What I would give for a break from all the surprises that keep popping up in my day to day life. I wish I could have just one week without something happening to throw me completely off schedule. Been working on this chapter sporadically for a while now, so I can't vouch for the overarching quality being equal, but at least I've gotten it done. In the end, though, I'm not writing to be perfect, but to learn, and to enjoy the experience.

A massive thanks to Robert Waldron, LOLZMAN, Jesse Garcia, Ragy, Hydrolic and The-Anti-Akuma for continuing to support me, I have nothing but gratitude and respect for your continued patronage!

Weiss had to say, of all the flights she'd had to take over the years, this was, without a singular doubt, this was the second worst.

Blake and Ilia were blameless in her experience, and for once, so was Jaune, he wasn't having a great flight either.

That was all thanks to the gigantic Lancer that was pursuing them relentlessly.

She could hear Jaune cursing repeatedly under his breath as wrestled with the controls of the Bullhead, sending it in every direction he could to avoid the Lancer's constant attempts to send them into the deep blue below.

Weiss, Blake and Ilia were all clinging hard to the straps inside the aircraft, at some points quite literally no longer touching the bottom plating of the internal hull as Jaune banked hard, the strange tether-like stinger constantly being fired at them.

Their luck had to run out at some point, and so it did, as nearly a minute later the stinger punched straight through the portside wing, completely severing the engine from the rest of the aircraft.

"Brace!" Jaune shouted, somehow barely managing to keep them straight. "We're gonna hit those islands!"

Islands that none of the three passengers had known were there, considering they couldn't see anything out of the rear of the craft.

The three braced as best they could, Aura's flaring up, but even that wasn't enough to prevent injury as they impacted hard.

The sound of metal on stone as the entire aircraft became less like an aircraft-shape and more like a crashed-aircraft-shape was deafening, and even clutching hard to the straps inside the passenger bay, Weiss still found herself smacking against the floor, dazed from the impact.

Blake and Ilia didn't fare much better, Aura's crackling as they were damaged, but it was Jaune who suffered the worst, going straight through the aircraft's cockpit windows and being severely lacerated as his Aura broke.

The impact had completely snapped his safety belt, tearing the shackle out from its bolts and slitting his shoulder open as he rolled over and over outside the craft even as it slid to a stop, leaving a great rent in the earth behind it.

He spat out the bloody fragments of teeth from his mouth as he rolled over, along with the end of his tongue that he'd bitten off in the crash, wincing as he felt his cuts stitch themselves back together, already scrambling back towards the remnants of the Bullhead, unable to stand.

Both his legs were broken, as was one of his arms, but he could already feel the fragmented bone and shredded muscle rebuilding itself, so he kept moving, going from a crawl to a low crouch, until he was standing next to the wreck, straining against warped metal to force one of the side hatches open.

The rail was bent in two places, the door could only slide open a slight bit before it ground to a halt, but Jaune pushed against it with more than just physical strength, Ferrokinesis pushing into the metal and shoving it further open.

It took him another moment to shift the door before he dropped into the cavity that was whatever was left of his aircraft, boots hitting the opposing door with a clang.

Weiss was the only one conscious, though she was certainly looking worse for wear. Her new outfit had survived, but the gash on her forehead was running heavily, running down her eyebrow and past her cheek.

"Weiss, you okay?" Jaune asked, even as he checked Blake, who was nearest.

Despite being still a little shell-shocked, Weiss nodded. "Aura took the initial impact. Hurts, but it's superficial."

"Check Ilia while I get Blake out. There's some shelter to the east, opposite the ridgeline. I'll be back in a moment."

And with that he'd gently picked Blake up and leapt out of the ruined aircraft, leaving Weiss with Ilia just next to her, unconscious but otherwise uninjured, aside from the nasty bruise that was already beginning to swell, from where her thigh had hit the plating. Aura, once recharged, would heal that faster than usual, but it would still ache for a while.

Jaune had gone through the front of the gods-damned aircraft and here she was, barely able to help. She was out of practice.

Winter had always said the best way to learn was in a trial by fire, but even this was a bit much for her first few hours back in the saddle.

A brief moment of concentration later Weiss had created a glyph beneath Ilia, gently forcing the spinning snowflake upwards towards the open door, following it up by using what had once been the grating on the floor of the Bullhead, until she had clambered out, taking Ilia in her arms, thankful the lithe girl was as small as she was, barely bigger than herself.

