"You are making good progress."
His eyes snapped open, searching for the source of the voice. Expecting the dark water of the flooded column, he was instead greeted with a somewhat-familiar landscape of infinite whiteness, stretching impossibly far.
"I am?" Naruto asked the disconnected voices, searching for their source all the while.
"You are. Your connection is the strongest of all."
"My connection? What do you mean?"
The voices echoed from every place and nowhere all at once. "You will know when you know."
Well, that wasn't deliberately vague.
"Why am I here?" Naruto asked, standing up from his seated position.
"To succeed."
Naruto sighed internally. "Can you be any more vague?"
"Perhaps."
Naruto could practically taste the humor in the voice. "You've been a great help. Really."
There was no response, but he could see the whitescape folding in on itself, steadily darkening, from white to silver to grey to black in both an instant, and an infinite amount of time as his entire perception warped and shifted.
Naruto opened his eyes for the second time.
At least he knew where he was this time, underwater as he was.
Naruto half-floated half-clambered to his feet, eyes firmly fixed on the barrier-clad entrance to the fifth floor.
He wasn't going to let weird visions or mind-trickery mess with his objective.
The pacing was going to drive him mad, but he'd be damned if he didn't understand why she was doing it. "Blake, dearest, I'm sure your leader is fine. If what you told me is true, we have no idea of the true depth of this… dungeon, as he put it?"
Blake turned to her father, her normally calm expression contorted into a slight frown. "I know, but it's been hours. He should have come back by now, unless he's either died or gotten greedy."
Ghira placed himself against a boulder, letting out a slow sigh. "And which do you think it is?"
Blake's frown deepened. "He's too stubborn to die, so my guess is he's continued down, and forgotten about the whole plan of him surfacing to help inform us."
Ghira allowed himself a moment to smile slightly. "That seems more heroic than greedy, but I can understand."
Blake shook her head. "It might seem like that, but when you learn about his semblance, well…"
She cut herself off. Despite Naruto's blessing to do so, she hadn't told anyone about her leader's semblance. She imagined that would change when he had to explain the whole thing to her father, but it was as it was.
Naruto would probably be more than happy to explain to her father, to be honest.
In a single split-second their conversation was cut off as a noise drew not only their attention, but also the attention of the assembled group of Menagerie's guards that had accompanied the chieftain.
Blake moved quickly, withdrawing her weapon in an instant and stalking towards the coastline from the rocky outcropping they'd been positioned on.
There, the sound again. It sounded like someone… screaming?
The sound was promptly followed up by the telltale noise of loud wingbeats and much louder screaming.
Blake and the accompanying faunus watched in shock and awe as Naruto was catapulted through the air, chased by a very large bat-like Grimm.
"Is… is that a Balayang?" Ghira asked, a stunned expression on his face.
Blake didn't dare take her eyes off of the spectacle that was about to play out in front of her, but she had to ask. "Aren't Balayang really rare?"
Ghira nodded. "And really dangerous."
Despite herself, Blake couldn't help but sigh. Apparently, there were three absolute truths in life: Death, taxes and Naruto managing to find some kind of incredibly dangerous situation without fully preparing himself for the consequences.
Naruto had to admit, this was not his brightest moment.
It had all started when he'd swam down to the next floor, passing through the barrier and then having to spend what felt like a long while walking through the winding passage, with seemingly no end.
He'd then arrived at the fifth floor's chamber, but chamber was definitely an inaccurate descriptor. It was more like a massive cavern, the ceiling featuring a number of gaps, stone passages that lead up and out to the evening sky above him. Naruto hadn't realised how late it had gotten, he'd had to have been down here for a while.
That wasn't quite as important, anymore.
He'd wandered in, his guard up, searching around for whatever hostility may be within the chamber, and for a moment he thought all his worry had been for nothing.
Then his Sixth Sense had triggered, and he'd rolled to the side to avoid the sweeping claws of what looked like a gigantic bat Grimm that swept through the air, nearly grabbing him. It had been remarkably close, his senses almost as useless as they had been underwater.
He turned, hand splayed, tracking the movement of the Grimm, and he quickly observed it.
[Malignant Balayang]
[Grimm, Level 63, Rare]
[HP: 107,100/107,100]
Naruto paled somewhat. He only remembered one other Malignant Grimm, and that was the Beowolf from the clearing by Beacon. The Malignant Beowolf that had nearly killed him in a single strike, and barely seemed fazed by any of the attacks he and his friends had sent its way.
