And we are back with another commissioned chapter from Aerylyx. Like with the last chapter I want to remind folks this is a multi-crossover pulling elements from a large number of series.

Anyway, if you wanted to commission me, or simply chat with me and a number of other writers and readers of fanfiction I encourage you to come down and join AizenTheGoat's discord server. A link can be found right here→ /7x4YFstKcz

If you want to commission something but don't want anything to do with discord you can find me at helghywrites at gmail DOT com. I have to write it like that otherwise ff messes up the format.

Anyway let's get on to the story shall we?


Chapter One

On the Move

Mantarys

Essos

295 AC

The young couple had come to the small magister shop in the merchant quarter because everyone in this part of the city swore by the old man's ability with magic. Most folk who sold potions or spells or performed some sort of miraculous act were charlatans, here in Mantarys though magic was a much more real power.

Brachys was said to be the real deal among the other spell weavers of the city. Some said that he had been in that same shop for decades, others said even longer. That was part of why the wealthy couple had come to him in the first place.

Now though they felt less sure about getting a real fortune telling from the ancient man before them. His eyes were pale and foggy and his skin had a sickly grey look to it. Not to mention the smell…it was terrible.

"You want a fortune telling?" Brachys asked them.

"Er…yes we do." The man started awkwardly trying not to cover his nose as Brachys stepped too close to him and his rancid breath washed over the poor man's face.

"We just want to know if our marriage will be a happy one with plenty of children." The woman said.

Brachys stared at her before turning to look at the man again. He eyed them both for a while before his lips twitched grotesquely into a horrid smile.

"Oh is that all?" He asked.

"Yes! I mean yes, how much would something like that cost?" The man asked.

The withered old man frowned for a moment before his face seemed to relax completely and he simply stared out into the street. The couple stared back at him for a few moments before turning to look at one another and slowly the man began to wave a hand in front of Brachys' face. He continued to do that as he turned to look at his young bride and back to the old man whose face suddenly stretched into a grin before it slackened and the cloudy eyes turned to look at the man face to face.

"What are you doing?" He asked the younger man.

"Oh, nothing! I well…it's just that you seemed to slip off into your own world or something." He said.

Brachys stared at him for a moment before huffing. "I was thinking, perhaps you should try it some time."

The man blinked at the sudden insult and opened his mouth to respond before a grey, clammy, finger pressed itself to his lips and silenced him.

"Be quiet. You wish for me to tell you your fortune, you must pay the price…" Brachys said with a low tone.

The man stepped back, letting the finger that had pressed against his mouth to fall back to Brachys' side.

"How much?" He asked.

"How much have you got?" Brachys asked before wincing from something.

"Er I mean, the more you are willing to sacrifice to me, the more I am willing to reveal to you! After all, the future is not something one should meddle with lightly." Brachys declared.

"Uh, well we only have this much with us." The woman revealed her coin purse, a healthy amount laid in between, enough for a common family to eat for more than a week.

"That'll do." Brachys said as he snatched the bag and tossed it through the doorway to the living spaces of the shop.

"Now, let's see…" Brachys began waving his hands before the pair for a moment and then freezing.

"Yes, yes I see. You will have a long fulfilling marriage with plenty of children but will sadly die unexpectedly." Brachys said.

"What do you mean unexpectedly?" The man asked as he tightened his grip on his wife.

"Making the unexpected expected costs more, now since you have no more money on yourselves kindly leave." Brachys said as he stood and made for the back entrance.

"Wait, that's it?" The couple asked.

"I read your fortune, you are out of money. We have nothing more to discuss." Brachys said, before turning to them again.

"Now leave or I will have one of my servants send you off bloodied and bruised." Brachys said as the scarred and menacing looking Beskha stepped into the room, looming over even the young man.

"Of course, thank you for your time Master Brachys!" The young man said quickly as he dragged his young bride after him out of the ship.

The pair watched them go before Brachys went limp and once again stared off into space. Beskha simply turned to look at Naruto and Asher as they came out of the back.

"Your puppet will work fine on people like them that didn't know the old bastard, but the neighbors and other people are starting to notice something weird." Beskha commented as she started counting the coin.

"They are noticing Beskha and me being around so often too, not to mention the fact that, what's her name, hasn't been around." Asher added in.

"Merena. Her name was Merena. You're right though. It's only a matter of time before someone starts looking in at us to find out what's happened." Naruto admitted.

"Need a bit more work on using the puppet too. His face was kind of jerky and his voice came out funny." Asher continued.

"Yeah, I know. I'm still figuring this thing out." Naruto said with a shrug.

"What about the real Brachys?" Beskha asked pointing at Naruto's head.

"Heh, even better than with the puppet. He still acts and sounds like the old man but he gave up trying to resist me some time ago…now he just answers whatever I ask with little issue." Naruto said with a shrug.

"I still don't like him being in there. I don't understand how it works really but couldn't he mess with your thoughts or actions or something?" Asher asked.

"No." Naruto shook his head. "Technically this isn't even the same old man here either. The real Brachys is dead. He just left behind a body that I can control with my intentions, and a copy of his knowledge, which happens to be in my head."

"If you say so. I can't help but still feel suspicious." Beskha said.

"That, and very weirded out." Asher chirped getting a serious nod from Beskha to confirm that point.

"Yeah, well I'm the one with him stuck in my head. Trust me, I know how weird this whole business is. I knew growing up that magic was strange though. And the stronger it is the more freakish it usually becomes." Naruto explained.

"Oh, how reassuring." Beskha sarcastically stated.

"We do need to be moving on from Mantarys soon." The woman said changing the subject.

"We will, I finally found what I was looking for. The Company of the Crow, are the ones that attacked my home. The ones that sold me and helped murder my family." Naruto said.

