Back with an update and the first chapter of the story! Honestly, this part of the story, namely the Camelot era of things is hard to piece together mainly due to the fact that no one seems to be able to piece together a coherent timeline of the 7 years that Arturia spent uniting Britain, and the 10 years she reigned over the country from Camelot.
Hopefully things will make sense as I've been constructing a timeline to gain a better understanding of how this will go.
Now, onto reviews that I wasn't able to respond to or unable to contact, etc. –
Reader – Caliburn was the sword that Arturia drew that designated her as the heir to the throne and became king. Excalibur was given to her by Vivian: The Lady of the Lake after Caliburn was lost due to Morgan le Fay's schemes to dethrone her sister. As for Arturia being more like Saber Lily, well you'll have to keep reading to find out ;)
Robthekiwi121 – I hope to keep people's interest with the story.
leocascavel – This is the second story of mine that you've commented on, and honestly, I don't know what either of the comments are supposed to mean.
Guest, April 27th – I intend to and thank you :)
Guest, April 28th – Yes, I do realize that, however Naruto has no ambition to be the king to these people as he doesn't know them, nor they him. He doesn't want the role of being an inhuman king that has lost its humanity, and thus he decides to help the person who becomes king, that person being Arturia.
Pip Binn – Glad you think so, the prologue I intended to set things straight that Naruto has been alive for well over 1500 years and his wish is to resurrect Arturia, as it's his goal. Though, I'll be going forward only at this point and will be catching up to the present. The footnotes by Lorelei will be there to provide what she has been digging up on the ninja since his past is shrouded in mystery.
AlbatrossWearer – Glad you liked the start, and here's more :)
Markus-Antonius – I'm glad you like the concept, and things will progress further into the Camelot storyline from here.
DaDragon562 – Thanx, I've honestly wanted Arturia to have a happy ending, as there really is only (as far as I'm aware of) two timelines where she gets one. But we never see what happens afterwards, and this time story will show it.
AbyssEater – Thanx, I'm glad this story caught your attention and I hope this new chapter will keep you interested.
Giacomo – Thanx. As for Altrouge, her role will come in later down the storyline.
vercingetorix2 – Thanx, and I hope the new chapter will keep you entertained.
Tera12 – I'm glad you liked it, and the wait will be worth it with this chapter :)
SlyUzumakiVii – Glad you loved it.
Now that the reviews are out of the way, onto the first chapter!
Chapter 1 – The Rise of Camelot Part I
-467 AD-
It seemed as if the people were still trying to figure out whether or not to cheer for their new king or demand a sort of redo. Naruto wasn't one to judge since that sword clearly had a mind of its own, and the girl, Arturia as Merlin called her, certainly was worthy to use that fickle stick of a blade. Judging from Arturia's expression, she seemed… hesitant to speak to the people that were supposed to be celebrating this moment for her. Hell, Naruto was 98 and he would feel apprehension if this was his first time.
Merlin nudged Naruto slightly as he whispered into his ear, "You were right earlier when you said that only a man could be called King. However, she is merely posing as one to ensure she can lead her people. Now may be a good time to help her shine. Oh, and please do call her Arthur when other people are around." Merlin shoved Naruto out towards Arturia who along with many others, turned their eyes to see the Dead Apostle approach the new king.
Rubbing his back, Naruto glared at Merlin briefly for putting him on the spot like this.
'Then again, I usually did enjoy being in the spotlight. But not like this.' Naruto thought to himself.
Kurama snorted, looking back at all the times Naruto decided to announce himself, "What's so different?"
"I'm not the one that needs the attention!"
Naruto looked to Arturia with a smile on his face, seeing that she needed some moral support right now as Merlin so put it. Taking a deep breath, he stood before the new king and turned back to the large crowd, "Hail King Arthur! Long live the new king!" Raising a fist in the air, he put on bravado as he cheered for the girl who became king.
He turned to see the expression on Arturia's face whose eye widened with disbelief, most likely after seeing his earlier drawing of the blade begin before he rejected it. The thoughts that swirled in her head made her wonder just why… why would a being considered to be one for the darkness… be on the side of someone like her who would want to purge them, in order to make room for the light…?
Naruto saw that a few people were beginning to get the message that this was happening right here, right now. They had a new king. A king that while still young, was chosen by a sword enchanted by Merlin. A magus known far and wide to be on the side of order and justice. But Naruto could tell that there were still some, namely the knights and noble who tried their hand at the blade, held pettiness in their gazes.
"Well what're you all just standing there for?!" Naruto raised his hands in the air waving at them, "Britain has its king now! King Arthur!" The ninja pivoted and bent a knee to her while she still held Caliburn raised in the air this entire time. He whispered to Arturia as quietly as possible to ensure that only she heard what he said next, "Go ahead. Tell them what you plan to do as the king."
When Arturia first heard of a Dead Apostle in Britain a few days ago, she had been on edge, unsure if she was possibly being targeted by vampires if they somehow found out that she was Uther Pendragon's heir. As such, she kept her sword handy that her foster father; Sir Ector, had given to her when she would train and spar with her foster brother, Sir Kay -whom she was also a squire under him- for defense. With the final day of the Jousting Competition coming to a close, the sword of selection would be held soon. Since her brother's jousting done and over with, she sat out of sight staring at Caliburn for hours, wondering if she was truly worthy as she had been raised to believe.
With the time coming closer and closer, Arturia was about to seek Merlin out for advice, that is until she saw him. The Dead Apostle. She had taken him for a foreigner at first glance with those odd whisker like marks, similar to tribal markings born by the Gaels. However soon she had bore witness to the sight of him being able to pull Caliburn partially from the stone… but then reject it entirely… only one with the capacity to be a king to Britain and save it from the chaos that was consuming it could wield the blade. Simply walking up to the sword caused the reaction and while she herself only received the same thing, she had to touch it in order to get that reaction.
Now he hailed her as the one true king and bent a knee while praising her 'name'.
And this confused her to no ends. Why be worthy and not take it? What drove this Dead Apostle to do such a thing? She fought down a blush as he told her what she intended to do with a smile on his face.
Mustering up the courage she had been building up she gave it her all with a loud and clear voice, "I will save our kingdom! I will save our people and our future!" One by one the people began to pay attention and a few even bent the knee just as the Dead Apostle had. All she needed to do to sway the hearts of these people would be to keep her speech going, "All we have done is live our lives in peace! There is nothing so horrendous that we have done to deserve such tragedy! Foreigners who come to slaughter and take what is ours! A false tyrant of a king, demanding the obedience of all within the lands we inhabit! Uncontrollable plagues that take the lives of those so cruelly!"
The people were beginning to listen intently, "Today, I say no more! Today, I take up this blade to lead us to a brighter future! A better tomorrow! One where no man, woman or child need fear our enemies, nor will they buckle under the thumb of tyrants! I, Arthur Pendragon intend to create a nation that will endure for centuries in peace & prosperity. To create just laws, guided by just rulers, that is my oath to you all! I only ask that you give your all and follow me!" She panted slightly as she put everything she had to sway them to her cause into that address. Arturia was unaware of it, but the image of a mighty dragon in a red aura manifested behind her, causing the people to be left awed by her appearance all the while others were struck by fear and quietly left the spectacle.
