Ch 43: Hell (1)

Saturday, the day after their first Aura Manipulation class with Ray, it should have been a day of rest and relaxation for the students who had just completed their first week at Beacon Academy. The new students' first chance to explore Beacon and the city of Vale and experience everything the academy and capital had to offer that they couldn't before due to classes. No such luck.

Today was also the first special training course that Ray would be holding. Like naive moths to a flame, all the students that had attended his class yesterday, and many who had heard about it, flocked to the riverside where the course was to be held, hoping that they would get to learn more about Aura Manipulation. What they found instead would be a hell, the likes of which they had never experienced before. The faculty, who had gotten an advance look at the training regiment, had, perhaps wisely, opted with pale faces to instead hide behind mountains of paperwork in their offices rather than willingly march into hell.

"So what sort of training can we expect from your brother today?" Weiss asked Yang and Ruby as Team RWBY walked towards the river west of Beacon Academy. Weiss had participated in the morning training yesterday, and she had found it a thorough and useful experience that pushed her entire body just the right amount. So, she was looking forward to seeing what Ray's personally created day-long training course would contain.

"Hell," Ruby replied with the look of someone walking towards the gallows.

"Huh?" Weiss asked.

"13 hours of pure physical hell is what awaits us. Ruby and I have only survived the experience a couple of times, but now…" at the thought of what was to come and that they would be experiencing it once a week crossed Yang's mind, her steps unconsciously slowed.

"That's right." Ruby confirmed, "For the next 13 hours, our will to live will be tested innumerable times. We will die a dozen times over. But we must persevere! For the devil will not let us escape his grasp. His lightning will reignite the spark of life through pain and fear. For we are the damned and the doomed! Cursed to suffer his tortures for all eternity for his amusement!!"

"You must be exaggerating." Weiss scoffed at Ruby's theatrics. She couldn't believe that what Ruby was saying was true.

Blake agreed with Weiss, "There is no way someone as kind as Ray would create a training course that would be as terrible as you are implying."

Ruby and Yang looked at their naive teammates with dead eyes. However, before they could warn them any further, a voice that sent shivers down their spines called out from behind them.

"Good morning, ladies." A cheerful Ray carrying a large box on his shoulder walked briskly up to them.

""Good morning, Ray"" Blake and Weiss answered back, a slight blush dusting their cheeks. Ray looked even more handsome than usual with the first light of the rising sun behind him and the bright smile on his face. Ruby and Yang said nothing and backed off a step. Their eyes locked on the box their younger brother was carrying as if all the horrors of the world could leap out of it at any moment.

"What do you have in that box?" Blake asked, curious.

Ray slapped the side of the box, his grin growing. "Equipment for today's training course. Gravity Bands, fresh out of development from Atlas."

"Gravity Bands?" Weiss asked curiously, "I've heard about those. They use gravity Dust to increase the effect of gravity on a person. They are supposed to be the next revolution in Huntsmen training tools, but I thought they were still in development, and not even the academy in Atlas could get their hands on any yet. How did you get some?"

"I invented them and made a contract with some of the best minds in Atlas in conjunction with the Atlas military to make my idea a reality. In exchange, I get first dibs on all the latest versions they develop and 5% royalties." Ray replied with a smug smile.

"Wow," Weiss had stars in her eyes. Smart, kind, unrivaled strength, breathtakingly handsome, self-sufficient, and already establishing connections with people in power.

"Just remember during our training," Ray held up a cautioning finger in front of them, wagging it at Team RWBY in warning, "I'm tough because I care. It's a cruel world out there, and I would rather you sweat now than watch you bleed later. So no slacking off."

""Yes, Professor"" Weiss and Blake said both in jest and admiration.

""Yes, Sir!"" Ruby and Yang said in terror, knowing what was to come.

"See y'all there!" Ray smiled at the girls one last time and then picked up his pace, leaving them behind to finish getting everything laid out.

Ruby and Yang paused for a bit to look at each other as Blake and Weiss continued walking unknowingly towards their doom.

"We can do this." Yang said, trying to encourage herself as much as Ruby.

"Yeah, just think about the reward afterward." Ruby nodded and replied. With a deep breath and a solemn nod to each other, they grasped each other's hands in support and boldly walked forward.

"Looks like we have 96 people participating in today's workout. Would you please go inform the cafeteria to prepare the necessary protein bars and energy drinks?" When the girls arrived, Ray was giving the final count to a member of the Beacon cafeteria staff so that they could provide the needed supplements and nutritional food and drink for the upcoming 13-hour-long workout. As the staff member left, Ray stepped up on top of a raised wooden stage in front of the gathering students. Glynda, Professor Thumbelina, and the school nursing staff were already standing up there, but they wouldn't be participating. Instead, they would be in charge of ensuring all the students survived the experience.

Directly behind the stage, extending over it and continuing over the river behind it and the strip of leveled land between them, was a row of yellow flags, about 100 meters to the right, a line of green flags, and about 400 meters to the left were red flags.

