'Victoria left, huh…'
Cid lazily played with apple in his hand. The tall elf has just left the room, and now Cid was left alone. Now, the time to continue with his research has come!
He immediately concentrated on the feeling of Calls around him. Hmm, that one… Nope, by feeling it was just something random, without any magic power, so no point going there. This one… better, but not quite yet. And this one… Huh, now that sounds like good stuff!
Cid immediately donned his Shadow attire (looking cool is cool!), accepted the Call, and was transferred to the summoner.
Upon arriving to the place the first thing Cid has noticed were the various runes around him. If he can decipher their meaning correctly, it's something about binding?
"Not attacking?" his summoner, old man in a exquisite robe, asked.
"Not feeling like it," he immediately answered, studying the rune circle around him.
"Good, sentient and sapient summon! I will cut to the case: can you heal her?"
Cid had to stop himself from immersing into the runecraft and focus on the girl in front of him. By the looks of it, she was heavily injured and only survived until this moment because of the flow of magic from this old man. However, that was still quite not enough, because…
"Oh, a Magic Overload? Interesting," yep, that was indeed one.
"So it is possible to heal," old man concluded.
"Yeah, will not even take much time. If you have prepared the payment-" the summoner just showed a row of exquisite looking crystals… that contained souls. How did he get them, even?… Hold up, you can store souls in material objects? Like, not just his Pylons, but any material objects? "…Well then, we can start."
After making a contract Cid immediately went down to fixing the flow of magical energy. Not even a minute after the rampaging mana calmed down and stopped trying to break out of the girl's body.
"Done. She will awaken in about thirty minutes, but will not have memories of what happened during the time she was afflicted with it," he dusted his hands. Not like he needed too, it was more of a habit.
"Yes, I can see that," old man rubbed his beard, "The contract is finished, then. You can have your payment."
Cid immediately took the soul crystals (10 of them, to be precise) and got teleported back into his world. Quick check on the watch showed that only about ten seconds or so passed… Despite him being there almost two minutes. That's good.
Hams also managed to write down a copy of rune circles he was studying. Not full, of course, but still good enough. Magic of other worlds might be… interesting, to say the least.
He-he-he…
He's so excited! Muh-ha-ha!… Note: work on villain's laugh.
"I am searching for this guy for a few days already, and I still can't find his presence…" Deviantt sighed.
She was tired. She was almost 100% sure that this guy, the one who caught her big bro's attention, was here. At the very least, because of that spatial field! But she couldn't find him! Like, at all! Somehow, he evaded her gaze like nothing! She was not that much strong, she admits that, but still!
Though, if she actually could find him, then there probably would be nothing special about him, which would make her big bro disappointed… Hmm, that means that it's better that this guy could evade her so easy!
Though she still feels rather pissed…
Reminds her of that one time her big bro fought that guy who was really strong, and then it turned out that what her big bro fought was just a marionette of that guy… Yeah, this is how she feels like now that she can't find this guy… That guy was called… Ugh…
Though she still feels rather pissed…
"Huh? What's that?… Sweets?!"
Well, nothing will go wrong if she will get herself some candies and sits down to rest for an hour or two!… Who said it was her seventh time in the past three days?
"Uff…" Alpha groaned.
They have teamed up to take their husband down, and yet it was them who have been left exhausted… While he just went out of the room as if they didn't even manage to take a hit on his stamina.
"Hi-hi-hi…" and of course, Eta instead of relaxing decided to write everything down in order to find more ways to 'take him down'.
Yes, they were talking about sex. They did everything they could, and yet he was still the one victorious. She even had a feeling that crawling he did was just to boost their ego a bit, and otherwise he was pretty much still ready to go…
"E-Even with all my techniques…" Zeta was lying down with empty eyes.
Yes, this is what happens when Master Shadow takes the reins himself instead of giving control… They cannot do anything about that. Only lie down and accept their fate… Yes, she was just influenced by Beta who diligently wrote her… 'stories'.
Cid calibrated the hub. It was still far from finished, but at least the base was laid out; he could use the portals to places where he has already been and placed the altars in. Hams threatened to make an even better version with intuitive controls and design, but for now this will do, too.