Naruto could tell that they too became captivated by Arturia, or Arthur as they were led to believe she was a man. But there would be those that would not accept her as the king. Most likely they'd try to put slander to her name at best. At worst assassination attempts would occur and open rebellion. Naruto wouldn't allow that to happen.
Swords were drawn from sheaths and plunged into the ground from age old baron to lowly hedge knight, Those that bent the knee to their new king hailed her just as he did; just as loud and thunderous as he was.
"ALL HAIL KING ARTHUR, SON OF UTHER! LONG LIVE THE RIGHTFUL KING OF BRITAIN!"
Many didn't see, save for Naruto due to how close he was to her… Arturia shed a small single tear in happiness.
The ninja smiled at the lovely sight.
Merlin approached from behind as many of the people began to gather their things to set out at their king's command, sending off riders to call their bannermen to arms. Naruto got up to face Merlin while giving a mild glare at the magus for his actions, however Merlin merely gave a look of ignorance, "That certainly was quite the spectacle. Now all you need to do is prove yourself to the people that you can lead in battle."
Arturia lowered Caliburn as she gracefully strode forward to Merlin, stepping past Naruto, "But where to start is the question. If I make the wrong choice, then the people will doubt my ability to be king." Naruto nodded as he agreed with her. If Arturia made the wrong choice. A choice that wound up getting them killed, or something that would besmirch her name as the king. Arturia glanced back to Naruto as she noticed that he agreed with her, adding to the already strange situation of a Dead Apostle actively supporting her.
Merlin raised a hand that was emanating a blue & gray glow, "There is such a fortuitous opportunity for use then to demonstrate your capacity as king. A great number of Saxons have made their encampment on the River Glein and given how you so eloquently put in your speech, that you would drive them off our lands, one would be foolish to not seek this chance." As Merlin waved his emanating fingers above Arturia's head, dust fell below to the king as it swirled around her; changing her attire into something else entirely.
A blue and white dress that stopped around mid-shin with ever so lightly frilled edges that served as the only vestige of 'girlish vanity', indeed the dress was built for function and movement. The blue sections of the dress were outlined by thin gold stripes of weaved silk and ran from her midsection all the way to her high collar. Full length sleeves with puffed shoulders sat parallel to the small opening in the upper portion of the dress to allow her petite bust to poke through, again for comfort and practicality as opposed to frivolity. Beneath the dress she still wore the same brown boots and pants.
As for her armor; a steel plate cuirass with black and dark blue lines decorating its surface was affixed around her front and back with no looping "shoulder straps" over her shoulders, instead the back of the piece stopped between her shoulder blades. The left and right side of her dress were defended by two large folds formed from three pieces of curved metal fastened to move with the dress. Attached to the front of the dress was a dark blue 'loin cloth' that seven to cover her legs further. Each leg was clad in plated grieves and sabatons that matched the gauntlets that now covered most of her lower arms. The right gauntlet had fully separated fingers while the left was more of a 'mitten' design
Naruto had to say that the armor and dress look went well with her, fitting her form and concealing her gender as a woman… and it looked stunning on Arturia… he was caught in a daze. Until he was forced out of it when he felt the prick of a blade at his throat. Turns out Arturia had turned it onto him while he was distracted by her change in attire, "Before I begin preparations for the coming trials, I must ask you, Dead Apostle. Why are you here? Come to enchant my old teacher as a thrall?" She spoke with authority as well as lacing a threat in there through her words.
'Try anything and I cut your head off.'
It was not something Naruto particularly wanted to face for while his level of mystery meant that he was rather difficult to kill, a light based Holy Sword such as Caliburn would certainly sting.
Arturia narrowed her eyes at Naruto in suspicion. In all honesty, Naruto should've expected this from her since he just came out of the blue and supported her with no real standing. And after his little starting rouse to push her up as the king, one couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had some ulterior motive.
Naruto would've tried to say something to her, but she pushed the sword further to his throat, "Your next words will determine whether or not you have a head, so I suggest you choose them wisely."
Now that's what Naruto found attractive in a woman. For some reason, he liked the ones that were dominant and had a back bone. He supposed that was why he had tried chasing down Sakura all those years since the Academy.
Wait… did this mean he was a masochist?
He hoped not.
Either way, Naruto felt it best to use his words carefully as Arturia put things. Looking over to Merlin, he spoke, "You're right Merlin. She's certainly a dragon, but I'd say she's more like that of a lion and she shines gold like the one of Nemea." Merlin chuckled at Naruto's words with both glancing back to Arturia to see that she blushed up a storm of indignation, before she shook her head to force it back. Arturia opened her mouth to say something… that is until Merlin spoke up.
"While this little bonding moment is quite amusing to see, I'd greatly appreciate it if you lowered your sword from my newest student's neck." Arturia's head snapped to the magus with surprise in her eyes.
"Y-Your student?" Merlin nodded as Arturia slowly lowered Caliburn from Naruto's neck, no doubt realizing her actions bordered on absolute disrespect to her teacher in the usage of her Dragon Core. Prior to her birth, Merlin had given her mother the blood of the Red Dragon, thus granting her the potential to use magecraft, however she lacked the aptitude to utilize it in the way her teacher did. As such she chose to adopt the abilities and skills that would allow her to counter magecraft along with being able to use her Dragon Core as a support system in combat, to either repel enemies, resist magecraft, or increase her own battle prowess in speed, strength or reflexes.
And it worked beyond what she previously thought, the supreme phantasmal species was indeed fearsome.
Now that her training under the magus was completed, she believed that he would help her in providing counsel, but this was unexpected. Most likely Merlin would be preoccupied with teaching the Dead Apostle since he took his tutelage rather seriously, yet he had his humor…
…how she hated being strung up by the leg with a tree vine and forced to tap into her Dragon Core to let her go… she felt like a bottomless pit after getting out of that thing…
"Indeed!" Merlin raised a finger in exclamation. "Young Naruto here has sought me out for my knowledge in the magecraft arts, and I fully intend to take him as my student." The mage placed a hand on Arturia's shoulder to explain further seeing how she was confused by his words, "You needn't worry your pretty little head off…" Merlin's words caused her to become irritated to which Naruto found rather cute, "…I still intend to help you along your journey. Not just that, but I believe that you won't be able to rid yourself of the young vampire here who is no doubt committed to your cause."
Naruto could only smile as he bowed to the new king, though he did feel annoyance that Merlin called Naruto young despite the fact he was nearly fifty years his senior "I am at your service…" Lifting his head, he could only lace his voice with cheekiness that only made him look more endearing, "…my king." Arturia was floored by this boy who didn't look any older than she did, just commit himself to her service. That coupled with the fact that he was to be Merlin's new student would mean that she would be seeing him quite often.
Arturia breathed in deeply as she began to speak, "M-My apologies, Naruto. I overreacted and assumed you were here trying to enchant my former teacher." Arturia closed her eyes as she bowed to apologize for her actions. Clearing her throat, Arturia gazed into Naruto's eyes as she tried to figure him out; especially since Caliburn had recognized him as one worthy to lead Britain but rejected the responsibility, and for the life of her… she couldn't understand him, and this captured her attention.
But given that he did say that he was now in her service, "Naruto." She spoke with the authority and air of a king ready to begin command as the ninja stood at attention.
"Yes, ma—my king!" He almost let that one slip up. Didn't want to get on her bad side already.
