I heard a stomach growl when we reached the normal streets. I turned to Raphtalia and her face was red.
"Are you hungry?" I asked and she quickly shook her head. "You are…. Well, might as well splurge this once as we will be eating from the wild to conserve money."
"Huh?" Raphtalia blinked while I looked around.
"Matthew, you can read, I assume?"
"Yes. I…. I used to be a general store owner before…" He snapped his lips shut and stared in the distance.
"Good," I saw several restaurants lined up on the road. "Which one of those don't have a sign barring demi-humans?"
"Ah… This one," The shop seemed a little roughed up, but the smell coming from it made my stomach rumble. We walked into the shop and was greeted by a waitress.
"Welcome," The waitress chripped, but flinched at the sight of us.
"We will take a booth in the back if you let us dine here." I quickly spoke up and the waitress nodded. She led us to the back as I heard whispers erupted.
"Demi-humans?"
"Someone should kick them out."
"What would you like to order?" I frowned as she hadn't offered a menu. I glanced around when I saw Raphtalia glazing jealousy at a family eating together. "We'll have what that family is eating for three adults and two children." Raphtalia looked at me in shock as I pointed at the family.
"Alright. All water for drinks?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"That will be thirty coppers." I pulled out the copper coins and the waitress took them.
"Why?" Raphtalia whispered out.
"Yeah. What is this?" Kaus growled out with narrowed eyes. "What the hell are we eating here for?"
"Because we are all hungry?" I spoke the truth. "You can't fight on an empty stomach."
"Tch. But we are demi-humans." Kaus glanced at the glazes on us. "Slaves on top of that. You are just wasting your money."
"No. I need the help." I said as I moved my mantle down to expose my cheeks.
"You're a demi-human?" Matthew gasped as Kaus furrowed his brows. Raphtalia looked at me with awe before it shifted to total horror.
"No. I don't know what I am," I sighed. "But I got a lot of stuff on my plate. We will be working together to survive." I grinned at them. "I don't know the slavery laws for my country, so the aim is you three will help me out of debt and I will free you."
"You… can't be serious," Raphtalia spoke up before she cough.
"No. I am." I fingered the crest under my clothes and armor. "Iruka-sensei and I are trying to return to our home country. With how diverse Konoha is, it shouldn't be hard for you three to start a new life there."
"I killed a man." Kaus snorted with his arms crossed. "as if any society would take-"
"Konoha is a ninja village."
"Nin… ja?" Raphtalia asked.
"We have all kinds of people," I answered as Iruka-sensei nodded to me. "Including paid killers." All three looked at me with horror. "I am a ninja-in-training and Iruka-sensei is my sensei."
"The hell?" Kaus hissed at me. "You're a… killer, kid?"
"Sadly, yes." I frowned, but steeled myself. "But now I can only protect people and I rather it that way. There is many different types of ninja and Konoha has a system in place to help everyone, be it they are assassins or healers."
"And I can train them in the basics." Iruka-sensei spoke up. "With what has happened, making them into ninja would be wise."
"Yeah. Iruka-sensei said he'll train you to become ninja. So once you are free, you can choose what kind of ninja lifestyle you want."
"And if we want to not be ninja?" Kaus huffed.
"There are plenty of businesses and jobs for retired ninja." I grinned as the waitress brought our food. My eyes glowed at the little buffet on the plate before me. A rice looking grain mound, a meat patty with some gravy on it, a small omelet, sticks of an odd material and some fruit cut cutely. I felt drool dripped down my chin.
"Wait… No chopsticks?" I looked at the two wooden looking spoons given to me. One had spokes like a pitchfork.
"Chop… sticks?" The waitress asked as I shook my head.
"Nevermind." Iruka-sensei pulled out two pairs of chopsticks from his hip sack. I took one of the pairs and clapped my hands together. "Thanks for the food."
I took some of the rice stuff and carefully put it into my mouth. It tasted just like miso soup. I tried the patty and found it was more fish than a meat patty.
"Huh?" I looked up and saw Matthew, Kaus, and Raphtalia staring at their food. "Go ahead and eat."
"Is this… really for me?" Raphtalia asked as her tail swished from side to side. She had the same meal as me before her.
"Yeah." I smiled as I bit into the omelet. It tasted like an orange and tasty compared to a real orange!
Raphtalia took the flag off the grain mound and stared at it for a second. Then she nodded and took a bit of the grain and put it in her mouth. She quickly began to shovel the food into her mouth. Matthew took the utensils and carefully bit into what looked like bacon. Kaus… shoveled the food into his mouth like Raphtalia, with his hands.
"Gumph." Kaus choked and patted his chest.
"Here." I pushed his glass of water to Kaus and he gulped it down. "How's the food?"
"Delicious!" Raphtalia chimed out before her face twisted to horror and she flinched back.
