There was a single moment where Blake and Naruto shared a glance before they moved, heading in the direction of the scream, drawing their weapons, expecting some kind of threat.
Considering the mysterious circumstances of the entirety of Hallowed Quay, it wasn't an overreaction on any level.
Naruto rounded the corner first, closely followed by Blake, and the two quickly noticed who had screamed.
A young girl, no more than twelve at Naruto's best guess, crawling backwards, trying to get as far away from the threat in front of her as she could.
The threat being Freyja, the porcine summon snuffling and stepping back in concern.
Naruto figured the fastest way to deal with the situation would be to simply desummon Freyja, and Cadejo, who wasn't within eyeshot but was headed in their direction, until both vanished into wherever they stayed when not active.
Naruto quickly sheathed his weapon, holding out one hand. "Hey, hey, easy… they're gone now, you're safe."
Blake didn't stow Gambol Shroud, instead simply lowering it, keeping a wary eye on the little faunus girl as she looked around in a frantic panic, her eyes meeting Naruto's and widening just a little. Whether it was from disbelief, relief or fear, Naruto didn't know.
"It's okay. We're Hunters, we're here to help," Naruto continued, doing his best to placate the young girl. "What's your name?"
He needed to get her talking, to distract her, keep her attention focused on something. It was something Professor Oobleck had mentioned during one of their classes back at Beacon, and he was remembering it now clear as day.
The girl's frantic eyes remained fixated on Naruto, but she opened her mouth and spoke all the same. "D-Dawn…"
"Okay, Dawn, are you injured? Does anything hurt?" Naruto continued, making sure not to move to close to her. He knew that his lack of faunus traits might not be as terrifying to the girl as whatever she'd gone through, but that didn't mean rushing towards her was a good choice.
Dawn replied non-verbally to his inquiry, shaking her head rapidly, finally breaking eye contact and looking at the ground.
"That's good… now, I know this is going to be a difficult question, but can you tell me what happened?"
Dawn looked up, her eyes this time latching onto Blake's own, before snapping back to Naruto. There was no response, just a set of unblinkingly confused eyes.
He could hear the frustration in Blake's exhalation, and he was feeling the same thing, but that took a backseat to his job. "That's alright. Do you know anyone outside of town that we can take you to?"
Another non-verbal reply, another shake of the head. Naruto turned to Blake. "Is there a place in Kuo Kuana we can take her?"
Blake nodded. "I assume so. We'll have to check, but we can't just leave her here in the meantime."
"What about my sister?"
It was the first set of unprompted words that Dawn had said thus far, and it caught the attention of both Hunters.
"Do you know where your sister is, Dawn?" Naruto asked quickly.
Dawn nodded. "She and Daddy went down to the beach with everyone else."
Naruto exchanged a quick look with Blake, before doubling down. "Why were you back here when everyone else was at the beach?"
"I forgot my floaties." Dawn's answer was not entirely what Naruto had expected, but it definitely reminded him of one of his younger sisters.
"Right. Dawn, can you take Blake and I down to the last place you saw them?"
Dawn slowly clambered to her feet, taking a wary step towards Blake and holding out her hand.
Blake did her best to hide her concerned expression and took the young girl's hand, allowing herself to be led along down the street, Naruto in tow.
He kept one uneasy hand on his blade, much the same as Blake kept Gambol Shroud drawn, though the weapons didn't seem to be bothering Dawn as she increased her pace, beginning to drag Blake towards where Naruto knew the coast sat. He wasn't holding out hope that something on the beach had changed, but stranger things had happened.
They reached the stone-hewn steps, Dawn pulling Blake down them, Naruto easily keeping pace, and they found his expectation proven true, the sand and water as undisturbed as it had been only minutes ago.
Dawn wasn't disappointed by that, though, instead pointing along the coast. "Daddy and everyone went over there, to the bay," she said, and both Naruto and Blake peered towards where the small girl was pointing.
Blake released Dawn's hand, and the girl simply sat down in the sand, scrunching some in her fingers before letting it pour out between the gaps as Naruto stepped to the side, Blake lowering her voice.
"What do we do? We can't go in somewhere like that with her with us, it's way too dangerous," Blake began, and Naruto frowned.
"We may not have a choice. There could be survivors, and we can't spend the time to take her back to Kuo Kuana. You just protect her, keep any Grimm from getting close, I'll handle the main combat. It kind of is my specialty."
