Chapter 7: High Priestess
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Author's note: I'm not well versed in exercise, haha. Also, please tell me if you find any errors and incongruities in the story, or problems in format. I try to find them all, and occasionally I'll find some weeks later, at which I go back and edit it immediately. Tell me, and I'll fix it asap.
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That evening, Naruto returned to the apartment from the gym. He'd searched high and low for a place with Japanese speakers, using clones to minimize the amount of walking he'd have to do. He'd been offered to try their equipment and services for a limited time after expressing his desire to get himself in shape. Naruto could see it in their eyes, how they saw him as fresh 'prey', all the more so because they sensed that he was still relatively new to life in Korea and tried to trick him into paying more than was fair. Still, he'd had more than enough experience with dealing with street-smart sellers back home. He'd had to, to get what he needed to survive. The trial was free for a week, and if he decided it was worth his money, he'd be able to pay for a month's membership afterward. His muscles ached and burned, and Naruto moaned as he fumbled with his keys.
This was his first time committing to genuine strength training. Naruto had tried every machine, utilizing all the muscles he'd neglected over the years. The burning sensation was still very much present, and it felt like he had no strength. Not only that, but this was the first time he trained without chakra. All ninja learned to unconsciously use small amounts of chakra to enhance their body's performance, coating the bones and muscles in a thin, protective and supportive layer. His use of chakra to enhance his body wasn't nearly as pinpoint as Sakura's, who gathered all of her chakra into single limb strikes and expelled the compiled chakra at a single moment for devastating results.
By consciously preventing his body from doing so, Naruto reasoned that his muscles would improve much quicker by having to stretch more. While that was true, he hadn't anticipated the rush of pain that came with abruptly stressing muscles unused to uncommon stress. The concept of stretching before exercise was generally unknown by the majority of ninja, practiced mainly by those who focused almost entirely on the use of taijutsu.
This... is too much youth... Bushy eyebrows, you had to go through this your whole life? Ugahh...
Still, by improving the body, a shinobi's most important tool, he'd become much stronger. If applying chakra to the body resulted in a multiplicative effect, then the greater the base – the body – being modified, the greater the results.
Naruto crawled into the capsule after downing two cup ramen, desperate to erase his physical pain by entering the virtual world.
I'll visit that dojang place sometime. If I went too soon, I'd look too eager. I want to look like I can't make a decision on whether to learn or not, it'll let me haggle better. Anyways...
"Log in."
The sun set slowly over the horizon as he took on the name of Veritas. Blissfully, all of his previous pains dissipated quickly, his body feeling as if it were lightening. Veritas hopped a bit, making sure that none of the pain had followed him into Royal Road, before calling up his elven entourage. Velyn, Ylisia, Ayla, and Fyora didn't seem to be experiencing any discomfort from pulling an all-nighter, as expected from the training they'd done for three weeks. To the other, grumpy and sleepy wood elves, Veritas, once again, pleaded with their sense of duty and honor. The quicker they scouted out the witch's domain, the faster they could get to work and rid her from the forest.
It's kind of ridiculous that this is all it takes and keeps taking to get these elves to move their asses. But it works, so whatever, I'll beat this horse till it's dead.
The elves led the way to the dungeon, a simple cave carved into a rock face. Veritas could tell that other players had come through before, because he didn't get a notice that he had discovered a new dungeon. All across the continent, players sought to discover new dungeons before anyone else, because those who did received double experience and item drop rates for a week, and the first monster they killed would drop its absolute best drop. The bonus experience and loot were so valuable, in fact, that some players would stop at nothing to hoard it for themselves, even murder.
Though this dungeon's been explored before, it obviously hasn't been fully explored, otherwise people would've fought and killed the Spider Queen already... unless this isn't the first one.
They moved to the rear of the strangely empty dungeon, where an opening a sheer wall appeared, leading deeper.
"What the-"
"An elven barrier," intercepted Velyn. "You'd be the first human to step foot in this part of the dungeon."
Oh, the medallion, he realized. It lets me see elven barriers, I nearly forgot.
