The door was the most imposing thing Naruto had ever seen.
He'd faced hundreds of Grimm at this point, fought terrorist and criminals, giant robots, all manner of enemies.
And yet this creamy-white metal door was far more intimidating.
Well, what it represented was intimidating. The door itself was just a door. Behind the door was the intimidating part.
Naruto was stalling. It seemed to be an effective strategy, until it wasn't, like with most strategies.
He should just knock on the door. That would be the easy thing to do. No, not easy.
The right thing to do, maybe, but not easy.
He didn't know why he was afraid. The bomb hadn't been his fault, hell, if he hadn't been there…
Naruto shook his head, avoiding that thought. That wasn't something he needed to dwell on any longer, it wasn't productive.
'Bite the bullet, Naruto,' He thought, taking a step towards the door and reaching out his hand, not quite far enough to open it but far enough to look as if he was contemplating the concept of opening it.
The decision was promptly made for him as the door swung open, a somewhat startled blonde taking a half step forwards. "Oh! Naruto. Hey."
"Hey, Yang. How's Ruby?"
Yang stepped forward, but didn't close the door behind her, gesturing towards it. "Go find out for yourself. She was asking when you'd show up."
Naruto nodded even as his hand came up to scratch the back of his head. "Yeah, I'd… better go in."
With that eloquently put, Naruto stepped through, Yang closing the door behind him. "Hey Ruby. You doing okay?"
Ruby turned her head, ceasing her gaze out the infirmary window and looking towards the teen. "Yeah, I'm fine. Takes a little bit more than an explosion to put me down for the count, you know?"
Naruto took the empty seat next to her bed. "Yeah, I don't doubt that."
Ruby's expression turned somewhat more somber. "Don't lie to me. I know I wouldn't have survived without you. I wasn't thinking."
Naruto shook his head. "Neither of us were. We should've waited for a teacher, or the General. Someone more qualified for this sort of thing. I'm surprised we didn't learn this earlier on."
Ruby snorted. "We do tend to pick fights with people out of our league, don't we."
Naruto shrugged at that. "I don't know if Torchwick is out of our league. His minions, maybe, but…"
The two fell into a comfortable silence for a moment.
"Thanks, Naruto. For saving me. That could've gone really bad, would've, had you not been there."
Naruto shook his head once more. "I should've been able to prevent it, at least defend the two of us better. We barely made it out by the skin of our teeth. I should be better prepared than that."
"Naruto, it isn't like you could've expected a bomb. I get that you want to be better prepared, but don't blame yourself. You didn't plant the bomb, it isn't on you. It's on Torchwick, on the White Fang. Not you."
Naruto nodded slowly, but Ruby obviously wasn't satisfied with that, gripping his hand tightly with both of hers. "I want to hear you say it, Naruto."
Naruto took a deep breath, and looked into those argent eyes. "It wasn't my fault."
Ruby's smile made the lie worth it.
He'd left Ruby with her thoughts after some time, having informed her that they were still expected to go to Mountain Glenn the next day with the Atlesian Military.
That had put a damper on their moods, even if they hadn't exactly been the best and brightest as of late.
At least Ruby had Zwei to keep her company, the dog having somehow broken out of the dorm and breaking in to the infirmary. Naruto was honestly a little confused as to how the corgi seemed to simply appear in places, but it was a mystery for another day.
Today's mystery was, once again, what to do with his power, and more specifically, the limits.
He always seemed to start testing them, and then get sidetracked. It was becoming so common it would honestly appear that he was doing it deliberately.
He wasn't, things just kept happening.
Today was going to be entirely dedicated to the fight that he knew was approaching. Even with Atlas helping out, Naruto knew he'd be fighting. Whether he'd be fighting the Shai-Hulud, or the Grimm it attracted, that was a question he knew he wasn't going to get a clear-cut answer to, so the best solution would be a compromise.
First, it meant spending the stat points he'd been saving up until this point.