Naruto could see Blake's fist tighten on Gambol Shroud's handle, and he let out a sigh. "It's our only real option, Blake."
"We're walking into a complete unknown, Naruto."
"Since when has it ever been different? Mountain Glenn, Beacon, even the boat here, Blake, it's always been an unknown. We don't have the time to spend, even on Shirdal. That's not even considering the problem of summoning with her around."
Blake let out a very similar sigh of frustration. "Fine. You'd better be prepared for anything, though."
Naruto nodded. "Always."
The two turned towards where Dawn had been moments before, only to see her already walking towards the bay.
They moved at the same pace, letting the young girl stay just out of earshot. "Is something bugging you?"
Naruto's question caught Blake off-guard. "I- no, it's nothing."
"Instinct?"
Blake's head whipped around towards him. "How did-"
"Same thing here. My Sixth Sense is lit up like a winter solstice decoration. It keeps telling me 'danger' but I haven't seen it yet."
Blake hummed in thought. "It's Dawn. Something about her is… off. Like she has an Aura, but at so young?"
Naruto shrugged. "It happens from time to time, especially in outer settlements. My younger sister Marigold had hers activated when she was nearly killed exploring the woods near where we lived. She took a lone Beowolf to the chest, the stress activated her Aura. She'd have died otherwise."
Blake seemed surprised. "Even in situations like that, Aura is meaningless without training. How'd she escape?"
"Uzumaki blood. Natural boost to our Aura. It manifested as a perk for me without me doing anything to unlock it, and the rest of my family have abnormally large Aura reserves."
"That does bring us back to our original point, though. It's not often a little girl makes all the hair on the back of my neck stand on end." Blake looked back towards Dawn. "Plus she doesn't strike me as a girl who's just experienced a potentially traumatic event."
"Could just be shock, or she's just more capable than we're giving her credit for. But I agree though, something's up. Maybe she has a semblance that she can't turn off or something?"
"Like your Intimidating Presence?" Blake asked, and Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, exactly. Or something similar, at least. Stay on your guard, though. We don't know what we're dealing with."
He let that sit, but he couldn't let the thought go. His father had always said that he should trust his instincts.
On the other hand, though, his mother had always stressed the importance of not pointing weapons at small, terrified, potentially traumatised children who may or may not be the only survivor of a settlement-wide event.
Safe to say Naruto was wrestling with outcomes, none of which were looking all too bright.
They were getting closer to the bay, though, and Naruto was starting to make out details in the distance, a large rock outcropping jutting out from the water less than a kilometer off the coast becoming far more prominent now that he had a good line of sight on it.
Honestly, he was wondering why his focus hadn't strayed to it earlier. It was huge, towering up and casting a thin but tall shadow across part of the bay.
Though it was incredibly tall, however, it was barely a hundred meters wide. It was just like a giant spike of earth that stuck out from the ground, complete with what looked like a sharpened tip.
Naruto could see the Grimm circling the point at the top.
Blake's attention was focused elsewhere, however. "Naruto, there's an entrance at the base of the outcropping."
Naruto snapped his attention downwards as he deployed Crocea Mors' shield, keeping it steady on one arm as he activated Mana Sight.
It didn't enhance his vision in the typical way, but it did provide the slightest benefit of being able to see if anything hostile lurked within.
Blake glowed bright blue, as the skill description said, and the Grimm at the top glowed bright red, though it was faint from this distance.
What really made Naruto nervous was the fact that Dawn lit up bright red, her head turned to look straight at him, cocked to the side like she was confused.
"Uh…"
Dawn broke into an outright sprint, moving far faster than any twelve-year-old had any right to, and before either Naruto or Blake could react, plunging straight into the water, disappearing under the surface.
"Uh…" Naruto repeated, and Blake echoed him, confusion evident.
Dawn didn't resurface.
[Dungeon Discovered!]
[Lair: Hallowed Bay]
[Not Yet Cleared]
[Quest Discovered!]
[Dungeon Crawling]
[Clear the first floor of a Dungeon.]
[Reward: Citrine Chest Key]
Naruto ran one hand through his hair. "I'm so confused."
"It's a dungeon? Like, a legitimate video game dungeon?" Blake asked, having planted herself in the sand, one hand supporting herself on the ground.