If this bat-Grimm thing was anything like that, Naruto was in trouble. It was a full five levels ahead of him, and he was alone.
Well, as alone as he ever really could be with his semblance.
Speaking of which.
Naruto rolled again, sheathing Crocea Mors and shifting from sheath to shield, just in case. He had an idea, he just needed a moment to bring it to fruition.
A single chance, a break in the constant sweeping attacks that continued to nearly catch him off-guard.
Naruto took a look at the Balayang once more, trying to see if there were any visible weaknesses.
It was this second glance that made Naruto realise something critical was missing from the Balayang.
It had no eyes.
Instead of eye sockets in the Grimmbone skull, like quite literally every other Grimm he'd gone up against, this one featured a flat plate of bone that carried up to the black-furred, immense ears.
So that meant that, while it was blind, it relied completely on sound to track him.
He was going to have to temporarily delay his previous idea so he could execute his newest idea before he could cease said delay.
Even despite himself, Naruto couldn't help but sigh. Plans upon plans upon plans, and none of them were very good.
Naruto hoped to any and all Gods that this would work.
Naruto stood completely still, staring straight at the approaching Malignant Balayang. It neared, closer and closer.
Naruto activated Phase Shift, and felt his entirety cease corporeality.
The bat-like Grimm's claws passed straight through Naruto without so much as a snag, and the Balayang swerved hard, somehow managing to look confused.
Naruto deactivated Phase Shift, realizing that he only had a few moments before it would know he'd tricked it. He could only hold his breath for so long, and being completely silent was far harder than it sounded. Well, he knew what he meant, and that was the important part.
Naruto stopped his perfect silence, beginning once more his moving and breathing, quickly calling forth the first summon that he needed.
Glacius formed in front of him, one crystalline arm raised to take the swipe from the Balayang as it passed by, even as Naruto enacted what was effectively step two.
"Glacius, Blizzard!" He shouted, already darting backwards. His ice resistance from the Bearskin perk was going to help him, but not so much that he wanted to be at ground zero for what was coming.
Glacius began to shimmer, the wind picking up around the Elemental as flakes of ice began to splinter off the crystalline golem, and Naruto could already feel the temperature lowering significantly as the Blizzard began to get stronger and more intense.
It was far too low a level a skill to actually do any damage, Naruto knew, but it would hopefully still be enough to slow the Balayang down enough so that he could actually hit it with something, preferably a Mana Tether followed up by a Mana Cannon.
His plan never reached step three as the Balayang, with the chill in the air making the cavern begin to fill up with snow, flew in so fast that Naruto didn't even have time to move.
It snagged his shoulders between massive claws and lifted him off the ground and into the air, going further and further up and out of the chamber.
The Balayang was nearing the top, going at an incredible pace, when Naruto cast Phase Shift once more.
A severe miscalculation, result of his instant near-panic at the thing carrying him out, one Naruto was going to be very quick to regret.
Instead of him being dropped like a rock without momentum, Naruto found himself suddenly tumbling head over heels through the air, and he couldn't help but let out a lengthy shout of both surprise and fear as he continued to flip.
"Shirdal!" Naruto shouted, in a panic, his voice doppling as he flipped. "Help!"
The Beastial Bound Soul of Shirdal the Griffon was quick to form, and Naruto managed to snag one of the saddle's grips, smacking face-first into Shirdal's side.
On the bright side, he was no longer flipping through the air.
On the other hand, which was not at all the opposite to the bright side proverbially-speaking, the Malignant Balayang was headed right for him.
Step three had been a complete failure. Time for a new plan.
Okay, Naruto needed to think really god-damned quickly now, his life was on the line.
The Balayang was close, practically rocketing towards him, much faster than Shirdal, and despite its blindness there was no way it couldn't hear both himself and his Griffon. Flying was not a quiet thing, especially not when the thing listening relied entirely on sound to effectively see.
Naruto twisted on Shirdal's saddle, splaying his hand and firing a Mana Flak out towards it, hoping to at least distract the Grimm that was getting far too close for comfort.
The Mana-filled projectile burst in the air, scattering shrapnel through the air, denting against black fur and white plate as the Balayang effectively tanked the spell without so much as a visible scratch.
