Chapter 30: Departure

"Weiss," I said, spotting the Schnee in mention as I stepped out of Jacques study. "How've you been doing?"

"Ah… Well, thank you. I've managed to go through and partially recompose the songs that you've sent me," Weiss eagerly explained, before recomposing herself. "And yourself?"

"Good… Great even," I hummed.

And I meant it too. There had been surprisingly little pushback from Mistrals council, partially due Ozpin lending me his support and partly due to my actions in protecting the Kingdom.

I'd just had my last meeting with Jacques concerning setting up a new Dust mine on my little fiefdom, meaning I was finally done with all the meetings and contract revisions. It was still a little weird to me that I now owned a massive portion of land, a fifth of Anima at that.

"So was running into you here a happy accident, or did you want to talk about something?" I asked. The mansion was her home after all, but it was so large that it could have been a simple coincidence running into her here.

"The latter," Weiss replied. "I wanted to ask if you perchance had the time to offer me some advice concerning my combat prowess."

"You want me to help you with your training?" I asked, raising a brow. "Don't you already have a teacher?"

"I do," Weiss confirmed. "But I've already exhausted all that they can teach me. The only other person in Atlas that I could ask for advice is my older sister, but she's currently busy working on something for General Ironwood and I don't know when she'll have any free time."

I hadn't thought that teaching Winter Total Concentration Breathing would end up affecting Weiss. To my knowledge, even though they loved each other, they didn't interact much and it seemed that I was getting in the way of what little time they had to spend together.

"Sorry about that," I muttered.

"Why would… Oh, you know why Winter's been busy," Weiss quickly realized. "It makes sense that my sister would be working with you on something important, she is a well regarded Specialist after all. About my question, do you think you would be able to help me?"

I sighed. While I would really like to help Weiss out, I just didn't have the time. "I'm sorry, but even though I want to, I won't be able to help you right now. Do you… know why I've been meeting with your dad?"

I couldn't tell her everything, but a few details here and there shouldn't hurt anyone.

"My father hasn't exactly explained everything, but from what I understand, it's got something to do with a new Dust mine," Weiss replied. "What's that got to do with this?"

"Due to an old law, I've now inherited a bit of land that Jacques helped me claim. He's going to be setting up a Dust mine on it, but before that I'm going to be doing a little exploring while also clearing out the area where the new mine is going to be located," I explained.

That last part hadn't been necessary at all. Jacques could have easily hired a few teams of Huntsmen to wipe out the Grimm and secure the mine's location, he certainly had more than enough money for it. I insisted on clearing it out myself for a few reasons.

Clearing out the new mine location would give me the chance to observe how the workers were treated when the Dust mine was finally set up, Pyrrha and Winter would be able to gain experience with using Total concentration Breathing against live Grimm and I would finally be able to let loose without worrying about accidentally killing someone.

"I see. I take it that the reason why Winter hasn't had any free time is because she's been preparing for this trip?"

"Something like that," I nodded. "Again, I'm sorry about that."

"It's quite alright," Weiss reassured me. "I can't say that I'm not disappointed, but I understand that certain things take priority. When did you say that you were leaving?"

"In a day," I replied. "Maybe two at the most."

Weiss hummed softly to herself. "And you wouldn't have had any issues with giving me some advice if you weren't going away?"

I shook my head. "No, I would have been happy to give you a few pointers." I was a little too busy making sure that Pyrrha and Winter learned Total Concentration Breathing properly, but that didn't mean I wouldn't have been able to help Weiss out here and there.

A calculative look entered Weiss's eyes, before she smiled prettily. "I see. Then I will look forward to the future, when we will both be in the same place again."

It took a significant amount of effort for me to keep my face straight. From the looks of it, Weiss thought she was being sneaky and secretive, but her scheme was written all over her face. She was very clearly up to something.

…Breathe…

Ironwood's office remained as nearly organized as it had been since I'd first seen it with the man in question sitting at his desk, getting some last minute work as he waited for my arrival.

Since I was leaving for Mistral today, this would be the last time that I would enter this office… for a while at the very least.

"Coal… I'm glad that you could see me on such short notice," Ironwood said distractedly as he pulled himself away from his holographic screen. "I trust that you've enjoyed your stay in Atlas."

"It's been relaxing," I nodded, before pausing for a moment. "And more than a little stressful with the interviews and contract negotiations, I genuinely don't know how you do it." It had honestly been a nightmare going through all of the paperwork and that was after Jacques and his lawyers helped summarize everything. At the end of the day, Grimm were far easier to deal with.

"It takes a lot of practice," Ironwood chuckled. "Perhaps next time you visit, it will be under different circumstances and things will be a little less stressful."