Naruto took a seat next to her, burying the blade of Crocea Mors down and using it as leverage to balance against. "Seems like it."
"Has this ever happened before?"
Naruto shook his head. "The only thing I can think of that's similar is the Raid Zone mechanic, like Mountain Glenn."
"That has to be the place that the townspeople went, right? And what the hell just happened with Dawn?" Blake pushed some loose hair out of her face, letting out a long sigh.
"The moment I activated Mana Sight Dawn showed up as hostile. I might've thought it was something to do with what we were talking about earlier, but… well, she took off like she'd been discovered. Are there any Grimm that can disguise themselves?"
The question seemed to rock Blake to her core, and she slipped in the sand, nearly falling on her back. "If there is…"
"Then the entirety of Remnant is in serious danger. No one is prepared for that sort of thing, and if there's never been any sightings before it doesn't mean they aren't out there…"
"We need to check it out. If anything, we can find out and tell my father. At least there won't be no evidence after we check it out."
Naruto took nearly a minute before he replied, deep in thought. "We'll check it out, but if it's too much to deal with, we pull back. If we die, well, that's not a great thing, but it also means that no one knows about anything we've discovered. Plus we can go back to Kuo Kuana and gear up properly. I'm not exactly teeming with ammunition right now."
"Sounds like a plan, then," Blake said, stretching. "Though what you might be able to deal with and what I might be able to deal with are two different things."
Naruto nodded. "Just let me know if it's too much to deal with, we'll pull back. I don't know what this place is going to be like, though, so who knows what we'll be facing."
"Probably some Grimm."
Blake's deadpan delivery was a welcome break of humor, and he half-heartedly glared at her. "I mean, yeah, I figured that part out. Thanks."
"Anytime."
Naruto stood from his sandy seat, absent-mindedly grasping Crocea Mors and hefting it out of the sand, slinging it over his shoulder. "You ready?"
Blake lifted to her feet, giving Gambol Shroud a quick check. "It seems so."
"Okay. Let's get started."
Naruto stepped down the beach to the water, placing his hands into the cool liquid and concentrating, feeling out into the depths of the terrain.
Blake quirked an eyebrow until she heard the faint rumbling of moving earth, and she took a slight step back as Naruto used Terrakinesis.
Almost like stone tiles, the earth rose from under the water, displacing the liquid, creating a bridge to the outcropping slowly but surely, arising in segments.
Naruto didn't have anywhere near enough control or even Mana to simply raise an entire bridge in one go, but his range was enough that he could create them in separate tiles, just high enough to not be under the water.
Was Naruto doing it for practical reasons, yes. Was he also doing it that way because of the aesthetic? Absolutely, it looked really damn cool. He wasn't gonna lie, that was half the fun.
"That was deliberate, wasn't it." Blake said it like a question, but they both already knew the answer.
Naruto was already moving across the bridge he'd created. "Come on, Blake, I'd like to at least get this done before evening. I don't want to be trekking back to Kuo Kuana in the dark, no matter how little it matters to you. I still don't have night-vision."
"Coming from anyone else I'd say that was arrogance, but knowing you you'll probably get night-vision in a couple days."
Naruto let out a laugh as he gently nudged a fish back into the water with his foot. "I doubt it. It's been a haphazard few days, and I don't have any idea what's next."
"The more things change, the more they stay the same?"
"Something like that, I guess."
Tightening his grip on his shield, Naruto quickly sheathed Crocea Mors and cast his eyes skyward. "They aren't coming for us."
The Grimm in question continued to cycle around the peak, all the while raising Naruto's concern. "The fact that they haven't tried to attack is disconcerting."
Not wanting to tempt fate, Naruto sped up, Blake following close behind as the two stepped off the recently submerged stone tiles onto the rough terrain of the outcropping.
"Want to take a look, or should I just light it up?"
Blake gestured for him to go ahead, and Naruto cast Candlelight, guiding the small glowing orb to float into the cavernous entrance, illuminating it.
There was a single moment before either Naruto or Blake noticed anything, and that moment extended until the Candlelight reached the other side of the cavern.
"Okay… empty yet incredibly foreboding cavern. Excellent," Naruto remarked nervously. "Do we just…"
Blake shrugged her shoulders and stepped inside, Naruto sticking close behind.
The moment the both of them stepped through, the cavern entrance made a cacophonous noise as a giant rock fell down behind them, sealing the entrance.