Not a great start to Plan Two: The Sequel, but it was at least a start. Better than he could say for some of his plans, at the very least.
Shirdal, even flying at top speed, was no match for this speed. The Balayang was closing in no matter what Naruto did.
His previous attempts to slow it down were flawed, they hadn't worked.
Conventional magic wasn't working. Luckily, that wasn't the only thing Naruto had up his sleeve.
He reached into his inventory, withdrawing Telum and the quiver that came along with it, nocking an arrow and drawing back on the bowstring as hard and as far as he could pull it.
The Malignant Balayang was close, remarkably so now, and Naruto released the end of the broadhead, watching the arrow along its flightpath as it traveled rapidly, hitting the softer part of the bat-Grimm's side, letting out a trail of black blood as the beast screeched.
Good news, Naruto had actually dealt damage. Bad news, it was now very pissed.
Very, very pissed.
Shirdal just wasn't going to be fast enough. "Alcmena, Apollo!" Naruto shouted. His avian summons might be his only chance to pull this off, but it was a slim chance.
He'd have to buy them some time.
So Naruto decided to do something incredibly stupid. Well, moreso than usual.
Naruto slung Telum over his back, drew Crocea Mors from the sheath, and jumped.
It was obvious that the Balayang hadn't been expecting this kind of attack, and even as it tried to swerve out of the way, Naruto's blade carved through the thin flesh of the bat's wing.
Professor Port may have said a lot of useless stuff, but he did occasionally have something important to say. Wing clipping had been one of those, and Naruto had really been taking it to heart this trip.
Of course, reminiscing didn't matter now that he was plunging through the air. He was going to have to snag a ride.
Apollo was the faster of the two birdlike summons, and Naruto was more than happy for the black-feathered Bound Nevermore to grab his outstretched arm with one set of talons, carrying him away as Alcmena fired a burst of bronze feathers.
The Balayang, finally slowed by the damage it had sustained to its wing, rolled itself up, spinning fast enough that any of the feathers that would have hit it simply dented off the bone plating.
Naruto wasn't doing anywhere near enough damage to this thing, but at least it was slower.
Quickly and deftly Naruto clambered from Apollo's grip and onto the bird-like summon's back, activating Surface Walk to stay affixed as he found himself buffeted by the rushing wind. He pointed his hand, hoping to whatever deity or deities that were out there, praying that he'd land the shot.
Naruto fired the Mana Tether.
The projectile fired out, hitting the Balayang straight in the exposed skull and expanding, wrapping its tethers around the head, a loud ding sounding out as Naruto landed a critical hit, much to his surprise.
Naruto wasn't done, though. He knew he could land this shot, with the Balayang tethered as it was, so he was going to put everything he had into it.
Naruto fired a Lightning-Infused Mana Cannon at the tethered Malignant Balayang.
It hit, dispersing the Mana Tether and scorching the exposed bone plating, dispersing electricity into the Grimm's nerves, the Balayang twitching and screeching as it began to fall, plunging towards the ocean below.
It wasn't dead, though, but Naruto was about to change that.
Taking a running leap, Naruto jumped off the back another flying summon, for the second time in so many minutes, using his Aura to launch him up high.
It was a tried and true tactic, but when you paralyzed a Grimm you wanted dead, and you were high up above it…
Naruto did a single flip, more for the style points than anything, and cast Mana Impact, his feet pooling with Mana as he began his descent, faster than the Balayang, effectively meteoric as he covered the distance like a glowing orb of death.
Naruto fell really, really far, and he impacted against the Balayang just before it splashed down into the water, the force he applied pushing it that final amount of distance into the ocean.
Like a depth charge going off, the shockwave of the impact sent water up in a plume big enough and high enough that it reached the point he'd jumped from, raining down seawater on the surrounding beach.
He was thankful he could breathe underwater, because the swirling vortex kept him under, washing him around as the displaced water once again found itself level, and it was at least a minute before he managed to resurface, the self-summoned form of Jormungandr scooping him up and carrying him to the nearest land.
He was soaking wet, exhausted and his heart was still yet to stop beating a mile a minute, the adrenaline that flooded his body not seeming to want to leave.
And despite all that, he couldn't wipe the stupid grin from his face.
"You done showing off, Naruto?" Blake asked, a frown on her face as she desperately tried to wring water out of her hair.