The glyph sputtered out of existence not a moment too soon, and already Weiss felt exhausted. It had taken the last little bit of Aura she had in her system to create that simple of a glyph. The pain in her head redoubled its efforts to make itself known, too, which was not exactly helping her situation.

Jaune was already back, though, taking Ilia from her and whisking her off into the distance.

Now that she watched him, she could take in their surroundings. Particularly that the island that they were on was floating in the sky.

That was really not a good sign. The other floating islands nearby also didn't spell out anything good.

Jaune was back again, this time helping her down and leading her along, one hand grasping her arm and gently tugging her along towards a small outcropping, under which both Blake and Ilia were laid down, heads resting against Cadejo as he served as a temporary pillow.

Weiss ducked down to get into the alcove, Jaune ducking in under after her, still keeping his eyes on the sky.

"That was too damn close," he remarked, letting out an exhausted sigh.

Weiss leaned back against the free spot on Cadejo's back, groaning. "Why didn't we fire back?"

Jaune sat down, letting Cadejo's head rest in his lap, running his hand through the wolf's shaggy fur. "That wasn't a regular Lancer."

"So? We could've taken a Queen if we had to." Weiss's reply was quick, revealing the frustration they both felt.

Jaune read aloud the dialogue box that was still sitting in his field of view, undismissed.

[Ancient Envenoming Lancer, Level 88 Grimm]

[HP: 319,440/319,440]

Weiss paled rapidly. "That's… that's a lot, right?"

Jaune nodded. "We could've hit that thing with the Bullhead and it would have barely felt it. It's got its own special title, Weiss, I've never even seen that before."

Weiss wiped the blood from her face, considering her life up to this point. "Maybe staying in Atlas wasn't as bad as I thought. At least I know where we are."

"You do?" Jaune asked. "This place wasn't named on any maps."

Weiss nodded. "It was an old SDC digsite, harvesting all the Gravity Dust, until it was overwhelmed by Lancers. They abandoned it, left everything here."

Jaune's brow scrunched in thought. "So there might be materials and components lying around we could use to repair the Bullhead?"

Weiss looked back at the Bullhead. "I don't think anyone could fix that."

Jaune snapped his fingers, returning the Bullhead to his Player Garage, internally wincing when he felt a shard of glass disappear from his leg. "Ow."

He winced again when a notification dominated his vision.

[Vehicle Destroyed | Repair Cost Doubled]

That didn't help his plan one bit.

"You'd be more likely to find an old Bullhead or some kind of boat down wherever the transport depot is."

Jaune cocked his head at that, turning to face Weiss. "Which is where, exactly?"

That was where Weiss's help seemed to end. "I wouldn't know. I've not been here before."

Jaune sighed. "Were it only that easy. There's gotta be an actual facility though, right?"

Weiss nodded. "Most SDC digsites are set up in similar ways, they're essentially premade buildings. The administration building is likely to have a site map."

Jaune nodded, making an internal note. "It's getting dark. I'll get some stuff for a fire, and we can go check in the morning."

It was going to be a long night.

Morning broke over the strange floating islands, flooding the landscape with sunlight, waking Jaune in an instant.

The embers of their hastily-constructed fire still burned, albeit barely, but they gave off plenty of warmth nonetheless. It wasn't cold, per se, but being out in the open above the ocean certainly wasn't warm.

Cadejo and the others were asleep, though it was a healthy sleep, exhaustion caused by Aura depletion, not the injurious unconsciousness from the previous evening.

It was Jaune's job now to scout, though he was loath to leave them with only Cadejo as a guard, though despite the wolf being asleep, he knew he was more than capable of sounding the alarm.

Though Cadejo's capabilities against flying Grimm were less than stellar, which was why Jaune brought Alcmena forth, the winged woman remaining near silent so as to not wake anyone.

'Keep watch, don't let anything close,' Jaune ordered mentally, and Alcmena nodded in response, taking up his post. No Grimm would get anywhere near their little campsite without first having to go through the half-Stymphalian.

Without any other preamble, Jaune was off, scrambling out from under the outcropping and into the open, pulling Telum off his shoulder and nocking an arrow, just in case. It wouldn't do nearly anything against the giant Lancer, but if anything smaller came after him, it would have to do. Making noise out here would be a death sentence, that was for sure.

Most Hunters this deep in the wilderness would have some kind of extraction plan, typically some kind of air support. Not that any kind of air support would've been able to really do much other than get struck down the same way he'd been swatted out of the air.