Naruto looked at it for a single moment. "Okay, no big deal, I'll just use Terrakinesis to open it back up.
Naruto placed one hand against the stone.
The stone refused to shift.
"Well, shit."
"Okay, okay, let's not panic. Let's take this nice and calm. We're stuck inside a cavern, miles away from anyone, and the one thing I do have to get us out isn't working. Right."
"Naruto?"
"Okay, step one, figure out why Terrakinesis isn't working. Is it my magic, or is it the stone itself?"
"Naruto?!"
"Once I've figured that out, we can move onto figuring a way out of here. There has to be another exit, or maybe even a way of removing the stone-"
"Naruto! There are Grimm crawling out of the ceiling!"
Finally, Naruto actually managed to snap out of it, Blake's warning eradicating any amount of prior thought from his mind and giving him a focus.
There were a mix of Grimm pouring from the pockmarked ceiling, small holes proving to be far more fearsome than originally anticipated as both dog-sized Deathstalkers and slightly bigger, spider-like Grimm cascaded down the walls.
Why did it have to be spiders? Arachnae was the exact name, according to Observe.
Naruto acted like many people would in his exact situation, and primed a Lightning-Infused Mana Grenade, tossing it into the nearest cluster of arachnid Grimm, watching as electrical arcs fluxed between chitinous limbs, the air already full of the scent of burning Grimm-flesh. Not a pleasant scent, especially in these much closer quarters.
Blake opened fire as well, and Naruto was thankful for her support, keeping them off his back as he tried his best to clear them out.
It was seemingly to no avail. Even with how small these Grimm were, they weren't dying as easily as a Creep the same size would. They were tough, covered in thick chitin and chittering menacingly.
He switched up his tactics, a cast of Mana Blast knocking the closest into the back and sending any that weren't in that first rank stumbling backwards.
"We have to clear the first floor, right?" Naruto shouted, and whilst Blake didn't respond, that was fine. He knew she was there, but he had also been asking a rhetorical question.
He knew he had to clear the first floor. The question was, how did they do that? Just kill everything, or was there something else to it?
Naruto didn't know, and that was a problem. If he did know, he'd be able to sort this situation out.
And yet somehow, Naruto had an idea. He didn't know how he had the idea that he had, but he had it.
"Blake! We need to get into the center!" He shouted, already pushing his way towards it, a conjured Mana Field keeping the Grimm at bay as they snapped, bit and stung the glowing dome of Mana as he strained to keep it up.
Blake stuck close behind him, even as his Mana Field flickered, parts shattering just as fast as they reformed, and she kept up her shots, rounds puncturing chitin and leaving black splatters on the stone ground as Naruto forced his way through.
They were swarming over the top of the field, now, almost completely covering them, and Naruto raised his other hand, distributing the Mana through both, as if it might help maintain the structural integrity of the field.
"Naruto, we're being swallowed up! If you have a plan, now would be a good time!"
Beneath his feet he could see the markings that had stood out to him earlier, and he positioned himself atop them, one foot within each of the concentric circles. "I hope this works how I think it does!"
Despite the fact that he only had a feeling it would do what he was hoping it would do, a feeling backed up with no evidence or anything of the sort, the feeling was coming from the System itself. It had to work. Otherwise, well…
The moment Naruto affixed both feet in place, he felt a surge of power flow through his body as the runic symbols around the concentric circle carvings glowed a brilliant white, and Naruto could feel his Aura flux and stretch.
He closed his eyes, still pushing Mana into the Mana Field, and then he exhaled in one sudden breath, and with it came a pulse of pure white Aura that escaped from his body in a bright flash, lighting up the cavern like a bolt of lightning as it hit the outer edges, leaving ashes in its wake as the small Deathstalkers and Arachnae disintegrated.
Naruto dropped the Mana Field, letting out a sigh of relief as he slumped to one knee. "Ow."
Blake stood shocked for a single moment before the chills subsided, turning to her team leader. "Is that a new skill?"
Naruto shook his head. "No… it's this place. Those markings. I think I'm just as confused as you are."
No notification popped up, and Naruto noticed that somewhat-important fact, drawing Crocea Mors. "We're not done yet."
"Naruto, there's no-" Blake interrupted herself, turning to face the entrance as Naruto did the same, his Sixth Sense lighting up like he was staring at a bonfire.
