The heat of the bonfire washed over Naruto, carrying the smell of smoke and charred bone. The crackle of flames mixed with the clang of distant hammers. For Naruto, it was like stepping back into a home he had not realized he missed until he returned. The familiar warmth of the bonfire seeped into his skin, pulling away the lingering weight of Konoha's politics.
Naruto gave Oscar a quick scratch on the head before scanning the familiar path ahead. His eyes immediately caught the empty space near Sen's Fortress.
Seigmeyer was missing. The round knight's usual spot, right by the massive gates, was deserted.
Where could Onion-senpai have gone?
Oscar let out another curious chirp, as if echoing the thought. Together they made their way down the narrow stone steps toward the workshop.
Andre glanced up for half a second, ready to give the standard greeting, then his eyes drifted to the whisker marks on the boy's cheeks. Oscar's presence made him go back to his work.
"Wow, that's your reaction?!"
"Well." Andre set the hammer down and turned the piece over with a pair of tongs. "I was going to ask if you were a new arrival. Then I recognized you. And I remembered that you have a habit of disappearing for a good long while and turning up with some new change." He glanced up briefly. "So, here you are."
Naruto sweatdropped and said, "Sorry for not swinging by sooner. A lot of stuff happened."
Andre waved it off, moving to the bucket in the corner and washing his hands with the brisk efficiency. "Don't fuss over it. There's nothing in this world that's put you down yet. I expect that's still the case." He dried his hands and looked Naruto over properly for the first time. "So what caused you to dye your hair."
"I didn't dye my hair."
Footsteps echoed from the Darkroot Garden entrance. Andre glanced toward the sound and his lips curved in a grin. "Hey, you two, the knucklehead knight's back."
"Really?" Dusk's voice lit up and she rushed into the workshop, much to Andre's quiet amusement.
The Princess of Oolacile stopped when she saw him. Her eyes found the hair, catching the workshop light in shades of red.
"Your hair has changed."
"Cool, right?"
"May I?"
Naruto leaned forward without hesitation. Dusk's fingers ran carefully through the crimson strands, and for a moment the workshop was quiet except for the low crackle of the forge.
"It is a beautiful shade." She whispered. "How did you manage to dye it so perfectly?"
Behind her, Siegmeyer let out a long and deeply considered hum. "Oh-hoh! If I were to hazard a guess, I would say… yes, a mixture. Walnuts, henna, and saffron. Yes, saffron, from the distant kingdom of Jugo! Quite the tricky process, I imagine. Hah hah hah hah!"
"I DIDN'T DYE MY HAIR."
Andre let out a short gruff laugh and Siegmeyer's booming laugh filled the entire workshop. Dusk wore an apologetic smile, until Oscar nudged her leg gently to not feel guilty.
Naruto huffed. "Getting the Uzumaki clan's legacy turned my hair red. The Uzumaki are famous for their red hair. It runs in the blood."
Dusk's eyes widened, curiosity and wonder moving through her expression in equal measure. Siegmeyer gave a deeply satisfied "Mmm! Oh-hoh!"
Andre reached up to the shelf, grabbed the mead bottle, and shoved it across the workbench toward the boy. "Hah. Didn't understand a word of that. But if it makes you fight harder, that's good enough for me. Take this as a gift of congratulations."
Naruto stared at the bottle.
"Congratulations, my young friend!" Siegmeyer boomed, and his gauntleted hand came down on Naruto's back with enough force to nearly send him face first into the workbench. "A knight must always remember their roots, you see! Now tell me, have you considered engraving the crest of the Uzumaki upon your armour? A proper knight wears his heritage with pride! Hah hah hah hah!"
"I didn't even think of that! That's a great idea, Onion-senpai!"
"Mm! Splendid!"
Andre was already reaching for his worn notebook without being asked. "A mark like that has weight to it. Just be certain where you want it, boy. Once it's set into the plate it won't be coming off without tearing the whole piece apart. Hah."
"Put it on the back." Naruto said without hesitation. "That's where most of the Konoha jackets carry the uzumaki clan symbols."
Andre's charcoal stopped moving. He looked up at the boy for a moment, something unreadable and steady in his expression, the way a man looks when he's heard something that landed correctly. Then he looked back down at the sketch.
"Hmph. Bold. But it suits you." He closed the notebook. "Fine choice."
"Wonderful! Yes, quite wonderful!" Siegmeyer clasped his hands together with a clank of gauntlets. "Mmm. It will be a sight to behold. Now then." He straightened with the gravity of a man announcing important business. "I plan to return to Sen's Fortress for a while longer."
Naruto stared at him. "Seriously, Senpai? I thought you finally stopped with that. Weren't you going on an adventure?"
"No no, my young friend. Not just yet. The princess asked me to escort her to the mushroom family in the Darkroot Garden, and having done that I must not shirk my other duties! So, as ever, I wait. And while I wait, I think. And while I think." He paused with tremendous satisfaction. "Well. Perhaps the gate will open of its own accord! Hah hah hah hah!"
Man… I really need to find a way to open Sen's Fortress for him. But how? If I just attack it, the magic lashes back. Maybe if I used enough clones to push up the gate...
Andre's voice cut through Naruto's thoughts. "Quit daydreaming. And, look at this sketch."
"Looks good, but… make the spiral sharper here. And maybe add a notch at the edge, so it looks more like the swirl."
Andre adjusted the drawing with a few quick strokes. "Right then. Anything else?"
"Actually, I've got this new jutsu that lets me use my hair as a weapon. Problem is, the helmet keeps my locked up unless I take it off. And to take my helm off mid-battle is just stupid."
"So you want to modify the helm."
"Oh! Oh, I have an idea!" Dusk's voice chimed suddenly. "Why not a knight's helm with a… ponytail hole? I've seen illustrations in the old books. Knights with grand plumes streaming behind them. You could do the same, but with your own hair!"
Naruto and Andre both turned slowly to stare at her.
"I… I mean… it was just a thought."
The princess ducked behind Oscar, clutching the crystal lizard like a shield.
"What you're describing is a panache. Decorative feather, that is. Something for ceremony, not the battlefield. "
"Okay, vut she's got a point though. It'd look awesome. Dattebayo."
Andre grumbled but began sketching again, lines carving across the paper with purpose. "We put an indentation in the back of the helm. Let the hair fall through on its own. Simple enough."
