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Undying Loyalty
“To allow another to shoulder the blame for the sin of destruction would be shame upon a knight’s name. If I were to engage in such behaviour, I could never again call myself chivalrous or a knight.”
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“To allow another to shoulder the blame for the sin of destruction would be shame upon a knight’s name. If I were to engage in such behaviour, I could never again call myself chivalrous or a knight.”
Name Nickname Gender Age Clan Alignment | Richard Lionheart , Oc e No Male 19 (D.o.B 792) None Lawful Good |
Appearance | Personality |
Richard appears to be in his late teens to early twenties. He has golden-blonde hair with several red streaks of hair. He hails from one of the great ninja Clans, though he occasionally wears a set of white knight armor and a crimson mantle. His eyes are described as shining, like a beast. His casual attire, which he prefers to wear, consists of a black jacket, with a golden cross emblazoned on its back, and black trousers. He wears a plain white button-up shirt under the jacket, with the top button usually being undone. On his left hip, he carries an ornamental sword which sits within a luxurious sheath, appearing identical to the sword he desperately wishes to see with his own eyes at least once in his lifetime; Excalibur. Recently, his hair has more locks and streaks of red, now appearing to be in equal balance with the golden-blonde. | Richard often displays an overly cheerful nature, even when in situations of a more serious nature, such as interrogation, remaining composed. In his youth, he’d been given the nickname ‘Oc e No (Yes and No)’ due to his reputation for terseness. For wrongdoings he has committed, he issues a full apology and attempts to make things right, be it by repairing a damaged building, or helping even with menial tasks. When serious, he displays a more charismatic and ruthless side. He is compassionate, and enjoys fulfilling the wishes of other people. At times, his thinking and actions are difficult to understand, as he simply acts on thoughts which appear in his mind without much warning. After spending some time travelling and battling throughout the land, he has become somewhat more solemn, though he is still rather extroverted. |
| Village Information | |
| Land of Birth | Yakukotan (32) |
| Warring States Clan | None |
| Rank & Chakra Information | |
| Ninja Rank | Kage |
| Health & Chakra | 160 & 1600 |
| Elements | Ninjutsu | Specialties | |||
| Fire Release | Mastered | Ninjutsu | Mastered | Fire Release | |
| Water Release | Mastered | Genjutsu | Mastered | Kenjutsu | |
| Lightning Release | Mastered | Kenjutsu | Mastered | Fūinjutsu | |
| Earth Release | Mastered | Taijutsu | Mastered | ||
| Wind Release | Mastered | Fūinjutsu | Mastered | ||
| Dark Release | Mastered |
Background Information
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Chapter I
Born sometime in the year 792, Richard was raised within a sheltered environment by his parents, alongside his brothers and sisters. He had 4 brothers; John, Henry, Geoffrey, and William who had died before Richard was born. His father hailed from the Water Archipelago, Henry, and his mother, Eleanor, from the Land of Fire, and would one day come to inherit both their powers. Being raised in the clan environment, as his mother was, he lived with both his parents and was to become the eventual head of the Nara, and lead them to prosperity through the challenging times of the Warring States. Having been pushed northwards in the Land of Fire some centuries ago, the Nara were looking to re-establish dominance over the territory alongside the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans, with whom they were allied. From a young age, Richard was raised to be a wise and strong individual, one who was capable of leading a people. The stories he’d been told when he was younger of legendary knights who’d valiantly fought for the happiness and prosperity of their people earned his great admiration and respect. Of them, King Arthur was his true idol. Seeking to become a figure just like Arthur, he would lead his people to a prosperous and happy existence, in a time of chaos and unrest.
When he was old enough to begin basic weapons training, the boy immediately went for a sword. Though he could take others, he only took the sword for his training. It bore no resemblance whatsoever to the famed sword he wished to grasp, Excalibur. Someday, he would have the weapon. Or, he would make its equal. Either would be satisfaction enough for Richard. In all his sparring exercises, he swung with brutish and awkward form, unlike how one would normally use a katana. This was more than simple inexperience, he swung the sword as if it were actually a broadsword used by a knight. The ideal of a knight was deeply rooted within him, and he would hold onto the dream that one day he could become one, just like Arthur, Gawain, Lancelot, and others before him.
Richard’s training in Ninjutsu began with the Five Basic Elements, displaying obvious preference for Fire and Lightning Release. He favoured them for their radiance and energy, seeing them as representations of a King’s own strength and power. Though he was part of the Nara through his father's marriage to the head of the clan, his mother, he never learned the signature shadow manipulation techniques that the Nara were renowned for. Soon after, Richard learnt of his father’s own heritage, which he would also come to master; Dark Release. In his spare time, Richard would use the clan’s forge to create his own weapon. Eventually, he’d forged a piece similar to that of his idol’s treasured weapon, Excalibur. To go with it, he’d forged a sheath, also bearing resemblance to the item it was based upon, Avalon. However, these works bore a crimson colour, in contrast to the blue of the originals.
Richard would often spend his nights atop the canopy of his woodland home. He would gaze to the stars, admiring the moon that hung in the sky, and the stars that shone around it. He would one day sit amongst the great knights of old in the beyond, but before that, he would grant his clansmen the peaceful and prosperous life they’d sought for centuries.
By age 11, Richard was being sent on missions by the clan, particularly reconnaissance and intel-gathering. Usually accompanied by other clansmen, he rarely spent time with his parents outside of when he wasn’t carrying out clan tasks or wandering the woods alone occasionally. On one particular mission, he was sent to the Lightning Mountaints to take the newly freed territory when the Hanguri government had dissolved. In the ensuing anarchy, Richard and a small group of ninja, primarily composed of the Nara’s finest warriors, would plant themselves in the village, hoping to quell the disorder and take the territory for their own. The task proved impossible in the end, despite the attempts of Richard and the others to establish peaceful discussion with the former bureaucrats and officials of the territory. Even with the combined might of the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance, attempts to take the land by force were unsuccessful. Not only were the local peoples mostly warriors, but clans and organisations of other territories sought to expand their own borders by assimilating the anarchic state. Deciding to remain within the closed territory of the Land of Fire, Richard and the Nara would bide their time.
Richard knew that the strife and conflict was taking its toll on his father, Henry. In Henry’s final years, Richard spent an increasing amount of time with him, often spending mornings and evenings with him rather than tending to guard duty, or strategising with the other Nara leaders. Grown into a cunning and enthusiastic warrior, Henry was proud of his wayward son. Richard, at the age of 14, would sit by his father’s side in the evenings as he had become bedridden. His mother, Eleanor, was to become the acting head of the Nara clan until the time would come when Richard was old enough to assume leadership. Though the clan was dear to him, Richard had his sights on the world beyond the Nara. Unlike the rest of his clan, he didn't wish to settle for what little they could have in this conflict-ridden world. Their desires and his were simply not aligned. He wished for a better time for all, whilst the Nara sought better only for themselves. He harbored no hatred for the clan, nor even discontent. It was a quiet resignation, and he accepted their differences happily.
On the last night of Henry's life, he told his son Richard to pursue his desires. As a father, he didn't want to see his son grow up and become a soulless tool to further the agenda of others. He was aware of Richard's differing ideals, his desires that would lead him down the same road as his father. Even if it meant betraying an oath of duty to the clan, Henry did not want the hardship he faced to plague his son as well. Though it was indeed Richard's desire to break off from the clan, and realise his own desires and dreams, he vowed to return one day, should they need him. Their goals and ideals did not align, but they were still his family. It was a connection he could never bring himself to completely break. On that night, Henry passed, as a proud leader of the Nara and a proud father. In the subsequent days, a funeral process was organised for Henry, which Richard spent preparing to set forth into the world. Visiting his mother, Eleanor, he bid her farewell, and promised her that the clan would always have his allegiance. Setting out in the afternoon after his father was buried, Richard had no planned destination. He would wander the world, serving the ideal of a knight, fulfilling the dream his father encouraged him to pursue.
When he was old enough to begin basic weapons training, the boy immediately went for a sword. Though he could take others, he only took the sword for his training. It bore no resemblance whatsoever to the famed sword he wished to grasp, Excalibur. Someday, he would have the weapon. Or, he would make its equal. Either would be satisfaction enough for Richard. In all his sparring exercises, he swung with brutish and awkward form, unlike how one would normally use a katana. This was more than simple inexperience, he swung the sword as if it were actually a broadsword used by a knight. The ideal of a knight was deeply rooted within him, and he would hold onto the dream that one day he could become one, just like Arthur, Gawain, Lancelot, and others before him.
Richard’s training in Ninjutsu began with the Five Basic Elements, displaying obvious preference for Fire and Lightning Release. He favoured them for their radiance and energy, seeing them as representations of a King’s own strength and power. Though he was part of the Nara through his father's marriage to the head of the clan, his mother, he never learned the signature shadow manipulation techniques that the Nara were renowned for. Soon after, Richard learnt of his father’s own heritage, which he would also come to master; Dark Release. In his spare time, Richard would use the clan’s forge to create his own weapon. Eventually, he’d forged a piece similar to that of his idol’s treasured weapon, Excalibur. To go with it, he’d forged a sheath, also bearing resemblance to the item it was based upon, Avalon. However, these works bore a crimson colour, in contrast to the blue of the originals.
Richard would often spend his nights atop the canopy of his woodland home. He would gaze to the stars, admiring the moon that hung in the sky, and the stars that shone around it. He would one day sit amongst the great knights of old in the beyond, but before that, he would grant his clansmen the peaceful and prosperous life they’d sought for centuries.
By age 11, Richard was being sent on missions by the clan, particularly reconnaissance and intel-gathering. Usually accompanied by other clansmen, he rarely spent time with his parents outside of when he wasn’t carrying out clan tasks or wandering the woods alone occasionally. On one particular mission, he was sent to the Lightning Mountaints to take the newly freed territory when the Hanguri government had dissolved. In the ensuing anarchy, Richard and a small group of ninja, primarily composed of the Nara’s finest warriors, would plant themselves in the village, hoping to quell the disorder and take the territory for their own. The task proved impossible in the end, despite the attempts of Richard and the others to establish peaceful discussion with the former bureaucrats and officials of the territory. Even with the combined might of the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance, attempts to take the land by force were unsuccessful. Not only were the local peoples mostly warriors, but clans and organisations of other territories sought to expand their own borders by assimilating the anarchic state. Deciding to remain within the closed territory of the Land of Fire, Richard and the Nara would bide their time.
Richard knew that the strife and conflict was taking its toll on his father, Henry. In Henry’s final years, Richard spent an increasing amount of time with him, often spending mornings and evenings with him rather than tending to guard duty, or strategising with the other Nara leaders. Grown into a cunning and enthusiastic warrior, Henry was proud of his wayward son. Richard, at the age of 14, would sit by his father’s side in the evenings as he had become bedridden. His mother, Eleanor, was to become the acting head of the Nara clan until the time would come when Richard was old enough to assume leadership. Though the clan was dear to him, Richard had his sights on the world beyond the Nara. Unlike the rest of his clan, he didn't wish to settle for what little they could have in this conflict-ridden world. Their desires and his were simply not aligned. He wished for a better time for all, whilst the Nara sought better only for themselves. He harbored no hatred for the clan, nor even discontent. It was a quiet resignation, and he accepted their differences happily.
On the last night of Henry's life, he told his son Richard to pursue his desires. As a father, he didn't want to see his son grow up and become a soulless tool to further the agenda of others. He was aware of Richard's differing ideals, his desires that would lead him down the same road as his father. Even if it meant betraying an oath of duty to the clan, Henry did not want the hardship he faced to plague his son as well. Though it was indeed Richard's desire to break off from the clan, and realise his own desires and dreams, he vowed to return one day, should they need him. Their goals and ideals did not align, but they were still his family. It was a connection he could never bring himself to completely break. On that night, Henry passed, as a proud leader of the Nara and a proud father. In the subsequent days, a funeral process was organised for Henry, which Richard spent preparing to set forth into the world. Visiting his mother, Eleanor, he bid her farewell, and promised her that the clan would always have his allegiance. Setting out in the afternoon after his father was buried, Richard had no planned destination. He would wander the world, serving the ideal of a knight, fulfilling the dream his father encouraged him to pursue.
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Chapter II
Some time after leaving, Richard's travels brought him to the Chilli Pepper Pass in the Badlands of Earth. Richard observed a translucent orange barrier before him, as he leaves the dense forest he'd passed through to arrive here. Though his travels were mostly aimless, this was one of the places he was hoping to visit first. He didn't know the purpose of the barrier, nor the minuscule kanji characters that flowed and surged throughout it, but it didn't appear to conceal anything. Richard took a step into the barrier, the translucent layer of chakra emitting a humming noise as he passed through. As his body entered the barrier, Richard's armor was immediately assaulted by the kanji characters, the small chakra letters flowing onto him. He felt no pain, only a faint numbing sensation that washed over him. Looking down to his hands, he could see a faint aura covering them, as well as kanji characters which had emboldened themselves on his palms... exactly where his Dark seals were. The faint aura stretched over his entire body, though Richard didn't know exactly what had happened. Looking to the sky, he realised that the sky had turned orange, the clouds crimson with outlines of grey and black. But why? Looking down to the hills before him, Richard observes a horrific sight.
The sounds of war fill the air as the light of the midday sun suddenly illuminated the crimson of the bloodstained hills. Bodies line the otherwise lush grass of Chilli Pepper Pass, with more rolling over those already present, creating an even more gruesome image. Blood trickles from open wounds, running into the ground through exposed armor joints or being soaked into cloth uniforms. The observation that it was likely a war between two factions only came to Richard after he'd managed to stifle the urge to vomit. He took a step forward, to one of the many who lay prone on the ground, succumbed to their own mortality. Next to his head, lay a tattered scroll. Richard watched as a crow, picking apart bits and pieces from the dead man's stomach, turned its head towards him, its blood-caked beak pointing to him, with a single shred of liver dangling from it. The crow tilted its head at him, in curiosity of what the young man was doing. With every step, the crow slightly edged away, off the stomach of the rotten corpse. As Richard came within a meter's distance of the body, the crow turned tail, flapping its wings urgently, lifting itself from the scene and flying away, with the same strand of liver dangling from its beak. He stood over the corpse for seconds comparable to eons in sensation. The head was bludgeoned open from blunt force, creating a crevice in the flesh and bone, revealing the mangled mess of the brain. One of the eyes was intact, whilst a pool of red was created in the other socket. The globular remains one would expect in order to identify an eye were nowhere to be found. Richard bent his knees, crouching to the ground, and gazed at the object that could once be called a scroll. No longer could it be classified as such an object, it was only something which once held the purpose of being a scroll. Rolling open the remains of the scroll, he attempted to discern the written contents. As his eyes carefully inspected the writings of one of the scroll's fragments, the tear obstructed him from finishing the rest of the sentence. He moved onto the next page, continuing on exactly as he'd left off from the previous part.
