Chapter 70

Adam let out a breath as they exited the office. "That could have been worse." He muttered.

"Yea we didn't have to kick his ass for doing anything stupid." Yang replied with a relieved grin.

"Still… we're sure this is the way to go?" Oscar asked, looking at Ruby.

The girl nodded. "We'll see how things go. Hopefully, I'm just being paranoid…"

"I don't think you are." Adam said, crossing his arms.

"Neither." Blake agreed.

"Either way, we'll help with Amity. At the very least it'll help unite everyone." Ruby spoke confidently, inspiring them all to smile as they walked down into the circular antechamber where the Ace-Ops were waiting. Adam took a deep breath. These were Atlas' elite, so it was doubtful he would get along with them. But he had to keep his cool.

To ensure that he kept to the back of the group as greetings and names were exchanged. The five seemed to get on well enough and only gave him the look they would give a criminal, rather than a Faunus. Probably helps that they have one in their group. Not that he seems to like me.

Adam let out a quiet sigh. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Dr Polendina has reviewed the Tournament footage as well as taken your ideas into account. Thankfully he got these done quite quick, so head to the lockers and get set up in your new gear. You're with Atlas now, so you deserve the best." Clover sent them a cocky smile as he directed them to the area behind them.

They quickly split up into their own sections, finding the lockers marked with their names and set about getting ready. For Adam, it was surprising to find they had done pretty much all he asked.

Reaching into the locker he pulled out a mildly bulkier Blush. Gripping the hilt he drew his blade… or at least he would have. Instead, he drew out the hilt by itself. Once he might have thought it a joke, but it wasn't. It was exactly as ordered. He sheathed it and clicked a new button on the hilt, hearing a slight click as it connected. When he drew Wilt once again the familiar crimson blade came free, sparkling in the light.

The blade had been reforged, returning it to that bright red it once held. It was filled with Burn Dust once more and should last him quite a while. He sheathed again, clicked the hilt to release the sword and then pressed another button on Blush. Its insides spun with a soft whirring sound and when he drew Wilt again the blade came out a brilliant icy blue.

The truth was that it was a different blade. He repeated the process, pulling a yellowish gold blade out next. The third time returned to his old crimson. Perfectly as ordered. Adam smiled. With his Semblance having evolved to increase the power of Dust, he needed to add more options to his arsenal. Now he could burn, freeze or shock his foes.

Sheathing his sword, Adam glanced through the locker again. Aside from his requested attire, there was also a note from Pietro explaining what he did to Wilt and Blush, as well as the supply of throwing knives he asked for. The note was simple and informative. So Blush will have a shorter range huh? Had to basically rebuild the shotgun from scratch? Oh well, I've never been a long-range type of guy anyway.

He returned his primary weapon to the locker for now and checked out his knives. They were small throwing knives that held a Dust compartment in the handle, allowing him to load in whichever type he wanted. For now, he split them into equal groups of burn, frost, shock and a group without any Dust at all. I dub thee: Thorns.

Satisfied with his new armaments, Adam got to work changing. He might be being supported by Atlas, but he didn't want to show support for them. That was why he kept his old colour scheme of black and red, which more fit as Mantle colours than Atlas' greys, whites and blues. A simple t-shirt and pants in black made up his base layer, with the pants tucked into a new pair of combat boots.

Of course, they were on Solitas now, so he needed to wear something a bit warmer. A long coat, reaching down past his knees, was his solution. The outside was black while the inside was a charcoal grey. Dark red piping separated the two sides while a brighter red was used to show off his emblem on his back, as it had on his older gear. Adam smiled as he smoothed out the collar and reached back into the locker, pulling out a black scarf with dark red ends that he wrapped around his neck.

Leaving the ends to drape over his back like a pair of tiny capes, Adam pulled out his new and improved eyepatch. On the outside, it was the same as his old one, black with his emblem in red. But on the inside, it was filled with Atlas technology. As he pulled it on over his left eye, a screen booted up. The light was low so as not to annoy him, but the Atlas logo appearing did. Because of course they couldn't resist branding it.

When it finally faded the screen revealed the world in front of him. A hidden camera on the eyepatch showed essentially what his eye would have seen if the patch wasn't there. But that wasn't its entire purpose. It also had a HUD, which would connect him to his friend's scrolls and show all of their Aura levels if he wanted. Or show if he was receiving a call. It was basically a scroll in his eyepatch. He couldn't type, send messages, search anything or start calls from it though, so he still needed to carry his actual scroll.

Adam clipped Wilt and Blush to his belt and stored the knives in hidden slots within his coat before glancing in a mirror. He looked… well if he was to imagine Yang describing it the word would probably be "edgy". Lots of black and a long coat would do that. Still, he felt it exemplified who he was now, if only because an anti-hero from one of Blake's old books had worn something similar.