For about 500 meters, until the group to reached a junction that split off into multiple paths, they did not face any opposition. From what Veritas knew about dungeons, their denizens, being indoors, were not affected by the cycle of day and night. This was meant to stabilize a dungeon's difficulty so that, unlike in the overworld, players could penetrate into a dungeon at any time as a group. This also meant that the witch should be able to control all the arachnids in the dungeon according to her will without any sunlight to burn away her controlling threads.
Which was why it was very strange for nothing to bar their way even as they traveled towards the heart of the witch's domain. Here they were, uninvited guests into someone else's home, but nothing was coming to fight them off.
"Should we split up?" suggested Fyora, gesturing to the medley of passageways. "Wouldn't it take too long to explore each one individually?"
"I... I think we should stick together and safely go through each passage," Ayla raised a counterpoint, which both Ylisia, Velyn, and a host of other elves agreed with, considering the risks of splitting up.
"Yeah, it's too risky to split up right now. We're going to need our full strength to break through the dungeon and attack the Spider Queen directly." He drew on his experiences from the Fourth Shinobi World War, where armies of shinobi had acted as delaying forces to let the elite forces take care of the two Madaras and Juubi. "It might be tedious, but I say we should move as a single unit through these passes and go through them methodologically. We've got more to risk than they do."
Fyora looked at the nearly identical entrances. "Why don't we just check each path first?"
"You know, my teacher always taught me to look underneath the underneath. If something looks too obvious or good to be true, it probably is. That's why we're going to go through each one, so that we don't get tricked and lose our bearings."
Agreed on a plan of action, the subjugation force received the combat they'd been expecting in the following passageways. Arachnid Spitters blockaded the cramped passes, bombarding the group with hissing acid. The first few attacks against this blocking force resulted in failure, with the force falling back to recover before any deaths occurred. Veritas sat cross-legged on the floor, stumped. The elves were equipped with shortbows, better in confined areas than longbows and faster, but weaker as well. The average level of the Arachnid Spitters that blocked their way was level 68, while the average level of the elves were about 72. Players and NPCs could defeat minion monsters roughly equal to their level. Elite monsters would take several people or a party, and boss monsters would require anywhere from several parties to several guilds working in concert to take one down. So while the elves could probably beat the spiders in single combat, the enemy had force of numbers and better durability in these cramped quarters.
Losing a single elf would be a huge blow to their limited offensive power, and also strengthen the enemies, who could also level up by actively fighting and killing players, NPCs, and other monsters. This was the reason why a large portion of the monster-base were outfitted with AI routines, so as to introduce variables into the strength of monsters as individuals and as a whole.
"Do you guys have shields?"
"We do, but..." Ylisia hung her head slightly, "we didn't bring them. They're heavy and reduce our mobility."
"But... we're in a cave. Just being in here does the same thing."
"The elves are a free people, literally and metaphorically." Velyn quickly got his back with a series of skillful and graceful movements. "We don't like to be fettered down with equipment so that we can't move to the best of our potential."
He rubbed his chin. "Still, I think we're going to need shields. Like it or not, those acid spitting monsters are in our way and we can't seem to break past them with conventional methods."
"Let's see if we can't break through with brute force," Fyora suggested. "The most agile go in and occupy the Spitters while the most accurate support them."
Although he'd addressed the whole unit, the elves that responded immediately were the four he was most familiar with. Perhaps it was because of that increased familiarity that they were unafraid to voice their opinions in front of their peers.
"Hmm... denied." Veritas stepped forward. "I'll go in by myself. Not that I don't trust your skills, but your lives are more important than mine."
Which is true, he thought, dashing forward, I can respawn, but if these guys die, they stay dead. He shifted his body left and right, dodging trails of acid. Just imagine these are shuriken. Shuriken. That will burn away at me down to the bone if it hits me...