"Yeah, maybe," I hummed. "So you wanted to see me before I left?" I asked, getting back on track.

"A while ago, you mentioned a certain type of training, one that I see now would be beneficial to your breathing technique," Ironwood explained. "I had one of my top scientists working on it… the same one that repaired your weapon. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't be ready, but he managed to complete it yesterday,"

I had? I didn't recall mentioning anything like that, but apparently I had and it'd made an impression of James. Pietro was the one to repair my sheath, so that left me with only one question, what did he make?

Reaching under his desk, Ironwood placed a small case on top of it, before clicking it open, revealing a set of three white half masks that appeared to be made of metal and some form of tinted glass. Picking one up, I briefly looked through it, noticing all the various chips and circuitry built into it.

"What is this?" I asked, holding the mask more carefully to ensure that I didn't end up accidentally breaking it.

"It's what you requested… A method to be able to practice altitude training without needing to be at a heightened elevation," Ironwood explained.

An altitude mask? I'd seen a few of these before… in my previous life, but I heard they hadn't been all that effective. On the other hand, this mask looked extremely advanced.

"How does it work?" I asked, looking over the mask once more.

"From what Pietro has told me, when worn, the mask will be able to mimic an adjustable altitude via an interface on the side," Ironwood replied. "He also mentioned that he built several failsafe's into the mask to ensure that those who use it wouldn't end up suffocating."

I was tempted to give the mask a try and put it on right now, but decided against it. I'd honestly forgotten that I'd even mentioned altitude training to Ironwood and he'd gone ahead and had Pietro make a set of three high tech altitude masks for my use.

"Thank you," I hummed, placing the mask back in its case. "I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting this today... It's a little odd… Having this much support."

When I first started killing Grimm, I'd been using an old iron sword that didn't suit me at all, I had to make do with what I had. Now, however… I'd only mentioned altitude training once to Ironwood once and he'd gone ahead and had Pietro build these masks.

"Salem is a major threat to the world, you've seen that firsthand with her attempting to aim an Ancient Grimm towards Mistral," Ironwood began. "I have more than enough resources to fund a few personal projects. If these masks can help… even by the smallest of percentages, they will have been a worthwhile venture."

So long as it might help put an end to Salem, it was an option worth exploring… although he didn't know that Salem was immortal.

"James," I began. "Have you considered… that someone might be able to hack these masks?"

I'd initially wanted to suggest that maybe Salem couldn't be killed, that way Ironwood would be able to begin considering other contingencies concerning how to deal with her, but I decided against it. He had a lot on his shoulders right now and Lionheart's betrayal was still fairly fresh. The last thing I wanted to do was give him a reason to doubt Ozpin.

"Yes," Ironwood chuckled good naturedly. "Pietro has designed these masks to work independently from your scroll. They also don't connect to the CCT, removing any chance that someone might hack into them."

Well that was a bit of a relief. The last thing I wanted was to use one of these masks, only to end up being suffocated. Yeah, I could take it off when I realized something wasn't right, but it was still a risk, regardless of how minor.

"It's not paranoia when you know they're out to get you, right?" Ironwood asked, repeating what I'd once said to him and Ozpin.

"Yeah," I chuckled.

"I believe that I've kept you for long enough," Ironwood said, holding his hand out. "Do me a favour and make sure that Winter doesn't push herself too hard. She has a tendency to skip breaks and will overwork herself if given the opportunity… Jacques really did a number on her," He muttered that last part under his breath.

That actually sounded a lot like Pyrrha, especially after Raven's attack during the Sanctum excursion. She'd seemingly calmed down since I began teaching her Total Concentration Breathing, maybe the same would apply to Winter.

"I'll be sure to keep an eye on her," I replied, shaking his hand.

"Thank you," Ironwood nodded, releasing his hold on my hand. "I'll look forward to seeing what progress Winter has made when I next see her."

"I guess I'll be seeing you then" I said, turning to leave, I paused and turned back around. "I almost forgot these," I hummed and grabbed the case with the three altitude masks before leaving once more.

…Breathe…

Large pine trees coated in a thin layer of snow zoomed passed by as the Bullhead raced onward. The only way to describe the flight back to Mistral was long. Technically, it was my second time flying between Kingdoms, but I hadn't been awake for my first, something that I was a little glad for.

It had been almost half a day before we arrived at Argus, stopping to refuel the Bullhead and see Thetis off before we continued on our journey.

"Huh, I never thought I'd ever miss all this nature," Maria hummed as she looked out the window. "I mean, Atlas did have some greenery, but they didn't really have any natural trees like these. What do you think, red?"

"Hm," Pyrrha looked up from her Scroll. "Oh, I think that Atlas was quite nice… although I am happy to be back in Mistral after such a long trip, even if this one is a lot nicer than the Bullhead my mother and I took to get to Atlas."