Leaving the scroll splayed out on the ground, Richard sighed, straightening his legs and standing up, somewhat anxious for what he would find on the other side of the hill. He wasn't particularly keen to enter a battle as a one-man third faction, against two factions which each had fair numbers, without access to his chakra or Ninjutsu. "Now... this reminds me of the Battle of Camlann." Though Richard found little comfort in his musings, he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with lone combat against an enemy that outnumbered him. Just not by such a wide margin. The exact numbers, he didn't know, but it wouldn't do much good for him at this stage. Richard looked up to see smoke billowing from over the hillside before him, prone bodies with weapons sticking out from them lining the top of the arc earth. Taking slow steps over the corpses, he places his right hand on his sword, and draws it as he inches up the hill. By the time he reaches the top, the weapons is fully drawn, its blade reflecting the crimson color of the sky. He gazed over the battlefield, and saw the battle before him. The ones wearing cloth uniforms, the Saladin faction, appeared to be winning the conflict, the armored soldiers slightly fewer in number, though the difference was noticeable.
Feeling something suddenly grab his ankle, Richard recoiled, shaking the hand from his metal boot and stepping away to his left. The thing, the person, that grabbed him was one of the armored soldiers, his bloody hand hitting the floor. A spear had been rammed through his stomach, presumably pinning him to the ground. Richard grimaced, knowing little could be done about the mortal injury. The man groaned in excruciating pain, his other hand clutching at the shaft of the spear which continued into his body. Walking over to the man, sword drawn, Richard slashed at the man's throat, separating the head from the body. The man's arms fell limp as his head rolled down the hill in the direction of the battlefield, hitting the ankle of a Saladin faction soldier who was about to kill a prone enemy. Looking to his foot, the ninja noticed the helmeted head, then looked up the hill to see Richard. Leaving his prone enemy, he stalks up the hill towards the young man. Grasping his sword in both hands, Richard takes a moment to calm his breathing, and scan his enemy for potential weaknesses. Aside from the armor joints, there was nothing. He would have to aim for a powerful direct strike. Leaping from the top of the hill with his sword raised, Richard descends in an arc to his opponent. Knowing that Richard was aiming to smash his blade through the helmet, the soldier brought his sword up horizontally, momentarily locking blades with Richard. The latter had made an error in his eager assault, for the momentum of his jump would continue to carry him forwards, something the enemy soldier would exploit. Pushing back against Richard, his blade was thrust into the Lionheart's face. Leaning his upper body backwards to avoid being injured by his own weapon, the bladelock was broken, and Richard hit the hill, slamming his back on the bloody grass. The soldier raised an armored leg to stomp on his prone enemy, though Richard rolled himself to the left and out of the way, still clutching his weapon.
Standing quickly, Richard gripped the sword with both hands, holding it in front of his body with the tip of the blade in line with the enemy soldier's throat. Panting slightly, Richard was left winded by the attack, though he was not seriously injured. The two gazed at each other intently, both silently inviting their opponent to come closer. This time, the enemy took the first opportunity, drawing his sword around his right shoulder to swing at Richard's head, aiming to decapitate him. Ducking, Richard crouched before his enemy, the tip of his blade now trained on the man's jugular, at the seam between the helmet and the chest armor. Thrusting his sword upwards, Richard attempted to skewer the man through the neck with his weapon, though the soldier reacted quickly, stepping backwards quickly to narrowly avoid the strike. The blade glanced of the underside of his helmet, knocking his head within it and slightly disorienting him momentarily. Hoping to capitalise on that opportunity, Richard closed in with his weapon aimed to slash at the man's stomach from his left hip to right shoulder. The armor was strong, and Richard's blade ended up lodging itself in the man's hip. The soldier let out a howl of pain, dropping his weapon out of agony. Attempting to pull his weapon free, Richard tugged on the handle of his sword, only to feel metal hands cup the back of his head. He felt something hard crack into his face, and he stumbled backwards on the hill holding his sword in his right hand, crouching on one knee. The strike from the knight's knee had burst his lip, leaving a cut that dripped with blood. Keeping an eye on his enemy, he supposed it was a higher ranking soldier from the supposed Saladin faction, given the comparative difference between the appearance of his armor and that of the other soldiers scattered around the hills. Tightening his grip on his weapon, Richard advanced on the enemy, swiftly ducking a left hook which left the man's vulnerable hip exposed. Thrusting his blade through the gash in the armor, the knight screams as the blade pierces him yet again, this time penetrating further into the stomach. Withdrawing his weapon, Richard watches the man crumple to the ground, rolling down the hill to the bottom, joining the other mangled bodies.
Walking down the hill slowly, Richard could perceive the outcome of the conflict that had taken place here. The armored knights and Saladin soldiers had little numbers left between them, though the armored ones would not be the victors today. Not unless Richard stepped in. They were attacked whilst transporting resources back to their home base, something which Richard was familiar with, part of the reason why he despised the world as it was currently. He wanted to make a world where this kind of event no longer had to be commonplace. The Saladin soldiers, 10 strong with a single man wearing brutish armor leading them, advanced rapidly on the 4 remaining armored knights. Running down the rest of the hill and between the two groups of people, Richard panted whilst he held his sword in his right hand, facing the Saladin soldiers who stood meters away from him. "Get out of the way, boy."
"I'm afraid not. Though this is a lawless land, ambushing men who've done nothing to provoke you and are simply carrying resources to their refuge is something I cannot abide by."
"It is because this land is lawless that we seek to dominate and conquer it. We shall govern it, provide it with law. That is the decree of Sultan Saladin."
Before Richard could respond, the Saladin soldiers resumed their advance. The leading soldier drew his sword, raising it to slice down on Richard's head, but Richard brought his own blade up to defend against it. The clash of metal created a brief spark, with both knights caught in a bladelock with each other. Nodding his head, the knight beckoned his fellow soldiers to advance on the other knights, in a 9 vs 4 fight. Kneeling under the weight the other man was exerting, Richard decided to try and whittle down the numbers of his opposition, so that the other soldiers would help him take the leading Saladin soldier. Shifting his blade, Richard pushes his opponent's blade away and breaks the bladelock, quickly maneuvering on the ground to change his direction and run towards the other soldiers. Slashing at the backs of two with individual horizontal slashes, severing the spine and leaving them crumpled on the ground, Richard pivots on one foot as he runs, dealing another horizontal slash to decapitate 2 soldiers as they turn to face him. With the outnumbered 4 knights left to deal with the 5 Saladin knights, Richard hears loud footsteps behind him. Correctly anticipating an attack from behind, Richard continues his momentum by dropping to the ground and performing a shoulder roll. He hears a loud thump behind him as he rises from his roll to face the leader Saladin soldier, the man brandishing his golden greatsword. Panting, but smiling, Richard wipes the sweat on his forehead with a metal hand, and rushes the soldier. With his initial overhead strike blocked, Richard immediately falls into another slash which would run up the soldier's left leg and to his stomach. Retreating backwards a couple of steps, the Saladin soldier swiftly evades the attack. Having landed in a position which primed him to pounce, the Saladin soldier leaps with his weapon drawn behind his left shoulder, ready to deal a crushing blow to Richard. Drawing his arms back to his right, Richard defends from the strike by holding his sword as if to plant it into the ground, keeping his right hand on the handle and the left as a palm pushing on the blade. Though he'd prevented himself from being crushed by the great blade, Richard was being pushed along the ground by the force of the strike, the Saladin soldier continuing to apply his strength in an attempt to break the block. With the strike having completed its arc without breaching Richard's defense, the Lionheart rushes the Saladin knight's open side, ready to thrust his blade through the armor and into the man's chest. The Saladin knight anticipates this, swinging back around to catch Richard. Luckily, the latter was close enough to the knight that the swinging strike would only build enough force to result in blunt damage. Though, it was still a clean strike. Richard was carried off his feet and sent stumbling a few meters from the Saladin knight. Left on all fours, Richard is left vulnerable as the Saladin knight trudges to the winded warrior. Still clutching his weapon, Richard waits until the last moment, watching the knight's shadow raise his blade to swing down on him. Turning over, Richard raises his sword to deflect the greatsword's path, diverting it from his head, and swing it straight into the knight's head. Though the strike was to close to slice through the helmet, the blunt force was enough to twist the helmet off.
Rolling away from the now-unmasked Saladin knight, Richard quickly raises himself to his feet, holding his sword with both hands and at the ready, panting. Taking a breath, a pulse of pain radiates from his chest, and he clutches his left rib with an armored hand. Standing tall, the Saladin knight watches him with sharp eyes, holding his greatsword with his right hand. Looking over to the knights he'd come to assist from earlier, he saw two left standing, with the other Saladin knights seemingly dispatched. Moving his sight back onto the large Saladin knight, Richard speaks to him in breaths, panting with exhaustion and gasping in pain. "Its over now! Your men are dispatched and there are three of us against you!"
"Outnumbered, indeed. Outskilled? Hardly."
"Hah... maybe, but if I can knock your helmet off with a fractured rib, then surely the three of us can take your head off too if we go all at once."
"If I were to give you that opportunity, you'd do well not to disappoint."
"I'll do my be-"
Richard was cut off as the remaining two knights gave a loud battle cry, charging the Saladin knight with swords raised. With a blank expression, the Saladin knight raised his greatsword, swinging it once at the two men. A single swing was all it took. Both of his attackers were disarmed, and lay on the ground stunned. The Saladin knight simply walked past them, letting them live, and trudged towards Richard. Keeping his blade raised, Richard swung at the Saladin knight as he approached within range. Defending from the blow, the Saladin knight raised his leg to deliver a powerful frontal kick to Richard's chest. The blow knocked the breath out of Richard, sending him stumbling back a few steps, but he was quickly ready again. As the Saladin knight raised his weapon to deliver the final blow, Richard again waited until the last possible second to react, raising himself and spinning out of the way of the strike as it came down on him. Taking advantage of the weight of the enemy's weapon, Richard quickly raised his weapon and swung down on the Saladin knight's weapon arm, slashing straight through the man's wrist. A howl of pain echoes across the battlefield as the knight reacts to his hand being severed, blood spurting from the stump. Recoiling from the blow, he stumbles and falls on the ground, clutching his wrist where his hand would be. Keeping his blade pointed at the knight's throat, Richard beckons to him. "I didn't quite knock your head off, but I won't hesitate to take it off if you won't concede."
Taking deep breaths, panting in exhaustion and gasping in pain, the Saladin knight looks to the tip of Richard's blade, then to Richard himself. "What's your name, boy?"
"Richard. Richard the Lionheart."
The Saladin knight doesn't respond immediately, taking another few moments to catch his breath. "You fought well today. I, Saladin, recognise your valor and tenacity."
For a moment, Richard is silent. So the man before him was the one who'd orchestrated this battle. "I'm not looking for recognition. Will you leave this place, or do I have to take your head?"
"I will take my leave in a moment, boy. But before that, I would ask what it is you're looking for, if not recognition?"
"I want peace in the world. And if I cannot give it to the world, I will create a country that has it."
Saladin silently contemplates on the words for a few moments, as he lies prone on the ground. Richard watches him closely, anticipating a last-ditch attempt to kill him. That moment doesn't come to pass, as Saladin rises to his feet, standing toe to toe with Richard. "I will undo the barrier on this area, and leave."
With that, there is no more from Saladin. He walks away, over the hilltops and out of sight. A minute or so after, the barrier that dyed the sky orange disperses, revealing the natural blue of the midday sky. Turning to the other 2 knights remaining on this bloodsoaked battlefield, Richard walks over to them, crouching beside them. Ensuring that they are unhurt, Richard gazes around him, observing all of the dead around him. Though their armors and uniforms once differentiated them, the blood which poured from them all eliminated that visual disparity. Their differences were factional. In the end, they were all victims of war and violence, victims of their own desires and instinct. Richard despised it. He would follow the way of a knight, so that the men, women and children of his future country would see an end to this horror and disaster.
The sounds of war fill the air as the light of the midday sun suddenly illuminated the crimson of the bloodstained hills. Bodies line the otherwise lush grass of Chilli Pepper Pass, with more rolling over those already present, creating an even more gruesome image. Blood trickles from open wounds, running into the ground through exposed armor joints or being soaked into cloth uniforms. The observation that it was likely a war between two factions only came to Richard after he'd managed to stifle the urge to vomit. He took a step forward, to one of the many who lay prone on the ground, succumbed to their own mortality. Next to his head, lay a tattered scroll. Richard watched as a crow, picking apart bits and pieces from the dead man's stomach, turned its head towards him, its blood-caked beak pointing to him, with a single shred of liver dangling from it. The crow tilted its head at him, in curiosity of what the young man was doing. With every step, the crow slightly edged away, off the stomach of the rotten corpse. As Richard came within a meter's distance of the body, the crow turned tail, flapping its wings urgently, lifting itself from the scene and flying away, with the same strand of liver dangling from its beak. He stood over the corpse for seconds comparable to eons in sensation. The head was bludgeoned open from blunt force, creating a crevice in the flesh and bone, revealing the mangled mess of the brain. One of the eyes was intact, whilst a pool of red was created in the other socket. The globular remains one would expect in order to identify an eye were nowhere to be found. Richard bent his knees, crouching to the ground, and gazed at the object that could once be called a scroll. No longer could it be classified as such an object, it was only something which once held the purpose of being a scroll. Rolling open the remains of the scroll, he attempted to discern the written contents. As his eyes carefully inspected the writings of one of the scroll's fragments, the tear obstructed him from finishing the rest of the sentence. He moved onto the next page, continuing on exactly as he'd left off from the previous part.
Before the enemy arrives, a Fūinjutsu barrier will be erected around the site. It will prevent anything on the inside from being perceptible or visible from the outside. Thus, we will lie in wait for the enemy to enter the barrier unawares as they transport their shipment of resources. Their defeat should be swift, but should the conflict be a lasting one, the barrier will prevent them from sending distress signals or emergency warnings to their home base. It is necessary that they send a personal messenger to alert the rest of their soldiers, but that messenger must get through the rest of our army first. Those who pass through the barrier, including ourselves, will not be able to utilise chakra in any form. All we have are our tools and weapons, and the element of surprise. Though we cannot use chakra, neither can our enemies. Our victory is assured.
Let us claim victory for his greatness, Sultan Saladin.
Let us claim victory for his greatness, Sultan Saladin.
Leaving the scroll splayed out on the ground, Richard sighed, straightening his legs and standing up, somewhat anxious for what he would find on the other side of the hill. He wasn't particularly keen to enter a battle as a one-man third faction, against two factions which each had fair numbers, without access to his chakra or Ninjutsu. "Now... this reminds me of the Battle of Camlann." Though Richard found little comfort in his musings, he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with lone combat against an enemy that outnumbered him. Just not by such a wide margin. The exact numbers, he didn't know, but it wouldn't do much good for him at this stage. Richard looked up to see smoke billowing from over the hillside before him, prone bodies with weapons sticking out from them lining the top of the arc earth. Taking slow steps over the corpses, he places his right hand on his sword, and draws it as he inches up the hill. By the time he reaches the top, the weapons is fully drawn, its blade reflecting the crimson color of the sky. He gazed over the battlefield, and saw the battle before him. The ones wearing cloth uniforms, the Saladin faction, appeared to be winning the conflict, the armored soldiers slightly fewer in number, though the difference was noticeable.