Veritas jumped and struck the first spider with a spinning ax kick to the head. Up close was both the most dangerous and safest place to be. If a Spitter lobbed acid at him point blank, it would be a miracle if he dodged it. On the other hand, because he was so close, he could tell where they were aiming their acid, and could even change it by hitting their heads. Between his use of frog kata, acidic friendly fire, and a hail of arrows that passed through every open space – even the one between his legs, to his ultimate fear and displeasure – the Arachnid Spitters soon fell to the last.
He stepped back and admired his handiwork. The frog kata was a style that focused on dealing out extreme blunt trauma via a body empowered with natural energy. This blunt style excelled at crippling and disabling foes. It had the potential to kill, but only if the practitioner wished to. Though his strength was far from the level he was used to when using the frog kata, the satisfaction of feeling his strikes crush flesh and bone was worth using the style. Now that he was practicing properly, Veritas could feel that his form was a bit better than before.
"That was pretty good," he admitted. "Not too bad at all. I think we can roll with this, let's keep going."
He and the elves cleaved the way, demolishing the spitting spiders with the surprising combination of one mobile attacker and a posse of supporters. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and it did not much further on.
Veritas frowned as they left behind the strewn corpses of arachnids and faced... yet another junction splitting into many paths.
Could we have walked in a circle through some sort of genjutsu? No, there weren't any openings to cast one. I'm pretty sure there wasn't. But then, does this mean that the Spider Queen's lair is gonna be a labyrinth of one right passage in a sea of false ones? Fuck, I hate places like this. Orochimaru always made his bases like this, it was such a pain.
He sighed. "... We've got no choice but to go through them one by one. Do we have a way to keep track of where we've gone?"
Ayla placed a hand on the wall next to the furthest entrance and chanted something under her breath. When she brought it back, the piece of wall had a small glowing circle. Veritas leaned forward to examine it.
"It's a basic Trail of Light spell," she explained, "all wood elves learn it when we're young to help us navigate the forest. Once we get older and more accustomed to the forest, we find less use for it."
"Cool. Right, let's go guys."
The next passage was also populated with enemies. A front line consisting of level 73 Arachnid Butchers, larger, tougher, and stronger than their Warrior brethren, and the rear covered by the Spitters. This battle proved much tougher, because the large Butchers protected the Spitters from the majority of the elves' arrows. Two unsuccessful pushes later, Veritas decided that the most accurate shooters should focus their fire on the spiders' weakest points, their eyes and joints, while he kept them busy from the front. This worked better, and the group eliminated the arachnids there and moved on, only to find themselves facing a dead end.
Veritas scratched his head. "I guess we'll just have to backtrack and try the next one."
As he expected, they continued to run into dead ends throughout the day. When the sun began to set, they returned to the village to rest, resupply, and re-equip for tomorrow's run of the dungeon. NPCs needed time to rest, just like a normal person, and the forest wasn't safe at night. It was as the elves were examining their own equipment that it struck him that he could repair all their weapons and armor to try and level up his Repair skill.
Good thing these wood elves wear leather armor instead of cloth. I can only repair leather and metal armor, you need to be a Tailor to repair cloth armor.
He reflected this to the elves, who consented to letting him repair their equipment. Going to the village blacksmith would still cost some barter, whereas Veritas offered to do it for free. He sat down and took the pieces of equipment one by one, repairing each and every one of them. With his Repair skill at level 4, he could only repair 14 points of durability. Thankfully, the fantastic strength of Ironleaf weapons seemed to decrease durability loss, and he'd done most of the dirty work, so he managed to repair their equipment completely. Veritas smiled as he brought the hammer down again and again, happy that he'd managed to hit level 4 repairing his own equipment these past few weeks. It was regrettable that it hadn't occurred to him to repair the four elves' equipment as well, but now he had a fifty-elf-strong force's equipment all to himself. Repairing everything after their dungeon excursion brought up the Repair skill's progress by a whopping 15%.
I keep this up and I'll be level 5 in no time!
