Chapter 5: Respectful Dissent
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As per reader request, I modified Chapter 1 to have a better segue into the game portion. Also, a notice: I do not and will not have any yaoi or shounen-ai in my stories. As well, I will answer a pre-emptive question: This story will not contain any harem whatsoever. By harem, I of course mean any amount of romantic interests above TWO.
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Veritas walked through the forest, stopping occasionally to pick up plants and vegetation that looked particularly valuable or useful.
So, the spiders I have to kill are stronger than the ones from last night, but the spiders had the night bonus so I guess they'll be roughly the same strength during the day.
Ahrah Forest as a whole spanned a large area, but the danger zone within occupied a much smaller space. Someone could literally walk through the entire danger zone – barring dangerous monsters, of course – in about six hours. That's why he'd expected to be there and back before sundown. But, after all, plans rarely go according to plan.
What the heck, I've been going north for two hours and I haven't seen any grove or any monsters. This feels really, really suspicious. This is my first time in a danger zone, but it shouldn't be this quiet or empty.
After another hour, he noticed the changes in tree density and the amount of light coming through the canopy that denoted the boundary between the danger zone and the rest of the forest. Yet, he hadn't come across the grove yet.
Maybe it's in the low level zone? But what would danger zone monsters be doing out there? This can't be right. If that was true, then someone would've found out about it already. The main forest is a pretty popular spot for low level players. But if I'm wrong and it is in the lowbie zone, I'll have to hike all the way back and lose a lot of hours. Might as well check, just in case.
Veritas traveled further north and combed through the forest, section by section, but still found nothing. He sat in a tree next to the danger zone, which he found – from a sign – was called the Ahrah Hearthwoods, shaking his leg in annoyance.
Maybe it comes out at night only? But why would that be? If that were true, it'd be in a barrier like the wood elves' village, and no one mentioned anything about a barrier. Maybe it only comes out on a certain day... Gununununuu!
Veritas ruffled his hair madly, frustrated. There were too many possibilities, but not enough time or resources to investigate them all.
Alright, calm down. The night monsters in the Forest are pushovers at my level, I can spend that time looking through it again, at night, rather than wasting time waiting for sunrise. Then I can try to search every nook and cranny of the Hearthwoods, and try to see if I can find the grove at night the next day. That leaves two days used, with five left to finish the quest. Alright, let's do this!
Veritas searched up and down, making sure not to miss a single spot. Yet, when those two days passed by seemingly in the blink of an eye, he was no closer to finding the grove than he was at the beginning.
"Fffffffffffffffffffffffff-!"
It took all he had not to explode in blind fury. He was now sure that no such grove existed north of the village. That meant one of two things: That the elder had lied to him, or that, in her senility, she'd gotten the direction wrong. Given the crone's sharpness, Veritas could only conclude that the former was the case.
How dare that hag send me in a completely different direction! Why I oughta- GRRUUUHHH!
Veritas mimed strangling a person.
This is more infuriating than all those times Sasuke-bastard acted like he was better than me. How the hell am I supposed to find a grove when I don't even know where it is?
At a loss, Veritas returned to the base camp he'd set up on the first night, sitting down cross-legged in the cramped space.
I... just don't know what to do. He let out a huge sigh. For now, I should just calm down a bit... calm down... take deep breaths. Hmm... Oh? Maybe... But it's a bit of a long shot. No, I can do this. I have to do this. I have to prove that witch wrong!
Veritas closed his eyes and began to meditate, like in the wood elf village. He emptied himself so that he could become a vessel for the natural energy. It was also a great stress reliever. When learning to harness natural energy, frustration could set a person back, interfering with the meditation. But after mastering it, it could be used to drain away negative emotions.
He reached out for the sensation he'd felt when he'd snagged at nature's essence. Now that he knew how magic felt, it was only a matter of time before he mastered how to become a conduit for the magic in nature.
And maybe, I can use the things I learn in Royal Road to become stronger in real life. Like, maybe I'll finally learn how to use a sword, or learn new taijutsu styles that no one's ever seen back home. Heheheheh... ack, focus, focus! Riiiiiiiight... THERE!
Naruto'd always been just a little proud of being a prodigious learner, but sometimes he couldn't help but think he was actually a genius. Well, maybe finding out that the genius Yondaime was his father kind of went to his head, and having Kyuubi to supplement his chakra reserves throughout training that would've felled a normal shinobi also helped. So perhaps he wasn't a genius, but surely he was talented. After all, willpower alone wouldn't have ever carried an inept shinobi through the elemental-affinity training, among the many other training programs he'd gone through.
