'.

"Pyrrha? You okay?" Jaune spoke up and broke Pyrrha from her sharp eyed staring contest with the professor. Her head tilting to Jaune and back to the new professors only to see his gaze had already moved on from her.

Licking her parched lips and letting out a held breath Pyrrha softened her stance, "yes Jaune. I'm okay, just a little surprised is all. I feel like I had seen him somewhere before," a lie, she didn't want to give Jaune any more worries, he already had so much on his plate with training and the other lessons. Tossing on her own unfounded caution was likely to bring her leader to the brink of breaking down. She was not going to let that happen.

"Oh, really?" Jaune questioned but shrugged away anything else, gazing to where Weiss was and saw that the bleachers behind her and team RWBY were empty. A sparkle came to his eyes and he said, "lets sit over there."

Nora was quick to drag Ren over without giving him the single chance to resist, nor did he attempt to as resistance never worked. Not with Nora. Not ever with Nora.

Pyrrha had noticed the faint sparkle in her team leads eyes and felt a weak smile coil her lips upwards. 'I do hopes he gets over this phase soon.' She thought, ever since their first meeting back before the initiation Jaune had been infatuated with Weiss, calling her his 'snow angel' and took every chance he could to try and charm the girl into some romantic escapade with him.

Weiss of course had no interest, she either was not seeking for a partner—in the romantic sense—was taken elsewhere—Pyrrha doubted that—or simply didn't see Jaune as anything that suited her wants in a man. Considering the type of men she was used to back in Atlas, all those high class, wealthy individuals with bounds of knowledge and standing. Compared to Jaune who didn't know how to hold a sword, things just weren't meant to be. Not many saw the adorable charm Jaune had.

Following behind Jaune, to the bleachers behind team RWBY, she seated herself and took another quick look around the room, logging where each the teams were, and in which positions. Cardin and his crew were settled on the furthest right stone bleachers just above the unusual purple stone flooring. Then there was Ferry and Lili who had taken the spot directly opposite them, on the left side of the bleachers right at the front, closest to where the collared Faunus girl was calmly sleeping, making various almost puppy like whimpers as she twitched in dream every now and them.

The professor lifted from the ground his workbench and moved it off to the side besides the wall where the girl was sleeping and took his place centre stage after cracking each bone in his neck and fingers with such a noise that the entire room went silent. His gaze had wandered to Professor Goodwitch who'd taken up a seat specially put out for her against the wall on his right behind him where a sign labelled, 'Glynda's chair' was set with an arrow pointing to the extravagant rocking chair. Needless to say, professor Goodwitch was red in the face and had a violent blue vein bulging from her forehead.

Professor Evans chuckled seeing her, casted her a wink and turned back to the first-year students. "Well, I guess I'll get right to it don't you think?"