No time indeed. He had all the time in the world, because the witch's lair proved to be every bit as labyrinthine and annoying as he hoped it wouldn't be. Apart from days where Veritas exercised and trained, he spent the remaining time in Royal Road, exploring the caves. Sometimes, they'd come upon passages that looked like they could be the right one, but as Veritas had surmised, looks didn't mean much. Never forgetting to mark the passageways they'd gone through, in a week their group had cleared roughly half of the them, always reaching a dead end or leading around in a loop. Clearing them became much easier after having a unit with shields act as shields for the bowmen behind them. On the plus side, he hit level 60 the previous day, enabling him to finally use his Ironleaf throwing knives. As a result, he had a good feeling about today as they geared up to continue the exploration of the lair.
Like normal, they trudged to the cave dungeon and passed the barrier at the cave's end. They entered the passage they hadn't managed to completely explore and moved to the second junction. Upon entering the next one on the list, each member of the group could sense that something was different. The air was less stagnant and more... pungent. The stone floor looked heavily scuffed by constant travel as well. Although this one didn't look much different from most of the others, small details that would go unnoticed by inexperienced trackers stood out like an orange jumpsuit in a forest of green.
They advanced deliberately, front row consisting of Veritas and the shield bearers. Unlike the others in this set, no arachnids waited for them. Deeper and farther it went, far beyond the regular length of the other paths. It was as they finally exited into a large cavern that they were assaulted by the arachnids.
What a mass! Veritas was reminded of his bout with the spiders at the ley line as they attacked in similar numbers. But this time, I've got a pretty sizable force behind me! "Shields front, rangers draw bows!" He reached behind to feel his brand new throwing knives. Now isn't the time for these. Just wait, my pretties, you'll see action soon. Veritas raised his fists, grinning.
The battle was fierce, certainly. Wave after wave crashed against them, but the group pushed through, a wall of shields on the outside and bows on the inside. When the going got rough, a shield bearer would fall back into the center and let one of the bowmen fill the empty space. When the attackers slowed to a trickle and contented themselves with surrounding them, their group applied first aid quickly. Though they hadn't suffered a death, many of the elves had come close to it. Veritas oversaw their recovery with a frown.
They're actually using tactics now. They bombarded us with acid spittle from a safe distance while the big Butchers bulled over us. When it seemed like they weren't making any real headway, they all fell back a bit, as if they're waiting for something to happen. He finally took a look around at their surroundings, having been too busy in the heat of battle to do it before then. When the rows and rows of eggs lining the entire cavern came into focus, he blanched. This place, it can't be...
"Welcome to my domain, intruders."
The voice was gravelly, yet still retained a trace of femininity. The Spider Queen emerged from the darkness of the far end of the cavern, a humanoid torso on a huge arachnid body. Sharp, claw-like nails protruded from her hands. She was, by far, the largest arachnid yet, reaching a height of a little over three meters. The overlay above her showed her name and a level of 94. Veritas' face whitened further. Not only a boss monster, but twenty levels above even the superior-leveled elves. If she was any normal monster, he'd have given himself a 60-40 chance to kill her, being nearly evenly matched with his medley of bonus stats, but this was a boss. They weren't designed to be taken on one on one.
Seeing the leader's face pale so, she smirked. "I commend you on making it this far, but now you die. Look around you." She spread her arms wide. "My children surround you, and you stand on your last legs. This fight, is over. Surrender now and suffer a swift death. Do not, and my children will tear away at your flesh until your life is no more."
Stay calm, Naruto. You've faced worse than this. The freaking Juubi took out entire towns with a single shot, this bitch has nothing on that monster. Yeah, sure, I'm weaker than I was at that battle, but so is she! This is a battle that I can win. Believe it!
"I will not warn you again. Surrender now and-" Something thudded into her bosom, halting her words. She looked down, picking the throwing knife out of herself. The witch looked up at Veritas, who smiled grimly. "So this is your answer? Very well. KILL THEM!" she shrieked.
At the same time, Veritas drew his sword and pointed at the Spider Queen.
"CHARGE!"
Normally, the wood elves wouldn't follow such a suicidal order, but they were in a life-or-death situation, surrounded on all sides. Throwing caution to the wind to cut the snake's head off, everyone broke into a dead sprint. The elves drew their blades and took an arrow formation. The spearhead crashed through the line of arachnids directly in front of the Spider Queen, having been spread evenly all around the chamber. As soon as they were clear of the spiders, a senior wood elf raised a fist, signaling the wounded elves to hold position and form a rearguard. The healthiest elves ran on with Veritas towards their target.
