And here we are, everyone! Chapter 11. Most likely the last chapter that'll be posted before my new semester starts. Here's to hoping my new/last semester will be relatively easy; they're mainly electives anyway.
On another random note, I pretty much love Yoxall; seriously, without that guy editing the wiki for the Fortissimo VN series, I'd be in the dark on what sort of new abilities and the likes are introduced in Kadenz Fermata, as I can't read Japanese nor does it seem like anyone has done an English subbed walkthrough of it yet. And on that little bit of info, you can expect me to also incorporate these new abilities into the fic as well since they're already falling in line with some of the things I've already had planned out for some of the characters.
Hope you all look forward to that in the future!
Chapter 11
It was the dawn of a new day and so far the captain of the Holy Knights was finding it to be a bit of a troublesome day. Just last night, Indra had informed him of Kalma's Relic, Surma, and the creature's apparent proximity to an ancient magus.
Naturally, this called for some serious thinking on his part. The captain had put off such thought until he had awoken just barely an hour ago, confident that the beast would likewise wait a while before even thinking of attacking the ancient magus that had gotten it so riled up.
"Assuming there's one around it…" the captain silently allowed himself to think. There was a chance, however small it may be, that Surma is feeling threatened by something other than an ancient magus. But alas, given its level of power, it'd make more sense for an ancient magus to have triggered its 'survival instincts.' But even, the man found himself at a bit of a crossroads here.
On the one hand, there was a small chance that Surma could prove successful in whatever it does and perhaps rid the world of an ancient magus. While this would certainly draw the attention of the other magi and the rest of Remnant as well considering Surma's current location, in the long run it would save him and the Holy Knights the trouble of having to get rid of all the ancient magi. But on the other hand, there was a more than small chance that whoever had gotten Surma so scared will spot the sentient Relic and proceed to kill it. If that were to happen, then Kalma would be defenseless – and, as much as he'd rather not think it, useless – thereby rendering her a liability for the Holy Knights.
But what had the captain somewhat worried was the possibility of Surma ultimately fleeing the scene and the ancient magus giving chase until the sentient Relic returned to base. And if that happened…
The captain shook his head, ridding himself of that particular train of thought. "I will not allow it," he quietly said to himself as he walked about in the forest surrounding their base, basking in the light of the rising sun.
And yet his morning walk did little to help him decide upon a course of action. As it now stood, this situation could either turn out to be very beneficial for him or very catastrophic if the base is discovered this early on. He supposed, however, that perhaps it wouldn't hurt to maybe start looking into setting up a new base. Perhaps on that front, his apprentice can help him in that endeavor.
"For now, I think things can proceed as it is…" he ultimately decided as he further thought on a 'relocation.' Sending any of the Holy Knights out there would probably make things worse, after all; they can be a rather show-offy bunch if given a chance of some kind.
With his mind made up, the captain slowly proceeded to head back to base. He had a call or two to make.
In the village, the sun had now fully risen into the sky and the inhabitants of the village were already out and about.
It was to the sight of people already opening up their littles shops that team RWBY and one ancient magus looked on with slight interest. "They sure get the ball rolling early," Yang commented. It was a chore just for her and the others to get up in time for the 9am class. Yet here these people and in some cases, kids, were already getting things set up at just a bit past 8. Hell, the only reason she and the others were already up and strolling about was because of Miki, who had made it a point to wake them up early, to their marginal displeasure.
"You think so?" Miki actually sounded surprised. "Back in my days, people would be opening up their shops even earlier." The ancient magus took a moment to once again survey the village as she and the girls walked around.
Having immediately met with the mayor of the village yesterday and being informed in almost meticulous detail of all the past Grimm attacks, none of them had really been able to get a good look at the village. But now that it was the morning and there was no real rush to do anything, Miki could see that the village was lagging behind Vale in terms of modernism. That wasn't to say that it was some kind of backwater place; this village clearly had Dust powering a number of things, but it was also clear that some of the places here looked more than just a decade or two old.
