Rise of the Shadow
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't either of them.
It's been about a week since Naruto found himself in this new world and before he could complete anything for the man named Ezra, in a fashion befitting his background, he went Intel hunting.
The land was called Midcyru, and it was a land at war. Two sides divided; one was the Empire of Midcyru lead by it's High King Jorsin Alkestes, the other was the newly formed Kingdom under the self proclaimed 'Godking' Roygaris Ursuul, A man who has seized the opportunity to claim a new power for himself.
That was an important fact for Naruto, because once he knew there would be fighting, he needed to learn how the people of this world killed.
There were two powers of note; one was 'Talent', which Ezra explained, was something everyone had but not all could use. 'Like Chakra.'. It certainly felt very similar to his own blue chakra, not as dense, but it could probably be used for the same purposes.
Those who used Talent were called the Magi or Magae, depending on gender, and the way they used their 'Magic' struck Naruto as very similar.
A Red Mage specialized in offensive magic, the most common spell being a fire ball, a crude, almost primitive version of the Katon jutsu. The Red Mage, overall, didn't impress. From what Naruto saw, they were physically weak and their attacks drained their Talent quickly. Individually useless, as a group, an annoyance at best. However, when paired with the next type of mage, their usefulness became clear.
A Green Mage, specialists in healing, have the best control over their talent, using just the right amount to heal what was intended, they also have the ability to refuel a person's Talent to a limited extent. On the battle field, these were the key; kill them and the army falls. Naruto compared these to the medic nins he had seen from the elemental countries, although not nearly as strong.
The last was the Green Mage, masters of creation, but that was hardly an appropriate title. More than anything, they are masters of sealing. They create magical weapons by sealing a portion of their magic into the weapon, the power of the enhanced weapons are then judged based on the amount of magic embedded into them and the quality of the weapon itself, some were so powerful they were considered magical artifacts.
The second power is the one that caused Roygaris Ursuul to break away from the united kingdoms under the High King. It is called Vir, and above all, it reminded Naruto of his Kyuubi chakra, As Ezra
explained, Vir is deadly to humans, it's power draws directly from the body and after several uses, the body begins to be taken over. "Vir is like a parasite." he had described. Few could use it and even fewer would. Vir had only recently been discovered and it's power hasn't been well recorded yet, but it is assumed that even an amateur in the use of magic could take down a well trained mage with the use of Vir. Currently, the only ones who will use their Vir, are the mages willing to die under the command of Roygaris Ursuul.
The regular soldiers were just odd to Naruto; they have no Talent, but are all well trained in the use of weapons and tactics. In the elemental countries, as far as Naruto knew, if you had no chakra, combat had no place in your future. Even odder, are the weapons and armor they use; the swords are large, bulky and slow, made for cutting through armor and crushing bones rather than slicing through like a katana or ninjato. A killing blow was more likely to come from internal bleeding rather than an accurate cut, but that was in the hands of regular soldiers. Masters could surely do more. Their armor was effective for the kind of battles that Ezra had described but they were still useless in Naruto's opinion, because after all, Wetboys don't believe in defense.
Ezra asked him to kill a creature called the Dark Hunter, yet he wouldn't voluntarily reveal anything to him. Supposedly, from what he managed to understand from Ezra's notes, this creature was created by mixing Ezra's own Talent with an artifact that Ezra named the Ka'kari. The result was a creature who stood on it's hind legs, it's tail used for stability, it's two claws backed up with powerful arms, it's head resembled a dragon and it's eyes, a wolf. Immune to Talent, only the physically strong could stand against it, but it was created with the strength of forty men and the speed to run circles around an army in seconds. No one could match it.
Naruto was still unsatisfied with the information he had managed to get in a week. He needed to know more. As of now, he was still at a disadvantage. However, what he could do coped up in Ezra's labs beneath the High castle was limited. Added to that, were the seals placed on him. Ezra said they were a precaution; most were compulsion spells, seven in total. One for Ezra and the other six for the people he trusted most. Naruto had yet to meet them. At first, he didn't know what a compulsion spell was, but from the name, he could hazard a guess. The spell forced the victim into total obedience. Initially, he hated being chained like that, but after, he realized that it was no different from before. He was a killer and he never had a choice in that. Another seal, was a language spell, allowing him to speak and
understand the local tongue.