Maria nodded in understanding. The Bullhead shuddered lightly as it slowly began to descend towards a small clearing in the trees near the base of a mountain with a river flowing nearby. Looking out the window as the Bullhead slowly touched down, I found that I couldn't spot any nearby Grimm.

"Finally," Maria sighed as she stood up, stretching her legs. The back of the Bullhead opened, letting in the cold air as a ramp extended, touching down on the ground. "You know, even though I'm glad to be back out in the wilderness, I'm really going to miss that comfy couch back in Atlas."

Although it was fairly peaceful outside, there could very well be dozens of Ursa Major or even King Taijitu roaming the woods. Unlike before, during the Sanctum excursion where everyone camped outside, this time, we would all be sleeping inside of the Bullhead to ensure our safety.

"I landed the Bullhead a little over two Klicks from the Dust mine site," Winter explained, stepping off the ramp with an arm behind her back. "I believe it would be best for us to establish a perimeter using motion sensing cameras and scout for Grimm in our immediate surroundings. We can establish a main base on the Dust mine site once we know more about the land," She reasoned.

Shooting a glance at Maria who shrugged, I turned back towards Winter. "Sure," I hummed. "Let's do that."

It was a well thought out plan using tactics that the Atlesian military employed. Everything Winter had done was to the book, even picking out the optimal location to land. Learning Atlesian military tactics and how to use vehicles such as a Bullhead was an advantage that Atlas's Specialists had over regular Huntsmen.

Technically speaking, there was nothing stopping the average Huntsman or Huntress from learning everything that Atlas's Specialists had been taught, but they would have to look for each thing individually while a Specialist had it all neatly packaged for them to learn.

Winter left to collect the equipment before stopping abruptly. A loud guttural shriek, not unlike that of a human washed over the clearing, coming from a little further up the mountain.

"Hey, Maria, was that..."

"Yeah. A high ranking Grimm that's been known to take down some of the smaller towns on its own," She nodded, answering my question. "Nuckelavee."

A Grimm like that was dangerous to leave roaming around. If it came across the Bullhead while we were sleeping or away, it would be able to do some massive damage to it. In the worst case scenario, we could possibly end up being stuck here without little to no ability to communicate with the outside world.

"We should probably kill it then," I said, trying to not sound too excited.

"Eh, you three go ahead, I'll stay here and make sure that nothing messes with the Bullhead," Maria muttered, shooing us.

"If you're sure," I replied slowly. Normally she would be all for this, it was odd for Maria to not want to come along.

...Breathe...

"Sir... Coal," Winter corrected herself. "Would it be alright if I ask you a question?"

I ignored the urge to tell her that she already had and instead nodded. "Sure."

"I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I can't come to any solid conclusions on why you decided to teach me your technique," Winter explained.

Pyrrha leaned in with interest, seemingly wanting to know my answer to that question as well. Why did I offer to teach Winter when there were several other candidates and the option to not pick anyone else at all.

Much like with Weiss, I wouldn't be able to give the whole truth, but I could give part of it.

"The simple answer... Ironwood asked me to consider teaching someone alongside Pyrrha and you ended up impressing me," I replied. "Even after having your Aura broken, you still stood up and attempted to continue fighting... You also helped me out with Robyn Hill as well."

There was also the fact that I knew Winter would choose to do the right thing in the end, regardless of what she was ordered, but I couldn't exactly tell her about that.

"I... See," Winter said slowly, before stopping her march. "It appears that we're here."

She was right. We'd arrived at the Nuckelavee's lair, a depression in the mountain wall, not enough to be called a cave while at the same time it was just large enough to fight the Nuckelavee.

The Grimm in question appeared to slowly pull itself out of its lair, strips of torn Grimm skin pulled tightly against the wall, before falling to the Grimm's side once it was freed as the grotesque looking Grimm took another step out.

"So, Pyrrha, Winter. Do either of you want to fight this thing on your own?" I asked, blocking my ears right as the Grimm let out another loud shriek. "Or can I take care of this on my own?"

"Actually," Pyrrha began, distracted by the grotesque Grimm. "I was hoping that we all work together in order to kill that Grimm."

That didn't sound too bad, it had been a while since Pyrrha and I had fought together and coordinated our attacks... In fact, the last time I think we did that was during the week leading up to the Mistral Regional Tournament.

"Alright," I nodded. "Winter, do you think you'll be able to take up a more supportive role during this fight?"

"I can," Winter replied.

"Then Pyrrha and I will attack the Nuckelavee," I said. Unsheathing my blade, I turned towards Pyrrha who had her sword and shield at the ready. "Right now."