At a distance of about ten meters, Veritas launched another throwing knife with a jump. The weapon, thrown by an expert who had trained half his life to properly use it, sang through the air faster and truer than any of the elves present could possibly imagine. A throwing knife was fundamentally closer to a shuriken than a kunai, tumbling end over end instead of flying straight. The superior weight and inertia of the throwing knife made it a better killing tool at the expense of range and speed. In the hands of a professional, however, the differences between the two weapon types became less and less pronounced as the skill and strength of the wielder grew.
She raised her arm and blocked the knife with the forearm. While she'd raised her guard, Veritas closed the distance rapidly, throwing knife in his left hand and sword in his right. Dual wielding was restricted to the Berserker class, but the throwing knife was considered a supplementary weapon, not a primary. And even with two weapons, few people could wield the second as skillfully as the first. This required ambidexterity and experience. Veritas had both of these, and he rushed in eagerly, hoping to end the fight with the Spider Queen's death before the rearguard took too many casualties.
The attack he expected came much faster than he'd thought possible, her nails seemingly cutting the air itself. He hastily blocked it with the throwing knife and swept in low with a sword swing aimed at the joints. Completely unlike her appearance, the agility with which she dodged again astonished him. He rolled beneath her abdomen to strike from behind even as the elves caught up and began firing off a fusillade.
Khhhh, she's fast, but I'm faster! Eat this, Mighty Blow!
He jumped off of the abdomen and aimed at her exposed, fleshy neck. She leaned forward and dodged, as he knew she would. Veritas let go of the sword mid-swing, letting it crash against the back of her neck. As she screamed in pain, he reached out swiftly, grasping her neck with firm hands before she could react. Even as the Spider Queen blocked another flight of arrows, hissing, he began to tighten his grip. The witch's weakness was that a good portion of her body was humanoid, and therefore susceptible to conventional attacks. Most players would have had trouble with her speed regardless, but Veritas wasn't most people. Her long nails prevented her from trying to pry his hands loose herself, so the witch bucked and whirled, trying to throw him off as her Health began to tick away from the arrows piercing her exposed flesh and his iron grip wringing the life out of her lungs. He could hear cries and screams as the rearguard began to buckle and even their position began taking attacks from the arachnid hordes. Half of the vanguard turned around and began firing down the incline, while the other half drew their sabers and closed in on the Spider Queen.
Finally, her arm found his leg, and she threw him off of her back. Veritas recovered with a roll and immediately blocked a scything attack with another throwing knife. He winced as he felt the mitigated damage lower his Health further. Blocking with weapons and shields used their Attack and Defense stat to reduce damage, respectively. Shields also had between a double and triple modifier to their Defense stat to coerce players into using a dedicated defensive equipment. It was now that he wished he had one, as the Spider Queen's ferocious, single-minded attacks left him on the defensive, even as his Health whittled down.
God damn! To his left and right, the elves were hacking away and trying to reach a joint, but she never stopped moving her legs, intent on preventing that. If one, two of her legs were made unusable, it would reduce her mobility enough for them to retake the offensive. Come on, guys, I can't hold out like this forever!
"You'll regret having crossed me!" She instinctively sensed his desperation, as only a beast could, and pressed on with her attacks. "I am the Wrath of Ahrah, oppose me and you oppose the forest!"
Several of the elves sheathed their weapons and began chanting, casting a spell. Lead by Velyn, they reached out and pronounced, "Ethereal Binding!" A series of translucent ropes sprung into existence, wrapping themselves around the Spider Queen's various limbs. The taut ropes did everything he'd hoped for, slowing her and restricting her movements. The remaining elves did not need any orders to know what they had to do next. With Veritas, they hacked and slashed away, and though none of them knew the magic to reveal an enemy's Health and Mana, everyone present could tell that her movements were becoming perceptibly sluggish and weak.
