TitanT456 here, sorry for the lack of updates, recently, due to increase in covid cases, there was talk that exams will be delayed and it seemed that was the fact and then all of a sudden bam exams next week and they span an entire month so yeah, admittedly this chapter is short but at the AN at the end, it will be explained why beside be taking your opinion on some things for the fic.

Ficeater96: You reviewed in chapter 3, how this story doesn't have Naruto elements, on chapter 3, I think my point is already clear, in all seriousness though I admit this Naruto is an OOC however with his backstory which is yet to be shown or discussed, his different experiences in this world as to his own, it was unrealistic to make him the same person, think of it as follow if Danzo or Madara raised Naruto will he be the same Naruto, I would advise you to be patient with me and a lot of things will be made more clear.

Klauz here, Sorry for not updating either but school has been getting on my ass lately and my laziness is through the roof at the moment but as soon as I get over my period of laziness, I'll be back to updating.

Also, TitanT is doing most of the writing since he has more free time than so yeah, enjoy.

'Drip, Drop, Drip, Drop'

Naruto opened his eyes to the sound of water drops, he looked around to find himself in a wasteland, as far as the eyes could see. it was raining slightly, and there was smoke rising in the distance. The scene looked familiar to him but he didn't know why. he walked forward and all around him were bodies, as far as the eyes could see, people he had seen in passing in Orario were there. he started to panic, fear gripping at his heart, he ran and ran and suddenly froze, his heart stopped beating for a second and his brain turned to mush. he felt his stomach sink and felt nothing but despair there in front of him was Maria laying in a pool of her blood and standing above her, was a figure he started approaching.

"This is how it will end, King" the figure spoke in a dual-toned voice. The figure turned around and Naruto was on the verge of getting a panic attack.

"You will lose, everything you ever held dear, the age of darkness awaits."

Naruto woke up with a startle drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, he quickly bolted out of the room and almost tripped over Maria who looked at him in concern and worry.

He raised his hand and tentatively touched her cheek as if trying to confirm if she was real or not. "You're ok, you're ok" he kept muttering to himself.

"Naruto, yeah I am ok, please calm down." She spoke to him slowly with a voice full of concern. she grabbed his hand and directed him back to his bed and removed his old sheets and laid him down, she gave him a glass of water and held him close not minding the sweat.

"It's ok, everything is going to be alright." She told him over and over all while rubbing circles on his back and other hand keeping his head to her chest.

She has never seen him like this before, to her Naruto was a pillar of unrivaled strength, be it physically or mentally, to see him so vulnerable, so full of fear, he looked like a cornered animal.

After a while his breathing calmed and Maria looked to see that he had fallen asleep again, she quietly laid him back down, she brushed aside some hair that was stuck to his forehead, and gazed at his face. When she looked at his face full of fear, it hurt, it hurt her a lot, she didn't like that feeling, not one bit.

At that moment, Maria swore that she will be strong and she will do everything she can to make him happy. She loathed the look that was on his face. it didn't suit him, so she will protect his smile, no matter the price what the price is.

xXBreakXx

Months have passed since his return to Orario, Naruto had gone to the dungeon with Maria a lot, they noticed that the monsters were dropping magic stone and blood echoes. some monsters even dropped the items they were used to while on the hunt, and apparently, they were the only ones that could see them and pick them up. Naruto carved the doll's blood gem into a necklace, through it he could do all his leveling up and same for Maria, they had gotten a house and Naruto has set up a workshop in the basement so they could repair and strengthen their weapons, he also made a storage and set up the Rune tool. Right now, Naruto was in the dungeon, today he has gone by himself, Maria was against it but Naruto was adamant that he goes by himself at least for the day.

Naruto was heading deeper into the dungeon, he felt a strong connection with this place ever since he returned from the dream, but today that feeling was stronger, maybe it had something to do with his nightmare. he didn't want to admit it, but that nightmare terrified him and he didn't really want to think about it but at the same time couldn't get it out of his mind. He remembers when the figure turned around, he saw the ripple patterned red eyes again, he was out of it ever since he woke up, but he had to wear a mask of indifference so as not to worry Maria.

Currently, Naruto was heading to the 17th floor, Goliath was slain a while back and won't respawn just yet when Naruto got nearer, he heard sounds of fighting, he was going to head back because he doesn't want to fight in front of other adventurers when he heard it.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaagh*

He recognized that annoying shriek, and he immediately rushed forward.

'How the hell is it here? I spend every single day in the dungeon looking out for anomalies.' It was true beside getting money or training, Naruto was observing the dungeon to see if it will evolve or if there are any clues toward The Hunter's Dream or anything of that sort.

As Naruto got on the floor, he saw a large herd of minotaurs and an enormous creature with disfigured horns called the Cleric Beast, they were fighting against 8 adventurers.

