Riding out
At dawn the next morning Naruto and Merlin rode out of Camelot, "So how are going to find my friends?" Naruto asked
"If you are correct they have different magical energy signatures then most others which means the only problem is Princess Asuna" Merlin said
"I thought Asuna gave up the throne?" Naruto asked
"She did but she is related to royalty so too is Prince Negi" Merlin said
"Oh boy Prince Negi; man that sounds weird" Naruto laughed
They stopped at a nearby brook for a break "I am curious about that one" Merlin said referring to Kyuchibi. "A long time ago a great beast attacked my village, my father was the leader at the time and he sealed the great beast in me. The one you see in front of you is a smaller version of the beast that is inside me" Naruto said.
"I understand your father told me the same story; in fact he was in tears over it. His direct quote was 'I will understand if he never forgives me'" Merlin said sadly
"There were times when I was attacked but because of what he did there is still a village I can call home" Naruto said. Merlin sat there looking at the boy he called the new guardian
"Naruto if you fail to take up the challenge...evil will rule. Are you ready?" Merlin asked
"Yes I am" Naruto said "Very well Sir Naruto your challenge starts now!" Merlin declared
"I thought it started the moment I took up the sword" Naruto said.
"I know that but I usually say it after the sword has been pulled to see if I could confirmed what the sword saw" Merlin said
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked
"The guardian must have noble intentions otherwise the sword would not come free. Your intention is to protect your friends is it not?" Merlin asked
"It is" Naruto answered
"Well then we shall find them" Merlin said smiling.
Naruto and Merlin rode on. "Hey Merlin are we going to know if we're close to anyone?" Naruto asked
"It's quite simple actually. You and your friends wear wing badges, so we can enhance the tracker inside it, use a map and presto instant white wing locations" Merlin said.
"Let's do it!" Naruto said giving Merlin his badge just before he started chanting something in an archaic language. Then as the last word left his lips a green light covered a map Merlin had laid out and above certain locations on the map were wing shapes.
"According to this, one of your friends is nearby and then there are two more after that" Merlin said,
"We will start with the closest one in the jungle."
In the jungle a figure walked alone. He was not in great shape in fact...he was nearly dead. He staggered and winced in pain as a young woman with light green hair walked beside him
"Negi-sensei you must rest, that fever of yours is not going to help anyone" the girl said
"I'm fine Chachamaru" Negi rasped before falling only to be caught by Chachamaru
"Lets rest for a while" Chachamaru said lowering Negi to the ground.
After walking for hours on end Merlin and Naruto stopped to rest on a beach "This is interesting, two of your friends are nearby" Merlin said examining the sand. Naruto looked down in the sand as he commented, "Footprints."
"One female and one male" Merlin said.
"And one dragon" Naruto said pointing at an injured Dragon
"Hm, judging by the injuries this dragon sustained it was not done by those two but an assassin" Merlin said running his hand over a wound,
"Fate has assassins?" Naruto was now worried if Fate had an assassin guild on his side there was no way to reach his friends alive.
"Curious; the assassin went that way" Merlin said pointing in front on him towards the jungle, "But why?"
A cloaked figure was running with all they had from serveral dark aberrations
"No, no, no" she cried out. Chisame was now the target of assassins sent by Fate
"Come here girl and I promise not to injure you" he taunted.
"There he is!" a voice cried
"Very well Ventus Lance" shouted another voice from behind the assassins as a lance of wind pure wind formed.
"Who's that?" Chisame asked
"I think it's time I put Excalibur to the test" Naruto said drawing his sword.
Excalibur shone brightly in the hands of Naruto Uzumaki, the new defender of the magical world
"I Naruto Guardian Knight of the Wind hereby announce the end of your injustices" Naruto declared making Excalibur's blade glow and extend to twice its length
"Now Excalibur cut down the assassins" Naruto said swinging his sword at the assassin, who quickly blocked it with his own sword,
"Pathetic this is the legendary guardian knight? What a loser" laughed an assassin
"While you were getting that nice sword of yours Lord Fate was taking delight in one of your friends" he cackled
"No he's not because I have faith in them" Naruto said bringing Excalibur back to him with the blade pointing up
"Justice Technique Dragon Blade!" Naruto shouted swinging Excalibur in a circle, before thrusting it through the middle making the circle compact to the edge of the blade and ignite a helix of fire up the blade
"Now may your injustice be undone, dattebayo" Naruto announced bringing his blade down. The assassin bore the full impact of the attack and turned into white hot ash
"It can't be! He killed the shadow one! Fall back!" the second ranked assassin said retreating with the others
Naruto twirled his sword around before putting it back into the scabbard
"Impressive, young knight" Merlin said
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he helped Chisame up
"The fire technique you just performed now was a difficult one to handle and yet you did it perfectly the first time round" Merlin complimented
"Naruto since when could you wield a sword?" Chisame asked
"For a couple of days now" Naruto said
"Anyway, Negi is very sick. I met up with him about an hour after the incident at the gate and his fever was around 45 degrees Celsius" she panicked
"Hm, take me to this boy" Merlin said.
The group found Negi asleep, "Well it seems that his fever has gone down two degrees thanks to you miss Chachamaru: ministra to Evangeline A.K. McDowel" Merlin said
"How did you know?" Chachamaru asked
"I saw you at Mahora ever since the first return from this world" Merlin said
"That is how I know about Nekane's illness. It appears that this Kotora Kuroko has powers similar to that of the Thousand Master" Merlin said casting a light green glow over Negi's sleeping form
It is good to know that you guys are together. Merlin and I are doing the same but I can't be a part of this group" Naruto said sadly
"It's alright this happened last time you know and in the end we managed just fine" Negi said smiling
"Very well then my friend take care of yourself I don't want to be hearing that you got injured" Naruto laughed
"Here prince take this" Merlin said handing Negi a pocket watch
"What is it?" Negi asked
"A watch that allows us to communicate I have set it so you can talk to twelve different watches just turn the hour hand to the number and the press the button on the bottom and a communication bubble will appear and we can talk" Merlin explained
"Very well, it is a good idea and I take it I am the 1 o'clock on the watch?" Negi asked
"Yes you are and we are the 12 o'clock position" Merlin said holding his watch up.
"Hey Merlin where are we headed anyway?" Naruto asked
"A special place" Merlin replied smiling
"As long as we meet up with some of the others" Naruto added while increasing his grip on Excalibur's hilt