The sparring match didn't go as Schwartz der Hund initially planned. He fought against several Huntsmen and Huntresses throughout his tenure as a bandit. There were some tough calls here and there, but he managed to defeat most of his opponents. He thought with all of that experience, he'd be able to defeat a measly instructor.

Boy, was he wrong.

Lilith far exceeded his expectations. Even without a weapon in her possession, her hand-to-hand combat prowess was enough to throw Schwartz for a loop. All of his attacks were rendered useless against that woman. Even when he used his Semblance, [Unleashed], to throw the instructor off her game, nothing worked.

Seven minutes hadn't even passed, yet Schwartz found himself sweating bullets and short of breath. It was perhaps one of the first times in his life that he didn't know how to proceed with the battle. His eyes wandered to the monitor above their heads. His aura levels were less than half, while Lilith had plenty to spare.

"Don't take your eyes off your opponent," Lilith warned the distracted student. However, she only delivered that warning after she struck Schwartz in the stomach with a sharp kick. The poor boy flew back until he collided with the Energy Dust barrier. He slumped to the floor, dropping his swords in the process.

"Do you think leader can handle this?" Zorina Teufel whispered over to her teammate, Watchet Amin.

"The result of this match is already decided," Watchet assured her. It wasn't a secret that Schwartz was headstrong and reckless. He learned that from personally teaming up with him while out in the forest. As dangerous as traits like that were to the team, it wasn't something that would go away so quickly. Watchet took a mental note to work on that part of Schwartz slowly.

"And that concludes that little lesson," Lilith announced as she used her Scroll to disable the Energy Dust barrier. "Can anyone tell me the flaws in Schwartz's approach during the sparring match?"

The first student to raise their hand was Watchet.

"Yes?" Lilith pointed him out.

"Schwartz possessed no tact in the match," Watchet bluntly started, ignoring the glare he received from the person in question. "He recklessly charged in without assessing the situation nor the capabilities of his opponent. He was hopeless from the beginning, yet his arrogance blinded him to the possibility of his inevitable defeat."

"Correct," Lilith nodded in praise of the student's analytical mindset. There was a future for a discerning student like him. "No matter how strong the Huntsman or Huntress, never allow your hubris to cloud your judgment. Had Schwartz done that from the beginning, he would have realized he had no hope of winning. Always remember that there will always be someone or something out there that's better than you."

Schwartz wouldn't admit it, but he took that lesson to heart. After his loss, he collected his swords and returned to his seat, keeping quiet for the rest of the class as Lilith continued with the sparring lessons. Eventually, the bell rang, and the students slowly departed for their following courses.

"Are you coming?" asked Watchet as he and Zorina stood by the exit.

"I'll catch up," Schwartz dismissed his teammates with a slight wave of his hand. Once they were gone, the young man left his seat and wandered over to Lilith.

"Something you need, Schwartz?" The brown-haired instructor asked.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Here," Lilith bluntly answered while she collected her supplies for the next class.

"Bullshit," Schwartz called her out. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but her fighting style reminded him so much of Bruna. Sure, Lilith carried herself a bit more elegantly, but there was a strange hint of wildness, perhaps savagery, in there as well.

"No swearing in school," The instructor demanded. "If you're interested in my fighting style, I'll gladly teach you by knocking you around the ring some more tomorrow."

Schwartz was practically speechless as the woman confidently strode out of the room. That sudden show of arrogance provided an air of mystery around her, one that Schwartz couldn't wait to uncover. Perhaps his next four years at Haven Academy wouldn't be so bad after all.

The rest of the day passed without much incident. Schwartz, Watchet, and Zorina convened at the cafeteria for dinner, collecting their plates and grabbing a table. On their first day of class, it wasn't all bad. Most of them learned a lot that day and couldn't wait to learn more.

"I'm concerned about the whereabouts of my destined one," Zorina suddenly sulked as she picked her food with a fork. Ever since Rowan abandoned the team earlier in the day, no one had seen her. The poor girl wanted to skip classes and search for her, but she didn't want a bad reputation on her first day of class.