Feeling something suddenly grab his ankle, Richard recoiled, shaking the hand from his metal boot and stepping away to his left. The thing, the person, that grabbed him was one of the armored soldiers, his bloody hand hitting the floor. A spear had been rammed through his stomach, presumably pinning him to the ground. Richard grimaced, knowing little could be done about the mortal injury. The man groaned in excruciating pain, his other hand clutching at the shaft of the spear which continued into his body. Walking over to the man, sword drawn, Richard slashed at the man's throat, separating the head from the body. The man's arms fell limp as his head rolled down the hill in the direction of the battlefield, hitting the ankle of a Saladin faction soldier who was about to kill a prone enemy. Looking to his foot, the ninja noticed the helmeted head, then looked up the hill to see Richard. Leaving his prone enemy, he stalks up the hill towards the young man. Grasping his sword in both hands, Richard takes a moment to calm his breathing, and scan his enemy for potential weaknesses. Aside from the armor joints, there was nothing. He would have to aim for a powerful direct strike. Leaping from the top of the hill with his sword raised, Richard descends in an arc to his opponent. Knowing that Richard was aiming to smash his blade through the helmet, the soldier brought his sword up horizontally, momentarily locking blades with Richard. The latter had made an error in his eager assault, for the momentum of his jump would continue to carry him forwards, something the enemy soldier would exploit. Pushing back against Richard, his blade was thrust into the Lionheart's face. Leaning his upper body backwards to avoid being injured by his own weapon, the bladelock was broken, and Richard hit the hill, slamming his back on the bloody grass. The soldier raised an armored leg to stomp on his prone enemy, though Richard rolled himself to the left and out of the way, still clutching his weapon.
Standing quickly, Richard gripped the sword with both hands, holding it in front of his body with the tip of the blade in line with the enemy soldier's throat. Panting slightly, Richard was left winded by the attack, though he was not seriously injured. The two gazed at each other intently, both silently inviting their opponent to come closer. This time, the enemy took the first opportunity, drawing his sword around his right shoulder to swing at Richard's head, aiming to decapitate him. Ducking, Richard crouched before his enemy, the tip of his blade now trained on the man's jugular, at the seam between the helmet and the chest armor. Thrusting his sword upwards, Richard attempted to skewer the man through the neck with his weapon, though the soldier reacted quickly, stepping backwards quickly to narrowly avoid the strike. The blade glanced of the underside of his helmet, knocking his head within it and slightly disorienting him momentarily. Hoping to capitalise on that opportunity, Richard closed in with his weapon aimed to slash at the man's stomach from his left hip to right shoulder. The armor was strong, and Richard's blade ended up lodging itself in the man's hip. The soldier let out a howl of pain, dropping his weapon out of agony. Attempting to pull his weapon free, Richard tugged on the handle of his sword, only to feel metal hands cup the back of his head. He felt something hard crack into his face, and he stumbled backwards on the hill holding his sword in his right hand, crouching on one knee. The strike from the knight's knee had burst his lip, leaving a cut that dripped with blood. Keeping an eye on his enemy, he supposed it was a higher ranking soldier from the supposed Saladin faction, given the comparative difference between the appearance of his armor and that of the other soldiers scattered around the hills. Tightening his grip on his weapon, Richard advanced on the enemy, swiftly ducking a left hook which left the man's vulnerable hip exposed. Thrusting his blade through the gash in the armor, the knight screams as the blade pierces him yet again, this time penetrating further into the stomach. Withdrawing his weapon, Richard watches the man crumple to the ground, rolling down the hill to the bottom, joining the other mangled bodies.
Walking down the hill slowly, Richard could perceive the outcome of the conflict that had taken place here. The armored knights and Saladin soldiers had little numbers left between them, though the armored ones would not be the victors today. Not unless Richard stepped in. They were attacked whilst transporting resources back to their home base, something which Richard was familiar with, part of the reason why he despised the world as it was currently. He wanted to make a world where this kind of event no longer had to be commonplace. The Saladin soldiers, 10 strong with a single man wearing brutish armor leading them, advanced rapidly on the 4 remaining armored knights. Running down the rest of the hill and between the two groups of people, Richard panted whilst he held his sword in his right hand, facing the Saladin soldiers who stood meters away from him. "Get out of the way, boy."
"I'm afraid not. Though this is a lawless land, ambushing men who've done nothing to provoke you and are simply carrying resources to their refuge is something I cannot abide by."
"It is because this land is lawless that we seek to dominate and conquer it. We shall govern it, provide it with law. That is the decree of Sultan Saladin."
Before Richard could respond, the Saladin soldiers resumed their advance. The leading soldier drew his sword, raising it to slice down on Richard's head, but Richard brought his own blade up to defend against it. The clash of metal created a brief spark, with both knights caught in a bladelock with each other. Nodding his head, the knight beckoned his fellow soldiers to advance on the other knights, in a 9 vs 4 fight. Kneeling under the weight the other man was exerting, Richard decided to try and whittle down the numbers of his opposition, so that the other soldiers would help him take the leading Saladin soldier. Shifting his blade, Richard pushes his opponent's blade away and breaks the bladelock, quickly maneuvering on the ground to change his direction and run towards the other soldiers. Slashing at the backs of two with individual horizontal slashes, severing the spine and leaving them crumpled on the ground, Richard pivots on one foot as he runs, dealing another horizontal slash to decapitate 2 soldiers as they turn to face him. With the outnumbered 4 knights left to deal with the 5 Saladin knights, Richard hears loud footsteps behind him. Correctly anticipating an attack from behind, Richard continues his momentum by dropping to the ground and performing a shoulder roll. He hears a loud thump behind him as he rises from his roll to face the leader Saladin soldier, the man brandishing his golden greatsword. Panting, but smiling, Richard wipes the sweat on his forehead with a metal hand, and rushes the soldier. With his initial overhead strike blocked, Richard immediately falls into another slash which would run up the soldier's left leg and to his stomach. Retreating backwards a couple of steps, the Saladin soldier swiftly evades the attack. Having landed in a position which primed him to pounce, the Saladin soldier leaps with his weapon drawn behind his left shoulder, ready to deal a crushing blow to Richard. Drawing his arms back to his right, Richard defends from the strike by holding his sword as if to plant it into the ground, keeping his right hand on the handle and the left as a palm pushing on the blade. Though he'd prevented himself from being crushed by the great blade, Richard was being pushed along the ground by the force of the strike, the Saladin soldier continuing to apply his strength in an attempt to break the block. With the strike having completed its arc without breaching Richard's defense, the Lionheart rushes the Saladin knight's open side, ready to thrust his blade through the armor and into the man's chest. The Saladin knight anticipates this, swinging back around to catch Richard. Luckily, the latter was close enough to the knight that the swinging strike would only build enough force to result in blunt damage. Though, it was still a clean strike. Richard was carried off his feet and sent stumbling a few meters from the Saladin knight. Left on all fours, Richard is left vulnerable as the Saladin knight trudges to the winded warrior. Still clutching his weapon, Richard waits until the last moment, watching the knight's shadow raise his blade to swing down on him. Turning over, Richard raises his sword to deflect the greatsword's path, diverting it from his head, and swing it straight into the knight's head. Though the strike was to close to slice through the helmet, the blunt force was enough to twist the helmet off.
Rolling away from the now-unmasked Saladin knight, Richard quickly raises himself to his feet, holding his sword with both hands and at the ready, panting. Taking a breath, a pulse of pain radiates from his chest, and he clutches his left rib with an armored hand. Standing tall, the Saladin knight watches him with sharp eyes, holding his greatsword with his right hand. Looking over to the knights he'd come to assist from earlier, he saw two left standing, with the other Saladin knights seemingly dispatched. Moving his sight back onto the large Saladin knight, Richard speaks to him in breaths, panting with exhaustion and gasping in pain. "Its over now! Your men are dispatched and there are three of us against you!"
"Outnumbered, indeed. Outskilled? Hardly."
"Hah... maybe, but if I can knock your helmet off with a fractured rib, then surely the three of us can take your head off too if we go all at once."
"If I were to give you that opportunity, you'd do well not to disappoint."
"I'll do my be-"
Richard was cut off as the remaining two knights gave a loud battle cry, charging the Saladin knight with swords raised. With a blank expression, the Saladin knight raised his greatsword, swinging it once at the two men. A single swing was all it took. Both of his attackers were disarmed, and lay on the ground stunned. The Saladin knight simply walked past them, letting them live, and trudged towards Richard. Keeping his blade raised, Richard swung at the Saladin knight as he approached within range. Defending from the blow, the Saladin knight raised his leg to deliver a powerful frontal kick to Richard's chest. The blow knocked the breath out of Richard, sending him stumbling back a few steps, but he was quickly ready again. As the Saladin knight raised his weapon to deliver the final blow, Richard again waited until the last possible second to react, raising himself and spinning out of the way of the strike as it came down on him. Taking advantage of the weight of the enemy's weapon, Richard quickly raised his weapon and swung down on the Saladin knight's weapon arm, slashing straight through the man's wrist. A howl of pain echoes across the battlefield as the knight reacts to his hand being severed, blood spurting from the stump. Recoiling from the blow, he stumbles and falls on the ground, clutching his wrist where his hand would be. Keeping his blade pointed at the knight's throat, Richard beckons to him. "I didn't quite knock your head off, but I won't hesitate to take it off if you won't concede."
Taking deep breaths, panting in exhaustion and gasping in pain, the Saladin knight looks to the tip of Richard's blade, then to Richard himself. "What's your name, boy?"
"Richard. Richard the Lionheart."
The Saladin knight doesn't respond immediately, taking another few moments to catch his breath. "You fought well today. I, Saladin, recognise your valor and tenacity."
For a moment, Richard is silent. So the man before him was the one who'd orchestrated this battle. "I'm not looking for recognition. Will you leave this place, or do I have to take your head?"
"I will take my leave in a moment, boy. But before that, I would ask what it is you're looking for, if not recognition?"
"I want peace in the world. And if I cannot give it to the world, I will create a country that has it."
Saladin silently contemplates on the words for a few moments, as he lies prone on the ground. Richard watches him closely, anticipating a last-ditch attempt to kill him. That moment doesn't come to pass, as Saladin rises to his feet, standing toe to toe with Richard. "I will undo the barrier on this area, and leave."
With that, there is no more from Saladin. He walks away, over the hilltops and out of sight. A minute or so after, the barrier that dyed the sky orange disperses, revealing the natural blue of the midday sky. Turning to the other 2 knights remaining on this bloodsoaked battlefield, Richard walks over to them, crouching beside them. Ensuring that they are unhurt, Richard gazes around him, observing all of the dead around him. Though their armors and uniforms once differentiated them, the blood which poured from them all eliminated that visual disparity. Their differences were factional. In the end, they were all victims of war and violence, victims of their own desires and instinct. Richard despised it. He would follow the way of a knight, so that the men, women and children of his future country would see an end to this horror and disaster.
...
The stench of death wafted over the hills, permeating Richard's nostrils as he sat surrounded by corpses. Though he was supposed to be used to it, as any ninja within this era of war would be, it disgusted him. It repulsed him. Fury boiled within his being as he recounted all the times he'd stumbled across the bodies of the dead, on a mission for his clan or when he wandered the land in his own time. No person, let alone a young boy, should have to witness such horror in their lifetime. It is normal, everyone told him. But what they didn't realise is that the norm is wrong. It is broken. This world is broken. Richard stood from the grass, his damaged armor clanking as he rose to his feet. Stretching his arms out, he lets out a sigh of mild exhaustion, he still hadn't fully recovered from the battle. At this stage, Richard knew it would be wise to find somewhere to camp, gather resources and rest properly. Without a map, there was no way to tell which direction he would travel, but he had faith that his skills and abilities would keep him safe. Even though that Saladin chap beat him to a pulp, he still came out on top, Richard though to himself.
Adjusting his sword on his hip, Richard sets off, back into the forest from whence he came. Taking a number of steps, Richard reaches the entrance to the maze of trees as he hears someone wailing behind him. Turning around, hand on his weapon, the Lionheart attempts to lock onto the source of the noise. Within moments of facing the other direction, he catches sight of a man running over the top of a hill, wearing loose-fitting attire bearing a mixture of purple and white. As he descends, Richard observes a group of 3 others wearing similar clothing pursue him, with weapons drawn. The one being pursued did not have his spear in hand, but instead was wearing a brown leather satchel that was no doubt carrying something inside it. Without even pausing to think, Richard immediately began to act, his instinct to assist taking over. Raising an armored hand into the air, palm open, Richard gathers a moderate amount of chakra from within his circulatory system, allowing it to radiate into the air surrounding his hand. Closing his fingers slightly, as if to grip a ball in his palm, he superheats the chakra and manipulates the newly born flames into a circular shape. The fire spins rapidly in the air, much to the alarm of the satchel-carrying ninja. "Duck!", Richard shouted to the man. Drawing his arm back, Richard throws the disk overarm towards the ninja's 3 pursuers, the flames passing overhead the one attempting to escape with his life. As it stood, the one carrying the satchel was approximately 7 meters away from his pursuers, and they had each jumped in different directions attempting to evade the Lionheart's flaming disk as it approached. Bringing his hands together to form the ram seal, as the disk floats between the trio of attackers, Richard fully opens the fingers on his outside hand forming the seal, causing the disk to expand outwards as a number of branching spikes. Each ninja was pierced in the shoulders by the mass of flames, their bodies stopping in mid-air as they're caught by the technique. Meanwhile, the ninja carrying the satchel slides down the hill the rest of the way, quickly getting to his feet and standing before Richard, ready to retaliate in case the latter changed his mind about helping him. "Easy, friend. I mean no harm."
"You cannot expect me to be trusting after three of my own clansmen came for my head."
Richard surmised that the pursuers were from the same clan, or something along those lines. He was tempted to roll his eyes, sigh in exasperation, in response to the incident of brotherhood being betrayed. It was typical for today's world. But he relented. The mood didn't need to get any more sour than it already was. "Well, luckily for you, they're down for the count. I didn't kill them, but they won't be getting up for a while."
A purposeful act of mercy. Unlike earlier, against Saladin and his soldiers, he had the option to get away with letting this man's clansmen live. After the bloodshed which had already occurred, Richard wasn't looking to spill more. "Well, you have my thanks. I must be going now."
Before the man sets off, Richard gently grabs him by the arm to stop him. "What's in the satchel? Is that what those men were after?"
"It is a treaty to be delivered to a clan in the neighbouring territory. A month ago or so, our clan agreed to cease conflict over territory and resources with another clan. They reside in Mokkō, the Fire Country. I don't imagine you'd know where that is, or your way around it."
Richard maintained a contemplative silence. He wasn't opposed to helping the man deliver the documents, nor to returning to the Fire Country. Though, he was aware of his own condition. He could hardly be at his best as of that moment, his ribs and face still aching from the earlier battle against Saladin and his men. But this man was in a far more dire situation than he, and the thought of turning away from one in need left behind a bad taste. "I don't mind. I'll follow you and watch your back as best I can."
The man could clearly see that Richard was battered, and likely connected him to the events that had transpired on these hills. Though the man had an air of caution about him, he relented, nodding his head in agreement to Richard's proposal. "Come, we must move towards south-east so that I may reach the border. Once we get there, I'll be safe."
