True Guardians

by Nasha Rei-Kun

Dragged from his world and being inflicted with a curse of the magical kind, Naruto had lucked out by his newly adopted father, Hakone. With the man's recommendation, the boy could get into the famous institution, High Guardian Academy, where he'd hopefully be capable of getting over the curse but with difficulty as his secret might gets out. Crossover with High Guardian Spice.

5. Responsibilities III

~NRK~

Sage looked at the tomb's entrance along with Amaryllis.

"So, we're close to a Terrasphere?" She asked the purple-haired mage who tilted her head.

"I… It's likely something to do with my Vow and stuff but I know there's something good down there," the short teen said as Caraway chuckled.

"You're probably correct," he said. "Vows can have passive effects, you all know. In this case, it might be that your senses have been enhanced to sense magical objects and Terraspheres."

"... In that case," Sage looked down. "I-If my Vow didn't say anything, it's probably not a Terrasphere?"

"Can you sense anything, Sage?"

"Not that I can tell, professor," she admitted as Amaryllis crossed her arms with a raised brow.

"I don't think you can tell, not sayin' anything," she assuaged her. "But I want to make and find my legacy," Caraway grinned. "I guess that has something to do with this?"

"Yes, the wording of one's Vow is also just as important as the main effect," Caraway chuckled. "Think about it. Sage may be able to mix Terraspheres and Old Magic but she didn't say she wanted to find them. She knows there is 'greatness' in everyone and that's how her Vow manifested in that manner. It's giving you the potential to truly utilize 'greatness'."

Sage blushed as Amaryllis snickered. "Traditions, Old Magic, protection, and more power. No wonder, yours is all about that stuff."

"R-Right, I… I didn't realize it," the blue-haired girl said before nodding. "Then… T-Then let's make this trip true and worthwhile! M-Maybe we can find some old magical scriptures down there."

"THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!"

~NRK~

Snapdragon oiled his ax's edge as the group of Warriors-course students prepared.

He touched his belt pouches and felt the items within. "Thanks, Thyme," Snapdragon said with a nod as the elf returned it.

"It's fine, I'm used to making small potions and effects for my arrows," Thyme said, currently dipping arrowheads inside a small brown pot full of a green liquid. "We're going in with as many advantages as we can like Naruto and Parsley. It'd be wrong to do otherwise."

"Hmph," Cal rubbed his gauntlets, glowing letters on the side. "... Dammit, I have to thank her," he sighed. "What do these do again?"

"Extra defense!" Rosemary grinned as her fingerless gloves glowed. "Mine is for faster sword speed, Thyme's is for extra power, and Snap's is the same!"

"I'm still surprised you can give people magic."

"It's… Runes imbue things," Thyme considered. "If that's the case, then Amaryllis likely just gave him the ability for 'protection', so to speak. It's Old Magic, though, it's pulling on his stamina as is."

"That's true," Snapdragon said as he nodded to his weapon. "... I forgot she has my shield," he sweatdropped. "Amaryllis told me that it's minor, though. It shouldn't be noticeable."

"Hmph, it's building its army, by the way," Cal said as the group turned to look at Alberach.

At the front, the Crabbe stood guard as tigers, eagle-vultures, centipedes, and rhinos readied themselves at the forest's treeline.

"O-Oh," Snapdragon swallowed. "That's terrifying."

"It's well aware."

"Alright!" Rosemary jumped to her feet as she readied her sword, the others standing behind her. "This is gonna be our last chance for a whole WEEK, you guys! You wanna come back the only ones who LOST?!"

"NO!" The student yelled sans Thyme.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?"

"WIN!"

"YEAH!" She grinned as Snapdragon chuckled while Cal grinned viciously. "We've got two hours! Don't be stupid! Be faster than a Trixie's fingers! Hit 'em like a bull! And, finally, DON'T LOSE!"

Thyme readied her bow along with all the other long-range fighters as they began to walk.

"Time to bust some heads," Cal said.

"We won't… can't lose," Snapdragon said with determination.

"Trust in our plan," Thyme said. "Don't let your fear take hold and keep moving. You want to prove yourselves, don't be idiots."

Rosemary giggled.

~NRK~

They hurried over the landscape before jumping down that cliff again.

"Our plan of action is in play," Mint said as they landed via Naruto's golden energy once again. "You've built all the ballista and the guards know how to manage them. This creature isn't known to be that durable so they'll hold it down while you deal with it," she told him as he grinned.

"We're gonna win-!"

"The hell are you saying?!" Came a voice from ahead of the trees. "I'M THE GUARDIAN!"

The three students' eyes widened before Naruto's eyes narrowed.

His next step crushed the ground beneath his feet before his form shot ahead with a growl on his lips.

The blonde broke through the treeline before skirting along the ground, eyes narrowed as he saw the chief, now relieved at the sight of him, and one other.

A woman. A female Guardian, it seemed.

Her yellow eyes narrowed as she saw him, bronze skin, and short messy black hair lowering as she looked down at the boy, her long pointed ears twitching in annoyance.

Wearing a yellowish-green tunic, white pants, black leather armor around her torso, stomach, and thighs, a long white cape, and black boots, the woman held her forearm-blade to the side.

The weapon's blade rested on the side of the forearm and was compressed into a slight arch of gray steel, its side covered in Runes. The gauntlet it was on was black and covered in several layers of bandages.

"... So, you're the so-called replacement Guardians, are you?" The woman said with narrow eyes as she stomped over to Naruto who stood up, locking eyes with her. "Tsk. Back off, kid, I don't have time to be dealing with this shit."

"Oh but you had time to slow-walk your ass here, didn't you?" Naruto spat back and the elf's eyes narrowed as Parsley and Mint tucked themselves into the bushes by the treeline. "Don't mess with me woman, you only come now?"

"That's not your business, student. I'm the one who owns the quest here."

"Well, guess we've been doing your job, huh?" He said lazily as she grimaced. "Really? What happened? I better hear a good reason," Naruto said with narrowed eyes as the woman scoffed.

"We had to handle some extra work in the capital," she reflected with crossed arms, eyes looking down on him even if she was actually a bit shorter. "I bet you don't even know that. Just came in playing hero."

"So, you're playing the 'I couldn't handle my job' game, right?"

"Excuse me, you little-?!"

"That's enough!" The demon chief shouted in annoyance. "Right now, you're supposed to be helping! The youngsters did their best to make up for your lack of presence!" He insisted with narrow eyes as the female Guardian flinched. "Right now, your job is easier thanks to them."

Parsley nodded and came out of the treeline with Mint staying within it. "It's true," the dwarf said with crossed arms and a huff as the woman looked at her and grimaced.

"Fucking… dwarves," she hissed under her breath even as Naruto's eyes narrowed at her. "Tsk. Don't get in my way."

"We're the only reason you have a way," he said and the woman looked ready to smack him before huffing and walking off to a large tent outside the village proper, leaving Naruto to huff before he rubbed the back of his head, turning to the chief. "Sorry, sir, I… might have made things rough."

"I understand, I know you're here to help and I'm not exactly happy with the current situation as is," the demon man grimaced before sighing. "Come, we've already set up everything. Right now, we need to go over the plan one more time."

The two blondes nodded as they followed him, Mint watching as the entire area grew more tense.

'What the hell was that?!' Ignoring Naruto's aggressive behavior, what the hell was that woman doing?! 'You're a guardian, you dumb woman! Why the hell were you late in the first place?!'

Watching the elf woman's tent for a bit, Mint began to circle around only to blink as she saw the woman following after them, dropping some kind of black rock on the ground by the gate.

She waited for her to go inside some more before going up to the gate and watching as things progressed.

There, in the middle of the village, surrounded by the tribe's people, were Naruto, Parsley, the chief, and his guards, the Guardian woman coming over and standing a bit away from them.

"Hmph," Mint made it over and the chief nodded.

"With this, let's revise. Right now, the Gnarl usually comes around this time," the demon said as he pointed to a bit of the carving made into a large wooden table, the map of the general area. "As we speak, it's likely waiting until the height of its power before coming. That will be in thirty minutes or so. From there, you'll all have one hour to finish it off before leaving," he said to the students who nodded.

"So, this thing is big from what Mint tells us," Naruto said. "That's why we'll have her up above to keep an eye on the situation with her magic working the perimeter," he added as Mint nodded. "With her broom and red light, we'll know way before it comes. So-"

"You might want to double-time it, kiddies," the Guardian said as the group frowned and looked at her. "That Gnarl isn't alone and it's already moving."

"What?!" The chief's eyes widened. "That's impossible! The Gnarl are a solitary species by way of their very existence! There's no need for them to herd!"

The woman scoffed. "Do you think life is so simple? It's probably not normal. I bet it's some kind of leader of some sort. All I know is, I saw it on the way here and hurried over to make sure you also knew."

"Where's the rest of your team?" Parsley asked. "I'm confused, I was of the opinion it was a team of Guardians. Not just one."

"I came ahead due to those issues in the capital taking up our time. So," she said smugly as Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You're in luck. I'll be handling them. Maybe you three could handle one, a Gnarl's not even that strong, all things considered."

"... fine, don't fail us now, it's hard to believe you'll win," Naruto said nonchalantly with a shrug as the Guardian's eyebrow twitched. "Don't let us whippersnappers handle your work for ya, old lady."

"?!" The woman's temple quickly popped with veins. "Ohhhh, I'm not gonna take the words of a kid to heart."

She scoffed before closing her eyes and crossing her arms, seemingly ignoring them.

"Ignore it. For now, if what she says is true, we need to hurry up with the evacuation and plans," Mint said with a frown before pulling her broom out from her cloak. "I'll go and set up the perimeter. Help the people out of here."

She took off on it before shooting out of the village in a burst of red energy.

"She's right, let's go," Parsley said as Naruto nodded.

They went to work, having to cut their plan time short.

~NRK~

Sage hummed as they walked past wall after wall of scriptures that she found usually foreboding… but then the murals became something different.

Lacking the demon-like symbols and imagery, the more they went into this location, the more she found the murals interesting.

"Some kind of magic for warding off the demon," Caraway said about one specific wall's imagery. "It's clear that despite the original intent, they did know they had to deal with the beings who came out of the jars."

Amaryllis tilted her head at it. "... Trap magic?" She considered it.

The image of a demon being fended off by a stick figure holding onto some kind of wand with light shooting out of it had been interesting but then she could see two other figures making a sort of barrier around it.

The demon was put into an incomplete circle and the symbols beneath the entire thing were curious.

An orb with a ring-like container sat 'crossed' with a long staff with vines curling up to its crescent moon-like 'tip'.