"Naruto! I would like you to meet someone." Ezra came down the stair case leading to his labs. He had a big grin on his face.
"This is Trace, a close friend of mine."
Behind Ezra was a woman, a little taller than Naruto, but shorter than Ezra. She was an average looking woman, beautiful in a plain way. She wore the robes that identified her as a Maja, she walked with confidence and power. Naruto could feel her Talent, she had more than Ezra, but it was unrefined making her less formidable. Any respect he would've had for her went down the drain after she introduced her self.
"Is this him Ezra? Well then, I am Trace, the High King's Mage General, bow for me."
Try as he might Naruto couldn't stop his body from getting on one knee and bowing his head before her, it was humiliating, This woman was the first person he has ever bowed before, not even the hokage could force him to. He didn't know why he hated it, maybe it was a way to keep his humanity or his independence, which was odd because he accepted his role as a tool without hesitation.
"Ha! That's a pretty odd bow, I like it. Kid, you certainly know how to make a woman feel like a queen.
Come on get up, I was just joking." Cruel joke bitch. "Introduce yourself." Another command.
"My Name is Naruto Uzumaki." He replied in a monotone voice.
"Uzumaki? Are you from Ceura?"
"Wha-" "Yes, Naruto here was from Ceura, from the eastern clan to be specific." Ezra nudged Naruto
in the ribs while winking at him.
"Is he that powerful? Does he really need seven compulsion spells?" Trace spoke with clear skepticism in her voice.
"Yes he is, and you know what they say, 'Never trust the Ceurans' " A lie, They were the most honorable people on Midcyru.
"If you say so..." Trace continued to stare at Naruto skeptically.
'Enough of this.' Naruto let loose his chakra. The entire lab pulsed with a wave of blue; Naruto himself was covered with swirling Chakra, even those in the castle above felt the sheer power hit them. Both Ezra and Trace were blown off their feet, although the former managed to land back on them.
"Is that good enough for you?"
Trace pulled herself up. "Y-yes, it was alright." She said, clearly shaken, although that was something she would never verbally admit, even under pain of torture.
In the upper halls of the Castle, Jorsin was busy planning for the next engagment against the Godking; in every way, he was out classed by Roygaris in the upcoming battle. The location was The freeze, a collection of territories in the north under his control. While the barbarians who populate The Freeze were uncouth and outlandish, they were ferocious fighters and they were invaluable. This would be the first major battle of this war.
"You look constipated. It would do you well to relax a bit." A voice spoke, knocking Jorsin out of his thoughts.
"Acaelus, shouldn't you be preparing with the others?" Jorsin asked, slightly irritated at his best friend.
"Your generals are more than prepared. Have you seen Trace?" Acaelus asked.
"She is in Ezra's labs, meeting whatever assassin he found to deal with his problem." Jorsin paused and grinned. "Are you going to ask her?"
Acaelus didn't look flustered despite his friends teasing. "Yes, I want this done before the war overtakes everything."
"Well, I'll fully support you, but only if you make me your witness." Jorsin bargained, even though he knew Acaelus would include him; they have after all, been friends since childhood.
"You know you will. Now lets go see Ezra's assassin."
Trace has met many powerful men in her life. Hell, She was friends with the High King for god's sake. However, none of them made her feel such a primal fear as this Naruto has. Sure, she would be afraid to be on the opposing side of Acaelus' blade or Ezra's magic, while Jorsin could destroy her with both; but this fear she felt was different. In normal cases of fear, the natural human instinct of fight or flight takes over, where the body reacts to your fear by pumping adrenaline. With Naruto, she felt the need to prostate herself before him and submit, in an attempt to appease him. The fact that he's the one with the compulsion spell made her feel even worse.
"How old are you little assassin?" She asked.
"Fifteen, and I'm a Wetboy, not an assassin." He spit the word out with disdain.