Rushing forward, Pyrrha trailed a single step behind me.

Catching sight of us, the Nuckelavee let out an ear splitting shriek as it launched itself out of the tight cave at a speed unbecoming of its size, leaving behind small pieces of its flesh stuck to the walls.

Continuing towards the now galloping Grimm, we each blocked a strike from its flailing arms before ducking under it, allowing the Grimm to pass us by.

"I see that you haven't forgotten how to read the flow of a fight," I said, shooting Pyrrha a grin.

"No I haven't," Pyrrha smiled confidently.

Coming to a stop, the Impish upper body twisted around to keep an eye on us while its lower body struggled to turn sideways.

Shifting her blade to its spear form, Pyrrha cocked her arm back, ready to throw it as the Nuckelavee's upper body prepared to block it, only for a miniature white Nevermore to attach itself to the Grimm's face, scratching and clawing at its eyes, causing the Grimm to flail around violently.

Hurtling her spear, it neared the Imps body, aimed directly at its head, only for the Grimm to knock the spear off course at the last moment, instead, imbedding it in the horse like lower half.

"If I used my Semblance, I probably could have forced my spear through its head," Pyrrha said, frowning. Holding her hand out, her spear ripped itself free from the Grimm, leaving a deep gash behind, before returning to her.

"You could have," I nodded. "But then you would have simply been overpowering it instead of looking for weaknesses to exploit."

"Weaknesses," Pyrrha hummed as she began observing the Nuckelavee.

Destroying Winter's Nevermore, the Nuckelavee turned its hate filled gaze towards us, black fluid leaked down its ruined face. Having finally managed to turn around, the lower half of the Grimm began to paw at the ground, readying itself to run us over

"It's two separate Grimm," Pyrrha realized as she looked from the horse half to the imp half. "Both are reliant on each other to cover their weaknesses. I've got an idea, do you think that you could protect my right side?"

Part of what made a Nuckelavee Grimm so tricky to fight, besides its surprising speed, was the fact that it was two Grimm merged into one, helping each other.

"You don't even need to ask," I said, interested to see what she'd come up with.

The Grimm kicked off the ground, galloping towards us at high speed.

Tightening her guard, Pyrrha held her spear at the ready, waiting for the Grimm to near her. Right as it entered her range, it lashed out with both arms, attempting to strike us, only for Pyrrha to raise her spear and embedded it into the Grimm horse's head, before stepping to the side as its body crashed into the ground.

"It covered its own weaknesses pretty well," I commented. "So, when you can't find a weakness, you make one."

There were actually a few glaring weaknesses now that I was able to see inside the Grimm's body, but Pyrrha's way had worked perfectly for her. With the lower half taken care of, the Imp Grimm would lack the mobility that made it so dangerous.

The Imp let out a loud shriek as it began twisting around, attempting to batter us with its elongated arms, only to come to a dead halt as I caught one and gripped it tightly.

Tilting backward, The Imp prepared to let out a long shriek, only for Pyrrha's shield to separate its head from its shoulders.

I nodded my appreciation. One more shriek and I was going to rip its head off by myself... without the use of my sword.

"You've certainly become quite a bit stronger," I hummed.

"Thank you," Pyrrha smiled.

While the Nuckelavee had long stopped being a threat to me, or even Winter. It was still impressive that Pyrrha, who hadn't even graduated from Sanctum yet, had managed to kill a Nuckelavee with minimal help. I doubt there will be anyone that will be able to give her the slightest challenge when the Vytal festival finally comes around... that is, if she decides to compete in them.

...Breathe...

Weiss took a deep breath as she stood right outside of her father's study, her fist raised to knock at the door. Taking one last deep breath, she knocked and waited. Seconds turned into a solid minute before she knocked again, only to be met with the same silence.

"Maybe you should try again, I'm sure that father simply didn't hear you the first two times," Whitley snarked.

"What do you want Whitley?" Weiss asked, rolling her eyes.

"A few things," He admitted. "But for now I would settle for stopping you from waiting to be let into an empty office."

That had her attention.

"Father's not here?"

"He isn't," Whitley confirmed. "You can confirm it with Klein if you want. Father's currently meeting with the Board and won't be back until tomorrow at the earliest."

Weiss let out a frustrated sigh. She'd hoped to have everything done as soon as possible, but it seemed that she was going to have to wait before she could talk with her father.

The Atlas arc is officially over... Until... Perhaps... Later. Coal gets a few high tech gizmo's. Weiss says good bye and immediately starts scheming only to fail by not knowing Jacques schedule while Pyrrha takes down a Nuckelavee with some minor assistance.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 35 on the P word website.

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

The next chapter will be posted on the 25th of November.
See you all then. Hope you all have a good day/night.