Still, he'd done it. He now had a relative grasp of taking in magic in Royal Road, and only taking two times to do so. Of course, this didn't mean he could use magic. He could just sense it through meditation and use the magic inherent in nature as a sort of active sonar, sensing irregularities and presences.
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New Skill: You have learned Meditate.
Meditate
Releasing the mind and body's impurities increases all stats by 10%.
Effects last four hours. Can be used once per day.
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Veritas widened his senses, taking in large swaths of the forest under his examination. Multiple sections of the Hearthwoods showed large numbers of homogenous presences. He mentally marked all the areas with such concentrations, then looked at the forest's magic. Trees showed up as darker splotches than grass and brush, so Veritas examined the marked areas for grove-like formations of trees.
That. That has to be the grove.
He finally knew where he had to go. East! He opened his eyes, wincing slightly as the brilliant light of the setting sun temporarily blinded him. Meditating really seemed to take up a lot of time.
I guess it won't be too useful until I level it up. Anyways, it's going to be night soon. I should probably clear the grove during the day... The grove isn't too far, it's at the eastern edge of the Hearthwoods. I should just , then wait till morning, yeah.
As the sun disappeared and the moon rose, Veritas made his way through the treetops. Just as with the first night, it allowed him to move unseen and unheard. He could hear the skittering of arachnids beginning as night fell. Veritas silently thanked his ninja skills, because the quest would have been that much more difficult if he'd had to use conventional means of movement.
Maybe that was the point behind the quest. It was supposed to be really hard, so I bet that Elven Medallion thing is gonna be worth a lot! Hehe.
At about midnight, Veritas stopped short of entering the area immediately surrounding the grove. For one of the few times in his life – to the chagrin of all his friends back home – he stopped for safety reasons. He'd have nothing to do while waiting six to seven hours for morning, so he logged off for the time being, leaving his character seated in a tree.
Naruto exited the capsule and stretched widely.
"Well, what should I do for about an hour and a half?"
He sat on the floor for about ten minutes, but couldn't think of anything.
… sigh... Running would take too long. I can't train in such a small space surrounded by fragile things. I can't circulate natural energy, because the only quick way to expel the energy from my body is to use it. Radiating the energy out from my body takes a few hours... I guess I can just practice my chakra control.
Naruto set a small kitchen timer for about an hour and ten minutes, then walked up one of his bare walls. He crouched down, put his palms on the wall, then directed chakra to his hands. By far, learning to bring out and use chakra from the hands were far harder than with feet. To be used as a tool for battle, one also needed the Byakugan to see the other person's tenketsu. Otherwise, utilizing chakra control through the hands served very few purposes. The most common were for training and for medical ninjutsu.
This is... hard. I haven't even gotten started yet and I'm having a hard time getting my hands to stick properly... there.
Hands stuck, Naruto released the chakra from his feet and let his body hang. The force from gravity nearly caused him to lose his grip on the wall. When he was satisfied that he wasn't going to fall, Naruto then started performing pullups. Accounting for the changes in downward force and friction against the wall would hone his chakra control. Normally, pullups would be a simple thing for any ninja, but having to concentrate on maintaining just the right flow of chakra on top of that increased the difficulty exponentially.
He was successful for a few minutes, until his control gave out and he fell. Rubbing his ass, Naruto got up and repeated the process. It was grueling work, but necessary to improve not only his abstract strength consisting of knowledge and experience, but also his physical ability.
After the timer rang, he took a short break. That's what the extra time had been allotted for, after all, for things like wiping off sweat and washing his face, or grabbing a drink of water.
He again entered the capsule and closed his eyes.
"Log in."
Veritas opened his eyes and found himself completely undisturbed, as he'd guessed would happen. Luckily, this forest had absolutely no tree-borne monsters, so he could consider himself 100% safe in the treetops. The sun was rising now, as six hours had passed in-game.
Heh. It's time. Let's kill me some spiders and finish this quest.
He used the various tree trunks as platforms to jump progressively lower and lower to the forest floor. This was something he first witnessed watching Sasuke at Wave Country. He'd been absolutely humiliated at the time, but now he was deft enough to do the same. Well, deftness was something that had come excruciatingly slowly to Naruto. He'd always preferred to rely on brute force and clever tactics, after all.
