Naruto Uzumaki stared at the large form of Ouroboros as he stared back, tongue flickering out to taste the air, smacking Naruto in the face as an unintentional side effect.
"Thanks."
Ouroboros did it a second time before Naruto learned and took a step backwards.
"Alright, you're a Greater Taijitu now, Ouroboros, so you can definitely help out in combat now. Time to get your sisters up to the same level."
It was with that line that Naruto brought Ishara and Freyja forth, rolling a Greater Soul Orb to each of them, and watching as they cracked it in their various ways.
Ishara, the smallest of all of his summons, began to glow a brilliant white, the Deathstalker summon becoming the size of a mastiff, as Freyja next to her also shone, becoming only slightly bigger, but covered in more plentiful, denser armor plating, her tusks gaining a razor-sharp serrated edge.
"Well, you two look like you could kill some stuff pretty easily," Naruto remarked, taking another step back. "Only one left is Cadejo, but we'll evolve him when he gets here. No sense in pulling him away from Ruby now."
Ishara, Ouroboros and Freyja looked like they agreed with him, though that was somewhat difficult to tell considering they weren't exactly the most expressive of his summons. Ishara especially, it was difficult to tell what she was thinking when her face was a single plate of chitin and eight beady blue eyes.
Then, all of a sudden, it was clear as day as Ishara, Freyja and Ouroboros all turned to glare at the newest interloper in the clearing.
Naruto drew Crocea Mors slowly out of its sheath, holding the weapon steady as he approached the lone Ursa.
It roared, and set about making an attack against the lone Hunter-in-training, who seemed almost confused that this low a level Grimm would even make an attempt instead of fleeing. Then again, no one had ever claimed Grimm to possess intelligence, and that theory seemed to be pretty accurate as the Ursa missed, and Naruto swiftly decapitated it.
No difficulty, no challenge, nothing. What there was was a small notification that was quickly added to the list of notifications he was still yet to look at after the day's events.
"That was significantly less exciting than I was hoping, gonna be honest," Naruto said to his assembled summons. They weren't exactly great conversationalists, but they listened, so that was nice.
Now, however, seemed like a good time to go through his list of notifications, so that was what Naruto began to do as he brought up the list.
[Quest Complete!]
[40th Vytal Tournament: Round Two]
[Win the second round of the 40th Vytal Tournament.]
[Reward: Choose from either a Formation Seed or a Divinity Seed.]
Well, already off to an interesting start. "Formation Seed? Divinity Seed? What do either of those do? And does that mean I have to start literally farming?"
No one answered his question, which wasn't all that big a surprise.
"I'll just wait a bit on that one."
He moved onto the next in the list.
[Quest Created!]
[Grimm Trainer]
[Have 8 Greater Bound Souls.]
[Reward: Choose from either Bestial Skill Book or Sentient Skill Book.]
Naruto didn't really know what the rewards to that quest were either, but at least they were skill books, implying that they were skills. At least he'd have time before he had to worry about making that choice, though, seeing as the quest wasn't done yet. He was a little ways off from completing it, too, seeing as he only had six Bound Souls, and only five were Greater.
The last, latest notification was the one he'd gotten moments ago.
[Encounter Complete!]
[+27,000XP, +600L, A Mysterious Scrap Of Paper]
"Uh…" Naruto trailed off, reaching into his inventory. Out came the quote-unquote 'mysterious scrap of paper' which, as it turned out, was exactly what it said it was.
A piece of paper with seemingly nonsensical patterns drawn on it in slightly faded ink.
Naruto stared at it for a split second, wondering how he'd gotten so unlucky on the drop table to end up with this when a window popped up.
A skill book window.
One that Naruto was familiar with.
A quick tap of the 'yes I do want to learn this, thanks' button had him holding a glowing piece of paper that was, up until this point, mysterious.
And then he knew what it was. "Runecrafting? That sounds fancy."
[Crafting Subskill Unlocked!]
[Runecrafting recipes unlocked!]
The sudden influx of knowledge that came with it was astounding, and Naruto was suddenly made aware of a number of things.