They weren't doing him any good sitting and doing nothing, and regardless of whatever 'efficient strategy' any person on the CCTnet said, it wasn't like losing a video game had any consequences.
This was reality, for him. No matter how much his semblance may try to dissuade him of that notion, it was real life.
So, strategies for late game meant nothing if he couldn't make it to the late game, or even the mid game.
He didn't even really know what constituted late or mid game. What was the max level, what were the max stats?
He didn't know. He couldn't know, there was no way to find out until he reached it.
So, Naruto decided that he wouldn't worry about it now. Take each goal one step at a time, preparing for them as they came up, not preparing for something that may never happen at the expense of things that were happening.
He had seventy-five points at his disposal, which, when you considered what they did, was no small feat. Even though it had taken him roughly a semester to build up, it was incredible the rate of growth. Hell, half a year ago he'd been a nothing, a nobody.
Naruto had a few options available to him. He could put ten points in every stat, with five left over to top things up, or he could dedicate his points to a few select stats.
Or he could put seventy-five points into one stat, but Naruto felt like that wasn't a smart idea. The moment he started to focus, something else would appear that would need something he wasn't able to do, and then that would defeat the entire purpose of him being a multi-tool.
He needed the variety, it was where his main advantage came from. There was nothing that was better than having a solution for every problem.
But, that only worked if he had actual solutions for all the problems. Otherwise, it was kind of a pointless endeavour, not to mention a waste of time.
Speaking of, he was currently wasting time.
Well, mental time. If that was a thing. He'd made his way back to the clearing like usual, and was contemplating adding some benches down here, maybe even a picnic table, but that could all wait.
Naruto decided then and there to put ten points into each stat. It seemed like a decent enough idea, but it was a decision.
He hadn't made enough decisions lately, he thought. There was no point having so many options if you didn't decide on one of them.
It was all too complicated. There was no formula, no one way about it.
Naruto hit the confirmation, and felt his body and mind flux as the effects took hold.
He couldn't say he felt smarter, really, or wiser, or more charismatic, or anything really, but he could tell his musculature had firmed up slightly.
It was less of a known thing and more of an implicit feeling, though. The more telling things were the notifications that popped up.
[For reaching 25 STR, you have been awarded the perk Steel Sinew.]
[For reaching 25 AGI, you have been awarded the perk Lightning Reflexes.]
[For reaching 25 CHA, you have been awarded the perk Salesman.]
[Steel Sinew: Thanks to your increased Strength, your musculature is now denser and stronger, allowing you to hit harder and resist more knockback.]
[Lightning Reflexes: Thanks to your increased Agility, you gain an increased reaction speed, allowing you to react to things faster.]
[Salesman: Thanks to your increased Charisma, you can now get better prices for selling and buying at vendors.]
New perks were always appreciated, Naruto knew. The first two were useful, too, and the third would come in handy if he ever actually bought or sold anything. Not that he really ever did, to be honest.
He probably should, for his Crafting training. He imagined it would be rather costly, in the long run. At least Alchemy would give him some useful things that might help solve future issues.
Health Potions were among the higher priorities on that list.
He didn't know what they took to make, though, but he was sure there had to be a way to find out.
Hopefully one that didn't require him delving back into Mountain Glenn and hoping to get lucky with the drops there.
That was beside the point, however, and speaking of points, he still had five to spend, if he so wished.
He did wish, too, at least to spend two points on evening out his LCK, an even twenty-five accompanied by another dinging notification as he was awarded with yet another perk.
[For reaching 25 LCK, you have been awarded the perk Lucky Looter.]
[Lucky Looter: Thanks to your increased Luck, you now have a chance of getting rare loot when receiving drops.]
Well, that was a nice perk. Useful too, it might even have a chance of answering his previous question.
The potion question, not the point spending question. Of which was still partially solved, as he had three points remaining.
Question was, did he save the leftovers, or use them now. Did it really matter?
