Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 16, Ch. 20]

The scythe was made from Ironwood, that much I could tell. Not like I would have made it, or even forged by a Blacksmith at all; its shaft and blade were all one piece of metal without a seam. It had been grown that way rather than manipulated into position. I could tell with but a glance that it wouldn't last long in a fight. One, maybe two good hits or parries before the blade's head would be jarred loose. Of course, that wouldn't matter with Ruby. Her cripplingly high Agility meant any weapon she struck with was destroyed by the impact. And likely her target as well.

"Archmage Ironwood and I worked on this in secret," Ozpin said, ignoring my silence or just mistaking it for awe. In Ruby's case, that was accurate. "Though shaping a blade wasn't something that came easily to him, he was able to grow it roughly into shape. From there, it took time to file the blade. We used magical weapons from the vault for that. Our original efforts to make a scythe from those magical weapons ended in failure." He chuckled. "It's not as easy as strapping a magical sword to a pole, and if the blades are melted down, they lose much of their power."

"It's beautiful," Ruby said – and it was. The point at which the shaft became the blade was a single uninterrupted piece of metal, but the plant like nature of the Ironwood shone through, resulting in thin vines of silver wrapping around it. "Can I touch it?"

"By all means."

Ruby stepped up onto the pedestal and took the weapon down. Cradling it in her hands, she gave it an experimental and slow swing. It whistled through the air a silvery blur I struggled to keep up with. It wasn't the weapon responsible. It was her.

"How is it?"

"Light." She gave it another swing. "A little top-heavy."

"I'm afraid our expertise does not lay in weapon forging, so finding the correct balance of the weapon was something we didn't think of."

"It's fine. Every weapon is a little different at first, even if it's meant to be the same. I can adjust for that."

[...]

"I have to ask though," she said, "If you had trouble with forging it, why not ask Jaune? He is the Blacksmith."

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 16]



Ruby appeared in the air behind her in a flicker of red, silver eyes burning bright as her scythe swung back. Her red cloak wrapped about her like a mist, making her look every part the Reaper she was.

Salem's eyes peered into mine, so close I could see my own reflection – and within that, the reflection of Ruby. Salem froze, shock registering on her face. Her body turned, foot sliding back and hand releasing my throat.

Too late. With nary a sound, Ruby's scythe tore down on Salem's neck.

"NO!"

Salem managed to get a hand up between them through sheer speed. Even then, it wasn't enough to match Ruby's and the spell she tried to cast meant nothing. The blade cut down into her hand, sparking briefly against her glove. A `Seal` Rune flared. Salem had those all over her outfit and the spell within the scythe was torn out of it and nullified.

That didn't stop the Ironwood scythe.

It tore through her hand. Three fingers flew up, blood spraying as Salem screamed at the top of her lungs. It wasn't a clean cut – not through the wrist – but instead a split down the centre of the hand that left Salem with her thumb and index finger but cut the rest clean off.

"Arghhhhhhh!"

The impact created a loud boom that sent Ruby flying away.

As feared, the scythe shattered, exploding into shards that rained down on Salem, dotting her skin with blood and causing her to let go of me.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 20]