Most prominently, a use for his Bronze Ingots.
Quickly he made his way into the Arcave, descending the stairs and entering the workshop, one hand reaching into his inventory as the other grabbed a hammer off the newly mounted tool rack, his destination the anvil Ruby had explained was crucial to making a workshop a workhome, or whatever it was she'd said.
He was only momentarily distracted when a smaller Ouroboros and a smaller Ishara, atop the same-sized Freyja wandered inside behind him, as he placed an ingot of Bronze on the anvil, equipping his Designer title as he did so, making sure not to forget this time.
He didn't need to heat it, for reasons that confused him, and instead he smacked it with the hammer, the sound of metal on metal reverberating out inside the underground workshop.
Another hit followed it up.
A fourth preceded the fifth, and on the fifth the beaten Bronze Ingot shifted forms all of a sudden, in its place two small slates of an indiscernible metal, one that was most definitely not bronze.
Naruto observed the panels of metal, and discovered that, contrary to popular belief, he did actually know what he was doing.
[Runic Slate]
[A slate of magically treated metal, for use in Runecrafting.]
This was progress, to be sure. He wasn't going around in circles, he was actually accomplishing something. According to what he'd learned from the scrap of paper, he'd need a few alchemic components before he could properly make Runes, whatever they actually were, but he was close.
He was almost level 10 in Crafting, for that matter, and he had a perfect amount of Bronze to get him there.
Eleven more ingots became twenty-two more Runic Slates before he reached level 10, but what a worthwhile unlock.
[Crafting Unlocks!]
[You can now craft: Crushed Herbs, Draughts, Nigredo, Glass and Glass Powder, Empty Capsules, Lesser Rune Powder, Adhesive, Binding Reagent, and Lesser Universal Runes!]
Naruto nearly stumbled backwards from the influx of information that assaulted his senses.
Naruto… Naruto was going to have to go do some shopping. A lot of shopping.
It was nearly ten at night when Naruto stepped out of the Arcave for the final time of the evening, taking a deep breath of the cool forest air as he stretched his arms, working out the kinks in the tense muscles.
Or, he would have been if System Body didn't do that automatically. It was hard to break muscle memory, after all.
He now had in his possession fifty Runic Slates for use at some given point, though he wasn't quite sure what for yet, as he didn't have any of the ingredients he'd need to make many of the Runes he had access to.
He needed, according to the System, a bunch of Alchemic Reagent, Hydrochloric Acid, Tar, and various herbs in order for him to actually make any Runes. A varied shopping list, that was for sure. He wasn't even quite sure where to get a hold of Hydrochloric Acid, or Tar, for that matter, but he'd figure it out. After the Vytal Tournament, of course, and speaking of which, the third round was tomorrow. He needed to be fully rested in order to cheer Pyrrha and Yang on before the final bout the day after.
Man, this had already been a hectic few days.
Naruto couldn't wait until Beacon resumed its more typical courses. At least he'd have some more free time to dedicate to exploring a lot of the various intricacies that his semblance kept giving him.
Maybe even take a day to forget about all of the System and just relax. That would be nice.
Amity Colosseum was the tensest it had ever been as it floated above the Vale skyline, and yet, inexplicably, the cheering was the loudest it had been since the 40th Vytal Festival had begun.
Four competitors remained, all standing atop the center stage.
Yang Xiao Long relished the attention, her beaming grin and confident waving eliminating any doubt that she may not be ready for this kind of situation.
Penny Polendina was more reserved, but retained a childish excitement that was almost infectious.
Mercury Black looked confident yet bored, the oh-so-smug expression on his face never leaving.
Pyrrha Nikos wore a firm expression, emerald eyes hardened, and yet those who knew her could tell that something was tugging at her thoughts.
Naruto was worried. His seat in the stands, surrounded by his closest friends, was comfortable, afforded a great view, and was close to the entrance to the locker rooms for ease of access, and yet none of that mattered one bit to the blond team leader.