"Hmm…" Caraway considered it. "These were likely the main items used to stave off demons and the like. All things considered… I think that's a Terrasphere."

"It does look…" Amaryllis began to say only for her eyes to flash purple and her head snapped to the large door ahead of them. "... Come on! I knew I felt something!"

She ran ahead with Sage barely scrambling behind her as Caraway chuckled, following along with the other students.

When they got to the door, the group looked at its design.

A pair of ten divots bearing flame designs in each one as on the center of the door, around the closed opening, was a ball of a bigger divot with a swirling design around it, a small human figure right below it with its arms raised up.

"... A puzzle?" Sage said, surprised, as the professor grinned, stepping back for them. "... The ten flames…" she whispered as Amaryllis nodded.

"... It's a lock," the small teen realized as Sage's eyes widened. "That's it!" She said as she ran her hand down the stone. "Each one of these is a key."

Her hand glowed with dark purple energy, the two mages blinking in surprise as it quickly began to spread out and fill each 'flame spot' only for the energy to shoot back down, Amaryllis frowning as she removed her hand.

"Magical energy, huh? Why'd it reject it?"

Sage looked at the door before looking around at the walls.

Fire emblem after fire motif after fire borders… fire.

"I-I think I know!" She said as she raised her hands before caressing something within them into existence. "Fire to flames."

A small ball of heat and light formed between her palms before she slowly pressed it into the door.

The answer was immediate, ten flaming lines shooting up towards the divots before filling each one, the flame-like motifs glowing orange and then red while maintaining the fires within.

Sage removed her hands, form glowing, as Amaryllis frowned, pushing on the doors with her shoulder.

They didn't budge. "Hmmm!" She put her whole body into it and didn't even feel a single shift, back sliding down instead of being rewarded. "Dammit! Answer me, you dumbass door!" Amaryllis shouted at it as she pressed her hands against it.

And the group blinked in surprise as purple energy formed off of them before flowing up into the big 'spot' in the center.

The energy began to swirl down into it from the sides of its 'lips' but stopped midway.

"... Oh," Amaryllis realized as Sage nodded along with Caraway.

"Magical energy," they said in unison and the small witch child huffed.

"God, I'm really relying on that bitch…" She grumbled to herself before groaning as she pushed onto the door. "This stuff BETTER be GOOD!"

She pushed on the doors before the purple in the 'bowl' began to move again before swirling at a moderate pace.

Amaryllis's eyes narrowed as she kept pushing more and more energy into the door as it began to creak, dust falling by her sides.

"Come on! You stupid! Door!" She pushed some more as she could see inside before pushing more. 'More! I don't need some crack in the door! I need COMPLETE VICTORY!'

The students watched as Amaryllis's body glowed before the purple energy in the middle shot into the 'bowl'.

"Come on-Whoa!" She slipped in as the doors slammed inward, fumbling before Caraway's grip on her top had her sighing in relief. "Thanks, sir… WHOA?!"

Sage blinked as she went in before balking as well, the students and Caraway admiring the area at large with similar looks of surprise and awe.

The entire area lit up with orange and purple lines that carved across the walls and formed familiar themes along the walls.

Demons, fire, sacrificial arts, and more. The entire room's pattern leading towards a large gold coffin at the end of it, the lines seemingly feeding into it even if the colors continued, lighting up several other items along the walls and lighting fixtures.

"Treasure?" Sage realized as Amaryllis cackled before running up to it. "N-No! Wait! We don't know if it'll be a trap!"

"It's not, genius! This wasn't just a tomb! It was a dungeon!" Amaryllis said with a grin as Caraway's eyes shined in excitement.

"No wonder! I'd thought it was weird you'd not found many monsters down here but I guess those ghosts were the inhabitants," he said with a laugh.

Sage blinked before swallowing and hurrying after Amaryllis who waved her down.

"Come on! It's gotta be us!" She said as she pointed to two small circles on the side of the cover.

One of those glowed purple and, when Sage put her hands on it, the other one glowed blue, the entire thing creaking as it slid back via the two's push.

As it opened, Caraway came up to them as the other mage students moved to the things at the sides. "Hmm," he smiled as the top came off and they viewed the items within. "It was to be expected."

Within were two familiar items, ones they'd only seen a moment ago on the wall.

The crescent moon staff was bronze in color when it came to the shaft before its 'tip' was made out of silver, the colors untouched by time and seemingly unmarred.

The other item, what had to be a Terrasphere, was within its gold-ringed container, its white color gleaming even within the well-lit room's atmosphere.

The two items sat on a bed of black straw, it seemed, while the surroundings of the coffin began to shimmer.

The three blinked as orange and purple light peeled off the walls before slowly slipping into the items, the process going on for an entire minute as they watched in wonder.

Then, the two items flashed before their colors changed.

For the staff, gone were the bronze and silver, in their places were dark purple and stark-white. The Terrasphere, on the other hand, had changed from gold and white to silver dark blue, the item's magic core's depth flittering with small arcs of energy.

"They've imprinted on you," Caraway said as he pat both girls on the shoulders. "This is yours and no one else's."

The two looked at him then one another and finally back to the amazing items they'd found.

"Awesome…" Amaryllis said as she picked up the staff and felt a jolt run up her fingertips, her body, her spine, her heart. "... Hehehehehe," she snickered as she twirled the item about in her hand. "You know, I can't wield you like this. I've gotta have a whip," she said teasingly.

The item wiggled before its form glowed and was replaced by a whip that followed its color scheme.

"Yes."

Sage, meanwhile, looked at the magical item in her hands before her eyes glowed and she jumped at the information that slipped into her head?!

"H-Huh?!" She squeaked as she held the Light Core in her hands… Wait. "H-How did I…?" Sage's eyes widened as the item glowed softly as if warming at her touch instead of the other way around. "... Oh…" She caressed it a bit. 'That was my Vow's effect.'

Smiled for the Terrasphere before it began to shrink as it slipped out of her hands and flowed to her ear. Moments later, the item latched onto her earlobe and formed an earring.

A rather beautiful one with the ring now being a starburst patterned container.

"Hm, hm, hm, seems this will help you in wielding both forms of magic," Caraway said as the two girls grinned. "Come now, it seems everyone's found something here."

~NRK~

Thyme's eyes narrowed as she notched the 'last' arrow.

It flew true and slammed into the head of the final tiger, the creature's red blood falling past its eyes as she hopped over it, watching as it tumbled to the ground, dead.

"That's the last one," she said as Snapdragon nodded from beside her, Rosemary and Cal hurrying back over to stand by them. "Now, it's his turn," the elf declared as the Crabbe removed itself from the ground, the dirt and earth falling off its form from the amount of time it'd taken to deal with its horde. "Tsk, it's certainly gotten comfy," Thyme huffed as it shook off its body of any loose dirt or debris.

"So, we follow Snapdragon's plan," Rosemary said with a nod as the lanky boy blushed a bit, looking down at his open notebook. "Cool it~ We've got this in the bag. We've done all the saimulation and everything!"

"Simulation," Cal cleared up. "Ignoring her, we've got now to do this so let's fucking GO!" He said with a wicked grin as Thyme huffed before looking over their fellow students.

"... Is everyone ready?" She asked them and the gathered warriors nodded, all cleaned up or rested enough. "Alright, you know the plan! Don't fall out of formation!"

"YEAH!" Rosemary grinned, sword raised at the Crabbe. "We're gonna give it everything we've got! CHARGE!" She declared as the four friends rushed after the crab-beetle.

Their fellow students charged after them, the four leading the charge in every way possible.

As they began to close in on the creature, Rosemary blinked as she saw something in the air above its head.

Something that looked familiar, like air and silver-

"DODGE!" She shouted as the Crabbe's arms raised above its head. "IT'S GOT MAGIC!"

The warriors stuttered to a halt as the creature's truck-like arms came down.

And a large pulse of destructive wet earth tore past the two lines of horrified students.

Thyme's eyes widened as she looked at Rosemary, the girl's eyes narrowed as they got up.

"SCATTER!" The rosette declared as the Crabbe's arms raised.

They followed her commands and dodged another crushing wave of destruction.

"Tsk! Keep going! Don't let up!" Snapdragon ordered as the group kept on running. "Dammit! W-We didn't know!" He cursed.

"I'm sorry!" Rosemary said with a grimace. "I didn't see this before!"

"It's fine! For now, keep running!" Thyme shouted as they got closer. "Rosemary!"

"It's not doing anything!" The girl said as her eyes narrowed and she ducked low. "I'm going on ahead!"

Her next set of steps propelled her forward in a blur, faster than before.

Reaching the Crabbe, Rosemary's form stopped and shot up, flying over one of the creature's large pincers before landing on it. She ran up its length, eyes always on the Crabbe's face.

Thyme and the other long-range fighters went to the far sides of the creature, weapons drawn.

Cal and Snapdragon, meanwhile, lead two separate charges on the creature's flanks, finding themselves by its pincer's sides.

"Whoa!?" Snapdragon jumped back and scrambled as one of the pincers came down, Rosemary atop the creature's head and beating against it with her sword.

"Come on, Crabbe! Come at me!" She shouted to no effect. "Well if you don't like me! I don't like YOU!" Rosemary said as she slid down to its front before her sword swung out.

The creature screeched as one of its eyestalks fell to the ground, Cal grinning as he swung out at one of its legs, form glowing purple.

He bashed at the outer shell and grinned as he was rewarded with cracks and splinters, 'his team' following suit to hack at its legs as a series of explosions rocked the abdomen.

The creature began to lean, Rosemary stumbling a bit before she jumped off and landed near Snapdragon who nodded.

Rosemary holstered her weapon as Snapdragon held out his hands, the rosette stepping on them before the two worked together to toss her onto the Crabbe's leg joint.

"Cut it off!" Snapdragon ordered Rosemary and his fellow warriors. "Don't-?!" He looked up before jumping out the way of one of the Crabbe's pincers slamming down.

"Magic incoming!" Rosemary called from above and the groups barely steadied themselves in time. "You jerk!" She yelled as most of the students were washed away, her blade coming around to slam into its exposed side-joints.

Her blade cut through it slowly as Snapdragon yelped, thrown back with the tide of mud.

"D-Dammit!" He groaned as he got up near Thyme, the elf looking concerned. "I-I'm fine, I mean it."

"Hmph," she nodded before her 'platoon' let loose another series of arrows, crossbow bolts, magic, and throwing weapons.

The attacks hit their marks and slammed into the back of the Crabbe like their previous volley had, causing the creature to stumble before it fell to one side awkwardly as Cal's team broke through the limbs on their side.

Snapdragon nodded as he hurried up and out of the mud with the few others of his team. "Hurry back! We need to cut off its balance!" He told them as he downed a stamina potion, feeling his body well with vigor.