Did I choose this because of that I wonder? Hm. I'm not sure… Adam shrugged and made his way out. It took some time to get used to seeing with two eyes, as well as the new HUD over his left eye, but he was getting on well enough.

Ilia swallowed as she followed Blake into the waiting room. Inside was Oscar, already waiting. The three weren't quite in the same sphere as the others, meaning they were left out of this first operation. They weren't students after all.

Ilia tugged a little on her new suit. It was a little tighter than she was used to, but it was well worth it. She still had her vest on, but beneath that was a skin-tight, sleek black suit. In truth, it was made up of thousands of tiny machines designed to cooperate with her natural Faunus ability.

In short, it was a suit that would change colour with her skin whenever she wanted. Her vest was actually a new version made of the same kind too, allowing her to practically turn completely invisible. With some training of course. She'd also had Lightning Lash upgraded to use Burn and Frost Dust.

Blake meanwhile had cut her hair into a bob and was wearing a white jumpsuit/coat combination. Ilia really, really liked Blake's new look, not that she'd ever say so out loud. They were close, but not so close that there wasn't a risk of breaking it. She didn't want that.

Ilia took a seat next to Blake with a sigh. This wasn't exactly how I expected Atlas to turn out… Getting given new gear? Support? Training? It wasn't at all like she thought. The others were going off on a mission, but the three of them weren't ready for that. They needed to train, to work together. That was why they stayed behind, to get a head start in training.

Blake and Oscar seemed pretty caught up in their own heads, so Ilia was left to sit there silently. She didn't want to interrupt after all. Eventually, the door opened again and a team of four entered, led by a tall young man in armour probably around their age.

"You guys the new team eh? Well not what I expected, but oh well." The tall man in front shrugged, a hand coming up to brush his burnt-orange hair out of his face. "Let's get started."

"Incoming!" Adam called out, throwing a pair of Frost Thorns at the approaching Centinels. Ice exploded over the bug-Grimms heads, sealing their mandibles together. Yang rushed past him and jumped between the pair of Grimm, slamming her fists into their long bodies. As she rolled out the other side, numerous tiny grenades exploded, killing the two monsters.

Now it was Adam's turn to rush past Yang at another pair. Wilt clicked free as he summoned his Semblance, pouring energy into his selected blade. With a practised motion he slashed, unleashing a wave of red and black energy from his crimson blade. The beasts fell away, disintegrating from the force he struck them with. Adam smiled. His sword felt like it was back to normal.

Centinels came and Centinels died. Team RSTY was just as good as ever, and with their new upgrades, they were stronger.

These Grimm didn't stand a chance.

"After everything you've been through, I see it as well worth it. You aren't kids anymore. From today on you are all Huntsmen." James Ironwood smiled softly as he spoke, looking out over the two teams lined up in front of him. His eyes stuck on each of them for a moment but almost skipped over Adam.

Adam kept a laugh inside. He just grinned and looked down at his scroll.

Adam Taurus

Huntsman

Team RSTY(Rusty)

License: Atlas

It was an odd feeling, seeing the license. I'm a full Huntsman now huh? So strange… this was supposed to be a step on my path to redemption, but I guess I got it after I got most of the way there. He chuckled to himself. It was pretty obvious what Ironwood was doing.

He was ensuring they would help him.

By granting them their licenses he ingratiated himself to them, making sure they thought highly of him. That was why he also gave it to Adam. As well as to make sure Adam was forced to play by the rules. Not that I have any intention of breaking them without cause.

However, it was just the two teams that were given full licenses. Oscar, Blake and Ilia had been given Provisional Licenses, which allowed them to take missions as long as they worked with pro's. It meant Ironwood could better keep track of the three who hadn't been trained in a school.

Still, I'm not complaining. The others are so happy and this is a good step. I'll prove I'm not a monster, Ironwood. Just you wait.

A/N: Apologies for the delay. Motivation has been... a difficult thing to come by this week. Anyway, the mine job is mostly skipped through for a few reasons. Mainly that I don't have much to add aside from a small example of Adam's new weapons. Speaking of: New gear! Huzzah! So Adam goes a bit more "edgy teen" than the "sort-of military" outfit he was wearing in Mistral. I based it off of art by, I believe, RIOTROTS on Twitter. It was about the only Atlas Arc Adam outfit I could find lol. For weapon upgrades, he's basically gotten a miniature version of Raven's weapon, with Frost and Shock added to his Burn, as well as some nice daggers for more versatility. Ilia's gotten more Dust too as well as an outfit that changes with her! Funnily enough, the new book Roman Holiday, which is really good btw, actually shows it's possible. A gangster with a Semblance like Ilia's natural Faunus trait has an outfit that does the same, though it's smaller because of less advanced tech(it was several years prior to this so it works).

Meanwhile, Ironwood keeps covering his bases to keep them allied and sends a team to train Blake, Ilia and Oscar. But who could it be I wonder? I wanna see your guesses. I doubt it's gonna be too hard, but still.

Anyways I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!