Pyrrha had waved him off the last time he'd asked if she was okay, and it was clear that whatever had been bothering her hadn't just been their previous match.
"Damn it, Pyrrha. You'd better not be up first," Naruto muttered under his breath, watching in anticipation along with the rest of the crowds as the selection wheel began to rotate.
It spun, faster and faster, ticking moment to moment ever closer to a final selection, and then finally it settled, the decision made.
Naruto let out a sigh of relief.
"And our first match today is Yang Xiao Long versus Mercury Black! This is sure to be an explosive fight!"
Naruto didn't pay Port any attention, instead standing up and making his way towards the lockers.
"Naruto?" Ruby asked, looking to him. "What's wrong?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nothing, don't worry. Just gonna go check on Pyrrha, I'll be back before the match is over."
Ruby shrugged. "I'm not the one Yang will rip asunder if she finds out you weren't watching."
Naruto paused for a moment. "Rip asunder? Have you been hanging around Weiss too much?"
Weiss's indignant cry went ignored as Naruto resumed his path, only to pause once more.
"Cadejo, can you keep my seat for me?" Naruto asked of his summon, the wolf emerging from his shadow and alarming some of the nearby audience.
A quick pant was all the answer Naruto needed, and once again he resumed his travel, stepping down the staircase into the locker room.
Perfectly timed, too, as he gave the exiting Penny a smile, the ginger returning it with her typical innocence.
Leaving only Pyrrha in the locker room, sat on one of the benches, sharpening Milo.
The slow, methodical scraping of metal being sharpened was the only sound in the room before Naruto spoke.
"Pyrrha. Something's wrong, I can tell. Talk to me."
Pyrrha jolted upright, turning her head to face her leader. "I-I'm fine!"
Her reply came quickly, too quickly, and Naruto ignored it. "No you're not. Tell me, Pyrrha."
"I… I can't."
That took Naruto aback. "What? What do you mean?"
Pyrrha rose from her seat, placing Milo on her back. "I wish I could tell you, Naruto, you have a way of finding answers to so many questions, but I can't tell you. I'm sorry."
Naruto swallowed his confusion for a moment. "Why can't you tell me?"
There was a pause, as Pyrrha considered her words. "I've been sworn to secrecy for a number of reasons I can't get into. Just know it's important, as important as keeping your semblance a secret, maybe more so. I can't tell you yet."
"Yet," Naruto said, picking up on the word. "When-"
He cut himself off with a shake of his head. "No. What can I do to help?"
He seemed to catch Pyrrha completely off-guard. "What?"
"It's bothering you, and you can't tell me what it is, but you can still ask me to help. You don't have to tell me specifics, or even really anything, but at least let me try. You're my partner, Pyrrha, I need to at least try and help."
Pyrrha looked almost lost as she tried to gather the words she was looking for, before her face turned resolute. "Have you ever thought about destiny?"
This time it was Naruto's turn to be lost for words. "Destiny… I can't say for sure. I mean, sure, I've thought about it, but I've always thought it was more like a goal than a set path, you know?" He paused, thinking it through. "I don't think destiny is something you will achieve no matter what. I think it's something you have to work towards, a final objective to reach out to, to strive for."
Pyrrha let out a laugh. "Once again you prove that we are alike in a number of ways. You seem to share my opinion."
She lost the smile a moment later. "What if you were suddenly given an opportunity that would change everything you thought possible? What if you were presented with a choice that might tear you away from everything you know, everything you hold dear, just to achieve that destiny?"
Naruto took a seat on the bench, running one hand through his hair. "I wasn't given a choice to get this Semblance, Pyrrha, but you can be damned sure that had I have been presented with the choice of taking it or not, I would've taken it."
Pyrrha looked to her partner, expression frozen.
"Without it, I would never have become who I am today. I couldn't have stood toe to toe with you, with Yang, with any of our friends, our team. I couldn't win solo fights, I would've probably died against my first Grimm. And yet, with it, I can do all those things. I can stand up to Grimm, to the White Fang, I can lead a team, help my friends. I've made mistakes, sure, we all have. Dad always said it wasn't making the mistake that was the problem, it was failing to learn from it."