"Wait, murder your family. Are you sure they are even dead? From the story you told us, you were captured away from the town." Asher asked.

"I was, but the bastards were loose lipped when they were dragging us to Mantarys. Bragging about the easiest pay they'd ever earned. Then they actually met with the Assassins that had hired them. They worked together in the past and evidently the assassin was a former member of the company. I burned their conversation into my memory. The whole attack was just so the assassins could get my family alone to murder them." Naruto's countenance darkened considerably as he spoke and the two mercenaries shared a look before Asher placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him back down.

"We're here to help you avenge yourself and your parents, Naruto. But we can't kill an entire mercenary company." Asher said somberly. He felt for the younger boy. Yes he might have been exiled and his family might still be alive but he could imagine the rage in his younger friend at the thought of what was done to his family and the injustice of being sold into slavery.

Beskha stared at the young man as well. She was once a slave herself and understood better than Asher could the hate Naruto felt toward the men who had sold him into that life. There was something else though.

"This isn't just about getting revenge on the ones that enslaved you or the assassins that killed your parents, though, is it?" She asked.

Naruto was quiet but slowly shook his head.

"I want the leader of the assassins alive. At least alive long enough to tell me who sent them. They are responsible too." He explained and both of his friends nodded.

"It isn't going to be easy, Naruto." Beskha said.

"Since when have I given a shit about easy?" He chuckled, getting her and Asher to smirk.

"Still, why not return to your people first? I mean no offense but they sound kind of like a cult and your family were like their chosen ones or something." Asher remarked becoming serious once more.

"I'll return to them eventually. I can't go back yet though. Not till after I reap my vengeance from the Company of the Crow. I could never lead my people without paying back my mother and father's deaths in blood and getting justice for my people's children who were stolen." Naruto explained.

"You were one of those children too, Naruto. Surely they would understand." Beskha was uncharacteristically soft in her words.

"Maybe, but they will always wonder why it was that their children had to be lost forever while I wasn't, when I don't even have anyone to return to besides the town itself." Naruto argued back.

Beskha and Asher both doubted that. They knew it hung over Naruto that he had survived where the others had suffered terribly and succumbed to the life of a slave of Mantarys.

"How will that change after you find a way to get revenge though?" Asher asked.

"It won't but it's better to return with the heads of the men that took their children from them than empty handed." Naruto said as he mentally commanded his puppet to return to the further interior of the shop.

"I can get that, I guess. But what exactly makes you think you can take on a whole mercenary company alone? I mean you are a tough son of a bitch and you can do some freaky shit with your magic but I don't think that would be enough." Asher pressed.

"Ah see, I have a plan for that, come on." Naruto replied before leading them into the shop and back up the flight of stairs to the magical workshop Brachys had. He stepped over to the desk and picked up a specific tome to show them.

"A book…" Asher said blandly only to get a flick to his ear by Beskha. "Oh, I mean look! It's a book!"

"Ass." Beskha rolled her eyes but the amused smile remained on her lips.

"You two are cute, really, but pay attention." Naruto said with an annoyed expression.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry get on with it." Asher groused.

Naruto opened up the magical book and angled it so the other two could see it clearly. He flicked through the pages as multicolored glowing letters filled the pages and caught the interest of both Beskha and Asher. Sadly that was about as far as their interest went as the letters meant just about nothing to the two of them.

"Hey, Naruto this is cool but it looks like some kind of messed up Valyrian." Beskha pointed out. She could almost make some of it out but it wasn't right to her eyes.

"Hah, messed up…no this is True Valyrian, er well Old Valyrian. It's the proper format of the language. My parents taught me to read in this language before anything else. I can speak it too." Naruto explained as he stopped flipping through the pages when he stopped on a specific page with a diagram of the human body sketched alongside multiple sections of text.

"Alright, so you know what it says…I assume this book has some sort of magic that comes with it otherwise I'm going to have some serious reservations about your so called plan." Asher teased. The younger boy rolled his eyes at that before tapping the book.

"This is a complete volume dedicated to magical applications to healing the body…living and not so living." Naruto explained.

"Like your puppet?" Beskha asked.

"Pretty much. He was an accident more or less but Brachys' old body will have it's uses. Plus he's pretty much dead so he can't really be killed again, you know?" Naruto explained.

"Wait, what?" Asher asked in worry.

"Well he can but specific methods have to be used." Naruto defended.

"This magic stuff is creepy." Asher mumbled while his two friends ignored him.

"How does this help us though Naruto?" Beskha asked.

"I was getting to that. Right here on this page it talks about a series of magical spells and incantations to 'mend bones and knit flesh like cloth'. Essentially healing injuries." Naruto translated a section beside the diagram.

"Okay…" Beskha urged him to continue.

"Well, what does Mantarys have lots of. Three guesses and the first two don't count." Naruto said cheekily.

The two mercenaries sighed. Sometimes they forgot that despite everything Naruto was still a young boy in most regards. They stared blankly at him causing him to frown at their ruining of his moment. Some friends they were.

"Gladiator Slaves…the answer is Gladiator Slaves. But more specifically abandoned gladiators. When someone loses most masters just leave them to die…which works because they have no way to pay for healing." Naruto further explained.

"And with this you could heal them for free and in no time at all." Asher realized as he and Beskha's eyes widened.

"Exactly. All I ask is that they help me get my revenge then they can go off and do whatever they want or even come live in Nurn. Make a new start and all that stuff." Naruto was giddy with his plan.

"It's a pretty good plan, but it's not without it's risks too you know?" Asher commented.

"Some of those gladiators might want to just stab you in the back the moment you help them." Beskha agreed.

Naruto chuckled as he clapped the book closed and set it back in it's place.

"I'm no pushover. I am a former gladiator slave too." Naruto said with a cheeky smirk.