"Hmmm…" Miki continued to look around, her eyes carefully looking over everything that she saw.
"Whatcha doing?" Ruby asked her, the leader of team RWBY sounding as lively as ever already.
"What do you think she's doing?" Weiss remarked flatly. "She's clearly scouting the area to see how best to defend this place. Which is also something you should be doing."
Ruby flushed in embarrassment at that. "R-Right." She began to look around, though without the same sort of 'precision' that Miki was doing so with. The young girl paused ever so slightly to see if her teammates were doing the same thing and how.
Yang was just gazing around absentmindedly, clearly not fully awake just yet. Weiss, with the almost always serious expression on her face, was looking around far more alertly than the blond brawler, though it looked to Ruby as if Weiss would double check nearly everything she saw. Blake, on the other hand, was only looking at certain areas they passed, seemingly at random, and only with a single glance too.
"Sooo…" Ruby began sheepishly. "Just how do we scope out this kind of area?"
"Focus on the terrain," Miki began without stopping her own search. "Look to see if there's anything here that would possibly hinder your own movements or otherwise look like a great ambushing point if you were in place of the Grimm. Also make sure to take note of the state of the surrounding buildings; if they look particularly weak, then that's a point of concern since there's a chance a Grimm of any kind could simply barrel right through it and straight into you. Also, try and focus on any smells or sounds in the area. If you can familiarize yourself with things that are considered the 'norm' here, then you're that much more likely to notice if anyone or anything 'new' to this place suddenly shows up, saving you the trouble of having to always rely on eyesight alone. The ground too…" Miki paused to lightly stamp the ground with her left foot. "If any of the Grimm in the surrounding forest are large or are moving extremely fast, they'll most likely make slight tremors that you can feel through the ground or even the air. The stronger the tremors, the closer they are and… and…"
Miki slowly stopped speaking as she looked to the girls and spotted their blank expressions. "I-Is something wrong?" she ended up asking.
"N-N-No! Not at all!" Ruby was quick to respond, waving her arms wildly. "It's just that… well, you surprised us…"
"What she's trying to say," Blake now began. "Is that we weren't exactly expecting you to suddenly… talk so much and so seriously."
"O-Oh…" Miki muttered.
"But seriously though, that actually helps us out," Yang then said, picking up her pace until she was walking side by side with the slighter taller magus. "Guess the past several centuries did more than just let you boost your power."
At those words, Miki blushed a bit at the compliment and she went on to rub the back of her head. "Well, all the power in the world means nothing if it's not backed by skill and experience."
"I couldn't agree more," Weiss said with approval. She found herself liking Miki a fair bit with seemingly every moment. She is incredibly powerful if her tales of the past were anything to go by, but clearly didn't let it get to her head. Add in an amicable yet bashful personality and her incredible attention to detail if her little lecture now was anything to go by and the heiress found herself admiring the older woman; truly, this is the sort of person that should inspire others.
Miki was about to speak, her mouth opening, only to suddenly freeze in place. The members of team RWBY grew confused and even worried by this, only to be surprised when not even a half second later, Miki suddenly spun in place, her entire body tensing up for something as she now looked off into the distance with stern eyes.
"M-Miki? Ruby squeaked out, suddenly off put by the magus' now intimidating aura as mana slightly began to all but pour out of her body. "What is it?"
Blake slowly reached for Gambol Shroud. "Did you see something?" she asked, readying herself for a fight. To her sides, Yang and Weiss prepared to do the same.
"…Not sure." Miki dropped her stance and eased up on her mana upon noticing how tense it had made everyone around her. "But be sure to keep your guard up extra tight; something is off."
"Right," all four girls said as they continued to walk on, exploring the village.
