[Congratulations! For breaking Neopolitan's Aura, you have earned two Rare Gacha Coins!]

[Congratulations! For surviving a battle against Neopolitan, you have earned two Rare Gacha Coins!]

[Congratulations! For de-escalating a potential confrontation against Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan, you have earned two Unique Gacha Coins!]

'That could have gone much worse,' I thought as I reached my apartment and threw my ruined shirt into the garbage bin. The two with Aura I'd faced were more terrifying than I anticipated.

The woman on her own was a match for me even when I could react and move fast enough to dodge bullets. She even brushed off a completely unguarded hit like it was nothing; her Ki hadn't even staggered when my punch blasted her into a wall. Fighting with my senses as messed up as she'd made them was borderline impossible, so I would have been forced to fly away if her partner hadn't been so agreeable.

Was this amount of power the norm for people with Aura? I really needed to find an answer to this question before my ego killed me. To think that I was in any way safe just because I spent the last eight — relative — months becoming a superhuman physically.

Fortunately, I retained enough caution when Neopolitan attacked to break out the Uncommon swords I'd been hoarding. Had I gone in all gas no breaks and tried fighting with my bare hands and the theory of all the bare-knuckle Martial Arts I knew, I would have suffered more than a single cut. Despite having the skill to use all the techniques I gained from Turtle's Tutelage, I hadn't actually had any chance to get used to using them while I was locked into that training schedule.

I couldn't implement my Martial Arts Skills the same way as Cooking. In a fight against someone on or beyond my level, I would be pushed to the limits of how fast I could react and pick from dozens of possible attack vectors as well as need to keep an eye out for feints, traps and set-ups from the enemy. Only with experience would I be able to bring out the potential from my fighting Skills.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked back in retrospect while trying to keep a positive outlook. I was quickly finding some of the Common and Uncommon pulls I'd previously taken for granted helping me out in unexpected ways. First, with the Uncommon swords that helped me block Neopolitan's attacks instead of being forced to dodge everything and now with extra clothes I didn't have to shop for.

I took a shower and used up my Coins before going to sleep.

[Results: Rarity — Common 0 | Air (Item)]

[Results: Rarity — Rare -321 | Agitated Hornet's Nest (Item)]

[Results: Rarity — Rare -667 | Radioactive Waste, 99.2% Depleted Uranium (Item)]

[Results: Rarity — Uncommon 88 | Standard Katana (Item)]

[Results: Rarity — Uncommon 65 | Alchemy (Skill)]

[Results: Rarity — Unique 7,232 | Ice Release (Ability)]

Wow. The Gacha Gods were not very happy with me today for whatever reason. Ice Release would have been pretty cool if I had "Chakra;" whatever the hell that was. Since I didn't have it, though, it was nothing special. It was the equivalent of having nuclear launch codes without the nukes to actually send.

Everything else was… Alright, I guess. Alchemy still wasn't useful and if remembered correctly, katanas were structurally weaker than swords, only durable if you knew how to swing them; so, even less helpful than the average iron sword. The rest was literally just air as well as actively detrimental objects to have around.

'Oh well, better luck tomorrow,' I thought before going to sleep.

The next day, I woke up before the sun rose over the horizon and decided to make running over to Beacon my early morning routine. Usually, sane people would take an airship from Vale proper over to the Huntsman Academy located at the easternmost side of the "city" and that was only by technicality.

To make the trip on foot, I would actually be forced to leave the Kingdom and navigate through a forest and a small mountain range before reentering Beacon Academy on the other side. It was only fifty miles from the border walls, but the mountainous terrain would probably be hazardous enough to give me at least a bit of a challenge.

Maybe if I was extra lucky, I'd run into a Grimm or two and see what all the hype was about. I'd confirmed I was probably strong enough to fight the grunt forces of those monsters after my confrontation with Neopolitan and Roman Torchwick. They had Aura, so they were probably Hunstmen or a decent equivalent and I was strong enough to give them a fight. So, unless my bad luck from yesterday followed me over to today and fate rewarded me with some ancient mega-behemoth Grimm, I would probably be fine.

An hour into my run, about twenty miles into my journey and halfway up one of the short mountains in my path, I was confronted by a pack of wolf-like inky black monsters with bone-armor plating. Beowolves.

They were coordinated and aggressive, but unfortunately, they were too slow to hit me even when three tried to maul me at the same time. As their size suggested, they were resilient too, considering they could handle a few of my punches before they started crumbling into ash and vaporizing into nothingness.

[Congratulations! For killing a Beowolf, you have earned two Uncommon Gacha Coins!]

I wanted to be upset by the fact that killing these monsters didn't at least yield Rare Gacha Coins, but it honestly made sense. The common Beowolf could be gunned down by civilian weapons unassisted by Aura. These Grimm were big and intimidating, but even a normal person could deal with them.

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Meanwhile, I didn't even need guns. A single punch from me cracked and dislodged pieces of their bone armor. A few more attacks outright killed them and when I brought out a new iron sword, they started dying even faster when I decapitated or bisected them.

The iron sword broke again when I cut through my fifth Beowolf, cutting into their black flesh yet hitting armor on the exit side of the slash. But that was fine, I still had seven more swords — counting equivalents like the katana I got yesterday — in my reserves.

Eventually, it was just down to me and three Grimm, one of which was much larger than the rest. A minute later, when they were all dead I found out that the big one was actually an Alpha.

[Congratulations! For killing an Alpha Beowolf, you have earned two Rare Gacha Coins!]