"Maybe so, but still-" Beskha began.

"But still I have my two friends to watch my back don't I?" Naruto said glancing over his shoulder at them as he walked for the door.

Both Beskha and Asher were surprised how blatant he was being about trusting them with his life. That was something harder than gold to acquire, real trust. They couldn't stop the smiles spreading on their own faces.


Quel'Thalas

Sothoryos

295 AC

The 'trial' was by and far too large for the typical venues of such an event. Normally such things were only needed for an individual or perhaps a single noble family or small collection of prisoners. Such things could easily be handled in the throne room then.

As it stood the palace was barely standing. Even were it not undergoing complete reconstruction the building would not have sufficed for the sheer number of those being judged by the new ruler of the kingdom. That was not including the mass numbers of nobles, soldiers, and common folk all turning out to see the final act of the long hated war.

The 'trial of the false queen' was therefore held out in the open air. A massive pavilion had been built and the Grand Bazaar cleared of all stands and kiosks. At the rear of the pavilion, on a raised platform, sitting atop an even further raised throne, sat the new King.

Unlike most with the moniker 'new King's he was far from a young man. He looked to be too old to have just taken his position but looks were often deceptive.

"Pretender Celebrien. You kneel now before me with your traitorous and corrupt subordinates, the self proclaimed Quel'dorei. In a show of my mercy, before all the people of Quel'Thalas, I give you an opportunity to recant your claim to the throne of this land. Save not only yourself but your followers as well." The old man proclaimed.

Celebrien stared up from where she and her closest companions were chained to the platform at her formerly beloved uncle's feet. She knew how she would reply. So did he. It was rehearsed, all of this had been. After all her uncle was a man who planned everything he did to the finest detail.

That was why she was chained up at his feet about to renounce her throne. He wanted to ensure he would be remembered as a fair and just king who had rescued their people. No one living in Quel'Thalas now would believe that. In a century though? Two? More? Perhaps Theron the Usurper would instead be called Theron the Just or even something as ludicrous as Theron the Hero.

She felt one of her dearest friends gently squeeze her hand to urge her into answering. They had struck a deal to give themselves at least a chance to survive. Their only chance no matter how slim.

"I hereby renounce any claim I have toward the throne of Quel'Thalas. Let all the people here be my witness that I have no desire to rule this land or even to remain in this land at all." Celebrien loudly announced, biting back tears at the fact she was turning her back on her father and family's legacy.

"I see." Theron loudly said, playing up his supposedly benevolent nature. "Then I grant your wish! You and your followers must still be punished so it is fitting that I exile you. From here on the name Quel'dorei will be that of those cast out from our verdant home. You shall be marked with a sign so that should you ever return you can be identified!"

As he said that, Celebrien and the rest of those shackled in the center of the market square hissed out in mild pain as a small red teardrop shape was magically seared into their wrists.

"With this mark given to you, never return here to Quel'Thalas, but go in peace." The king proclaimed before standing and walking off with his entourage of courtiers and nobles.

One of his closest advisers leaned in closely to whisper with him in a hushed and worried tone.

"Your grace, wouldn't it be better to kill them now and be done with it? With Celebrien and her devotees gone none can challenge your claim to the throne again." The man pointed out.

"You don't think I already have? It would be a miracle for them to survive the Brindle Men and make it to the coast. I also may have sent emissaries ahead of them to tell the tribes what is coming." The old man said simply walking ahead of his adviser.

For Celebrien and her followers the soldiers of Quel'Thalas marched them to the river where a large number of ships from skiffs to galleys to barges had been arranged for them to take down river and eventually to the northern coast of the continent. She watched her people, numbering just over five hundred in total, board the vessels while their guards watched diligently.

"We leave behind weakness and stagnation, Celebrien." Sylvanas, one of her two hands reassured her.

"Perhaps one day we will be reunited again and the people will have realized that the usurper has misled them." Liadrin, Celebrien's other hand, said.

"Liadrin, your hope is misplaced…again. This country is nothing but a land of traitors. We'll build something greater for our people in the Ruins of the Dragon Lands to the north. We just have to push past the savages between here and the sea." Sylvana's typically sharp tongue commented.

Liadrin scowled at her friend. All three had grown up together and cared for one another greatly but Sylvanas and Liadrin disagreed more often than they agreed, with Celebrien acting as the mediator for the two on multiple occasions. She rarely had to actually speak to end their quarreling. Especially right now. A look and wave of the hand silenced both younger women as they realized their mistress was in no mood.

"Sylvanas, is your family aboard already?" Celbrien asked.

"Yes, my sisters managed to get what remained of our family's heirlooms packed away before that…show." The ranger said with a sneer aimed toward the distant palace looming over the city.

"Then it is time to depart." Celebrien said simply as she walked down toward the ships herself and across the gangplank to the lead vessel.

Liadrin and Sylvanas stopped to take a final look back at their homeland. Sylvanas for but a moment, while Liadrin stared sadly at her former home. Even after having been ravaged by a near decade of warfare it remained a beautiful place. Separated from the lands of humanity by the savage Brindle Men in the north, Quel'Thalas was untouched by nearly all outside interaction or interference. The only exception having been one called Janaera Baelerys long before any living elf of Quel'Thalas had been born. The Empire of Dragons and their riders had fallen so long ago now that even it predated any of their people.

Still, it was the few stories told by Janaera to the royal family and their historiographers that Celebrien and the Quel'dorei hoped to rely upon to find a new home. Some place beyond the brutal jungles between them and the Northerns coasts.

Slowly Liadrin sighed and turned her back on her home to join with Sylvanas and Celebrien. She prayed that they would not suffer too great of hardships on their journey. After all that her people had been through, they could surely use some divine support for the difficult days ahead.

