Authornote: Howdy! The good news is my personal business is over. Bad news is my posting schedule is changing. Partly due to my internet router dying a slow death, but also due to my work schedule is changing. So far, looks like it will be either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday when the new weekly post day will be. In fact, the next few weeks, the posting date will possibly be sporadic between though three days even though I will be keeping up posting weekly. This is the last Friday post, but hope to getting a new weekly posting going pretty quickly once my work schedule becomes set again. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and have a great weekend!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Log Horizon. This is a fanfiction used to help with my writing skills and the fact I enjoy writing stories like these. All I own is the ideas and sub-plots used to make this fanfiction and explore Log Horizon and Naruto in a different way.
"Whew, seems like everyone is still panicking." Naruto let out a sigh of relief, carrying a huge sack on his back. I just hope the Lander merchants take my advice and begin planning to change from selling food items to other items. I know the Adventurers experienced taste like me and will be in horror once they discover the lack of taste in food items. Naruto thought, walking through the streets towards his home.
Once I get my stash of goodies put away, I'll start seeing about calling Adventurers I know. Shiroe and his pupils for sure are on the top of the list since they are my pupil and my pupil's students. Naruto thought, trying to keep a calm mind and focus.
Naruto was a pretty good strategist and could be dead serious when he wanted to. His specialty was on the fly plans and innovation, something he was praised for by Half-Alvs and the Race of Ritual. However, his flaw, which even the Half-Alvs saw as weird, was he was very emotional and reacted to stimuli too fast. He has gotten better at it over the years, but it took a lot just to keep calm in really hairy situations that caught him off guard. Such as the current situation.
I need to also check the Cathedral. As long as there's mana flowing in it, chances are it is still reviving Adventurers… Though, even I don't want to test out if it still work! Naruto shivered at the thought of death. Even as an Adventurer who has revived from the dead countless times, he still could not get used to it.
Even if I revive, the Rez Lag is almost too much to bear. Naruto sighed, trying to get his mind off death. He blinked with hearing a xylophone tone go off and his status screen came up. It showed someone calling Naruto through Voice Chat. "Oh, someone is already starting to make groups." Naruto said, shifting the strap of his sack to one hand and tapped the incoming call box with his free hand. He saw it was Shiroe. Of course. He is my pupil after all and sharp witted as ever.
"Hey, Shiroe," Naruto answered, trying his best to hide his own anxiety.
"Na, it's good to hear you. Where are you now?" Shiroe asked, his voice slightly wavering.
"Leaving the market. I am heading my home to put supplies I brought up before the rush to market. I recommend you head to my place to meet up with me." Naruto looked around, noticing the wary eyes on him while also seeing others begging for help with broken eyes. I don't think I can take the looks much longer.
"Understood. How much supplies do you have? Do I need to do a run as well?" Shiroe asked, a bit worried himself.
"I got plenty of supplies. I was just stocking up on the supplies I can't get easily like salt. The Port is down."
"It is? That's bad. That means we can't get to other cities and servers." Shiroe said, taking a deep breathe. "Oh, Naotsugu is here! I'll call him and meet up with him before heading your way."
"Ah, he's back?" Naruto asked, remembering Naotsugu. A level 90 Guardian who was a bit of a goof. However, he did his job amazingly well and a good man. "It's been a while… Ah, roughly 2 years in your world's time. However-Huh?" Naruto blinked, hearing rumbling and the ground began to shake. He turned and gaped at seeing one of the many skyscrapers suddenly began burst out tree branches.
"What's going on?" Shiroe asked, confused by Naruto's reaction.
"S-Some idiot just used a Cress Growth Potion." Naruto sheepishly laughed, watching as the building literally become a garden of tree branches. "They must have been stuck and used it to break the building… But, that's a bit of a drastic means to do it by." Naruto sighed, "I am heading to my place to check it for damage. It cause a bit of shaking and my home is already rickety."
"Understood. I will try to get a hold of Naotsugu and get there as fast as possible."
"Alright. Meet you soon." Naruto said, closing the chat and going into a bolt. Dammit! I did not need an earthquake now! If my house collapses, then it will wipe an important supply chain in Akiba. Especially if my prediction of the Adventurers will be focusing on ingredient items since they still have flavor.