"Good. Try the omelet, it's good too!" I chirped and Raphtalia looked at me with shock. "Usually I don't like fruity flavors, but this omelet makes it delicious!"
"You're… not mad?"
"Mad?" I cocked my eyebrow. "Why would I be mad? Food is always better with more company!"
"I can't believe this… naive child is now my master." Kaus sighed, but we all ate with gusto. Partly because Iruka-sensei and I know the taste of rations and wildness cooking all too well.
"Raphtalia!"
"Yes, sir!" I ripped the Red Balloon off my arm. I held it in place as Raphtalia stabbed it and it popped.
"Good job!" I chimed before I fed the skin into Tate-chan. Raphtalia went up to level 2.
"I thought you bought us to fight." Kaus snorted as Iruka-sensei, Matthew, and he caught up with us. "Why are you having that pipsqueak do all the work?" Raphtalia shivered as she flattened on her head when she glanced at Kaus.
"These Balloons are weak, perfect to get her used to her katana." I explained, "But we are going into the woods, so there is bound to be tougher stuff to fight." I glanced at the woods. "Iruka-sensei, how should we proceed? It would be a bit hard for all of us to fight in a forest." The trees were spaced out a little, but they still made it tight for a group of five to fight.
"True," Iruka-sensei nodded as he glanced at the forest. "It probably is best we split up into smaller groups."
"This is perfect timing!" I hummed out and put my hands together. "Time to show my stuff! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I shouted and smoke engulfed me.
"What the?" Matthew gasped as all four looked at me and the four other… mes? How was I supposed to call clones of myself?
"Clones," Iruka-sensei then touched one of the clones. "They are solid?! How did you-" Iruka-sensei went wide-eyed. "You learned how to do this forbidden jutsu before I found you?"
"Yeah!" One of my clones answered. "I couldn't believe my least favorite jutsu could be so awesome!"
"Check your vision," Iruka-sensei began to panic.
"Huh? What's wrong?" I looked at my status magic and gasped. "Why are my bars cut to a fifth!" My HP, MP, and SP numbers had been reduced while my stats points remained the same.
"The Shadow Clone Jutsu was rumored to be put in the Forbidden Scroll due to it divides the user's chakra by the number of clones made."
"But I made way more clones and it was alright." I stared at the numbers. If I made the amounts I did before… I would barely have any numbers left!
"That was in our world," Iruka-sensei answered with a frown. "We don't know the effects chakra have here."
"True." This world was run by numbers as I saw. My attack was only one, after all. "But why does my stats stay the same? Shouldn't they have divided as well?"
"I heard the shadow clones are just as powerful as the original," Iruka-sensei said, "It's not like Elemental type clones that are only a percentage of the user's strength. However, if the defense of your clones is the same as yours… Then there will be no worries of them being dispersed by a single attack."
"That's something that could happen?"
"You didn't read it properly?" Iruka-sensei nursed his forehead. "What were you… Right," Iruka-sensei sighed as he took one of my clones. "Let's meet back at the creek."
"Okay!" I saluated and took Raphtalia's hand. "You, go gather herbs." My last clone nodded when the other two clones took Matthew and Kaus into the woods.
As we got deeper into the woods, Balloons became fewer and we discovered new monsters. The creatures were called Loomushes. They were like mushrooms, but they hopped around and had narrow, squinting eyes.
Catching the living mushrooms were easy for me and Raphtalia cleaved them into pieces. There were white, blue, and green ones.
Mush Shield: conditions met.
Blue Mush Shield: conditions met.
Green Mush Shield: conditions met.
Mush Shield
(ability locked) equip bonus: Plant Appraisal 1
Blue Mush Shield
(ability locked)equip bonus: Compounding Recipe 1
Green Mush Shield
(ability locked)equip bonus: Apprenticeship Compounding
"Oh?" All skills? I changed to the Blue Mush Shield and found various recipes appeared in the menu. "Amazing. Best unlock… this… first?" Raphtalia was staring at me with her mouth agape. "Is there a problem?"
"M-Master, just… just who are you?" Raphtalia stuttered out of her shock. "How did your shield transform? And you made multiples of yourself," She the shrunk back. "If… If that is alright for me… me to know?"
"Right," I sheepishly scratched my chin. "It probably is hard to hide it now, so best tell you now. I'm the Shield Hero."
"Shield… Hero," Raphtalia blinked, "As in the Four Cardinal Heroes?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Iruka-sensei is from my world and we ended up here together when I was summoned."
"Then… why did…" She looked down with flattening ears. "Surely there is… better people suited to help you."
"Probably, but I don't know who to trust. "I sighed with a shrug. "At least these crests help to ensure the enemy can't pose as one of my party."