Liadrin would never be able to imagine the journey she and her people were about to embark upon. Even more so, they could not imagine the future that awaited them, nor the role they would play in shaping the fate of the world.


Mantarys

Essos

295 AC

Brachys' small shop had proven to be too small for Naruto's growing band of former gladiators. It had taken some weeks but slowly he had begun to secure the loyalty of more and more of his fellow former slaves by saving them from the jaws of certain death.

They had been forced to purchase a larger residence within the city as they built their group up, which had sadly gained the attention of much of the city's ruling class. When they began to look in on what they still assumed to be Brachys' actions they began to worry even more as they noticed he had collected a force of more than thirty experienced warriors to his side, and that wasn't including Naruto, Asher, and Beskha each of which were given a healthy amount of respect for their own skill in a fight.

"It's too bad the Nestios triplets tried to pull a fast one. They were pretty skilled too." Beskha said as she cleaned her blades up.

"Yeah, they were the last ones down in gatehouse slums to recruit too." Asher commented.

"It's becoming harder and harder to find people to recruit." Naruto joined the conversation as he finished putting away his book of healing spells.

"That, my young friend, would be because all the masters have started catching on to what we've been up to. I told you buying this place was a bad idea. I mean we were planning on leaving as soon as we had enough fighters anyway so this seems like it was a bad idea." The older male of the trio said.

"I had to. I can't expect these people to want to follow me if I'm making them live in the street." Naruto argued.

"Maybe, but now every eye in the city is watching to see what you, or rather what Brachys is going to do next. The Masters are getting paranoid and everyone is on edge." Asher pressed.

"They don't know you are running things which is good, but they also assume Brachys is planning some kind of power play. Any moment now they'll be coming here to see what their fellow master is intending. If they aren't satisfied, we will be lucky to make it to the city gates let alone out of the city itself." Beskha said.

The two males frowned at that. She wasn't wrong. They were pretty close to the force Naruto wanted to use to attack the Company of the Crow, but taking on one of the Free Cities in their home turf? That was suicide.

"How many more do we need before we set out Naruto? I hate to add even more bad news but as much as Brachys had saved up it's been running out pretty quickly since we bought this place. We still need to think of arming and feeding everyone." Asher added.

Naruto frowned and leaned over the table. He was close to making the first big step toward righting what he felt was a crooked path. Ever since Burn was attacked those years ago and he was taken away it felt like the world had just been wrong, like it was set upon a mistaken path. His chance to finally fix it was so close but with the way things were going in the city it might slip away from him at any moment.

"From some of the travelling merchant's I had the puppet deal with I learned that the Crows are recovering from a hard set of defeats. Most of their troops are dead but they still have more than double our numbers." Naruto said.

"Hey, listen. We understand that, we aren't saying to abandon the goal, but maybe we need to come up with another method to recruit people and leave Mantarys before things get hairy here." Asher argued.

"It might be too late for that." Beskha called over from her place beside the window. Naruto and Asher joined her as they looked down across the small courtyard of the old estate.

At the warped and rusted gates stood a pair of former gladiators that had been essentially appointed as sentries. They squared off with a large number of Mantarys soldiers who seemed to be escorting a handful of slaves bearing a litter carrying a small frail looking man and two barely clad women.

They recognized the man. One of the wealthiest in Mantarys he owned the majority of the pleasure houses in the city as well as the house of horrors locally called the Breeding Stall, where slaves were produced and sold like cattle on a daily basis.

"Ballio." Naruto said darkly as he stared at the man below them.

"He's no doubt here at the behest of the rest of the masters. He's powerful but more like the lackey for the real powerful families." Beskha commented.

"True enough. Still it's best we go down and meet with him. Maybe we can buy ourselves some more time." Naruto said as he turned and headed for the door.

"Twenty pieces of silver that Ballio does something to piss him off and he kills him." Asher said as he turned to Beskha.

"That's a given. How about this, I bet he does something to one of his slaves then Naruto kills him for it." Beskha countered.

"Hmm, alright I bet that Ballio tries something with Nagerre. She was his prized gladiator till that fight last month. I heard he initially planned to use her for himself after her time in the arena but with her unable to walk…" Asher said.

"Shit, you're probably right. The moment he sees her up and around he's going to do something that will piss Naruto off." Beskha groaned.

"Yep. You could always pay me now and keep your shame between the two of us." Asher joked.

"Pfft as if. Just get ready to fight, Asher." She said as they followed after Naruto.

"When am I not?" He grinned. He was almost looking forward to the negotiations falling apart. Almost of course.


Naruto himself made his way down to the gate instead of sending Brachys. He doubted the puppet would be useful as a mask for him running the show much longer anyway. Especially as he approached the hat and the former gladiators who had begun to gather there moved aside for him with murmurs of the moniker Master Healer or Lord Healer.

That was who he had become to them. Healer, or Master Healer of some variety or other. He was a bit embarrassed by the name, especially as the fact he had not healed these people with pure intentions. He planned to use them, but that didn't mean he didn't care for them. They had become his responsibility the moment they took the deal he had offered them.

"Boy, where is the Master Brachys? Do you not belong to him?" Ballio called down as Naruto stepped up to the gate.

"I belong to no one. Brachys freed me some weeks ago." Naruto said as he placed a hand on one of the gate guards' shoulders to calm him down.

"Oh how very fascinating." Ballio said with rolling eyes, he didn't care about the life and freedom of some child even if he had lost a small fortune in the pits betting against him.

"Where is Brachys at? I am here representing a collection of…concerned masters of the city including the magistrate. It is in his best interest to welcome me in." Ballio continued.

"Forgive me fair master but we're you invited by Brachys?" Naruto asked coyly, causing the man to stare sourly at the boy.

The gladiators each smirked while the collection of slaves quailed under the clear displeasure Ballio now displayed. He snapped his fingers and the litter was lowered to the ground before he stepped forward to the gate himself.