"Wetboy?" She asked. "What is that? Never mind, sounds stupid." She certainly sounded really snotty.
"Fifteen? That's pretty young, are you sure you have what it takes?" A baritone voice spoke out.
Naruto turned around to see two large men walk into the room. One wore a ridiculous (In Naruto's opinion anyway) bright red robe with gold armor underneath, he stood at 6'1", his face was regal and wise, young enough to show power yet old enough to show experience. Sitting upon his brown hair was a gold crown. This was Naruto's first time seeing High King Jorsin Alkestes.
The other man was shorter than Jorsin, but not by much. He had black hair and he wore sterling silver armor. He looked like a skilled enough man but he didn't quite exude the magical Talent that Ezra, Trace or Jorsin did. His eyes held an innocence that Naruto never thought he would see in a man who held a blade.
Speaking of the blade, that is what attracted Naruto most; it was his first time seeing one of the weapons of this world. It was sheathed in a sturdy looking sheath, unlike those for ninjatos. The concealed blade was also much longer than a standard katana, with it's hilt made in a curved cruciform style with space for two hands. The guard was embroidered with gold and blue accents, it's grip made of a fine blue leather. There was no visible pummel, but that could mean that the hilt acts as its own counter weight, which hinted at the quality of the materials used.
"Why don't you give me a chance to prove myself...or not, doesn't really matter to me." Naruto spoke,
keeping his voice as apathetic as possible.
"Not a bad idea."
"Jorsin!? I need him to kill the hunter!" Ezra said.
"Don't worry." Jorsin waved him off. "This will be a quick test."
"To the north, there is an encampment of Krul."
Krul, Naruto had read, are the soldiers of the Godking, and theoretically, they were invincible. Krul were monsters created from human bones. Demons that Ezra's notes refereed to as "The Strangers" take the bones to use as a medium for their power. While they could be killed, the soul of the demon would always just find a new body to inhabit, and a new body would appear in the form of a dead soldier. So, for every soldier they lost, the Godking had his army replenished.
The Krul followed a hierarchy of thirteen; first came the normal Krul, and they looked like the walking dead, nothing really special about them. They had all the strength and speed humans had, nothing more, although these Krul were very unintelligent. To control thirteen of these, a white Krul called a daemon was summoned, they were faster and stronger but not smarter. Thirteen daemons made a squad, thirteen squads made a platoon, which meant thirteen daemons. To control these, a Bone Lord is needed. A Bone Lord is much more powerful than a daemon, much more intelligent and has the ability to use Talent. This was where things got hard for humans. Any decent mage could handle a Bone lord with some Talent, but Thirteen Bone Lords made a legion, which could only be controlled by a Fiend. A fiend had magic on par with top mages and the strength to go along with it, their intelligence was above the average human. Thirteen Fiends made an army, which was 28,561 Krul. To control an army, an Arcanghul is needed. They were on par with the High King himself and were very intelligent. Thirteen Arcanghuls were controlled by a Night Lord, No one knew how much power a Night Lord held, but in his notes, Ezra made calculations based on the growth of each new level, and he estimated that a Night Lord was nearing the power of a god. How the Godking summoned these monsters, no one knew, but every one hoped that a Night Lord was the end of it.
"This isn't a large encampment, but it has a Bone Lord and in three days, the fiend who controls this Bone Lord will be 'visiting' and I want him dead." Jorsin then lost his serious voice. "But enough of that, introductions are in order." He shoved the man beside him forward.
"This is Acaelus Thorne, my best friend and I am of course Jorsin Alkestes."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, it's good to meet you, I'm sure."
"That's an interesting sword you have." Acaelus finally spoke up.
"It's called a ninjato, it's a short sword... Perfect for accurate killing."
"You don't say...How about we go cross blades?"
Naruto paused for a second, as if he was weighing the pros and cons.
"Sure, let's go, but don't blame me if Retribution guts you."
"Retribution? Your sword has a name?" Acaelus looked at his own sword sheathed at his waist "Maybe I should do that too."
Naruto and Acaelus stood metres apart, ready to move with the slightest provocation. Jorsin, Ezra and Trace all stood to the side; they were in Jorsin' personal practice chamber.