It was a cruel irony when an insect was doing the swatting, he noted, shaking his head.

He needed to focus, not get sidetracked with irony and metaphors, damn it.

The island itself wasn't too big, in the grand scheme of things. Straight across, he could probably run it in less than a minute, though that was if he was sprinting, and only if it was flat, non-hostile terrain.

As it was, he found the entrance building rather quickly, right next to the base of the largest Gravity Dust outcropping that protruded from the proverbial ground.

Breaking into the administration building right by the entrance was easy, too, considering the door was left ajar, propped open by an overturned filing cabinet with a dent larger than his torso on the side, which, he supposed, was technically the top, considering his perspective.

It was also not a good sign. Nobody could create a dent this large, but nor could a Lancer. Other Grimm were here, and from the gnawed marks on many of the metal surfaces around the reception area, Jaune surmised that there were definitely Creep around as well.

Weiss had been right, though, as there was a map, pinned to a corkboard on the far wall. He couldn't help but be surprised by the size of the digsite.

It went deep, easily down past the core of the floating island down to the ocean below.

Of course, as with every situation Jaune found himself in, nothing was as easy as he'd hoped. The transport depot was on the lowest level. To make things worse, it was sealed off, according to the evacuation plan flyer that was pinned just next to the map.

That meant he couldn't just fly down on Shirdal's back and go up and in, which was a shame. It would mean they'd have to push through the main entrance and down the mine. There was a chance he'd find some materials to repair the Bullhead down there, if he didn't already have enough, he hadn't checked, but without a landing terminal to use, he couldn't actually repair the aircraft.

The only likely location for a terminal would be the landing pads deep within the digsite, too, so either way, they were descending.

Jaune searched the rest of the reception and the attached admin office, scanning through various strewn documents and sticky notes, looking for anything that would catch his eye.

Other than the official designation for the mine, that being SDC Mine Lima, there was no true name to their location, or so Jaune thought. The System appeared to think otherwise, once he glanced at the map one last time.

[Dungeon Discovered!]

[Raid: Crystal Hive!]

[0/8 Floors Cleared!]

The notification stuck out like a sore thumb, and caused Jaune to sigh. Of course it was a dungeon, when wasn't it?

He supposed this made sense, though. Middle of the ocean, giant floating island, a massive boss that shot him down, it was a classic video game plot. Far be it for him to manage to get away from those kinds of cliches, that was for sure.

He was about to continue lamenting his life when he heard a noise outside that captured his entire attention, once again pulling Telum out and readying the bow.

The buzzing was far from faint, and closing with every moment. It wasn't a direct approach, he was still completely hidden, Aura Suppression running hot, preventing pretty much any kind of non-visual detection, but it was still approaching nonetheless.

More than one, now that he registered the varying tones of buzzing. It was Lancers, because of course it was, but they were smaller. Warrior Drones, he realized. Weak individually, but grouped up they'd be more of a threat. Far more so if they called for reinforcements, and far far worse if the Ancient Lancer was those reinforcements.

He could probably call his life then and there if that was the case. In the open air, with the Ancient Lancer having more than enough space to maneuver, it would kill him without so much as a consideration for what kind of threat he might pose.

Again with the insect metaphors. He really had to get his mind in the game.

He poked his head out the door, keeping a careful eye on the sky. He could make out the Lancers in the distance, closing in from the opposite direction of their impromptu campsite, which was relieving.

Less relieving was the amount of Lancers that were headed directly for him. A rough count had ten on their way, and as far as Jaune knew, he couldn't shoot ten arrows before any of them noticed him. Stealth was practically his only defense out here, but with this many Grimm, he'd either have to wait for them to move on, or kill all of them so fast that none could react.

Stupid hive-minded bugs. If they weren't so adamant on killing him, he'd probably be impressed, but as it was, he was a little stuck. If they got too close, they'd pick up on his presence, line of sight or not. He wasn't exactly a beacon of positivity right now.

Not that anyone would blame him for that. Nor would anyone consider blaming him, either. He liked to think he was handling the situation with the required amount of gravitas.

The Lancers were getting closer, and it was unmistakable that their destination was this very administration office, or at least outside it. The Lancers were perceptive, that was for sure, and apparently he'd made enough noise and output enough Aura to draw their attention from wherever it was that they had been.

Or, equally as likely, this was right next to the entrance to their hive. Considering the name of the dungeon, he was surprised that that tidbit of logic hadn't occurred to him earlier.