Naruto couldn't even work up the energy to be surprised to see her, or the amassed group of guards, or even the Chieftain. Instead, Naruto took a seat on the ground, slumped backwards, and let out a laugh.
"Sorry about that. That thing was a lot tougher than I was expecting. Just… give me a second to catch my breath."
[Hallowed Bay: Floor 5 Cleared!]
[A reward has appeared in Floor 5!]
[You've gained 11,113,375XP and 33,264 Lien! You've acquired 2 Malignant Balayang Ears, 3 Malignant Balayang Fangs, 2 Malignant Balayang Pelts and 1 Citrine Key!]
[You have leveled four times and gained +20 Stat Points!]
Naruto's grin hadn't quite disappeared, and it threatened to instead reappear as he read the notifications. Sure, it had been one hell of a fight, even worse than the Meregrimm fight, simply due to the fact that he knew he couldn't take a single hit, but he'd managed it, and the rewards were worth it.
He wasn't quite sure what he was going to use the Balayang's ears for, but he had them for whenever he figured that out, so at least that was nice. He was mostly interested in the XP, if he was being honest, and the stat points that came with them.
He was up to fifty, now, which was quite a bit. He was going to spend them, too, he'd learned this lesson multiple times before.
Not right now, of course, but soon.
"Are you alright, Naruto?" Blake asked, once she'd gotten over being drenched. Which had taken only a few moments, but at least she had her priorities straight.
Naruto nodded. "It almost got me, but I managed to, er, 'break free'."
"You mean accidentally toss yourself out over the ocean?"
Naruto waved his hand back and forth in the universal 'sort-of' motion. "It's all a matter of perspective."
"Like how from this perspective it looked like you accidentally tossed yourself over the ocean."
Naruto gave Blake a deadpan stare. "I'll toss you over the ocean in a second."
"Now, now, you two. Let's not get all tied up in who did what. Uzumaki, was it? Are you injured?"
Ghira's voice was authoritative for good reason, and Naruto found himself feeling almost like he'd just sobered up, though it was more of a recovery from his internal panic than anything else. "No, I'm fine."
Ghira nodded. "Good. Now, Blake's explained a little bit about what's going on, but it isn't all that much to go on. Can you explain it in more detail to me?"
Naruto hefted himself to his feet, checking to make sure everything he had equipped was still there as he began. "That… that's a long story. Blake, what have you mentioned so far?"
Ghira interrupted his daughter. "For the sake of my own understanding, I'd like to hear it all, from the very start."
Naruto let out a long sigh. When he said it was a long story, he hadn't been kidding. "From the beginning, huh? Alright then."
Ghira looked a little lost, which, to be fair, Naruto had entirely expected. 'Long story' was a gross oversimplification of the whole thing.
Once he'd clarified the numerous questions that the Chieftain had asked, and explained his semblance to the man for the second time in the entire conversation, Ghira had asked a question that was basically the crux of the whole situation.
"What happened to the people from Hallowed Quay?"
Naruto stood up from one of the chairs he'd formed with Terrakinesis, a frown on his face. "I don't know, but I can make a guess."
Ghira's face was graced by a similar frown. "I was afraid that would be what you would say. You believe they're dead?"
Naruto nodded. "Having been down there, I don't think there's any way they could still be alive. The amount of powerful Grimm has been absurd, and that's just on the first five floors. For all we know, there's a hundred floors. It just seems to keep going deeper and deeper.
Ghira let out a sigh. "I see. For the time being, we shall return to Kuo Kuana. There are still many things left for us to do there, and I still have a meeting with Sienna Khan, though from what I'm told she's departed for Mistral only an hour or so after you arrived."
Naruto let out a derisive laugh. "How convenient."
"So it would seem," Ghira remarked. "There are things you must need, though, are there not? Blake mentioned something about picking up more supplies."
Naruto nodded. "I wasn't exactly set up to go dungeon delving when we got here. This place has got a lot of stuff that I need to figure out, and I definitely need more supplies if I'm to go any deeper."
"Then we had best depart now. I'll leave this garrison here, to make sure no Grimm escape the 'lair', you called it?"
Naruto nodded. "That's probably a good idea. You guys go ahead, I've got some stuff inside I'm going to take care of, but I'll catch up. Blake, do you want to take Shirdal again?"
His teammate nodded. "If that's alright with you. I don't really want to be walking back to Kuo Kuana at this time of the evening."