"The kid doesn't stand a chance, Acaelus is a sword master." Trace said, making sure her voice was loud enough for Naruto to hear.
"You're just biased towards Acaelus, just wait, Naruto might surprise you again." Ezra replied.
"Again? What do you mean?" Jorsin asked.
"Didn't you feel that pulse of Talent while you where upstairs?"
Jorsin's surprise was clear in his face. "That was him!?"
"Yes, Talent won't help him against the hunter though, so this fight with Acaelus might tell us how he would fare."
"Would the two of you shut up! They're starting."
After they had finished sizing each other up, the first to move was Acealus. He charged to Naruto and gave a test swipe. A swipe that Naruto was forced to dodge. 'I can't even parry something like that, it'll damage Retribution.' Acaelus had a strong sword arm, and if Naruto had to guess, odds were that their swords wouldn't meet this entire battle.
"Naruto! Feel free to cut him up a bit, don't worry, I'll heal him." Ezra was giving him permission to win, just not to kill.
With speed, he disappeared from human eyes, it was average jonin, but for people like this, it was more than enough. He appeared behind Acaelus, Retribution's black blade stained red.
Acaelus didn't know what happened, one second he was face to face with the kid, the next he had a large slash running down the unarmored side of his leg. He knew in a straight fight, he couldn't win, 'I need to use my Talent.'
He started gathering up his Talent, enough for a large enough fireball to engulf Naruto, not enough to kill him though.
As the fireball launched, Naruto tried to move out of the way, when he realized that he couldn't move. He looked down an saw sentient arms of Talent holding him in place.
As the Fireball hit, flames erupted around Naruto and his visage disappeared behind red flames.
Acaelus relaxed and sheathed his sword.
"Acaelus! Don't you think that was a little much?" Trace asked. Jorsin on the other hand, knew better.
As Acaelus walked off, Naruto's burning form released a shock wave of chakra and the flames were
dispersed. Naruto stood proudly, not a burn on him; not even his clothes were charred.
"Why are you walking away? You haven't won." Naruto said, with a little arrogance seeping into his tone.
Acaelus turned in surprise. He started unsheathing his sword only to be stopped when Naruto appeared before him, Retribution's blunt side holding his sword in place by impeding the guard. When he looked
closer, he realized that a dagger was at his neck.
"You lose."
"That was hardly honorable." Acaelus was a sore loser, but the smirk on his face told a different story. For him, a new bond was formed today.
"I'm a Wetboy, there is no honor for us." He replied, smirking right back, he could feel a camaraderie with this man.
"What's a wetboy?"
Before Naruto could answer they were interrupted by the sound of clapping. "Impressive, impressive. No wonder Ezra brought you here." Jorsin praised. "But enough of that, Acaelus, don't you have something to do?"
Acaelus looked flustered, almost nervous. He stood up straight, completely sheathed his sword, and walked over to Trace, got down on one knee and looked up at her.
"I planned to do this after I won, but what can I do?" Trace looked on, in shock, but anyone could tell happiness was swelling up inside her. "Trace, I love you. Will you marry me?" He pulled out a ring and presented it to her.
"YES! YES!" She started jumping around, arms flailing. After a minute, she stopped and noticed that every one was staring at her, but she didn't care. Trace jumped into Acaelus' arms crying.
"Yes, you stupid man. Of course I'll marry you." She leaned up, tilted her head, and they shared their first kiss.
Beside Ezra, Naruto looked on curiously. "What are they doing?" He asked, and in the most over dramatic way, Ezra turned around and gaped at Naruto.
"It's called kissing. What exactly were you taught?"
"I know that, moron. What I mean is, why are they doing it here?"
Ezra stared at Naruto for a second before smirking at him.
"What?"
"Your surprisingly innocent." He grinned.
"I'm not innocent, I've killed more people than I care to count." Ezra was starting to piss him off.
" That's not what I meant " He replied in a sing-song voice. 'Ezra the Mad for sure.' Naruto thought.