"I volunteer to thread the spiral upon your armour, my knight." Dusk said, her eyes carrying a quiet determination that left no room for argument.
And so they worked.
Andre's tools moved with steady precision while Naruto pulled up a stool beside him and help when needed. Behind them, Dusk worked the clasps of the Baldur Knight's cape free from the Elite Knight armour, Oscar nudging the stubborn ones loose beside her, and once it came free she settled near the bonfire light and began stitching the spiral into the blue overgarment without a word.
Nobody talked much throughout the process
When it was done Naruto wore the modified helm and Dusk draped the overgarment across his shoulders. He reached back once, fingers brushing the stitched spiral, then let his hair fall. It spilled down his back in a clean curtain of red, long enough to move but not enough to swallow the crest beneath it. The Uzumaki spiral sat visible above it, bold red against the blue.
"I love this." Naruto said, and bowed low to both of them. "Thank you. Really."
Andre waved him off with a grunt that was doing its best to sound indifferent. "Hah. Don't go getting it ruined." He reached for his mead bottle and turned back toward the workshop. "I'm off to drink myself to sleep. Mind you don't Hollow before I wake up."
He was gone before Naruto could respond.
Naruto turned to Dusk, who stood with Dusk's hands folded and a small smile that she wasn't quite containing.
"Thank you for taking care of him."
Dusk nodded slowly. He could tell there was something sitting behind her eyes, something she had shaped into words and then decided to keep. He didn't push. Instead he just glanced up toward the flight of stairs and said, casual as he could manage.
"I'll be heading to the Firelink Shrine."
"Take care." She said, and sat down at the bonfire with the stillness of someone who had made their decision and was at peace with it.
Naruto was halfway up the stairs when he heard it.
A whistle.
Light and wandering, the kind of melody that didn't seem to know where it was going and wasn't in any hurry to find out. It moved in a lilting almost childlike pattern, the sort of thing you might hear someone humming absently to themselves on a quiet afternoon with nothing pressing and nowhere to be.
Naruto slowed without meaning to.
Dusk had a nice singing voice.
He tried to mirror the whistle on the next step up, shaping his lips the way he thought she had, pushing air through carefully. What came out was not a whistle but a rasberry.
Oscar made a sound that was absolutely not a laugh and was fooling nobody.
"Hey." Naruto said. "The whistle is harder than it looks."
They passed through the Undead Church like clockwork, dispatching hollows with the kind of efficiency that came from having done it enough times that it stopped feeling like a fight and started feeling like a commute. Naruto even fenced with the four Balder Knights at the same time.
After clearing the last of the resistance they took the elevator down into Firelink Shrine.
"Looks like Reah and her bodyguards are already off to the Catacombs." Naruto observed, glancing around the empty church ruins.
Oscar chirped and nudged him toward the bonfire.
Griggs sat beside it with a small cauldron balanced carefully over the flame, ladling estus into it from his flasks. The soup shimmered with a faint golden light that had absolutely no business being that pretty. Naruto stopped walking and stared at it for a full second.
"Naruto?"
"Yo." Naruto dropped down at the bonfire beside him.
"Splendid timing actually. Would you care for some?" He was already reaching into his bottomless box for two bowls. Griggs poured for Naruto and then, without any particular fuss, poured a smaller measure into a shallow dish for Oscar, who dipped forward and regarded it with what appeared to be dignified appreciation.
The taste was genuinely difficult to explain.
The most honest description was that it tasted like nothing at all, and yet the warmth that spread through his chest loosened something behind in his body and mind. He sat with the empty bowl in his hands for a moment longer than necessary enjoying the feeling it brough him.
"Thanks for this."
Naruto reached into his inventory and produced a cup noodle, setting it on the ground between them "Now, allow me to introduce you to the true food of the gods."
Griggs ate in silence for a moment.
"It's salty."
Naruto's face fell.
"I mean that admirably." Griggs added, composed as ever. "Outside of Lordran, salt commands a price worth its weight in gold. To find it used so liberally in a dish like this is rather remarkable. "
Naruto opened his mouth, thought about trying to explain that in Konoha salt was so common you could buy a week's worth for a handful of ryo, and decided the gap between their worlds was too wide to bridge over noodles. He took his word for it and moved on.
"Griggs, can you teach me some magic?"
"You want to purchase a spell scroll?"
"Is buying a spell scroll and attuning it the whole picture of magic?" Naruto said, fully aware that the answer was no.
"The act using a spell scroll and attuning it is the basic foundation of all magic. It may sound simple but the act of attunement must be preceded by the capacity to understand what is being attuned. In Vinheim, children were educated in classes of art, literature, philosophy, astronomy and more. The cultivation of the mind across many disciplines is what allows the intelligence to grow to a point where attunement becomes possible."
Naruto processed that quietly. So you could technically increase your intelligence without souls, just through training. Though the way Griggs described it, that road was considerably slower.
"How does one increase their attunement capacity?" Naruto asked. With the rune bound to his soul making conventional leveling harder, attunement was likely the stat he needed most if he intended to hold multiple spells at once.
"Attunement is the process of being in harmony, connection, and deep alignment with one's own soul." Griggs explained. "To attune more spells, the soul itself must be larger. This comes naturally with age. An older soul has had more time to expand and can harmonize with multiple spell structures simultaneously."
Naruto blew a raspberry at that. Growing old was not exactly a fast solution.
"There are items that assist with attunement as well."
Naruto nodded, then paused as Beatrice's words surfaced in his memory, clear and precise as the moment she had first said them. "Think of your soul not as some poetic metaphor, but as a thing truly seated within the cage of your flesh. A slumbering observer in a decaying shell. Magic is not light or fire. It is the soul's scream against the structure of reality. A will so enlightened it reshapes the world around it. The more you grasp how your soul presses against the walls of this fragile world, the more the world begins to bend in response."
Griggs was quiet for a moment.
"Those are profound words. Whoever spoke them has a genuine understanding of soul sorcery at its most fundamental level."
Naruto beamed. Those words had been sitting in him since Beatrice first said them, half understood, and having someone like Griggs confirm their weight made them settle more solidly into place.