He let out another sigh, consulting his list of skills. There had to be something in there he hadn't considered, or something he might be able to use. Even some kind of skill he could sort of 'jerry-rig' into serving a useful purpose.

There wasn't much he could think of off the top of his head. The only idea he really had involved a Mana Flash and moving very, very fast. He wasn't sure he could even move as fast as he'd need to in order to eliminate ten Grimm before the Mana Flash wore off, and even then it wasn't a guarantee the flash would prevent the Lancers from calling for reinforcements.

It was really his only option, though. He prepared his titles, double-checked his equipment and buffed his agility with Haste, readying himself, giving Caligo Mors an experimental twirl.

He wasn't entirely familiar with the morningstar, but it felt much the same as any other one-handed weapon, thanks to his proficiency, and it would serve much the same purpose as any other melee weapon.

He'd chosen it over Crocea Mors due to the bone plating on the insectoid Grimm, knowing they were certainly hardier than the fleshy Grimm he was more used to slaughtering. It was harder to penetrate chitin than it was to simply break what was underneath.

He was moments away from finding out whether or not that was a good decision as he tossed the Mana Flash out the door, waiting a single moment for it to detonate before he pushed out into the open, quickly Flash Stepping over to the nearest Warrior Drone and caving in its head with a single swing, firing a Mana Lance out as he Flash Stepped again, breaking another Lancer with the returning up-swing.

It was a matter of seconds before Jaune had killed nine of the ten Lancers, the last just getting off the ground, no longer stunned.

It was the furthest from him, and he was no longer abusing the guaranteed stealth crit. He turned quickly, but Electrus was quicker, stepping from out of his shadow with a crackle of electricity, the Stormbolt frying the atmosphere behind it as it hit the Lancer and vaporized it in an instant.

"Good shot," The blond remarked, watching the ash drift from the sky, before turning his attention to the notifications that had, as always, appeared.

[Crystal Hive: Floor 1 Cleared!]

[A reward has appeared!]

[You've gained 4,043,200 XP and 87,780Ⱡ! You've acquired 6 Lancer Chitin, 3 Lancer Wings, 1 Lancer Skull, 2 Thasgade Seeds, 2 Crimson Keys and 1 Opal Key!]

[You have leveled up and gained +5 Stat Points!]

In the middle of the open space between the rocky ridgeline and the administration building, amidst the wafting smoke of dead Grimm, sat an Opal Chest, as if it had been there the entire time.

Naturally, Jaune threw a rock at it.

It bounced off, ricocheting over the edge of the island. Jaune shrugged, kneeling down and inserting an Opal Key into the keyhole, lifting the lid and essentially emptying the chest into his inventory.

[You've opened an Opal Chest!]

[You've acquired 11 Coal, 34 Zinc Ore, 6 Mithril Ore, 3 Caeruleum Vials and 1 Warp PACK!]

Whilst the majority of the rewards were mediocre, as expected, the PACK certainly wasn't, and Jaune withdrew the container back out of his inventory, looking it over.

"Vacuo Desert Corporation's Warp, huh?" He read the name aloud, flipping the container over. "A devastating flail of tough metal and rigid construction, perfect for the aspiring desert crawler. Some assembly required."

He dropped it back in his inventory. This was not the place to be admiring potential weapons. He still wasn't safe.

Electrus was still standing by his side, warily keeping her head on a proverbial swivel, hands crackling with occasional sparks, darting from fingertip to fingertip.

"Been gone too long already," Jaune remarked, checking his quiver. "Let's get back, before they start to worry."

There was still a long day ahead, after all.

"Day thirty-five, it's starting to get to me. I might finally have lost all touch on reality, and the hunger is getting to me. I may have to eat one of my teammates, but I haven't decided which yet."

Weiss smacked Jaune over the back of the head. "Knock it off and tell us what you found."

"Well, for one, this entire facility is now considered a dungeon, which is great. The System calls it the Crystal Hive, and I can see why. This place is full of Lancers, and they're as annoying as you'd expect. Good news, though, I know where the landing pads are."

"And the bad news?" Blake asked, peering out at the sky from under their shelter.

"It's at the lowest level of the mine. And the only way there is to go all the way through."

"Is anything ever easy, with you?" Ilia asked, from her seat against Cadejo's soft fur. "Every time we try to go somewhere or do something we end up on this long, exhausting quest of grand proportions. It's a pain in the ass."

"At least Weiss gets some first-hand experience with a dungeon. Nothing like being plunged into the deep end to learn how to swim."