Pyrrha sat next to him. "And what if I don't know what will become of me after I make the choice?"
Naruto thought for a long moment. "What if I wasn't a good person? What if I used what I'd been given to kill, maim, destroy?"
"What? Naruto, you're one of the best people I've ever met!" Pyrrha was quick to reply.
Naruto smiled slightly. "Exactly, Pyrrha. You're a good person, one of the best. We can all agree on that. I don't think there's anything out there that can change you. I think that even if there was something out there that would try to change that, you'd break it down, beat it up, and send it packing. You're Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl. Whatever it is, whatever has you so worried, don't be. It'll work out. It always does."
"And if it doesn't?"
Naruto stood, holding out his hand to his partner. "Then we make it work out. We're AWBN. We're unstoppable. Nothing can go wrong when we're working together."
There was a single moment where Pyrrha accepted his hand and found herself pulled to her feet by the only person she could truly call her leader, and a single moment where she felt no longer worried.
It was ruined by the screams and shouts from the audience above.
"I didn't do anything wrong!" Yang shouted, eyes burning red.
"You completely shattered a competitor's leg, Xiao Long. After his Aura was depleted. And after the match had ended," Ironwood replied, his expression calm and collected, even if his voice didn't quite reflect that. "You're being disqualified."
Yang was practically up in arms at that. "What!? He attacked me!"
Ironwood let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "So you have said. However, video footage shows that to be patently untrue."
"Are you saying I'm lying?!" Yang shouted again.
Ironwood held out one hand, and Ruby grabbed her sister by the arm, pulling her backwards. "I'm not saying that. What I am saying, however, is that under bouts of stress and combat fatigue, a soldier can see things that may not be entirely true."
"Combat fatigue? He barely touched me! I wasn't stressed, I wasn't fatigued! He tried to kick me after the match! I struck in self-defense!"
"And because of that unprovoked attack, he may never walk again! He and his team have been taken off to a private hospital in Vale due to the severity of his injuries! Even if it was self-defense, even if it what had happened wasn't recorded, and what you said is completely true, it still constitutes a dramatic overreaction!" Ironwood raised his voice for the first time, and Yang, albeit still fuming, backed down.
Ironwood wasn't finished, though. "Thanks to this incident, no matter who was actually at fault, we still have a massive influx of Grimm to deal with. The sheer negativity generated by this incident is absurd, and the media coverage isn't exactly helping with that. If this was Atlas I might be able to clamp down on the outlets to prevent them from whipping the entirety of the kingdom into a frenzy, but unfortunately, Vale has laws for the freedom of the press. So, Xiao Long, you have been disqualified, there will be no redemption from that. Seeing as two of the four competitors have been removed from the tournament, the next match will also be the final match. So, sit here, figure out exactly what you did, and maybe watch the recording. It'll show you what actually happened."
The General was half-tempted to slam the door shut behind him as he paced evenly out of the room, tirade finished, but he resisted the urge.
AWBN and RRYN turned to face Yang.
"What. Come to watch me fall from grace?" She spat out, eyes still glowing that bright red.
"Yang…" Ruby began, only to be pushed aside by her sister.
"Don't. Just… don't. I didn't do it. He attacked me."
"Yang, you can't be serious. There is footage, evidence. You can't just deny that," Weiss spoke up.
Yang was up on her feet in an instant. "Then the footage was faked!"
Weiss didn't back down from the taller blond's challenge. "Oh, really? Do tell me exactly who framed you, and how they did so by doctoring live footage!"
Yang actually growled at that. "So, what, you don't believe me? You think I could really do that to someone without reason?"
"I think that the General is right, and it was something akin to combat fatigue induced hallucination! We all know how you get in intense situations, you lose your temper! It's practically what your semblance is based on!" Weiss fired back.
"I didn't do it!" Yang was practically screaming, now, and Weiss looked about ready to draw her weapon.