"But… I'm… I'm scared of … blood." Raphtalia shrunk into herself. "I can… fight some enemies… But…"
"Then we will work with you on that," I let out a grin as I put both hands behind my head. "Truth is, blood makes me queasy. I still throw up when skinning rabbits."
"You… do?"
"Yep. But, gotta do it so we can eat." Raphtalia nodded to my words. "Let's continue hunting. If we come across an enemy that bleeds, we will save it for Iruka-sensei to kill and we will butcher it together to help you with your fear."
"Okay." Raphtalia gave me a small smile. After the talk, she attacked with more gusto. By the end of the day, we collected a lot of Mushes corpses and herbs from the forest.
"H-Help." I burst into laughter with finding my herb collecting clone covered in Balloons. "I stuck to the plains… But they kept on coming." My poor clone cried out.
"Okay!" Raphtalia chimed and dispatched the Balloons as the others arrived.
"We are having rabbit stew tonight!" Iruka-sensei grinned as he held up several fat, yet small looking rabbits.
"All we found was Eggups and Balloons." Kaus sighed as he held the loot out and covered his nose from the smell.
"We also ran into Eggups and found an interesting way to kill them." Mathew chimed as both my clone and he held what looked like large cracked eggs. "It seems they are edible, so Master wants to try cooking them."
"We can make ramen!" I chirped out as I had some dried noodles in my hip pouch for any occasion. I've been saving it for when the withdraws started to hit, but this was the perfect chance for ramen. "Let's get a fire going!"
We quickly put together a campfire and Iruka-sensei pulled out a cooking pot from his scroll.
"See. It's easier to… Augh.." I heaved as I took the guts out of one of the rabbits, Usapils as my status magic called them. Raphtalia wasn't looking much better as we prepped the Usapil meat.
"I got the mushes chopped!" My clone hummed as the pot got to a boil. We added in the ingredients and let it simmer together under the supervision of my clone with an egg shaped shield.
"Wow! Already level 8!" I gasped in amazement of my growth. Kaus grown to level 10, Matthew and Iruka-sensei were at level 7, and Raphtalia reached level 5.
"How did you outstripped me?" Iruka-sensei laughed as he took everyone's weapons and sharpened them. "That shield of yours is a cheat."
"If it was a cheat, I would be able to fight on my own!" I blew a raspberry at my sensei as everyone took turns washing up in the creek. My clones kept watch, so there was no worries about being attacked. "Ah, Iruka-sensei, do you have a medicine kit on you?"
"For making poisons and antidotes?" I nodded. "Sadly, no… But I do have a mortar and pestle if you need to crush some of the herbs for cooking."
"Not for cooking, " I held up Tate-chan as she turned from the blue mushroom shape to a green mushroom shape. "I got a new skill and wanted to try it out."
"Okay," Iruka-sensei pulled out the tools and handed them to me. I brought up an easy recipe now that I mastered the Blue Mush Shield. I went to work making a recipe that worked for mortar and pestle.
Healing Medicine: fabricated
Healing Medicine: quality bad to fair
Effective when immediately applied to the surface of wounds.
"Oh! This can be useful!" I gathered the creamy like liquid onto a leaf and folded it up into a package. I used a piece of burnt stick to writing the character "Heal" on it. I continued to experiment. Some resulted in the failure of a black pile of rubbish. I even tried some combinations I didn't have recipes for.
"Dinner time!" My clone called out and we gather around the pot. My mouth drooled from the savory aroma from the pot. The clone added the yolk and whites of the Eggups which cooked instantly into the hot pot of ramen. "Dig in!"
All of us got a bowl and I experimented with a bit after looking it a little cooling. "Delicious holy ramen!" I cried out in joy and slurped up the noodles.
"Amazing. I never known Eggups could be tasty." Kaus gasped as he slurped his soup.
"The Usapil isn't too gamy and it's so tender." Matthew hummed.
"It's delicious!" Raphtalia cheered out before coughing.
Oh, right. I reached for one of the packages I made and opened it up to where it formed a cup.
Normal Medicine: quality: fair
Effective on weak colds.
"Here. This might help with that cough." Raphtalia took the cup and sipped it. Her face scrunched up and her ears and tails shot straight up.
"So bitter!" She spat out the medicine.
"Hey! Don't waste it!" I pushed the cup back to her. "Good medicine tastes bitter, no matter what."
"But… I don't…"
"I order you to drink it." At my order, she forced herself to gulp it down and took deep breaths once it was all down.
"Good job," I patted her on the head and I realized how fluffy her ears were. I looked at her tail and found Raphtalia furrowed her brows at me and her tail batted in frustration.
"Use your meal to get the taste out."
"Okay." She took to the soup with a rush…. Did my medicine really taste that bad?
Once we finished our dinner and put the leftover ramen away, I went back to my compounding. I let Tate-chan absorbed the poorer materials I made.