After a few minutes, Naruto found himself before an old, multi-story shopping center with a well kept landscape in the front. A good ways from the city's center and away from the panic."Thank goodness. Looks like no damage on the outside." Naruto said, entering through the gate to the yard. He rushed to the sliding doors that now replaced the broken glass doors that once were there many years ago. "Inside looks good so far." Naruto said, walking into the first floor of the place he called home.
The first floor was a mostly for storage and meeting spaces, same with the basement through there was a mushroom garden in the basement. The second floor was Naruto's living space and extra rooms for pupils and Adventurers. All the rest of the upper floors was for farming, gardening, crafting, and his ever growing library that was also on the first and second floor as well. Even though 5 floors in total, it's length made up for the lack of height for all Naruto did it. It took Naruto a good bit of money to have Landers help him fix up his home, though Naruto was seeing the building beginning to wear down.
Building is stable on the first floor. Good, I was a bit worry with the shaking. Naruto sighed, looking over the first floor. Though, got quite a mess with getting ready for the Expansion, I need to check the other floors once I get stuff put up. Naruto look over his office spaces that have become war zones for paperwork and books. "Ah, wait, didn't the Expansion happen?" Naruto asked aloud, quickly putting down his supplies in the main storage area. That's right. It was either Homesteading the Noosphere or Noosphere Pioneers. That's the thing that happened differently compared to other days. Right at the Expansion casting, Call of Home activated and teleported everyone to the city. But, what could cause such a massive spell or circuit activation without me knowing? Even I can't pull something like that off alone as it would need a massive circuit. And scripting such a spell… My brain is frying just thinking of that horror.
"Na! Ya home?" Naruto jumped, turning around to see Shiroe walking into the main area of the the first floor.
"Over here. Just finished putting supplies away," Naruto said, greeting Shiroe and seeing a man wearing a large suit of armor following Shiroe. "Wow. You're faces have changed." Naruto said, noticing their faces oddly changed, no longer like he remembered. Shiroe's was still close to his old face, but his eyes were more narrower than before. Naotsugu's scar on his eyebrow was gone, the fierce face of before replaced with a gentler one. "And what the hell happened to you, Naotsugu? You're health is down a bit and your armor is worn out!" Naruto huffed, getting a sheepish grin from the Guardian before him.
"Heh heh! Just had an exciting festival," Naotsugu said happily, "Saved some pretty ladies from a rock in a hard place."
"So you're the one who used that potion," Naruto glared at Naotsugu, "I was worried my home here was going to collapse from the earthquake caused by it. Please be more considerate of Akiba's infrastructure. Some of us live in these buildings." Naruto scolded Naotsugu, tapping the Guardian's armor.
"Sorry. But, man, what the hell is going on? I log in after two years and this happens." Naotsugu groaned, looking around at Naruto's only clean area where some meeting benches were at and branches into hallways to his other rooms. Crystals allowed light to fill into the place, giving a mystic feeling in the air. "What do you think, Nasty Eyes?"
"Don't know… But I think we are now in the world of Elder Tales." Shiroe said, adjusting his glasses.
"Correct. This world is Theldesia," Both men look down at Naruto, both taller than Naruto. "Elder Tales was just a damn portal that allowed you interaction with this world through your avatars. From what I seen and heard, you are now in your avatar's bodies, right?" Naruto looked around the two, studying their bodies. "Outside your faces, you look the exact same to me. Right down to the strands of hair."
"You know what is going on, little man?" Naotsugu asked, Shiroe giving Naruto a skeptical look.
"Not fully. Even I am just confused considering just hours ago, Shiroe was his same emotionless face self like all the other Adventurers. However, something big has happened. The mana within the city has drastic gone down and the port is down. I haven't had a chance to check the Cathedral, but it is at least clear your minds or your bodies have fused with your avatars."
"But, how do we get back home?" Naotsugu sighed, "Plus, how can I trust you are right with how much you role play?"
"I don't role play. I freakin' live here!" Naruto snapped at the both, making them recoil, "I mean, you're now seeing the things I see everyday in the flesh and blood instead in whatever pixels are. How the hell are you still doubting me?" Naruto roared before instantly blinking, "Wait… If you changed… Did I did as well?" Naruto instantly felt a pit forming in his stomach.
"Of course. We are currently stuck in the game." Naotsugu sighed glaring at Naruto as he went to one of the benches. Naotsugu huffed while sitting down, taking his shield off and leaning it on the bench.
