Whelp, paid my graduation fee. Now to just pass this upcoming semester and pretty much do one last class during the summer… man, I can almost feel the degree literally being given to me. Hard to believe things have come this far. I'm sure I'll feel pretty… exuberant once I do graduate. Then again, I feel burnt out in regards to school already, so maybe I'll just feel tired by that point in time.

Anyways, that random bit of info aside, here's the new chapter guys. Really, not much more for me to say other than that once again I will be trying to keep a consistent updating schedule, but I can't exactly make any promises there.

Now let's get this started.

Chapter 10

At Beacon Academy, Naruto sat on the couch in the faculty lounge during lunch time, doing his very best to not sigh heavily. This was something he was failing at.

Across from him sat Hanako and Mari, with the former looking a little embarrassed while the latter simply looked to Naruto with some sense of pity in her eyes.

"So…" Mari began. "I've heard some interesting rumors since yesterday."

Naruto groaned. "Please… please don't remind me," he all but whispered. Hanako and Masami having sat in on one of his lessons has made quite an impression on all of his students and they went on to sit in on his other classes. Before the day had even ended yesterday, virtually the entire student body, from the newest of the first years to the seniors about to graduate, knew of the 'two buxom beauties' that pretty much hung around Naruto. From there, the rumor mill did its usual work and before it was even dawn today, it seemed like the entire academy was convinced Hanako and Masami were his mistresses or something. Already, he's had students of both genders approaching him before, after, or even during class and asking about the two women. In response, Naruto naturally tried to deny anything and everything that the rumors were saying, but to seemingly no avail; everyone seemed convinced there was something going on between him and Hanako and Masami.

It hadn't helped when Masami had finally left Beacon Academy just sometime in the late afternoon yesterday, but not before she gave him a surprise hug and peck on the check in the middle of a classroom still filled with students.

"Sorry, Master…" Hanako mumbled apologetically. She had simply been so eager to finally see how her master taught his classes that she had done little to really help him pull damage control and in hindsight, some of the statements she made yesterday were just a tad bit… suggestive when taken out of their actual context.

In response to her apology, Naruto just groaned again, rubbing his forehead as if he had a migraine. In a way, perhaps this was slightly true. "If only Miki was here…." He bemoaned silently.

Earlier today, his wife had been asked by Ozpin to go along with team RWBY on a Grimm extermination mission in a village that was roughly half a day's travel away by dustplane. Usually, Miki was able to say just the right thing to help him get over things, but since she wasn't here now, her having agreed to Ozpin's request, Naruto was left to 'fend for himself' in a sense. Not to say that Hanako and Mari weren't pleasant company – that wasn't true at all – but still, he already missed his wife.

"Well, think about it this way, Naruto," Mari said with a cheerful smile. Crossing one leg over the other, she leaned back in her seat before speaking again. "What could possibly go wrong next?"

She was met with an expression of absolute horror from Naruto, whose eyes were now open in spite of being in his 'professor disguise' right now. "M-Mari… you have no idea just how much worse this could get," he replied.

Mari opened her mouth to refute that statement, only to stop as she recalled a number of events she and her husband have seen Naruto get into over the centuries. Like that time where half of a nation thought he was secretly sleeping with the king's wife when this wasn't true. Or that other time when an isolated tribe mistook him as the human form of their god and did what they could to try and keep him confined to their village. Or that other time when he was mistaken for having an entire brothel as his personal harem and ended up having a number of very jealous clients gunning for him for a time.

Indeed, it seemed like the price of becoming the true 'ultimate magus' was to be put into situations that breed one misunderstanding after another.

"…Okay, maybe, just maybe, you have a point there," the archer magus conceded a moment later, a sheepish look on her face.

"Hmm, but that aside, I wonder how this mission will go for Miki-chan and those girls," Hanako then said, changing the subject much to the inward joy of her master.

"This is Miki we're talking about, Hanako," Mari spoke with a grin. "If by some chance those girls can't handle it, she'll take care of the Grimm in no time."

"And I'm sure it won't come to that," Naruto now chipped, eager to get away from the previous topic. "Team RWBY, while a bit of a rowdy bunch in my class-."