"Well, anyway." Ezra put his arm over Naruto's shoulder. "Why don't the two of us head to the city and see the locals? We have to get you some clothes that blend in, cause you can't walk around like that."
As Naruto let himself be dragged across the city, Trayethell, he inadvertently began to compare it to Konoha. It was a lot larger, although the buildings looked less sophisticated and the streets were busy and dirty, even in the noble quarters. However, judging by the quality of the buildings, the gap between rich and poor was large.
His new clothes were uncomfortable at best. He outright refused to wear full armor, but at the same time, Ezra wouldn't let him leave the store without blending in. So, in the end, they compromised. His arms were covered in silver armor, ending at the pauldron on the shoulders. He had black boots on, which were then covered by the greaves over his shins. Everything else was of his own choosing. Blue military style clothing with white trimming. The damn woman who helped him pick it out insisted she brush his hair, normally it would be messy, but right now, it was actually fairly neat. In his opinon, this was a decent disguise, all that would be needed would be to cover up his whisker marks with some make up.(Google Tales of Vesperia's Flynn Scifo if you really need to.) However, as soon as he could, he would change back into his more comfortable clothes.
"Naruto! Pay attention." Ezra was pointing at the ground. There lay a woman, whom he had probably knocked into without noticing. Naruto grimaced, what would Kira say if he learned that he was caught off guard, 'He'd probably roll over in his grave, not that he has one.'
"Sorry ma'am. I wasn't paying attention." Naruto offered her his hand and pulled her up. This was when he got a good look at her. Her dark red hair struck out through all the dirt and grime on her face, not that her face was bad to look at, in fact, it was quite beautiful. She wore the drags of a peasant but she still stood with pride. He'd bet his face looked like a fish out of water, 'I can hear Ezra cackling behind me.'
"It's alright young man, it was entirely my fault, I was in a hurry." She smiled at him, and hell, it made him feel good.
"Uh, it's okay, miss..." He needed help, this was way out of his comfort zone, where did Ezra disappear to?
"Kirandria, Kirandria Wyant. Nice to meet you."
"...Naruto Uzumaki." Damn, he screwed up. He gave his real name. It was his first time speaking with a civilian woman, she's probably never even killed before, such innocence made him weak in the knees.
"Why were you in a hurry?"
"I'm meeting someone, but now I'm late." Kirandria replied.
"Don't worry, climb on my back and I'll take you." He ignored her skeptical look. "Trust me, but you'll
have to guide me, I'm new to this land."
Kirandria huffed and pouted like a child. "Alright, but if you touch me in a bad way, you'll be punished."
'Punished? If I touched her in a 'bad way', she'd be dead. How can she punish me?'
"Alright, if you say so."
She climbed on and wrapped her hands around his neck. Her breasts were pressed against his back, and it made him feel a little hot. "The house is all the way at the end of the block, it's the big white one, you'll know when you see it."
Naruto jumped to the roof rafters and from there, with blinding speed, rushed towards the house the woman described.
As he landed, Kirandria, got off and wobbled away, trying to regain her balance. "How did you go so fast?" She managed to mumble out.
"Magic." The sarcasm meant Naruto was starting to feel more comfortable around her.
"Right, well anyway, We're here." She gestured towards a large white house; it was a decent looking one, not quite a noble's but certainly not a peasant's. The door opened and out came a Magus, a man of average height and build, abundant with Talent; he was probably above the average mage.
Kirandria ran toward him and Naruto felt a pain in his chest as he watched her hug him.
"Covian, this is Naruto, he really helped me out." The man, Covian, looked at Naruto and nodded in thanks.
"Naruto, this is my fiance, Covian Sovari."
Naruto didn't know why, but he felt miserable, but even worse, he felt defeated by a man he had never met before.
"Why don't you join us for dinner?" Shit, this woman was torturing him.
"Sure."
One Week Later
Hidden by the shadows, Naruto stalked his deader, A fiend, who called himself Rave. The creature was tall, easily 7', he resembled a human in structure, but where the lesser Krul were akin to the living dead in both appearance and Habits, this fiend had fully formed flesh and acted like a human would.