"You and I had very different childhoods," Weiss remarked under her breath, shaking her head.

Jaune soldiered on regardless. "It's not gonna be a breeze, but either way we've got to get to that transport depot, it's our only way out of here."

It was Ilia thay brought up the question he'd been anticipating. "Why don't we just fly out of here on the backs of your summons? Surely that's safer than going down into the mine, right?"

"I'd love it if it were that easy, but isn't. My summons need to rest at some point, and with no land between here and Mistral, that's not easy. Plus I doubt Shirdal and Apollo can carry the four of us, even if they could take breaks."

He paused, gesturing to the sky. "That's not even taking into account the bugs, either. If we draw any attention, the big bug will swat us out of the sky, and I don't need to tell you how that went the first time."

"So how is whatever aircraft we find down there going to be any different?" Blake asked.

"If there even is one still down there," Ilia interjected with a frown.

Jaune didn't have a concrete answer for that. "I'm hoping that if we do find something, it'll be armed. Most long-distance SDC craft have some kind of weapon, right?"

His question was directed at Weiss, but it was Ilia that answered. "Unless it's strictly a civilian transport vessel without air defense permits, it'll be armed, though what it might have is anyone's guess."

Weiss stared at Ilia. "Why do you know that?"

The chameleon-faunus shrugged. "What can I say, I'm a master of blending in."

Jaune moved on from Ilia's prior life experience as a professional saboteur and terrorist, opting to focus his attention on what was ahead. "Regardless, we need to move quickly. The longer we stay here, the more of a chance there is of our location being compromised."

"Couldn't agree more," Blake agreed, though the frown she wore hinted at deeper queries. She revealed one a moment later. "Only one problem. How do we know the depot is even still standing?"

"Call it a hunch, or something more, but it's there. I know it," Jaune answered. "It has to be, the System wouldn't tell me otherwise."

Ilia checked the chamber of Lightning Lash, confirming that it was loaded. "Then we might as well get on with it. They say the best time for a suicide mission is as soon as possible."

Jaune wasn't entirely sure he shared that sentiment.

Jaune had a serious dislike for Creep. The two-legged stubby Grimm were more of an annoyance than anything else, but their constant tunnelling meant that he was essentially waiting for them to ambush him and his team every time he wanted to deal some kind of damage.

At least they were weak enough that he could practically kill them with his bare hands. Quite literally, in fact, as he grabbed one by the skull and crushed it between his fingers.

It was clear that they weren't much of an issue for Weiss, Blake or Ilia either, considering their prior experiences. This was not the first time any of them had dealt with these shadowy aggravations.

One burst out of a concrete wall from what looked like it had once been a small dormitory, and Jaune watched without reacting as it was speared through the midsection by Ilia, and he slapped its corpse aside, Predator snapping up and firing a shot that cut through the air, putting a sizable hole in the head of another Creep that had leapt up from underneath Weiss, who herself was halfway through withdrawing Myrtenaster out of a dead Creep.

Jaune put another round into the twitching corpse that lay next to Blake, just in case, as she pulled hard on her ribbon, Gambol Shroud returning to her hand, barely fazed by the Grimmflesh the weapon had to cut through in order to do so.

Be they Level 79 or not, these Creep were pushovers. He could see the final one in the distance, wary but not approaching, as if it was waiting for another wave to join in on.

Telum let loose an arrow that pinned the thing to the massive chunk of concrete and steel behind it, Jaune folding and stowing the bow back on his right shoulder, attaching it to the magplate once more.

[Crystal Hive: Floor 2 Cleared!]

[You have gained 873,740 XP and 30,415Ⱡ! You've acquired 18 Inert Dust, 10 Creep Bones, 6 Creep Hides, 1 Creep Skull, 1 Grade II Fire Dust Crystal, 4 Rinade Herbs, 4 Crimson Keys and 2 Opal Keys!]

Jaune gave the chest that dropped, a Cobalt Chest, a quick mimic test, noting that Weiss was watching him. "Reward for clearing the floor. I know, it's strange."

He picked up the chest and dropped it into his inventory.

"Not going to open it?" Weiss asked, curious.

He shook his head. "Don't have a Cobalt Key spare. If I get one, I'll open it, but so far nada."

He found his attention drawn elsewhere, as did Weiss, the two of them looking to the fading corpse of the Creep Jaune had pinned with a broadhead.

"Please don't tell me that's where we have to go," he muttered.