Small Medicine Shield: conditions met.
Small Poison Shield: conditions met.
Small Medicine Shield
(ability locked) equip bonus: Potion Efficacy Up
Small Poison Shield
(ability locked) equip bonus: Poison Resistance Up
Potion Efficacy? What an odd word. Maybe it was to help with crafting? Or did it give extra effects to medicine?
"Ack!" I jumped as alerts popped up on Tate-chan. I unlocked several abilities with… Wait, how did I mastered these shields when I only had…
"Oh, sorry, Naruto. I forgot the rumor that Shadow Clones' memories returned to the user." Iruka-sensei apologized. "I had your clones disperse."
"My clone's memories?" I asked and thinking about it… I could remember various things I've done with Matthew, Kaus, and Iruka-sensei! Even how my poor clone got ambushed by Balloons in the fields! "Amazing," I looked at Tate-chan. If I could use the clones, I could become strong in no time!
"Poor girl. Today must have been tiring," Matthew covered Raphtalia with a blanket as she drifted asleep. "However, you really are the Shield Hero…"
"Sorry if I'm not as you imagine." I laughed as I went back to work making medicine.
"No, no… I just never expected a child to be a hero." Matthew rubbed his defected arm. "I heard stories of the heroes since I was a child… To think in my darkest hour, I would meet a hero… The Shield Hero, no less."
"Tch. Some legends," Kaus clicked his tongue as he prepared a spot to sleep. "If the Shield Hero is a child, I don't want to know what the other heroes are like."
"Now, now, it can't be that-"
A shriek filled the air and we all tensed.
"No… No… Help!" Raphtalia trashed in her sleep. I quickly dropped what I was doing and rushed over to her. "No! Noooo!"
"Raphtalia! Calm down!"
"No! Daddy!… Mo…mmy!" She cried even with her eyes still shut closed. "They're dead! They're dead!"
"It's alright." I flinched as Iruka-sensei engulfed Raphtalia and I into a hug and rubbed Raphtalia's back. "Keep talking to her. She's having a fit."
Fits. I have seen some in the orphanage before I was old enough to live in an apartment. Something about how a bad thing tramized the person… It seemed Raphtalia's parents died right before her.
"Calm down, Raphtalia. We are here for you." I said before I heard growls. I looked around and found Balloons had been attracted to Raphtalia's crying.
"Take care of the pipsqueak." Kus grabbed his ax, "Get her to shut up as I like some sleep, too!" He rushed at the Balloons as well as Matthew pulled out his knife.
By the time Raphtalia calmed down, everyone was exhausted… And Raphtalia had me in her grip and wouldn't let me go. I slept in her arms and woke up with her looking at me in shock.
"You okay?" She quickly released me and recoiled away. "I take that as a yes." I chuckled before heading to the creek and fishing up our breakfast.
"Very impressive, if I say so myself." The old man who ran a pharmacy looked over my medicine and herbs I collected. "Are you well versed in making medicine, boy?"
"Only a little," I answered as I glanced at the tools behind the old man. "Yesterday was my first try at real recipes."
"Really?" The old man raised an eyebrow at me as he looked at the herbs. "And the quality of these herbs… You got good eyes on you, boy."
"Which is more profitable? Herbs or medicine?"
"Due to the Wave's impact, medicine has been flying off the shelves. So rather than the herbs, I'd pay more for your medicines."
"I see." I nodded. Finding those shields was such good fortune!
"In total, this haul of yours is 4 silvers."
"Hey, do you have any old tools you don't use?"
"Well, now you are talking, boy." The old man smirked at me and made a deal of selling me the tools and how to use them off the herb's value and gave me 3 silvers for the medicine.
"How it go?" Iruka-sensei asked as I carried the tools in a case made for them.
"Better than expected. I even got tools." I grinned as I looked at the others. They were watching a pair of children playing with a ball. Raphtalia looked yearningly at the ball. "You want a ball like that, Raphtalia?"
Raphtalia gasped and shook her head violently. "No! I don't! I never want a ball. Not at all." Her tail betrayed her as it wagged behind her.
Why would she lie?… Or, since the crest didn't active, was she lying to herself?
"Oh well, let's go to the monster merchant." We headed over to one and I saw the small balls Raphtalia was looking at sold here.
"Oh, quite a haul…. I price this at 120 silvers." Yes, a gold piece worth!
"Can we get a ball, too?" I pointed at the patchwork balls.
"Sure. I'll throw it in for free as you helped me restock on some of my most bought materials." I took the silver coins and put them away. I then grabbed the ball and handed it to Raphtalia.
"Huh? For… me?" She asked with her cheeks tinted pink.
"You can play with it once we get done hunting." I mean, I don't want to take away all her childhood.
"Of course!" She nodded with joy on her face.