Richard nodded, and the two began travelling across the hills of Chilli Pepper Pass. The bodies from the earlier battle were littered all over the land, the crows now flocking to feast on the remains of the dead. Richard kept his eyes forward, resisting the urge to look around him and observe the sight. He couldn't afford to be distracted at this point, not now. Even if he could afford to be relaxed, Richard had no desire to mentally ingest the surroundings, he completely focused himself on delivering this man to the adjacent land. Were it not for the sound of more men running through the hills behind them, shouting commands and barking orders, he would have thought it to be a smooth job from here on out. He turned slightly to look behind him, seeing five others leap over the hillside to his left, approaching them with weapons drawn. With polearms and swords on hand, it would hardly be fair if Richard started lobbing techniques at them. And since they were still comrades of the one he was escorting, the Lionheart would opt against killing them, instead only incapacitating. Shifting his body to the side and sliding along the ground, he commands the messenger ninja to keep moving. The man nods and continues on his path, whilst Richard draws his sword, ready to take on his opponents.
Two ninja rush towards him, one holding a sword raised into the air, and another wielding a polearm, pointed straight forwards to skewer Richard. Raising his weapon, the Lionheart directly strikes the polearm's head, pushing it directly into the ground. Richard raises his weapon again quickly, in order to defend against the other on his left swinging down on his head. His sword reaches in time, and the two weapons clash, grinding against each other. Before the one on his right could raise the polearm, Richard raises a foot and stomps on the wooden shaft, breaking the sharp metal head from the weapon and leaving him with merely a long wooden stick. Gathering chakra within his core, Richard pushes back against the man whom he was caught in bladelock with. The man stumbles back, falling hard on his behind, which frees Richard to take care of his other opponent. Swinging at the man's shoulder, Richard's weapon slices directly into the man, but not deeply. Letting out a howl of pain as the force of the strike pushes him to the ground, Richard notices the other three advancing on him with a flail, an axe, and a mace. Knowing a difficult fight would be ahead, Richard steels himself, still trying to resist the continual pain in his ribs. The one with the flail strikes first, swinging his weapon to catch the Lionheart's sword, with the axe and mace-wielding foes swinging overhead and to his right respectively. Drawing his sword close to him, Richard hops backwards, breaking off in order to try and separate even one of them from the group. Though their attacks failed, the trio were not at all disheartened, and this time approached Richard in a slightly different manner. The one with the flail approached from the front, the mace user from the left, and the axe user from the right. There was approximately four meters of distance between Richard and each of his attackers, thus he had to make a careful decision on who to take out first. Knowing that staying still was unwise, the instinctual choice was the one with the flail, as he would be the most troublesome to deal with. Rushing forward with his sword held at his side, Richard ducks beneath the man's wild swing, which would have damaged his ribs further had he not avoided the attack. Now in a squatting position, Richard tenses the muscles in his legs and rams himself into the man's gut, winding him and sending him to the ground trying to catch his breath. With the other two close behind him, Richard raises himself quickly, holding his sword in his right hand and swinging on an axis in a clockwise direction, which would result in his weapon slamming directly into the wooden shaft of the second man's axe. Richard's weapon would slice straight through the handle, as well as the man's hands, though he didn't pack enough force into the strike in order to slice into the man's neck. This would prove to be an error, as the physical recoil resulting from that action would prevent the third man from striking him directly in the back with his spiked mace. Had Richard not shifted around to attack the axe-wielder, it would have smashed his temple. Stumbling away in pain, Richard feels a bruise forming from where the weapon impacted, his back flaring with pain. Bent over, Richard struggles to regain his breath, panting heavily from the blow. Turning back to face his enemies, he noticed that all but one had regained their bearings, with the one missing a hand still crumpled on the floor. Four stood before him, and dropping their weapons, they began to form seals. Richard's eyes widened with alarm, knowing that he could not afford to be caught out even by one technique they used. Clenching his weapon with both hands, Richard gathers chakra in his sword and desperately swings it, releasing the built chakra as a crimson wave of energy. "Gōka-!"
Richard's technique slammed straight into the men, knocking them each back by several meters, just before they were able to perform their techniques. Because of the urgent manner of performance, the technique failed to kill them, though Richard knew that if he'd had the time to properly use it, they'd have been sliced apart and left dead. Not knowing what to make of such a thought in the moment, Richard simply turned his back on the men, his attack having left them incapacitated for the moment. He rushes off in the direction he was originally headed, turning to his right and taking great strides to reach the edge of the forest. With his sword in hand, Richard enters the shade when he hears loud explosions and the sounds of clashing metal. Fearing the worst, he continues onward.
Entering the treeline, blood trickling down his back where he'd been struck, Richard continues onward deeper into the forest. With his sword in his right hand, the Lionheart notices a brief glint in the distance ahead of him. One rogue kunai, which Richard swiftly slashes away with practiced ease, and soon enough, he reaches a clearing in the forest, where a small skirmish is taking place. Standing on a branch above, Richard observes the one he was supposed to be escorting stuck in the middle of three attackers who had him surrounded, each one armed. To the right of the group, Richard noticed a couple of bodies, missing a limb or two each. He'd surmised that the man had no qualms about killing his own kin. Richard found it distasteful, but this was not the time to worry about such a thing. After he'd accomplished his task, that would be the time for conversation. Pushing his personal feelings aside yet again, the Lionheart descends onto the battlefield, landing crouched with his sword in hand. The noise of his armor gives away his presence, and one of the attackers breaks off from the circle, facing Richard with cold eyes that betrayed no emotion whatsoever. Gripping his sword with both hands, Richard prepares to face yet another opponent, this one also armed with a sword. The two hold each other's gaze, silently daring each other to strike. The first to waver, the first to show a sign of weakness, would be the loser of this bout. Making the first move, Richard leaps towards his enemy with his sword raised over his right shoulder, aiming to disarm his opponent. As the Lionheart swings to knock his opponent's sword from his hands, the man hops backwards and out of the blade's path, drawing his own weapon past his right hip. Richard realises his mistake and attempts to bring his sword down to waist level to defend from the blow, with his rushed defence barely working as the opponent's weapon cleanly slams against his, the power of the attack forcing Richard's weapon and arms upward. Drawing his weapon around his left hip for a follow-up, the opponent slices at Richard's waist, aiming to cut him completely in half.
A spear slams straight into the sword that would bisect the Lionheart. The weapon is knocked from the opponent's hands, and he is left unarmed. Resuming his normal combat stance, Richard and his opponent look to the direction the spear came from, the ninja carrying the peace treaty standing between the bodies of the attackers he'd been surrounded by. Without a weapon, and against two, the enemy would surely perish. Kneeling with raised arms, signalling his surrender, his clanmate walks over to him, with Richard keeping his sword pointed towards the man's head. "Spare me the sermon, Hōzōin."
"Your actions today would destroy the greatest, maybe the only, opportunity of peace we would have in our lifetime, Nobu. And for what? So you can appeal to the elders and their archaic traditions rooted in war? We can end this senseless conflict that continues to take the li-"
Hōzōin's words were cut off from a sharp interjection by Nobu, whose words dripped with venom as he knelt on the ground. "Our brothers are dead, Hōzōin! Do you not care for their sacrifice? For the lives that were lost in order to protect ours? To make peace with their killers is to spit on their memory, and I cannot bring myself to do that, even if my livelihood is sacrificed."
"Those same people who killed our brothers are now offering peace, Nobu. It will not bring them back, but it is the first step of making amends for the damage they've done."
"Tsk. You're too soft!"
Whipping his hand up, Nobu draws a hidden kunai from his sleeve, slashing against Richard's sword and turning to draw it on Hōzōin. His brother was ready, and lowered himself out of the way of the strike, though it left him open to a staggering kick which would launch him a few meters back. Tumbling for a moment, Hōzōin was back on his feet in moments, whilst Richard swung down on Nobu's head, now aiming to kill. It was clear at this point to him that there was no stopping this man from getting in the way of peace other than to take his life, or at least to leave him severely disabled. Nobu turned to smoke as Richard's sword neared his head, the blade slicing the smoke apart as it traveled towards the ground, the edge slamming firmly into the earth. Rematerialising, Nobu raises his foot and steps on the blade, keeping it firm within the ground, and forcing Richard to relinquish his grip when he raises his wrist to slash at Richard's face with his wrist kunai. Drawing his head back, Richard whips it forward again, slamming it directly into Nobu's face, crunching his nose. Blood pours from his nostrils, an expression of anger being observable through his face mask. Drawing his sword from the ground, Richard immediately leaps towards Nobu once again, aiming to smash his weapon directly into Nobu's cranium. The latter raises his left right arm, and catches the blade with a metallic thud sounding as the weapon comes to an abrupt stop. Having hardened his skin through a technique, Nobu then forms his other hand, which had been cupping his nose to stem the bleeding, into a fist, and delivers a strong punch to Richard's chest. The blow leaves a large dent in the armor, and flings Richard backwards by five meters. Landing hard, the Lionheart is left winded by the blow. Nobu stalks towards his downed enemy, but hears kunai being thrown by Hōzōin. Turning his body into a thick mass of smoke, Nobu prevents the weapons from injuring him by allowing them to pass through him. However, the miniature explosives attached by string to the kunai go off, with enough force to knock him out of his smoke form and onto the ground.
Frustration builds within Richard, as he rises to his feet, dusting himself off as Nobu and Hōzōin clash. Channeling chakra to the seals on his palms, he converts a portion of his natural reserves into Dark chakra. Releasing it from his right hand seal, he uses shape manipulation to bestow upon it the shape of a ceremonial sword. Running towards Nobu, who was currently locked in combat with Hōzōin, Richard raises his weapon to slice his head off. Nobu drops to the ground, allowing Richard's conjured weapon to pass safely over his head, and kicks out Hōzōin's shins, collapsing his clanmate and dropping him to the floor. Nobu attempts to slash at Richard's stomach with his wrist-mounted kunai, but the attack doesn't build enough momentum to slash through the armor, simply glancing off the white metal. Raising his right leg, Richard attempts to deliver a frontal kick directly to Nobu's head, which knocks the latter to the ground. Nobu quickly turns on his side and points a palm directly towards Richard, sparks of electricity briefly crackling around his fingers and arm. Richard's eyes widen in alarm, as he raises his blade overhead to strike at Nobu as quickly as possible. Too little too late, as a massive torrent of electricity is unleashed from Nobu's palm, directly at Richard. Though the Lionheart manages to bring his blade down, it smashes directly into the Lightning Release, the blade of pure chakra attempting to assimilate the entire mass of lightning being unleashed at point blank range. None of the energy directly reaches Richard, having been drawn in and absorbed by the blade, but the pure kinetic force sends Richard flying backwards by several meters, his body slamming straight into a tree behind him. His weapon lays beside his prone body, though he cannot muster the energy to pick it up. Barely having enough to lift upright his body using his arms as support, he watches as Hōzōin and Nobu quickly stand to resume combat. Nobu had hardened his body once again, as evident by the kick delivered to Hōzōin, which sent the latter flying as well. Coughing blood, Richard's weapon flickers briefly before disappearing, the extent of his wounds making it too difficult to sustain without feeding chakra to the construct through direct contact. Nobu looks over to Richard, and walks menacingly towards him, with pathways of blood from his nose and the side of his temple streaming down his face. He cackles with glee, his victory seemingly apparent. The blood in his eyes from the cuts on his forehead gave him something of a demonic look, though Richard was too exhausted to be intimidated by it. Though, he took note of it, using it to inform his next move.
"No good deed goes unpunished."
Removing the kunai from his wrist mount, Nobu raises it above his head and throws it directly at Richard's face. Quickly moving his arm up, the gauntlet of Richard's armor deflects the weapon, causing it to fly past his face and bounce off the tree he was leaning on. Knowing that any attempt to form seals, or even to try and change his current position, would be intercepted and likely result in death, Richard channeled more chakra to his palm seals, slightly recharging his reserves of Dark chakra. Placing a hand on the ground, he coats the earth with a near-invisible layer of chakra. Richard makes no other moves to protect himself, more so by way of exhaustion rather than choice, all he can manage to do is keep himself upright and watch as Nobu approaches him, eventually standing over him. Hardening his fists yet again, Nobu lets out a sadistic smile as he raises them, eager and ready to beat Richard to death. As he attempts to deliver the first punch, two arms of solid chakra emerge from the ground, specifically from the layer of chakra Richard had created. The arms burst straight through Nobu's chest and stomach and emerge from his back. Nobu's expression turns from one of sadistic excitement to complete shock, as his body stops in its tracks. Blood drips from his mouth and onto the ground, some of it landing on Richard's chest armor. For what feels like an eternity, the two stay still, as if time had frozen them in their respective prone and standing positions. The arms eventually fade, dropping Nobu's body to the ground, a dull thud sounding as it impacts. Painfully and slowly, Richard lifts himself to his feet, walking in the direction he last saw Hōzōin flying off in, picking up and sheathing his sword. Entering the thicket, he soon finds Hōzōin sitting on the ground, cradling an injured arm. "Are you alright?"
"Better off than if I were alone on this task."
"Ahah...I suppose so."
Offering a hand to Hōzōin, Richard lifts him to his feet, the two taking a moment to catch their breath. "I suppose that's all of them. No more should come after you."
"I believe so. You have my thanks, erm..."
"Richard. Richard the Lionheart."
"Yes...I will remember your name, and the service you have done for me and my people today. And the lives of the clan who will receive this document."
Nodding his head with a cheerful smile, the moment of victory is made sour when Richard remembers Nobu. "I'm sorry about your brother. If I ha-"
"You don't need to explain yourself, Richard. It was better you did it than me. I would have failed. And I'd be dead for it."
Richard is left silent for a few moments, the guilt of having taken the life of someone's brother, as well as the earlier occurrence on the hills, weighing down on him like stones on his shoulders. Hōzōin places a hand firmly on Richard's shoulder, trying to get the solemn knight's attention. "Don't be harsh on yourself. The benefit of your actions today far outweigh the consequences. That is what the world is all about, finding the best possible way with what you have. Not everyone can be saved."
A few moments of silence pass between the two, and Hōzōin eventually relieves Richard's shoulder of his grip. Turning away, the former jumps high into the trees, standing on a branch and ready to set off for the settlement of the other clan. Taking one moment to look down behind him at Richard, who was still standing silently and staring at the ground, he turns back to face ahead of him and leaps from the branch, quickly fading from sight as he moves further into the forest.
Adjusting his sword on his hip, Richard sets off, back into the forest from whence he came. Taking a number of steps, Richard reaches the entrance to the maze of trees as he hears someone wailing behind him. Turning around, hand on his weapon, the Lionheart attempts to lock onto the source of the noise. Within moments of facing the other direction, he catches sight of a man running over the top of a hill, wearing loose-fitting attire bearing a mixture of purple and white. As he descends, Richard observes a group of 3 others wearing similar clothing pursue him, with weapons drawn. The one being pursued did not have his spear in hand, but instead was wearing a brown leather satchel that was no doubt carrying something inside it. Without even pausing to think, Richard immediately began to act, his instinct to assist taking over. Raising an armored hand into the air, palm open, Richard gathers a moderate amount of chakra from within his circulatory system, allowing it to radiate into the air surrounding his hand. Closing his fingers slightly, as if to grip a ball in his palm, he superheats the chakra and manipulates the newly born flames into a circular shape. The fire spins rapidly in the air, much to the alarm of the satchel-carrying ninja. "Duck!", Richard shouted to the man. Drawing his arm back, Richard throws the disk overarm towards the ninja's 3 pursuers, the flames passing overhead the one attempting to escape with his life. As it stood, the one carrying the satchel was approximately 7 meters away from his pursuers, and they had each jumped in different directions attempting to evade the Lionheart's flaming disk as it approached. Bringing his hands together to form the ram seal, as the disk floats between the trio of attackers, Richard fully opens the fingers on his outside hand forming the seal, causing the disk to expand outwards as a number of branching spikes. Each ninja was pierced in the shoulders by the mass of flames, their bodies stopping in mid-air as they're caught by the technique. Meanwhile, the ninja carrying the satchel slides down the hill the rest of the way, quickly getting to his feet and standing before Richard, ready to retaliate in case the latter changed his mind about helping him. "Easy, friend. I mean no harm."