They ran back, all the while, the human boy hissed a bit as he felt his side, far better than before, he guessed that healing water had done its work despite how much he'd actually gotten.

'Dammit, I can't be the only one not pulling my weight again!' He thought as his form glowed. 'Take out another of its essentials!' Snapdragon thought as he skid to a stop, ax off his hip and in his hand.

Snapdragon's gauntlet glowed as he tossed it, the weapon flying true and through as it sliced off another eyestalk before whirling back around to his hand, much to his shock.

"T-That's crazy!" He thought as he looked at the side of it to find a series of inscriptions. "... Thanks, Rylls," he whispered with a smile as he rushed after the others towards the screeching Crabbe. 'I won't be a weakling.'

~NRK~

Fifteen minutes seemed to pass them by in an instant, unfortunately, leaving Naruto to stand atop a treetop with his Vow activated, Mint in the air above as red lights could barely be seen in the distance.

"How's it looking?!" Parsley called from below, that Guardian woman, Elecamp, residing in a nearby tree.

"Nothing so far!" Naruto shouted back as he spread out his senses, the feeling of those beasts still not within his range. 'God, I used to be able to sense farther than this,' that stupid curse's work.

"Hmph," Parsley frowned as they waited, the Guardian woman chuckling. "You don't seem the least bit concerned even though you did nothing."

"Bite me, student, a Guardian's work can look as different as night and day to you inexperienced children," Elecamp said with a snort. "Besides, I can hear for miles, those things aren't even here yet."

"Didn't you say it was only fifteen minutes?" Mint asked as she came down to their level with a frown. "There's nothing around yet. I can't feel any of my Red Alarms going off. What's actually going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then how about we talk about those black stones you've been dropping?" The woman's eyes widened as Naruto's fox ears twitched, his eyes narrowing. "Or did you think I didn't notice?"

"I-I don't know what you're saying, kid," Elecamp said with a shaky grin. "Things are fine, it's just my prep ritual."

"Those things have been radiating dark magic, how is that a ritual?"

"It's a ritual of none of ya business. Leave it alone."

Mint looked annoyed and angry but Parsley's hand knuckles tapping against her broom made her think otherwise.

"Tch," the brown-skinned girl went away with Parsley, leaving the Guardian with a grimace.

'I didn't think she'd notice,' she realized with a grimace. 'Damn her, I thought they were just kids!'

But she'd seen that proven wrong over the week of surveying them.

The blonde boy was learning about curses and applied himself in a leaderly manner that left her feeling like he might have had a Guardian's blood in his veins.

The dwarf should have been nothing but her Vow must have had some hand in her ability to construct the parts for the ballistae in the village. Finally, that Mint girl was WAY too sharp for her liking.

'Tsk, Kale, these kids weren't expected!' There went the 'doubling their fee' deal. 'Still… that blonde kid… he looks… familiar.' Had she seen him before? "Tsk."

Right now, those things had to get here as soon as possible so she could get out of this mess… still… where were the Gnarls?

Despite her previous annoyance with the girl, she'd been right. Where were the three she'd led here?

"Huh?!" Naruto perked up with a blink before he yelped and jumped down, landing in the middle of the females. "We need to prepare! There are five of those damn things here!" He announced as the three balked.

"F-Five?!" Elecamp fumbled on her tree branch, falling out of it only to catch herself on the ground. "Fucking! You have to be lying! There's no way! I only saw… three…" Her ears twitched before the four paled at the red light coming off of Mint's staff.

"... F-Five signatures have been sighted," the mage said with a pale face as Parsley choked and Elecamp grimaced. "FIVE OF THOSE THINGS?!"

"... We already moved the people," Naruto said with a serious expression. "Right now, we don't need to really beat them. All we have to do is protect the people. We need to activate the ballistae!" He declared as he ran past the three who balked before running, or flying, after him. "Dammit, this is completely different from what we were told!"

"I know, I'm not happy about it!" Mint said with a grimace as they rushed through the village gates. "Prepare the ballista! We'll have company soon!"

The chief and his men nodded before hurrying to man each one of four ballistae, the number all Parsley could help make before the day had hit.

"Tsk! Whatever! I'll handle two of them," the elf Guardian said as Naruto nodded.

"Then I'll handle the other three," he said without a hint of fear or funny business.

"... Wait! What?!" Mint choked. "Excuse me?! We can't have you dying for something as stupid as that!"

"Naruto, I swear to God, I'm going to kill you before Thyme does!" Parsley grimaced as his expression didn't change.

"No, there's no joking here, no death runs, or anything. Right now, you both could handle one, maybe, only our own. Between Pars's strength and your height and long-range advantage, Mint, you two should be able to beat one. So, I'll give, I'm fighting two."

"T-That's?!" Parsley horribly concerned and Naruto smiled.

"Trust me, I know how this sounds but you remember that Crabbe thing, don't you? I'm fine. I've got all of you helping me out," he said as he pat his shield. "Right now, we can't let these things get near any of the people here."

The dwarf grimaced, frowned, growled, ruffled her hair in distress, and all-around looked ready to hit him before she sighed. "Fine. I'm serious, don't die on me," she said with such a look of resignation, Naruto kneeled to her height and nodded.

Hugging it out, he pat her back, ignoring the pain his curse caused him without fail. "We're going to win. We trained for this day and we'll make it. Promise, I won't go back on that."

She nodded before they separated, Naruto standing up and looking at Mint with a nod, the girl blushing as she stepped away.

"No, we're not doing that," she huffed as he chuckled. "This is foolish," Mint grumbled but didn't really feel it. 'The only reason I haven't raved up a storm is because professor Hakone is here.'

Still, this felt horrible even knowing that. Especially if she didn't know where the man was at the moment.

"They're coming," she said simply, two red lights blipping into existence. "Two are currently paired together."

"I'll go," the elf said as Mint nodded, sending the two in her direction before they floated in view. "Uhhhh."

"They'll lead the way to them. Just hurry up."

The woman scoffed before hurrying. "Stupid, arrogant, kids," she grumbled as she vanished, speed not to be trifled with.

"Geez, she's pleasant," Parsley said with a sigh. "I'll help man the ballistae. Who knows, maybe you'll come back in time for us all to fight the last one," she said humorlessly as Naruto nodded, three more lights appearing by Mint's head.

She frowned before Naruto nodded and took off, form a blur before he vanished into the trees themselves.

Parsley looked nervous before she steeled her resolve. "Come on, you can use your lights to guide, right?"

The mage blinked before smiling. "Yes."

~NRK~

Naruto could feel their dark intent from before, it was a joke trying to find them.

Their big lumbering forms made it all the easier as he saw the two giants.

He slipped around them, eyes narrowed. 'Bring it into existence,' he thought as he called upon hei flamma.

The dark red flames formed in the palm of his hand before his other hand pawed at the air around it and his palm.

Gold strings of light began to rotate into existence before he kept going, making it bigger and as packed with energy as he could handle. "G-Grrr," he growled as his hand trembled with the heavy Hex-Style: Rasengan. 'Time… to hit them!'

He lunged from treetop to treetop with the technique in his hand, appearing behind the two wood giants.

"RASENGAN!" He called out as he nailed one of them in the nape of their necks.

And a spiraling tornado of dark fire rocked the area.

~NRK~

Back with the mage students, Amaryllis and Sage fumbled with their weapons a bit away from the other students.

"Hmm, this thing's good at applying plant magic," Rylls said with a grin as she swung out with her weapon and it glowed at the points of contact on the trees.

Vines quickly sprouted over it before connecting from one tree to the other where she'd previously hit.

"Trap Magic with a Planty twist."

Sage, meanwhile, fumbled with her earring. "Right, mom's going to flip," she winced as she remembered that fact. "Maybe I can say this one's natural?" She thought as she considered it. "White Light magic, it's different from Mint's Red Light variant."

She raised her hands and they began to glow with white energy before she looked at them.

"Hmm," she curled her fingers and a small ball of white light began to form. 'Focus it,' she widened her hands, and the orb of light elongated slowly.

It slowly took shape to what she wanted, the bristles, the wooden shaft, and a bulb at the end that looked eerily similar to her new equipment.

Once she finished, Sage looked at the blue and silver broom in her hands before getting on it. "Alright, now… go-AHHHHHHH!" She squealed as the sweeper flew faster than she would have liked! "W-WAIT! WAIT!"

Amaryllis cackled all the while.

Training for the next twenty minutes, they were called in by Caraway. "So, I'm going to ask. Does anyone actually want to keep exploring or do you want to leave? Know this, you can go and view what your friends are doing but can't go into their portals."

Sage and Amaryllis shook their heads. "Take us back, please."

Many other students nodded at that, all of them wielding some new sort of instrument they wanted to practice with.

"Alright, let's go," the professor said as he waved a finger into the air, a Rune forming there that quickly glowed dark purple before a portal out opened up, allowing them to see the rotunda.

Quickly exiting, Wyverna nodded as she sat there at a table with the Triad, the four women playing a game of cards.

"Ah! So, the nerds come back first!" Elder Triad cackled as she threw down her cards. "Read 'em and weep, ladies! I get the most expensive meal!"

"Darn," Young Triad said with a pout as she looked at the students, notably Sage and Amaryllis. "Oh, they got powerful artifacts?"

"As a matter of fact, we did," Amaryllis said with her fists on her hips and her chest puffed out. "You're looking at some grade-A treasure hunters!"

"Hm, hm, well, they're certainly apt at it," Caraway said with a chuckle. "How are the other students doing?"

"Well, the warrior students seem to be handling the Elf King's phantom enemies," Wyverna said as she threw three purple portals out. "Those who went to the ice dragon nests are currently running for their lives," she chuckled as they saw the students in question, one of which had a sheer-blue-colored egg in his clutches. "Honestly, gaining an ice dragon companion is definitely a huge boon but getting said egg is… different," she chuckled.

"Hmph, let's see Snap and the crew," Amaryllis said as the demoness nodded, swirling her hands around. "Come on, you guys, you have to be doing well."

And when the portal opened… Amaryllis grinned in relief as Sage held her hand to her chest.

The group of warrior students was currently cheering over their defeat of the giant creature, none more so than Cal, Rosemary, and Snapdragon.

~NRK~

"YEAAAAAHHHHHH!" Cal roared into the air.

"WE DID IT!" Rosemary said with a hearty laugh. "NOTHING TO IT!"

"W-WE DID IT! WE REALLY BEAT IT!" Snapdragon said in relief, feeling like he was gonna cry. "D-Dammit! I feel great!"

"Exactly!" The two before him said with grins. "This is what we live for!"