"You mean just Ruby, heh heh~." Hanako said while slightly giggling.

Naruto shot her a look, but there was an amused smirk on his face. "Despite their quirks in my class – especially Ms. Rose's – they're a capable team despite only being first years here. If or when Miki gets involved, it's going to be because she wants to, not because she has to," Naruto said, showing to the women before him a surprising amount of faith in team RWBY. "Granted, there is a chance of there being more Grimm than anticipated… but even then, I think those girls could handle themselves well enough; I've secretly sat in on some of Glynda's classes. They clearly know how to fight."

"Mhm, still it's nice to know Miki is basically back up for them," Mari said. Then her expression turned serious. "Though there's always a chance a Holy Knight or two could get involved…"

At those words, both Naruto and Hanako sported a grim expression. "Good point… but even then," Naruto said, a smile on his face. "My wife is the most powerful and skilled woman in the world. There's no way she's going to lose to any of these guys." One could almost literally feel his faith in his wife's combat ability.

Now Mari sported a fake hurt expression. "Eh, but what about me? Aren't I tough?"

"Hmm, yeah sure, just not as tough as Miki," Naruto said.

Mari pouted like a child, but there was a knowing twinkle in her eyes and Naruto had a similar look. They were just teasing one another and they knew it. Naruto knew full well that his best friend's wife was far from weak. He's seen her fight enough times to definitely know that fact.

"Ne, ne, Master," Hanako now spoke up, sounding a little excited. "What about me? Aren't I powerful too?"

Naruto looked to her, his expression completely blank. "Eh, don't know. Can't even remember the last time you fought," he said without hesitation.

Hanako's expression of shock and hurt was simply comical to look at. "E-Eh, Master?! And who's fault is that?" she nearly shouted, irate.

"Hmm, yours for not getting in on the fighting," Naruto casually replied.

"M-Muuu…" Hanako was on the verge of comical tears. "You're mean, Master…"

It was at the sight of a now comically depressed Hanako that Naruto and Mari both began to laugh, whatever worry they had for team RWBY's mission all but gone now. After all, just why should they worry? They were in Miki's good hands. There's simply no way Miki would ever let them down.

With Miki, the young(looking) woman was in the midst of some conversation with team RWBY as they were finally dropped off near the edge of the forest that surrounded the village they were heading to. More specifically, it was mainly Miki doing the talking as Ruby and Blake inquired her about her previous adventures, the leader of team RWBY being more enthusiastic about it than Blake.

"Whoa…" Yang eventually said after a brief period of silence. "T-That's pretty intense. Beyond that, actually…" For the first time in a while, the blond brawler found herself at a genuine loss for words.

This was because Miki had just finished describing the ritual known as Ragnarok that had taken place centuries ago when she and her husband and friends were only teens. As of right now, Miki had finished explaining the exact mechanics of Ragnarok and how some of the battles went.

To the side of Yang, Blake could be seen shaking her head, her cat ears – still covered up by her bow – twitching. "Just how could this Odin do such a thing? And why?"

"He did it for the person he loved," Miki said quietly.

That made the team perk up. "The person he loved?" Weiss asked, sounding almost offended. "He could've very well destroyed the entire planet, and it was done for the person he loved?!"

Miki slowly looked to Weiss, having to lower her head a bit to do so given the several inches in height difference. She nodded. "His wife died a long time prior to Ragnarok being implemented. The ritual was thought up in order to try and gain enough magical power to revive her," she explained.

"Rev-?! B-But how?" Ruby asked, captivated by what Miki has explained thus far. Despite how dark and grim this 'history lesson' was shaping up to be, it was most interesting to her. And since it was clear virtually all of the participants from back then are still alive, surely this story had a happy ending, right?

"That's a bit of a long story in and of itself…" Miki replied sheepishly.

Blake pulled out her scroll and looked up the map of the area. "We still have quite a distance to cover before we get to the village," she said as she put the scroll away. "I think we have time to hear more of this."