Arturia stuck Caliburn down into the ground as she continued, "You've stated that you are in my service correct?" She received a nod of confirmation, "Then as such, you are under both my protection and my command whenever you are not in session with Merlin. I will not ask you of you to perform actions that I will not do myself, nor will I ask you to sully your hands and stain your code or my own, as this would reflect very poorly on me as king." Arturia turned to face the homestead as she motioned for them to follow her back to their tent, "Given what we're about to face, it would be best to introduce yourself to those we will be fighting alongside in order to help build trust."
Arturia lead them back through the encampments, many people were breaking down their tents and packing up their horses to set out with their new king, while others seemed to linger with their gazes cast at Arturia and Naruto that either were filled with mild disdain or disbelief. Naruto chalked it up to the nobles that absolutely refused to acknowledge her as their leader. Though he did see the familiar signs of troops beginning to sortie and organize beneath bannermen, more of which arrived by the hour. Some brought only a group of fifteen while others more substantial Knights, archers and cavalry.
Hopefully this upcoming battle would change some minds and rally more to Arturia's banner. There were still some people that kept their distance now that they got a better look at his eyes, though when they gazed at Naruto, it was more akin to paranoia than awe. Naruto tried to appear as if he was no different from anyone by waving at some of the people, although that only garnered a few absentminded waves or adults ushering in some children away into the houses or tents.
"I knew it wasn't gonna be easy to win people over." Naruto thought to himself. Vampires had that kind of reputation no matter where they went.
"And has anything ever stopped you from trying?" Kurama piped up, "I mean, you've had the girl's blade pointed at your throat and then by throwing her a compliment, you got under her skin and make her blush in embarrassment. She's already warming up to you."
"Uhm… no comment there."
"Hah! Gotcha!"
The fox was right though. Naruto did win people over in the end of things. If he could make a bloodthirsty rogue ninja bawl his eyes out over the death of his student/adopted son, force a psychopathic twelve-year-old to find a new purpose in life; even capture hearts and trust of an entire village that reviled him for so long… well then he was confident that he could make people see past his status as a vampire.
Arturia led them to a large house where a pair of weathered banners with the emblem of a golden dragon adorning the sides of the door. Naruto saw that the banners looked as if they had just been unfolded and placed there within the hour, "The symbol of the House of Pendragon." Naruto turned to see Merlin speak on what he gazed at, "Now that Arthur here has drawn the sword of selection, it was time that the symbol of the Pendragon's rose up again after Uther's death."
Naruto understood that symbols were synonymous with clans, as it represented what they stood for, or what they embodied, "So, a Dragon for the Pendragon clan? Right, makes sense then, plus that aura she gave off…" The way that red dragon manifested behind her as she gripped the sword was as if she was a host to a beast like himself.
Merlin cocked his head to the side, "Ah, so then… you saw it as well. I will explain it to you in time." Arturia turned to glance at the two magecraft wielders behind.
"Merlin, would you really be so willing to share such things so quickly?" Arturia knew that Merlin had performed a special type of magecraft to imbue her with the blood of the red dragon, and it was the source of her own mana, becoming a Dragon Core... a sort of pseudo-dragon heart that gave her the attributes of the creature. This was something that Merlin told her that she should keep a secret. If anyone else discovered this, then they would no doubt try to extract it from her.
The magus waved his hand in protest, "Have no fear. I have a feeling that our new friend will keep his mouth sewn shut on that little matter." Merlin gave Naruto a knowing look that this was something that must be kept quiet at all costs. Naruto gaze a little salute to Arturia.
"My lips are sealed." Arturia nodded in appreciation.
"Thank you." Arturia opened the door to the house and gestured for Naruto and Merlin to follow her inside, "We're here."
As they stepped inside, Naruto took note of the large table in the center of the room with a map of the island. Making his way to the table, he saw that was divided into the provinces that lords and nobles controlled, along with the various settlements that were under the protection. Small daggers were stabbed into certain places with pieces of paper tied to the hilts signifying which foreigner group were in the areas, however there was a much larger dagger stabbed up further to the north of where most of the others were situated at. The paper tied to this dagger had 'Vortigern' written on it.
This was a war table.
Arturia stood next to him as she gazed down to the map, "Once when the Roman Empire spanned most of the island, it provided stability and protection to our people. My father was the previous true king, and he held a strong bond with the emperor in Rome (1). However, when the empire collapsed, all of the protection, trade and commerce that it provided was swept away." Tracing her fingers on the table to the large dagger, Arturia tapped it a few times, "Not long after Vortigern, someone that my father once trusted, betrayed him and decided to stage a coup to take the throne. The nobles and lords refused seeing that with Uther gone, they themselves could try and take the throne, while others stayed loyal to him and held onto their territory to try and keep the peace."
Naruto saw that she was clenching her fist in anger. No doubt from the betrayals and dishonorable actions that she spoke of previously, "Now the Saxons, Gaels, barbarians and other foreign invaders sweep across the lands; bringing the plague, stealing, killing, raping… and all manner of disgusting things that I will not speak of…" Her voice was becoming steeled and filled with a slight tinge of venom, "… and Vortigern does nothing but sit on his false throne and allow them to come and go as they please to raid our lands. I will no longer sit by as my country and people are destroyed from within."
Naruto could see her determination to help her people, restore order, provide safety… everything that he would've set out to do when he became Hokage. He may not be able to lead like he could have in this new world, but that didn't mean he could help Arturia lead. Placing a hand on Arturia's shoulder, he tried to give some support to the girl that now had to take up the burden of being the king, "Hey, you're not alone in this. I'm sticking with you through and through."
Arturia turned to gaze into Naruto's red eyes with her own green, seeing that he was being truthful to his word. She glanced to his hand touching her shoulder as she felt that his own wasn't cold like she believed vampires to be, rather it was warm and comforting. Something unexpected from such an odd person… Merlin simply stood back and watched the little growing affection with amusement, however… "Ahem."
Both of the young teens twisted their heads to the magus, "As much as I'm enjoying this little bonding moment, and it'd be nice to see more of it, we do have work to do." Arturia was the first to look at their current hand positions, as she blushed slightly before pulling her shoulder away leaving Naruto a little downtrodden by this.
Well he supposed that this would no doubt to people questioning things between the two of them and discover her secret.
"Yes, of course Merlin." Arturia spoke briefly before she headed down a hallway, "I'll need to gather my things."
Naruto turned back to Merlin as he held onto the feeling of Arturia's soft, yet firm form as it held the delicacy of a woman's touch, but the tautness of a warrior whose endured training to become a master of the sword, "That was a nice touch…" He murmured to himself, although Merlin clearly caught it as he grinned like the cat that ate the canary.
"Well, it looks like the rest of our entourage hasn't arrived back yet, so let's get down to business while we still have still have time, shall we?" Merlin waved his fingers as a chair slid over from off the side to allow him to sit down to contemplate on the questions to ask Naruto, as well as formulate a plan on where to begin his training, "So then, what all do you know exactly about the art of Magecraft?"