He grinned without relent as Thyme smiled from off to the side.

The group was completely ignorant to an amused pair of eyes bobbing in a semblance of laughter, disappearing into the forest with 'claws' above its head.

~NRK~

Sage nodded but balked at the size of that thing. "I-It's huge!"

"I mean… yeah, it's enormous," Amaryllis tried to remind her that they'd been told but seeing it in person was a whole different beast. "... You think they're gonna cook that?"

Her answer came moments later as the students began to pull the creature apart, others hurrying to the edge of the woods to grab loose branches and dead grass.

"... T-That's going to be delicious."

"Hm, hm, since it seems they've conquered their beast, why not join them?" The portal glowed and the salivating students began to run through, Amaryllis barely holding on to turn back to the amused professors and principals.

"R-Right, uh, what about the last three?"

"Good self-control," Caraway smirked as Sage giggled a bit. "I'm curious as well," he said to Wyverna who nodded.

Bringing that portal near the table, she widened in so they could view the madness within.

And they all raised their eyebrows at Naruto's Rasengan and the after-effects.

The very big after-effects.

"Well, damn, the boy's got firepower!" Elder Triad said with a laugh as Caraway looked on in interest, the flames clearing to show Naruto landing from that kind of height with no issue as they saw the Gnarls.

"That's impressive," he said in awe.

The effect of the attack had basically removed any concept of a head on one of the Gnarls while the other one was stumbling back to its feet, shoulder and arm gone.

"I was honestly curious how he'd do," Mature Triad said with a smile. "I'm glad that, even with the 'insurance', our students prove themselves to be worthwhile and powerful."

"I didn't think there was a spell so powerful and yet seemingly of no cost," Young Triad said with a curious tilt of the head. "Naruto doesn't use Terraspheres… s-so this is pure magical might?!"

"Well, he showed it to us," Amaryllis said with a chuckle as Sage nodded, the five looking intrigued. "His Spiralling Orb, he called it. Said it wasn't finished yet but I'm calling bullshit because I ain't believin' that."

"Maybe he finished it?" Sage considered as Wyverna turned the portal's sights on Parsley and Mint, the two helping several demonic tribesmen wield metallic ballistae. "... Oh, right! Parsley did say she helped build some of those!" She said in awe before her curiosity peaked at the sight of the tribesmen placing magic on the side of each 'load' that were basically large metallic stakes into even bigger crossbow machinery. "What are they doing?"

"Applying hexes," Wyverna said. "Chances are high, they're flame-based."

The ballistae were loaded and, soon after, fired through the air like a flaming shot of magic!

The portal followed them to, seemingly, the last Gnarl which took it in the arm, a blow that cracked its wooden frame before it stumbled, barely dodging another that threw up a cloud of dust beside it.

"They seem to be handling these surprise invaders well-" Mature Triad began to say only for her eyes to widen as she saw something or, really, someone. "What is Elecamp doing there?!"

Those outside of the Triad jumped. "H-Huh?!" Amaryllis held her chest as her heart nearly beat out of her chest. "G-Geez, ma'am! Don't scare us like that!"

"... Apologies," the woman didn't look embarrassed but annoyed. "... That woman, the elf woman. Wyverna can you focus on her?"

The Ethics teacher nodded, twirling her finger around clockwise.

The portal's focus went onto her and the rest of the Triad grimaced.

"Do you know her?" Sage asked as all three sighed.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Elder Triad said. "Ya see, girlie, that elf there, she's a bitch," Sage's mouth fell at the coarse language while Amaryllis snickered.

"Hehehehe, ya don't say?"

"While… not as crude," Young Triad said with a frown. "Elecampane, her full name, is a Guardian," they looked surprised as Caraway cupped his chin. "And… she's one of the worst."

"You mean she sucks at her job?" Amaryllis asked as she looked back at the screen.

The elf in question was dancing about two Gnarls, cutting through their wooden shells with ease as she darted about. In mere moments, two arms fell off before she glowed lime-yellow and fire spilled from her swinging out legs, blades of flame cutting through the monsters with ease.

"Uhh, ya might want to catch me up."

"No, as a Guardian, she's… adequate," Mature Triad said with a twitching brow. "It's her and her team's temperament that makes us call them the 'worst'. They're a group of troublemakers who were banished from Lyngarth after an… incident with the king's twin children."

"W-Whoa, now! That's serious business!" Amaryllis said in shock as Sage nodded.

"To offend the king so personally, h-how are they still… a-around?" The 'blue' mage asked with a stutter as Caraway sighed.

"There's not a Guardian who couldn't tell you about it," he said with a hand running through his hair. "They tried to… for lack of a better phrase, con the children out of very valuable resources to the royal family. It's no laughing matter to say, they'd basically tarnished their reputation up here."

"But how are they even alive?" Amaryllis asked with a frown. "This is clearly big but she's alive and you make it sound like her whole posse is still kicking."

"That's because they are," Wyverna said with a shrug. "You see even despite their dispositions, they were still Guardians, we have an image that's not usually broken of being good righteous people. Almost every notable Guardian has fans and backers, that's the reason. That group, the Valiant, have made serious connections due to their work and one of their members' relationships."

"So, it's because of people's hope?" Sage asked as Amaryllis shook her head.

"Nope, it's to do with red tape. When you know people, it makes things easier for you and difficult for other people. Mostly your enemies," the shorter brunette said. "Geez, so wait, what's gonna happen?" She asked nervously.

"... Nothing if she behaves," Elder Triad said with a huff. "Honestly, she was such a bright one back in the day, I can't imagine what'd take such strong individuals into Doyles," Sage winced at that. "It's pathetic!"

"Hmm."

~NRK~

Naruto faced off against his sole opponent with a grin as he heard more whistling of ballistae bolts from above.

"Bring it, you tree bastard!" He said as he rushed his opponent with his blade drawn. 'Keep burning at it!' Naruto thought as he rotated to the side of a launched fist.

The floor cratered as it did before the blonde grinned more as he hopped onto its limb, speeding up towards the Gnarl's face.

Wooden beams began to shoot out of its body and chased after him, the blonde's eyes going to them before he vanished from atop the creature's arm, shocking it.

It looked around before a flash of yellow passed its red 'eyes', the Gnarl looking down to see the blonde removing his blade from the dirt.

"Not so tough," he said with a chuckle as he hefted Evil-Counter over his shoulder. "Hmm," Naruto simply watched the monster raise its fist and try to launch it.

Try being the operative word.

He chuckled as its limb fell down, leaving it with a stump of an arm to look at.

Then it began to 'slide', confusing the Gnarl for a moment before its two halves of a body fell on either side of Naruto, the ninja chuckling.

"Alright, now, where's…?" He began to spread out his senses before blinking as something close to him got his senses piquing. "Wait? What?" Naruto balked at the trembling pieces of wood. "I thought I burned them! Why are they…"

Dark wood monsters who were used to negative magic… he'd use hex fire and not normal fire.

Oh crap.

"Dammit!" Naruto raised his hand over his blade and called on his hex once more only to flinch as his body throbbed. 'W-Wait, what? Why? I didn't use that much, did I?'

Mixing hex flames with the Rasengan… was that it? Had he pushed himself so hard by doing one mix of a technique?!

Then the wood around him began to wriggle and he jumped up and away from them only to grin shakily as the wood even reached out towards the first Gnarl's corpse.

"Dammit!" He rushed over before swinging around at the encroaching wood, slicing through it. "Back off! You're not getting any bigger!" Naruto tried as his weapon glowed.

Left, right, down left, down right, golden arcs cut through the approaching vines as Naruto's eyes narrowed in on the reformed Gnarl's rising body.

'Dammit!' He growled in his mind as he unleashed more and more magic energy to combat the vines before his body throbbed. "N-Not again!" Naruto hissed as his sword fell from his hand, leaving his free hand gripping his side, reaching around to his back.

He hissed out a breath before jumping away as the wooden beams latched onto the corpse and dragged it over to its reforming main body.

The blonde kissed his teeth before rushing over and grabbing his sword.

He hurried into the woods, watching the creature's growing stature. 'Need to get back to the others!' Naruto thought before his form became a blur as he hurried back to the others.

---

"Hmm, stupid boy, you really didn't think this through," Elecampane said as she sat atop her two opponent's minced forms, the wood hissing at every end as it could while the elf leaned back against her dead body throne. 'Still, that technique was massive,' he'd clearly killed that one Gnarl, she felt the life vanish from here. 'His energy isn't doing so hot, though. Likely a drawback of the skill,' she got up before dusting off her pants only to stop.

Wait, if she let this play out, she might get a bit more than double the pay. That kid was pretty cute, she could get some mileage out of him!

The elf grinned as she hopped down before taking a slow walk towards the village.

Hmmm~ This might end up with some nice prizes at the end of it!

---

Parsley hefted another large bolt before frowning as Mint came down to her level.

"What's wrong?"

"He's coming back," Mint answered as a familiar blonde jumped into the camp, clearly the tarp walls' perimeter with ease. "What happened?" She asked him before frowning at the boy's pained looks. "It hit you?"

"No, my body's just acting weird on me," Naruto admitted vaguely, Parsley's eyes narrowing at his words. "Right now, I killed one of them and I thought I beat the other one but I didn't have the right amount of stopping power for it and now it's mixing with the corpse of the other Gnarl."

Mint frowned as Parsley walked over before shooting her fellow blonde a look that he blinked at. Naruto quickly caught on and winced, looking away from the dwarf.

"... Come on, let's focus on the ballistae," Parsley said with a look that brokered no argument, getting a sigh out of the boy who nodded in resignation.

Hurrying over to the ballistae, Naruto and Parsley worked along with the demon tribe to reload their large weapons.

With Mint and Naruto minding the Gnarls' locations and presences, they'd continued taking shots, making slight adjustments every other moment, but they unloaded all the shots to… worrying news.

"Mint! What's going on?!" Parsley called out as the human mage grimaced, coming down to the two. "... That's not a good look."

"It's not, there's something wrong. The Gnarls are currently meeting together for some reason… and the shots," Mint looked more nervous. "I-I'm sure they should have punched through but the barrier the two made around themselves isn't broken enough for me to see them."

Naruto frowned at the ground, a small rumble reaching the group. "... They're fusing," he realized with a grim expression as the others choked. "The ones I fought did, remember? If they can do that when they're alive-"

"CRAP!" The dwarf grimaced as they all looked in the direction Naruto was. "Mint! We need-!"

The group blinked as they heard… something. MANY 'somethings'.

Naruto looked up in horror at several large dark green objects flying through the air. "ATTACKS FROM ABOVE!" He shouted as he and the others rushed out of the village as quickly as they could.