Naruto shook his head to clear his mind, dismissing the screen. He'd save them, just in case. He may not have as big a buffer as he did only moments ago, but he had to say, all in all, it was worth it.
Another decision made, another issue he could put to rest for the time being. That only left him with quite literally every other issue to deal with.
Like the bomb. Or the Shai-Hulud he'd have to fight in a day or so. Or the fact that his very existence put those he cared about in the line of fire with a consistency that he despised.
And that no matter how hard he tried, they would always be in danger, because he couldn't get rid of his semblance, and the only true solution involved a varying amount of death.
Naruto could really only focus on limiting the casualties, rather than preventing them, and wasn't that a sobering thought. It was difficult to be enthused when everything good about the semblance came with a large helping of wanton death and destruction.
To think he hadn't even managed to kill a single one of the small Nevermore that had swarmed him before. Turns out, birds are rather maneuverable, and avoid incoming projectiles rather well.
Aerial enemies were still proving to be difficult for him to deal with, but the benefit of the Nevermore being so small was that they really couldn't do all that much damage. They couldn't manage to penetrate his Mana Field and had promptly given up for some tastier, less defended prey.
Which indicated that they weren't a particularly high level, considering how weak his Mana Field was in comparison with some of his other skills.
Then again, at level 19, it wasn't anything to scoff at. It was just that, you know, an entire bomb going off in his face was more than enough to make him seem weak in comparison.
He wasn't really sure how many people could have survived such an explosion, but he had to imagine he wasn't the only one out there. Technically, seeing as how Ruby hadn't died, he wasn't the only one, but that was, as he had pointed out, more of a technicality than anything else.
A technicality he was thankful for, of course, but a technicality nonetheless.
Regardless, he needed to improve. And wasn't that some kind of mantra now, with how often he repeated it.
This time, however, it wasn't a bad disguise for him experimenting with new skills. This was a full search-and-destroy style training mission.
It was time he finally accepted what his career entailed.
It was time to hunt.
Naruto had never been this deep into the Emerald Forest before. Even during the Initiation, they hadn't had to delve this deep, more that they'd worked their way back towards the cliff from being plunged into the forest.
Hells, earlier Naruto had stumbled across the crater he'd made, when he first been partnered with Pyrrha. That was pretty nostalgic, but it was also an indicator that he'd gone deeper than ever before.
And, even with all that, nothing. No Grimm had appeared. That was… frustrating. The one time he went looking for trouble and it refused to find him.
Then again, he was just wandering aimlessly. He had said he was going to hunt, so why was he not thinking like a Hunter?
Especially with the amount of tools he had at his disposal.
"Cadejo, Alcmena," Naruto spoke aloud, summoning the two out of his shadow. "Scout ahead, find some Grimm. Lure them to me."
The summons quickly began to follow his orders, Alcmena taking to the skies as Cadejo quickly vanished into the undergrowth.
All Naruto had to do now was prepare the area.
Naruto allowed his Mana to leak into the ground around him, and he pushed with it.
The noise it made was surprisingly quiet, considering he was effectively displacing the earth around him, pushing trees and plants aside like he was a walking, talking bulldozer.
It took a couple minutes of just straight demolition, in more or less of a physical and metaphorical sense, but soon he had created a clearing, vaguely reminiscent of the clearing he used for training, but much flatter, and with hardened earth beneath his feet.
Once the area was sparse of obstacles, Naruto began to pace the perimeter, an idea in his head.
He placed his hand against the ground and soon, an intricate sigil appeared as Spell Sigil did it's work, engraving a spell into the ground.
In this instance, it was a Gravity-Infused Mana Calamity, and he quickly began enscribing more of them, making a circle of them around the center of the clearing.
It cost a lot of Mana, so it wasn't quick, taking a few minutes before he'd managed to set them all up, but once he had, it seemed to be perfect timing.