"You cannot expect me to be trusting after three of my own clansmen came for my head."
Richard surmised that the pursuers were from the same clan, or something along those lines. He was tempted to roll his eyes, sigh in exasperation, in response to the incident of brotherhood being betrayed. It was typical for today's world. But he relented. The mood didn't need to get any more sour than it already was. "Well, luckily for you, they're down for the count. I didn't kill them, but they won't be getting up for a while."
A purposeful act of mercy. Unlike earlier, against Saladin and his soldiers, he had the option to get away with letting this man's clansmen live. After the bloodshed which had already occurred, Richard wasn't looking to spill more. "Well, you have my thanks. I must be going now."
Before the man sets off, Richard gently grabs him by the arm to stop him. "What's in the satchel? Is that what those men were after?"
"It is a treaty to be delivered to a clan in the neighbouring territory. A month ago or so, our clan agreed to cease conflict over territory and resources with another clan. They reside in Mokkō, the Fire Country. I don't imagine you'd know where that is, or your way around it."
Richard maintained a contemplative silence. He wasn't opposed to helping the man deliver the documents, nor to returning to the Fire Country. Though, he was aware of his own condition. He could hardly be at his best as of that moment, his ribs and face still aching from the earlier battle against Saladin and his men. But this man was in a far more dire situation than he, and the thought of turning away from one in need left behind a bad taste. "I don't mind. I'll follow you and watch your back as best I can."
The man could clearly see that Richard was battered, and likely connected him to the events that had transpired on these hills. Though the man had an air of caution about him, he relented, nodding his head in agreement to Richard's proposal. "Come, we must move towards south-east so that I may reach the border. Once we get there, I'll be safe."
Richard nodded, and the two began travelling across the hills of Chilli Pepper Pass. The bodies from the earlier battle were littered all over the land, the crows now flocking to feast on the remains of the dead. Richard kept his eyes forward, resisting the urge to look around him and observe the sight. He couldn't afford to be distracted at this point, not now. Even if he could afford to be relaxed, Richard had no desire to mentally ingest the surroundings, he completely focused himself on delivering this man to the adjacent land. Were it not for the sound of more men running through the hills behind them, shouting commands and barking orders, he would have thought it to be a smooth job from here on out. He turned slightly to look behind him, seeing five others leap over the hillside to his left, approaching them with weapons drawn. With polearms and swords on hand, it would hardly be fair if Richard started lobbing techniques at them. And since they were still comrades of the one he was escorting, the Lionheart would opt against killing them, instead only incapacitating. Shifting his body to the side and sliding along the ground, he commands the messenger ninja to keep moving. The man nods and continues on his path, whilst Richard draws his sword, ready to take on his opponents.
Two ninja rush towards him, one holding a sword raised into the air, and another wielding a polearm, pointed straight forwards to skewer Richard. Raising his weapon, the Lionheart directly strikes the polearm's head, pushing it directly into the ground. Richard raises his weapon again quickly, in order to defend against the other on his left swinging down on his head. His sword reaches in time, and the two weapons clash, grinding against each other. Before the one on his right could raise the polearm, Richard raises a foot and stomps on the wooden shaft, breaking the sharp metal head from the weapon and leaving him with merely a long wooden stick. Gathering chakra within his core, Richard pushes back against the man whom he was caught in bladelock with. The man stumbles back, falling hard on his behind, which frees Richard to take care of his other opponent. Swinging at the man's shoulder, Richard's weapon slices directly into the man, but not deeply. Letting out a howl of pain as the force of the strike pushes him to the ground, Richard notices the other three advancing on him with a flail, an axe, and a mace. Knowing a difficult fight would be ahead, Richard steels himself, still trying to resist the continual pain in his ribs. The one with the flail strikes first, swinging his weapon to catch the Lionheart's sword, with the axe and mace-wielding foes swinging overhead and to his right respectively. Drawing his sword close to him, Richard hops backwards, breaking off in order to try and separate even one of them from the group. Though their attacks failed, the trio were not at all disheartened, and this time approached Richard in a slightly different manner. The one with the flail approached from the front, the mace user from the left, and the axe user from the right. There was approximately four meters of distance between Richard and each of his attackers, thus he had to make a careful decision on who to take out first. Knowing that staying still was unwise, the instinctual choice was the one with the flail, as he would be the most troublesome to deal with. Rushing forward with his sword held at his side, Richard ducks beneath the man's wild swing, which would have damaged his ribs further had he not avoided the attack. Now in a squatting position, Richard tenses the muscles in his legs and rams himself into the man's gut, winding him and sending him to the ground trying to catch his breath. With the other two close behind him, Richard raises himself quickly, holding his sword in his right hand and swinging on an axis in a clockwise direction, which would result in his weapon slamming directly into the wooden shaft of the second man's axe. Richard's weapon would slice straight through the handle, as well as the man's hands, though he didn't pack enough force into the strike in order to slice into the man's neck. This would prove to be an error, as the physical recoil resulting from that action would prevent the third man from striking him directly in the back with his spiked mace. Had Richard not shifted around to attack the axe-wielder, it would have smashed his temple. Stumbling away in pain, Richard feels a bruise forming from where the weapon impacted, his back flaring with pain. Bent over, Richard struggles to regain his breath, panting heavily from the blow. Turning back to face his enemies, he noticed that all but one had regained their bearings, with the one missing a hand still crumpled on the floor. Four stood before him, and dropping their weapons, they began to form seals. Richard's eyes widened with alarm, knowing that he could not afford to be caught out even by one technique they used. Clenching his weapon with both hands, Richard gathers chakra in his sword and desperately swings it, releasing the built chakra as a crimson wave of energy. "Gōka-!"
Richard's technique slammed straight into the men, knocking them each back by several meters, just before they were able to perform their techniques. Because of the urgent manner of performance, the technique failed to kill them, though Richard knew that if he'd had the time to properly use it, they'd have been sliced apart and left dead. Not knowing what to make of such a thought in the moment, Richard simply turned his back on the men, his attack having left them incapacitated for the moment. He rushes off in the direction he was originally headed, turning to his right and taking great strides to reach the edge of the forest. With his sword in hand, Richard enters the shade when he hears loud explosions and the sounds of clashing metal. Fearing the worst, he continues onward.
Entering the treeline, blood trickling down his back where he'd been struck, Richard continues onward deeper into the forest. With his sword in his right hand, the Lionheart notices a brief glint in the distance ahead of him. One rogue kunai, which Richard swiftly slashes away with practiced ease, and soon enough, he reaches a clearing in the forest, where a small skirmish is taking place. Standing on a branch above, Richard observes the one he was supposed to be escorting stuck in the middle of three attackers who had him surrounded, each one armed. To the right of the group, Richard noticed a couple of bodies, missing a limb or two each. He'd surmised that the man had no qualms about killing his own kin. Richard found it distasteful, but this was not the time to worry about such a thing. After he'd accomplished his task, that would be the time for conversation. Pushing his personal feelings aside yet again, the Lionheart descends onto the battlefield, landing crouched with his sword in hand. The noise of his armor gives away his presence, and one of the attackers breaks off from the circle, facing Richard with cold eyes that betrayed no emotion whatsoever. Gripping his sword with both hands, Richard prepares to face yet another opponent, this one also armed with a sword. The two hold each other's gaze, silently daring each other to strike. The first to waver, the first to show a sign of weakness, would be the loser of this bout. Making the first move, Richard leaps towards his enemy with his sword raised over his right shoulder, aiming to disarm his opponent. As the Lionheart swings to knock his opponent's sword from his hands, the man hops backwards and out of the blade's path, drawing his own weapon past his right hip. Richard realises his mistake and attempts to bring his sword down to waist level to defend from the blow, with his rushed defence barely working as the opponent's weapon cleanly slams against his, the power of the attack forcing Richard's weapon and arms upward. Drawing his weapon around his left hip for a follow-up, the opponent slices at Richard's waist, aiming to cut him completely in half.
A spear slams straight into the sword that would bisect the Lionheart. The weapon is knocked from the opponent's hands, and he is left unarmed. Resuming his normal combat stance, Richard and his opponent look to the direction the spear came from, the ninja carrying the peace treaty standing between the bodies of the attackers he'd been surrounded by. Without a weapon, and against two, the enemy would surely perish. Kneeling with raised arms, signalling his surrender, his clanmate walks over to him, with Richard keeping his sword pointed towards the man's head. "Spare me the sermon, Hōzōin."
"Your actions today would destroy the greatest, maybe the only, opportunity of peace we would have in our lifetime, Nobu. And for what? So you can appeal to the elders and their archaic traditions rooted in war? We can end this senseless conflict that continues to take the li-"
Hōzōin's words were cut off from a sharp interjection by Nobu, whose words dripped with venom as he knelt on the ground. "Our brothers are dead, Hōzōin! Do you not care for their sacrifice? For the lives that were lost in order to protect ours? To make peace with their killers is to spit on their memory, and I cannot bring myself to do that, even if my livelihood is sacrificed."
"Those same people who killed our brothers are now offering peace, Nobu. It will not bring them back, but it is the first step of making amends for the damage they've done."
"Tsk. You're too soft!"
Whipping his hand up, Nobu draws a hidden kunai from his sleeve, slashing against Richard's sword and turning to draw it on Hōzōin. His brother was ready, and lowered himself out of the way of the strike, though it left him open to a staggering kick which would launch him a few meters back. Tumbling for a moment, Hōzōin was back on his feet in moments, whilst Richard swung down on Nobu's head, now aiming to kill. It was clear at this point to him that there was no stopping this man from getting in the way of peace other than to take his life, or at least to leave him severely disabled. Nobu turned to smoke as Richard's sword neared his head, the blade slicing the smoke apart as it traveled towards the ground, the edge slamming firmly into the earth. Rematerialising, Nobu raises his foot and steps on the blade, keeping it firm within the ground, and forcing Richard to relinquish his grip when he raises his wrist to slash at Richard's face with his wrist kunai. Drawing his head back, Richard whips it forward again, slamming it directly into Nobu's face, crunching his nose. Blood pours from his nostrils, an expression of anger being observable through his face mask. Drawing his sword from the ground, Richard immediately leaps towards Nobu once again, aiming to smash his weapon directly into Nobu's cranium. The latter raises his left right arm, and catches the blade with a metallic thud sounding as the weapon comes to an abrupt stop. Having hardened his skin through a technique, Nobu then forms his other hand, which had been cupping his nose to stem the bleeding, into a fist, and delivers a strong punch to Richard's chest. The blow leaves a large dent in the armor, and flings Richard backwards by five meters. Landing hard, the Lionheart is left winded by the blow. Nobu stalks towards his downed enemy, but hears kunai being thrown by Hōzōin. Turning his body into a thick mass of smoke, Nobu prevents the weapons from injuring him by allowing them to pass through him. However, the miniature explosives attached by string to the kunai go off, with enough force to knock him out of his smoke form and onto the ground.
Frustration builds within Richard, as he rises to his feet, dusting himself off as Nobu and Hōzōin clash. Channeling chakra to the seals on his palms, he converts a portion of his natural reserves into Dark chakra. Releasing it from his right hand seal, he uses shape manipulation to bestow upon it the shape of a ceremonial sword. Running towards Nobu, who was currently locked in combat with Hōzōin, Richard raises his weapon to slice his head off. Nobu drops to the ground, allowing Richard's conjured weapon to pass safely over his head, and kicks out Hōzōin's shins, collapsing his clanmate and dropping him to the floor. Nobu attempts to slash at Richard's stomach with his wrist-mounted kunai, but the attack doesn't build enough momentum to slash through the armor, simply glancing off the white metal. Raising his right leg, Richard attempts to deliver a frontal kick directly to Nobu's head, which knocks the latter to the ground. Nobu quickly turns on his side and points a palm directly towards Richard, sparks of electricity briefly crackling around his fingers and arm. Richard's eyes widen in alarm, as he raises his blade overhead to strike at Nobu as quickly as possible. Too little too late, as a massive torrent of electricity is unleashed from Nobu's palm, directly at Richard. Though the Lionheart manages to bring his blade down, it smashes directly into the Lightning Release, the blade of pure chakra attempting to assimilate the entire mass of lightning being unleashed at point blank range. None of the energy directly reaches Richard, having been drawn in and absorbed by the blade, but the pure kinetic force sends Richard flying backwards by several meters, his body slamming straight into a tree behind him. His weapon lays beside his prone body, though he cannot muster the energy to pick it up. Barely having enough to lift upright his body using his arms as support, he watches as Hōzōin and Nobu quickly stand to resume combat. Nobu had hardened his body once again, as evident by the kick delivered to Hōzōin, which sent the latter flying as well. Coughing blood, Richard's weapon flickers briefly before disappearing, the extent of his wounds making it too difficult to sustain without feeding chakra to the construct through direct contact. Nobu looks over to Richard, and walks menacingly towards him, with pathways of blood from his nose and the side of his temple streaming down his face. He cackles with glee, his victory seemingly apparent. The blood in his eyes from the cuts on his forehead gave him something of a demonic look, though Richard was too exhausted to be intimidated by it. Though, he took note of it, using it to inform his next move.
"No good deed goes unpunished."
Removing the kunai from his wrist mount, Nobu raises it above his head and throws it directly at Richard's face. Quickly moving his arm up, the gauntlet of Richard's armor deflects the weapon, causing it to fly past his face and bounce off the tree he was leaning on. Knowing that any attempt to form seals, or even to try and change his current position, would be intercepted and likely result in death, Richard channeled more chakra to his palm seals, slightly recharging his reserves of Dark chakra. Placing a hand on the ground, he coats the earth with a near-invisible layer of chakra. Richard makes no other moves to protect himself, more so by way of exhaustion rather than choice, all he can manage to do is keep himself upright and watch as Nobu approaches him, eventually standing over him. Hardening his fists yet again, Nobu lets out a sadistic smile as he raises them, eager and ready to beat Richard to death. As he attempts to deliver the first punch, two arms of solid chakra emerge from the ground, specifically from the layer of chakra Richard had created. The arms burst straight through Nobu's chest and stomach and emerge from his back. Nobu's expression turns from one of sadistic excitement to complete shock, as his body stops in its tracks. Blood drips from his mouth and onto the ground, some of it landing on Richard's chest armor. For what feels like an eternity, the two stay still, as if time had frozen them in their respective prone and standing positions. The arms eventually fade, dropping Nobu's body to the ground, a dull thud sounding as it impacts. Painfully and slowly, Richard lifts himself to his feet, walking in the direction he last saw Hōzōin flying off in, picking up and sheathing his sword. Entering the thicket, he soon finds Hōzōin sitting on the ground, cradling an injured arm. "Are you alright?"