Looking at each member of team RWBY, Miki could tell that they were in a sense eager to hear the rest of this tale from long ago. So with a slight sigh, the buxom brunette proceeded to tell them more of the past. She spoke of what she had learned from the now deceased Katsumi, namely of the Fimbulvinter War that had occurred nearly a thousand years ago now in addition to how Odin, whose name was Tatsuya Namikaze, was related to that war. She also went on to explain how he awakened as a magus and what sort of abilities he had at his disposal. From there, she finished up her long winded lecture with how Ragnarok ultimately concluded, with her fighting Hanako while Naruto fought Odin and later ultimately managed to defeat him, but only after a long and desperate battle against the god-like magus.

By the end of it all, the all-girl team could only continue walking through the forest in complete and utter shock. Miki honestly thought it was a miracle that none of the girls tripped over their own feet in their current daze.

Ultimately, it was Ruby who managed to recover from her shock first. "That's just… wow…" Much like her older sister, the team leader was at a complete loss for words. What Miki had just told them was unlike anything she ever could've imagined. It was one thing for her and friends to learn of the existence of magi and what sort of abilities they could have, but it was another thing entirely to hear of this Ragnarok ritual and the sort of abilities that Naruto's ancestor Tatsuya commanded.

"I kinda always knew Professor Namikaze was tough…" Yang began. She started to shake her head, completely dumbfounded. "But beating that guy… it's just unreal."

"But, I can't believe that this Odin guy could ever have been so powerful," Weiss now chipped in. "Or that he went through… well, all of that too," she finished lamely, referencing the Fimbulvinter War that Miki had spoken of earlier.

"But what has my attention now," Blake began, directly addressing Miki. "Is this 'Fortissimo' spell that your husband said he used to overwrite the world after defeating his ancestor. Does he still have that ability?" She sounded rather wary and Miki couldn't find it in her to blame the Faunus huntress-in-training; indeed, the level of power Naruto now had was simply unreal, even greater than his ancestor's and by a considerable margin.

"From what he's told me, no. The Fortissimo spell was a one-time ability, born from the immediate absorption of Tatsuya ji-san's mana and abilities." Miki paused thoughtfully for a moment, taking that time to look forward and see they were now nearing the village. Scanning the surrounding area for the Grimm that the request said were supposedly swarming the forest, she continued to speak. "Though he still naturally retains Tatsuya ji-san's abilities and mana gained from him and Second Access."

Weiss could only shake her head in disbelief. If Tatsuya or Odin was he was once called was already so god-like a magus, then she couldn't even begin to imagine the sort of power Naruto had at his disposal. "Just how do you do it, Mrs. Namikaze?" the Schnee heiress inquired, addressing Miki very formally. "How do you deal with the fact that however powerful you are, your husband is in a league far out of reach of you and the other magi combined? I mean, he has enough power to destroy the world a dozen times over. At the very least, it'd be so easy for him to simply use his abilities to rule the world, unfettered. So just how do you live with this?"

Miki actually looked surprised at the question, having never really been asked such a thing before. But almost as quickly as the surprise had come, it had vanished. The brunette magus began to lightly laugh. "Easy; because no matter how powerful Naruto is or how much more powerful he could probably become… I know that the power will never go to his head. For as long as he's lived and will live, he'll never abuse the power he has." Miki's reply was almost instantaneous and without even the slightest waver in her voice. Such was the faith she had in her husband.

Her response made the team paused mid-step for a brief second, their minds boggled by how easily the magus had replied and how certain she had sounded. "You know," Yang began with a grin. "You're one hell of a wife. Seriously, I'm impressed by your faith in him." And the blond meant every word. She considered herself to be a very good and perhaps even noble person, but if she had as much power as Naruto, she honestly couldn't imagine herself simply hiding her abilities from the world like Naruto and the other magi have been doing, let alone solely use such abilities for the good of others.

Miki beamed at the compliment. "Thank you. And he's a hell of a husband too," she responded.

At those words, Yang's grin took on a more… unsavory quality, such that her sister and other teammates almost visibly flinched; Yang was about to say something stupid, awkward, or both. "Reeeeeaaaallllyyy now?" she drawled out. "'Hell of a husband,' eh?... So does that mean he's a real 'wolf' in bed?" she teased. "I bet you two had quite a few kids."