Griggs turned to a fresh page in his journal and considered his words before speaking. "In Vinheim this concept is introduced in the senior classes. The world is fundamentally unknowable. Every fact is a model filtered through the limited circuitry of our minds. Every truth a working delusion that fits our pattern recognition just well enough that we take it for granted. We never touch reality itself, only the concepts we cast over it. Our private hallucinations that describe the shadow of reality. Each of our lives is a dangerous expedition into alien territory. We scavenge scraps, delude ourselves into believing we understand them, gather everything we can grasp just to keep our hands from feeling empty, and cut our fingers on what we are never able to truly hold."
Naruto's first instinct was to push back on that. It sounded bleak. It sounded like the kind of thing someone said when they had spent too long indoors reading.
But then he thought about it properly.
He had walked through realm of dreams just a few hours ago. He had stood in purgatory infront of the shinigami and felt its logic pressing against everything he thought he knew. He had come to Lordran and found a world whose rules did not apologize for being different. Every time he had assumed he understood where he was, reality had shifted slightly and shown him the edge of his own model.
The concept made a uncomfortable amount of sense.
"This is the foundation every sorcerer must carry when approaching magic." Griggs continued. "Fortunately we are not alone in the dark. A thousand years of study exist behind us. Giants who built their own models, tested them, refined them, and left them for the rest of us to stand on."
Oscar, who had been sitting beside Naruto with admirable patience for the past several minutes, quietly excused himself and drifted towards Anastacia's cell sat. Apparently the epistemology of Vinheim had its limits as entertainment.
Naruto watched him go and turned back to Griggs, who had produced his Sorcerer's Catalyst and was holding it across his knee. "Do you know what this staff represents in sorcery?"
"It's the medium that allows the soul to interact with the world."
"Good. How?"
"It just... does?" Naruto said, aware even as he said it that this was not an answer. "Sorry if that's wrong."
"No need to apologize. You were not formally trained in Vinheim so the framework simply was not given to you." Griggs set the catalyst across both knees. "Let me find a better starting point. What is soul sorcery?"
"It's the manipulation of the soul to affect the world around you."
"Closer than most first attempts." Griggs said. "Let me build on that. Do you know what a catalyst is made of?"
"Wood from some kind of tree?"
"A living tree." Griggs said. "Shrunken and shaped, but kept alive or dying so slowly that for our purposes the distinction barely matters. And this is important." He turned it slowly. "A tree has a soul. Its will is inert, it wants to survive and very little beyond that. But its soul is old and large, far larger than a human's soul has had time to become. And a large soul can influence the world around it far more powerfully than a small one."
"So you're borrowing the tree's soul to do magic."
"You are imposing your will upon it." Griggs corrected. "Your soul has three parts. Memories, which are your experiences and knowledge etched into the soul itself. Will, which is your desire, your drive, the part of you that moves toward things and away from things. Ego, which is your personality, the filter through which every decision passes."
He let that settle for a moment.
"Of these three, will is what concerns sorcery most directly. Will is what the soul listens to. It is what allows a sorcerer to reach outside the boundaries of their own flesh and impose their intent upon something else." Griggs tapped the catalyst. "When you cast a spell, you are extending your will into this staff. You are pressing your soul's intent against the soul of the catalyst until it bends to you. The catalyst's large soul then does the actual work of shaping and releasing the sorcery. Your will provides the direction. The catalyst provides the power."
Naruto stared at the staff. "That's why it's called a catalyst."
"Precisely. It accelerates the process. Without it, a young sorcerer's soul is simply too small to impose its will on the world with any meaningful force or speed. The catalyst bridges that gap. It makes the influence faster and stronger than the caster could manage alone." Griggs paused. "Recall what you told me earlier. The words about the soul pressing against the walls of the world."
Naruto recited them without hesitation. "The soul's scream against the structure of reality. A will so enlightened it reshapes the world around it."
"Yes." Griggs said quietly. "That is exactly what is happening when you fire a soul arrow. You are not creating light or energy from nothing. You are taking the soul of the catalyst, shaped by your will, and throwing it. A piece of soul, compressed and directed, screaming against the structure of reality at whatever you point it toward." He looked at Naruto steadily. "The soul arrow is a fragment of larger soul rendered into a projectile by an act of will of your soul."
Naruto sat with that for a long moment.
"And the more you understand your own soul." The redhead said slowly. "The cleaner the imposition. The less you waste."
Griggs looked at him with the quiet satisfaction of a teacher who had just watched something click into place.
"Griggs, does that mean you can use unattuned magic?"
"Theoretically." Griggs said. "Though you would need a soul comparable in size to that of a dragon. The will alone would be sufficient to impose on the world directly without any intermediary." He paused. "No living sorcerer has managed it. At least none that I know of."
Naruto nodded and filed that away. "Different question. If intelligence and understanding make sorcery stronger, what makes miracles stronger? I know faith is the primary path but is there anything beyond that?"
"I apologize but the study of miracles by sorcerers is forbidden by the gods. I genuinely cannot help you there."
Maybe Oswald would know something. Naruto was already thinking about the walk to the church's spire when Griggs snapped his fingers.
"Chanting."
"What?"
"I have old texts describing clerics and paladins during times of war who would chant across the battlefield before calling down miracles. Phrases spoken aloud before the casting." Griggs tapped his journal thoughtfully. "It was noted that the effects were considerably more pronounced than standard invocations. I cannot explain the mechanism from a sorcery standpoint but the pattern across multiple accounts is consistent."
"It can't just be random words, dattebayo!"
"I would imagine it needs to be genuine. A statement that reflects your actual faith and your understanding of the miracle itself. Belief given a voice. It's just a theory. But it may be worth attempting."
Worth a shot, Naruto thought as he pulled out the Thorolund Catalyst. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought about the Lightning Spear. The story behind it. The Firstborn. The act of taking a bolt and making it a weapon of faith.
When he opened his eyes the words came on their own.
"Radiance of the firstborn, lance of sundering light, pierce through scale, sorcery and flame." He felt something shift in his chest, his soul pressing forward against the walls of the world, every ounce of his faith moving into his hands. He jumped.
"LIGHTNING SPEAR!"
The bolt that formed was not the spear he was used to. It was thicker and brighter, crackling with a weight that made the air around it feel pressurized. The moment he released it skyward it did not travel in a clean line. It spread the way real lightning did in a true storm, branching outward in every direction at once, filling the sky above Firelink Shrine with a cascade of light that lingered several seconds after the sound hit.