But Miki made it a point to linger a little longer where she stood. She thought long and hard on what the mayor had told them yesterday. About how normally Grimm rarely approached this neck of the wood until recently and with surprising ferocity. Although she hadn't voiced her thoughts then and there to the mayor and to the girls, the magus was certain that there was something behind this sudden shift in their behavior. And she just had the distinct feeling that whatever she had just sensed was the source in question. But it had disappeared far too quickly for her to be sure just yet. Nonetheless, it's still something she's going to have to look into once the Grimm were taken care of.
She finally proceeded to walk onwards, but not before sparing the area she had sensed the disturbance in another brief look.
Far away from the village, Surma let itself calm down a bit. That had been very close. It had only intended to get close enough to see for itself the one who had made it so antsy. It hadn't anticipated the woman to have such sharp senses. If it hadn't bolted fast enough, then the woman would've most definitely spotted it and attacked.
While that certainly would've been bad, at least this close call helped to establish one bit of info: the exact range of the magus' senses. Now that it knew the range – roughly a kilometer and a half. As long as it hung just outside of that range, it could remain hidden from the woman's sight, hearing, and smell.
With this 'plan' in mind, Surma slowly began to stalk after the five girls, hanging back just enough to remain hidden within the forest. But even then, it was hesitant to do anything more for now. It was taking a bit of time for the Grimm to fully gather under his command. It figured it'd take another hour or so for its little 'army' to reach its full size.
That said, to attack in the middle of the day would prove to be a poor decision; by the time the army is fully gathered, the sun would be fully out and offer no concealment from the magus and her little comrades save for the forest itself and even that was of little help.
No, if the beast really wants to do this, it was going to have to wait this out until sunset, more specifically when night really begins to fall.
And then when that happens and the Grimm are unleashed on this village… Surma will finally be able to hunt.
Meanwhile at Beacon Academy, things were already promising to be rather different for the ultimate magus.
"I'm sorry… can you run that by me again?" Naruto said to the four people that had just approached him before class started.
"Do you think you'd be willing to help us train?" Jaune asked the blond magus, his teammates standing by his side as he spoke.
Opening his eyes marginally now, Naruto slowly looked over Jaune and the rest of team JNPR. It was as clear as day to him that this wasn't something they would simply back down from if he said no. "Just what exactly brought this on?" he instead asked, curious.
At that, Jaune shifted on his feet a bit. "Well…"
Before he could continue, Ren was the one to speak up now. "We've been debating how best to prepare for these Holy Knights. And ultimately, we felt that training on our own wouldn't really yield… results."
"That's right." Now Pyrrha was the one speaking, nodding in agreement with Ren. "We figured that by training under you, a magus, we could possibly get a much better feel for magic and the likes if or when we have to go up against a Holy Knight."
"And training with you will be fun!" Nora added in. Her teammates stared at her queerly right after she spoke.
"Yeah, what they said," Jaune then said quickly after looking away from Nora. "Frankly, on our own, we have no real knowledge on how to fight magic or whatever. Whereas you definitely do and have a lot of experience from being around for so long, so…"
Naruto closed his eyes as the classroom they were talking in began to fill up with students. He inwardly grimaced as now they could no longer really talk about this aloud, lest they risk some students overhearing them. Nonetheless, he had to give them a reply of some kind. "Alright then," he began with just a bit of a smile. "That's definitely good enough for me."
Team JNPR looked pleased, even Ren, who usually had a stoic expression about him. However, their mood deflated a bit when Naruto held up a finger to keep them from exploding in joy.
"However, just keep in mind that whatever I put you guys through won't be easy. I'll probably be pushing you guys harder than you've ever been pushed before," the blond magus warned, speaking in a low voice as more students strolled into the room and sat down at their desks.
The four teens in front of him sported serious expressions. "And that's exactly what we're looking for: to be pushed," Pyrrha spoke softly yet firmly.
"Yeah… we can't just let you and everyone else do all the heavy lifting," Jaune now said, a bit of a sheepish smile on his face.