"Yes, it is concerning why she has not shown her face at all," Watchet chipped in. Not even twenty-four hours had passed since the four students became a team. After one day, one of their members refuses to be a part of it? Granted, the circumstances regarding their formation weren't the most ideal. But they were a team regardless. They had to stick together, no matter what.

"Does it even matter?" Schwartz showed no such concern for Rowan. "If the runt doesn't wanna stick around with us, then let her go. We don't need her around."

"Leader," Zorina called out to Schwartz. "You shouldn't utter such foolish words. Rowan is our partner, bond to us by--"

"Shut up," Schwartz demanded, not having any tolerance for any of Zorina's ramblings. Couldn't he enjoy his food in peace without his annoying teammates bothering him?

"Hey guys," A familiar voice reached the ears of Team SWRZ. Watchet and Zorina turned their heads, spotting two members of Team WEIS approaching the table. Emma Asulf and Sunil Ambrus sat across from the opposing team and flashed bright smiles.

"Hello," Watchet was the first person to return the greeting. However, Schwartz and Zorina weren't comfortable rolling out the welcome mat.

"What do you guys want?" Schwartz pointed his fork at the intruding students. It was bad enough that his teammates annoyed him, so he couldn't imagine what opposing teams would do to his temper.

"Nothing much," Sunil answered.

"I wanted to see the student that got his ass kicked firsthand by one of the instructors today," Emma chimed in. Yup, Schwartz could already feel the veins on his forehead. It was one thing to take and accept a loss from the teacher, but he wouldn't take smack talk from anyone else.

"Word travels fast," Watchet chuckled.

"Dude, what did you expect to happen?" Emma focused on Schwartz as she continued, "The professors are professional Huntsmen. We're students. No matter how tough you think you are, they've got tons of experience over us."

"I would advise learning from that experience," Sunil suggested. Learning from defeat was a wise way to develop further and grow. Those that refused to accept failure as a way of life were doomed to lives of falsehood and obscurity.

"Yeah, I've learned a lot," Schwartz responded with a roll of his eyes. He collected his tray of food and left the table without another word.

"So, how is your team's first day going?" Watchet broke the awkward silence that followed after Schwartz's departure.

"Average, I'd say," Emma shrugged her shoulders. Nothing worth noting happened on their first day of classes. Not as exciting as their team leader picking fights with one of the instructors. Instead, Wei Tian, the leader of Team WEIS, remained silent as usual. He diligently followed the class schedules and exceeded in the courses. Emma and Sunil weren't slacking either in that department.

The only one that fell behind in the academic portion of classes was Ilma Aden--the well-known slacker of the team. Often lazy and uncooperative, the young girl spent most of her time falling asleep in classes. Sunil was tasked with keeping his partner in line by the unfortunate luck of the draw. Wei and Emma didn't want to get kicked out of the school because of Ilma's unwillingness to work.

"It's our first day of classes. I'm sure as time passes, we'll get to the more challenging courses," Sunil assured the students. He was confident that almost all first-year students wanted to get out there and slay Grimm as soon as possible. But recklessness only got people like that so far in life. They had to take their studies and training seriously. Slow and steady. That's what he believed.

Soon enough, dinner was over, and the students were free to do as they pleased for the next few hours until lights out. Watchet bid farewell to Emma and Sunil before him, and Zorina returned to their dorm room. Unfortunately, neither Schwartz nor Rowan was there.

"Where could they have gone?" Zorina whined.

"No idea," Watchet looked around the room for any clues. Nothing seemed disrupted. The room had been empty for hours. "Well, those two are quite the mysterious ones of the team."

"Are you claiming that the Empress of Darkness isn't mysterious?" Zorina suddenly boasted, flourishing her jacket while striking an eccentric pose.

Watchet could only smirk in response, finding it somewhat comforting that the young woman returned to her usual bizarre behavior. The day didn't exactly go as he planned, but things could've been worse. The team wasn't off to the best start. Splitting off on their first day as a team wasn't the best way to go about things. But they had plenty of time to work on building their relationships. They had to if the team would survive the cruel world of Remnant.