Weiss sighed, and that answered that question, so he sighed as well. The path that led right to where the massive chunk of rubble barely existed anymore, mostly chunks of paver and bits of chewed railing at odd angles.

He closed the distance across the uneven terrain, taking in the blockage as best he could, trying to see if there was a way to pass it by.

Sitting against the passageway behind it in such a way that there were no gaps that would have been even remotely passable, this chunk of man-made rock was going to be an issue.

He could get past it easily, of course, a simple Phaseshift would have him on the other side in a matter of seconds. No one would be able to follow him, though, which was the crux of the issue.

He placed a bare palm against it, focusing, pushing Terrakinesis into the concrete and willing it to shift and obey his whims.

It fought, and fought hard, so he pushed harder. And, for the first time, the rock won, which was both problematic and embarrassing.

"Hmm…"

[Level 65 Terrakinesis required!]

"So… you just gonna keep feeling up the rock or are you just doing some weird semblance thing?" Ilia asked, cocking her head.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "It's too much for Terrakinesis, not high enough level. Help me shove it?"

Three sets of eyebrows were raised. "Uh, not to disregard your ego, but even the four of us together aren't going to be enough to shift this," Blake pointed out.

"All we need is the right leverage to make enough of a gap to squeeze through. It'll be hard, but not impossible."

He looked around, quickly grabbing a long piece of railing and slamming it home, giving it a test push to see if it would work.

[100 Strength required!]

His eyes widened at that, and quickly he checked his stats. With 55 Strength now, and an additional 50 Stat Points sitting unused, he had more than enough to dump into Strength, but let it not be said that Jaune wasn't starting to properly get the hang of all the little tricks that came with the System.

He dropped 12 points into STR and concentrated his Mana, activating Power, before gripping the makeshift pry-bar, pushing all his weight into it.

His three friends quickly backed aside as the mass of concrete and rebar shifted, the sound of metal groaning as it strained against the weight of it, and Jaune could feel his individual muscles raging against the force he was applying.

He could feel his exhalation ramp up into something more vocal, becoming more and more of an auditory expression of the physical stress he was undergoing.

And then, suddenly, he felt the rubble shift. Only a little, just enough to squeeze through single-file, but more than enough for their purposes.

He dropped the bar, letting it clang against the ground, slumping to his knees, panting hard. "I'm gonna be real sore tomorrow."

The owners of the three pairs of eyes that were staring at him were too busy contemplating exactly what they'd just seen to properly respond, though Weiss did offer her hand.

He gratefully took it, letting himself be helped to his feet as he rolled his shoulder, joints aching, while Ilia stuck her head in the gap he'd made, contorting herself until she was completely through.

Blake followed suit as Jaune took Myrtenaster from Weiss, and only a moment later Weiss was on the other side, with only Jaune left to squeeze through.

The three hadn't had too much difficulty, considering their size and, well, dimensions. Jaune was a solid foot taller than Weiss at the least, so he went with his original plan.

He stepped through the rock, phantasmal form coalescing on the other side as he ended Phase Shift.

"Cheater," Weiss muttered, adjusting her cloak, fixing where it had been knocked askew, caught on some kind of protruding obstacle.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Says the woman who can slow down time."

"You have no idea how expensive that mix of dust is," she replied, clearly annoyed. "Just getting it stable can take months."

[Crystal Hive: Floor 3 Cleared!]

[A Citrine Chest has been placed in your inventory!]

The notification interrupted their conversation, but their surroundings in turn interrupted his reading of it, as the dim lights shifted from neutral tones to red and a door ground open on rusted rails.

Jaune didn't even have time to raise his shield before the first shot was fired, the round exited from behind the door, the rifle caliber denting his aura and forcing him back a step, bursting into sparks that flew over him as the bullet liquefied against the physical manifestation of his soul.

It also hurt like hell.

It was but the first of many as a full squadron of Atlesian Knights stepped out, security protocols both active and warped in some way, rifles trained on them, triggers held down.

Weiss reacted a split-second before he managed to retaliate, creating a solid glyph in front of them to act as a temporary shield while the three of them dove for cover, and it was clearly an impermanent solution as the glyph shattered after only a few rounds.

Luckily, Jaune's response was a little more significantly defense-oriented, as he brought out a Mana Field that covered all four of them in a dome of glowing Mana that rippled and cracked as bullet after bullet splashed upon the sphere.

He pushed more Mana into it in response, both hands splayed as he held his arms ramrod straight, straining against the incoming gunfire as the AK-200's spread out into a chevron-like formation.