Naruto could only chuckle a bit. "Alright then. Well, it's going to be a busy day so I can't say when for sure I can help you train. But when I do figure something out, I'll let you know." When team JNPR gave him a collective nod, he then motioned for them to go sit in their seats; class was about to start.
As they did so and he began to prepare his lecture, Naruto couldn't help but smirk a bit. As a little sudden as this request may have been, it was nice to have something akin to disciples again. "Looks like this is going to be a fun time…" he thought, his frustrations over the rumor mill in this academy slowly yet surely influencing his thoughts in regards to team JNPR's training. His smirk took on a bit of a sinister quality, making the students who could see it start trembling in their seats.
As for team JNPR, they suddenly shuddered in unison, feeling a sense of primal fear welling up within them. Perhaps they've just made a big mistake.
Elsewhere, Katsu was going about his usual morning duties at home base in Atlas. Or rather, he had been doing so until James Ironwood of all people arrived, discussing something with his attendant.
Intrigued, Katsu had decided to approach the general with the intent of asking him what was wrong. What he hadn't been expecting to hear was the man now talking with him about the 'strange phenomenon' that Indra had caused a while back.
"I see, sir. And just what did the headmaster have to say about investigating it?" Katsu asked, keeping up a mask of intrigue and confusion. Having been at the magi meeting and met Ozpin, it would have been very easy for him to simply refer to the headmaster of Beacon Academy as a brat or in some other informal manner, but he had to hold back on doing so; James was not aware of his status as a magus nor of anything else. The last thing the centuries old magus needed was the general looking into things any further, especially given his penchant for an overuse of military force.
"Nothing of any note," James grumbled out, trying to suppress a sigh as he and Katsu walked. He was currently acting much more lax around Katsu than around anyone else save for Ozpin and Glynda. While he didn't exactly know Katsu personally for as long as he's known Ozpin or Glynda, the magus was his second in command and was a highly skilled soldier. That was something to be respected. "He considered not looking too deeply into this matter. But that aside, it feels as if he's hiding something from me."
At that, Katsu quirked an eyebrow. "Hiding…?"
The general nodded. "Yes. Something about this whole incident reeks of suspicion, especially the 'attack' that Vale suffered to its port." James grunted as he thought on that. Having learned of the port incident via the news, it was yet another thing he brought up in his meeting with Ozpin, but once again had received no real answers and the man had subtly asked of him to not look into things too much. He trusted Ozpin greatly, but this was beginning to become too much for him. "I feel as if it may be connected to what had happened here in Atlas some time ago, but I'm not getting much help from Ozpin. Indeed, it feels more like he's holding something out on me."
"Such as…? What? What could he be holding back on?" Katsu asked, now wanting to see just how much the general knew.
"I honestly don't know," James admitted. "But I feel like there is a serious connection between the two incidents and it seems to me like he knows exactly what that connection is. How he came to know if it, I don't know… but he knows and for one reason or another he's not willing to tell me." Now the general looked down, a bitter expression on his face. "Sometimes I feel like he doesn't quite trust me."
"I'm sure that's not it," Katsu now said. "You and I know very well that this world is not such a simple place to live in. Sometimes for the sake of people's safety, certain things must be kept secret. I'm sure that same principle is one he's applying to you. Though I cannot say just what reason he could have for that."
Slowly, James looked to Katsu. "I suppose so. Still, if at all possible, I'd prefer to not be kept in the dark so often. After all, as a general, it's my duty to help protect not just Atlas, but the rest of Atlas too. I can't do that if I remain uninformed…"
To that, Katsu had to nod. Lack of information or misinformation can be a big hindrance to one's duties more often than not. "A valid point. But you and the headmaster have known each other for a long time and seem to have a good bond. I doubt he'd keep you in the dark for too long, much less for some small reason."
For the first time in a while, James actually chuckled. "Yes, that's certainly true." Now standing up to his full height as he walked, he now addressed Katsu with a bit more authority than before. "It's about time I get back to my office and maybe look into this matter just a little. For now, just carry on with your usual duties, Katsu. Until otherwise, that is."