A foreign and yet intimately familiar sense pricked in his brain, and he turned around, facing the direction the feeling was giving him. Not a second after Naruto turned, Cadejo burst from the undergrowth, quickly sliding to a halt behind Naruto, already growling, as a cluster of Boarbatusks followed him out, sliding to a halt in front of Naruto, stomping and snorting as they analysed the newest threat.
Naruto withdrew Crocea Mors, leaving the shield in its sheath form on his belt, and waited patiently.
The lead Boarbatusk, a Matriarch, decided it had waited long enough, and at it's behest the entire passel began their charge, curved tusks aimed straight at the blond teen.
Naruto quickly triggered the nearest Sigil, and in that moment, the once grounded swine suddenly found themselves no longer gaining momentum, instead drifting upwards, unable to move. One Boarbatusk, the Matriarch, found itself spinning end over end as it drifted closer to that lethal blade that was already closing in.
Crocea Mors, as sharp as it always was, cut through pitch black flesh with ease, like a hot knife through water, emerging on the other side of the Boarbatusk Matriarch with a spray of dark viscosity, having bisected the monster.
Naruto's other hand cast Spinning Mana Bullet, and the rounds fired out with the power of whatever magic was behind them, carving small holes through the other floating Boarbatusks, leaving their corpses spinning until the Gravity Infused Mana Calamity ran out, dropping the already fading bodies onto the hardened ground unceremoniously.
Naruto gave Crocea Mors a flick, cleaning it with a smooth motion, before stepping back to the center of the clearing.
Cadejo bounded off once more, off to fetch what would either be wave two or wave three.
Naruto felt his Mana recharge, full once more, and he felt a familiar sense once more, slightly different.
Naruto turned to face the direction, sword at the ready.
Cadejo looked at Naruto, the teen leaning against his sword, breathing heavily.
"That… was a lot… of work…" Naruto panted out, Cadejo looking on with a mix of sympathy and curiousness.
Alcmena's gaze was much more reminiscent of eye-rolling, though if she was actually capable of that Naruto was unsure.
Naruto was down to the last Grimm, a pathetic whimpering Beowolf missing a leg and both arms, yet still clinging to life.
Naruto barely paid it any attention as he bounced a Mana Disc off its head, leaving the jaw as the only remaining attached part of its skull.
The disc landed back in his grasp within a moment, and he broke it beneath his fingers.
He waited a moment, and was rewarded with that oh-so-satisfying ding as a notification pinged.
[Encounter Complete!]
[You gained 515,313 XP!]
[You've reached Level 32! +5 Skill Points!]
[Skills have leveled!]
Naruto closed the notifications and withdrew his scroll from his pocket, checking the latest message that had buzzed whilst he was in the middle of a fight with the second-last Beowolf, reading it as he absentmindedly placed all the loot in his inventory without so much as a glance.
Headmaster wants to talk with AWBN and RRYN. -Weiss.
Naruto sent back a quick 'on my way' before pocketing his scroll and looking to the two of his three summons. "Race you?"
Cadejo let out a happy bark of agreement, and Alcmena de-summoned herself, which Naruto was not aware she could do. Huh.
Cadejo also had no concept of countdowns, and he took off, paws pounding the ground as he sped off.
Naruto, caught off guard by numerous things as he was, took off only a split-second later, thanks to his newly improved reaction time, and he Sprinted after the Beowolf-summon, slowly gaining distance.
A quick cast of Flash Step soon turned the tide, however, as Naruto shot forwards with every step, untroubled by the speed he was running at, well aware that Cadejo was straining to keep up, the wolf's tongue hanging out his mouth as he pushed each muscle to their fullest extent.
It was to no avail, as Naruto recast Flash Step the exact moment it ran out, mid-stride, and he effectively left the summon in the dust, as trees and bushes shot past him like green blurs that barely registered to him, despite his increased awareness. There was only so much Lightning Reflexes could do.