Again, the forest was suspiciously empty of life. There had to be a reason why the spiders were only active at night. Fortunately, there were enemies present as he entered the grove. Forty spiders, all as tall as shoulder height.
They're not nearly as creepy crawly in broad daylight though, thank goodness.
He drew his sword and dashed forward. Speed was of the essence, and speed he exercised. Almost all of his bonus stats were allocated to Agility, so he was faster than the average level 60 player, assuming equal distribution between Agility and Strength. He spun and whirled, zigged and zagged, using his momentum and centrifugal force to keep up a furious tempo of sword strikes.
Although using fists generally brought better speed and versatility to a fight, Veritas did not use them here. Unlike wolves, spider carapaces were tough and resistant to hand-to-hand, although with a sufficient Strength stat, one could overwhelm the defense stat with sheer blunt force. However, the penetrative bonus of bladed weapons combined with their superior Attack stat would be more efficient. Another deciding factor was in the difference in skill levels between the two modes of attack. He'd yet to unlock the Fist Mastery skill through continuous usage of hand-to-hand, while he had several levels in Sword Mastery, which further supplemented his offensive power with blades. Finally, the Warrior class gave a 50% boost to the Attack stat when using the weapon of choice for the class, a sword.
Although it'd be more efficient to merely focus on minimizing damage taken, Veritas tried desperately not to get hit at all. Sometimes taking hits was inevitable, and one could even say taking hits could be beneficial in the long run by increasing stats like Fortitude, but regardless, if it was in his power to not get hit, he tried not to.
In a furious bout lasting just under three hours, thanks to the sturdiness of the arachnids and Veritas' comparatively low Strength stat, he emerged victorious, leaving spider corpses strewn across the grove. As it happened, Arachnid Warriors were just a teensy bit weaker than Arachnid Scouts were at night, which helped him get by without falling to dangerous levels of Health.
He finished looting the corpses, but as with all the other monsters he'd killed, the corpses stayed true to reality and stayed there. And, like in real life, the dead bodies of monsters in Royal Road stunk up a storm. Very few people hunted in a single location for too long, because the rising pile of corpses would continue to intensify the smell of rot. He didn't like it either. He'd rarely seen rotting corpses, even as a shinobi, because of how quickly a fight would end and the victorious shinobi would leave the area.
It was well within the seven days allotted for the quest, probably because he'd saved a lot of time searching by communing with nature. More time was saved by moving via treetops as well, avoiding a lot of the baddies that appeared at night. Though a little 'pooped' by fighting such a long, continuous battle, Veritas decided he might as well return to the elf village and rest there, where it was safe. Now that he'd cleared this section of the forest, it could be possible that whatever monsters used to reside here – assuming it hadn't just been the spiders from the start – would return.
The trip back was about as safe and leisurely as a stroll, and by the time he reached the barrier entrance four hours later, he was all smiles. He was also happy about the multiple levels he'd gained during the battle, whose bonus points he allotted to Strength this time. The spiders were tough and he'd need as much power as he could muster to kill them within a reasonable time frame.
Veritas raised his right arm and waited. And waited.
Nothing. Why? … Oh, for-...
Resisting the urge to facepalm, he lifed his left arm. The barrier rose, allowing him entry into the wood elf village. From within, he could see the sentries snickering to themselves. Blushing furiously at his embarrassment, Veritas made straight for the elder's home. The sentries must have sent a message ahead, because the whole village was already gathered around the central tree.
"Human Veritas, have you completed the trial given to you?"
"Yes, elder. The deed is done and the grove is clear. No spiders remain."
She turned to Nylinas, who nodded, as if he had seen the spiders be eliminated firsthand.
That wouldn't surprise me. This crafty old witch probably had me followed, and these elves would know the forest better than anyone, even me.
"I'm impressed, you were able to detect my subterfuge far earlier than I'd expected, and finished the trial with much time to spare. You possess great skill, human Veritas, and for that, we laud you. Step forward!" The elder brought out an old wooden box as Veritas stopped in front of her and withdrew a shining medallion. "This medallion represents our grudging respect for your skills, as well as your will. With this, you will be able to enter any wood elf village, and it will grant visibility of any of our race's barriers."
"What's the purpose in being able to see the barriers?"