Naruto leaned up against the table slightly as he crossed his arms, "I know bits and pieces, but nothing really solid." Staring up to the ceiling he wondered if maybe he should've asked that old vampire a bit more on the inner workings of magic… but then again… he shuddered at any explanation the troll would've given, "I know that Magecraft's a study that can be learned with several schools but one has to have Magical Circuits to use it properly, otherwise you get zippo." Making a gesture with his right arm to signify that nothing would come up if one tried to learn magic without the prerequisite, "I also know that there's two types of magical energy: Prana or Od which comes from a person's own internal life force. And then there's Mana, which if the magical energy that's in the environment around you, though really, it's in nature. Once you run out of it, you can refill it with rest and recuperation." Naruto took a deep breath after that little explanation before he continued, "I also know that there's something called the 'True Magic', but I'm a little hazy on the details."
Merlin hummed in thought as Naruto seemed to understand the basics of Magecraft, "You have the basic understanding of it down, though I guess it's better than nothing." The magus got up from the chair as he walked towards a large open room off to the right of where they were at, waving for Naruto to follow him. Naruto saw that the room had a bed with a table filled with many items that one would associate with a magus: a scrying orb, texts written in languages that one wouldn't be able to understand unless they learned it from a magus, gems that shined even when they weren't in the sunlight, jars filled with powder, flowers, animal parts, even an Azoth Dagger if he recognized it from Zelretch's description of those things… which was immensely odd given that Zelretch had also mentioned that the Azoth Dagger would not be invented in this reality of another thousand years or so. Just how skilled a Mage was Merlin?
Merlin took one of the jars from the table as he stuck his hand into it, while he took a handful of powder. Throwing the powder into the room, he drew a circle in mid-air with the powder responding to his gesture; the powder settled down to the ground as it made a perfect circle that encompassed much of the room. "Go ahead and take off your shirt as you step into the circle. Now, this circle will allow me to see what it is that you have within you as a way to better ascertain what I can teach you. However, it all hinges on what I find within you. I may be able to teach you much, or not much at all." Tapping his staff on the floor, the circle emanated a silver light that washed over Naruto. Some of the powder began to take form in the form of various esoteric symbols in front of Merlin.
Placing a hand under his chin, Merlin narrowed his eyes at the words that appeared in front of, "My oh my, of my… this is a pleasant surprise."
Naruto cocked a brow in curiosity, "So… what's the news, sensei?" Merlin's expression of curiosity turned to glee with his eyes widening with excitement.
"Amazing! Now I see it!" Dispelling the powder in front of him, Merlin rolled up a sleeve to showcase his Magic Circuits to Naruto, the green pathways lighting up beneath the skin "These are what magic circuits appear within those like myself that can use Magecraft. You on the other hand…" Rolling down his sleeve, Merlin snapped his fingers as the powder began to cling to Naruto and highlight his chakra network, "…you already have a preexisting energy circulatory system that draws from a massive core that holds on ocean of power. It's as if you have magic circuits that grew out from it to spread through your body. No, I take that back…" Dispelling the powder on Naruto's arm, "…I shouldn't even call them Magic Circuits, strictly speaking of course. This… this is a Regression to the Age of Gods, with unquantifiable power. If anything, you should be able to make use of the Mysteries from that era!"
Naruto wasn't completely surprised by what Merlin said, having his chakra system as opposed to magic circuits, but for him to deal the news that he could learn something that apparently belonged to Gods? That was interesting, "Well, my chakra network is something that's been a part of me since I was born. Actually, everyone back home has it in their body. I just trained really hard to get as strong as I was before I got turned."
"Tell me more…" Merlin urged Naruto to continue, "…how did it originate within your people?"
Naruto decided to put his shirt back on while he explained, as Merlin sat on the bed like a kid eager to hear a bedtime story, "It's a holdover from my ancestor from about 10,000 years (2) ago, when she was the one that brought it with her from wherever she came from. She kinda was pretty much a god in her own right because of this."
Thinking it over, now Naruto understood back when Brunestud said he had some divinity in him that day. Merlin mulled it over in his head as he himself seemed to understand Naruto's own unique status as a vampire, "From what you've told me, it sounds like you're more akin to that of a True Ancestor than a Dead Apostle, physically speaking that is. And your connection to nature that's very apparent to my eyes is part of that. Not just only, but the vampiric impulses that any would feel that comes with the price of becoming one, you won't even feel them given your Origin."
Now it made sense as to why he never felt the urge to feed off of someone else's blood. The vampiric instincts that would drive one of them to turn people or even kill them… never even touched his mind.
"Whew!" Naruto let out a big sigh, "That's a relief, to be honest I was pretty worried that one day I was gonna crack or something and bite someone."
"If such a thing would occur, then I would stop you as I jammed you to the ground with Caliburn while Merlin took the time to dispose of those impulses."
Naruto jumped at the sudden emergence of Arturia's voice behind him, "Guh!" He turned around to see that she now had Caliburn sheathed in an ornate scabbard, "What was that for, huh?! You could've given me a heart attack!"
Arturia closed her eyes while she spoke, "I almost did? My apologies then." If one didn't know any better, one could see that teensy, tiny little smirk at the edge of her lips. Like a little girl that got away with a lie unlike any other. Merlin held back a chuckle at the display that his former pupil was poking fun at his newest pupil.
The ninja caught on to the little jab, but Artuira spoke before he could, "Naruto. There was something I wanted to ask you, before the others arrive."
Catching onto her tone, Naruto straightened up a bit as he composed himself, "Yes? What'd you wanna know?"
"Why did you reject Caliburn?"
He heard the underlying question 'Why did you reject the position of King of Britain?'
Merlin dropped the humor as he gazed at the two teenagers before him curious about Naruto's answer, just as much as Arturia was.
Naruto took a deep breath as he started, "You were the one that let out that little gasp from the bushes, weren't you?" Arturia nodded.
"Yes. I had been contemplating if my role to become the king was truly meant for me, or someone else." She closed her eyes as she imagined herself or someone else perhaps from what Naruto could tell, pulling that sword. "It was then when I saw you approach Caliburn as it shined brightly in response to you mere presence, just as it did before me… only… you merely approached it, but I had to take the hilt for it to respond to me." Naruto saw that Arturia was gripping the sword tightly but not out of the desire to unsheathe it, but instead he felt that it was out of… inferiority?
Why would she feel that?
Was it because the sword possibly deemed him more worthy than she?
Or was she unsure about her position?
Naruto closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply before he explained, "I rejected it because well… why the hell would they accept me as their king? I'm a vampire. That doesn't look good to a lot of people, since most would prefer to shove me full of Black Keys and seal me in a coffin. Plus, your people don't even know me. I've got no real standing here, even if I took the sword." That was part of the reason, mainly the political aspect of it. "But… when I started drawing the sword, it spoke to me. It told me that I had to become inhuman to lead these people…" Now Naruto was getting into the personal aspect, "…I may be a monster to some, but I'm not throwing my humanity away. Something like that? That's too important to me."
Naruto opened his eyes as he bore into Arturia's own as they widened since he had closed his own to think hard on why he didn't want the sword, "The sword wanted me to be something that I couldn't be. I didn't want that fate…" Naruto placed his hands on Arturia's shoulders firmly to show her that he cared, "You're the one that's meant to be the king. But I won't let you follow the path that sword wants you to, I told you that I'll follow you through and through to make sure that you don't lose your humanity. And I damn well meant it, Arturia. Your oath… the promise you made to the people, I had something similar that I wanted to do for my own people, but that's come and gone now. Now… now I'm going to help you build your dream. And honestly, it's a beautiful dream."