We returned to the fields and hunted monsters. The Usapils were the focus as their furs were worth quite a bit. I had the others hold off on butchering the rabbit creatures so Raphtalia and I could work on our issue with blood.
"Alright. We got quite a haul," I grinned as I used my Usa Meat Shield for its Dissection Skill 1. The quality of the fur and other parts improved and should fetch for a good price. I was at level 11 and everyone else had gone above my level outside Raphtalia. She was at level 10.
"Feeling a bit better about blood?" My clone asked Raphtalia as he cooked.
"It's… still scary… But… I think I am.. getting used to it." She sighed before a cough made her drop her knife.
"Here. Take it." Raphtalia paled as I handed her the medicine, but she gulped it down quickly.
"That's a nasty cold." Iruka-sensei sighed as he kept sharpening the weapons. "Are you sure your medicine can help her?"
"I'll have to practice and improve it as we don't get much of a choice." Another clone answered as he compounded medicine. "I also made something called Nourishing Beverage. I think all three of you should drink it."
"Why waste your medicine on us?" Kaus said with his tail twitching in frustration. "You could sell those for a good price."
"But you guys all look skinny. You need some meat on your bones to be able to fight."
"You calling me weak?"
"I'm just saying I need you to be healthy." My clone threw a bottle at Kaus and the lizard man caught it. "How can you keep up a fight as skin and bones?"
Kaus clicked his tongue and drank the beverage down in one gulp. My clone gave Matthew and Raphtalia each a Nourishing Beverage.
"Thank you, Master," Matthew nodded before he took a sip and then gulped it down with a twisted face as Raphtalia did. "Your medicine… is very bitter."
"Trying to work on that, but I can only work with what I got." I sighed with a little disappointment.
"Hm… With our current levels and if I remember the terrain correctly… How about we head towards the village of Lute."
"Lute?" I asked as Raphtalia and I washed up from prepping the meat and furs for storage. I absorbed the guts and such so we didn't have to worry about attracting monsters.
"Yes. It's a small farming community near an old coal mine," Matthew answered with a bit of excitement. "I believe the price of an inn room with food is still around a silver."
"And the monsters and herbs?"
"There are Usapils and various beasts we can hunt. If we continue to hunt here, we won't get enough experience to level up."
Now that Matthew mentioned it…
Naruto Uzumaki Lv. 11
Raphtalia Lv 10
Matthew Lv 12
Kaus Lv 13
Iruka Umino Lv 13
Iruka-sensei, Kaus, and Matthew's growth had slowed down a bit? So were the monsters in this area only good to level up this far?
"The rabbit's right." Kaus let out a sigh. "Plus I heard that since the Wave struck, strong monsters have been making nests in various places. It would be best we don't get too content with one place."
"Gotcha," My clone did a thumbs up. "We'll head to Lute tomorrow. For now, dinner!"
The menu tonight was Usapil soup and grilled Usapil legs.
"It's so good!"
"Master, were you a chef in your world?"
Raphtalia and Matthew viciously ate their meals. Kaus took a bite and furrowed his brows. "Is there something the matter?" I asked and Kaus shook his head.
"Just thinking how much a naive fool you are… Boss." Kaus snorted and I pouted at him. Jeez. What was his deal?
"Ah, Matthew, can you start teaching Iruka-sensei and me the language here?"
"Sure. We can learn the magical language with it at the same time." Matthew said as he finished off his Usapil leg.
"Naruto, you better pay attention or else," Iruka-sensei gave me the evil eyes. He tapped his crest under his armor. "I'm willing to be tougher than before if it helps you any way possible."
"Y-Yes, sensei." I gulped and went pale at the thought of the coming training. "Don't you need to teach them how to properly fight?"
"Tomorrow as I want to get a few basic words down tonight."
"Understood." I nodded as Iruka-sensei shifted to storing the extra meat away in his scroll.
The next few days turned into a routine. We hunted monsters in the morning. Raphtalia even began to hunt the Usapils, though she still didn't do the blood too well. She was definitely better than me when I killed my first rabbit at the academy.
Afternoons were to training. Kaus was against it at first… Till a spar with Iruka-sensei showed Kaus just how much skill won over levels. The lizardman devoured Iruka-sensei's teachings with a burning will fit for a Konoha shinobi.
At night, it was studying. Matthew was… a bit creative with my lessons. He found just stuffing the content down my throat didn't work too well. Instead, he made flash cards and labeled various items, having me actively read as I identify the objects. It sure worked as I found myself slowly learning to read. Same for the magic language. We all studied off Matthew's notes as he deciphered the magic language.
It seemed you needed to use something called mana to use magic. Was that chakra?"
"Chakra?" Matthew asked as Iruka-sensei moved onto the most important thing to be a ninja. "Don't you mean mana?"