The thunder came last.
"By the gods." Griggs whispered. He was a sorcerer. He did not worship the god. But his eyes were wide and his pen had stopped moving entirely at the display of power.
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Naruto landed and immediately dropped to one knee, his soul feeling like a wrung cloth.
"So..." He said, breathing through it. "Chanting pulls out the full power of the miracle. But I feel like I can't use anything afterwards."
Griggs began writing quickly. "A complete expenditure of soul capacity in a single casting. The will overextends itself to match the declaration." He noted something, underlined it. The sorcerer closed the journal and began packing his things.
"Now then, I will leave you to rest at the bonfire while I continue my search for Master Logan."
"I could help."
Griggs smiled at the offer. "I appreciate that. But we all have our own oaths to walk. And this one is mine." He inclined his head. "It was a pleasure, my friend."
He turned and walked out of Firelink Shrine without looking back.
Naruto watched him go, then let himself sit fully against the bonfire, eyes closing as the warmth of it pressed into his back.
A few minutes passed.
His eyes opened.
"...I forgot to buy new spells, didn't I?!"
He looked toward the shrine entrance. No sign of Griggs.
Naruto stared at the sky for a moment, accepted his loss with the dignity it deserved, and closed his eyes again.
Next time, he would remember next time.
He went to sleep.
"So, how's everything going?" Naruto said sipping on some tea besdes Anastacia.
"It... it has been peaceful," the firekeeper said, her eyes lingering on the red of his hair. "I stroll around the shrine now. I play with Crystal. And... the silence is not so heavy anymore. What of you?"
"Honestly? A lot of boring stuff." Naruto said, keeping it vague. Anastacia had only just found something resembling peace and the last thing he wanted was to dump his problems at her feet.
Oscar and Crystal darted across the grass, tumbling over one another with an infectious energy. The two humans laughed quietly, tossing folded paper kunai into the air for the lizards to leap after. Crystal managed to catch one and refused to let it go, which made Oscar chase her in dizzy circles.
"This has been nice... but I should get going. Rickert and I have a lot of catching up to do."
"Wait... before you leave," Anastacia said, her voice more hesitant. "You once told me... that you could take me to a place where even the gods would not reach me... What did you mean?"
"You mean when I had Oswald absolve your sins?"
"Yes."
"I came here from another world, Anastacia. And... for some reason, I can still return to it."
"So... you wish to bring me to this home?"
"Only if you want to go. The choice is yours. I would never ask it of you otherwise."
Anastacia's lips quivered with the beginnings of a smile. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Th, thank you... Truly. You absolved my sins when I believed no one would. Now you offer me a future?"
She looked toward the shrine above. "But... I am still a Firekeeper. I must remain until the Chosen Undead rises."
"What about after that? Once your duty ends?"
"I... I do not know. Perhaps then, I am free."
Naruto reached out and nudged her arm with a warm smile. "Well then... when I become the Chosen Undead, would you come to Konoha with me? Maybe share a bowl of ramen?"
Anastacia's eyes widened in quiet awe. Her smile was brighter this time, almost tearful. "I... I would like that very much."
Naruto turned to Oscar. "Alright, buddy. Kiss your girl goodbye. It's time to go."
Oscar and Crystal stopped their chase. They stood still for a moment, then slowly leaned into one another. The moment was so dramatic, so painfully emotional, it felt like watching a scene from a stage opera.
"Seriously? Now I feel like I'm tearing soulmates apart."
Anastacia giggled behind her hand. "Let them say farewell."
With a final nose-nuzzle and a small chirp, Oscar reluctantly turned and waddled back to Naruto's side.
Naruto took a few steps forward before glancing back.
Anastacia was clapping gently as Crystal spun in wild circles chasing her own tail. Her smile was soft and free.
She looked happy.
He wanted to remember her like this.
Then he turned back toward the path, toward New Londo, and let his steps carry him down the winding stairs. With every footfall, the warmth of the shrine faded. The weight of the world returned. Even if he became the Chosen Undead today, it still would not be enough.
Konoha was not safe. Not for her. Not even for him.
Not yet anyways.
He clenched his fists at his sides.
"I need to get stronger."
The elevator rattled to a stop, creaking as it opened into the New Londo Ruins.
Naruto stepped out, boots scraping softly against the old stone, the sound echoing through the sunken city.
Around him, the air was still eerily so. A handful of praying hollows that had once knelt in silence near the broken ruins suddenly turned their heads. Then, without warning, they scrambled away from him afraid. Some even started praying to him.
"...What's up with them?"
Oscar gave a clueless chirp.
Naruto's gaze flicked to a hollow lying near the edge of the stairwell.
Its hollowed eyes were locked onto the gaping hole in New Londo's ceiling, the faint light of the world above filtering in. Slowly, the hollow turned its head and met Naruto's eyes. Then, just as slowly, it looked back to the hole.
"You think they're sensing the... dragon scale on me?"
Oscar gave a shrug.
"Great. Rickert's probably going to freak out too just like griggs."
A devious little grin formed on the lizard's face.
"Oh? Got something on your mind, partner?"
The crystal lizard began to giggle.
Naruto grinned wider. "Alright then. Let's prank the poor guy."
They fist-bumped.
Rickert was humming to himself, tapping a stray piece of metal against the side of his anvil, eyes half-lidded with boredom. He had long since accepted the stillness of New Londo, the weight of isolation, and the way time flowed like the dripping water around him: slow and unbothered.
Suddenly, just beyond the cell bars, a figure came into view.
Rickert squinted. The clothes were familiar. Too familiar. Vinheim Dragon School uniform, modified for practical use. And that ring was the Bellowing Dragon Crest Ring, there was no mistaking it. But what unsettled him wasn't the outfit, or even the unmistakable magical presence radiating off the man. No, it was the snakes. Crimson serpents writhed and twisted across the man's head, coiled down his shoulders, covering most of his face. They hissed softly, almost as if sensing Rickert's confusion.
Rickert's hand crept toward a weapon. Is this some kind of unknown monster...?
The snakes opened their mouths.
Rickert acted on instinct. He grabbed his gun, flicked the safety, and fired. The shot rang through the cavern, echoing off stone and water. The bullet pierced the figure that turned into smoke.
"I did't think you'd really shoot me, dattebayo."