"Y-Yang!" Ruby stuttered out, an embarrassed yet indignant look on the younger girl's face. "Y-You shouldn't be saying that kind of stuff!"

"How shameless!" Weiss threw her own two cents in, looking most annoyed at what Yang had said. With those few statements, the situation had changed from serious to this… mockery of comedy, if the blush on Miki's face was anything to go by. She tried not to think too much of said blush.

"W-Well," Miki began. "We did have a few kids, yes and not too long after we had married and gotten… a-ahem… intimate…" She admitted. She played with her hair a bit, looking away from the girls, especially Yang.

Yang could only laugh. For such a powerful person that's been around for centuries, it seems that Miki was surprisingly easy to tease. "Sooo… he's pretty good then, I see. Very good, actually if your reaction is anything to by."

Miki didn't say anything further, her blush deepening. She slowed her walking pace down so that she was now walking next to Yang. She gave the blond a light punch with her right hand, a pout on her red face. "Y-You shouldn't be teasing your elders," Miki muttered quietly.

Yang would've probably laughed off Miki's words if she didn't nearly go flying off into the distance; Miki's 'light' punch was still above the level of what hunters and huntresses could ever hope to achieve. It was honestly a sheer miracle that Yang's arm didn't break. So it was while rubbing her now very sore arm that Yang actually smiled apologetically. "R-Right, sorry…"

"You mentioned having kids just now," Blake spoke up, deciding to step in just in case her partner decided to make things worse again. "Were any of them magi as well?"

At that question, Miki's blush disappeared and she appeared to be a bit more solemn. "No, not really… And the few that did have innate magical abilities never awakened them so they died a natural death at the same age range any non-magi die at."

At that, the entirety of team RWBY winced. It was clear that Miki and Naruto as well genuinely loved their family. So for their children and most likely all of their descendants to pass away – thankfully peacefully – while they, the progenitors of the family, lived on, well, team RWBY could only imagine the kind of emotional pain this fact must have caused.

"…I'm sorry. I didn't meant to stir up any painful memories," Blake said softly, looking down.

"It's alright," Miki replied, holding her head up high, wiping away the tears that had begun to form at the very corners of her eyes. "Naruto and I loved our children and grandchildren greatly and did our best to be there for them. They all grew up happy and ended up doing very well for themselves in their lives. And while Naruto and I eventually had to leave our descendants be to avoid the questions that would come of us still being alive and youthful looking, I know that they all did the best they could at everything they did. As it, my husband and I are just happy to know that so far, all of descendants had lived good lives and had passed on peacefully…"

The magus paused for a moment as a bittersweet smile graced her beautiful face. "And besides, it's not as if our family line has ended just yet; it's still ongoing. Though our surname of Namikaze eventually gave way to a new family surname following the end of the shinobi era and the rise of Remnant, we're content with that. And we do try to keep an eye on them, albeit from afar. So in the end… it's not too bad."

The teens walking alongside her could only look at the magus in something akin to awe. It was clear that being blessed with a long lifespan and regenerative capabilities and youthfulness clearly had their downsides as far as having non-magi relatives went. But Miki and Naruto were taking it all so very well. Each member of team RWBY could only imagine the strength of will needed to carry on through such a drawn out 'tragedy,' especially after all of these centuries.

"You know," Miki began, snapping the team out of their deepening thoughts. "This also reminds me of Kiyomi baa-chan's words as well."

"K-Kiyomi…?" Weiss spoke up uncertainly.

"Tatsuya ji-san's wife," Miki said. "Remember how I said Naruto talked to here during the battle with Odin? Well, Naruto remembers word for word what she said to him and vice versa. And when he told me later on when we found out our children were going to die of old age before us… it made a huge impression on me…." She paused for a bit, recalling the words. "Kiyomi baa-chan said that people naturally have the power to survive and move on, no matter what. That in the face of sadness, in order to truly overcome it, you need hope. You need happiness… but above all, you need to smile truly."