As he passed by small groups of Krul, he found himself smirking at their stupidity; he was going to kill their commander while they let him through, all the while grunting to themselves. He just ignores the fact that he's invisible to their eyes.
He moved towards the tent where the fiend entered, stood still, closed his eyes and used chakra to enhance his hearing.
"When will we attack?" He heard a deep but garbled voice ask.
"Dawn, tomorrow." This voice sounded clearer, much more human like than the previous one. "The Godking wishes your legion to serve as a distraction, with this platoon leading the charge. Do not fail the Godking, the Masters will be...unamused, if you understand my meaning."
Naruto heard the bones of the other one crack in what he assumed was nervousness.
"Yes, my lord, I will not fail."
A figure walked out of the tent, and it wasn't the fiend Rave. It was a creature who's body completely consisted of bones arranged in a way that vaguely looked like a human's, however, there were obvious differences. Where the hands were suppose to be, there was two large claws that were clearly used for disemboweling his enemies. Protruding from his skull were four sharp horns, two coming from behind both cheek bones and two upon his head. There were no legs that could be seen under the skirt-like armor he wore, instead, pure Talent let him glide above the earth. On his head was a crown of gold accompanied by a gold plated mantle with two shoulder guards, skulls emblazoned upon them. This was an Arcanghul. He was accompanied by four Bone Lords, two on each side. Add to that, the fiend Rave, this was beyond his abilities. He would have to wait it out.
As the Arcanghul passed by the spot Naruto was hiding himself, the creature paused and turned his head right towards him. Naruto's breath would have hitched if he wasn't so experienced. He could see that there were no eyeballs in the sockets, there was Talent leaking out of them like tears instead. He opened his mouth to speak and Talent came out like a man breathing in cold air. However, before he could speak a Bone Lord appeared and Naruto didn't hesitate, he made himself scarce quick.
"...Master...calls.." The Bone Lord spoke.
"Hm, the lord beckons... Time to leave. After all... The High Arcanghul, Lych, lives to serve." He looked at the spot were Naruto was, then turned and left. Concealed in a nearby tent, Naruto thought to himself 'That was intense. The High Arcanghul Lych, I'll remember that name.'
As Rave walked back to his command tent, Naruto came to the conclusion that he would wait until day break, just to be safe.
Jorsin sat on his throne, standing beside him was Acaelus and across from them, standing in a uniform line, were his most trusted generals. Some were legitimate decorated soldiers, while others were kings under his command. More importantly, they were all close friends.
"Jorsin, where is this magical artifact you told me about?" This was EphraimArikus Daadrul, the young king of Cernia, a lance master and great tactician. A man with a bright future.
"It's in Ezra's possession, he has a surprise for all of you."
"Is that what he's been going on about lately? Wasn't he trying to create something?" Trace asked.
Jorsin sighed, it was suppose to be a surprise. He looked at Acaelus and shook his head, the man was marrying her.
"Yes, Ezra is doing his best to create weapons for us to use against Roygaris Ursuul."
"Do you know what powers these artifacts have?" Asked Oren Razin, a brute of a man, hailing from Fraiku, he was a veteran general who has seen many battles, all seared into his visage throughout the years, but those were scars he wore with pride.
"I've named them the Ka'kari my friend, and trust me when I say, you'll love their power." Ezra surprised everyone as he entered the great hall. Behind him, being carried by Talent, was a small chest, which was brought to rest in front of the six generals.
"Through my insane genius..." He paused for laughs, but the only thing he got was a glare from Trace. "I have created these, just for you. No explanation needed, choose one and have fun!" He opened the chest and stepped back.
In the chest lay six orbs of different sizes and colours, and they all radiated great Talent.
"I call this one!" Oren seized the chance to get the largest of them all. The brown Ka'kari. He activated it by infusing his Talent with it and then it covered his body like a second skin and became stone; this was the Ka'kari of earth.
A women with signature dark Ladeshian skin walked forward, Irenaea Blochwei, the Queen of Ladesh and ally of the Midcyru Empire picked up the much smaller green Ka'kari. She smiled when plants bloomed through the bricks around her; this Ka'kari gave power over plant life.