Merlin smiled as he closed his eyes, seeing that his new apprentice was someone that cared for those who he had barely known. Foolish, of that he had no doubt, but admirable.
As Naruto continued to gaze into Arturia's eyes, he saw that this girl felt so relieved by what he told her as tears began to build up slowly. She dipped her down allowing her bangs to cover her eyes, while her hands shook lightly; not from the feeling of inferiority like before, as it appeared that she was struggling to keep herself from bowing in reverence. Arturia's lips quivered slightly as they arched upwards into a smile that would become rare in the future, but he saw a pair of tears drop down to the floor coupled with her voice that was so small, yet so grateful, "Thank you."
Naruto would have gone straight to a hug, judging from the way Arturia was, she wouldn't have objected to it. However, a few voices were approaching the front door forcing Arturia to distance herself as she wiped away the tears and compose herself, "They've arrived."
That and the last time he head read mixed signals from a girl had NOT been pleasant...stupid fae maiden in Gaul!
As the door opened, Naruto took note of four distinct voices, as they stepped into the house.
"I still can't believe that they won't accept Arthur as the king!"
"Believe it, those old men would've preferred placing their own insufferable brats on the throne instead."
"But don't they see? Arthur is our king. The one our people have been waiting for so long."
"Don't worry lads, we don't need those fools. The real supporters are still out defending their lands from our enemies. We'll set out once we've gathered up everything we can, and whoever comes with us."
Naruto saw that three young men all decked out in their armor follow an older man inside the house, taking in their appearances. "Go get your things ready boys, we'll be in for a long trip if anything." The older man said. The younger men nodded, that is before they turned their attention to Naruto, "What're you boys looking at?" The older man turned to see Naruto just as he did. All four of them were cautious and seemed off put by Naruto's appearance, however Arturia stepped forward to begin introductions.
"Sir Ector, this is Naruto Uzumaki. Merlin's new apprentice and my new retainer." She placed a hand on his shoulder to emphasize that these were the facts, "He will be travelling with us in our campaign and beyond. Please be kind to him."
The older man, whom Naruto assumed was Ector seemed taken aback by Arturia's words, as was another. Though one seemed a little happy, while another was intrigued but was just as happy as the other.
Arturia turned to Naruto as she continued, "Naruto." Stepping forward she gestured to Ector to begin the introductions, "This is Sir Ector; the owner of these lands and a knight loyal to my father, Uther. He took me in when I was born; raising & training me for this day and duty. I owe him greatly for doing so." Perhaps in his late forties, Sir Ector had brown hair with the odd fleck of grey here and there kept in a tight ponytail. His armor was slightly more decorative than the others with the crest of a golden dragon emblazoned on each shoulder plate, the sigil of the former King Uther Pendragon. He was maybe as tall as Naruto himself, but the armor gave him a larger look, greaves and sabatons looking a little worn from a lifetime of fighting.
Ector merely shook his head as he chuckled, "Arthur, you don't have to say such a thing. All I did was follow my king's final command."
Arturia merely smiled, "Yes you did. But you enjoyed being a father again. Of that I'm sure." She gestured to the person next to him. A young man of average height with dirty blonde hair that bordered on brown, a kind face and blue eyes. However, his right eye was slightly foggy by some kind of scar that ran from his hairline to his chin. Despite this his face remained kind with a small smile that spoke of warm summers and cool winters. He wore a set of plated armor that was focused mainly on the upper body with the lower armor obscured by a burgundy waist cape. "This is Sir Kay, my older brother. I was his squire before and sparred with him in my training sessions."
Kay smirked, "It's true, though Arthur here is such a sore loser." Arturia's eye twitched at his words, with Naruto smirking at the obvious sibling relationship they had with Kay being the elder, and Arturia being the younger. "But hey, I'm just glad we have another man around to keep things entertaining."
Arturia shook her head at Kay's antics to try and get a rise out of her, "I will not speak of things." Arturia gestured to the young man next to Kay, "This is Gawain, my nephew." Tall, handsome and a very heavily set chest, Gawain's body spoke of a man whom had trained with the sword since just after learning how to walk. His shaggy blonde hair and aqua colored eyes were the image of knightly beauty, but the air was slightly ruined by the way he held himself, like his skill would always win out. While he lacked a breast plate his arms and lower body were decked out in flower marked silver plate while his chest bore a black tunic and was draped by a teal cape lined with grey fur at the collar, perhaps taken from some wolf he had slain.
Gawain bowed his head slightly to Naruto, "A pleasure. Though I'm curious, why is it that Merlin has taken you as a student?"
Naruto could sense that he voiced the obvious suspicion and wasn't quite sure if he could say 'Yeah the mage saw it in a vision one day I'd be in the court', though he guessed Merlin was about to say something given he stepped forward to respond as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I had foreseen that young Naruto would seek me out to learn from me. And I fully intend to do so, as he has pledged himself to our king's cause." Merlin raised a brow, "Do you really doubt my word, or the kings?" Gawain seemed to back down from Merlin's words as he bowed in apology.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me." He looked to Naruto and continued, "It's just…"
"A vampire helping a king seems pretty suspicious…" Naruto finished for him, "…I'd act the same way honestly." He gave a smile seeing that Gawain was very loyal to his aunt, and he admired that.
Arturia then gestured to the last young man next to Gawain, "And this is Bedivere, one of my closest friends." Bediever had pale blonde hair and green eyes, at a glance one could be mistaken for thinking that Bedivere was a male version of Arturia with even his hair in a similar bun, save for the twin ponytails that hung from it. A simple breastplate and forest green breeches were covered by a white cape black collar.
Bedivere smiled as he closed his eyes to bow to Naruto, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto. I hope we can become comrades along the way alongside our king." Naruto had a good feeling about this one.
Seeing that since Arturia introduced them, he felt it best to do the same with himself, "So, like uhm…" Not quite sure if Arturia had mentioned to them, or at least Bedivere, that she was a girl and not a guy, "…I'm Naruto but you guys already knew that. Let's see I like ramen, which I really need to make some for you guys to enjoy the food of the gods." Everyone just raised a brow in curiosity at the first and last bits, 'food of the gods'… Naruto continued on with his intro despite this little veer off course, "I hate jerks and most bad people in general, which is pretty much everyone we're going after, after today. I do enjoy gardening and reading from time to time, I'm a little outgoing, I like to be active and exercise whenever I can. I like to travel a lot, and I like to think myself as being open-minded to what I can learn and experience." Naruto closed his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head while flashing his megawatt smile, as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Well that sucked… You're nearly 100 years old and you can't do better than your Genin introduction speech?" Kurama commented on the lousy intro.
"Screw you!" Naruto mentally chided the fox.
Any negative sense that they newcomers had of Naruto seemed to sweep away, though he doubted that was what would take to fully disperse any concerns of him being near Arturia.
Merlin patted Naruto on the shoulder, "Well said my apprentice. Now…" He glanced to Arturia as he continued speaking, "…I believe that the king has a plan on where we will begin taking back Britain from our enemies." Arturia straightened up as she turned to the war table to direct their attention to their first course of action.
Merlin and Naruto approached the table as the others gathered around it as Naruto was next to Arturia, "There is a Saxon encampment set up by the River Glein and it will be the perfect first attack in our war against the invaders and Vortigern." Ector placed a hand under his chin as he contemplated Arturia's first course of action.