That fun little distraction now over and done with, I resumed my journey to Beacon. I was attacked by one more pack of Beowolves as well as a common Boarbatusk before I finally saw the school off in the horizon from the peak of one of the mountains. Like the common Beowovles, the Boarbatusk was only worth Uncommon Gacha Coins to reflect the ease with which they could be killed if you knew their weakness; their unprotected underside.

I continued on my way to Beacon only to stop when I was halfway down the last mountain. An airship was approaching from the school.

"Intruder, stop and state your purpose" a woman's voice called out from the side of the VTOL aircraft.

"Intruder? When did Beacon become private property and not a government-backed public space?" I asked, confused as to how I could be considered an intruder. I checked before making the trip to make sure I wouldn't be breaking any laws by reaching Beacon by my own means.

"That is not the issue. You are being considered an intruder because you have not been recognized by our surveillance systems as a citizen of Vale in an attempt to reach our prestigious institution as an unknown."

"Oh," I groaned.

In retrospect, perhaps I should have checked with the police or a lawyer as to whether my naturalization as a citizen of Vale had gone through yet and not just assumed it had been taken care of while I had been unconscious for weeks in the hospital before awakening. In my defense, it was a sound assumption to make considering I'd been given my family's inheritances through government channels; Vale's government channels.

"Maybe you're surveillance systems or whatever are due for an update? If not, then you can just check my name, Lapis Lain by the way, to see that I was brought into Vale after the fall of Erenside Village."

"I'm sure we can get that all sorted out if you'll accompany us on the ship," the woman said as the airship touched down.

"Sure, I was meaning to talk to you people anyway," I said, hoping in my heart that this wouldn't take long.

…

"You have… no Aura," Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, said. He was sitting behind his office desk while I was in a guest chair on the other side.

"Yeah." After a bit of time passed without him making another comment and just staring at me, I broke the silence by adding, "Pretty neat, huh?"

He took a sip from his mug and pulled a screen to show me some footage of my fight against the first Beowolf pack I encountered. I wondered how many cameras or drones must have been all over the wilderness around the academy for there to be a recording of my fight.

He stopped the recording at the moment where an Alpha managed to graze my shoulder during a moment when I had been busy dodging and blocking two of its subordinates.

"An Alpha Beowolf struck your unshielded body and didn't manage to draw blood." He looked at me, "Pretty neat doesn't quite capture the significance of what I'm looking at."

"Hey, anyone can get as strong as me, uh… Maybe," I lamely said. Technically, Goku, Krillin and Master Roshi were all humans who managed it, but they were from an alternate world so it was anyone's guess as to whether it was possible or not. Earth also had Humans and they definitely couldn't come close to them or the Huntsmen of Remnant.

"Maybe, maybe not. What matters is that you have accomplished it," he looked down and began reading from a tablet. "Lapis Lain, eighteen years old and sole survivor of your family following the destruction of Erenside Village. Somehow, after spending months in a coma, a week passes and you appear before me with strength that rivals many of my best Huntsman."

"Look I'd tell you how I got this strong, but you would either think I was crazy or lying, so I'm not going to bother trying to explain myself."

"Try me," Ozpin said.

"The day before yesterday I was summoned into another world where I trained for eight months to break the limits of humanity. While I was there no time passed here on Remnant," I deadpanned.

What followed was at least half an hour of questioning which I happily answered to. I don't know if the man was trying to find a hole in the fantastical tale I was retelling or if he really believed me, but I was happy to have someone to vent to regarding all my frustrations over the Turtle's Tutelage Scenario.

"...Which brings me to why I came here today. You see, after getting as strong as I have, regular exercise even at a powerlifting gym just doesn't do anything for me anymore. So, I was hoping to pay for the right to use your academy's training facilities," I said.

"I see," Ozpin said as he downed the rest of his mug in a single movement. He looked exhausted as he said, "How about I offer you something better? I'm thinking a fully paid-for scholarship at Beacon. You're certainly strong enough to pass any practical the staff here could throw at you even for a second-year student and the world could use a once-in-a-generation talent like yourself after we unlock your Aura for you."

"Hard pass," I shook my head.

"Why?" Ozpin didn't flinch.

"I don't need a job and couldn't care less about money," I counted with my fingers for every point I made. "I don't want to bother with more schoolwork. I don't want to answer to the government or whoever calls the shots for Huntsmen. I'm already strong as is and can get stronger by working out to increase my Ki."

"What about the glory and fame that would come from being a contender for one of the strongest Hunstmen ever? You have to understand, I could see you accomplishing a lot of great things if we worked together and I'm not just talking about Beacon. If your Ki power really works as you described, it could eventually grow strong enough for us to take the fight to the Grimm, reclaim territory and maybe even find their source and get rid of it once and for all."

"So long as it doesn't involve me attending the school or giving up my freedom I'd be happy to work with you and any other Huntsman. Just, don't expect me to bend over backwards to do everything you tell me to and barring emergencies, don't mess with my lifestyle and routine. Is that too much to ask for?"

"It is less than I was hoping for, but better than not having your cooperation on the table. I'll provide you with a special guest pass that will allow you to use my academy's training facilities as long as you agree to working with me in the fight against the Grimm." Ozpin said as he offered me a handshake.

"Fair enough," I said while accepting the handshake to seal the deal. It was pretty much something I was bound to do anyway, so it was like getting a free pass to the training facilities to me.

All benefit with no cost. Just the way I liked it.

[Congratulations! For getting one over on Ozpin, you have earned two Unique Gacha Coins!]

…For some reason that last thought felt wrong.