"Fools," she rasped, "Do you know who I am? I am wrath personified! If I fall, another will rise to take my place!"
Veritas remembered what the elder had told him, that the wood elves needed a representative to speak to the forest. "Stop, stop!" His yell brought the elven forces to a halt, perplexed at the order. "The rearguard should be on the verge of collapse. Go reinforce them and leave me to handle things here. She can't resist any longer."
They hesitated, unsure of leaving their mark standing. Velyn, Ayla, Ylisia, and Fyora, who had fought beside him for a month, had come to trust the man's judgment. When the subjugation forces saw the village heroes heeding the order, they too followed. When the last elf disappeared beyond the crest of the incline, Veritas turned his gaze upon his foe.
"Where is the previous High Priestess?" he demanded. "What have you done with her?"
"Nothing at all. I am merely the forest's wrath. I have no say in what the forest does."
Veritas narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
The witch smiled widely, distorting her face. "Her connection with the forest became too great. She became one with the forest. Her wrath, the boiling of anger that she kept bottled up inside, became the forest's wrath. Her wrath became me." She licked her lips. "Although she is no more, you could very loosely say that... I am her. The elves' precious priestess became their condemner, how absolutely delightful. If only I could see the looks on their faces as they hear this revelation."
"Not if you die here, right now." His expression was grim. That'd be like finding out that Madara was actually his living father. It was a ridiculous thought, but if it'd been true the shock afflicted on him would've been tremendous, and he wouldn't wish such a thing on anyone, even an AI.
The Spider Queen's ecstatic expression turned dark immediately. "I'd like to see you try, boy. I may be weakened, but none of your little friends are here to help you now." She advanced slowly, nails and sharp limbs at the ready.
Veritas eyed his sword, lying on the floor six meters away to the witch's side. "I don't need help against you, not as you are now. I told them I'd take care of you, and I never, ever go back on my word!" He lunged forward, throwing all seven of his remaining throwing knives at once. In the time it took her to raise a guard, he ran past and retrieved his fallen weapon. With not a moment to spare, he tossed it up and shifted into a stable stance, turning on the spot to duck under a swipe and deliver a crushing side punch to the Spider Queen's lower abdomen at the same time. In her weakened state, she reeled from the attack, and before she could recover or raise a guard, Veritas jumped level with her, spinning. He caught the sword as it fell and completed the spin, depleting the last of her Health and separating her head from her shoulders.
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You have leveled up.
You have leveled up.
The Spider Queen, the Wrath of Ahrah, has been eliminated.
Due to an achievement, reputation has risen by 35.
Leadership has risen by 5.
Charisma has risen by 2.
New stat: Charisma
Charisma
The ability to attract people. You become more attractive and charming and it becomes easier to tame pets and hire mercenaries. Craftsman can create even more detailed works.
::::
Veritas ran to the corpse, hastily scooping everything up without looking before running back to help the elves fight off the arachnids. Now feral after the loss of their queen, they could no longer coordinate their assaults properly. With this, the skilled and orderly elves counterattacked into the spiders, felling them rapidly. In twenty minutes, the battle was over. Veritas forewent applying first aid to first ascertain the number of casualties they'd suffered. They had come into the dungeon with fifty elves, and the fight had concluded with thirty-three survivors.
One-third... Deep down, Veritas knew that fighting on this scale guaranteed deaths. Countless people he knew and didn't know had died in the Fourth Shinobi World War. He'd had to fight the resurrected bodies of people he'd known and respected, even the other jinchuuriki. War was cruel, and he'd learned it firsthand. But still... I just can't accept that. They might have been artificial, but AI are meant to be like real humans. It's easy to say that you can keep them at an arm's distance because they're a construct, but after spending so much time in close proximity with them, I was surprised at the deepness of their programming. At how real they seemed. At some point, AI will become truly indistinguishable from real humans. When that time comes, will people be able to say that they won't mourn for the loss of a friend, no matter how they came to be? He looked to the exhausted elves. And how can I tell them that their priestess is dead? And who could take her place?