The region wasn't too far from here, but it wouldn't be easy to cross through the mountainous region to reach the site as the Saxons had small parties scattered to prey upon traveler and trade caravans, "We only have a few hundred men at our call for the time being] but we'll need to leave some here to defend the land from our enemies. It will take us at least two days to make the way if the weather is kind to us." Ector crossed his arms as he turned to face Arturia, "As for the nobles here currently, well some of them don't like the fact that you're the rightful king, so they've decided to hold back their support in favor of you trying to prove yourself."
Arturia nodded as she agreed with her father figure and mentor. She was disappointed by the latter bit of news with those unaccepting of her kingship but she neither blamed them nor cared for them if they were only here in their own self interests, "Have a contingent remain behind as we take the rest of those who follow us, anyone. Men under your command, those nobles who are supportive of us, experienced volunteers, even the recruits that have joined for the tournament in the last few days. We can train along the way when we take stops to rest and make camp."
Naruto saw that she was determined to make use of whatever she could get a hold of for their campaign, however one problem was what Ector brought up: Saxon raid parties. He could have his Shadow Clones scout ahead to provide intel on enemy numbers and positions, etc. Raising a hand like he was back in the classroom, Naruto cleared his throat to get attention, "I think I can help out with giving us a good way ahead so we can keep our numbers high when we reach the main battle site."
Arturia directed her attention to the ninja, "How so? I assumed you would be riding alongside myself and the rest of us in the front." She may not admit it, but she cared for Naruto a great deal already.
Naruto saw the skepticism on their faces while Merlin placed a hand under his chin to see what his apprentice was about to say… or do in this matter. Forming the 'T' sign of his signature Jutsu, three puffs of smoke suddenly appeared behind Naruto as everyone directed their attention to what Naruto did, all the while Merlin looked giddy with what occurred.
Arturia had to admit, it took quite a bit to surprise her. Even Merlin's magical antics had to take a while before she was truly astonished by something, he did… but this was something she never thought possible.
In front of her stood three identical Naruto's that looked just like the original himself. All three of them gave a bow to her, "We're at your command." Their voices echoing one another as they not just looked like Naruto but sounded like him as well.
Arturia blinked as she struggled to keep her jaw from dropping, "Amazing…" Ector, Kay, Gawain and Bedivere all had the same looks of amazement adorning their features, all the while Merlin waved his hands like a giddy kid during the holidays.
"Oh, teaching you will be so much fun!"
Bedivere was the first to get a hold of himself before turning to Naruto, "Was that some form of magecraft? What else can it do?"
"It's kinda like magecraft, but not quite. They're Shadow Clones; solid copies of me that can scout ahead for us. When they disperse, all the knowledge they have comes back to me, so I'll know what they know." Naruto explained. Before Kakashi-sensei told him what they were really meant for in developing his Rasenshuriken. And after spending the last 80 years getting used to only three clones, he used them primarily for just scouting, it wasn't like he could use them in full combat like before.
Kay stepped forward and decided to poke one of them to see if they were actually there, "Huh, they're real flesh and blood copies, not illusions." He turned to Naruto as he smiled in glee, "So now we've got ourselves a one-man army."
Naruto grimaced slightly, "Eh… not anymore." Now the others seemed confused, "I used to be able to make just under a thousand, but… ever since I was bitten and turned…" A lie that he told to conceal the fact that he was not of this world, although he caught that Merlin didn't say anything, "…I've only been able to make up to three clones. Sorry I can't do more than that."(3) Giving an apologetic smile to everyone.
Ector and Gawain both had to admit that this would no doubt lead to saving the lives of their men in future battles. They couldn't deny that they were still suspicious of the boy, but he was demonstrating his ability already to aid them in their cause.
Arturia turned to Naruto with a question, "How soon can you have them scout ahead for us? We'll still need time to gather everything and everyone up."
"Right now, in fact." Naruto turned to the Shadow Clones and nodded to them as they saluted, knowing what to do. "You got it, boss!"
They disappeared as a rush of wind came through the front door, startling the others with as the door having swung open so suddenly and closed just as quickly. Naruto chuckled slightly, "Yeah I should've warned you guys, they fly off the handle pretty quickly."
And with that, they began to plan their next course of action as over the next few hours they gathered everything they could take with them and set out on the road to restoring peace and order to Britain.
It was near the end of fall as the time to travel along the road to war was not bad, but still the conditions were favorable for them, as opposed the scorching heat of summer, or snowfall and cold winds of winter.
Right now, Naruto was walking alongside Arturia who rode upon her horse, Llamrei. She had asked him before they got on the road if he would be alright walking while she and most of the others would be riding horseback. Naruto declined stating that he would be alright, that he was sued to walking long distances on his feet having done so many times in his youth.
When he and Jiraiya had gone on their three-year training trip, he crossed over into other countries with the old perv telling him about all of the 'exotic beauties' beyond the Land of Fire.
Ugh… so many brothels…
Llamrei seemed to take a liking to Naruto immediately for some reason, which baffled Kay who mumbled to himself about 'not being fair' only for Gawain to laugh at him all the while Ector told him to man up and deal with the horse.
Turns out Llamrei had a reputation of messing with Kay, and sometimes on Arturia's supposed request he'd take his stuff and dump it in a manure pile.
What joy.
Kay rode up behind Naruto under Ector's decision. Though it was really more or less on their parts of being a protective father and an older brother looking out for his sister. Merlin rode behind Gawain and Bedivere whom were next to one another, while the rest of the knights were behind that were under Ector, and thereby Arturia's command were in their horses and in carriages carrying their supplies.
Naruto was pretty adamant about getting certain flowers and herbs back at the homestead, claiming that he could make some actual food for them, to which Arturia budged on but not really understanding as to why. She wondered just what he ate before being bitten, so she decided to indulge him on such a thing.
Merlin had explained to Arturia further about the magical armor that he had gifted her, that it was something that would never be pierced by any weapons that their enemies held, nor would it weather or become dented. It was something that she could disperse and redo with the usage of her mana core and even if a weapon of magic could destroy it, she could recreate it in an instant if she willed it.
She had been contemplating on situations when she would have to discard the armor but couldn't think of anything right off hand. Arturia wondered if perhaps Naruto had some input to her slight dilemma; turning her head off down to her right side, she saw that Naruto's eyes were closed as he was walking alongside her, "Naruto, are you alright?"
The ninja opened his eyes as he turned to glance at Arturia while making sure he wouldn't run into anything, "I'm alright, no need to worry about me." He turned his gaze back to the road as he continued, "One of my Shadow Clones came across a small raid camp, so I had him go ahead and take it out for us while the Saxons slept to save time while he takes the supplies they had for us to use." Naruto looked back up to see that Arturia nodded, however he felt that was some bit of… reluctance to what he did, "Was there something wrong, my king?"
Arturia shook her head, "No, there was nothing wrong with what you did. I agree that we will need supplies to keep our growing army healthy and strong, and the fewer enemies the better for us, however…" She seemed to grip the reigns of Llamrei a little tightly, "…it's not very chivalrous to attack a sleeping opponent."
Naruto cocked a brow in confusion, "What's 'chivalrous' mean? I mean if we can take out an enemy with whatever advantage comes our way, shouldn't we use it to our benefit?" That was one of the many things that had been instilled within him as a Shinobi; to take advantage of anything and everything on the battlefield, or even create one to suit your situation.