Naruto imagined it was supposed to be an imposing action. One meant to show Naruto had offended a powerful man and he had turned his full attention onto him. Instead it amounted to a fully grown man who was only a few scant inches taller than the young adolescent coming to stand before him.

If the differences between the two hadn't been clear earlier, now as they stood literally side by side, Ballio and Naruto showed just how different they were.

The master was a grown man but short and slight like a boy. He had tastes for both men and women and liked to imagine himself as a middle point between the two. In actuality his drail figure, pale skin, and terrible complexion simply showed how wealthy and vain he was.

In comparison Naruto had become big for his age. The need to strengthen himself for his fights had made that imperative, but he was still just slightly more than a child. His tanned and muscled physique matched with plenty of scars and a well fitted outfit capable of providing marginal protection in a fight all made him look far more mature and intimidating than the little master thought himself to be.

"Open this gate and take me to Brachys." Ballio sneered. "Or I will have it opened and have your throat opened up next."

Naruto's eyes hardened and for a brief second the guards around Ballio tensed before a soft expression fell onto the young man's face.

"Of course, please forgive the inconvenience. I care much for my former master and wanted to make sure you have no ulterior motives toward him, is all." Naruto said while bowing his head slightly.

Ballio snorted but nodded. He wished his men were as dutiful. Anytime the Magistrate or other more intimidating masters came calling at his residence the doors seemed to open themselves for their entourages. Still Brachys should know better than to try and resist him and the other masters. He was a washed up old man who made his money on parlour tricks.

Slowly the gate opened and Ballio and his group were admitted in. They were led through the courtyard to a small garden area with high raised walls surrounding it before Naruto, followed by Asher and Beskha all stood across from Ballio and the guards.

The guards shifted awkwardly as they realized things had suddenly changed. At the gate Naruto and a handful of former gladiators stood on the other side of a gate but here the whole of Naruto's group had become present sitting around the sides of the garden or up on the top of the walls looking down. Where earlier their small numbers seemed imposing, now they were clearly outnumbered, and surrounded. Ballio, however, seemed to care little for that fact.

"I said to bring me to your master boy. Where is he?" Ballio snapped as he was set down by his slaves.

"And I told you, Ballio, that I have no master." Naruto snarled back his brief submissiveness long gone.

The master was taken back by the sudden reaction. Before he could reply though Naruto stepped forward as did the multitude of gladiators pressing in tightly against the small group.

"You may have wished to speak with Brachys, but you now see he is not in charge here. I am. Now what is it you want? If you are here to extort me, you are poorly prepared for it, and we will be leaving shortly anyway so you'll find that pointless." Naruto spoke calmly and clearly.

"Leaving?" Ballio paused suddenly.

"Yes. We'll be leaving. All we need to do now is purchase supplies for the journey and we'll be leaving Mantarys behind." Naruto said, causing the master to blink as he thought over the boy's words.

He opened his mouth finally, seeming ready to accept that Naruto and his band of 'leftovers' would be out of their hair…until his eyes locked onto his former slave. Nagerre stared back with disgust and hatred in her eyes, but Ballio's filled with desire. Not one that a man might have for a woman typically, but one he might have for a delicious meal or a child for a toy. There was a tinge of madness in his stare as he simply gazed at Nagerre.

Finally tearing his eyes away from the woman he faced Naruto once again. "It's all well and good you wish to leave the city. First though, the property you have collected does not belong to you."

"Property…" Naruto grumbled, knowing what the man was about to suggest.

"Yes, property. Return the slaves to their proper owners or purchase them and then be on your way boy." Ballio said as he turned to step back onto his litter.

Naruto sighed before shaking his head. He nodded at the gladiators and in a single moment the guards that had accompanied Ballio collapsed either dead or drowning in their own blood as a mix of arrows and blades tore them apart.

"You wretch! What is the meaning of this?" Ballio screamed as he turned to face Naruto again.

"Be silent. It's obvious. You'll be leaving here alive. Go back to your own masters and the magistrate and tell them we will be leaving as soon as we collect our supplies. Your former slaves are now forfeit." Naruto hissed, causing Ballio to take a step back.

Ballio tightened his fists but wisely bit his tongue before being roughly escorted to the gate once again by one of the gladiators at another nod from Naruto. The others stepped forward to free the slaves that Ballio had brought with him and give some clothes to the women while Asher and Beskha both approached Naruto wanting to know what exactly he was thinking at the moment.

"Was it a good idea to let Ballio walk out of here like that?" Asher asked.

"They know we will be heading for the market now. It's going to be crawling with soldiers." Beskha said.

"Not yet it won't be. Just the guards already there will be present. We will reach the merchant quarter before Ballio reaches the other masters." Naruto explained.

"So what? Are we going to go haggle for supplies while Ballio and the rest lead the army into the merchant quarter to butcher us all?" Beskha asked scathingly.

"No, we aren't haggling for shit. We are going to go in and take what we want. Kill the masters and free the slaves. Then we are going to burn it to the ground." Naruto calmly said, catching both by surprise.

"Naruto, you want to burn the merchant quarter down, fine. Just don't do it while we are trapped in the city. I'll follow you to the end building an army and sacking this shithole if you want, but I won't commit suicide for you." Asher said resolutely.

"I'd never ask you to. Neither of you. The Merchant quarter is one district from the Gatehouse slums. If we can fight our way there the army won't be able to fight with us in those narrow passages and we can take the gatehouse and leave." Naruto explained.

"That's if we can take it." Beskha commented.

"It's our best chance. I won't turn my back on the people we have gotten to come with us. I won't send them back into slavery." Naruto growled at the end.

The two mercenaries sighed but nodded. They understood that, and truth be told this was the only real option they had.