They barely made it for all the good that did as the wooden projectiles crushed the tribe's village all in one go.

Parsley covered her head as they rode out the explosive winds and debris, the event lasting for mere seconds but tormenting her mind for a bit longer.

'Dammit! Can we even beat that!?' She thought in horror as she looked at the destruction wrought by the creature. "... I-Is everyone alright?!" Parsley called out to the area.

"Y-Yes!" Mint answered as she lowered back to the floor with a look of guilt. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Mint, I'm happier you're alive," the dwarf said as she looked around once more. "Naruto?! N-Naruto, are you-?!"

"I-I'm good," came the boy's voice as they turned to see him hobbling out of the nearby forest, on his back was chief of the tribe. "Sorry, had to grab-?!" He began to say before hissing and hitting his knees, the two girls hurrying over to him to see what was wrong. "Damn thing grazed me."

Parsley's eyes widened at the large purple bruise on the boy's right leg, the bleeding from several splinters, and the small cuts on his pants that allowed them to see the bruises beneath.

"You need immediate medical attention!" Mint said as she hopped off her staff while the demon chief got off the boy's back, helping up into a sitting position. "Tsk!" She grimaced as pulled one of two Terraspheres out from her cloak. "Dammit! Where's that Guardian woman!?"

Now that she said it, the two blondes frowned as they looked around, Naruto sending out his senses to find Elecamp.

"... What the hell… Is she walking!?" He gawked as the others looked at him in disbelief. "S-She's not doing a damn thing! She's just moving slowly towards us!"

"... Damn her," the chief said with a growl. "... That woman and her troupe… we would have been better off just moving instead of asking her ilk for any help."

"Who is she?" Parsley asked with a grimace. "What the hell is with that elf?!"

"A bad reputation that had her banished from Lyngarth," the chief said as the three students' eyes narrowed. "Apologies, little ones. I shouldn't have brought you into this."

"Nope, we'd have helped anyway," Parsley said with a nod. "We couldn't just leave you here. What'd that make us? We'd be turning our backs on what we were here to protect."

Naruto nodded as Mint's green Terrasphere's glow fell away, the boy sighing in relief before he got up.

"Easy."

"I know, Pars, but we've gotta do something about this," the fox boy said as he took a deep breath. '... I can't do Sage Mode,' ignoring that they didn't have time, the curse wasn't helping. "..." His eyes slowly widened at the idea.

At the horrible but desperate idea.

"We need to get them out of here," Naruto said as he gestured to the chief's guards coming out of the woods, all of them looking to be fine save for some bruises. "Mint, can you heal them?"

"Yes," the mage hurried over to them. "Please line up in a proper manner."

"What are you thinking of, now?" Parsley asked him with a frown as Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Nothing… no, I can't lie to you about that," he said as the dwarf looked more concerned. "... There's a sure-fire way out of this, I'm sure, but right now I want to see if we can't solve this as we are."

'The way we are?' Something was up with him and Parsley feared for the worst. "Right… what's the plan?"

The ground then rumbled and the group blinked as something threw a shadow over them, causing their faces to pale as they looked up to see the giant wooden worm that had become the Gnarls.

"C-Can we fight that thing?" Parsley said in horror as they all stepped back… all of them save for Naruto. "Naruto!? Don't! That thing is!"

"I told you," he looked back at her with a nod. "We need to see if we can't handle this as is… if not, I have one last move but…" Naruto looked saddened. "Well, I hope you don't hate me after we're done."

He rushed off afterward, leaving the group confused, none more so than Parsley.

"Hate you?" She grimaced before frowning. "Thyme's gonna kill me."

~NRK~

The group of the Triad, Wyverna, Sage, Amaryllis, and Caraway frowned in unison at the sight of the 'Guardian'. In quotes because this bitch was WORTHLESS!

Watching the 'Guardian' watch things from afar made their blood boil as Wyverna opened up several other mini-portals so they could view everything going on.

"Hmph," Elder Triad's grip on the table began to leave dents as she grimaced. "That horrid bitch."

Her fellow Triad members looked about as angry but refrained from the language.

That didn't mean they didn't bad-talk Elecampane.

"Hmph, no wonder they ended up how they did," Mature Triad said with a dark frown. "Ignoring your duty is one thing, personally harming others for self-gain is a horrifying, ugly, other."

"It's terrible but it's something we should have expected from that horrid witch," Young Triad said heatedly as the girls flinched back. "... O-Oh! Sorry, y-young ones, that's not proper!" The youngest principal blushed as Caraway cupped his chin.

"What did he mean by that?" The Sacred Languages professor asked as the females raised their brows at him. "A powerful backup? Does he know Hakone is there?"

"I'm here!" Hakone said as he ran into the rotunda in a black outfit with a large black cloak over it. "I've received my emergency voucher."

"... Then what's he talkin' about?" Amaryllis considered with a huff. "Maybe he has another crazy powerful tech? I mean, that Rasengan thing was wicked," she grinned as Sage giggled nervously.

"It's not complete, though. Naruto would have said something," the blue mage said with a hand cupping her chin as Hakone frowned.

"What are you all speaking of?" He wondered with a raised brow. "What did Naruto do?"

Wyverna twirled her hand before a bit of purple energy shot off the portals and into Hakone's head.

His eyes went blank for a moment before heat arose as lightning crackled.

"I'LL KILL HER!" Hakone exclaimed before running into the portal with a look of anger.

Caraway, Sage, and Young Triad balked at his change in attitude while Amaryllis smirked.

"Now that's a parent."

~NRK~

Snapdragon and the others blinked as they served some of the mage students. "I'm surprised Professor Dretch let you guys in-oh, here you are," he said only to hand a student some cooked Crabbe. "Honestly, this thing tastes WAY too good."

"It's awesome!" Rosemary said as she laid on the ground, a large leaf working as her plate that was left gleaming from Crabbe juices. "Too good~"

"Hell yeah!" Cal grinned, sitting atop a giant pincer. "This is a reward!"

Thyme raised a brow. "Where are the others?" She wondered with a frown, catching one of the mage students. "Amaryllis, Sage, Naruto, or Parsley, have you seen them?"

"H-Huh?" The boy blinked as she growled. "Eep! T-Those two stayed in the rotunda! I don't remember the others!" He squeaked as Thyme frowned before letting go of him.

"Good work," she said awkwardly as the boy's mouth fell, the elf moving towards her inner circle. "Pars and Amaryllis stayed in the rotunda… I'm confused."

"They knew we were finished," Snapdragon said with a raised brow, cutting some more of the Crabbe's leg meat with his ax. "Hmph! If they stayed behind, that means they were confused or worried," he frowned as he sighed. "Hopefully it's the latter."

"It was some Guardian," one of the mage students said, confusing the group.

"What do ya mean?" Cal asked. "What? A Guardian showed up?"

"Seems so," she said as the four balked. "The principals were all there playing cards with Professor Dretch. They didn't look happy about this Guardian woman."

The four looked between each other before nodding.

"Whoever wants to handle the food, do it!" Snapdragon said as he put down the utensils before running towards the portal that let the mage students in, his friends following behind him. "I hope nothing bad happened."

~NRK~

Coming out of the portal, Amaryllis and Sage frowned and smiled in relief, respectively.

"Bad news."

~NRK~

Naruto ran at the giant figure with a frown. 'Hit it with another Rasengan!' If he could do this, get the head, he might be able to stop this thing from the get-go! 'What do I know about this thing?'

It could launch wooden projectiles, its body was made up of quickly moving, launching, vines that didn't hesitate. Its defense had likely increased along with those abilities, it had resistance to hexes but completely destroying its head would stop it completely.

Gnarls were slow and that was his chance!

Naruto felt his body hiss at him as flooded it with wind-natured magic. 'Don't hesitate!'

His next step had him blurring out of sight for Mint who frowned, Parsley on her broom.

"He looks like he's troubled," the glasses-wearing mage said as Parsley frowned, the two girls quickly following after the boy. "I think it was the right thing to agree with the chief," Mint said with a face full of apathy."

"I hope so, Naruto literally told us to take care of them," the dwarf said with a sigh, touching her knives. "Hopefully, these things come in handy."

"You have a hammer."

"Yeah but this thing is gonna take more than some denting."

As they traveled, they kept an eye out for more wooden projectiles, frowning as the Ultra Gnarl, what they were calling it, settled some more on its face.

"It needs time!" Parsley said as she stood up, wobbling a bit before Mint waved a hand around her, red rings of light steadying her. "Thanks! We need to knock those off! Naruto can handle the bottom!"

Mint's broom shot up in altitude, the two heading towards the head of the creature.

The giant wooden stakes began to slip out some more, the lengths almost the same as the ones that destroyed the village!

"Tsk! They're close but we need a bit more time!" Mint said as Parsley grimaced, hands going to her knives-

"FOCUS, YOU BASTARD!"

There was a form that appeared just beneath the head, ahead of the two girls.

"Naruto-!"

"SUPER CROOKED BLADE!"

The arc of gold slammed into the Ultra Gnarl's 'face'.

It tilted, wooden bit into and pieces falling away as the attack cut through its neck a bit.

"The hell?!"

~NRK~

"Holy-!"

"SHIT!" Amaryllis finished for Snapdragon as the group balked at the blonde's form. "Whoa! That was insane!"

"I-I guess he didn't use that on Pars, h-hahaha," Rosemary said nervously. "... Can he teach me how to do that?"

"It probably uses a rather insane amount of energy," Caraway said with a blink before chuckling. "Goodness! He reminds me of Lavender!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Oh, well, I knew your mom."

"... Wait, you're her friend from HGA?!" Rosemary choked.

Sage blinked at the sheer size of Naruto's technique. 'If that's what he's capable of, he should be fine… so, why…' Watching the blonde's face, she frowned as Snapdragon grinned.

"That's amazing!" He chuckled. 'You can look that strong?' It was surprising.

Of course, he'd known Naruto was strong, it was clear with everything he knew… but he looked so… HEROIC. Like the world falling on his shoulders was just a light weight.

Then he blinked at Sage. "... what's wrong?"

"Naruto's face," she whispered as the ginger's head snapped back to the Portal Window as Thyme's eyes narrowed.

'He's going too far,' the elf realized, eyes going to that insufferable elf Guardian who was watching the proceedings like an IDIOT! "... He's…" Thyme grimaced as Cal raised a brow.

"Kicking ass, yeah, it's good on his resume," the purple-haired boy said with a grin. "This way bigger than the Crabbe."

She crossed her arms as he frowned.

"Yo? Poindexter? He's got this."

Thyme hoped he was right.

Then Naruto grimaced in the air and she knew something had gone horribly wrong.