Never had he been more glad to not be alone. Blake and Ilia broke off to the left flank, and Weiss darted rightwards, Alcmena joining her out of a cloud of smoke, Crocea Mors in her hands.

Ouroboros and Electrus joined him as well, both armed with their AP-110's, the pistols firing rounds in return at the approaching automatons as they poked free of the Mana Field.

The AK-200's were tough, though, armor plating dented but not pierced, each round sending sparks into the cavern air as the bullets skipped off the sides, turning to naught but fragments.

They were unfazed, however, unflinchingly firing at the dome of Mana without even turning to face their newest assailants. They had a single target, or so it seemed, and that target appeared to be named Jaune Arc.

He doubted changing his name would help the situation, but he did have plenty of other options at his disposal in order to help his friends. Like, for example, a nudge of his foot sending a shard of altered earth rumbling, knocking a few of the Knights back somewhat as the terrain beneath them ruptured and splintered, courtesy of a hard shove with Terrakinesis.

It took a lot of concentration to do so, however, and already the Mana Field was weakening significantly, so that would have to be enough for the time being, as he once again pushed more Mana into the projection that protected him.

More and more Knights fell victim to Gambol Shroud, Lightning Lash, Myrtenaster and Crocea Mors as Blake, Ilia, Weiss and Alcmena worked their way inwards from both flanks, until all that remained were the two AK-200's in the center.

Jaune dropped the Mana Field and Flash Stepped inwards, only to realize that Crocea Mors was not hanging at his hip like he'd expected.

Quickly, he recovered, Mana congealing at the tips of his fists as he swung, powerful unarmed strikes landing against metal plating and denting them with fist-shaped impacts, cracks spider-webbing up and across the mechanical chassis's, internal systems failing as the Mana Punches did their damage.

His unarmed mistake didn't go without punishment, though, as even as the final Atlesian Knight fell, it managed to fire a final shot that clipped him in the thigh, and he grunted in response, stomping down on its head to make sure it was disabled.

[Crystal Hive: Floor 4 Cleared!]

[A Legendary Experience Orb has been placed in your inventory!]

[You have gained 6,451,452 XP and 184,800Ⱡ! You've acquired 33 Fiberoptic Components, 12 Circuitry Components, 12 Tough Scrap Metal, 8 Grade IV Energy Dust Crystals, 2 AK-200 Optical Units, 5 Grade III Fire Dust Crystals, 3 Tin Seeds, 3 Silver Seeds and 3 Iridium Seeds!]

"What the hell was that?" Ilia spat out the question like it tasted poorly, panting all the while. She was uninjured, though a little shell-shocked. It had been a sudden amount of conflict.

Besides his semblance doing weird things again, Jaune didn't really have an answer for the chameleon faunus, brushing at the tender spot on his thigh. "The security protocols were active, for some reason."

"The security protocols that should have been disabled when this mine was abandoned," Weiss pointed out. "Or at least not set to open fire on anything that isn't a Grimm."

"Maybe they never expected anyone to come here, so they didn't bother changing them?" Jaune offered.

"They shouldn't have been set to engage from the beginning regardless," Weiss retorted, concern etched into her face.

"Mines like these, might've been to keep the miners in line," Ilia stated, and he could see that Blake was muttering an agreement much the same.

"At this point, I think we all realize I'm no fan of what the SDC is either, but can we not jump to conclusions? At the very least they should have tried to have us identify ourselves before opening fire. Besides, they prioritized Jaune over their own safety protocols, even after we attacked."

Jaune had to agree with Weiss, they most definitely had targeted him over any other targets, including his own summons. It didn't rule out the System, of course, but it did put a bit of a damper on that theory.

"Let's keep moving. Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter now. Either way, we've got to keep going down. A couple robots aren't enough to stop us, and whatever, or whoever, thought they would has another thing coming."

It was after he said those words that he finally took the now-present chance to take in their surroundings.

The squat concrete security checkpoint, now devoid of any security, was built almost into the rock, serving to prevent unrestricted access to the open cavern beyond, literal tonnes of rock that had been removed to create a ringed pit that delved deep down into the internals of the floating island.

It had been almost stripped clear of Dust, at least, from this angle, though the network of tunnels that seemed to branch off every single layer gave the idea that there was still, potentially, significantly more Dust buried deep within the terrain.

Jaune pushed aside the security barrier that had dropped down, barely more than a single bar attached to some chain, and stepped closer to the nearest ledge, peering down.