They were holding their own but they were being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and the Cleric beast with his massive size and enormous strength with his annoying healing ability. He quickly went through his inventory and fetched the Saw Cleaver and Hunter's pistol.

The Cleric Beast was raising its massive arm and was going to attack a beautiful girl with long golden hair and golden eyes, wearing a white dress with blue lines and flower patterns along with a blue skirt, white stockings, and blue shoes, who was killing minotaurs left and right, she quickly dodged the arm and attacked the beast but her blade didn't cut through him like she expected so, she jumped back.

"What's with this stupid monster? And what's with this dungeon and all those new monsters that appear?" came the angry shout of a werewolf with gray hair with amber eyes gray wolf ears and tail, he has a blue tattoo on the left side of his face, he wore two jackets on top of each other, one black and on top of it a gray one with a white furry collar, black pants, and gray boots, having white arm and leg protectors.

"That doesn't matter now Bete focus." Said a blond-haired boy with blue eyes, wearing a yellow vest over his purple shirt along with pants of the same color.

Raaaaaaaaaaaagh*

The Cleric beast shrieked again and raised both arms high but before it could descend its arms.

"Carthus Flame Arc" came a shout from a voice none of them heard before and all of a sudden appeared a man with a brown coat and had a weapon that was on fire in his right hand and a strange tool in his left hand.

He quickly slashed the monster at his right leg, the fire cauterizing the wound, monster retailed by throwing its arms at the young man.

*Bang*

The monster staggered crouching low with his head forward, the young man had his left arm raised with the tool releasing smoke, he quickly rushed at the beast putting the blade away and resting it on his back. he plunged his hand in the monster's head and pulled it releasing a massive amount of blood. The beast was thrown back and the young man was on him again.

"Carthus Flame Arc" he grabbed the blade from his back and it lit up on fire again, he slashed the monster's neck, and then the weapon transformed into a long cleaver, that cut the monster again across the neck.

He jumped back and saw the monster clutching its neck with its hand and a red glow coming from it. He put the weird tool in his left hand on his back and raised his left hand, where flames started to appear and then started to swirl and compact on itself in his hand was a ball sphere of flames the size of a football that looked highly unstable, he rushed forward and pushed the ball in the monster's chest.

"Katon: Rasengan."The ball exploded throwing the beast back and engulfing him in flame as it shrieked and tossed around. The young man sheathed his blade on his back and raised his hands over his head and clasped them together where a black bluish smoke with white dots in it appeared.

"Take cover everyone, A Call from Beyond." White orbs appeared around his hands and then shot in different directions raining down on the minotaurs and the beast killing them, but some minotaurs survived by running into the higher floors.

"Amazing." Said a young elf with golden blond hair, blue eyes, she wore a rosette pink cape over a white shirt and a pink corset dress, having a purple bow that hangs from the neck of the shirt.

"That was a no chant magic yet it covered a wide area and did this much damage." An elf with jade green hair and eyes with pointy ears, wearing a green suit with yellow edges a white cape, a black belt, a yellow sash, black leggings, and long brown boots said quite surprised by what she saw.

"Thanks for the-" started the blond-haired boy started but stopped when the young man rushed out of the floor toward the upper floors.

He looked over his shoulder while running "There is no time, some minotaurs escaped to the upper floors." The quickest to get out of her shock and rush after him was the golden-haired girl.

"Captain, what should we do?" asked a dark-skinned girl with dark green eyes and long brown hair, she wears revealing clothes and has sky blue earrings and silver ornaments.

Next to her was another dark-skinned girl who resembled her a lot but had short black hair with two strands tied on each side of her face and gold ornaments instead of silver.

"Aiz would be ok since we are on the upper floors, so there is no need to worry about her and that adventurer doesn't seem like trouble for now at least and even if he's, I'm sure Aiz can handle herself." Replied Finn while he had a different train of thought 'Whoever that was, he's extremely strong and wielded strange weapons.'

Naruto was rushing as fast as possible, he switched the saw cleaver, for the Blade of mercy, an unusual pair of warped swords in each hand. "They shouldn't have gotten too far." He muttered to himself and soon was proven right as he heard a sound from ahead.

"MOOOOO"

He reached the 11th floor he heard a loud moo and it was not just one but several ones making Naruto draw his blade in its connected form and his pistol.