"Better off than if I were alone on this task."
"Ahah...I suppose so."
Offering a hand to Hōzōin, Richard lifts him to his feet, the two taking a moment to catch their breath. "I suppose that's all of them. No more should come after you."
"I believe so. You have my thanks, erm..."
"Richard. Richard the Lionheart."
"Yes...I will remember your name, and the service you have done for me and my people today. And the lives of the clan who will receive this document."
Nodding his head with a cheerful smile, the moment of victory is made sour when Richard remembers Nobu. "I'm sorry about your brother. If I ha-"
"You don't need to explain yourself, Richard. It was better you did it than me. I would have failed. And I'd be dead for it."
Richard is left silent for a few moments, the guilt of having taken the life of someone's brother, as well as the earlier occurrence on the hills, weighing down on him like stones on his shoulders. Hōzōin places a hand firmly on Richard's shoulder, trying to get the solemn knight's attention. "Don't be harsh on yourself. The benefit of your actions today far outweigh the consequences. That is what the world is all about, finding the best possible way with what you have. Not everyone can be saved."
A few moments of silence pass between the two, and Hōzōin eventually relieves Richard's shoulder of his grip. Turning away, the former jumps high into the trees, standing on a branch and ready to set off for the settlement of the other clan. Taking one moment to look down behind him at Richard, who was still standing silently and staring at the ground, he turns back to face ahead of him and leaps from the branch, quickly fading from sight as he moves further into the forest.
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Chapter III
Richard's feet barely lift themselves off the ground as he walks through the freezing mountain range, his armor doing little to keep him warm or comfortable as he trudges through the snow-clad paths. Clutching his rib and breathing heavily, Richard attempts to stave off feelings of despair as the temperature chills him to the bone, his movements becoming sluggish and his limbs locking up. His sword hung at his side, the blade bearing numerous scratches along its formerly spotless surface, being of little use to Richard at this point. Though it had helped to carry him through the major battles of the last few days, it would do little to carry him through the snowy ridges. His sense of time is lost, the greying landscape and endless hail that fills his vision gnaws at his being, his body quivering as it attempts to maintain whatever shreds of warmth it can muster. If he didn't find shelter soon, he would die. His wounds still needed tending, and he required rest. Dark spots begin to appear in his sight, slowly but surely clouding his vision with each step he took. He took a step forward, and stopped. His panting had become exacerbated, the quivering greater. His figure slightly hunched over, Richard places his right hand on his weapon, the sword that hung on his left hip, the weapon that had carried him through his journeys in life thus far. His weapon, named Excalibur. Of course, not the real Excalibur, the one used by King Arthur, the Sword of Promised Victory, as many had called it. But not Richard's sword. Though it was called Excalibur, it was merely an imitation. An aspiration. Just as he was. A boy growing up in a world of ninja, who wished to be a knight. He was not his father, Henry, nor his mother, Eleanor. They were ninja, who had sworn an oath of duty to their clan, to uphold their own interests and that of their brothers and sisters. But at the cost and expense of others around them. The lives of others. Richard despised it, but was he not the same? No matter what he despised or disagreed with? Wasn't that the reason he left the Nara, at the behest of his father as he lay on his deathbed? So he could pursue his own ideals, of peace and tranquility?
Richard falls to his knees, the cold amplifying his exhaustion. He could barely muster the energy to think coherently, let alone stand even hunched. The snow drifts through the air, some of the flakes coming to rest on Richard's body, lining his armor and hair with meager coatings of white. His body is no longer shaking as much, though that is more a sign of his body's decreasing function rather than adaptation to the cold. His eyes are now trained on the snow that covers his path before him, though his vision is fading. His mind is elsewhere, attempting to reason with himself. Attempting to justify his own existence to himself. He remembered the combat and reconnaissance missions he went on for the Nara, the amount of blood that was spilled in the Land of Fire. It sickened him. Though he killed, it wasn't what he wanted. The deaths of his clanmates was all he could bear to stomach. He couldn't save those people. The people sent on missions by his mother and father, people who were his brothers and sisters, not by blood, but by bond. One could say that, from the moment Richard picked up the sword as his first training weapon, swinging it wildly but with total certainty, his path and that of the Nara; his parents', would diverge someday. He left based on that diverging path, diverging ideals, to seek the means to a world that would know peace. And he would embody that ideal. But thus far, he had killed many. Many who were fighting for the sake of their clan, their family. Much like his own former clanmates. Though wrong as they may be in his eyes, he had used his blade to cut them down. Whether he detested that notion and action, it was done. Whether it was necessary or not, it was done. But was it justified? He had prevented the further pillaging of resources by Saladin and his knights, he had saved Hōzōin from his own clanmates and helped to facilitate a major peace agreement between two clans. In that sense, was the killing worth it? It was in the moment of asking that question to himself, that Richard's vision came back into focus. The grip of his right hand on his sword tightened. He drew the weapon, stabbing it into the ground, gripping the handle with both hands. He was not the King of Knights, Arthur. Neither the Knight of the Sun, Gawain. Nor the Knight of the Lake, Lancelot. He was the Lionheart, Richard. His sword was not the Sword of Promised Victory, Excalibur. Neither the Sword of Revolving Victory, Excalibur Galatine. Nor the Unfading Light of the Lake, Arondight. His was the Sword of Forever Distant Victory, Excalibur. Though his ideal, his very being, was but an imitation, it was no less real or beautiful than the real thing. Though it may be something outside of his own reach in this lifetime, he would still fight so that his ideals and aspirations would become reality, someday. He lifts himself up with newfound resolve, the snow that had gathered on his shoulders and head being shaken off by his movement. Standing, his body breathes in gasps in order to draw in more air, having been starved of oxygen as it slowly began to shut down. Continuing straight ahead, Richard walks through the white-covered path, his sword leaving behind a thin line where its blade cut through the layer of piling snow.
The mountainous path slowly declines, Richard trying not to fall down the side and to his death. Eventually, the white smog clears, revealing a deep canyon in the mountains, with a single bridge connecting the two sides to each other. On the other side, a large cavern entrance is observable, its opening seemingly inviting anybody passing by to enter. Striding to the bridge, knowing that a shelter like this probably wouldn't be easy to find again, he makes his way across the horizontal structure. Once he enters the cavern's mouth, he notices that the cave itself possesses a blue sheen everywhere. Courtesy of the torches, whose flames shine blue. Though the interior was, as expected, nothing but rock, it would make for a good place to stay. Taking his armor off, revealing his form-fitting, and more casual, attire, he goes back outside to retrieve some wood to make a fire. The torches alone would not keep him warm. The trees closer to the mountainside, back on the other side of the canyon, would do.
Walking to the trees, Richard draws Excalibur, slashing at the lowest branches. With time, he could take down the entire tree. But time was not on his side. And he didn't want to take too long hoarding resources beyond his needs. Spending a few minutes taking down branches, some as thick as his arm and others as his fingers, he makes his way back to the cavern. It wasn't as cold down in the canyon, so he was grateful enough for that. He'd noticed a bush containing an assortment of berries next to where he'd arrived in the canyon, so he would go back for them in a moment. Dropping his stockpile of wood and Excalibur at the cavern, he returned to the bush on the other side of the bridge. Kneeling at the bush, he quietly gazed over the many berries that were growing. He'd been taught by his parents how to survive in the wild alone, given that Nara territory was simply a large forest, and as such he knew how to pick the right foods that would not result in stomach pain, or other sorts of unpleasant sensations. Taking a fair number with him, Richard needed something to keep his wounds cushioned. His cape would do, it would just mean sleeping on the bare rocks rather than a thin layer of cloth. Returning to the cavern, he painfully sits himself down in a wince, his back sliding against the wall as he lowers himself. Undoing the buttons on his jacket, Richard sighs in exhaustion, ready to help himself to the berries he'd collected. But it'd have to wait, as Richard sets all the wood into a pile, taking a smaller piece and twisting it in the tinder until it was set alight. It began as small embers, and slowly progressed into flames of a relatively big size. Holding open palms to the fire for a moment, Richard allows the heat to permeate throughout his being. His body quivers at the sudden exposure to warmth, adjusting to the new source of heat. Almost getting carried away, Richard returns to his berries, picking some up and placing them in his palm, ready to eat.
A shadow stretches into view in front of Richard as he prepares to dig in to his berries. His head instinctively turns to pinpoint the object creating the shadow. It wasn't a person, but an animal. A deer. The animal stares at him for a moment with eyes of pure black, the Lionheart returning it in silence. The deer stands at the cavern entrance, its spindly legs holding its thin frame steady. Looking down to the hand that held the berries, Richard guessed that it was searching for food, food that would normally be on a nearby bush. But he'd taken from it, and now only the inedible ones were left. His heart sinking in his chest, Richard turns his head back to the animal, outstretching the arm holding the berries. The animal doesn't retreat or come closer, merely standing still for a few moments. It begins to step forward after it realises he means no harm, coming closer to Richard. The deer stands next to the sitting knight, lowering its head to take from Richard's hand. It swiftly bites a few from his hand, and raises its head again, chewing on the fruits. Half are left for Richard, but it doesn't matter to him. He smiles at the animal, lifting his other hand to pet the deer as it ate the berries. After a few more moments of chewing, it looks towards the one who'd given it food, as if to silently thank him for the gesture. Nodding, Richard watches as the animal walks out of the cavern and back into the canyon. Eating the rest of his berries, Richard takes his cape and crumples it into a bundle of cloth, making it into a makeshift pillow. Placing it on the stone floor of the cavern, Richard lowers himself so that he can lie down, resting the back of his head on the cape. The fire would continue to burn and keep him warm, whilst he slept, recovering from his recent battles.
Richard falls to his knees, the cold amplifying his exhaustion. He could barely muster the energy to think coherently, let alone stand even hunched. The snow drifts through the air, some of the flakes coming to rest on Richard's body, lining his armor and hair with meager coatings of white. His body is no longer shaking as much, though that is more a sign of his body's decreasing function rather than adaptation to the cold. His eyes are now trained on the snow that covers his path before him, though his vision is fading. His mind is elsewhere, attempting to reason with himself. Attempting to justify his own existence to himself. He remembered the combat and reconnaissance missions he went on for the Nara, the amount of blood that was spilled in the Land of Fire. It sickened him. Though he killed, it wasn't what he wanted. The deaths of his clanmates was all he could bear to stomach. He couldn't save those people. The people sent on missions by his mother and father, people who were his brothers and sisters, not by blood, but by bond. One could say that, from the moment Richard picked up the sword as his first training weapon, swinging it wildly but with total certainty, his path and that of the Nara; his parents', would diverge someday. He left based on that diverging path, diverging ideals, to seek the means to a world that would know peace. And he would embody that ideal. But thus far, he had killed many. Many who were fighting for the sake of their clan, their family. Much like his own former clanmates. Though wrong as they may be in his eyes, he had used his blade to cut them down. Whether he detested that notion and action, it was done. Whether it was necessary or not, it was done. But was it justified? He had prevented the further pillaging of resources by Saladin and his knights, he had saved Hōzōin from his own clanmates and helped to facilitate a major peace agreement between two clans. In that sense, was the killing worth it? It was in the moment of asking that question to himself, that Richard's vision came back into focus. The grip of his right hand on his sword tightened. He drew the weapon, stabbing it into the ground, gripping the handle with both hands. He was not the King of Knights, Arthur. Neither the Knight of the Sun, Gawain. Nor the Knight of the Lake, Lancelot. He was the Lionheart, Richard. His sword was not the Sword of Promised Victory, Excalibur. Neither the Sword of Revolving Victory, Excalibur Galatine. Nor the Unfading Light of the Lake, Arondight. His was the Sword of Forever Distant Victory, Excalibur. Though his ideal, his very being, was but an imitation, it was no less real or beautiful than the real thing. Though it may be something outside of his own reach in this lifetime, he would still fight so that his ideals and aspirations would become reality, someday. He lifts himself up with newfound resolve, the snow that had gathered on his shoulders and head being shaken off by his movement. Standing, his body breathes in gasps in order to draw in more air, having been starved of oxygen as it slowly began to shut down. Continuing straight ahead, Richard walks through the white-covered path, his sword leaving behind a thin line where its blade cut through the layer of piling snow.
The mountainous path slowly declines, Richard trying not to fall down the side and to his death. Eventually, the white smog clears, revealing a deep canyon in the mountains, with a single bridge connecting the two sides to each other. On the other side, a large cavern entrance is observable, its opening seemingly inviting anybody passing by to enter. Striding to the bridge, knowing that a shelter like this probably wouldn't be easy to find again, he makes his way across the horizontal structure. Once he enters the cavern's mouth, he notices that the cave itself possesses a blue sheen everywhere. Courtesy of the torches, whose flames shine blue. Though the interior was, as expected, nothing but rock, it would make for a good place to stay. Taking his armor off, revealing his form-fitting, and more casual, attire, he goes back outside to retrieve some wood to make a fire. The torches alone would not keep him warm. The trees closer to the mountainside, back on the other side of the canyon, would do.
Walking to the trees, Richard draws Excalibur, slashing at the lowest branches. With time, he could take down the entire tree. But time was not on his side. And he didn't want to take too long hoarding resources beyond his needs. Spending a few minutes taking down branches, some as thick as his arm and others as his fingers, he makes his way back to the cavern. It wasn't as cold down in the canyon, so he was grateful enough for that. He'd noticed a bush containing an assortment of berries next to where he'd arrived in the canyon, so he would go back for them in a moment. Dropping his stockpile of wood and Excalibur at the cavern, he returned to the bush on the other side of the bridge. Kneeling at the bush, he quietly gazed over the many berries that were growing. He'd been taught by his parents how to survive in the wild alone, given that Nara territory was simply a large forest, and as such he knew how to pick the right foods that would not result in stomach pain, or other sorts of unpleasant sensations. Taking a fair number with him, Richard needed something to keep his wounds cushioned. His cape would do, it would just mean sleeping on the bare rocks rather than a thin layer of cloth. Returning to the cavern, he painfully sits himself down in a wince, his back sliding against the wall as he lowers himself. Undoing the buttons on his jacket, Richard sighs in exhaustion, ready to help himself to the berries he'd collected. But it'd have to wait, as Richard sets all the wood into a pile, taking a smaller piece and twisting it in the tinder until it was set alight. It began as small embers, and slowly progressed into flames of a relatively big size. Holding open palms to the fire for a moment, Richard allows the heat to permeate throughout his being. His body quivers at the sudden exposure to warmth, adjusting to the new source of heat. Almost getting carried away, Richard returns to his berries, picking some up and placing them in his palm, ready to eat.