Next came Corvaer Blackwell, a red mage with the temper to match. He walked over and picked up the Red Ka'kari. Fire burst around him and he smirked. "Of course, the colours are related to their element,
how predictable."
Shrad Marden, leader of the mage school Sho'Cendi in Modia came and claimed the Blue Ka'kari, and predictably, all the waters nearby rushed to him. "Control over liquid? Just imagine, I could drain a man of his blood."
Two Ka'kari remained in the chest, one silver, the other white. It was between Ephraim and Trace. Neither Ka'kari had any corresponding element they could think of. Trace walked forward and picked up the white orb, looking at it curiously. She used her Talent and let the Ka'kari overtake her. The white covered her completely and for a second, all that could be seen was blinding white. After the glow receded, the previously plain woman was gone, in her place was the most beautiful woman any in the room had ever seen. She looked around in question; in her eyes, nothing had changed, no new powers, but once she looked into the eyes of the men in the room, she instantly knew what she gained. The White Ka'kari was the Ka'kari of Glamour and Charm. Acaelus found that he couldn't look away.
Last was the Silver Ka'kari, left for Ephraim He picked it up and activated it. As with Trace, he felt nothing change, but this time, even the physical appearance remained the same. He looked at Ezra questionably.
Ezra sighed. "Alright, I'll use you as a 'demonstration'. Acaelus, give me your sword." After he was handed the great sword, he walked up to Ephraim and gutted him with it. The remaining generals were shocked and alarmed.
"Ezra! Have you gone mad!?" Yelled Irenaea, everyone else looked ready to attack.
"Wait! Wait!" He threw his hands up in surrender, "Just watch."
Ephraim pulled out the blade, disbelief written on his face. Before their eyes, the wound closed instantly.
"Do you all understand now? Not only do they grant powers over elements, but the also make you impervious to that particular element."
"You." He pointed towards Ephraim "Obviously hold power over metals, they won't ever harm you."
"Corvaer, fire can't burn you." That's useful considering most offensive magics are fire based.
"Shrad, you'll never drown." Pretty useful bonus to an already powerful artifact,
"Oren, I can guarantee, buried alive is not the way you're going to die." Semi useful?
"Irenaea, anything from plant life will never hurt you, you'll be immune to poisons and the like." She nodded, that was something she could live with, she was a tactician, so she wouldn't be on the front lines anyway.
"And lastly, Trace, you won't ever be seduced? Not completely sure what the White Ka'kari grants, but I'm sure it'll be useful." Trace wasn't actually listening, she was looking at her self in a mirror.
As the generals were talking amongst themselves about their abilities, Ezra walked up to Jorsin and whispered in his ear. "The last replicate is too unstable to be used, and the original, well, let's say it doesn't feel like being used by me. Maybe you'll have better luck." Jorsin nodded and then he addressed
his generals,
"Go, test out your Ka'kari, incorporate them into your tactics, report to me once you finish." After they had left, he turned to Acaelus and Ezra. "Well, let's go see if I can wield the original."
Naruto had waited for what seemed like hours before the presence of the High Arcanghul disappeared, and finally, he could begin his work.
While he had been in hiding, he learned a couple things, one was that Krul ate human flesh, second was if they didn't eat for a prolonged period of time, they would rot and their bodies would crumble to dust. Since there hasn't been any major battles yet, there was no large supply of food in the form of enemy soldiers. So a good portion of the platoon here was starving.
When he walked into the command tent he almost had to cover his nose to block out the smell, but he managed to ignore it. On on side of the tent was a large pile of bones,most likely the left overs of the Fiend's food. He crouched in the corner and surrounded himself with chakra, melting into the shadows.
The Fiend would be walking in soon.
As Rave enter the tent, Naruto noticed that he was flanked by two Daemons, their white skin acting as a beacon in the darkness. According from what he read, they wouldn't be a major problem, if he managed to kill the Fiend first.