With a smile that would make even angels look upon her in awe, Miki stopped walking for a second to look at the girls before her. "And that's exactly what Naruto and I and the others did to get by these past few centuries and how we'll continue to live with ourselves until our own natural deaths; hope and happiness. No matter how dark times may become, we have to hope for the best and do our best as well to see to it that things reach a happy ending. And when that happy ending does come… above all, we have to smile."

The team could only look at Miki in awe. Clearly this was more than just some kind of sudden pep talk; this was something straight from the heart. "…She sounds like a wonderful person," Ruby eventually said, smiling.

Miki nodded. "Yeah…" She then pointed straight ahead. "We're close to the village now. Let's pick up the pace a little."

And so the five of them proceeded to travel the rest of the way in silence towards their destination, team RWBY mulling thoughtfully over what Miki had just said. Looks like there was indeed a lot to be learned from the magi.

Elsewhere, Indra was currently walking alongside someone as he headed for Kalma's room to check up on her.

"You sure dote on her," said the person Indra walked with.

"But of course. She's like a sister to me," the young man replied. He then turned to face the person walking alongside him.

It was none other than his fellow Holy Knight Lugh. Being roughly four years older than Indra, Lugh was something of a surprise, his body being slim yet well-muscled in such a way that it contrasted somewhat from his surprising good looks. With fair skin, faded gold eyes, and short and trim blue hair, it was clear to anyone who gazed upon him that he was certainly a unique individual.

And now the Holy Knight looked to Indra, his gold eyes devoid of emotion. "Hmm… I see. Somehow such affection suits you."

That got a snort out of Indra. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"Of course. Why would you take it otherwise?" Lugh commented, stretching his arms for a moment to try and alieve them of some of the tension and pain he built up from training so hard earlier. Lugh spent a great deal of time doing just that, but although he should be used to such a heavy strain, the sheer intensity of his training often left him feeling in pain for a while.

"Heh, now if only that could be said about you," Indra muttered. In the time he's come to know Lugh, he's discovered the somewhat older Holy Knight to be just a tad bit standoffish. It would be easy to chalk up such behavior to arrogance or something similar, but it was far from the truth; Lugh was simply a bit ant-social is all. That one thing aside, Lugh did have strong bonds with his fellow Holy Knights and as such, Indra's words weren't spoken with ill will. He had simply been stating what he believed to be a fact.

Lugh rolled his eyes a bit as he and Indra continued walking towards Kalma's room. "Well, that aside, looks like things will be spicing up soon, yes?" he asked of Indra.

The seventh seat nodded. "It'd seem so. For now, it looks like the captain wishes for Kalma to rest up first before we really get the ball rolling. After all, even after becoming a Holy Knight, she is still frail. Relatively speaking."

At that, his fellow Holy Knight nodded in agreement. "As is expected; if I recall correctly, she's been something of an ill girl prior to meeting the captain. And the modifications that made us Holy Knights doesn't exactly cure everything. But at least, she is no longer sick."

Indra could only nod, unable to speak for a moment as he thought on that. Back before Kalma was a Holy Knight, she had been deathly ill. Her family was far from a good one and her being a Faunus made it difficult to get the treatment needed to cure her for good. But the process they had to undergo to become Holy Knights helped change that, curing her of her illness permanently, though some traces of the illness still remained for now. And this was why she was confined to her room for now; her body was still relatively weak and as such, it won't be until the lingering traces of her illness disappear for good that she'll be able to truly move around.

That being said, this worked in Kalma's favor considerably as she wasn't too keen on being out there in the world. It also helped that her Relic – what their 'magical weapons' were called – allowed her to battle without having to lift a finger on her part. As long as she had enough mana to do so, her Relic will function for as long as she commands it.

Still, even with these facts in mind, Indra worried. They were, after all, going to be battling against the ancient magi, who were heads and shoulders above normal magi. Against such powerful and skilled warriors, Kalma would be dangerously exposed to danger given her lack of physical ability and combat skill.

"Indra."

The seventh seat was gently roused from his thoughts by the subtle shaking of his shoulder by Lugh. "You really need to stop being such a worrywart, kid," the fifth seat said with a ghost of a smirk. "If you keep this up, you'll only end up making the girl worry over you instead."