The Beasts in question stood nearby and helped him in calibrating everything. If something goes wrong, his remains will be floating in Interworld… if they will at all.
Meh, no biggie. He has done dangerous experiments on himself since childhood, so it's not like anything is different now… Except for the scale, yeah. Moreover, he made sure to be prepared as much as possible.
What he wanted to do now was to use Black Rose as a temporary hub and get a Call from there. By Hams' calculations, if they combine Black Rose and the summon time dilations, they will be able to leave the world for a long time without anything major happening… Like Shades suddenly turning old when he returns back. Would be… a nasty surprise.
Ahem, in short, he was getting ready for yet another summon. Now, what would happen there?…
A familiar feeling of being tugged to the side, accepting it…
A-a-and they really could get a better place for a summon. No, he's serious! Where the hell is he, even?
Glance here, glance there… Yeah, it's some kind of forest. The trees are unlike anything he has ever seen, though… They also seem to emit some kind of… energy, he guesses? Kinda like mix of magic and… uh, lifeforce? Kinda, but not quite… Damn, he just appeared there and it's already a box of marvels!
"Yes! I did it! Now sensei won't tell me I can't do techniques, dattebayo!" oh, right, his summoner.
Cid turned his gaze in curiosity… Where? The voice was here, right?… Oh, a child… Wait, a child?
"You're the one who summoned me," yes, he was still in his Shadow persona. Old but… he has golden linings, so gold!
"You bet I am! He-he, now they for sure will accept me as Hokage!… After old man steps down, of course…" kid added quieter.
"Interesting…" was all Cid could say.
The child was interesting. He had strange channels in his body that transferred a mix of life and magic (but his magic was wrong, without any world energy; only… spiritual?) energy, similar to those in trees. Yet even that paled in comparison to… Strange part on his stomach. There was something there, but Cid was not sure what…
"Hello, you listening?"
"You are interesting," Cid repeated, startling the kid a little.
"Yeah?! How so?!"
"Your energy structure seems quite different…"
"Ener-gie…? Uh, what?" yeah, by estimations that kid was just a bit short of being 6 years old.
"Nevermind. You have summoned me. What is it you wish for?" Cid came to the point.
"Oh. Oh!" kid beamed, "I wanna become the strongest shinobi ever and become the Hokage and-!"
"Enough. You wish to become strong, don't you?"
"Well, yeah!"
Hmm, he already did the enigmatic sensei… And another enigmatic sensei… What, third now? That would be repeating what he already did… How to proceed with that…
"Hmm…" profound humming, "Allow me first to see this world… I have some suspicions about what is going on there…" more mysteriousness!
"Oh, alright!" kid nodded… with sadness.
"Follow me, then," and cool swing of his coat!
And, well… True to his thoughts, other people didn't have the strange parts in their stomach. Hell, most of them didn't even have energy channels that the kid had! The channels only were in some of them, and these guys usually hanged by rooftops! Especially these masked ones. They were suspicious.
Though he had to admit, the kid's channels were way bigger and better than most of the adults had… Ones that even had them, that is. Only masked ones were always better than him, other people (they also had a strange headband, by the way; it had a strange symbol) on average barely reached his level. Very strange.
There was also one peculiar moment… All the people around him have been sending hateful stares towards the kid. Like, what can a small kid do to get the hate of every fucking person? Make a factory that harvests their family members? Man.
One of them even tried to raise a hand at the kid, and Cid had to intervene. He needs the kid both for continued summon before he can place the altar and because the kid himself was interesting.
What was even more bizarre is that some of these headband guys decided to intervene when Cid tried to protect the kid, not when the adult tried to attack him.
"Excuse me, I would advice you to leave this place," headband guy even placed his hand on his… um, belt kit?
"Why is that?" oh, the guy faltered. Is his voice really that scary? The kid only became even more eager when he heard Cid, though…
"This little thing is a demon," wait, what?
"That's right, that's right!…" and then the people around him erupted in barely recognizable noises.
If he had to make it short, this little kid was a reincarnation, or a seal, or even the demon himself from years ago that almost destroyed this place, and so everyone and their dogs… No, wait, dogs actually didn't dare to come closer… In short, the kid was bullied to no end.
Yeah, now he can get some picture… Especially about that strange thing in kid's stomach.