Rickert's brow twitched. He scowled. "I know that abnoxious voice..."
Naruto stepped into view, "Hey! My voice is not abnoxious. It's like an angel's!"
"You're delusional. That's why you got shot."
"In my defense, it was a prank. You weren't supposed to actually shoot me."
"You showed up looking like a cursed horror from the Abyss. What did you expect?"
Naruto clicked his tongue. "Okay, fine, maybe that one was on me. Let's just say this prank failed."
"Spectacularly," Rickert muttered. "Now what in velka's name happened to you?"
"You might want to sit down for this."
"It can't be that bad."
"I grafted an Everlasting Dragon scale onto my soul," Naruto said quickly, and then smiled like he hadn't just said something insane.
Rickert slowly raised his hand and slapped himself in the face. "Not a dream," he mumbled. Then louder, panic rising, "Oh, gods, this is real."
"Hey, hey, calm down, it's not that big a deal."
Rickert looked ready to throw something. "Not that big a deal? Do you hear yourself when you talk?"
Naruto flinched, then picked up Oscar and held him out like an offering. "You need a hug."
Rickert blinked at the lizard. Oscar chirped and wiggled his limbs.
"Yes. Yes, I do," Rickert said, taking Oscar into his arms like a lifeline. He cradled him for a moment, visibly calming.
"You've gotten stronger," Rickert said, feeling the magic pulse through Oscar's crystalline body. "It's remarkable."
"Yeah, he's been training. He's got a few tricks now like being able to transform into his adult crystal lizard state," Naruto said proudly.
"Alright. I know I'm going to regret this... but just tell me what happened."
"Okay, so the day I was born—"
"Not that far back, you idiot."
"Right, right..."
Naruto leaned against the bars and began recounting the stuff that happened since the last time he had seen Rickert. The blacksmith listened, resigned, shaking his head every few minutes, already regretting letting the idiot speak but unable to stop listening all the same. By the end of the hour, Rickert looked paler than the ghosts that haunted the flooded ruins of New Londo. He sat there, wide-eyed, his face blank with disbelief as he stared at the boy who was somehow more chaotic every time they met.
"You are something else, brat," Rickert muttered, rubbing his temples as though the headache Naruto had given him was a physical object he could knead away. "How in all of Lordran did you manage to become an incomprehensible whirlwind of madness and chaos?"
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I brought you a gift!" Naruto pulled out a shimmering ember. "I got this enchanted ember from the princess of Oolacile."
Rickert's eyes widened as he reached forward and gingerly took it into his hands. "Hey, hang on... Is that... a sorcery ember? I've never seen one like that, not even back in Vinheim. What a brilliant flame! This... this is exceptional."
"Thought you might like it. Sorry for not visiting sooner, by the way. I know I said I'd stop by from time to time."
Rickert was too mesmerized by the ember to care. "No worries. This beauty right here has done more for my nerves than any visit would have."
"Glad you like it. Think you can use it to make me some enchanted weapons?"
Rickert nodded. "Of course. But it's a process. First, we reinforce a weapon to plus five. Then we'll convert it into a magic weapon, which needs green titanite shards. Only after that can we ascend it into an enchanted weapon."
Naruto yelled, "God, I hate this green titanite shards. I bring these cool, one-of-a-kind embers to both you and Andre... somehow that stupid ore still blocks me from unlocking ascended weapons."
"Glad to see that after all your transformations and trials, you're still the same loudmouth idiot."
Naruto stuck out his tongue like a petulant child, and the blacksmith rolled his eyes. "So, what are you planning next?"
"Not sure. A few paths are open. I could go into the Catacombs and catch up with Reah. Or maybe hit the Depths and meet up with Solaire. There's also Blighttown through the valley of drakes."
Oscar gave an enthusiastic chirp.
Naruto nodded. "Oscar votes for the Depths. That works. I did ring the first Bell of Awakening with Solaire, might as well ring the second one with him too."
"The Depths are dangerous, but there's a known path from there to Blighttown," Rickert said. "If you're going down there, stay sharp."
Naruto gave him a confident smile. "Always."
As he turned to go, Rickert called out, "Naruto. Wait."
"Yeah?"
The blacksmith leaned forward slightly, voice more serious now. "Please... keep yourself safe. And for the love of the gods, next time you show up, do not bring another cursed surprise with you like an eye in your left palm."
Naruto chuckled. "Too late. I already got one in my right palm. If I get one on the left too, I'll just creep up behind you and pretend I'm a blind monster who sees through his hands."
Rickert let out an exasperated groan as Naruto ran off laughing with Oscar.
"Before we go to the Depths, let's take a detour."
Oscar gave a confused chirp.
The detour ended up being a walk back through the Undead Church and down to Andre's workshop.
"Yo, Princess."
"Ah, Sir Naruto. Master Andre is asleep at the current moment, I'm afraid."
"That's fine. I'm here for you anyway."
Dusk tilted her head slightly. "What can I do for you, Sir Naruto?"
Naruto dropped into a comfortable sit across from her. "Okay so I've been thinking. Griggs explained how soul sorcery works mechanically, using your will to impose on the soul of the catalyst and firing the arrow from that. But I want to understand how Oolacile sorcery is different."
Dusk's expression shifted into something careful. "You still wish to learn Oolacile sorcery?"
"Why wouldn't I keep learning Oolacile sorcery?" Naruto scratched his head.
"Because you must now prioritise your Uzumaki legacy."
A beat of silence.
Naruto and Oscar looked at each then burst out laughing at the same time. Dusk's cheeks went pink immediately.
Naruto composed himself first and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Princess. I am a knight who uses magic, miracles, and pyromancy. I am a shinobi from another world entirely. My life is a chaotic mess that sits well outside the boundaries of anything normal." He met her eyes. "And didn't I promise you that I would carry the legacy of Oolacile forward?"
Dusk felt something skip quietly in her chest.
"Also." He added, the corner of his mouth pulling up. "The legacy of Oolacile is literally what helped me reclaim my own. Without it I wouldn't be a redhead, dattebayo."
Dusk giggled at the joke.
"I'd never be able to look at myself in the mirror if I abandoned what you entrusted to me." He said it plainly with no performance behind it.
A faint sound escaped Dusk somewhere between a gasp and a small nervous laugh. "I see. Forgive me. I misunderstood you."