Veritas sat down, feeling a bit tired himself. He closed his eyes to meditate for a while. This section of the dungeon was clear and the elves would be able to take care of any feral stragglers that left their posts in the unexplored sections. After connecting to nature once, the second time was much easier. He didn't have to flail around as much, simply waiting intently and reaching out for the right sensation when it came. Again, he could see the forest as a whole, shining brilliantly with life and energy. By far, the two brightest spots in the Hearthwoods was the village and this dungeon. Elves were naturally attuned to nature's magic, and it showed even here, where their greater connection to nature reflected a brighter light.
That gave him an idea. He willed a closer inspection of both sites, examining the individual sparks of life. What he was looking for was the brightest light among them all, the one who would have the closest connection to nature, thus enabling nature to cycle a greater amount of magic through them and create a brighter incandescence.
I wonder if the elves can do this. If they could, couldn't they have used this method to find a new High Priestess? Or maybe there are different stages to meditation and only a few elves can see what I'm seeing. Maybe it's being a citizen of Konoha and an experienced user of Sage Mode that lets me see what others can't. Huh, nifty.
Bit by bit, he homed in on the brightest light. He narrowed it down to someone in his group, but he couldn't make out the individual. Veritas focused, getting down closer and slowly bringing some detail into his vision. Remaining calm became somewhat of an ordeal as the smudged imagery refused to sharpen any further. There she was, right there, but he couldn't figure out who it was. It was when she met with another three presences that he managed to narrow it down.
There, that has to be those four. He squinted in a vain attempt to make out any details. That one to the left has to be Ayla, with that stance with the least confidence... The one on the far end is probably Ylisia, with those melons of hers. That leaves Fyora and Velyn... I can't really see either of them as a suitable candidate for High Priestess, much less having such a strong connection to nature. Maybe something's wrong with this view. Still... I would never have guessed that I was the Yondaime's son as a kid, or that my godfather would be one of the Sannin, or that my sensei would be one of the strongest shinobi in the village... I guess there's some merit in there being things beneath the surface that you can't predict.
As he willed himself awake from his meditation and the lights fade out, he saw his target light approach him. Veritas opened his eyes. The elves were just about ready to move out. They'd recuperated, collected loot, and prepared the dead for transport. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, one that had been in the process of attempting to shake him awake, not that it'd have worked. Veritas looked up at Velyn's sharp, beautiful features. This was the one, believe it or not. He stood up and matter-of-factly dusted himself off.
"The High Priestess... is gone," he announced, which caused immediate silence. "But, I've located a replacement. She is one of you, here, now, who fought the forces of the Spider Queen."
Fierce whispering broke out amongst the crowd, wild theories of the identity abounding, disbelief and doubt of his pronouncement of both the previous and future High Priestess, or simple unsureness. He ignored everything. He was used to being treated unfairly, and this was actually pretty tame. In this case, he really was an outsider that didn't really belong. It'd be like if a Kumo ninja had come waltzing into Konoha and declared something wild, that the Hokage was dead. It'd be hard to believe, even for someone with as big a heart and soul of trust and friendship as himself. Still, the truth was the truth, and though he detested lying and did so when it was absolutely necessary, either for his or another's sake, now was not the time or place for that. This was their liveliness at stake.
Veritas reached over and placed his hand on Velyn's shoulder. She looked at him, puzzled. "She is the new High Priestess."
"!"
This bombshell caused a miniature riot. How could a brand new Ranger be the new High Priestess? Her temper was notoriously short and she could dish out pride in spades. Moreover, she was one who'd fought with the human for a month together, what's not to say that she somehow convinced him to make this decision? It couldn't be, seduction?! Wild and wilder theories began to circulate rapidly. Even Velyn herself seemed shocked by his words, her eyes wide and lips parted in mid-exclamation, with not a single word or sound coming from her mouth. Those with a clearer state of mind noticed this and were convinced that the more ludicrous accusations couldn't possibly be true, but the situation was already way out of their control.