A shadow stretches into view in front of Richard as he prepares to dig in to his berries. His head instinctively turns to pinpoint the object creating the shadow. It wasn't a person, but an animal. A deer. The animal stares at him for a moment with eyes of pure black, the Lionheart returning it in silence. The deer stands at the cavern entrance, its spindly legs holding its thin frame steady. Looking down to the hand that held the berries, Richard guessed that it was searching for food, food that would normally be on a nearby bush. But he'd taken from it, and now only the inedible ones were left. His heart sinking in his chest, Richard turns his head back to the animal, outstretching the arm holding the berries. The animal doesn't retreat or come closer, merely standing still for a few moments. It begins to step forward after it realises he means no harm, coming closer to Richard. The deer stands next to the sitting knight, lowering its head to take from Richard's hand. It swiftly bites a few from his hand, and raises its head again, chewing on the fruits. Half are left for Richard, but it doesn't matter to him. He smiles at the animal, lifting his other hand to pet the deer as it ate the berries. After a few more moments of chewing, it looks towards the one who'd given it food, as if to silently thank him for the gesture. Nodding, Richard watches as the animal walks out of the cavern and back into the canyon. Eating the rest of his berries, Richard takes his cape and crumples it into a bundle of cloth, making it into a makeshift pillow. Placing it on the stone floor of the cavern, Richard lowers himself so that he can lie down, resting the back of his head on the cape. The fire would continue to burn and keep him warm, whilst he slept, recovering from his recent battles.
...
Richard's eyes blink open, his sight greatly blurred. The blue of the clear daylight skies shone into the entrance of the cavern, helping to illuminate the dim space. The young man didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but by now, his wounds were all healed, and his chakra completely replenished. All of his belongings were in order, as he'd left them when he first arrived. The fire had gone out, the charred remains of the sticks being all that was left. Sitting himself upright, Richard massages his head for a moment, trying to wake himself up fully. Putting a hand to his hip, he feels the hard handle of Excalibur. Breathing a slight sigh of relief, that his most treasured weapon hadn't been stolen by some bandit, he straightens himself out, stretching the stiffness out of his body, and stands up. A slight breeze swept over the mountains, whistling through the entrance of the caverns and deeper onward into the ancient tunnels. The flames flickered slightly at the wind's touch, but they remained lit, as they had been for some time, evidently. Looking to the entrance, Richard turns his head to the dark depths of the cave, his curiosity piqued.
Crouching to the cold stone ground, he begins to put his armor back on, tightening the buckles and making sure they sit comfortably on his body. Once finished adjusting his armor, Richard looks back down to where his chestplate was, and notices a small, grey object on the ground. He crouches to take a closer look, and quickly realises that what is on the ground isn't a physical shard of something, but a small liquid mass. It slowly, subtly, writhes on the ground, as if it were a worm in its death throes. Squinting his eyes, the Lionheart is reluctant to make physical contact with it, not knowing exactly what it was. Opening one of his hands, he concentrates his chakra to the air right above his gloved palm, superheating it via short and rapid movements, the stimulation of the chakra giving birth to a small flame that flickers brightly in the dimly lit cavern entrance. He keeps his palm open, holding the small flame, and holds it close to the liquid matter as it writhes on the floor. Noticing little effect, he pushes the flame closer until it embraces the mass, hoping to burn it completely. Its movement simply becomes more exaggerated, erratic. Withdrawing his palm, Richard ceases the concentration of chakra to his hand, the flame quickly snuffing itself out. The young knight stands himself up, peering into the darkness, and adjusts Excalibur on his left hip, turning the rest of his body and walking deeper into the mountain's caves.
There is only the sound of the flickering torches and dripping water that can be heard as Richard strolls cautiously through the mountain passages, keeping a single hand on his weapon. As he continued, he noticed a change in the appearance of the stone walls. They began to look less like the uneven, jagged surfaces of a typical cavern, and more akin to that of artificial tunnels. Natural, algae-covered stone turned to decrepit, but smoother still brick walls, illuminated by the flickering light of the blue torches. Perhaps this was not merely a series of caves the odd traveler came through and lit up, but a network of tunnels and passageways intentionally made by someone. The passageways gradually became wider and more open, the ground more even as well. The darkness slowly receded as the number of torches along the walls increased, revealing a series of inscriptions and carvings on the wall. Initially, they were little more than inane scrawlings, with little sense or meaning, but the further he walked into the tunnels, the more they began to resemble writing. Eventually, the carvings were accompanied by illustrations and visual imagery. Ceasing his progress through the caves, Richard stopped to more closely examine the words, the characters being incredibly small. He couldn't entirely make out the writing, but it seemed to be...some kind of story. A recap of events. Richard was unsure, he was only taught the history of his own clan, who were not overly involved in the affairs of the rest of the land. Ominously, the writing was accompanied by thin streaks and flecks of dried blood. Consistently, a single name was mentioned amongst the carvings; Aléxandros Megas. He continues through the cave on his previous path, the writing continuing along the walls, the area remaining dimly lit by the blue fire of the torches. Eventually, he reaches the end of the scrawlings, a large patch of dried blood merely inches from where he stood. On the wall next to it, there was a few more sentences of writing.
A hissing sound to Richard's left alerts the young man, and he draws his sword with haste. He hears more of the dripping sound which had accompanied him throughout the tunnels, but it wasn't water that fell upon the rocky surface of the cave grounds. It sounded more like sludge. What Richard saw before him was a not an animal he'd ever seen, nor something he could even begin to describe as resembling anything from the land. It stood 3 meters tall, snarling at him viciously, its breath visible as small puffs of smoke as it stared down the young knight. Gathering chakra within his sword, Richard tightens his grip on Excalibur, making a motion as if to holster it, but only holding it by his hip. He draws the weapon in a quick, upwards motion, releasing the charged chakra as a condensed wave of crimson energy, aimed to bifurcate the beast. The collision caused the creature to stagger a few meters, but it did not sustain any meaningful harm. Changing tact, Richard pours more chakra into the blade, vibrating it within and around the length of the weapon at a high, but constant frequency. Causing the energy to manifest as lightning, he tenses his legs and crouches slightly, leaping towards the great beast. Reaching its legs, he performs a sweep motion to sever its right leg. Though the move is successful, the creature had regained proper footing, raising itself on its hind legs. It's tentacle like appendages flew out from under the beast, aiming to grab Richard and impale him. Bending his legs, Richard swiftly crouches as he slides along the ground, evading both the tentacle-like legs. He would stand himself up and continue to run, allowing his carried momentum to charge his next swing. His sword carves through the beast's left hind leg, joining the other fallen limb on the ground as the large creature lets out a chilling screech.
Looking behind him, Richard sees black mud ooze from the stumps where his sword had severed its limbs. Without warning, the creature suddenly turns around and lashes out with its stumps, aiming to knock the young man to the floor. Leaning out of the way of one limb, Richard fails to account for the other and is knocked backwards, bouncing off the wall and landing hard on the floor of the cave. His armor had taken most of the impact, but Richard could feel the force behind the blow. Standing up, wiping the grime from his face, he watches the beast slowly inch towards him, its mouth watering. Mildly disgusted, Richard grips Excalibur with both hands, and swings his blade at the creature, sending forth a blade of lightning which splits into multiple smaller, connected blades which branch off and attack the beast. It lets out a terrible scream as the lightning pierces its skin, slicing deep into its flesh. The attack leaves it stunned for a moment, allowing Richard to close in and jump towards its head. Raising his sword above his head, he brings the weapon down on the monster's head, the lightning coating the blade allowing it to cleave directly through the tough carapace. The strike is accompanied by more bone-chilling screeches, as well as spraying of black ooze directly from the wound. Summoning as much strength as possible, Richard tries to force the blade further into the head, but its no good. The beast lashes out blindly and violently, attempting to get Richard off its body, and succeeds, sending him hurtling to the ground. The young man lands on his feet, his armor and part of his face now covered in the blood of the creature. Panting, he sheathes his weapon, he concentrates his chakra to his right hand, forming a dense mass of lightning that chirps in his palm. Raising it quickly, he releases a wave of senbon, made of pure electrical energy, which would pierce through the limbs and body of the beast en masse. The energy would be released with such force that the limbs would be pinned to the walls and floor of the cave. Taking a moment to charge his hand with chakra yet again, he imbues the chakra with the lightning nature, and hurls it directly towards the carved head of the injured creature. The ball of lightning slams directly into the beast, exploding in a bright flash of lightning. As it expands, the energy sends shockwaves of kinetic force throughout the walls of the tunnel, causing deep cracks to appear. The beast is vaporised, leaving a charred pile of black ooze. While the creature was dealt with, Richard had weakened the surrounding rock, meaning that at any moment, part of the mountain could collapse on his head. With small pieces of rubble and debris already beginning to fall, there was no time to risk performing seals and manifesting an extra layer of protection through jutsu. Turning tail, Richard runs as fast as his legs would carry him, the sound of cracking and crashing behind him being incentive enough to not look back and just keep running.
Running through the continuous passageway, Richard spots light shining from the wall, not in the same way light was produced from a torch. It shone through the wall, rather than from it, meaning that there was some kind of opening in the cave. Mustering the final dregs of his strength, Richard makes a frantic rush for the potential doorway, hoping that it would offer an exit from the collapsing tunnel behind him. As he nears the light, his breathing hastens, air entering and leaving his lungs at heightened pace, preventing his body from absorbing the oxygen effectively. His limbs begin to burn from the exerted effort, and his head goes light. Slowing down slightly as he reaches the light, he pivots his body to face the source of the light; a large chamber. Not registering anything else, only that there was a room to escape to, he leaps into the open chamber, the cave collapsing behind him. Panting as he lies on the ground, he looks up around him to observe his surroundings, now that he was safe. Cages, tables with open scrolls and parchment, wooden seats, meat hooks...Richard was unsure what to make of it. Lifting himself to his feet, Richard dusts himself off and puts a hand to his hip, making sure that Excalibur was still on him. Feeling the curvature of its handle, he places the hand on the weapon, walking around and inspecting the room. Walking to the table in the center of the room, he sees an open scroll, which read like a list of ingredients or components for something. "'Nero Chaos', 'the primordial soup'..."
Perplexed, a hissing sound behind Richard alerts him to the presence of another being in the room. Turning quickly, expects to see another one of the otherworldly creatures standing before him, ready to pounce. However, what greeted him was not one of the beasts. At least, entirely. Likewise, it was not entirely the visage of a man he observed upon turning around. It was a strange amalgam of man and beast, but not of the same appearance as the one he'd saw and fought in the tunnels. It resembled the form of animals that he'd seen, simply made out of that same black ooze which he'd seen at the entrance of the cave, and spurting from the creature's head when he swung at it with his sword. "Whoever you are, you've done well to find this place. What you see around you is my experimental chamber."
Too tired to scoff, Richard's reply is all that makes it out of his mouth. "Whatever it is you're experimenting with? It tried to kill me earlier."
"As it should. These are beasts, you know. Deranged. Untamed. Like all things in this world, their innate nature is that of chaos. It is what preceded them, before all of creation, and after all creation subsides, it will be all that is left."
"Lucky for me, that time isn't right now...if you could direct me to the nearest exit, I'd rather appreciate it."
"You're not leaving here. I've a severe lack of human specimens, aside from myself. It isn't often that people come through these mountains, not for the last 300 years."
The last few words of the man's sentence catch Richard's attention, startling him somewhat upon hearing them. Regaining his composure, he lets out a small smile. "An apology about your pet wouldn't change your mind, would it?"
Without batting an eye or saying a word in response to his dry wit, the man lashes out with tendrils of the same black ooze from before, lashing out at Richard. Drawing his sword quickly, Richard quickly channels chakra through his blade, manifesting a cloak of electrical energy that runs along Excalibur. Slashing straight through two of the tendrils, a third grabs his arm and flings him leftwards, slamming him directly into the wall. Landing crumpled on the ground, Richard sees the man visibly unaffected by the blow he'd dealt with his sword. Standing up, he moves in for another shot at dealing any kind of damage to the man. Simply met by more tendrils, he slashes through them, continuing on his path towards the man. He enters short-range of him, but is grasped but the wrists and ankles by the ooze which had escaped his view. The tendrils exert a great grip on his weapon arm, squeezing it with great pressure until Richard relinquishes his grip on his weapon. Attempting to squirm free from his restraints, Richard grimaces in exertion as he struggles to even move an inch. Again, he is flung into a wall by the man, as if he were no more than a piece of garbage standing in his way. Clenching both his hands into fists as he lifts himself from the ground, Richard feels embers of anger building in his chest, mixed with desperation. Staring down the man, he wonders how next to approach the situation. A frontal attack would only result in further injury, or get him killed. The man didn't seem to exhibit any form of invulnerability. Just tricky to approach. With this in mind, Richard formed a single seal, manifesting a cloak of flames on his body that would serve to protect him from further attacks. He rushes the man-beast hybrid, allowing the tentacles to scorch and melt as they attempt to attack him, raising an arm and forming a small construct in the shape of a clawed fist to punch the man directly in the gut. The blow connects, but it doesn't even make the man flinch, and Richard raises his fist to strike again. He's met by a sudden impact to the side of his head, a larger object being slammed into his armor. Though it isn't dispelled by the attack, Richard is knocked to the floor and at the mercy of a large canine-like head, snarling at him. As it lunges down to snatch his body into its jaws, Richard rolls out of the way, dispelling his armor of fire. Channeling chakra to his palm seals, Richard quickly converts a portion of his reserves into Dark chakra. He jumps back, observing as the mud beast raises its head, snarling at him again and opening its great jaws. Seeing an orange color slowly become more and more visible in its jaw, Richard raises an open palm in anticipation, his suspicion being confirmed as a blast of flames is unleashed towards him. As the fiery energy reaches him, the Lionheart activates his palm seal, absorbing the energy and allowing it to be converted into Dark Release chakra. Landing on his feet, the embers of fire slowly dissipate into the air from the maw of the beast, which appeared to be emerging from the man's arm. "You've done well to survive thus far, but..."
As the man trails off, Richard feels his feet being pierced from under him, the shock preventing him from countering the single tendril that would lash out and wrap itself around his neck. It would exert such pressure that his airway would be closed, cutting off breath immediately. "I am one with hundreds of years of combat experience. You don't even look like you've tasted real combat. The kind where everyone around you must fall for your survival. Where their concession of defeat is not victory. You have not tasted the real world, true chaos, yet."
Richard would respond, were it not for being strangled. His vision begins to darken, the man's words become gradually less audible. His strength starts to ebb away, his body becoming less tense. The grip of the tendrils on his neck becomes stronger, as if his head was about to pop off at any moment. It was in that instant that his mind flashed back to memories of his father, pleading him to leave the Nara, to pursue his own dreams beyond the clan. To pursue his dreams of peace. But what could he do? Against an opponent so powerful, who could ignore all his attacks and blows without so much as flinching. His mind trails off on that thought, his consciousness fading...
Ba-bump
Richard's fingers suddenly contort, as if to grasp at something within reach, and Dark chakra pours from his seals, rapidly enveloping his body. In a moment's notice, Richard's body adopts a much more demonic visage, his hands and feet becoming claws, his face becoming a maw of gnashing teeth with a mantle of horns. He breaks free from the tendril holding his neck, the burst of energy eviscerating the tendrils which had pierced his feet. The man would watch Richard undergo the transformation, not appearing to be phased at all by the sudden development. Mockingly, he speaks to the transformed Lionheart. "You don't appear all that different from my own beasts now."