Katsu came to a stop and saluted. "Sir!"
With a nod and thankful smile to the magus, James proceeded to leave without another word spoken.
As for Katsu, the man waited until the general was fully out of sight and hearing range before he let out a sigh. "I sure hope things get resolved before he possibly gets involved; the last thing we need is the military trying to take on these Holy Knights," he thought aloud after checking to see if anyone else was in the area.
With another ill-repressed sigh, Katsu then walked off. Like the general said, he had duties to attend to as well. At least until the Holy Knights made their next move. And for the sake of innocent lives, Katsu prayed that the Holy Knights took their sweet time.
Meanwhile, with Cinder, the woman was mulling over something that her master had informed her of just now in a private call. He intended to relocate the base. And not just to anywhere else, but possibly to here at her current location.
This was hardly something she had a problem. If anything, she welcomed it; she'd be able to once again see up close and personal her master's experiments. Not to mention the added bonus of seeing her comrades again…
"But there's the problem of… them…" Cinder tried to keep herself from looking exasperated as she entered the room in time to see Roman and her two little lackeys antagonize one another. "Something wrong, you three?" she spoke almost curtly.
"Nope, not at all," one of her lackeys, a grey haired man by the name of Mercury Black, calmly stated. The smile he sent Roman said otherwise though and it was something that didn't go unnoticed by anyone there.
"Didn't expect you to come dropping in again," Roman muttered, twirling his cane about. "What? Couldn't stand leaving the kiddies here with me?" At that, he gestured to Mercury and to the other person there, Emerald, garnering annoyed looks from the two.
Cinder could only shake her head. "Hardly." She slowly walked up to him. "How'd it go?" She asked of the two behind Roman.
"He's all taken care of," Mercury replied. He then yawned. "It wasn't even remotely fun having to deal with him."
Now the lady chuckled, somewhat amused by the man's ever thrill-seeking personality. He just couldn't stand being bored. "I'm sure that you'll get some excitement soon enough, Mercury. Same thing goes for you too, Emerald."
Said girl simply held up her hands. "Hey, don't put me in the same category as him here," she said, sounding almost offended. While she idolized Cinder, being even remotely compared to her 'partner' was something she couldn't quite stand.
However, her words fell on deaf ears as Cinder now refocused her attention on Roman. "There's going to be a slight change of plans," she began.
"Oh lovely," Roman retorted, rubbing his back. It still hurt a bit from Ryuichi's kick. "What crazy thing do you need me to do now?"
"Actually, you don't have to do a thing. None of you do." Cinder took a bit of joy in seeing the surprised expressions on everyone's faces. "My comrades have decided on moving their base of operations here, so that we can all work together."
"Comrades…" Roman's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You mean that Heracles guy and the others?"
"That would be them, yes," Cinder replied coolly, turning away from him.
"And just why would they be relocating here? Something happen?" Roman questioned. He was worried. If something had happened to force someone like Heracles consider relocating like this, then there was no telling what would happen if this threat came after them to this place.
"A precaution. Nothing more, nothing less." Cinder cocked her head in bemusement. "You're much more of a worrywart than I imagined you'd ever be, you know?"
The criminal mastermind tried not to yell at Mercury and Emerald, both of whom he could hear stifling a laugh right behind his back. Through gritted teeth, he continued on. "Yeah, well worrying comes with being a successful criminal, you know? No telling when something new might show up to throw you off. Especially if it's a particularly dangerous unknown factor. Like your little buddies in the shadows."
He and the two behind him were taken aback when Cinder actually started to laugh. "Little buddies in the shadows, hmm?" She smiled mirthfully. "Maybe so… but soon enough, they won't be hiding anymore from anyone."
"What do you…?" Roman began, unknowingly clenching Melodic Cudgel a little more tightly than usual.
