[@Forsythe]

[b]Post-Dust Apps[/b]

It's pretty clear that the lass in front of me really doesn't get why she's being punished. Worrying about dangers she could run into as a Hunter is all bloody well and good, but that's not the important thing here, you know? There's an unspoken agreement between humans that allows our society to function, and that's not to try and randomly chib each other out of nowhere. Indulging in some bampot desire to try and blow up something in another brat's hands, all outta curiosity, isn't conducive to that. At all.

But, that's not even on her mind. She's just clarting on about another way people could hurt her.

"[color=d8bfd8]Dust reacts to human will,[/color]" I say. It's a repeat of what I went over in class, but seeing that the brat can't connect the dots by herself, I'll entertain her for a tad. It doesn't seem like her noggin'd be open to the actual problem if she's still scared of this bairn of a thing. "[color=d8bfd8]It doesn't matter whose. Any dobber with aura can catalyse a Dust reaction if they wanted to. Or not catalyse one, if they didn't want to.[/color]"

Dust is just a crystallisation of nature's infinite power. It's nice to think we have absolute control over it, especially if we've papped it into our bodies, but that's a reassuring little illusion we like to give ourselves. Even with all the power we've scraped together, humanity's not so all-powerful that we have absolute mastery over the elements. That's not how the world works. Maybe you might think it's unfair, but that's just arrogance speaking. When we make use of Dust, we accept the risks. It doesn't care who's responsible for the activation, just whether or not it will be activated.

"[color=d8bfd8]If Schwarz didn't want the Dust to activate, it wouldn't have,[/color]" I continue. "[color=d8bfd8]If you wanted to nudge the Dust in my pocket to blow right now, that's possible. But [i]my[/i] will for it [i]not to[/i] would be there too. You'd need a shocker amount of aura to overcome me not wanting a huge hole in my dress.[/color]"

Luke Schwarz was unlikely to have gotten that hurt. But that doesn't mean everything's hunky-dory, does it?

"[color=d8bfd8]At the start of the semester, the Schnee heiress - she's in your year - had a good chunk of her Dust poof into air thanks to another student. Completely on accident. That's the 'foreign activation' you're scared of, isn't it? Miss Schnee got careless, and somebody was able to catalyse a reaction before she could respond in time.[/color]" Nobody had gotten too hurt. It was just a tickie of a thing, the result of the Atlesian lass not being quick enough on the draw. Not thinking that somebody would accidentally set off her collection. "[color=d8bfd8]You avoid that by being more careful. There's a reason Dust is called 'Nature's Wrath', you know? It's volatile. And when you use it as a Hunter, you have to be ready to accept the risks.[/color]"

But, that doesn't excuse her actions. By participating in the demonstration, both of the brats accepted the risks involved with Dust usage. That's a given. They're coming here to Beacon to become Hunters, after all. Except that also means that they shouldn't try and hurt each other for no good reason. Curiosity is no good reason. This is a career where, ideally, you should be able to trust your colleague with your back.

"[color=d8bfd8]But in any case, 'seeing if it could be done' isn't, at all, a good reason for trying to blow your classmate up,[/color]" I continue bluntly. My eyes laser in on hers. "[color=d8bfd8]Being willing to hurt a classmate for something that you could've asked me for is wrong. It's unacceptable behaviour. Do you understand why?[/color]"