He found a group of minotaurs ahead and one of them noticed him and they all rushed at him with Naruto quickly doing the same they ran quickly toward each other until a bull lunged preparing to gore him with its horns, but Naruto dodged to the side and slashed him across the neck making the minotaur clutch its neck, while Naruto quickly aimed his pistol at the next bull that tried to hit him and staggered him. Naruto placed his blade on his back and plunged his fist into the bull's abdomen and did a visceral attack on him, throwing him back into another two monsters and then disappear in smoke leaving behind the two fallen bulls picking themselves off the floor. Naruto quickly raised his right hand and flicked it forward "BlackSky Eye" fired a straight-shot meteor-shaped Arcane projectile hitting one of the downed two and killing him instantly while also creating a small explosion on contact throwing the other that just got back up to the back.

Naruto's right hand started to sparkle with electricity, he grabbed the blade of mercy, channeling the lightning through it, he sheathed his pistol and split the blade in two. there were 3 minotaurs left one of them was down still picking itself up while the other two looked very aggravated, the two rushed Naruto simultaneously, Naruto looked calm, he stood his ground, and as soon as the first closed in on Naruto it raised both arms above its head and slammed them down towards him, Naruto side stepped and spun around slashing it twice on the back and kicking himself off of it like a springboard. Naruto landed behind the other Minotaur that was going in for the gore, Naruto slashed it on its knee tendons making it drop to the ground, then quickly slashed him across the neck, spun around, and threw the blade in his left hand at the 3rd minotaur that finally caught its bearings, the blade lodging itself right between its eyes, Naruto draw his pistol, shot the first in the eye and quickly plunged the blade in his right hand in its neck killing it.

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief, he put the pistol on his back again, picked up the fallen magic stones, picked up, the 2nd blade and connected the two, and sheathed it on his side.

He started walking back up "Well, it's better to pick up the pace, maybe some of them made it up further." Naruto said as he started running.

Minutes Later…

Naruto was walking towards the 5th floor while also eliminating any minotaur and other monsters that appeared in his way, he killed at least 10 on his way up here other than the other 6 he had already killed.

Although eliminating this kind of monster was not a problem for him, it was a nuisance, especially since the weapons he had on him weren't the best for crowd control. They were very easy to eliminate if you managed to dodge their big fists and their goring, once you fight Abhorrent Beasts with their massive frames, and speeds that shouldn't be possible considering said frames, such brawler-type monsters end up becoming rather jokes. Besides, he enjoyed using simple blades to the more intricate and admittedly weird weapons on him, as he was walking he heard a scream in front of him and Naruto rushed forward when he arrived at the sound, he found someone cornered at a dead end and a minotaur looming over them, so moving quickly Naruto drew his blade and pistol and jumped forward delivering a strong roundhouse kick to the minotaur's head tumbling him away from the kid before shooting him in the eye and then quickly plunging the blade in his neck killing it instantly.

Naruto looked to the person to see he was a teenage girl with white hair and ruby red eyes, he walked up to the shaken girl and crouched down while taking off his hat and mask, and smiled kindly at the girl.

"Hey there miss, you ok."

The girl looked up at him still a little shaken up, "Y-yeah, thank you."

Naruto grinned at her and stood up offering a hand to the girl who felt her face heat up a little, "Don't worry about it, it was kinda my fault they were on the upper floors anyway."

"Is everything alright?"

Naruto heard a soft monotone voice coming from behind him, he turned around to see she was the blonde girl from before.

"Yeah, everything is alright, I think that should be the last of them, sorry I bailed out on you guys like that…." He stopped when he noticed she was staring at him wide-eyed.

"Um, hello, is there something on my face, miss?"

"Aiz." She spoke with her shock still in place.

"Hmm." Naruto hummed tilting his head, "Sorry, did you say something."

"My name is Aiz Wallenstein."

Naruto smiled at her, "Nice to meet you Aiz, my name is Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto then pointed at the other girl, "And this is-…where is she?"

Naruto looked back to Aiz to see she was still staring at him which was unnerving him slightly.

'He looks exactly like him, but how? He should be dead, he disappeared, and if he survived why appear now after all those years and why does he look exactly the same.' those were the thoughts going through Aiz's mind.

"Well, whatever guess she got off her shock and remembered she had something to do, guess I should go as well, see ya later Aiz," Naruto said while putting on his hat and mask again he waved slightly and started jogging back.

"Wait." Aiz raised her hand toward him but he was already off, she shook her head.

"Are there any more of those dumb bulls, Aiz?" Bete appeared around the corner and asked, Aiz lightly shook her head.

"No." 'I will ask him the next time I see him.' She thought to herself as they started moving again.

xXBreakXx

'This is extremely bad.' That was all that was going through Naruto's mind as he raced to the guild.

'Why now? What changed through all those months to cause a monster from the dream to appear? Does it need a stimulant or did it just happen? Was the dungeon undergoing hidden changes all that time? Or was the intervention of an unknown force?' this subject was getting him an extreme headache but if the possibility of the other monsters of the dream showing then he needed to inform the guild of the monsters especially that by all means, a cleric beast is one of the weaker if not the weakest boss and if high tier adventurers had trouble with him whether if there were a herd of other monsters or not was extremely troubling. 'Does this have anything to do with Datara and that Red Eye? I really hope not, I don't think I am ready to face that or if anyone in this world is ready yet.'