"Oh nothing really," Cinder replied as she began to leave the room. "Nothing at all."
Hours later, the sun was finally beginning to set. The village that Miki and team RWBY were in had yet to deal with any Grimm attacks that day. Given how frequent the attacks have been prior to this day, the villagers seemed happy at first, but the joy of an uneventful day gave way as slowly but surely a sense of paranoia began to set in.
Soft yet sudden sounds coming from the forest at irregular intervals weren't helping their increasingly unsettled minds.
"Just what is going on here?" Weiss muttered as she and the others once again found themselves walking around the village after a light dinner. She watched uneasily as people flitted about in a rushed manner, trying to get things done as quickly as possible.
"Dunno," Yang responded, shrugging. "But whatever's got them so riled up now, I can't tell what it is."
"They do know this entire forest far better than we do," Blake spoke, a hand slowly reaching for her weapon. "So they're naturally able to know when something could be coming…" She slowly looked to the forest, her eyes narrowing as she looked for anything out of the ordinary.
"What do you think we should do, Miki?" Ruby then spoke to the magus, approaching her slowly.
But Miki didn't answer. Much like Blake, the magus was looking towards the forest, her senses all but tingling now.
The forest sounded too damn quiet. At least earlier there had been some sound, but now it was dead silent. It didn't sit well with Miki at all. She would've gone into the forest herself earlier to patrol it, but she didn't want to risk the Grimm somehow slipping past her and towards the village. But now she was beginning to silently question her decision to not do so.
"Just what is going on here?" Miki thought a little anxiously, a first for her in a long time. At least when related to the Grimm anyway; ever since the Grimm first began to appear all those centuries ago, following the end of the shinobi era, Miki had only felt anxious the one time in regards to their origins. But after seeing that they didn't hold a candle to the biju from whose chakra they were unconsciously formed from, any and all anxiousness took flight and had never returned to her.
Until now that is.
But it wasn't simply the possibly high number of Grimm that was now working her nerves, but rather the implications behind it. Grimm, no matter how old they were, remained relatively mindless, attacking anything that was human or Faunus. Magi were no different from humans in this respect and so the Grimm would attack her and her fellow magi with the same sort of reckless abandon they attack humans and the Faunus with. However, this was not an ordinary Grimm extermination mission, it'd seem. This eerie silence in and of itself was a sign of that. Something wasn't right; if the Grimm were somehow hiding or at least keeping themselves from attacking just yet, then there was definitely more to this than just some sudden shift in behavior.
"Could it be… that something is affecting the Grimm in some way?" Miki thought.
Deep within the forest, Surma allowed itself something akin to a smirk even as it kept itself hidden deep within the growing shadows.
Watching as the sun began to lower further and further, it took a brief moment to look all around. Well away from the village to avoid being spotted, there now were nearly 2,000 Grimm of all sizes. The rather absurd size of this army went unnoticed by all, for this forest was very large and the village Miki and team RWBY were in was the only one here for many, many miles. Furthermore, Surma had managed to order the Grimm to remain dead silent, with some even being commanded to burrow underground however they could to further hide themselves.
But now the time for hiding was over. The time for killing was now.
With a mighty and impossibly loud roar, Surma commanded the Grimm to now surge forward, like some kind of black and fleshy tidal wave.
And so the Grimm responded to its command immediately, on the move in an instant.
The attack had finally begun.
And that's a rap. Up next will be the entire confrontation between Miki/team RWBY and the Grimm. It's my hope to not let this drag on too long and get this done hence why I plan to get the whole confrontation done. Naturally, this will take a bit of time to write due to a number of things I really do want to include in the fighting that will be breaking out in addition to a few other plot relevant things as well.
That said, once again I have to say that I will be starting my new semester this upcoming Tuesday and as I am taking 6 classes, I honestly can't say how it'll impact my writing time just yet. But once I figure that out, I'll be sure to try and let you guys know in the next AN.
Until next time, everyone! Take care!