It took him next to no time at all to reach Beacon's cliffs, breaching the treeline into his clearing, his sense of direction only added to by his map, as he skidded to a stop, dust and dirt being kicked up in his wake.
Once the literal dust had cleared, he set out climbing the stairs, thankful that his stamina pool was so vast, seeing as he would've been absolutely knackered by the run, and having the staircase looming over him would've just been the icing on the proverbial cake. The cherry atop the proverbial sundae. The- he was running out of metaphors to use whilst climbing the stairs.
"There are only so many metaphors, Cadejo!" Naruto said aloud, Cadejo's panting indicating that the wolf had finally caught up.
Cadejo was unsure what a metaphor was, but he was just happy to have actually managed to make it to the cliffside with Naruto.
He was really just wasting time with his thoughts as he made his way back to the Headmaster's office, somewhere he'd been far too many times for his taste. He was hoping the man would spice it up once in a while, maybe get a succulent or something. That constant ticking would drive any lesser man insane.
Another buzz had him withdrawing his scroll once more, and he, once again, checked the new message.
We're by the Bullhead dock. The General is here too. -Weiss.
Ah, that wasn't great. That meant either they were departing, or something else had come up. Neither were options Naruto was particularly excited for.
Naruto redirected, his mood somewhat improved by the fact that he didn't have to go to the office, and that the dock was actually closer.
And, now that he mentioned it, he could see the dock, and his team, and RRYN, and the Headmaster, and the General, and even Professor Goodwitch.
Naruto gave his friends a cursory wave as he closed in, slowing his jog down to a walk, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Actually, he was really sweaty. A shame he didn't have time for a shower.
Oh how he missed his philosophical thinking sessions in the shower. Back when everything was so much simpler.
"And the final member arrives. Training, Naruto?" Ozpin asked, leaning against his cane, eyebrow quirking from above his mug.
Naruto nodded. "Out in the Emerald Forest, sir. Just killing some Grimm, blowing off some steam."
Ozpin gave the breathiest of chuckles. "Well, I hope you didn't blow off too much. You have quite a big responsibility ahead of all of you."
Ironwood took this as his chance to interject. "The operation is ready. A Bullhead will be here momentarily to pick us up, and deliver us to the Daedalus. Before we depart, are there any objections?"
Naruto had a few, but none of them were substantial enough for him to withdraw the entirety of AWBN and RRYN. He'd need a pretty good reason for that, and 'afraid of the consequences' was not a good enough reason.
"No? Good. Our ride is here, Hunters. Hop aboard."
The General's statement was punctuated with the sound of a Bullhead hovering in close, engines whining as it kept the rounded metal frame aloft.
Without ceremony, he simply took a step inside, using the edge of the now open side to haul himself up and stepping through, and Naruto shrugged, climbing inside, followed by the rest of the assembled group, minus Ozpin and Goodwitch.
The two members of Beacon's staff simply waved a goodbye to the departing students, as the Bullhead dragged itself further into the air. Well, Goodwitch waved, Ozpin seemed to gesture slightly with the mug in what may have been reminiscent of a cheers-ing motion. The idea was there, though, and everyone knew it was the thought that counted.
The door slid closed as Naruto turned to face the General. "So, sir, what are we going to be doing?"
Ironwood shook his head. "In due time, Uzumaki. First, let me brief you on the Daedalus."
Naruto nodded, Ruby standing up from her seat and settling in to the empty one next to him, eyes focused solely on the cybernetic man that stood in front of them, one hand wrapped around a loop that dangled from a bar that ran along the frame of the vehicle.
"The Daedalus is the pride of the Atlesian Air Fleet," Ironwood began. "It is, for all intents and purposes, a floating fortress, equipped with the most advanced technological advents Atlas has to offer, including a fully equipped hangar, completely operational engineering and science divisions, and an entire mechanical division, where we store an entire army's worth of Atlesian Knights."