"For one, we wood elves can naturally see the barriers, so that we may know if our kind has been or is currently there. I suppose you can say the barriers can act as signs. For you to be able to find many of our brethren, you will need to be able to see the barrier in place to uphold their isolation."
"I see." Veritas bowed and took the medallion with both hands.
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Quest Complete!
Trial of Proving
You have gained the wood elves of Ahrah's respect by clearing their ancestral resting grounds of the Arachnid infestation. Though they have detested humans for centuries, this act can perhaps become the start of a bridge for repaired relationships.
Reputation increased by 10.
Familiarity with the Elves of Ahrah increased by 15.
You have received Elven Medallion.
Level up.
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"Now that you have proven yourself, human Veritas, will you not help us reclaim our ancestral lands? Over the past decades, the witch and her spiders have been gathering their strength. In recent years, they've finally made their move, taking large swaths of our lands with their superior numbers. The land at the exact center of the Hearthwoods is a particularly potent ley line that allows us to draw out and channel nature's magic in the physical realm."
The elder and the elves bowed their heads.
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A new quest!
Ley Line Recovery
The ley line of the Ahrah Hearthwoods was once the vital piece of the wood elves' defenses. Without it, they cannot effectively protect the forest. Retake their ancient land and gain their trust.
Quest Difficulty: D
Rewards: Elven Horn
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Veritas did not even have to think. For someone as prideful as the elder to bow, even slightly, showed just how important that land was to them. Therefore, there was no question as to what he should do next.
"I accept."
"Our deepest thanks, human Veritas. Very well! To facilitate your success, several of our warriors will be appropriated for your command. Velyn! Ayla! Fyora! Ylisia!"
Four elves stepped forward from the ranks and stood in a line in front of Veritas. The elder then gestured grandly towards them.
"They are our most gifted trainees, the equal of any of our regular warriors despite their young age and inexperience. I assure you that they will prove most useful in your endeavor to take back the ley line."
Veritas should have been delighted that the wood elves were finally giving him proper support. The elves might not by Nylinas, but they were good enough. Like the elves he'd seen on the first night, they were similarly equipped with longbows and sabers. As trainees, they wore only cloth armor, so their very low defense could pose a problem. Each of them had the same long, light-green hair, green eyes, and slim bodies. The problem at hand, though, was that they were all female.
"Why... are they all girls?"
Is this some sort of... test? Of lust, or something? Errr...
"Look around you, human Veritas."
Look? Uh... He looked around at all the elves gathered. At first, he didn't get why the elder had asked him to do so, but he began to catch on after really taking a good look at the crowd. The majority of them were female! Why's that, I wonder?
"We wood elves have a male to female ratio of 23:77. For reasons known only to the gods and our ancestors, wood elves produce an inordinate amount of females. Therefore, males are of incalculable import to the village, so I cannot in good conscience send any of them with you. All the more so concerning Nylinas, the most talented warrior our village has seen since its inception."
"I... see?"
"You are free to set off whenever you please. For this task I have not assigned a time limit, so please, take as long as you need, just so long as the ley line is freed from their control."
"Right, thank you."
He headed to the gate, and the four elves followed him in a line.
Okay, it's... almost mid-afternoon. The exact center of the Hearthwoods should only be about an hour or so from here. There should be time to scout the place out before nightfall. Heck, I could probably get back by the time the sun sets. Heyyyy, short commutes are pretty cool!
The trip to the heart of the forest was uneventful, almost boring even. Then again, being able to take an idyllic walk through a majestic forest was enjoyable in its own right.
"This is it," said Velyn, pointing to a spot about twenty feet ahead. "Beyond the brush right there is the heart of the Hearthwoods." He recognized her by the earring she had on her long, pointy right ear.
Veritas began climbing the tree next to them. "If you can climb, climb now. If you can't, just wait here."
"Where are you going, human Veritas?" This one was the bustiest of the four, Ylisia. Really, once he assigned one corresponding attribute to each name, it got pretty easy to tell them apart.
Ayla looked like an elven Hinata, always looking insecure and nervous, and Fyora had the shortest hair of the four.
"I'm going scouting. Going via the treetops is the safest way."
"W-We'll come with you." Ayla looked around at her fellow trainees. "Right?"
Velyn smirked. "What kind of wood elves would we be if we were incapable of climbing the trees of our own forest?"
"Well, if you're coming, come. We don't have too much time before the sun starts to set." Veritas said, looking down on them from ten meters up.