Adapt on the fly or die.
Arturia whipped her head to look at Naruto in shock, "You don't know the chivalric code?" Naruto shook his head, only for her to breath in a bit to get ready for a little lecture, "The chivalric code is something that all knights abide by in order to uphold honor and integrity in battle; even the taking of a life must have meaning in combat. Without it, every battle fought would only bring forth the fires of hell and give rise to new conflict brought forth by hate." Arturia straightened her back as she continued,
"To love God and maintain his church. To serve the liege lord in valor and faith. To protect the weak and defenseless. To give succor to widows and orphans. To refrain from wanton giving of offense. To live by honor and glory. To despise pecuniary reward. To fight for the welfare of all. To obey those in authority. To guard the honor of fellow knights. To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit. To keep faith. At all times to speak the truth. To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun. To respect the honor of women. Never refuse a challenge from an equal. Never to turn the back upon a foe."
Arturia breathed in deeply as she took a moment to catch her breath, "These are the values that knights hold and describe what the chivalric code entails. I intend to fully fight by the code, and win the coming battles without compromising it, with my honor and the honor of all those who follow me intact."
This was something that Naruto admired about Arturia. She wasn't willing to stray away from what she believed to be the right path and wouldn't put anyone in the position where they would have to violate the code of the knight. She'd get along with Mifune quite well in fact, judging from how her code and the Samurai's way of Bushido sounded so similar.
"You know that sounds a lot like Bushido, from the way you described things." Arturia was curious now on something similar to the way she lived by the way of chivalry.
"What is Bushido? And how is the chivalric code similar to it?"
Naruto was recalling what he learned about the samurai from the Land of Iron, and how they lived by the sword, "Well, from what little I remember about the samurai from the Land of Iron, they lived by the sword, kinda like knights do." Rubbing his fingers together, he was trying to recall what he learned from his short time in their country. Snapping his fingers, he remembered as he continued on, "Yeah, their code went kinda like this: The samurai needs to prove that he is just and honourable. The samurai should look at death with disgust. The samurai needs to have full self-control. The samurai needs to be merciful to his comrades. The samurai needs to be polite in every situation. The samurai needs to be honest and respectful. The samurai needs to be loyal to his lord. The samurai will always defend his honor."
Naruto didn't have much time to learn more so, and his was disappointed by that. He looked up to see Arturia was enraptured by his little info dump on her, "I see, so the samurai of your lands live very similarly to us knights." Turning back to the road, as it hid her face from everyone's view, a small smile graced her features, "I hope you can tell me more of your homeland when we have the time to talk."
Now Naruto wasn't too sure if he could tell her too much, but given how interested she was, he felt that he could indulge Arturia without saying he was from another world, "Not a problem, my King."
Ector had his own misgivings about Naruto, but slowly he was warming up to the lad.
Night fell and Arturia gave the order for them to set up camp to eat and sleep, while having some of the senior knights and volunteers train the recruits that came with them with lit lanterns and poles to light up the place.
This gave Naruto the chance to begin his first lesson with Merlin as he stepped into the magus' tent, seeing him already going through a book of sorts unsure of what subject it was, "Ah! You're here; good. While tonight we may not be able to do too much, I can get a better understanding of what you can use." Merlin gestured for Naruto to step forward as his right palm emanated a lime green glow that began to wash over Naruto as Merlin spoke, "Since you have some of the basics down, I'm going to see what your origin and element is to gain a better understanding. However I'd like you to explain just how you managed that duplication ability on your own without an existing Thaumaturgical foundation."
Naruto nodded as Merlin continued his 'scan', "It's a Ninjutsu that I used with my chakra. Chakra's a combination me using my physical and spiritual energy together, and the handsigns help direct the Jutsu into whatever it is that I want."
Melrin hummed as he filed the info away for later as his palm no longer glowed the lime green, "From what I see, your origin is Life, being the Immaterial, and your element is Nonexistence, the Material (4). In short, you can learn everything there is from me, just like I thought." He placed his hands together in a form of mock handsign that Naruto had made as he continued, "Given that Prana and Od are both formed of Lifeforce, it may be easier to think of your 'Jutsu' as a form of Magecraft, where the handsigns…" bringing his hands up as the example, "…are used to kneed the Prana instead of Chakra."
The two heard that things were settling down outside the tent, Merlin ushered for Naruto to head back and get some sleep, otherwise Arturia would scold them both on how their lack of sleep caused them to slog behind.
As everyone settled in for the night, Naruto headed back to his tent which was pitched up next to Arturia's own with the light inside of it already out, signifying that she was fast asleep.
Naruto was drifting into sleep, but suddenly he felt something… foul… just outside the camp. But it wasn't being directed towards him… but at Arturia's tent…
Grabbing a kunai, Naruto rushed out through the camp as quietly as he could to ensure that no one would be disturbed by what would no doubt be a dangerous confrontation between him and this potential enemy.
Rushing through the forest, he found himself within an open field, with what looked like a woman. If ever there was a personification of the term 'tainted perfection' then this woman was it, her body was short and pale, the shade of melted candle wax. Her bust was not substantial but was easily a high B cup that was wrapped in a black dress of irregular design with blue highlights running along its length. Long platinum blonde hair of inhuman perfection hung from the apex of her head to the zenith of the thighs in a waterfall of silvery tresses. There was a cut out in her dress that revealed her navel and Fae symbols sketched into her skin like a set of tattoos meeting up with one large one at her sternum, all in blood red. An obsidian crown was perched atop her head connected to a translucent black veil. The light of the full moon caught in just so letting Naruto see the woman's face in detail, enough to see that she was almost a doppelgänger for Arturia… almost. Where Arturia's face was rounded and benign, this woman's was sharp and cruel, her lips caught midway between a sneer and a smirk. Her eyes were green with a lingering darkness hiding just beyond the senses.
"I was wondering if you would come." Her voice sounded like sweet succulent desire in of itself, "I'm curious though, what is a vampire doing in that girl's company?"
Narrowing his eyes, Naruto gripped the kunai, ready to strike at the woman's throat, but he wasn't sure that he could do it unscathed given how relaxed the woman appeared, "I don't see how that's your business." Naruto's experience with what he assumed was a Fae, judging by her 'feeling' and the Fae symbols, was not good, many of the ones he encountered took a rather sadistic pleasure in tormenting people for amusement.
The woman waved it off as if it were nothing, "Call me curious, I'm always interested in who my dear little sister keeps around her." Naruto wasn't sure what to feel about that little reveal, but only furthered him to be on edge.
"She's your sister?"
"Morgan le Fay, at your service." Giving a mock hand out as if he wanted her to take it, but instead he stayed where he was, unsure of what she was planning, "And if I might add, someone as strong as yourself shouldn't lower themselves to follow someone as weak as Arturia." She gave a sultry smile as if she was trying to seduce Naruto, "If you know how things really are, why not join me instead?" He wasn't sure if she had planned this or not, but it felt as if she was trying to charm him.
Well… he sure as hell wasn't going to fall for that crap, "Sorry…" Naruto smirked at Morgan, "…but you don't strike me as a leader who's worthy for the throne, or worth following for that matter. Not only that, I have a feeling you've got different plans for the country than what Arturia wants for the people."