"Do not mana." Iruka-sensei spoke with an accent. "Chakra… combines… Naruto, say it combines physical and mental energies together." I parroted the last part as he struggled with the words.
"Combining mana with… physical?" Matthew asked before his eyes widen. "Don't you mean health power?"
"Maybe." I looked at my stats and couldn't tell. It was like I recovered this HP and MP really fast the instantly it is used.
"Yes," Iruka-sensei answered. "Too much… Die."
"Wait! Isn't that dangerous?" Raphtalia gasped out in horror.
"If one only overdoes it. Normally using chakra isn't dangerous." I relayed Iruka-sensei's words.
"But this chakra thing can be useful?" Iruka-sensei nodded and moved over to a tree. He put his hands together and I felt something at his feet. He then put his foot on the tree trunk… Along with the other as he walked straight up the tree.
"What in… I never have seen such magic?!"
"Okay. That can be handy." Kaus grinned while Matthew and Raphtalia looked at Iruka-sensei in awe.
"Naruto, you remember the basic chakra exercises?" Iruka-sensei asked from above.
"I think so." At least, some of them I remembered… Sort of.
"Make some clones and have them help the others with learning how to access their chakra." I nodded and made quite a few clones. "Some will join you in your chakra training."
"My chakra training?" I asked with my head cocked and found a kunai before my feet.
"You will focus your chakra to the soles of your feet and climb trees." Iruka-sensei tapped on the tree. "Use the kunai to mark your progress."
"Okay!" I took the kunai and put my hands together. I felt the chakra in my feet and then bolted to the tree. I got up four steps and - thank god for Tate-chan- fell flat on my back.
"Too little, Naruto." One of my clones yelled and we looked at him. His tree had a footprint broken into the bark. "That's too much. You have to get it just right for it to work."
"Why am I doing this?" I asked, "How will climbing trees help me save the world?"
"After seeing you do the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I realized your problem with normal clones: chakra control."
"Chakra control?" I asked.
"The ability to control your chakra and use it efficiently." Iruka-sensei jumped off the tree and came over to me. "The reason you failed at the normal clone jutsu and properly other subjects is due to your lack of control over your chakra. If I realized it sooner, I could have helped you on a lot of things."
"So… By climbing trees, I can get better at using my chakra?"
"Yes," Iruka-sensei smiled at my clones and I as we went straight to running up trees.
This went on for three days. It slowed our progress on hunting monsters, but my slaves were quick learners. Iruka-sensei even taught them their first jutsu: Rope Escape Jutsu.
However…
"I'll pay you four silvers." I furrowed my brows at the amount of money the traveling merchant gave me. We stored away most of our spoils to sell them back at the castle town. There was a limit to how much the traveling merchant could pay for our spoils.
Lute Village was a tiny village with no general store or pharmacy. Hence my medicines sold well, even at a lower price… But…
"I'm hungry," Raphtalia whimpered as she held her stomach.
"I know." I was hungry again even when we ate just an hour or so ago. Even our storage of meat and food had dried up. I passed a Nourishing Beverage to Raphtalia and gulped one down myself.
"Ah, you are demi-human adventurers?" The traveling merchant asked.
"Sort of… Is these some way around here that we can earn some fast coin?"
"Actually, you might want to see the governor." The traveling merchant brimmed up with a grin. "There's the old coal mine where some ore still remains… But since the Wave hit, strong monsters have made a nest in there. Along with mining some of that ore, the governor may pay for extermination of the monsters."
"Really?" I looked to Iruka-sensei." You got that?"
"Some of it. You want to go to this mine?"
"Yeah. I think we can handle it." I glanced at our levels.
Naruto Uzumaki Lv 14
Raphtalia Lv 16
Matthew Lv 18
Kaus Lv 20
Iruka-sensei Lv 21
I unlocked the Slave User Shield II and III after I absorbed some of Raphtalia's, Kaus's, and Matthew's hair when Iruka-sensei trimmed out the mats they had. It seemed to boosted everyone's level growth. Though, it did helped they got all the kill shots, which gave more experience points.
"Where is this governor?" The travelling merchant pointed out the governor's home.
"You want to take down the monsters in the mine?" The governor asked when we came up with our offer. "I am worried of those monsters coming down from the cave, but there isn't much I can offer you."
"It doesn't have to be money," I answered with a grin. "Several days worth of food would be enough for payment."
"Two of you are kids," I furrowed my brows at the governor. "You have yourself a deal." The governor held out his hand and I shook it.
"So, we are subjugating a mine?" Kaus asked as we trekked through the overgrowth towards the mines. "You should have demanded money for such a job."
"We are eating more than an Akimichi at an all-you-can-eat buffet." I sighed as I bit into a fruit I bought. "It seems Raphtalia and I hit our growth spurt."