Naruto nodded along, understanding but not fully grasping what the General was saying, whilst Ruby looked like she was trying not to spontaneously combust.
"Aboard the Daedalus right now are four squads of soldiers, gearing themselves up for what will be known, from now on, as Operation Kingslayer. Operation Kingslayer has a few stages to its execution, but the most important part involves luring the Shai-Hulud to the surface of Mountain Glenn, where we can open fire with the Daedalus's main batteries. The killing it part of that is the easy part. It's the luring part that's the hard part."
Naruto continued to nod, before stopping. "How are we luring it?"
Ironwood brought out his scroll, projecting a three-dimensional rendering above it. "This is the Subsonic Tremor Activator, the STA, which the men have taken to calling a Spike. I'm told that, once activated and planted in the ground, the Spike releases a series of minor tremors that the Shai-Hulud will be drawn to. If we place a Spike at each corner of the area where we want to draw the Shai-Hulud, it should, in theory, emerge in the center."
"That all sounds simple, but why do you need us? If you can lure it that easily, what's the catch?" Naruto asked, and the General nodded.
"It sounds simple, but with most things of this scale, execution is a different story. The problem with the Spike is that the tremor isn't exactly discerning about what it lures. In a less populated area, we could feasibly handle this situation with minimal casualties, but in a place as densely populated as Mountain Glenn, we're looking at swarms that can overwhelm conventional gunfire. We need Hunters to deal with them, and considering we don't have the luxury of Atlesian Hunters, you all are our best bet."
"What happened to all of Vale's Hunters?" Ruby asked, still looking at the projection of the Spike.
"As of right now, there are three Hunters in Vale that are not currently on jobs. One is retired, one is critically injured, and one harbours a biting hatred for Atlas. So, we're scraping the bottom of the barrel so to speak, not that anyone would consider you bottom of the barrel in comparison to your peers."
Naruto felt the Bullhead shudder as it touched down, the loud whine of the engines winding off as the door slid open, letting a gust of wind in that blew his shaggy hair back.
Ironwood stepped out, soldiers saluting as he strode past, the faces of the students in his wake varying from amazement to shock, and even a touch of fear.
Naruto remained impassive, however, trying to balance out Ruby's consistent excitement with his newly acquired stoicism.
They walked through clean, white corridors, past various doors, all of which were unlabeled, until they reached a large elevator, the doors sliding closed behind them as they stepped in.
Soldiers saluted them as the doors slid open once more, the floor they'd reached obviously important, helmeted men and women with rifles lining the walls as less-armored men and women worked at terminals, and the General quickly stepped up to a raised dais.
"Navigation, are we ready to depart?" Ironwood asked.
"Yes sir. Helm is waiting on your order, sir."
"You have it, Helm. Let's get moving."
Naruto felt the very floor beneath him shake slightly as the engines spun further up their cycles, the very sky seeming to shift as the Daedalus began to shift from it's near-permanent position above Vale for the first time in some weeks.
"Communication has been passed to the Iapyx and the Icarus, sir. Daedalus is flying solo."
"Twenty minutes out, sir. Squads are getting prepped."
"Razorbacks are fueled and loaded, sir."
Ironwood nodded as the reports came in, and Naruto was glad to know he wasn't the only one of the eight of them that was stunned into silence.
"Brownes, you have the floor. I have a briefing to run," Ironwood said, stepping down from the dais and gesturing for RRYN and AWBN to follow as he lead them down a set of stairs at the front of the bridge, to a room that was more glass than floor, a desk sat in the middle.
All around them was sky, and it was only then that Naruto realised that this was the lowest point on the Daedalus, as looking down had him staring at the rooftops of Vale.
It was somewhat disconcerting, and Naruto had no doubt that that was exactly what Ironwood had wanted when he had the room constructed. It was a position of power, that much was certain.
This was the man's office, without a shadow of a doubt.
"Well, Hunters, welcome to the Daedalus."