Morgan scoffed at his words, "Oh please. That little girl hardly knows what's best for Britain, the throne is mine by rights. She was a bastard from the start, and she has nothing but childish dreams. The only reason she was born was for that the red dragon's power would be used to put down all of the invaders and kill that idiot uncle of ours up to the north who somehow managed to obtain the white dragon's power. Not that he even knows how to use it properly…" Morgan licked her lips like a predator ready to pounce on her prey, "…I can offer you far more than she ever could. Even the throne since the sword clearly preferred you over her…" So, she too saw that little incident, "… even myself if you'd like." (5) She was clearly trying to use her sexuality to her benefit, and she wasn't bad at it. If Naruto were younger, he probably would've fallen for it with some struggle to resist, but thankfully that old pervert taught him to resist such things.
"I think you should leave before something happens that we both will regret." Naruto was prepared to strike, even if she managed to have something in play against him, though Morgan's expression changed into that of a calm political player.
"Oh…?" Snapping her fingers, a magic seal appeared between them with a projection of Arturia sleeping soundly appearing, "Do you really think I came here unprepared? What's to stop me from having my own fun with her while we're talking right now?"
"Me."
That actually gave Morgan pause as she tried to contemplate his response, "Excuse me?"
Naruto wasn't going to hold back, "You heard what I said. Me. You clearly wanted something from me, well you won't get it. I have seen empires rise and fall, battled gods and demons that would make you run for the hills, little spriggan (6). I faced the Ultimate One of the Moon and lived to tell the tale. I'll slit your throat if I have to keep Arturia from staining her hands with your blood, she shouldn't have to. It's beneath her." Naruto bore into Morgan's eyes making his threat very clear to her.
Touch her and you die. Your too slow and I'm a lot faster than you think.
Before long, Morgan dipped her head with the shadows of the night obscuring her face and began to laugh out loud at what he just said, "He…hehe…HAHAHAHAHAHA! So, my sister has already turned you into a cuck! Well, well, well… I can see it already. She's captured you and instilled fierce loyalty!" Snapping her fingers, the projection vanished as Morgan got up from the rock she was sitting on and faded away into smoke that withered away but her voice remained.
"You can enjoy the time you have with her right now, but know this…"
Naruto then felt a pair of hands and arms wrap themselves around his body, with one going to his chest and the other slowly making its way down to his manhood, and he heard Morgan speak once again, "…I always get what I want in the end." She gave a slight bite on his ear as if she was showing affection; a clear mocking sign to him.
Naruto twisted around to see that Morgan faded into smoke once again and vanished for good this time. Feeling the urgent matter to get back to camp, Naruto rushed to Arturia's tent to open and see that all was well. Sighing in relief, Naruto decided to always keep his tent right next to hers when they camped, regardless of what was told of him.
He would ask Merlin in private of what happened out of Arturia's sight and hearing, not wanting to have her concern over what her sister tried tonight.
Codex Apostletos
Taken from the notes of L. Bartholmeloi
Subject: Naruto Uzumaki
Entry number: 2
One point of interest for myself and others of a more... reproductive inclination in the Association is the nature of Naruto Uzumaki's Thaumatrugal Foundation and Magic Circuits. I am unsure if such things could be passed on to the next generation in the form of a crest or if Uzumaki could even reproduce due to his status as an Apostle. Origin and Element are one of the few widely known facts about Naruto Uzumaki amongst the Clock Tower higher ups with only those of the rank Brand and above being able to view them. His Origin is Life (Immaterial) and what I believe to be the reason for his lack of vampiric impulses, we know that since Brunestud originally created the True Ancestors and they subsequently began to feed the creation of Dead Apostles was born out of... apology. A form of impure immortality conferred upon the food source as compensation for feeding the lusts of Brunestuds's 'children' with a requirement that Blood -the life-giving liquid- be consumed to maintain them. I believe that given the fact that Naruto Uzumaki's body seems to be in a constant state of adaption while adhering to what makes him 'him' means that his Origin was able to 'trick' the fact. Vampiric impulses do not manifest due to the fact that the insighting need i.e. liquid that contains life (blood) is already been fed by his own Origin of Life (Immaterial). It is likely to assume that this trait has passed on to any that he would sire as is the case with [REDACTED]
His odd Thaumatrugal Foundation seems to be based off of his element of Nothingness (Material) where he converts the prana in his body into anything that he needs so long as he can formulate the in between steps. Aria's used for molding prana into the required form for a spell can be used in tandem with him weaving hand signs to set off multi layered Thaumatrugy of varying element or nature as it comes from 'nothing' yet still exists. Given his level of Mystery it is not that farfetched to believe that he may be able to deploy the phenomena known as Divine Words.
In regards to his circuits as a whole it is not correct to refer to them as magic circuits, rather they are a Reversion to the Age of Gods of a composition that has only ever been recorded in the Sajyou family several decades ago. I would estimate their quantity at A and their quality at EX in comparison to the only other well documented record we have on Regression to the Age of Gods, Lugh Beowulf. Coincidentally Lugh Beowulf's former 'owner', Touko Aozaki is a recorded acquaintance of Uzumaki after the "incident" in July of [REDACTED].
Done! I almost got carpal tunnel from trying to finish this up as quickly as possible for my beta, but it was worth it.
(1) While yes, the Roman Empire had all but left Britain by 400 AD there was still an emperor on the throne by the time Uther was King of England and seeing as it is believed that Arthur is a descendant of the Romans it is not that far fetched to believe that Uther knew either Emperor Libius Severus or Anthemius.
(2) While we know that Hagoromo was born about a millennia before Naruto's time we have no real idea when Kaguya actually got here or how long she reigned before giving birth to her sons. And don't sight the "Land of Ancestors" arc from the anime cause its filler.
(3) Naruto has a rather large threat level against both the planet and the people of earth, so much so that too many duplicates would insight the counter force to start purging them. A rule of thumb is the higher that Naruto pushes his power beyond a certain point the harder the counter force pushes back.
(4) Naruto's Origin and element are based on a few different factors, his Uzumaki vitality, the mass boost to said vitality by Kurama, the boost to that already ridiculous Vitality by Sage Mode and the Godlike boost given by Six Paths. His Element is nothing to do with Akasha, rather it is the fact that he is able to convert nothing into something which is the basis of Jutsu and the sublimation of Naruto attaining TSO's... nothiness made out of something. Basically it allows Naruto a lot of free reign when it comes to Magecraft.
(5) If you have ever actually read Arthurian Legend (and trust me, my friend SliferMK2 has) then you would know that Morgan le Fay has a crap ton of lovers so her actions here aren't baseless.
(6) A Spriggan is an ugly fairy
A new chapter finished so quickly you might say? Well, the synopsis has been completed for quite some time now and it's helped out greatly.
I should also address some potential concerns with Naruto in this chapter that may have given off the wrong impressions. Naruto is neither submissive or a masochist. The latter was a joke so don't take that seriously, and the former well Naruto isn't submissive to Arturia. He is subservient to her out of respect for her, but the next chapter will showcase that he isn't submissive.
Anyways, let me know what you guys think in reviews; be sure to tell me what all you liked and or disliked about this chapter as it helps get a better understanding to what you guys like to read here.
So continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as my other stories on my profile, until next time!