For a good few seconds, Indra simply looked to Lugh, his face indicating incomprehension as his mind was still leaving behind its current train of thought. It wasn't until they finally reached the hallway leading to Kalma's room that the 'junior' Holy Knight responded to his 'senior.' "Hmm, I suppose you have a point there…" Indra smiled slightly and did so with downcast eyes. "Still, you can't exactly blame me for doing so, right?"

"No, I suppose not." Lugh admitted this without any hesitation as he came to a stop. Visiting Kalma had never been his intent; he had simply been walking and talking with Indra up until now. And it was about time he took his leave. "But do try to at least worry a little less about things. It'll only come to bite you in the ass if you let it get to you."

"I know that better than anyone…" Indra all but whispered as Lugh gave him a two-fingered salute before leaving. The seventh seat watched in silence as Lugh headed back the way they had come.

It wasn't until the fifth seat was nearly out of sight that Indra finally continued his trek towards Kalma's room.

Meanwhile, back at Beacon Academy, classes were finally ending for the day. Several hours have come and passed since Naruto hid out in the faculty lounge. And now it was with the sun setting that the students of Beacon took to roaming about the campus for a while, hanging out with their friends or going into town for some last minute pick ups.

There were four exceptions to this though: none other than team JNPR.

Their thoughts still heavy with what they've learned about magi and these Holy Knights, the four first years had opted to simply head back to their dorm, too mentally drained to try and go elsewhere for anything. But even then, lounging around their room, it was proving to be a hard task to unwind.

"Sooo…" Nora, ever the lively one of the bunch, began. Sitting on her bed, the girl dangled her legs around energetically. Of the four, it'd appear she was the one the least affected by the recent revelations. "What are we gonna do, you guys?"

"Not sure what we can do," Jaune spoke up. Having been sitting on his bed, he let himself fall back onto it with a sigh. "I mean, I've been thinking of what we could possibly do to help… but I'm drawing blanks."

"Considering the lack of concrete information on these Holy Knights, that's to be expected," Ren then said. Usually the silent member of the team, these past several hours have seen him verbally interacting more with his teammates as they discussed the magi and Holy Knights. Although he hid it very well behind his mask of calmness, he was just as worried as well over what could come next. Just hearing about the sort of things magi were capable of was a mind-boggling thing on its own, but now that he's had time to really try and think of the sort of mechanics involved with their abilities, he became acutely aware of the comically massive gap in ability between them and the magi, especially the ancient magi. As far as he could tell, Ren doubted he nor his friends and team RWBY would make much of a difference in any conflict involving magi, even if they did have an element of surprise involved.

Pyrrha could only look back and forth between her teammates, a frown adorning her face as she took note of the great worry they had. Sparing a brief glance to Nora, she saw Nora doing the same thing as her, though her gaze lingered longer on Ren than herself or Jaune.

"Well… there's always a chance, right?" the redhead eventually managed to say. She too was feeling unsure about getting involved, but she resolved herself to do what she could anyway. Who knows? Perhaps the smallest of efforts on her and her teammates' part could help save lives.

"Yeah! Pyrrha's got a point!" Nora exclaimed, pointing excitedly to her female teammate in an attempt to try and lift the spirits of the guys. "We can't just throw in the towel just yet! We have to try and break some of their legs first before we give up!"

Her attempt worked. Somewhat.

"Maybe so, Nora," Ren began, looking to his longtime friend. "But realistically, there's only so much we'd be able to achieve on our own in this conflict. And considering the kind of abilities the magi and these Holy Knights most likely have, it'd take a miracle for us to not be killed early on in the crossfire."

His words were blunt to a fault, but alas he made a valid point. It was enough to make Nora down in shame while Pyrrha simply settled for looking out the sole window of the room, a grimace on her face.

"…But you know what?"

Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren turned to look at Jaune. The blond leader was sitting up again and was looking directly at them with unwavering eyes. "I think we should try our best anyway. Nora's got a point; we won't know what we could accomplish unless we give it a shot in the first place…" He paused, stumbling over his words near the end there it seemed as he tried to organize his thoughts. "Now I know that we have long way to go before we're strong enough to make an actual difference – especially me when compared to you guys and everyone else – but if we don't try to help, then who else will? I mean, we're training to be hunters and huntresses here. We're supposed to be the heroes, the kind of people who never run away from the enemy when lives are at stake… so isn't about time we try and act like it?"

"Well said!" Pyrrha spoke, a smile on her face now.

As for Nora, the girl was all but literally bouncing in place in glee while Ren slowly came to sport a smile. Their leader's pep talk may have been short and a bit on the quiet side, but it certainly helped to lift their spirits.

But even as the spirits of his teammates and friends were lifted, Jaune's smile was nothing more than a façade right now. Even as he spoke, he found himself filled with great doubt. Ren had made a very good point: the magi and Holy Knights were simply on a whole other level compared to hunters and huntresses. Just how can they, hunters and huntresses in the making, hope to compare to that? As someone who had to forge a transcript just to get into this academy, this fact was hitting the blond leader particularly hard.

Already, there were news reports on the destruction of the port and seeing the stilled frames of the sort of destruction caused by, according to Blake, simply a fist fight between Ryuichi and this massive Holy Knight she saw, it went without saying that a simple graze on their part would instantly kill guys like him.

Jaune, still watching his teammates who now began to act more at ease, had to suppress an inward grimace; for quite some time now, it seems as if he's beating himself up too much about his strength and skill or rather his significant lack thereof. And he was growing rather sick of thinking so much on this.

"I have to try harder…" he thought. Yes, he certainly would have to try even harder. Not simply for the sake of living up to his family's name, not just for his friends, or even for the sake of his own self-esteem at this point, but for the sake of innocent lives. After all, with the sort of destruction this magi and Holy Knights could cause, it'd be very likely for people to lose their lives as a result, especially if a battle of such a magnitude were to occur near or in a populated area. So if nothing else, he could improve his own abilities enough to lend a helping hand to anyone unfortunate enough to get caught up in such battles.

And he knew for a fact that those battles will be coming soon enough. And so resolving himself yet again to do his best to improve, Jaune ultimately decided to turn in for the day much earlier than usual. He had a lot of training to do tomorrow, so he's going to need all the rest he can get.

Back with the Holy Knights at their base, Indra had been in the midst of some light conversation with Kalma. The seventh seat was smiling slightly; he was glad to see that Kalma's condition was improving. Already, the pale girl's skin had regained some of its long lost color and the sixth seat herself seemed to have a bit more energy about her than before as well.

However, the good mood that was set in the otherwise cold and dreary room came crashing down when the young girl suddenly froze. It was such a minute action on her part given how little she already move around, but it was still enough for Indra to pick up on immediately.

"Kalma? What's wrong?" he asked with a hint of concern as he sat up from his seat.

Kalma gazed away from her friend and looked elsewhere, though Indra couldn't fathom what. Deciding that it'd be best to simply wait for the girl to speak on her own, the Holy Knight remained silent.

Sure enough, his patience was rewarded. "I'm… not exactly sure. But it has to do with Surma."

"Ah…" Indra nodded in understanding.

Kalma's Relic was very unique, an impressive thing to boast of considering the sort of things the other Holy Knights' Relics could do. Whereas her fellow Holy Knights' Relics were in the form of weapons, hers was more in the form of a sentient creature, born from the modification process she underwent to become a Holy Knight in the first place. That creature's name was Surma and it had something akin to a psionic link to its 'owner' or 'wielder.' By no means were the two of them necessarily capable of telepathy, but through this link, both remained aware of just where the other was at all times. It wasn't a perfect link, but it gave them both enough 'feedback' to get a feel for the general area.

That aside, Surma, like all other creatures, can be more than a little restless when not turned to a more stationary form by Kalma's direct command. As such, it required some freedom to move about as it pleased. None of the Holy Knights, not even the captain himself, had a single problem with this restlessness of it and therefore easily allowed Kalma to let her sentient Relic travel about wherever it wants. The sole condition was that it will stay hidden from humans and Faunus and not reveal itself unless it felt threatened. Given the power it had, this was something that doesn't exactly happen all that often.