~NRK~

Naruto grimaced as the spasm ran throughout his body, Mint and Parsley sweeping by to pick him up as it did.

"Good work! More of those and we're home-free," Mint said with focus as Parsley looked concerned. "Hmm?" Looking back, Mint balked at his features.

The dark whisker marks and left red eye shocked her as Naruto kneeled down on her broom, covering his changed features as much as he could.

"I'm fine-"

"The hell you are!" Parsley shouted at him, getting a wince out of the fox beastkin. "DO NOT tell me you're fine, I swear to God, Naruto," he winced at her anger. "You are NOT fine, what happened?!"

"..." Naruto grimaced before removing his hand to show them his sharp teeth. "... something I'm dealing with."

Parsley looked shocked before frowning as she checked on his features. "They're… what happened?"

"We're in the middle of something!" Mint said as the Ultra Gnarl turned its head towards them.

The wooden stakes in its face shot out and the mage choked.

Naruto's eyes glowed before he jumped off.

Several arcs of magic sent the projectiles off-target or destroyed them, the boy hissing as he fell before being caught, once more, by Parsley.

"It's getting worse," the dwarf whispered as she saw the boy's wilder hair and completely red eyes. "Does this have to do with your curse?"

"... Yes, it's dangerous to be around me right now," he said as Parsley's hold on him caused his tail and fox ears to bristle, Vow currently flickering in and out before the dwarf's eyes widened at the red aura currently covering his form. "You need to let me go."

"No."

"Pars, this isn't a joke! I'm extremely dangerous right now!"

The dwarf frowned. "... No," she said with finality as he choked. "You think I'm gonna leave you to go and get yourself killed? Dead wrong, bud."

Naruto grimaced as she kept him steady. "Then you can let go, I can handle myself on the broom," he said as Parsley shot him a look that was bordering on 'I'll slap you if you're lying'. "I promise, I'm not gonna try and do something that'll make you slap me… again."

Parsley let go with a look of resignation, gaining a guilty look from the ninja. 'I seriously need to make it up to her,' he really seemed to be putting her through the wringer, mentally.

"What do we do?" Mint asked the two as they looked at their opponent, the Ultra Gnarl's head following them as more stakes began to protrude. "Naruto, can you deal with that thing?"

"M-Mint, you can see him right now, can't you?!" Parsley balked before flinching as the mage shot her a look.

"Do you honestly think we have many options?! We're NOT supposed to give anything but our ALL, right?!"

The dwarf looked down and Mint grimaced, looking away.

"... I'd need two whole shots," Naruto declared as Parsley's fists clenched while Mint nodded. "... Get me and Pars up above. We're gonna hit it as hard as possible," he said with a slow breath. "We have to do this quickly."

The dwarf frowned before nodding. "Mint."

The mage's broom shot up, scaling the height of the Ultra Gnarl as wooden tentacles shot out from its body.

"Keep climbing!" Naruto told the mage as he stood atop the back of the broom. 'Focus!' Red energy began to form over his blade as he grimaced. 'Gonna cause me trouble? THEN PAY SOME RENT!'

He swung out and a series of slashes composed of red energy flew from his weapon.

The wooden tentacles were sliced apart from the energy blades as they climbed more. Yet, ever persistent, the three frowned as more and more shot out to catch them, the vines' speed rather impressive.

"Dammit!"

Their mage dodged in and out of the vines, Naruto and Parsley's weapons cutting and smashing every one that got too close.

Their efforts, though, were rewarded as they reached the Ultra Gnarl's face, climbing higher above it.

Naruto looked at Parsley who nodded.

They jumped off before the dwarf threw the knives on her waist.

---

"Resonance?" Parsley raised a brow at Amaryllis, the purple-haired mage nodding.

"Those knives were made at the same time, right?" She asked and the blacksmith nodded. "Then you've got another advantage. Since they were 'born'," Amaryllis twitched her fingers. "At the same time, they share a connection. Runes are rather weird like that. There's a ton of rules and stuff that make 'em weirdly useful. So, these two are gonna be a sort of good mix," she grinned. "For fire and EXPLOSIONS."

The dwarf chuckled nervously. "U-Uh, yeah, throw 'em on there."

Parsley hoped that she hadn't just awoken something in the mage.

---

The weapons flew true, streaking towards the top of the Ultra Gnarl before clanking together on its wooden 'skin'.

The giant fireball caused the creature to screech as the two teens fell.

"You ready?!" Naruto asked Parsley who nodded, the two's weapons readied. "Hit it-!"

Naruto's eyes widened.

Parsley blinked as Naruto's arms wrapped around her body, shield glowing before she screamed as a large force slammed into their side.

"AHHHH!"

The feeling of flying through the air came to an abrupt, painful, end moments later as she felt and heard the ground below her crack and crumble the moment they hit it.

Parsley groaned as her clenched-shut eyes cracked open, the blacksmith hissing before she groaned some more. "H-Huh?" She looked down at the arms around her. "...?!"

She shot up, eyes widening, as her head turned to see Naruto's knocked-out form behind her.

Protecting her. "N-Naruto?!" She held his cheek, horrified before something caught her attention.

A bit away, on the floor, Parsley saw Naruto's gold cuff, the item busted on one side.

She grimaced as their weapons laid in the dirt a bit away, the dwarf feeling her body hiss as she got up. 'He protected me the whole way,' she knew that she'd be way out of commission if it'd be HER trying to take that blow. '...'

Parsley looked at Naruto's arms and felt her fists clench as she looked down in guilt, the two limbs almost completely purple, the sight visible with his sleeves ripped as they were. She looked down at her body and noted the few bruises but she was clearly better off compared to Naruto.

"... Come on, I'm not gonna let you stay here like this," the blacksmith said as she gently picked him up and put her fellow blonde over her shoulders. "... I-I guess getting our weapons would make this too hard," Parsley joked to the unconscious blonde before sighing.

She began running… wherever. 'I think I remember which way we should have gone,' Parsley thought as she hurried over roots, vines, and bushes. "...?"

She choked at a shadow forming above her, eyes going up to look at the Ultra Gnarl.

"CRAP!"

~NRK~

"We have to go!" Rosemary said as Wyverna sighed. "C-Come on! Or, maybe, bring Naruto back! This is supposed to stop him from getting THAT hurt, right?!"

"It prevents him from dying, yes," the demoness said as the group of teens flinched. "Or if he was truly going to die but Naruto's protective energy prevented that part of the failsafe from kicking in…" Of course, she didn't want to say the OTHER reason. 'I can't bring back a signature that I didn't lock onto,' Wyverna frowned.

What had happened? Was it because of that new red glow?

Mature Triad's eyes narrowed before they closed, the middle-aged woman sighing. "At present, the portals that Professor Dretch makes need to be formed from the other side," she said as Amaryllis frowned.

"And that means? They need help!" The small mage declared.

"... We'd never make it," Snapdragon realized with a look of horror. "H-How far is the portal from the-"

"Give or take 10 miles, at his speed, Professor Hakone will reach them before you all could even pass the first fifth of the journey," Young Triad said as the students flinched. "There'd be no point."

"That seems ridiculous," Thyme said with a grimace. "Then we're supposed to do nothing?"

"Yeah, what else?" Elder Triad said with a huff at some of their looks of disbelief. "Do you honestly think you'd all be of any help?"

"So, it's better to watch Naruto get all his limbs broken than sending us in," Cal said with such a sarcastic tone, the woman smirked. "Yeah, great advice."

"It's hard to accept but they're not wrong," Caraway said with his hands raised to halt their questions. "Right now, Hakone, the fastest of us all next to Bay Laurel, is going. We couldn't have sent better back-up."

"... how is this okay?" Sage asked him with a frown.

"It's not, not fully. But it's not wrong to say this is also a part of being a Guardian. You're not going to be able to always reach your comrades when they need the most help but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do your best. This isn't a normal situation, obviously," he said with a sigh. "There's honestly not going to be many situations like this."

"For now, we can only-" Wyverna began to say, eyes flicking to a small Portal Window by her side that quickly stopped her cold. 'That's not good!'

The students blinked before they all jumped as a tower of red light sprouted into existence on one of the Portal Windows.

"What?!"

~NRK~

Mint grimaced as she flew towards the area the Ultra Gnarl was focusing on.

'Come on! Please!' She pleaded to the heavens above as she rushed as fast as she could. 'Distract it!'

Red lights formed around her before shooting up only to arc down onto the creature, slamming into the sides of its 'head' to no effect.

"Pay attention to me!" She shouted at it. "Come on, you STUPID GNOME!"

Nothing! She couldn't do anything!

As she approached, she was reminded once again as her pupils shrunk at the Ultra Gnarl.

The large wood monster fusion's formed a long, large, flail-like appendage with spikes along its base. A GIANT FIST.

Mint's broom came to a slow, despair-filled, halt as she looked at it. "... N-No…"

The fist came crashing down.

~NRK~

Parsley clenched her eyes shut for a mere moment before she sighed. "... how pathetic," she said with a hand over her face. "We've failed them," the dwarf realized as that shadow grew bigger. "I'm sorry, Naru."

The boy groaned as he returned to consciousness, his red eyes blinked dazedly at the enormous fist coming down on them.

Naruto's expression shifted into shock as he looked at her, the dwarf's grin sad, resigned, and guilty.

"... Sorry, Pars," he said as his cheeks reddened a bit, sighing as she blinked.

"Hey, it's not your-" Parsley tried to say, knowing it wasn't Naruto's fault for his situation.

So, you could imagine her surprise when his lips met her cheek.

Parsley's cheeks burned bright red as Naruto removed himself from her back, looking away as he faced the oncoming destruction.

The blacksmith scrambled, mentally, for her thoughts only to blink as the sound of… bubbling reached her ears, confusing her greatly. 'Wait… what?' Her eyes looked up at Naruto and widened at the sight of bubbling red energy forming over the blonde boy.

Then she heard hissing, the sight of steam coming from his forearms and thighs bringing no end to her shock as she saw the bruises slowly vanishing.

"What?" Parsley blinked in confusion as Naruto shot her an over-the-shoulder grin. "Naruto?"

"Sorry," he said as the fist reached them. "Don't hate me, please."

"I couldn't."

He grinned widely and brightly.

Then he roared.

The noise tore apart their surroundings, wind picking up as it tore at the nearby trees, foliage, dirt, stone, and wood, a reddish tint covering her vision as the air distorted.

Then the air seemed to explode upward, causing her arms to come up and cover her face. 'Is that really Naruto?' The energy in the air… felt so malicious.