"Enough!" Naruto shouted, loud enough to drown out the rest of the assembled group. "It doesn't matter whether or not it was deliberate, that we can discuss at a later date. Right now, Yang needs space, to cool down. Weiss, you especially. You aren't exactly taking this very diplomatically, and it isn't helping."
Weiss looked ready to argue, but Naruto just looked at her. "Weiss, find something else to take up your time. Go visit your sister, or something."
Weiss was about to take his suggestion and step out of the room when Yang spoke up.
"Do you really think I could do something like this?"
Lilac eyes looked up at all the people in the room.
The only one to speak was Blake. "Yang, it's possible."
Yang looked like she'd been physically struck, eyes widening as she recoiled. Blake refused to meet those lilac eyes.
"I've… seen it before. People start off as nice, friendly, but then, their temper, their anger, it takes hold of them, they become enslaved to their fury. I've experienced it before."
There was only silence for a moment, before a voice, quiet and downcast, spoke.
"Get out."
"Yang-"
"GET OUT!"
Naruto felt the room heat up in an instant as Yang rose off her bed, eyes burning that piercing bright red, hair glowing golden.
Seven people quickly fled the room, unwilling to try reasoning with her.
Yang collapsed once more, folding onto her bed, where she lay for what seemed like hours.
"Hey firecracker."
Fists clenched on her sheets, bundling them between her fingers. "What do you want, Qrow?"
"Came to check up on you."
"Yeah? I'm fine, now go away."
"Why'd you do it?"
His question cut through any pretense of a regular conversation, and Yang rolled over, sitting up. "You know why."
"Do I? You attacked a helpless kid. You're either crazy, or lying."
Yang glared at her uncle. "I'm not lying."
Qrow let out a rueful chuckle. "Crazy it is then."
Yang released a humourless snort. "Runs in the family, I guess."
Qrow sat on the bed opposite her. "Not too far off with that, to be fair."
Yang's eyes met Qrow's. "Oh, is that what we're doing now? I'm at my lowest, so now you'll let me in on something you and Dad never told me before?"
Qrow uncapped his flask, taking a swig. "If you want."
He held out it out, the invitation unspoken.
Silence befell the room, and Yang took the flask.
The atmosphere was muted, devoid of excitement. The upcoming match was one of necessity, not of competitive spirit, and the gathered crowd were just hoping to put the previous incident out of their minds.
"Pyrrha, do you mind if Weiss and I didn't stay to watch the match?" Blake asked her teammate. "I want you to win, of course, as does Weiss, but I think we've had enough of combat for a while."
Pyrrha gave her teammates a half-hearted smile. "I only wish I could join you. Truth be told, I don't want to be a part of this any more than anyone else would."
"Then don't be."
Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake all rounded on their leader, confused.
"What, give up?" Weiss asked. "We can't do that. They need to continue, to work up the audience once more. It will help lower the rampant negativity."
"It's a late submission, but with everything else that's happened, I doubt that matters."
"Naruto, what do you mean 'late submission'?" Pyrrha asked, quirking an eyebrow at her teammate.
Naruto stood from his seat, stepping towards the locker room. "I'll be fighting. The rest of you, go relax. Find somewhere to get something nice to drink, chill out. I'll take care of this myself."
Objections came fast, but Naruto ignored them. "I don't really care about any reasons you might have. This is hurting all of you. Go spend some time with RRYN, check on Yang, whatever. Just don't subject yourselves to this sort of thing any more. It isn't helping anyone. I'll handle it. Besides, it's not like it matters if we win or lose. As long as it's a good fight."
Pyrrha and Weiss looked like they were going to object further before Blake interrupted. "He's right. Trust me, I'd know. Time I returned the favour, Weiss. Tea?"
Weiss let out a long sigh, before straightening up. "Coffee. Pyrrha, will you be coming with us?"
Pyrrha met Naruto's eyes, and he gave her a nod.
"I think I will. I know a nice place away from prying eyes." She turned to face her leader. "Good luck, Naruto."
Naruto smiled. "Come on. We all know I make my own luck."