"No problem." Naruto said easily. "Now. Oolacile magic. How does it work differently?"
Dusk straightened. "Unlike soul sorcery, which relies on the straightforward dominance of one will over the soul of a catalyst, Oolacile sorcery reaches outward. It draws upon the souls present in the surrounding air rather than solely the soul housed within the catalyst itself."
"There are souls in the air?"
"Yes. Though you would not see them." Dusk paused, choosing her framing carefully. "The world is full of creatures too small for any eye to perceive. Tiny living things that exist in the air, in the soil, in water, in everything around us. The scholars of Oolacile called them the invisible multitude. They are born, they live their entire existence, and they die, all within the span of hours. A single one produces very little when it passes. But they die in numbers beyond counting, constantly, without pause." She looked at the fire for a moment. "The souls released by their passing accumulate. They become a constant presence in the air itself."
"Oh, you mean microbes." Naruto said.
Dusk blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Tiny living things too small to see. We call them microbes where I'm from. Scientists figured them out a while back." He waved a hand. "Keep going, I'm following."
"Plants, insects and animals produce considerably more soul energy when they pass than the invisible multitude, though they live longer and die less frequently. So in places where much lives, much also dies, and the concentration of souls in the air is rich. Forests, swamps, places teeming with life." She paused. "This is why the sorcerers and witches preferred such places. "
Naruto turned it over in his head, connecting the pieces. "So Oolacile magic uses the catalyst to reach into that ambient energy and shape it, rather than just dominating the soul of the catalyst itself. That's why you called it an approximation." He looked at her. "The catalyst is the hand that reaches. Not the source."
Dusk clapped once, a small bright motion. "Precisely, Sir Naruto."
Naruto sat a little straighter, ego thoroughly stroked.
"So, Princess, in that case... could I get the last two spells you had?"
"Ah." Dusk reached into the folds of her garment and produced two scrolls, holding them out with both hands. "I had wondered when you would ask."
[ You have obtained spell scrolls ]
[ Spell: Hidden Weapon ]
[ Description: Ancient sorcery of the lost land of Oolacile. Turns the weapon invisible. Not a simple augmentation, making it dependent on the skill of its caster. An example of the capacity of Oolacile sorceries to control light. ]
His mind went to the practical application first. A shinobi fight was a game of reading your opponent, watching the hands, the weapons and their chakra's subtle tells. Take away the weapon and you took away half that information. An enemy expecting a taijutsu exchange would never see the invisible blade coming.
Then a better thought arrived.
"Oscar. What if I applied this to the Rasengan?"
Oscar went completely still. The picture assembled itself on its own. Naruto stepping forward with a palm strike, and then the invisible rotating sphere of chakra making contact with someone who had absolutely no framework for what was about to happen to them.
Oscar shuddered.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
[ Spell: Chameleon ]
[ Description: Ancient sorcery of the lost land of Oolacile. Transform into something inconspicuous. A separate stealth spell from Hidden Body. A skilled stealth sorcerer must be aware of his or her surrounding and of which objects are prime candidates for imitation. ]
Naruto's eyes lit up like a festival. "Okay I have a few questions about this one."
Dusk tilted her head, genuinely puzzled by the intensity of his reaction to this particular spell over all the others. "I am happy to help, Sir Naruto."
"How big can I make the transformation? Like is it limited to just my body or can I go bigger?"
"Senior sorcerers of Oolacile could make themselves appear as trees larger than this church."
"Okay great, I have no more questions." Naruto said, immediately satisfied causing Dusk and Oscar to almost fell over.
The lizard fixed Naruto with a long suspicious look, a single slow chirp rising in tone at the end like a question.
"I'm going to use it to prank Sasuke and Sakura." Naruto said, rubbing his hands together with the focused joy of a man with a plan.
Oscar looked forward to this enormously.
"I found it!" Dusk said, having been searching in her bottomless box while they were distracted, and she was holding up a flag with both hands, her expression carrying a brightness that sat outside her usual composure entirely.
The fabric was ivory white made from dusk's old clothes. In the corner, stitched with care, was the symbol of a white birch tree.
"What is that?"
"A knight's banner, Sir Naruto." Dusk said, and the pure glee in her voice was something new entirely.
"I don't know what that is."
Dusk held up two fingers. "In the age of ancients, when the Lords of Old first rose against the Everlasting Dragons, knights were weapons forged to war. To be a knight was to stand between the old order and the new, to carry your lord's authority into places where that authority had no other voice." She paused. "As the age of fire settled and kingdoms formed, knighthood evolved. Two broad orders emerged. Knights bound to a noble house or a lord, who carry their liege's name and fight beneath their banner. And knights errant, who wander the world unbound, using their strength in service of whoever has need of it."
Naruto nodded slowly.
"Knights errant are often looked down upon." Dusk continued, her tone shifting slightly. "Without a house to represent they are seen as swords without purpose, strength without direction. Sir Siegmeyer and I have spoken of this at length." A small smile. "But he told me something important. Even a wandering knight can stand beneath the authority of a house, can carry a name into the world with legitimacy and honour, if they are given a knight's banner by one with the right to grant it."
Naruto looked at the ivory flag in her hands. The white birch tree in its corner. "That symbol is your house."
"Yes." Dusk said, and something in her steadied. "The White Birch is the crest of the royal house of Oolacile." She looked at him directly. "My house and my kingdom hold no authority in this age." She held the banner forward in both hands. "Even so. Will you carry this banner into the world as the last knight of Oolacile?"
Naruto knelt in front of her on one knee with his zweihander.
"I do."
Dusk held the banner out.
Naruto, who knew absolutely nothing about formal knight etiquette, accepted it the only way that felt natural to him. He reached up and took it with both hands, the fabric settling between his palms.
Dusk froze.
What Naruto did not know, and what Dusk now stood processing with a face that had gone from composed to the colour of a ripe tomato in approximately one second, was this: when a princess entrusts her honour to a knight, whether through a handkerchief, a token, or a spoken promise, the knight is meant to present their blade as response. A wordless declaration that their blade will always move in service of her honour.
But when a knight accepts the honour directly through the princess's own hands, taking the banner from her grasp rather than receiving it placed at their side, the meaning changes entirely.
It is not merely an acceptance of her honour.
It is an acceptance of her love.