He waited for the elves to catch up with him before climbing a little further. When they were all gathered, he began moving forward towards the ley line. Veritas didn't know what it looked like, but he was pretty sure that the elves would tell him when they reached it.
I can also probably tell where it is by the presence of monsters, seeing as the quest is to clear the infestation there.
He started hearing the skittering below them that signaled the presence of spider monsters. When the elves didn't say anything, he started to worry about the kind of numbers they'd have to face.
"The ley line is right below us," stated Fyora.
Right-o, let's take a look.
Veritas shimmied down to the lowest set of tree branches and peered below. What monsters he could see were dozens and dozens of arachnids, at least one-hundred. They'd passed a lot of spiders along the way, so there were a lot more than just that in total.
Must be why they didn't give me any sort of time limit for this one. Ugh.
He returned to the waiting elves. "Let's get back to the village. With that amount of arachnids, we'll need to make a lot of preparations."
Damn, I'm so used to completely outnumbering the enemy with my Kage Bunshin that I never really learned how to properly wage a war of attrition. What to do... I wonder what the level of these elves are. He looked back at the trailing elves. But it seems like it'd be kind of rude to ask them what their level is... sort of like asking a girl about her weight... They might take it as an offense to their pride or something. Sigh...
Years of getting beaten by the fair gender had left him wary of offending others, though he still occasionally did it without realizing. Just thinking about the beatings he'd received from Tsunade and Sakura made his head hurt.
Just as he'd predicted, they returned to the village just as night fell. The sentries hurriedly ushered them into the village, before the spiders came out in force. Veritas sat himself down on the grass, intent on thinking of how to deal with the army of spiders.
Obviously, just the five of us can't take them all on. It was a hard fight beating forty of them, but well over a hundred? And the elves have really low defense, so it's not like I can have them on the front lines.
~Ttiring~
Gunter: We're back! I thought we were going to go crazy without Royal Road, haha!
Veritas: Oh, welcome back. Listen, I was wondering if you could help me with a quest I'm trying to beat.
Gunter: Where are you, anyway?
Veritas: Ahrah Hearthwoods.
Gunter: Wow, uhh, yeah, I think Kirhi and I are a little weak to be going there.
Veritas: Nah, you don't need to come. I just need some help. See, I have to exterminate all these spiders, but there are at least a hundred of them, and I only have four NPCs to help me.
Gunter: NPCs? In Ahrah Forest?
Veritas: Eh. Long story.
Gunter: You'll tell us later, right? Well... I guess you should focus on leveling yourself and the NPCs up.
Veritas: Thanks, I guess I'll do just that. So yeah, looks like this quest will take a while. When I'm done, I'll drop a message by.
Gunter: Alright.
Veritas looked around for the four elves, but they weren't there.
Maybe they went home. Speaking of, do I still have to sleep outside? Well, if they've up and left without my permission, I'd better pick them up. At least I remember where Nylinas lives.
It took a bit of coaxing the elf and some time to go around and regather the four elves under his command.
"I don't remember dismissing you," he told them straight up, without beating around the bush.
Velyn sneered. "I don't remember you having that much authority over us."
"The elder made you my responsibility. I specifically recall her saying that you'd be placed under my command."
"You may lead us, but you'll need to earn our obedience, human Veritas."
Veritas stared at the elves. "Do you all think that?"
Their silence was deafening.
"I see... Regardless of what you think of me, it's going to be impossible to clear the ley line at this rate. The arachnids only come out at night, and so we'll hunt at night and increase our levels. If you think this doesn't make any sense, speak up now." He put his hands on his hips and thrust out his chest, daring anyone to do so, which no one did. "The faster we start and the longer we hunt, the quicker we can clear your ancestral lands. If you think that's a good thing, then come."
Veritas made for the gate without looking back. It looked like appealing to their sense of duty towards the village worked, because they all showed up.
"Before we leave, we need to set out some rules. First, loot. Loot will be split 70-30, my favor."
"What!? 50-50," Fyora demanded.
"No way. The plan is to put you four in trees and fire at anything that moves, while I draw the attention of the arachnids." Veritas paused, re-evaluating his words after seeing an evil glint in Fyora's eyes. "Anything that moves, except me. I'll be taking on the majority of the risks and dangers involved, so it only makes sense that I get more of the loot."
"Sounds reasonable, Fyora," agreed Ylisia.