Veritas raised his sword, much thicker and heavier than the elven sabers, and likewise had a much deeper ring to it. He brought it down heavily, striking the rock floor and taking the hit to durability to get the elves' attention with a loud smash of metal.
"Enough. From what I found in my meditation, she has the greatest affinity with nature, whether she realizes it or not. As a human, I don't know how you select your High Priestesses, or by what criteria you deem them worthy. For that matter, neither would you, because it was the previous High Priestess who selected the next. However, what I do know is that you need someone to speak with the forest on your behalf, and the person who I judged capable of that was the person closest to nature in their heart and soul. If you have any objections, raise them now," he challenged. He'd always been good at winning people over verbally, and now was no exception. "Your village is in an unprecedented crisis." He'd again ply them with a plea of honor. "Would you, in jealousy, doubt, or distrust, harm the village like this when it's at its weakest? Save your complaints for when the crisis passes, and trust my decision. I told the elder that I would find a suitable replacement if the previous High Priestess couldn't be recovered. And, as you might have heard, I never go back on my word. That is my way."
Having cowed the elves, Veritas lead the way back to the village. A third time, he was met by the entire village, all eager to hear good news. And news they received, though whether it was good or bad would be decided by them. The elder conferred for some time with some of the veterans of the battle as well as other wizened wood elves.
In the end, she turned to him and smiled.
"Veritas, you have done us a great deed. Though a controversial choice, we have decided to trust in you, who, for this village, risked so much for so little. She placed two items in either of his hands.
::::
Quest complete!
Ahrah Forest
The Spider Queen lays dead in her lair. No longer will she threaten the Wood Elves of Ahrah. And now, with a newly appointed High Priestess, they will be able to negotiate for peace directly with the forest.
Reputation increased by 40.
Familiarity with the Wood Elves of Ahrah increased by 30.
You have received Elven Compass.
You have received Spirit Stone.
Level up.
Level up.
::::
"The first, the Elven Compass, will work in concert with the Elven Medallion. The compass does not point north. Instead, it will point to the nearest elven settlement, proof of our great trust in your honor and selflessness. The second, the Spirit Stone, is able to tame and contain the spirits of nature in direct relation to your own strength. If the power of the spirit outstrips that of its wielder, it will become more prone to disobedience or outright rebellion, so take heed."
"How many spirits can this hold?"
"The amount will be determined by your power. Level, leadership, charisma, and a host of other factors will be involved. For now, the stone can hold one spirit."
"Thank you, elder. I just don't have the words to say just how thankful I am for such useful items."
"Thanks is unnecessary, your actions have given us all the thanks we need. I can no longer ask more of you, the rest is up to us wood elves to solve. But Veritas, know that you will be welcome here at any time." She bowed her head slightly. "We are in your debt, and one day, we will make even on it."
xxxx
Naruto exited the capsule after logging out at Nylinas' house.
"Well, if it isn't our sleeping beauty. Rise and shine, sweetums."
Shut up, Kurama.
"Living the sweet life in an artificial reality, are we?" Kyuubi seemed to have finished going through the memories.
"You can hardly call it sweet," said the blond aloud. He was alone, who would be listening? Even if, anyone could mistake it for using the phone. Also, he was speaking Japanese. "Anyways, when I get back to Serabourg, it's payday. I'm going to sell off everything, and hopefully I got something rare off that boss."
"Ah yes, money. I've been looking into the memories of your research. Money surely makes this world go 'round. Still, their level of technology is quite impressive. I'd say it would obsolete shinobi in most cases. In fact, I'd be a bit afraid if I had a thermonuclear weapon pointed in my direction. That's a whole different level of power and destruction to be in the hands of some weak-minded humans."
"Yeah well, good thing everyone's afraid to use it, right?" Naruto changed into outdoor clothes. "I'm off to train."
"Your consideration of that crazy coot's offer?"
"A tentative yes, but it's still too soon. I'm gonna make him work to get me."
Kyuubi laughed. "Naruto, you're as easy to hook as a hooker. A promise to make you stronger, hook, line, and sinker."
"Shut UP, Kurama!"
xxxx