Shirdal appeared on the stone bridge Naruto had constructed, startling the guards, only for Blake to raise a placating hand as she quickly paced over, gesturing for her father to follow suit and climb aboard.
Naruto let them figure out what was happening as he turned his back to the entrance to the Hallowed Bay's first floor, instead taking a step into the ocean, summoning Jormungandr for a lift.
His destination was one of the open holes that lead down to the fifth floor, and thankfully, Jormungandr was both quick and easy to hold onto, Naruto keeping one steady hand on one of Jormungandr's spine-spikes until they arrived, where he simply jumped inside, Surface Walk keeping him firmly affixed to the wall until he reached the bottom.
He was expecting there to be a chest, like every other floor reward had been so far, but as he searched, he didn't see any trace of one. The message in the notifications had been different, too, now that he thought about it.
A reward, not a chest, had appeared. What did that mean?
Naruto's searching culminated in a raised eyebrow.
"Is… is that a display cabinet?" He asked himself, stepping closer to the center of the fifth floor cavern.
It was in fact a display box of some description. A pale wooden stand with a glass case, on the inside a red velvet cushion with something atop it.
Naruto closed the distance quickly, his curiosity taking advantage of him as he neared it.
The display was locked, a small little padlock keeping it shut, made of a simple metal, and seeing as the case was made of glass it wasn't as if it was going to stop him if he wanted, but he recognized the opportunity to try and get some XP, so he reached into his inventory, pulling out the little lockpicking kit that Blake had given him all the way back in Beacon, before they'd even gone on that major assignment.
Man, those were good times.
He knelt down and inserted the lockpick and the tension wrench into the lock, fiddling with it for a few moments before he heard the telltale click, and he disengaged the lock, dropping the padlock to the side and lifting the glass lid.
He'd been so focused on actually picking the lock that he hadn't even paid any proper attention to what was in the case, but now that he looked, he became slightly confused.
So, in order to alleviate his confusion, Naruto observed the contents.
[XIX. The Sun]
[An artifact of a long-past age, this mechanical arm is constructed of an unrecognizable golden metal and seems to use magic to connect to the mind of the wearer, offering an ability unique to the wielder.]
Naruto couldn't help but smile to himself. He knew exactly what this relic was going to do, and who was going to use it.
Of all the places, and all the things he could've gotten. Naruto was just surprised, if nothing else. For all the problems he had with his semblance, he would never be able to truly complain about it.
These were the things that made up for all the chaos it had brought into his life.
Naruto placed it in his inventory quickly. He had one final stop left, and he wanted to get it done quickly. As much as he enjoyed being rewarded, clearing floors was a lot of work. He wanted to go back to Kuo Kuana and sleep, but first and foremost, he wanted to check what the next floor held in store for him.
So, Naruto walked back down the passage to the flooded column, passed through the barrier and swam down further, to the next floor's passage, and passed through that barrier.
He was only going to take a peek, but what he hadn't expected was for the sixth floor to be so small.
It was practically a single room, more like a walk-in wardrobe than a room, and in the center was a door made of firm steel. Naruto wasn't going to be breaking through that anytime soon.
The other side of the room, through the door, was equally small, but Naruto could see what looked like a lever on the rear wall, and just to the left of that was a Citrine Chest.
Naruto tried the handle of the door, only for it to rattle against the frame. It was locked, and Naruto didn't have a key. He still had the lockpicking kit in his hand, so he quickly began trying to pick the lock.
[Lockpicking Level 25 Required!]
Or not, apparently.
"Okay, Plan B then," Naruto said to himself, placing the lockpicking kit back in his inventory and concentrating.
He activated Phase Shift and stepped through the door.
Or would have, if he hadn't collided with the metal and felt a searing pain from it.
He lunged backwards, feeling Phase Shift cease to function without him willing it, and he shook his hand to clear the burning feeling from it. There was no actual damage, his AP and HP were full, but he'd definitely felt it. Strange.
The door wanted him to pick the lock, and that appeared to be the only way through.
"Okay, System. We'll do it your way, I guess," Naruto spoke aloud, with a frown.
Leveling Lockpicking was going to be an interesting challenge.
One that he could save for tomorrow. Tonight, he was going to hop onto Alcmena, fly back to Kuo Kuana, and sleep.
It had been one hell of a long day.