"Alright, second, out on the field, I'll need to have you follow my instructions." He held up a hand to stop the more boisterous elves from speaking out. "I have a lot more experience fighting than all of you combined. How else would I come back in one piece after clearing the grove alone? That's why you need to trust my judgment and experience in actual combat, because whatever you may think, I probably know better."
When they nodded, he turned and motioned to one of the sentries, who used sensor magic to make sure the coast was clear before opening the gates.
"Godspeed," called the sentry as the gate closed behind them.
Veritas lead the four elves west through the treetops. The east was pretty clear after his work at the grove, they were close to the southern border of the Hearthwoods, and the north lead to the ley line. So, the place with the best concentration of spiders would likely be to the west. He checked the map of the area, which slowly filled itself as he explored areas he hadn't been before. Though the area for the western Hearthwoods was mostly blank, he approximated that they were close to the centroid of the section and initiated his plan.
"You four, stay here and fire at anything that isn't human or elf. The spiders will be tough, so go for volume of fire over accuracy. I'll draw them to a spot about fifteen to twenty meters from here and fight it out there."
Dropping down after hearing no dissenting opinions, Veritas moved swiftly. The Arachnid Scouts that prowled the forest at night were slightly stronger than the Warriors he'd defeated at the grove. Worse, they were much faster, given their namesake of Scout and the strengthening power of the night. He moved loudly, gathering the attention of the monsters in the area, and he could see just how fast they were when they weren't being bottlenecked into choke points. He was still faster, but Veritas had no desire to become surrounded by the agile creatures.
After gaining the aggro of about thirty or so of them, he circled around to where he'd left his elves. As he'd expected, their desire to improve and protect their village overrode any feelings of distrust they might have with his leadership, or lack thereof when he actually looked at his stats, and a hail of arrows bombarded the pursuing Scouts. Just as he'd instructed, they prioritized quantity over quality, and although some arrows missed, he'd made sure that the mob following him was large enough that accuracy wouldn't matter too much.
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Leadership has risen by 2 points. (+2 LDR)
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Nice, I guess having your orders followed increases the Leadership stat. But let's focus on the battle for now!
Veritas targeted the spiders who were slow, having been struck in the legs. They would be the easiest to kill quickly. Really, losing himself in a whirlwind of combat was a refreshing thing. In real life, he couldn't exert himself to his limits because everyone else was normal and he couldn't afford to – and didn't want to – stand out.
He'd rather not be treated as some sort of circus animal or test subject, after all.
The overall difficulty of the fight was about the same as the fight at the grove, but the excellence of the elves' long-range capabilities truly showed during a long battle. The strong penetrative and wounding attribute of arrows made the battle much easier, as did being free to move wherever and however he wanted without having to defend a single point. Veritas didn't even drop below 50% of his Health before the spiders lay annihilated on the forest floor.
Veritas picked up all the loot, which he'd divide 70-30 once they returned to the village. He waved to the elves with an arrow, telling them that they should pick up the arrows to reuse.
Alright, that wasn't too bad. Bandage myself up, recover my Health, and I'll be good to go.
By the time they finished gathering up the arrows and returned up the trees, Veritas returned with more spiders on his tail. This process repeated itself four more times before they retired to the village, the sun rising over the horizon. The training was going well. He was now level 34 and the elves gained a few themselves to become level 56. It'd been much easier to find out their level once they'd leveled up, as the elves wanted to show off. Veritas eyed them. He could see that the four elves were visibly exhausted, having missed sleep to train in the night. Veritas divided the loot using Royal Road's random loot distributor before addressing them.
"Now that that's done, good job! Go home and sleep, and we'll be doing this every night we can. This'll probably screw up your sleep patterns, but it's for the sake of the village, so suck it up." Again, he appealed to their sense of duty, which prevented the prideful elves from speaking out against him.
Sensing that he was done with them, the four elves slunk home to warm beds.
Now... I guess I can leave my character in the open while I'm offline, since the temperature isn't too low that I'd catch a cold. Veritas smiled gleefully. Heehee, so this is what authority feels like! They weren't joking when they said that power corrupts, hehehe! I think I might become addicted to ordering people around. Heck, I might as well consider it practice for when I become Hokage. He became very silent, remembering his situation. If I become Hokage... sighhhh...
Reminded again of his likelihood of never returning home again, Veritas logged off without another word.
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