"No, he might be right. This is way too real to just be the game," Shiroe said, looking at their surroundings. "Though, the interface is still around, everything else is real. If we try treating this as a game, we could get hurt."
"Hurt, like in… Oh, right. We can break bones now and it might not heal like in the game." Naotsugu said, getting a glare from Naruto.
"Yes, you can break bones. Because this is reality." Naruto snorted, getting horrified looks from both mean. "Though, healing spells can heal such wounds, Adventurers heal quickly to begin with. Also, there might be a way for you to go back to the way things were before, but right now, you need to take care of yourselves. You can use my home like your own." Naruto offered, now getting a look of surprise from both of them. It's odd seeing them with emotions.
"Wait, are you serious?" Shiroe asked, adjusting his glasses, "I know you have this large property, but we have no idea what the coming days will be like. Are you sure you want Naotsugu and I to be here?"
"Of course!" Naruto snorted, snapping his fingers. "You are my pupil, Shiroe! Naotsugu is an old comrade. I refuse to let my friends and family be hobos. You both don't have a place to live or the money to afford anything outside of inns." Naruto crossed his arms at the sheepish looks he was getting. "Thought so. Even though Akiba's cheapest inn is better than most places, it is not safe. Anyone can enter those areas. I can at least set the settings here to keep out everyone but those I want... Which I am doing now. I will get my doorbell set up once I finished checking the rest of my home." Naruto sighed, pulling up his menus. Best keep for just today People of the Land allowed and then switched to only select people by night.
"Wait, so the settings for places still work?" Naotsugu asked, a bit shock before Shiroe stepped forward. "Huh, something up, Nasty Eyes?"
"Na, earlier, I noticed an announcement that all properties are on sale." Shiroe said, frowning at Naruto.
"All the properties have always… The hell?" Naruto said, his eyes widen with seeing the message Shiroe mentioned. "The facilities and city are for sale? This was never possible before!" Naruto said, his fear beginning to bubble up. "Do you realize the possible problems with it? Just owning the Auction House could result in a havoc with the possibilities."
"So, there are things new to you as well." Shiroe said, grimacing while looking over his surroundings.
"Of course. Each Expansion and Patch changes the world. I had one time where I went to sleep and woke up later to find somehow I could understand Adventurers from other countries I couldn't before. I had somehow finally gained the translation circuit of the Landers with still studying it to reproduce one for myself." Naruto grumbled, simply pouting at Shiroe.
"Ah, the Cendrillion's Legacy expansion pack was when the translation system was put into place." Shiroe said, musing while looking at Naruto. "Wait, you're multilingual?"
"Yes. Not that you would realize if… Wait, a sec." Naruto smirked at Shiroe. "How about this? It's from the other world I live in. It's a Japanese, but a lot of the words don't match up." Naruto said proudly.
"Understood it perfectly." Both Shiroe and Naotsugu sighed in annoyance at the blond.
"W-Wait! Seriously?" Naruto asked in shock, instantly beginning to pace."But, even the Landers couldn't understand that before!... Could it be the Expansion has happened and went further than just world class?" Naruto mumbled, his panic now showing full tilt. "This is bad. Very bad. What if Adventurer get the-" Naruto stopped with Naotsugu grabbing the blond's head with his free hand.
"Little mage, chill. Even though I feel like having a panic festival myself, it wouldn't help anything." Naotsugu sighed, though an amuse smile was on his face.
"Sorry. You would be freakin' as well if you understood the grand scale issues this Expansion will be causing." Naruto said, taking deep breaths to try and calm his anxiety. "World class magic is dangerous, yet now we see the worse possible outcome… Okay, maybe not worse consider the world could have been destroyed complete."
"World class magic? What is that?" Shiroe asked. He gave an skeptic look with a hint of interest in his eyes.
"Ah, that's right. Adventurers view magic on attribute type, not size." Naruto said, "I never lectured it to you since it was not something Adventurer's cared about. I guess right now is a good time to explain." Naruto said, snapping his fingers for menus to appear with words in them. "Scholars like myself also classify magic on the effect and size it has one the surroundings. Action class is your basic circuit, much like Pulse Bullet. It's basically just like the magic version of swinging a sword." The action class box dropped and showed a mage casting a magic spell.