From somewhere down the staircase came a noise that started as a poorly suppressed snort and collapsed entirely into full unrestrained laughter. Andre was laughing hard enough that the sound filled the entire workshop and bounced off every stone wall.
Dusk stood with both hands still slightly extended, banner now gone, face a colour of red that had no name in any known language.
Naruto looked at Oscar. "Did I do something wrong?"
Oscar chirped, just happy to be there.
Andre came up the stairs, wiped the tears from his eyes, and explained exactly what accepting a banner through a princess's hands meant.
The resulting silence was significant.
Naruto's face went through several stages before landing somewhere in the territory of wanting to be absorbed into the floor. He found a very interesting spot on the wall to look at and kept his eyes there.
"You know, I'm actually fine with accepting the love of a friend."
Dusk gave him a look.
It was the kind of look that said several things simultaneously without committing to any of them out loud, and it threw Naruto completely off balance in a way that the lordran had never managed.
"Right." Andre said, redirecting a conversation before it got worse. "Are you adding anything to the banner?"
Naruto grabbed the lifeline gratefully. He reached into his coat and produced his Konoha headband, holding it up against the ivory fabric. "I was thinking this, the Uzumaki spiral." He paused. "And the Warrior of Sunlight crest."
"I will do it." Dusk said quietly.
Naruto looked at her and nodded. "Thank you. I'll be training in the Darkroot Basin in the meantime."
"Good luck."
He headed for the door with Oscar at his heel, the crystal lizard's scales catching the forge light as they went. Behind them Andre watched them leave, shaking his head slowly.
"Kids, am I right."
Oscar stopped, turned around, and nodded once in complete agreement before following Naruto out.
The lake rippled as a crystal golem crashed into the water, sent there by a very enthusiastic Oscar.
The ravenous crystal lizard was already rolling toward the second one, building momentum, when the golem leaped into the air for a corkscrew punch. White mist bloomed around it mid air as crystal jutted out from its body in jagged formations. Oscar fired a beam of magic from his roll without breaking stride. The golem disintegrated before it landed.
Meanwhile Naruto sat on a tree branch above it all, scroll open across his knees, reading.
The Blade of Wind was mechanically interesting from the start. No hand signs, which immediately set it apart from most ninjutsu. It was a jutsu built entirely from elemental manipulation, shape and nature transformation working together without any of the usual scaffolding of handsigns. The scroll referenced the cutting waterfall exercise repeatedly, the one where you learned to emit wind chakra outward in a controlled edge to cut a waterfall. This jutsu took that exercise and refined it into something you could weaponize.
There were notes on shape manipulation throughout. Naruto skimmed the technical sections, got the core of it, and raised two fingers.
He pushed chakra outward from his fingertips, shaped it into a thin compressed edge, then converted it into wind chakra and released. The invisible slash crossed the distance and took the head clean off a crystal golem that had been lumbering toward Oscar.
Naruto dropped from the branch and looked at his fingertips.
"Okay." He said. "I need to refine the control and the speed. The blade forms but it's sloppy."
Oscar reverted to his regular round crystal lizard shape, picked up the blue titanite chunk the golem dropped, and ate it like a snack without ceremony.
For the next hour Naruto tested the jutsu methodically. Range, cutting power, the speed at which he could produce it, the consistency of the shape across multiple casts, where the ceiling was and where the floor kept dropping out. He noted everything mentally and kept going until he had a clear picture of what he was working with.
Then he sat on a rock by the lake and stared at the water.
Oscar chirped.
"It's the range." Naruto said. "The scroll says the Blade of Wind needs a medium to carry it forward. The Sickle Weasel uses fans to send it out. The Blade of Wind uses the movement of air, a swing of the arm. But that telegraphs everything. An enemy reads the movement and the element of surprise is gone." He turned his fingers over. "And without a proper medium it stays short range. That's a problem."
Oscar thought about this with visible effort, his round body very still, scales catching the afternoon light. He chirped a suggestion.
"I am not asking Andre to make me a fan for the Blade of Wind."
Oscar chirped another suggestion.
"Using fuinjutsu to send a blast of air could work but it feels complicated. I'd have to set the seal up in advance and that has its own telegraphing problem." Naruto trailed off, tapping his fingers on his knee.
Oscar went into deep thought beside him. It was genuinely adorable, the little crystal lizard hunched in concentration like a very round lizard scholar. Naruto started whistling absently just to relax his head.
He stopped.
"That's it, dattebayo."
Oscar turned to look at him.
"Whistling."
Oscar stared at him.
"No, I'm serious. Listen. What if I used sound as the medium? What if I carried the Blade of Wind on a whistle?"
Oscar made a noise that communicated this was a bad idea with considerable feeling.
"I know what you're thinking." Naruto held up a hand. "Asuma sensei told me wind jutsu are always performed outside the body because wind chakra can cut organic tissue apart from the inside. I know that."
Oscar tilted his head. Then why.
"Because I'm probably the only ninja alive who can actually try it. Any damage I take training this, any cuts to the vocal cords, any internal injuries from getting it wrong, I can heal with miracles and estus. And if I die I respawn. And I have shadow clones."
Oscar looked uncertain.
"Oscar." Naruto said, with the gravity of a man presenting a vision. "Imagine the look on an enemy's face when I'm walking toward them whistling and they're thinking about which jutsu to open with, and then their hand falls off from a single note."
Oscar was quiet for a moment.
"We'll call it 'Uzumaki Naruto's Self Developed Vocal Resonance Wind Blade Transmission Technique of the New Era'."
The crystal lizard bite Naruto's leg.
"Okay fine, we'll workshop the name. But let's at least test whether it's possible first."
Naruto stood up and made the cross seal.
A thousand clones exploded into existence around the basin, filling every flat surface, branch, and rock available until the Darkroot Basin looked considerably more populated than it had any right to be.
"Alright." Naruto looked across the assembled mass of himself. "Here's how we're splitting this up."
The clones settled.
"First hundred. You're on pure shape manipulation. Blade of Wind only, no sound involved, just get the shape tighter and faster until you can produce it in under a tenth of second. Consistency is the goal, I want every slash identical."
A hundred clones peeled off toward the far end of the basin.
"Second hundred. Wind chakra and the vocal cords. Small scale only. You are not whistling a full jutsu, you are figuring out whether wind chakra can even exist in the throat without immediately destroying it. Start with the smallest possible amount. Do not be a hero."