It was deep. Very deep. He could still see the bottom, but that was less to do with the lack of depth and more to do with the near-sufficient lighting that was still active, running along the long spiralling roadway that lead all the way down to the bottom, getting narrower and closer as it got deeper, effectively making the entire structure seem like some kind of rounded, inverted pyramid.

At the very bottom was a larger tunnel than the rest, with another squat concrete security checkpoint barring entry, though this one was significantly more damaged. He couldn't tell if there were active Knights from this distance, but from the carnage he could make out, it wasn't likely.

"Long way down," Ilia remarked, stepping next to him. "Any ideas for a shortcut?"

Jaune had a few, but they weren't the safest of options. Not that he was too concerned about their safety, considering all the potential dangers that might come from the long way. "Depends."

"On?" Blake asked, wishing that Jaune would be a little more forthcoming with his elaborations.

"On what happens when we start going the long way."

Blake checked the chamber on Gambol Shroud with a sigh. "I need a vacation."

That sentiment was one they could all commiserate on.

"Let's just get this done, then we can start discussing a trip to a nice beach. Sooner we reach the bottom the closer we'll be to being out of here."

Jaune's somewhat less-than-chipper yet still go-getter attitude fell like a flying brick as he took his first step into the pit.

He'd been hoping for nothing, expected a swarm of Grimm, but what he actually got was significantly more concerning.

[Error: Floor Forcibly Cleared]

"That's probably not good."

It was the last sentence he managed to say before something grabbed him by the leg and pulled him down into the pit.

There's not much else for me to say down here aside from getting to reviews, it's hard for me to clarify anything that happened without delving into my plans for the next chapter, so I just won't.

Anyway, reviews! There's a lot this time, so I'll condense as best I can. I'm probably only going to get to a few this time, actually, I wanna get this chapter up ASAP before some other situation comes up and delays me for another day or so.

Nagisa Tr: I'm sort of working on a pseudo-party system, more of a behind-the-scenes concept rather than anything overt, but it definitely won't impact the story in any meaningful way. Ruby won't be using Terrakinesis anytime soon.

Fyr RedNight: In a sense, with incredible amounts of planning and luck in equal measure, technically Jaune could bring someone back from the dead by implanting their soul into a clone. Of course, he'd have to have the ability to make a clone, access to their soul, a high enough Soul Harvest level to successfully extract their Soul Orb, and enough time and no distractions to do so. It is possible, it's just highly, highly unlikely.

Sperance: lmao. I'm pretty happy with what was essentially a last minute addition becoming a more prominent plot point, though. Initially I'd never properly intended for it to be what it is at the moment, or what it may end up being, depending on RNG.

Argus456: Not too soon, haha. Nothing ever properly goes the way it should in Systema, especially with Jaune's newest issue to deal with. Let's hope I don't go full Martin-esque and start killing off main characters.

Boot: The amount of times I have to go back to old chapters to fact-check is absurd.

FrostyChops: I see we subscribe to the same method of playing Skyrim. Well, that's only if I actually get into the game. I think I have more hours on the nexus than I do actually playing the game.

Sonikah: As far as I can see, there's no -5 END affect. Perhaps you've read the stats backwards? The blue is raw stats, the left is the stats after buffs. Glad you're enjoying!

FORD B: To be fair, I'm pretty sure Weiss was unconscious, so she wouldn't have noticed. I'm also of the opinion that in a life-threatening situation, or at least one with a significant amount of time-pressure, that's the sort of thing that a professional, or in Jaune's case, someone able to turn off all extenuating feelings, would be able to ignore.

binkerbros: Pfft, as if. I definitely didn't do some foreshadowing for a plot point that still hasn't come up all the way back then! That couldn't possibly be true!

razmire: Weiss's alias of 'Eis Aster' is exceptionally cheap. Eis translates to Ice, and Aster comes from Myrtenaster. I literally couldn't think of a clever pun or reference for the alias.

That'll have to do for reviews for this chapter, by god there were a lot I didn't get to. Like 9 pages of 'em. I read them, appreciated them, and I'm really glad for the feedback and conversations! Seriously, all of you are deeply appreciated, whether or not you leave a review.

I have a Pa Treon if you ever feel like doing more to support my writing, it's not an obligation or anything, but it does come with perks like access to the behind-the-scenes spreadsheet that I use for the entirety of Systema!

And, as always, see you next chapter!
~AFatFlyingWhale