"Of course, we demi-humans will grow with our levels if they go up when we are children," Matthew said as we reached the mine. A rest house was near the entrance.
"But… Why am I growing, too?" I rubbed my shoulder. The aches of growth covered my body. "I'm not a demi-human."
"But you aren't human either," Kaus snorted as Iruka-sensei picked the rusty lock. "Why else would you get a monster crest, Boss?"
"True." I sighed. Iruka-sensei opened the door and we found various pickaxes, ropes, and other supplies. Some were old and ratty, but still useable. This included a map of the mine. I absorbed the worse conditioned items into my shield.
Pickax Shield: conditions met
Rope Shield: conditions met
Pickax Shield
(ability locked) equip bonus: Mining Skill 1
Rope Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: "Air Strike Shield" skill
Equip Effect: rope
"Equip Effect? Skill?" I opened the Help menu.
Help
Skill
Can be activated at the cost of SP
Can also be quick cast by shortening pronunciation or using crystals.
I changed Tate-chan to the Rope Shield. It was… "A coil of rope?" I looked over it and the held it out. "Air Strike Shield!" As I shouted the command, an icon appeared to indicate the direction of the attack. A circle indicated the range appeared on the ground.
I focused on the ground before me. When I did, a large semi-transparent shield appeared there, hovering in the air.
I touched it and found it didn't move from the place I put it. I guess it was a skill to summon a shield. That could be handy. So would the Pickax Shield for mining.
"What was that, Master?" Raphtalia asked as the shield disappeared.
"A useful skill," I answered as I grabbed a pickax. "Let's go."
"Fireball Jutsu." Iruka-sensei lit up torches with a small flame from his mouth and we entered the mine. "Be… on guard." He said as the darkness encircled us.
The light of the torches showed the tunnel was supported by wooden beams… But those quickly disappeared as we got deeper into the mine and the walls were formed from natural stone. We could hear the soft sound of a distant waterfall and stream. As well as a soft light entered from the top of the cave when we reached a bigger area.
"Let's see." I checked the map. It seemed like it wasn't a maze, but I didn't know how old it was. There was an "X" to near the waterfall on it. "This way."
"This… is eerie," Matthew said as his ears flatten. "We should have seen at least a monster by now."
"Agreed. This is unnatural." Kaus gripped his ax tightly. "If people haven't been coming here, it should be a nest."
"M-Master," I turned to Raphtalia and found her trembling. I followed her gaze and saw footprints.
"A dog?" I asked as I kneeled down to the prints. I put my hand next to it and flinched at its size. "A big one, huh?" I moved my hand and noticed the ground worn by smaller prints… But they seemed old compared to the dog prints. "Kaus, you said there were powerful monsters appearing since the Wave?"
"Yeah. Slavers have been fighting them while trying to raid the territories affected by it with the Lord of those lands dead." Kaus chuckled, "Just our luck."
"Guess this will be our first big battle." I put the pickax onto my back where my backpack was. "We best find it first."
"But… Dog…" Raphtalia slapped her face before she took her katana. "I'm… scared, but… but I'll fight."
"This is my chance to shine," Matthew chuckled as he pulled out his wand.
"Be prepared, Naruto," Iruka-sensei unsheathed his katana and we carefully moved forward. We went up to the top of the waterfall and found it.
A jet black dog, but it had two heads. The dog was bigger than Iruka-sensei. And I could see its ribs starting to show in the faint light from above.
"It ate everything in here," Kaus nervously chuckled. "What's its level?
Enemy
Lv 15
"It is 15." I answered as everyone got ready. I stood before everyone and got a better footing as it noticed us.
"Hawoooooo!" The dog let out a bellowing howl and it rushed at us. I caught the dog with my shield and struggled. It was so heavy.
It's thick nails scratched at Tate-chan and both heads snapped at me. I pushed all my weight into Tate-chan and pushed the beat back to jump away.
"Hah!" Kaus swung his axe, but the dog dodge. Matthew began to chant a spell when I noticed it. Raphtalia shook in fear and her eyes were locked at some random point in space.
A fit? Now?
"Noooooo!" Her shrill snapped Matthew's concentration and everyone looked at her. Even the two-headed dog even stopped and jumped back for a moment… Then it turned to Raphtalia and began to dash at her.
"No, you don't!" I held out my hand. "Air Strike Shield!" I stopped the dog's charge and rushed before Raphtalia. "Are you alright?!"
"No… Help," She stared right past me and the katana dropped from her hands. "No! No! Dad! Mom!"
"Raphtalia! Calm down!" I shouted before I took another attack from the dog with Tate-chan. One of its heads bit down on my shoulder and pain shot throughout my arm.
"Dad. No…" Raphtalia sobbed out.