"Fine, I'll get everyone around. You two had best get all the magical shit you want to bring packed into the saddle bags with the pack horses." Beskha said before heading over to where the gladiators were still lending a hand to the newest recruits.

"Come on Asher, we can't spare any time. Most of my things are packed but we still have a bit to do and this is going to be a very busy day." Naruto called over his shoulder as he raced up the stairs.


Within less than an hour Naruto was leading his group into the merchant quarter. Or more like marching into the merchant quarter. The guards were smart enough to realize something was going on and moved to meet them in the middle of the street. That had been a mistake. The half dozen soldiers were easily outnumbered and overwhelmed causing the crowds to watch in shock as the soldiers were butchered in the street.

Using the brief shocked silence to his advantage Naruto scaled a low wall to stand just over the heads of the people in the street. He took a single moment to pause and look out over the crowd easily picking out the slaves, freedmen, and masters among them.

"Those of you bound to a master, rejoice! Your time spent as a slave ends today! Those of you who bind others to your bidding, weep! Your time spent among the living ends now!" Naruto bellowed out, and in an instant chaos erupted.

Naruto's gladiators swept into the crowd and stuck down masters left and right. Shops were torn apart and goods rapidly stuffed into all manner of carrying bag. Screams quickly began to fill the streets as Naruto's forces spread further and further into the merchant quarter and seemed to swell in number by the dozens as more and more slaves were freed or took up arms agaisnt their masters and freed themselves.

The leader himself joined in, beside Beskha and Asher as they slew a handful of bodyguards for one elderly master before letting his own slave boy finish him by crashing a largepot over hsi head and stomping on him. From the snippets they could gather from his screaming, the man had done something similar to the boy's mother in the past. They let him be and continued their raid on the merchant quarter burning shops and slaughtering any that didn't join their cause.

"Naruto, the men can't get into that smithy because they barred themselves in. They managed to kill a couple of ours too." Asher said pointing the shop out.

The younger fighter frowned. They would need the weapons inside as well as anything else they had of value. He motioned for Beskha and Asher to follow him as they approached the doorway where a pair of his gladiators were trying their best to break the thick door down with a pair of axes.

"Ho, stand back." Naruto called out as he approached the obstacle.

Both of the men quickly stepped out of the way and joined the small collection of freed slaves that had paused in their raiding of the merchants stalls and shops to watch their leader work.

'You have not practiced with that spell enough, Naruto. It may prove too costly for you at the moment.' Brachys warned. Having been bound to Naruto, the fragment of the old man was completely loyal to his master now. At least as far as Naruto could tell at the moment.

'I know, but we need those weapons. The two shops we looted already weren't enough. There were a lot more slaves in the merchant quarter than I expected today.' Naruto replied before slowly bending down to grasp a stone to rub between his hands.

He blew out a small breath of air, buzzing with unnatural purplish energy onto the stone and felt his body weaken from the action. With a flick of the wrist he watched as the small sparkling rock lazily sailed through the air before encountering the door frame and suddenly detonating in a sizable explosion.

From inside there was a series of terrified shouts and the screams of someone being injured, while the door bent and snapped, it remained mostly intact. The frame holding it however had been reduced to splinters and the wall beside it was cracked and smoking.

Asher and Beskha recognized the tired look on their friend's face as he slumped slightly and they quickly moved to his side to support him while the rest of the group surged forward and slammed into the weakened doors, knocking them off of their hinges and tumbling into the shop.

The short sounds of a fight escaped, but none of the shop's residents did. Soon the raiders returned laden down with a large selection of blades, hammers, and other weapons. As well as several helmets and other smaller pieces of armor which were quickly claimed by various freed slaves.

Soon the fighting began to diminish and focus turned solely to looting as the last of the masters either died or escaped into other parts of the city. Naruto and his people had to move quickly as they loaded down pack animals and several carts with everything they could carry. The slaves collected in the main market as Naruto stepped up onto the platform once used to auction slaves. Behind him Asher and Beskha held down the two surviving masters that still yet lived within the merchant quarter.

"Everyone!" Naruto hollered, gathering attention onto himself. The freed slaves quieted but still murmured among one another as Naruto stood before them. He released a calming breath before his features hardened into a confident and serious look.

"Everyone, you are free now! Free to do as you please. That won't last long though. Even now as we speak the city's army is already marching this way. They would have had all the time they needed to regroup so any moment now they will march into this part of the city and put us all to the sword…if we are lucky." Naruto continued.

The group's murmuring began to pick up faster and louder.

"I have a solution!" Naruto called out, stalling the panic from taking hold of them all.

"Myself and my followers will be leaving this hellish city. I ask that you follow me as well. Work together and help me to lead us all out of this terrible place. Either back home or to a new home. Someplace we can be free and happy once again!" Naruto called out getting supportive shouts from his gladiators and gradually from the other slaves too.

"Excellent. Now, together we have a real chance. First we must prepare to defend ourselves. If we can break their first assault, they will be forced to try and talk us into surrender. So begin the construction of a barricade. Block every path into the merchant quarter and prepare yourselves to fight for your lives and your freedom!" He shouted and the people quickly began scrambling to do just as he had said.

Asher and Beskha shared a glance before looking at Naruto.

"That wasn't the plan." Asher pointed out simply.

"The plan has to change look there." Naruto said as he pointed in the direction of the path they had planned to use to escape Mantarys.

Between them and their chance at survival was the slowly marching shield wall of Mantarys soldiers. At their current pace they would take a considerable amount of time, as they had to march down a hill before scaling the hill that led to the Merchant Quarter. Still as they marched their numbers grew and grew, steadily as more and more soldiers from across the city joined them.

"They expected that route. They sent their troops there to cut us off before we ever had a chance." Asher said sadly.