"Good morning, future Huntsmen and Huntresses. I'm glad to see that you all got my message and brought dumbbells of your choice from the weight room for you to use and arrived in workout clothes that you are ok getting wet and dirty because we will all be getting both very wet and very dirty during today's training course. Before we begin, I would like to tell all of you one thing. This training course really will last for 13 hours today, so I hope none of you had any plans for today. We will provide food and drink, so you won't have to worry about that. However, if any of you want to opt-out of the training after hearing this, please do so now. Once we begin, no one will be allowed to quit halfway, so this is your last chance. Except for you first-years. Sorry, Ozpin has declared that this is mandatory for all of you." Ray paused for a moment to look over the gathered students to see if any of them wanted to leave. None of them did. They had come here today prepared for a full day of grueling training. Though they would soon find that there were levels of grueling training far beyond what they had ever imagined.

"Alright then," seeing nobody leaving, a broad smile crossed Ray's face that may or may not have had more than a little bit of sadism in it, "Welcome to Hell!".

"10 minutes of stretching! Let's limber those bodies up, people!" Ray's tone had switched to somewhere between that of a no-nonsense drill instructor and an annoyingly encouraging workout instructor as he led everyone in starting the training.

"Next, we are starting off wet! Yellow flags to green flags is a 100-meter swim. You have 30 seconds! The faster you arrive, the more rest you will get! Three times! Let's go!" *Splash* Ray dived into the water, and the rest scrambled to follow.

"Next! That was our sprints. Now let's see some endurance! Green flags to red flags is a 500-meter swim. You have 6 minutes! Go!" Once again, Ray led them all in their swim.

"Good job! 3 minutes active recovery. That means I want you to move around for at least 2/3rds of your recovery time. Make sure those muscles don't start locking up, and be sure to drink some. You will need it."

Three minutes later, "Rest times over, folks! We still got to repeat this water set we just did two more times! Let's GO!" Ray continued to lead from the front.

Twenty-one minutes later, "Good job, so far no one is falling behind!" Even Jaune had been able to keep up with the workout so far, "The water portion is done. Back onto dry land! I want to see 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, and 12 pull-ups back to back from all of you! Pull-up bars are to your left. Make room for everyone! You got 3 minutes to complete all of that, and you are going to want to finish early to rest. 'Cause, we're doing six sets! GO! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…" Ray led the count from the top of the stage as everyone dropped to the ground in front of him.

Eighteen minutes later, "No time to rest yet! Yellow flags to red flags! 400 meters! 90 seconds! 3 times! SPPRRIIIIIIIINNT!" Ray shouted and took off running through a long row of thick hanging ropes as the other students followed behind him, some already starting to look tired

"Come on, you slackers! Sprint!"

4.5 minutes later, "You can rest after this! Red to green flags, 5 times for a total of 2.5 kilometers! 7 minutes! Run weaklings! Anyone who falls behind the required pace gets zapped!" Ray warned, holding up his hand to show the lightning arcing between his fingers to show that he wasn't joking.

"Good job! No one got zapped. 6 minutes of active recovery, then we are going to do our runs all over again. Twice!"

Sixty-one minutes later, "Not bad, not bad! Some of you were cutting it a little close there at the end, but everyone still made it through. Alright! It's rapid-fire time! 14 different exercises! One minute each, with only two exceptions! Nonstop! Back to back! You ready?! I don't care! Let's GO!"

"Vertical jumps! 50! 1, 2, 3…"

"Grab your dumbbells! 30 curls each arm! 1, and, 2, and, 3…"

"DROP! Front Plank! 5 minutes!"

"Hold it… Hold it… And up! One-legged side hops! 25 left! 25 right! 1, 2, 3, 4…"

"You see those 25 meter long hanging ropes to your right! They weren't just there to smack you around as you ran through them! Ya, got one minute! Get to the top, back down, and back here! GO!"

"On your backs! 50 side twists! 1, and, 2, and, 3…"

"50 lunges up! Come towards the stage! 1, and, 2, and, 3…"

"Keep it together, people! You are halfway through the rapid-fire exercises! 50 Dips! There should be plenty of ledges around the edge of the stage, so make room. 1, 2, 3…"

"DROP! Side planks! Right side, 2.5 minutes!"

"....AAAAAnnnnd switch! Left side, 2.5 minutes!"

"Hold it… Hold it… On your backs! 50 bridges! 1, 2, 3…"

"Back to the pull-up bars! But this time, I want 30 chin-ups! 1, 2, 3…"

"Back on your backs! Knees to elbow! 50 touches each side! 1, and, 2, and, 3…"

"On your feet! Heel walks! You guessed it! 50! 1, and, 2, and, 3…"

"Last one! On your backs! Flutter kicks! 50! 1, and, 2, and, 3…"

"49, and, 50, and, rest. Good job! Twenty minutes of active recovery! We have been working for over two hours now. Make sure you take this chance to grab a protein bar and drink some liquids! We still have almost 11 hours left! Oh, and make sure you come up and collect one of these wristbands and put it on your dominant arm." Ray held up his right arm to show off a metal band that was about four fingers wide and one finger thick that had seven bands of purple running around it