"Battle class is where you and I are specialists of, Shiroe." Naruto said as the battle class box opened and showed a party facing a group of monsters. "This is magic that can decide the fate of a single battle. Astral Hypnos is a well known one for freezing enemies in place through the Freezer build."
"So, Tactical Class is the next step, deciding several battles at once?" Shiroe pointed at the Tactical Class as it dropped, showing several battles going on. "Much like how Bards are geared towards raids."
"Correct. This is the high tier Enchanter and Bard spells. More so for Bards, especially when put into raid context." Naruto then smirked. "Strategic class is the highest tier Bard circuits able to last for days and possibly take out castles or even dungeons, which I have done through spells."
"Wait, seriously?" Naotsugu asked while Shiroe scowled at the blond. "There's no kind of magic like that in the game."
"That's because this game of yours restricted you from such spells. Let me finished," Naruto said, giving a teacher's scowl at the Guardian. "War class magic can decide the fate of a war. National class can take down a nation. Continent class could decided the fate of a whole continent."
"World class is magic that could decided the very fate of the whole world, including everyone in it." Shiroe said, his voice becoming cold.
"Correct. The Landers only recorded two such times a world class magic was used. One creating the Demi-Humans that nearly wiped out humanity and other species off the map. The other was the Lander's prayers for salvation being answered in the form of the Adventurers. Basically, the start of the game Elder Tales for you two. Though, I have also recorded the smaller world class spells that are Expansions and Patches as you called them." Naruto said in a serious tone. "Even though I want to meet up with a fellow scholar who is more versed with the study of world class magic of the scale we've witnessed today, it would raise too many eyebrows if I go and see him right away."
"Ah, yeah. With everyone freaking out, leaving the city would be a clear give away you know more." Naotsugu said, thinking hard with what Naruto said. "Though, then again, couldn't you just contact the guy on your Friend's List?" Naotsugu said, glaring at Naruto.
"The new sage is a Lander, not an Adventurer. The Friend's List is a perk only to Adventurers." Naruto said, slumping. "I wish I could speak to Re Gan in such a way though. I suck at communication magic. He might be young for a sage, but his understanding of various forms of magic makes for great discussion. He even knows of code and circuits, though I wish he would correctly use circuit and spell in a sentence."
Naruto frowned, getting the confusion of the two and spoke before they could. "When you say spell, I say circuit. A spell is the most basic form a magic construct formed through code, which is the language of magic and reach race as their own form of it. However, a spell takes a long time, especially if you do it through chanting or writing where the code. A circuit is basically a compacted version, sometimes able to be reused and far faster to use once set up in advance. All the spells and skills as you call it and use are circuits combined together to form the system that is your class."
"So, basically, the UI is a system of circuits?" Shiroe asked, nodding in understanding.
"Correct. It is the result of the Alvs trying to systematize magic that resulted in their extinction. Though, the Alvs focus was preserving what mattered to them: magic and their culture. This resulted in the Half-Alvs, who have gain through their genetics the Alv Codex, the magic code of the Alv." Naruto said while sticking out his tongue to show the emblem on it. "It is the reason why ruins from our ancestors react to us as well as the Alv wanted to make sure some of their culture was preserved even if wiped out. Which, ironically, many Half-Alvs as ended up taking on that very culture without knowing it, though not through direct means." Naruto sighed, remembering the discrimination he faced.
"So even back story is important… If I can really trust what you are saying." Shiroe said, sighing while looking over his hands.
"All that just went over my head." Naotsugu sighed, "Headache festival."
"I give up." Naruto snorted, throwing his hands up in the air as he stomped off. "I am going to check the rest of my home to make sure Naotsugu's little stunt hasn't damaged any of the structure. Feel free to-Oh, wait." Naruto said, turning with a smirk. "Could you two inventory my storage while I am checking for damage? Considering I am letting you two stay for free."
"Lazy ass." Shiroe grunted, glaring at the blond with Naotsugu.
"I take that as a yes… Oh, and feel free to eat any items. Though, don't eat the food items outside ingredients. I'll explain later why, but you might not like what is called food in this world." Naruto said, enjoying the pale look on the men's faces before turning away and heading to the staircase. Though, with all I said… I wonder just how powerful was this Expansion? Could it be a World Fraction? Naruto pondered, biting his lip with anxiety. He was hoping the Adventurers was like him… Or, he could be like them and trapped fully now in Theldesia.