Those clones looked at each other with expressions of mild concern and moved toward a quieter corner.
"Third hundred. Range testing on the standard version. I want to know exactly how far this slash carries depending on the force behind it and the angle of release. Map it out."
"Fourth hundred. Cutting power at different distances and use the waterfall.
They turned to the beautiful waterfall of darkroot basin.
"Fifth hundred. You're studying the Sickle Weasel reference scroll. I want a complete breakdown of how the fan medium works mechanically so we can understand what we're actually trying to replicate with sound."
The remaining clones distributed themselves across various tasks, the basin filling with the sound of wind chakra, the occasional crack of a failed attempt, the splash of someone falling into the lake, and underneath all of it, very carefully, very quietly, the first experimental notes of someone trying to teach a whistle to cut.
Naruto sat back down on his rock and started with the second group's problem himself, pressing the smallest thread of wind chakra he could manage against the inside of his throat.
It lasted about four seconds before it felt like he had swallowed a razor.
"Okay, so we're going to be here a while."
Jiraiya was bored out of his mind.
It had been a week since Naruto left for wherever Lordran was and every day that passed without word made the waiting feel more like a slow death. He had nothing to do.
He could have done some research. Technically nothing was stopping him. But after everything that happened with Tsunami, something in him had just quietly stopped, and he wasn't entirely sure if it was the promise he made to Naruto, Tsunami, or something else entirely that he hadn't figured out how to name yet.
He stared at the closed notebook sitting beside him.
Then again, he still had his imagination. And there was nothing in either promise that said he couldn't continue write smut. He had dozens of old drafts he could consult, characters he had already built, and scenarios he had already mapped out. Technically that wasn't research. Technically that was just creativity.
He picked up the pen.
Hehehe.
An hour later, Jiraya put the pen down when Sasuke and Sakura flickered into the training ground.
"Sasuke." The toad Sage called out. "Why did you bring a girl over? Don't tell me you've stopped thinking about training and now want me to teach you how to impress the ladies."
"I don't need your help with that." Sasuke said flatly, which was probably true and they both knew it.
"So why are you here, kid?"
"I'm not entirely sure, Master Jiraiya."
"I was hoping you could teach her something." Sasuke said.
The training ground went quiet for exactly one second.
Jiraiya's face split into the smuggest expression in his considerable arsenal. His cheeks pulled up, his eyebrows climbed, and he leveled both index fingers directly at Sasuke like a man presenting evidence in court. Sasuke looked back at him with the complete unbothered stillness.
The pointing continued.
"Alright." Jiraya said, mostly to himself. Then louder, to Sakura: "I'll give you some training. Since, you're going to be fighting alongside these two in the chunin exams so it makes sense."
"Thank you, Jiraiya sensei."
"Don't thank me yet." The toad sage hopped off the post and jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Sasuke. "You, go work on your Lightning Style: Magnetic Fang. I want you throwing five in sequence by sundown."
Sasuke was already walking toward the far end of the training ground.
"Okay. Tell me about your fighting style. Everything. Don't leave anything out because you think it sounds boring."
Sakura straightened. "I primarily use barrier techniques supported by fuinjutsu formulas on my kunai. I can also fight with an axe at close range."
"Elements?"
"Earth and water. But I don't have any elemental jutsu yet."
"And what would you say your role in Team Seven is?"
Sakura paused.
"I'm the cog that keeps the team running." She said after a while. "The support. I create barriers and openings that allow Sasuke and Naruto to press forward. I keep them in the fight."
Jiraiya was quiet for a moment, looking at her with an expression that had gone thoughtful and serious. He was thinking about what she had said and measuring it against what he had observed and what he knew about the two monsters she had apparently decided to build her role around.
Supporting Naruto and Sasuke was not an easy job.
"Barrier: Canopy Method Formation."
"Pardon?"
"That's what I'm going to teach you." Jiraya began pacing slowly. "It's a barrier ninjutsu that generates a spherical detection field with you at the center. At your command it expands outward and grasps everything in the surrounding area. Anyone or anything moving inside the barrier space registers to your senses directly."
He watched her face as the implications settled in.
"In the chunin exams." She said quietly, almost to herself. "I could track enemy positions without visual contact. I could give Sasuke and Naruto advance warning before an engagement even starts."
"There it is." Jiraiya said.
Sakura looked up. "Thank you, Jiraiya sensei. Genuinely."
"Oh, don't mention it." Jiraiya waved a hand. "I originally learned that jutsu so I wouldn't get caught sneaking into women's baths."
"I didn't need to know that part."
"And maybe one day you'll use it to spy on Sasuke." Jiraiya added cheerfully.
"I-I w-would never."
The words came out in a stutter because her face had gone red enough to be visible from the other end of the training ground.
"I'm teasing you, kid." Jiraya was already pulling out a blank scroll, writing down the barrier jutsu's foundation formula in quick strokes. "Come find me if you need help."
Sakura took the scroll, clutched it to her chest, and turned away muttering something under her breath that Jiraiya caught perfectly well and chose to find funny rather than offensive. He watched her move to a clear stretch of ground and begin reading, her brow furrowing in concentration. She was different from Konan, who had absorbed everything with a still and almost eerie calm. Sakura was expressive, reactive, all of it visible on her face in real time. It was different; yet, refreshing.
"Didn't peg you for the teaching type." Kakashi said, stopping beside him with Jiraya's draft manuscript open in one hand and a pen in the other to add feedback to the draft.
"Teaching the three of them." Jiraiya said, still watching the field. "It reminds me of the Ame trio. Nagato, Konan, Yahiko." He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe I just like teaching the next generation. That's always been the part that stuck."
Kakashi crossed something out on the manuscript with what appeared to be genuine irritation. "I'm glad you've enjoyed teaching my kids, Jiraiya sama." There was a pause. "Don't come for my position."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Jiraiya said. Then, quieter: "When I leave, watch them especially Naruto."
Kakashi lowered the manuscript slightly. "Did something happen?"
"Danzo has made contact with Naruto."
The training ground sounds continued. Shuriken hitting wood, Sakura working through the barrier formula, birds somewhere in the trees. All of it seemed to go quiet for Kakashi.
"What do you need me to do, Jiraiya sama?"