The guild was in his view and he started to slow down a bit 'Ok Naruto, breath, what you are about to say is bound to attract unnecessary attention and panic, I wish Maria was here but this needs to be discussed and issued to the adventurers as soon as possible.' After breathing and calming himself, Naruto quickly entered the guild and looked around till he found Eina, who just finished talking with the girl from earlier, he quickly approached the two.

The girl blushed and looked ready to bolt when he arrived, Naruto looked her way and nodded once and then looked to Eina "We need to talk in private, I have really important information to discuss with you and it can't wait."

Eina on the other hand was visibly taken aback, Naruto was known for being laid back and cheerful but here he was all serious and talking with no room for debate. she quickly nodded and stood up, "Sorry, Bella-chan, we will talk more later." She said to the white-haired girl now known as Bella and left with Naruto quickly following after.

They arrived at one of the private rooms and sat down with a table between the two, "Ok, Naruto-kun, Is this about the minotaurs on the upper levels?" she asked with a bit of a glare since Bella told her how he said it was kinda his fault.

Naruto looked at her took off his hat and mask and laid them down with a hand running through his hair he sighed heavily, "First of all, I need you to try your hardest not to panic and listen very closely to me and not ask questions till the end, am I clear?"

Now Eina nodded slowly, and gestured for Naruto to continue speaking which he started "Today I went the dungeon and reached the 17th floor, but as I got closer, I heard fighting, when I arrived, I found a herd of minotaurs, the concerning thing is there was an undocumented big monster among them."

Eina's eyes widened and was about to talk but Naruto raised his hand to stop her, "There were other adventurers there, I was able to kill that big monster but some minotaurs escaped to the upper floors, I quickly went after them and killed them there weren't anyone injured or hurt thankfully."

Eina nodded at that and waited for more, "As you might think, it's extremely concerning that a new undocumented monster appeared all of a sudden and on the upper floors, no less, I have a feeling that won't be the only one to appear and with a bit of information the dungeon is more dangerous than it normally is, whatever it is the guild do in situations like this needs to be done quickly and efficiently while causing minimum panic."

Eina would have been impressed with Naruto's professionalism if it wasn't for how concerned and troubled, she was, "That's really troubling information, I'll be discussing with the higher-ups about this and will call for you if there are any more problems, but please Naruto be careful, I know you are strong there is no denying that but there is only two of you, try not to do anything reckless."

Naruto smiled slightly at that and nodded, and stood up to leave "Don't worry Eina, just do what you can on your end and I'll see what I can do, I won't do anything reckless, I promise."

Naruto then left, 'I need to inform Maria about this, and I need to become stronger, there is no telling what can happen and there is no telling whether we can appear again after death.'

As Naruto was going home high up in Babel a figure looked closely in his direction with great interest and a hint of fear.

"Such a unique aura, darkest than the abyss, yet in the middle of it an ember that seems so weak like it's about to blow off, yet shines so bright." Spoke a sweet feminine voice as she looked at the aura.

She looked back at Naruto to see that he had stopped and looked in her direction and for a moment she swore that within that dark abyss so saw a figure with a blood-red eye looking straight at her, she blinked and as fast as it appeared it disappeared leaving the woman, shivering at the malice and hatred she saw in that eye.

TitanT AN: As you see the chapter is short, however, the way the story is moving it felt more Natural to end this chapter here, I am currently working on Chapter 5 that will be much longer.

Also, surprise female Bell here, you didn't expect that, and neither did I, like really while doing the finishing touches to this chapter I was like, well I ain't never seen a female Bell and thus Bella was created, a very original name if you ask me.

The fate of Bella is in your hands though, whether you want her to stay or to be changed back to Bell is ok, the change won't hinder the plot in the long run.

On a more serious point, Naruto's nightmare has a very important meaning, and his reaction, while looks exaggerated, there's more to the figure than the eyes.

The age of darkness was mentioned in this chapter, what it is, you will have to read to know, just know that it is extremely significant, maybe even Naruto's soul is.

Please review telling me your thoughts, how I can improve the story in your opinion and what changes need to be made, and as I said Bella's fate is in your hands whether she remains or be reverted back to Bell, is your choice.

Klauz A/n: Also don't forget to join the discord server, the code is on the summary of the story. And if you are following my first story, Supreme King, I'm currently rewriting some of the chapters but the first 3 chapters have already been updated. I made some changes so go see what has changed. For any questions, you can find me on the discord server.

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-Klauz & TitanT out