An energy that didn't fit her friend. The energy that seemed far more beastly in nature and not something a thinking being would have. Hearing the sound of being-crushed wood, she looked up to see the Ultra Gnarl's fist being eaten away at by the fox beastkin's roar.

Then it was repelled, the appendage being sent back into the monster's side, causing it to tilt.

Parsley's pupils shrunk at the crashing monster, the rumble from the floor beneath her getting a wince out of the dwarf. "D-Damn, you didn't hold back, did ya?!" Parsley said as she looked back to Naruto. "You really…"

The bubbling form of her friend hissed out steam before clawed hands placed themselves on the floor, their owner now in an all-fours position only for one of his claws to come up and cover his face. His slitted pupils dilated randomly, sharp teeth released steam between their clenched numbers, and his three fox tails gave the blacksmith immense pause as they waved about sporadically.

"... You can do this," she said without a thought as the boy, as her friend, turned his head to her. "I-I don't know what this is all about but you can do this."

The beastkin's eyes widened before the pupils enlarged back to their normal sizes as the intense look on his face lessened. The rapid bubbling from before slowed to a crawl as the curse-holder stood back up on his two legs.

He closed his eyes before nodding to her, Parsley sighing in relief.

"Go on. We've got a job to do," she said with a nod that he reciprocated.

Then the boy vanished, cratering the floor and throwing up more intense winds.

Then Parsley's mouth fell as something slowly blotted out the sun.

Something that burned red with a burning golden core, energy whipping around it in all directions, that retained a very familiar spherical shape.

"CHOU ODAMA RASENGAN!"

The owner of the technique brought it down.

And a tower of energy cast more red light over the landscape.

~NRK~

"Dude!" Amaryllis's mouth fell along with the others. "Talk about serious firepower!"

The attack coiled over the wooden monster's midsection before expanding to cover the entirety of it.

The rumble in the Portal Window made it clear to Snapdragon just how powerful the attack really was. 'Was this what Naruto meant? Is this why he said the Crabbe wouldn't be much of a threat to him?' Snapdragon could certainly agree that THIS made the Crabbe look like baby work. 'Still… he's never spoken about this before… why?'

Was this not his power? Watching the aftermath of the explosive technique, zeroing in on the blonde at the center of the impact crater, surely it was the blonde's Vow. He'd even gotten more tails!

"..." Thyme grimaced as she looked at the red energy falling away from Naruto's form, the gasping blonde left in its wake concerning her to no end. '... This is what he meant…'

---

"It's not about me fearing them… it's me fearing FOR them."

---

This power wasn't his. It was one that had been pushed upon him and likely wasn't safe. A power like that was probably more dangerous than it was worth.

"I suppose that's the end to it all," Mature Triad sighed in relief and slight guilt. 'That woman… what was her plan?' Why allow this to take place?

WHAT was Elecampane thinking?!

"Hmph, how long do they even have left in there, Dretch?" Elder Triad asked the demoness who hummed.

"It's been almost an hour," Wyverna said as she got up. "Shall we go and see them, children?" She smiled at the shocked but quickly nodding group of teens. '... She ran.'

Why was Elecampane running? What had changed?

~NRK~

The Guardian's eyes stayed wide as she traversed the landscape, a hand coming down to her pocket to pull out a small spherical crystal.

"Pimenton, you won't believe this," she said with a growing grin as the crystal began to glow. "I found that little runaway the Mistress told us to look for."

~NRK~

Hurrying over to Naruto's crater, Parsley jumped over the lip before sliding down the crushed earth to hurry over to her fellow blonde, Naruto's form flat against the ground.

"Naruto! Are you alright?!" She asked with concern, reaching him a second later and touching his face. "... Naru?"

"... M-Mmmm," the boy groaned as she held his cheek, once-again blue eyes looking back at her. "... Pars?"

"Yeah," Parsley grinned. "It's me."

"... Hmmm!" Naruto grunted as he barely pushed himself up enough to sit down, looking at her with a drained grin. "I-I guess things worked out."

"Because of you, yeah. Well, now, you need a ton of rest, buster," she said kindly before the sounds of a lowering broom and a pair of feet came from behind her. "Huh? Mint? Elec-?" Parsley began to say, she and Naruto looking behind her to see a student and Guardian.

It was just, the Guardian wasn't female nor an elf. "My word, are you alright?" Hakone asked with a worried look, quickly coming over to kneel by the two. "Parsley? Naruto?" The man placed a hand atop Naruto's head, the beastkin giving a shaky thumbs-up.

"Sup, pops," he said with a long sigh as Mint hurried over. "Hey, Mint."

"... are you both alright?" The mage asked him before looking at Parsley, the dwarf's small cuts and bruises quickly gaining her attention. "... I'll focus on-"

"Do Pars first," Naruto said with his head down, Hakone sighing at him but smiling all the same. "Seriously… I'll just… get some rest."

He flopped into his father's arms, unconscious, much to the female students' shock.

"Naru?" Parsley asked worriedly before Hakone chuckled a bit. "Is he going to be alright, sir?"

"Hopefully," Hakone said as he stood up, quickly throwing Naruto over his shoulders. "Can you both walk?" He asked them.

"Y-Yeah, I can walk."

"Come on, I doubt you'll want to walk the whole way," Mint said as she gestured to her broom, the dwarf looking grateful. "Haa, this entire situation was too much."

With Parsley on, the group began to hurry back to the demon tribe's former village. Well, right after Hakone pulled out a small bag and put several bits of the wood monster's remains inside it. The sack seemingly never-ending as he put in such an amount that it honestly should have been the size of a train car but hadn't changed in size or, seemingly, weight.

"What are you doing, Professor?" Parsley asked.

"Collecting. You've probably seen people bring things into your family's smithy that seemed odd," Hakone said as she flinched.

"W-Wait, Upgrading Materials?! I-I thought those were things from high-level monsters only!"

"Hm, hm, hm, well, the best ones come from the higher level monsters. That said, there are many who can make use of smaller ones. For example, this would make good armor against dark attacks."

"O-Oh, well…" Parsley winced. "You've met my dad. You know that he's touted as one of the best at metal weaponry. As dwarves, our awesome strength and stuff makes us REAL good at it… and dad's not one to try to step away from that."

"Hmm, well, he might have a point," Mint said as Hakone considered it. "Especially if your family is as big as it is. The financial support is probably extremely necessary."

The dwarf sighed but Hakone's hum got her attention.

"Well, Mint does have a point, your family is large and I can't imagine the kind of financial situation you all have," he smiled. "So, why not become the change you want? Also, it's not wrong to say magical equipment is expensive," Hakone began to sweat a bit as Parsley perked up. "My own equipment isn't… cheap. I get it tended to almost every year, professionally, and that's just a greatsword and gauntlet."

She considered it as they sped up. "... Alright, yeah, I do like the idea," Parsley grinned. "Though, uh, I have it on a good hunch that taking care of magical equipment is different."

"It is," Mint said simply.

~NRK~

Under the mage's directions, Hakone brought Naruto back to the demon tribe's location with little issue. The safety spot, as it were, was a large cave in the cliff wall far away from the village, one that would allow the tribe people to view the results without being seen.

The group of demons cheered for them as they returned, Parsley and Mint blushing under the praise while Hakone chuckled, the demon chief nodding to them with a smile before he winced at Naruto.

Yes, looking at the boy's state, Parsley agreed.

"Come, we'll tend to him," he said as Hakone followed him along with Mint and Parsley. "We'll never be able to thank you enough. That monster has threatened our way of being for months, finally being rid of it… it's truly like the world isn't punishing us anymore."

"We're happy to help, I know Naruto would have told you that," Parsley chuckled. "Sure, we did want to learn from you guys but we wouldn't have put a price on your safety. That's definitely not what a Guardian does."

"Speaking of… what happened to her?" Mint frowned as they stopped and looked at the entrance to the cave, frowns all around. "T-That useless woman didn't help at all!"

"... one of the guards saw her leave," the chief said with a grim expression, Hakone's eyes narrowing. "She left moments after the young man's energy raged, we don't know why."

"We know about her, sadly," Hakone said. "Your friends were actually being informed, I believe."

"They were?" Parsley said curiously before a dark purple portal opened up by her side.

"PARS!" Came the collective call from Rosemary and co.

The students then flopped into a pile of huffing bodies, Snapdragon and Cal at the bottom, 'unfortunately'.

"A-Ack, someone needs to lose some-" Cal began to say before a vine-like magic instrument slipped around his shoulder. "Nothing! Nothing! You're as light as a feather!"

"I can taste my spleen," Snapdragon huffed in horror.

---

Naruto groaned into consciousness thirty minutes later, the blonde boy holding his head as he sat up.

"What part of the world decided it wanted to punch my head in?"

"I can't imagine which one," came a familiar voice as he blinked, removing his hand to see his father. "But it's probably not here anymore," Hakone said with a chuckle, the two of them inside a faux tent. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto blinked at him before sighing loudly, flopping back onto the cushion he'd originally been resting on. "Like my luck sucks."

"Sounds about right."

"Hahhh," the blonde sighed before sitting up again. "What'd they see?"

"About all of it," came Wyverna's voice as she entered the tent. "I hope you're doing well, young man. You'll likely have a couple of questions to answer when your friends see you," she said as she came over and sat down without a hint of discomfort from the stone floor.

"Hi, Professor Dretch," Naruto said before looking embarrassed. "God, I have a lot to make up for," he said as he slammed his hands into his face. "Dammit, Pars is gonna be weird around me forever."

"Hmm? Why?" His father asked and the teen blushed harder. "... What happened?"

"Hm, hm, hm, you'll be surprised to know, he might have given her a bit of a smooch," Wyverna grinned as Hakone's mouth fell. "Yes. Though it's clear it was just to enact his curse's effect, I doubt that'll change anything about what Miss Parsley will feel about it."

Naruto grumbled while Hakone rubbed the back of his head. "Well… for you all, this was quite the experience," he sighed. "I'm glad your sense of morality is so strong, sometimes it really does force secrets out of us."

"Yeah, well… I'll deal with it," the blonde said as he looked down at his bandage-covered upper half, raising his arms to see his equally-as-bandaged biceps. "Give it to me straight, what exactly caused these?"

"Magic burns," Wyverna said with a frown, adjusting her glasses. "You fought against your magical limitations. The curse's 'release mechanism's' odd key makes it so you may push into its field but you can't and it's worryingly good at making that clear," she said as she touched one of his biceps.

"Hm!" He grunted at the flare of pain. "O-Ow…"

"Yes, you'll be taking it easy for a bit, young man. Right now, it should take only a week but that's a week of no internal magic usage. Thankfully, Professor Redbud is fine with handling only potion classes for this week. Meanwhile, Runes are likely going to be a bit difficult."