He sent his chakra towards his feet to muffle the sound, slowly drew Retribution and crept towards Rave. The fiend's bulky ears twitched as Retribution's edge cut through the air and landed in between the shoulder blades, as it pierced the creature's heart. Pity Naruto didn't know Krul didn't have a heart; their body held together and driven by Talent.
Rave rapidly turned around, ripping Retribution from Naruto's hands; with the blade still protruding from his chest, his Talent wrapped it self around Naruto holding him in place. The Daemons grabbed his shoulders, further restriction his movement. Rave pooled his Talent into his hand, forming a lance of pure Talent and impaled Naruto with it, ironically right in the same spot Naruto stabbed him in. The last thing Naruto saw was it's disgusting face sneering at him.
Naruto awoke in what looked like a sewer with pipes in ridiculous positions. It was the visual representative for the seal; all the Kyuubi's chakra syphoned into those pipes and into his reserves.
As he walked forward he was almost blown off his feet by a very familiar chakra.
"Hello human, this is the first time you've visited in a long time. Miss me?"
Naruto's hand flew to his forehead and he began massaging his temples. Dealing with the demon was always stressing.
"Am I dead?" Asked Naruto.
"Dead!?" Boomed the Kyuubi, "Death is something you'll never have to deal with, despite your profession. You're immortal, human."
Naruto's mouth flew open, he tried to speak , but he quickly found that the shock was too great. All he could manage was a slight nod, signalling the demon to continue.
"I live inside you, did you really think having my chakra wouldn't have any affects on you?"
Naruto finally recovered and asked, "Is it an immortality like Madara's?"
"Don't insult me! Yours is a true immortality, you'll recover from any wound, live through the ages and eventually, you won't even be able to die."
"What do you mean by that? I won't die? I though you said I was immortal."
"You are, but it takes time to for you body to adjust to your new...status. There is a brief period of resting time before you can 'wake up', however, the more you die the shorter it gets. Eventually, you'll be able to regenerate even a decapitated head in a couple seconds."
"I see, what do you mean by 'status'?"
"That's a story for another time, for now, just this once, I send you back right away. You don't want to wake up half eaten, do you?" The Kyuubi pushed Naruto out of his mind scape using it's chakra.
After it noticed Naruto was gone it smirked and said, "Maybe I should have mentioned, the more he dies, the more he becomes demonic... No, he didn't need to know thThe conecat." It giggled, like a woman?
As the Daemons began to walk towards their food, they licked their lips in anticipation. This was a meal their master had personally given them. They weren't ready for the torrent of red power that burned them to ash. As the corpse opened it's eyes to reveal red slitted pupils, the entire camp was unpre pared for what was to follow. As the sounds of death filled the air and the stench of blood tainted the ground, a group of nearby monks saw the sun darken to a blood red, these monks were the Hecatonarhs, believers of the Hundred Gods. To them, this was a sign; a new god had been born. They looked at each other in panic, sat down in a circle and started praying. All of them were mumbling the name Nysos, God of death and blood; their religion had a new god.
Naruto himself wouldn't realize who Nysos was until people centuries later started saying the massacre at the Screaming Winds was his birthplace.
AN: This chapter was hard to write, add to that, is the fact that the second half is largely unedited, I'm unsatisfied. Anyway, Naruto's immortality; right now, it's like C.C from code geass. He'll die, but his body will regenerate until he wakes up a day or so later. Eventually, he'll be like Alucard from hellsing, who has the closest thing to true immortality in anime. The connection between Naruto and Nysos isn't important, but my OCs Kirandria and Covian are, sort of. There's a seventh replicate Ka'kari, what element does it control? Who will get it? I don't know. I'm kidding of course, but seriously, planning chapter by chapter sucks. Right now, I would put Naruto between an Arcanghul and the High Arcanghul, at least, in a Wetboy style fight (assassination.) Head to Head, in an "honourable" honorable fight, he would probably be at a Fiend's level. Without chakra, he definitly would have lost to Acaelus head to head. Anyway, next chapter has Jorsin and his generals in the battle for the freeze, while Naruto tracks the hunter, fun.
Magus = Male mage
Magi = plural Magus
Maja = Female Mage
Magae = plural Maja