"Exactly. I have a few ideas, but all that matters now is we find a way to beat back this first assault. If we can do that, we still have a chance." Naruto said before turning to look at the two prisoners.

He wondered if they thought he planned to use them as bargaining chips or something like that. He had no intention of doing that though. Instead he recalled the darker sections of the tome he had read and stepped over to them, placing a hand on the side of the first man's face. They both looked confused until a light swirled around the man's head and he began to panic. It was over in a moment though as his eyes rolled into the back of his head before falling back onto the ground.

The second looked confused and terrified. He could only scream as Naruto reached over to repeat the process on him as well. Again it was over in a mere moment but the effects were clear. Both men were dead but Naruto himself was rejuvenated. It felt as though he had gotten a full night's worth of deep sleep and was well rested before also having a large hearty breakfast.

"What the hell?" Beskha asked in mild fear toward her friend's actions.

"More freaky magic shit." Asher frowned slightly before shaking his head. "Just don't ever use that on use, if you please."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Naruto grinned as he felt his energy bubbling inside him. With the recharge he set about healing all of the former slaves in their little revolt that he could.


Just as Naruto said, soon a massed force of hundred of Mantarys soldiers began their assault on the rudimentary barricades the revolting slaves had erected around the merchant quarter. They barked out in unison with every step, mimicking the lockstep legions of past empires such as the Ghiscari or even the far more disciplined and skilled Unsullied. That all being said, these Mantarys guardsmen didn't come close in comparison to the far more skilled and effective forces they imitated. In truth, they were trained in such a way for suppressing slave revolts due to the intimidating nature of a large armored force of soldiers moving in unison while shouting and barking out gruff refrains.

It was an effective strategy. At least in most circumstances. However as they neared the small walls of debris erected by the freed slaves, the poorly disciplined rank and file of guardsmen began to fall apart. Those gladiators gifted with bows easily picked apart the commanders leading their men and the soldiers that remained had to separate their shield wall to try and scale the barricade. A suicidal task as spears, blades, and any other kind of weapon was brought to bare on them while they struggled for their footing to defend themselves.

Most of the guards had never truly fought anyone. The hordes of the Dothraki were bought off and slave revolts were usually small and easily disrtupted, not to mention poorly armed. Naruto had been smart in taking over the merchant quarter and acquiring weapons for his people. It tipped the balance in their favor as the soldiers stumbled into their own deaths at the hands of defiant gladiators, laborers, pleasure slaves, and more.

At the forefront Naruto, Asher, and Beskha led their people in fighting off the attack. It was bloody, and in a few places the guardsmen briefly broke through only to be overwhelmed by the revolters numbers. Still not all the casualties were had by the guardsmen. Easily a hundred slaves fell as the fighting drug on throughout the afternoon.

Eventually though the guardsmen broke and fell back to a second series of barricades. These were erected by the guardsmen of the city when they realized that victory was not going to be as easy of a task as they had previously thought. While the guardsmen fell back to lick their wounds, Naruto took a chance to heal those he could among his own rank, draining nearly a dozen captured guardsmen to keep himself going.

Asher and Beskha took in the sight of their battle and knew that a second push from the army would probably be their end. They needed to do something different because a siege was most definitely not going to end in their favor. Before they could even approach Naruto about it though, he surprised them by sending his puppet out.

The elderly Brachys crossed the space between the two groups with an ease and speed one his age should not possess. He strolled over the corpses of dead Mantarys soldiers without a second glance and stopped just beyond the hastily constructed positions of the army before him.

The guards watched him curiously as he strolled up without any fear or worry. Meanwhile Asher and Beskha were distracted from the actions of the puppet when Naruto walked up to them.

"I've figured it out." Naruto said, getting their attention.

"What?" Asher asked.

"How to get out of here of course. You won't like it but it will work." Naruto explained.

Both of the older members of the trio bit their lips as they realized another ambitious strategy was about to be unveiled. Like before though, they had no real choice but to follow along. The only other option seemed to be to wait and die.

"Don't give me those looks. It will work. I swear. I've already got people moving actually." That caught both of them by surprise.

"What do you mean?" Beskha asked.

"We're using the catacombs." Naruto said, causing both of their eyes to widen.

"The catacombs are a death trap." Asher hissed.

"For small groups or individuals. There's nearly three hundred people about to pass through them." Naruto argued.

"Yeah, maybe but some will still get picked off or get lost in there. We will be lucky to make it out of the other end with half of us still alive." Asher continued to argue back.

"Asher, it's better than all of us just dying here." Beskha interjected.

"Wait, what? You're buying into this madness?" Asher asked. He'd heard the stories of the catacombs of this city. Anyone who had been here had. Mantarys was a place of defored monsters kept as pets by their masters. Many slaves were fed to them every day in a grotesque celebration of the vile debauchery that persisted in Mantarys.

The catacombs were worse. Those creatures too terrible even for the masters to want on their leash were forced into the darkness below the city. A great number of slaves were forced in after them on a weekly basis with the full understanding that the monsters below would feed on them. It was originally some sort of simple minded defensive decision. Making the method of flanking the city's defenses worse than a head on assault. Now though it was simply another part of the horror of Mantarys.

"I would rather die from a sword or something like that than whatever is lurking down there." Asher argued.

"Yeah, so would we, but if we stay we are definitely going to die from a sword or the like. If we go through there, we have a chance. A real chance, Asher." Naruto said while staring into his friend's eyes.

The older boy stared back at Naruto for a time. Both locking their gazes and communicating silently all their worries about the situation. In the end, as was quickly becoming typical, Asher realized, he sighed and submitted to Naruto's plan. How it was the boy had essentially become their leader he wasn't sure. They were friends but there was a charisma to Naruto, perhaps just in his body language that made those around him feel comforted and reassured.