"For now, he only really needs to study. Physically, you're not that bad but you'll have to also take it easy," Hakone said with a smile. "So, nothing but studying or maybe more resting."

"Ugh. Fine. What happened while I was out?"

---

"So, this Demon Language…" Sage said as she looked at Naruto's notebook, the blonde's weapons, long since found alongside Parsley's, behind the group of resting teens. "Naruto really put a lot of focus into this," she added, looking at some of the notes he'd made. "He's got impressive penmanship."

"... H-He does," Snapdragon said as Parsley laughed, the boy looking over Sage's shoulder with Amaryllis. "Not saying anything, um, I just thought he'd be more of a reader than a writer."

"He seems to get books more than you'd think," Thyme said as she leaned back against the wall of the cave, holding one of the pieces of the Gnarls in her hands. "... hmm."

She glowed red and observed it.

'... Wait, what?' She blinked at it, eyes widening as she dropped it. 'It wasn't acting normal?' Thyme wasn't sure if that was normal or not. 'I can't figure out more? Is it because it's dead?' Or was it because her Vow wasn't in full effect? "Hmph."

"Come on~ We need to go and see if he's really alright!" Rosemary said. "W-What if he gained a magic disease?!"

"Chill the hell out," Cal said. "You seriously want him to have a disease?"

"Ack?! No! I'm just worried!"

Mint huffed at the group before looking at Parsley, the blacksmith seated against the wall a bit away, already given medical attention.

Scrunched up against the wall, she seemed… vacant. Eyes on the wall across but seemingly not paying attention to it. With her rosy cheeks, she occasionally blinked as if coming back into the present before becoming dazed again.

'What in the world happened to you?' She wondered in slight disbelief, eyebrow twitching. 'This is going to be great. No one to debate with and my teammates either unconscious or in a daze!'

Then the entire cave came to a stop as the flaps to the tent were apart to allow a familiar blonde through, the boy wearing a black tunic.

And then the cheers erupted from the demon tribe as Naruto Uzumaki returned to the world of the conscious.

"D-Damn!" Cal balked at the praising demons, Naruto's embarrassed chuckles all the response the blonde gave, much to their shock. "W-What the hell?! They're LOVING YOU and all you can do is CHUCKLE?!"

Thyme smirked at that as the blonde shrugged before giving them a patient smile, going to the demon people and greeting them as best he could.

In the meanwhile, the students heard the chuckles of their teachers as they came over. "I see, he's rather at home with a hero's welcome," Hakone smirked as Wyverna hummed.

"... Yeah, you're right," Snapdragon said with a grin. 'Naruto's nothing less than a hero,' him, Parsley, even that Mint girl.

They'd really saved people. They were true-blue heroes!

"Ahhh, maaaannnn!" Rosemary looked envious and relieved all in the same breath. "They clearly have the BEST story!" She declared.

Sage watched the way the blonde handled the tribe with laughter, grins, and words of reassurance, his form glowing gold.

"Vows really tell you a lot," she considered as Amaryllis nodded.

"Yep, Whiskers over there is glowing like no tomorrow," she said. "Still, this was a crazy sitch."

"Yeah, it was."

Thyme got up from the wall and dusted her tunic's lower end off before blinking at the blushing Parsley, the dwarf coughing into her fist at her gaze.

"Y-Yeah?" Parsley asked and the elf shrugged.

"You seem occupied."

"Sorry, I was… u-uh, you know? Kind of lost in thought?" She said with a wince. "Sorry, again."

"It's fine, Pars, I was just curious. Come on, let's go and meet the last of your hero trio."

"H-Heh."

Naruto seemed to have tended to his 'heroic duties' and was now facing the chief who beckoned them over.

Soon, Mint, Parsley, and Naruto stood in front of the man as he smiled at them. "I wish to thank you, once more, from the bottom of my heart. You've all saved our tribe and we're forever thankful."

Watching the whole tribe bow to them, Mint stuttered as she fiddled with her fingers. Parsley, on the other hand, blushed a nice pink as she waved her hands about.

"N-No way! Wait! Please, I don't think… that is…" the dwarf steamed. "O-Oh man."

Naruto simply chuckled before bowing back. "We're glad we were able to protect you despite everything," he said as his teammates blinked before hastily following suit.

Both sides stood back up, the blonde grinning as his teammates chuckled in embarrassment.

"And, for your troubles, there are a few things we wanted to give you," the chief said as the three blinked while their friends leaned in with interest. "For your interest in Demon Language, I can give you instructions for the future," he said to Naruto who perked up. "All of Demon Language isn't only found in books. There are temples and altars in the Demon World which bear powerful scriptures you'll likely wish to explore."

Sage and Amaryllis perked up. "Really?" They asked and the man nodded.

"You can ask your professor, she got her own magic from one."

Wyverna nodded to the girls as they looked at her. "It's true. Demonic temples can hold new forms of magic or powerful kinds. I'm not surprised one might find powerful alphabets there though I'm not sure why he'd need to go to them, chief."

"Because to attempt the goal the young man wants, he needs to find and understand the proper wording," the chief said as Hakone cupped his chin. "An Evil-Destroying sword may seem easy with what you know, young man, young lady, but what kind of 'evil' do you wish to banish? Sin? Evils that occupy people's hearts? The ability to gain more strength as you face quote-unquote 'true evil'?"

Naruto and Parsley blinked before considering the questions. "... We didn't really give it that much thought," Naruto admitted with a wince.

"... We might have got ahead of ourselves," Parsley added. "Thank you."

"Nothing to it, lassie," came the blacksmith, the man coming forward with a grin before giving her a wrapped-up bundle. "That there is gonna help you in the future."

Parsley blinked before opening up the parcel to blink at the thick pole within that glowed with demonic scriptures and symbols.

"W-Whoa, what is…" She balked as she began to glow yellow, eyes shining. "... This is a magic scanner… no, an area scanner?"

"Hehe, you told me 'bout your Vow. That thing there can help you find magically dense areas," the man said as Amaryllis perked up.

"Hold on! That sounds GREAT!" The short mage said with a widening grin as Parsley chuckled. "I bet you could find TERRASPHERES!"

"More for the sake of finding a powerful enough forge in your world but there's also a high chance for that as well."

"Hmph-W-Wait, hold on," Mint balked as the chief placed a book in her hands. "I can't accept this! I'm not… them."

"You've helped us regardless, I can tell, your love for the rules and guidance they offer isn't small," the demon man chuckled. "Still, you helped despite everything. I can't call that not worthy of being rewarded."

She looked guilty before nodding, slipping the item into her cloak. "T-Thanks."

"With this, we hope these help you along your journey to Guardianship."

"These will," Naruto said with a nod before chuckling nervously. "Though, I think we should also help out with the village when we can."

"Hmm, it's not your fault."

"I know."

"Well, you've got thirty minutes," Wyverna said with a smile and snap of her fingers. "Now it's an hour. Come along, children. Time for some more good deeds."

~NRK~

Three hours later, Naruto and the others rested in the dormitory living room in their nightclothes, the blonde laying down on one of the long couches, feet kicked up over the chair's arm as Snapdragon and Rosemary sat next to him.

"Hmm?" The ginger looked at Naruto's left arm. "Your cuff, right, it got broken," he said as the boy nodded.

"I'll need to get it fixed," he said as Amaryllis and Cal raised brows at him.

"Hmph… just have Pars do it," the purple-haired girl said before Naruto grinned nervously. "... Well, it is jewelry," Amaryllis reconsidered as he nodded quickly.

"Where is it?" Cal asked as he laid down by the fireplace, arms folded behind his head.

"It's in my room," Parsley said. "I'll be taking a crack at it… sorry, I mean, I'll be fixing it as much as I can!"

"Good going, Pars," Thyme said as she and the now embarrassed dwarf sat in a recliner, the smaller teen on the chair's arm with ease and comfort. "So, you'll be out of the fight for a week," she repeated to Naruto, eyes neither narrow nor blinking.

Just her usual Gaze of You Better Listen™.

"I'm good!" Naruto said with a shaky grin as Sage tilted her head at his notebook. "Promise. I'll be taking it easy, the last thing I need is my dad, Professor Dretch, Pars, and you breathing down my neck."

"Hmph."

"Off of me," he said immediately. "So, I was thinking about the stuff you guys went through. Didn't pops say something about materials for new armor and ideas? What about you guys? Did ya get any?"

"No, there wasn't much for us to take," Sage said before Amaryllis perked up.

"Actually, maybe we could have taken some of the stone in that tomb," she said. "It probably had magical affinities in it considering what it did."

"It had magical energy in it, right?" Rosemary asked.

"It was more like it directed magical energy," Sage answered. "And I think Amaryllis is right but we simply didn't know this information at the time."

"Though, Professor Caraway did tell us to grab the Crabbe's shell for some kind of examination," Cal said with a shrug. "So, maybe he stopped us from mucking it up."

"Sounds like we might all get new equipment out of this," Snapdragon said with interest before looking at Parsley. "So, are you going to do it or will we have the school do it?"

The dwarf perked up. "... I want to do it, you're right. I've gotta hope they allow me to work on 'em."

"I'm sure they'll allow ya," Naruto said as he huffed, Parsley chuckling in embarrassment. "Haa, for now, I'm just tired."

"Same," the others said as he nodded.

"Still, it's only 3."

The teens shrugged.

Sleep was an anytime activity.

~NRK~

Naruto groaned as he laid down on his bed, Cal already asleep on his own. 'Man, he must have been really tired out,' he could imagine what he was feeling.

If he could put it to scale, it'd be their sort of 'Zabuza'. That sharp departure from normality and safety really kicked you in the teeth when it happened.

"Hmm," he hummed before rolling around to the wall before pulling up the blanket.

One small hop and a turn later had the blonde under his sheets, grinning, before he blinked as he saw something above.

A small black cat's head leaning into the room over the windowsill, its yellow eyes blinking at him.

"Hehe, what's up, bud?"

It meowed and he blinked at the feminine quality in it.

"Oh, a small gal, huh?" Naruto chuckled as the cat nodded, much to his amusement. "Well, I need some sleep, so-"

The feline hopped down and slipped beneath the covers before its head, once more, popped into view with a lazy expression on its face.

"I guess you're staying," he shrugged before letting his head rest on his pillow. "Night," the ninja snorted as he turned his head.

"Night."

His eyes widened and his head snapped around only to see the cat laying there with its eyes closed and ears floppy.

'The hell?!' Naruto looked around nervously. "Oh, God, please don't tell me there are ghosts in this school."

The cat smirked.

~NRK~

This sumbitch took quite a while to type out.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Words: 17.4k+

~NRK Out~