And it was because of these facts that Kalma was now so attentive to the link they shared.

Surma was feeling threatened.

"He…" Kalma began, sounding shocked. "He feels scared."

Indra's eyebrows nearly shot up into his hairline. "What? How can that even…?"

The sixth seat of the Holy Knights could only helplessly shrug in response. "I don't know. But there's no way it can be one of the ancient magi, right? In whatever area Surma's in, there is literally no way any of them can be there; there's no reason for them to even be near there!"

Seeing that Kalma was beginning to get a little too agitated for her own good, Indra immediately calmed himself down and now tried to placate her. "A good point," he began neutrally, placing a hand gently on Kalma's shoulder. "In which case… it's probably the Grimm. You and I both know how Surma can get sometimes; every now then, he just likes to go and fight other creatures. So he's probably just stumbled across a particularly large horde of Grimm or something and did something to provoke them instead of… you know, working his power over them."

Kalma stared up at him blankly, but managed to nod after calming down. "Y-You're right. I'm probably just worrying too much given the circumstances."

"Yeah… tell you what, how about I head out now? You're looking a little too tired still," Indra spoke, now removing his hand from her shoulder and proceeding to stand up.

"Okay," Kalma replied. "Thanks for coming to talk with me."

"It's always a pleasure," Indra said, now heading for the door. "Get some rest."

After seeing Kalma nod, he left the room, gently closing the door behind him before actually walking away. It wasn't until he reached the end of the hallway that he finally allowed a frown to appear. He's seen firsthand the sort of power Kalma and Surma have, both individually and when fighting together. Therefore, he was well aware of how powerful Surma is. There's no way it'd be so suddenly intimidated by the Grimm. Perhaps in very large numbers, but he highly doubted that.

"Guess I'll go mention it to the captain…" Indra thought aloud.

Yes, this was clearly something unusual. The captain should know about this right away. He just hoped that whatever the captain would decide to do afterwards, he'd keep it under wraps; Indra didn't want Kalma to get too upset.

Elsewhere, more specifically in a deserted location near the village team RWBY and Miki had been heading for, a beast stirred, almost frightfully so.

Hidden by the now fully formed veil of the night, the beast emitted a low growl. As if in response to the growl, slowly yet surely a number of Grimm spread throughout the forest began to make a trek towards it.

Earlier today, this beast had detected team RWBY arrive on the outskirts of the forest. But it wasn't their presence that really grabbed its attention. No, noticing their presence had really been nothing more than a mere afterthought. What had really grabbed the creature's attention had been the arrival of who had accompanied team RWBY: Miki.

The creature couldn't help but actually shiver even as it continued to call out for more Grimm. Originally, it had traveled out the way to this area to have some 'fun' in the form of sending some Grimm out to mess with the village nearby. But now with the arrival of Miki, that had changed. 'Born' with the ability to instinctively know exactly how powerful someone or something is, the beast knew right away that Miki surpassed it in power and by more than just a small margin too; it hadn't felt that way since it first acquainted itself with its owner's comrades, the one dubbed Heracles and Apophis.

Furthermore, in yet another display of intelligence, the beast also knew that if its presence became known to Miki, the centuries old magus wasn't going to let it simply walk away from this if she discovered what it was or more specifically the sort of people it was loyal to. To this end, there was really only one thing to do: gather up as many Grimm as possible and throw them all at Miki and team RWBY. In doing so, perhaps it would create an opening good enough for it to suddenly swoop in and take out Miki in one move.

With this 'plan' in mind, the beast known as Surma continued to call forth more Grimm in preparation of tomorrow.

Phew, another chapter done. Can't believe we're now ten official chapters in. At the rate this is going, the fic is going to be considerably longer than its prequel the God Slaying Wolf. Such a thought pleases me; I've always wondered just how long can I make a fic while still hopefully being able to keep the quality consistent.

Whelp, not much else to really say other than I will be going back to college on the 19th so hopefully I can get another chapter or two out before then!

Until next time everyone. Take care.