"Raphtalia! Snap out of it!" I screamed as I wrenched my arm out and grabbed the rope of my shield. "If you don't, you might die!"
"Die?" She whimpered out as I had the rope loop around the head that bit me. The dog growled and tried to reel back, but I stood my ground thanks to sticking them to the stone with chakra.
"Attack it now!"
"Got it!" Kaus slammed his ax into the dog's back. It howled out and turned its rage on me with biting harder.
"Matthew, I cleared your conditions to attack me!" I barked out through the pain. "I order you to use magic!"
"R-Right!" Matthew raised his wand. "As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and burn thy enemies! Faust Fire Shot!" A ball of fire short from the stick and struck the dog in the back. It yelped in pain and I gritted my teeth from the heat of the flames.
"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei got a strike in, but both Kaus and Iruka-sensei had to jump back as the free head lashed out at them.
"Focus on me, you mangy mutt!" I roared out and pushed my weight into the shield to pin the head to my shoulder.
"Faust Fire Shot!" More flames hit the dog and parts of my clothes charred.
"No! Master!… Not again!" Raphtalia cried out. "Don't leave me!" I glanced back and caught Raphtalia picking up her blade.
"Hiiiiii!" She charged up from behind me and stabbed the head I had pinned.
"Hawooooo!" The other head turned its sights on Raphtalia.
"Air Strike Shield!" I let go of the rope and a shield protected Raphtalia and me.
"Go in for the kill!" Kaus roared and slammed his ax right on the neck of the beast. Iruka-sensei stabbed the other neck… Yet, Raphtalia shot from under the Air Strike Shield and delivered the kill shot right into the dog's chest. It let out a dying howl as it collapsed to the ground.
Exp +340
Raphtalia Exp +430
Matthew Exp +340
Kaus Exp +340
Iruka Umino Exp +340
"We defeated it." I slumped to the ground and the sound of level ups hit my ears. "Good work every-ONE!" I yelped when Raphtalia hugged onto me tightly.
"Master… Don't die… Please… My… My place."
"Jeez. You did a good job," I rubbed her head as she buried her face into my chest. "What a time for a fit, but you got through it."
"I'm… sorry…. My village… My parents were… devoured by a three-head dog." Raphtalia confessed with shame in her voice.
"You were a victim of the First Wave?" Matthew gasped out.
"Mommy… Daddy.. They pushed me off a cliff and into the… ocean… to save me from… from…" She whimpered and I rubbed her back. No wonder she screamed at night if no one slept with her.
"I was lucky my village was spared by the Wave," Matthew sighed. "Then the raiders came in and captured any demi-human they could find with Lord Seatto dead."
"Well, at least the pipsqueak got over her fit," Kaus grumbled as he looked over the dog. "This beast just ain't normal."
"Yeah." I pulled out a bottle of Healing Medicine… Right, that odd skill of Potion Efficacy Up. I selected it and smeared the creamy liquid over my wounded shoulder. I gritted my teeth as the wound steamed from the cream and knitted itself back together.
"Okay. Now that was sick."
"How did…. No, you are the Shield Hero." Matthew chuckled as I moved my arm to find everything healed fine. "To turn medicine into a healing spell is quite impressive."
"That and your natural healing is high due to… what you are." Iruka-sensei flinched as he spoke. "I saw it time and time again at the academy."
"Guess I should only expect this kind of result on me." I sighed in defeat before Raphtalia and I locked eyes. "Hm? Is there something on my face?"
"Master… I don't think I know what your name is."
"Huh?… Hadn't I?" I blinked before I laughed. "Damn! For once I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Shield Hero and future Hokage of Konoha!"
"Na… ru… to?" Raphtalia's ears twitched before she smiled at me. "It's a pleasure to… meet you, Master Naruto."
"You too." I sighed, "Let's butcher the beast and mine."
"Okay!" I puffed several clones into existence and set them off to mine. It took us an hour to butcher the dog and I fed some of it to Tate-chan.
Two-Headed Black Dog Shield conditions met
Two-Headed Black Dog SHield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: Alert Shield
Equip Effect: Dog Bite
"Boss, look what we got!" The clones returned with a shining piece of ore.
"Light Metal?" I held one and saw one clone had a new shield.
"It has the best rating yet!" The clone with the square shield of metal chirped out. "Mining is so easy!"
"Great. Think you can find some more?"
"Yes, sir!" The clones ran back of and by the time we had everything sealed, the total of Light Metal Ore was to twenty pieces.
They sold for the wonderful price of 400 silvers.
Roughly 700 silvers we had… 800 more to go to pay off my benefactor. Not to mention I had no idea when the Wave will hit.
Author Note: I have decided I will be posting Fridays after this update. Thanks Have a Little Feith for the suggestion. Hoped you all enjoyed this chapter and see ya this Friday for the next update!