There was more to it though. Asher and Beskha had both realized by now they were fully committed to backing their younger friend. Somewhere along the lines the border between leader and friend had blurred and it was never going to go back.

"How close till everyone is…underground?" Asher asked.

"Not long now. I sent Brachys to talk with them to try and buy time. The puppet is creeping them out though. They realized it's not really Brachys so I've just been calling him my voice now. " Naruto said as he looked out over the barricade toward the opposing side.

"Your voice?" Beskha asked.

"Yeah…what?" Naruto asked, noticing the looks.

"I dunno if that's pretentious or adorable." Asher said with a grin spreading across his face.

"It's both. Adorably pretentious maybe?" Beskha said as she joined in on the teasing.

Naruto huffed, though grinned faintly. They had needed something to relax for a moment. A brief bout of teasing was just the necessary thing as they felt a little bit of the day's stresses leave their bodies.

"Master Healer…" Nagerre called catching their attention.

"Yes?" Naruto asked as he became serious once again.

"We've gotten all of the non-combatants into the catacombs and have started slowly sending the gladiators and fighters in as you ordered. There's only around thirty of us left to go now." She responded.

"Excellent, we are going even faster than I expected." Naruto said happily. That joy turned sour as he snapped his head back to look at the Mantarys defensive lines.

"What is it, Naruto?" Asher asked.

"The distraction is over. They're going to be coming soon. One of them just stabbed my puppet in the chest." Naruto said with a frown.

"Oh yeah? What was that like?" Asher asked.

"Fine I guess. Didn't bother me at all, and the puppet isn't alive so it didn't even bleed. Really seemed to disturb the masters though. They all started screaming about witchcraft and things like that." Naruto explained as his undead puppet began returning to them.

"Really? They do all sorts of dark magic on slaves and this is too much for them?" Asher asked.

"Probably has something to do with the fact that it's a dead man walking. Their magic only ever does things to the living. Not…that." Beskha pointed out as the puppet returned with a little more than just the knife to the chest Naruto had mentioned.

"They shot you in the head." Asher commented with a snort at the sight of an arrow sticking out where the puppet's left eye should have been.

"Yeah…I'll have to find him a replacement cause I can't see out of its left side anymore. Later though. Let's get out of here before they get their shit together and launch another assault." Naruto commanded, leading his companions to rejoin the others in retreating into the catacombs beneath the city.


Ballio raged as he stepped into the wreckage of the Merchant quarter alongside his fellow masters and the Magistrate. Corpses littered the area and the district was in ruins. Soldiers milled about checking the bodies finding no survivors left behind by either side.

They had been so confident. What could a ragtag band of unruly slaves really hope to accomplish? Freedom lied just beyond the gates surely, but the gates were out of reach for them the moment Ballio had told the magistrate that the boy…Naruto and his little band of misfits was planning on some sort of revolt. He hadn't known they were going to torch the Merchant District but it was obvious enough they were planning to try and escape.

The fact that they managed to do so, even after all the real avenues out of Mantarys had been closed off was vexing, until their soldiers had shown them the entryways to the city's old catacombs. The fact the boy had fled through them was shocking itself. It also expressed just how desperate they were to get away.

"I must give the boy and his followers some credit. To willingly go into those depths…" The magistrate said with a bored tone as he stared at the entryway to the underground.

"The soldiers outright refuse to follow. If we hadn't lost so many against the rebels earlier then maybe they would have pursued…but as it is their pride is already in shambles." Another master commented.

"It matters little. I don't know what that foolish child hopes to accomplish down there. There is no escape from the underground of Mantarys. Even should they find a way to avoid being devoured or violated by the creatures under our feet, they'll never find an end to that Labyrinth." Yet another added in.

"Hmm, still. Post soldiers at every entrance we know of. No doubt some will break faith when they find true horror down there. We'll make an example of all of those that try to return the way they left." The Magistrate ordered before signaling for his litter to be lifted and hauled away.

One by one the other masters followed in the Magistrate's actions eventually leaving only Ballio, with a new litter and set of slaves to stare at the dark maw of the underground catacombs in impotent rage.


The catacombs of Mantarys had been just as the rumors said. Horrifying, dark, miserable, and full of death. The difference between Naruto's groups and those in the past was that Naruto was leading a group of over a hundred people through the tunnels. Creatures that spurred nightmares were overwhelmed and torn apart by their fighters, and cooperation kept their losses to the confusing layout to a minimum.

A minimum.

Asher and Beskha both had praised him for his genius and leadership as they began to emerge a distance aways from mantarys into the hills further inland. He would have normally loved being praised in such a way. He would have been embarrassed, of course, but he would have loved it.

Less than thirty people had died in the catacombs; the people praised him as well. His title of Master Healer, simply master, or Lord, was stuck now it seemed. Still, he had gotten them all into that situation and because his original plan backfired they had to go through the catacombs in the first place.

He wasn't stupid or so self loathing as to pin the blame truly on himself. After all, the masters of Mantarys were the most to blame. They had them as slaves to begin with. They created and fed those monsters as well. They also pushed them into a corner where their only option had been to flee through the dark tunnels.

He felt almost the same hate for them as the Company of the Crow. With that simple realization his goals began to shift and change. His dreams to return home and lead his people after gaining their revenge remained but…how could he stop at that. The citizens of Nurn were not his only people anymore. He wasn't so foolish to believe he could fins and save every slave in the world, but his parents had impressed upon him time and again that he was meant to do something extraordinary.

He was beginning to get an idea of just what that might be.


And that is a wrap for this chapter. More to come next time, but we see now Naruto is starting to use more and more of his magic, he has a considerable following and he is no longer bound in Mantarys. We also saw just a small peek at some other major players that will play a larger role in next chapter.

Anyway

Till Next Time