The rock that had slid down in front of the entrance shifted slightly.
Naruto aimed his empty hand at it.
It shifted again.
Blake pointed the barrel of Gambol Shroud at the rock.
Eight legs unfolded from the underside of the rock.
Naruto swore loudly as what he'd once believed to be a rock rotated to face them, eight glowing red eyes staring beadily at the two of them, chittering menacingly.
"Blake, what is it with Menagerie and spiders?" Naruto asked, preparing a Mana Lance in his hand.
Blake suppressed a shiver. "I'd almost forgotten. I spent so much time in Vale I'd almost managed to suppress these memories."
The spider-Grimm twisted around and began climbing onto the ceiling.
[Epic Arachnae]
[Rare Grimm (Bestiary)]
[HP: 51,300/51,300]
Naruto barely managed to process the information when the arachnid spat a globule of sticky webbing towards the two of them, and he quickly dove out of the way, Rolling Recovery assisting him as he arrived back on his feet and flung the Mana Lance, watching as it carved through the air and pierced the bone plating on the Grimm's thorax, causing the spider to release a pained cry that would haunt his mind for the rest of his time in Menagerie, though if he couldn't kill this thing that might only be the next few minutes.
Blake used her semblance to avoid a second spray of webbing that Naruto could practically feel heat radiating off of, and the two began a game of cat and mouse, though it was more apt to a game of spider and fly as the eight-legged Grimm continued to try and trap them, firing blast of web after blast of web, coating the floor of the cavern in sticky, incendiary webbing.
Naruto never stopped firing at the thing whenever he got the opportunity, but it wasn't often. The Arachnae was deceptively fast as it skittered across the cavern ceiling, spitting at the two.
It was just lucky they were fast enough to dodge, but they were running out of clear ground.
"Blake, we might be able to make a break for the entrance-" Naruto began, only to watch in morbid amusement as the Arachnae spat a large ball of burning web that effectively blocked up the entrance. "Never mind!"
Naruto needed to hit this thing hard, and he really had only one idea.
His typical solution for high damage would hopefully work.
The hastily-cast Mana Tether only just clipped the Epic Arachnae, tendrils of Mana wrapping around and attaching to the skeletal-plated thorax, and Naruto had a split-second to consider his options before he decided.
"Electrus, hit it!"
The crystalline golem-like elemental formed within an instant, clinking, sparking crystal arms aligning and the yellow glow lancing outwards in a Stormbolt that hit the Arachnae and torched it, shockwaves of electricity causing the spider to twitch and spasm as it dropped from the ceiling and landed upside-down, legs quickly folding inwards as they lost tension, already the smell of scorched Grimm-flesh filling the air even more, until it was of an intoxicating thickness.
That was a long cooldown time before Naruto could bring Electrus out once more, his prior testing indicated that it would be at least twenty-four hours or so, but Naruto would happily admit it was worth it. The Arachnae was dead and fading, despite the fact that the cavern lacked what could be feasibly called a steady airflow.
Already Blake was hacking away at the burning web that covered the entrance, and Naruto drew Crocea Mors, his free hand covering his face as he helped slash away at the web.
They broke through with a cloud of smoke and a lot of coughing, but the fresh air was more than appreciated, even if they were covered in more blackened Grimm ash than they'd hoped for.
Whilst Blake hacked up a lung, Naruto plunged his hands into the seawater and rinsed his face, already turning to face the new series of notifications that had triggered.
[Hallowed Bay: Floor 1 Cleared]
[A chest has appeared in Floor 1!]
[Quest Complete!]
[Dungeon Crawling]
[Clear the first floor of a Dungeon.]
[Reward: Citrine Chest Key]
[Encounter Complete!]
[You've gained 4,548,775 XP, 15,048L, 2 Epic Arachnae Chitin, 1 Epic Arachnae Gland, 5 Grade VII Gravity Dust Crystals, 1 Grade V Energy Dust Crystal!]
[You've leveled up 3 times and gained +15 Stat Points!]
[Achievement Unlocked!]
[Additional Slaughter: Kill a Grimm from any DLC (Bloodsport, Frozen Wastes, Bestiary, Burning Sands, Fallen Kingdom, Dusklands)]
[Claim Reward!]
Naruto slumped onto his back. "I really hate spiders."