"I see," he turned around to the kid, "Let's go, I have all information I need."
Did he even bother about other people hearing him? Heck no. Even if something happens, he will just come back and mark it as failure, then go and chill with Shades.
Kid beamed at his words and sprinted after him. The guys with headbands tried to stop him, but were stuck once he used Shadow Beasts to hold them in place. Some muttered something about 'Nara', but he honestly didn't care at this point.
"Guide me to your place," he said to the kid. He already has an idea of what he wants to do, he-he…
And, well, almost like he expected, the place was a mess. 'Almost', because it was fucking horrible: broken windows, barely working refrigerator, spoiled milk, ramen cups… Is that a fucking mouse that hang itself by its own tail?!
Nah, he won't tolerate this shit. Where was his food stored… Ah, there it is.
He took out a large steak (still warm; thanks, Hams!), some fruits and vegetables, drinks…
"Eat. I have interesting news for you," he said once he saw the hesitating gaze of the kid.
And, true to Cid's thoughts, kid jumped on the food like no tomorrow. The amount of food Cid took out was enough to feed a family of four for a day, yet this kid apparently had Delta's appetite…
Once he was finished, Cid placed his chin (still hidden by darkness, by the way!) on his hands.
"Now that you've had your fill…" he started, looking at the kid patting his stomach, "I have three questions for you. They are simple, and I am already most certain of what I am about to tell you, but they are more for you than for me."
"Uh, sure?" kid blinked at him. Come to think of it, his eyes were blue like Alpha's… And he was blonde like Alpha… Though his ears were human's, but he had 'painted' whiskers on his cheeks?
"What is your name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage, dattebayo!" again with Hokage part.
"Do you know why people treat you like that?" he leaned in.
"Uh, they think I am some kind of a demon… But I am not, I am telling you! Like, if I was one, I would have red skin and stuff, right?!" kid… Naruto waved his hands around erratically.
"Do you know who you are?" he pressed on the 'who' part.
"Uh, no?… Do you know?!" kid jumped up.
"Muh-ha-ha…" alright, now that laugh was done better!
Kid backed off a bit, surprised by Cid's outburst. It's alright, the best part is coming soon!
"Hey, what-?"
"Ha-ha-ha! All these years, and yet it was a mere coincidence that has allowed me to finally…!" 'mad' eyes. Yes, 'mad' eyes. He even allowed his smile to flash red as if he was losing control of his energy… Come to think of it, he also allowed a bit of his energy to leak out, making a purple aura.
"Hey, hey, explain!"
"Have you never thought about why, exactly, do you have these powers?" he was betting hugely right now, but if it works out, he's so golden!
"Powers?… Well, I heal pretty fast, and I can run long… But it doesn't help that much?…" profit!
"That's because they didn't allow you to grow!" and waving hands!
"'They'? Who 'they'?!"
"It doesn't matter… Yet! But soon! Soon! Muh-ha-ha!…" even more villain laugh!
Kid waited until Cid 'calmed down'.
"Now, you want to know, right? Know why, exactly, are you called demon?!"
"Yes! Tell me!"
"The truth is simple!" Cid leaned in, revealing his red eyes, "Uzumaki Naruto!"
A perfectly timed pause!
"I am your father!" he heard someone falling down from tree.
You can't go wrong with this world. Cid's magic and chakra (in canon) worked pretty similar (at least in earlier installment), there's fuinjutsu, the world itself is interesting, the amount of toomfolery Cid can inflict with his mere presence is insane.
Also, I thought about it a lot. TEiS canon was pretty much finished (Ln6 can't happen because Iris and co. purged the corrupt nobles). There's nothing left other than Cid's and girls relationship. I will still return to them, since I still have plans for Heroines and etc., plus the, ahem, lewd moments, but other than that it will be now more Cid-focused… We have come from relationship-focus to Cid-focus, how does he even do it?
Edit: welp, you have read up to this point. Congrats! If you are still interested, go to X-over section and find 'World of Shadows' there. It's a direct continuation of this fic, but moved to a proper section since Cid is having fun in other worlds. Other 7 chapters? Just a leftover from before I moved; they are left here because of reader's thoughts they left. WoS starts at this same chapter you read now.