Growling in response, Richard stares down his target, not having entirely lost himself in that moment, but not being himself either. He was acting purely on instinct. Tensing his legs, Richard leaps towards his opponent, arm raised to slash at the head of the man. With tendrils raised to pierce his form, Richard instinctively channels his Dark chakra throughout his body. In that moment, the tendrils pass through his body, having become completely intangible. He passes through the man, sapping chakra directly from him as he emerges, landing on the ground behind him and turning to make another slash at the man's head. Another tendril passes through his body, resulting in more chakra being sapped. The man leaps away as Richard's clawed hand reaches for his head, turning to face the beast-like knight from where he stands on the other side of the room. His intangibility ending, Richard faces his opponent, looking only to deal harm to the man, all thoughts of escape having left his mind.
He leaps forth again, aiming to attack the man again. The opponent summons three more beasts from his body again, in addition to the single one already present, this time to unleash a large torrent of flames that would incinerate him. Fortunately, Richard's current form allowed him to assimilate the flames, and thus, he would continue on his current path to the man. The ground cracked in a small circle beneath his feet where he'd stepped, and Richard gripped two of the beasts with his bare hands, attempting to rip them out of the man's body. "Do not think it so easy to tear apart my body. I, Nero Chaos, am of a different level of existence to yourself. Even if you should rip apart my body, I will simply regain form, and even should you manage to tear off my head, you will have only killed one of the six-hundred and sixty-six beasts that reside in my being. You cannot kill me, boy."
Richard dismissed the challenge, not as a conscious decision, but he was too consumed in his own lust for blood that it had merely registered as noise. Releasing a hand from Nero's shoulder, he shapes it into the form of a large knife, which he would thrust straight through the chest of Nero. There'd be a brief pause where it seemed as if Nero was taken aback by the blow, but as before, it had barely even registered to him. The beasts lunged forward from Nero's body, biting and gnawing at Richard's body, attempting to rend him limb from limb. Pain flares in Richard's body, and he lets out a slight groan. Smirking, Nero feels the blade in his chest slowly withdraw, anticipating that Richard would soon succumb to his own condition. To his surprise, a purple miasma concentrates around Richard's torso, the denseness of the energy causing the air around the two to distort. Richard gazes up at Nero, his rows of teeth forming into something of a small smile. The energy is briefly drawn into Richard, before being explosively released as a charged, omnidirectional blast of raw energy. The release sends Nero flying through the wall behind him, the knife having been drawn cleanly from his body by the impact that expelled him from the room.
Still standing where he was during his last attempt to attack Nero, Richard's purple form slowly fades, revealing his human appearance. Gasping for breath, Richard's entire body had become heavy, his chakra expenditure, combined with his restless movement and attacks from mere moments earlier, had drained him greatly. However, he had to confirm whether or not Nero still lived. Trudging through the hole in the wall, he steps back into the tunnel network, looking to his left and right in search of Nero. To his left, he sees the light of day, and footsteps leading towards that light. Sighing, he falls to his knees, the sharp stinging pain in his feet finally registering completely. Turning himself around, he crawls back through the hole, hoping to find something to patch himself up with. Luckily enough, there were bundles of bandages, strewn on the floor after his fight. He wouldn't expose them directly to his feet, for fear of infection after contact with the ground, but he'd keep them wrapped over his broken boot, stemming the bleeding somewhat.
Crouching to the cold stone ground, he begins to put his armor back on, tightening the buckles and making sure they sit comfortably on his body. Once finished adjusting his armor, Richard looks back down to where his chestplate was, and notices a small, grey object on the ground. He crouches to take a closer look, and quickly realises that what is on the ground isn't a physical shard of something, but a small liquid mass. It slowly, subtly, writhes on the ground, as if it were a worm in its death throes. Squinting his eyes, the Lionheart is reluctant to make physical contact with it, not knowing exactly what it was. Opening one of his hands, he concentrates his chakra to the air right above his gloved palm, superheating it via short and rapid movements, the stimulation of the chakra giving birth to a small flame that flickers brightly in the dimly lit cavern entrance. He keeps his palm open, holding the small flame, and holds it close to the liquid matter as it writhes on the floor. Noticing little effect, he pushes the flame closer until it embraces the mass, hoping to burn it completely. Its movement simply becomes more exaggerated, erratic. Withdrawing his palm, Richard ceases the concentration of chakra to his hand, the flame quickly snuffing itself out. The young knight stands himself up, peering into the darkness, and adjusts Excalibur on his left hip, turning the rest of his body and walking deeper into the mountain's caves.
There is only the sound of the flickering torches and dripping water that can be heard as Richard strolls cautiously through the mountain passages, keeping a single hand on his weapon. As he continued, he noticed a change in the appearance of the stone walls. They began to look less like the uneven, jagged surfaces of a typical cavern, and more akin to that of artificial tunnels. Natural, algae-covered stone turned to decrepit, but smoother still brick walls, illuminated by the flickering light of the blue torches. Perhaps this was not merely a series of caves the odd traveler came through and lit up, but a network of tunnels and passageways intentionally made by someone. The passageways gradually became wider and more open, the ground more even as well. The darkness slowly receded as the number of torches along the walls increased, revealing a series of inscriptions and carvings on the wall. Initially, they were little more than inane scrawlings, with little sense or meaning, but the further he walked into the tunnels, the more they began to resemble writing. Eventually, the carvings were accompanied by illustrations and visual imagery. Ceasing his progress through the caves, Richard stopped to more closely examine the words, the characters being incredibly small. He couldn't entirely make out the writing, but it seemed to be...some kind of story. A recap of events. Richard was unsure, he was only taught the history of his own clan, who were not overly involved in the affairs of the rest of the land. Ominously, the writing was accompanied by thin streaks and flecks of dried blood. Consistently, a single name was mentioned amongst the carvings; Aléxandros Megas. He continues through the cave on his previous path, the writing continuing along the walls, the area remaining dimly lit by the blue fire of the torches. Eventually, he reaches the end of the scrawlings, a large patch of dried blood merely inches from where he stood. On the wall next to it, there was a few more sentences of writing.
"My army, deserted. My conquest, ceased. My empire, dissolved. My dream, shattered. I, who would have been the most powerful man in all of the Freehold, who had every right to be...I, Aléxandros Megas, face a dishonorable, pathetic end in my own caves. Should anyone wandering through these caves come upon these words, this story of mine, know that it was I, Aléxandros Megas, who would have led mankind to a new world."
A hissing sound to Richard's left alerts the young man, and he draws his sword with haste. He hears more of the dripping sound which had accompanied him throughout the tunnels, but it wasn't water that fell upon the rocky surface of the cave grounds. It sounded more like sludge. What Richard saw before him was a not an animal he'd ever seen, nor something he could even begin to describe as resembling anything from the land. It stood 3 meters tall, snarling at him viciously, its breath visible as small puffs of smoke as it stared down the young knight. Gathering chakra within his sword, Richard tightens his grip on Excalibur, making a motion as if to holster it, but only holding it by his hip. He draws the weapon in a quick, upwards motion, releasing the charged chakra as a condensed wave of crimson energy, aimed to bifurcate the beast. The collision caused the creature to stagger a few meters, but it did not sustain any meaningful harm. Changing tact, Richard pours more chakra into the blade, vibrating it within and around the length of the weapon at a high, but constant frequency. Causing the energy to manifest as lightning, he tenses his legs and crouches slightly, leaping towards the great beast. Reaching its legs, he performs a sweep motion to sever its right leg. Though the move is successful, the creature had regained proper footing, raising itself on its hind legs. It's tentacle like appendages flew out from under the beast, aiming to grab Richard and impale him. Bending his legs, Richard swiftly crouches as he slides along the ground, evading both the tentacle-like legs. He would stand himself up and continue to run, allowing his carried momentum to charge his next swing. His sword carves through the beast's left hind leg, joining the other fallen limb on the ground as the large creature lets out a chilling screech.
Looking behind him, Richard sees black mud ooze from the stumps where his sword had severed its limbs. Without warning, the creature suddenly turns around and lashes out with its stumps, aiming to knock the young man to the floor. Leaning out of the way of one limb, Richard fails to account for the other and is knocked backwards, bouncing off the wall and landing hard on the floor of the cave. His armor had taken most of the impact, but Richard could feel the force behind the blow. Standing up, wiping the grime from his face, he watches the beast slowly inch towards him, its mouth watering. Mildly disgusted, Richard grips Excalibur with both hands, and swings his blade at the creature, sending forth a blade of lightning which splits into multiple smaller, connected blades which branch off and attack the beast. It lets out a terrible scream as the lightning pierces its skin, slicing deep into its flesh. The attack leaves it stunned for a moment, allowing Richard to close in and jump towards its head. Raising his sword above his head, he brings the weapon down on the monster's head, the lightning coating the blade allowing it to cleave directly through the tough carapace. The strike is accompanied by more bone-chilling screeches, as well as spraying of black ooze directly from the wound. Summoning as much strength as possible, Richard tries to force the blade further into the head, but its no good. The beast lashes out blindly and violently, attempting to get Richard off its body, and succeeds, sending him hurtling to the ground. The young man lands on his feet, his armor and part of his face now covered in the blood of the creature. Panting, he sheathes his weapon, he concentrates his chakra to his right hand, forming a dense mass of lightning that chirps in his palm. Raising it quickly, he releases a wave of senbon, made of pure electrical energy, which would pierce through the limbs and body of the beast en masse. The energy would be released with such force that the limbs would be pinned to the walls and floor of the cave. Taking a moment to charge his hand with chakra yet again, he imbues the chakra with the lightning nature, and hurls it directly towards the carved head of the injured creature. The ball of lightning slams directly into the beast, exploding in a bright flash of lightning. As it expands, the energy sends shockwaves of kinetic force throughout the walls of the tunnel, causing deep cracks to appear. The beast is vaporised, leaving a charred pile of black ooze. While the creature was dealt with, Richard had weakened the surrounding rock, meaning that at any moment, part of the mountain could collapse on his head. With small pieces of rubble and debris already beginning to fall, there was no time to risk performing seals and manifesting an extra layer of protection through jutsu. Turning tail, Richard runs as fast as his legs would carry him, the sound of cracking and crashing behind him being incentive enough to not look back and just keep running.
Running through the continuous passageway, Richard spots light shining from the wall, not in the same way light was produced from a torch. It shone through the wall, rather than from it, meaning that there was some kind of opening in the cave. Mustering the final dregs of his strength, Richard makes a frantic rush for the potential doorway, hoping that it would offer an exit from the collapsing tunnel behind him. As he nears the light, his breathing hastens, air entering and leaving his lungs at heightened pace, preventing his body from absorbing the oxygen effectively. His limbs begin to burn from the exerted effort, and his head goes light. Slowing down slightly as he reaches the light, he pivots his body to face the source of the light; a large chamber. Not registering anything else, only that there was a room to escape to, he leaps into the open chamber, the cave collapsing behind him. Panting as he lies on the ground, he looks up around him to observe his surroundings, now that he was safe. Cages, tables with open scrolls and parchment, wooden seats, meat hooks...Richard was unsure what to make of it. Lifting himself to his feet, Richard dusts himself off and puts a hand to his hip, making sure that Excalibur was still on him. Feeling the curvature of its handle, he places the hand on the weapon, walking around and inspecting the room. Walking to the table in the center of the room, he sees an open scroll, which read like a list of ingredients or components for something. "'Nero Chaos', 'the primordial soup'..."
Perplexed, a hissing sound behind Richard alerts him to the presence of another being in the room. Turning quickly, expects to see another one of the otherworldly creatures standing before him, ready to pounce. However, what greeted him was not one of the beasts. At least, entirely. Likewise, it was not entirely the visage of a man he observed upon turning around. It was a strange amalgam of man and beast, but not of the same appearance as the one he'd saw and fought in the tunnels. It resembled the form of animals that he'd seen, simply made out of that same black ooze which he'd seen at the entrance of the cave, and spurting from the creature's head when he swung at it with his sword. "Whoever you are, you've done well to find this place. What you see around you is my experimental chamber."
Too tired to scoff, Richard's reply is all that makes it out of his mouth. "Whatever it is you're experimenting with? It tried to kill me earlier."
"As it should. These are beasts, you know. Deranged. Untamed. Like all things in this world, their innate nature is that of chaos. It is what preceded them, before all of creation, and after all creation subsides, it will be all that is left."
"Lucky for me, that time isn't right now...if you could direct me to the nearest exit, I'd rather appreciate it."
"You're not leaving here. I've a severe lack of human specimens, aside from myself. It isn't often that people come through these mountains, not for the last 300 years."
The last few words of the man's sentence catch Richard's attention, startling him somewhat upon hearing them. Regaining his composure, he lets out a small smile. "An apology about your pet wouldn't change your mind, would it?"
Without batting an eye or saying a word in response to his dry wit, the man lashes out with tendrils of the same black ooze from before, lashing out at Richard. Drawing his sword quickly, Richard quickly channels chakra through his blade, manifesting a cloak of electrical energy that runs along Excalibur. Slashing straight through two of the tendrils, a third grabs his arm and flings him leftwards, slamming him directly into the wall. Landing crumpled on the ground, Richard sees the man visibly unaffected by the blow he'd dealt with his sword. Standing up, he moves in for another shot at dealing any kind of damage to the man. Simply met by more tendrils, he slashes through them, continuing on his path towards the man. He enters short-range of him, but is grasped but the wrists and ankles by the ooze which had escaped his view. The tendrils exert a great grip on his weapon arm, squeezing it with great pressure until Richard relinquishes his grip on his weapon. Attempting to squirm free from his restraints, Richard grimaces in exertion as he struggles to even move an inch. Again, he is flung into a wall by the man, as if he were no more than a piece of garbage standing in his way. Clenching both his hands into fists as he lifts himself from the ground, Richard feels embers of anger building in his chest, mixed with desperation. Staring down the man, he wonders how next to approach the situation. A frontal attack would only result in further injury, or get him killed. The man didn't seem to exhibit any form of invulnerability. Just tricky to approach. With this in mind, Richard formed a single seal, manifesting a cloak of flames on his body that would serve to protect him from further attacks. He rushes the man-beast hybrid, allowing the tentacles to scorch and melt as they attempt to attack him, raising an arm and forming a small construct in the shape of a clawed fist to punch the man directly in the gut. The blow connects, but it doesn't even make the man flinch, and Richard raises his fist to strike again. He's met by a sudden impact to the side of his head, a larger object being slammed into his armor. Though it isn't dispelled by the attack, Richard is knocked to the floor and at the mercy of a large canine-like head, snarling at him. As it lunges down to snatch his body into its jaws, Richard rolls out of the way, dispelling his armor of fire. Channeling chakra to his palm seals, Richard quickly converts a portion of his reserves into Dark chakra. He jumps back, observing as the mud beast raises its head, snarling at him again and opening its great jaws. Seeing an orange color slowly become more and more visible in its jaw, Richard raises an open palm in anticipation, his suspicion being confirmed as a blast of flames is unleashed towards him. As the fiery energy reaches him, the Lionheart activates his palm seal, absorbing the energy and allowing it to be converted into Dark Release chakra. Landing on his feet, the embers of fire slowly dissipate into the air from the maw of the beast, which appeared to be emerging from the man's arm. "You've done well to survive thus far, but..."
As the man trails off, Richard feels his feet being pierced from under him, the shock preventing him from countering the single tendril that would lash out and wrap itself around his neck. It would exert such pressure that his airway would be closed, cutting off breath immediately. "I am one with hundreds of years of combat experience. You don't even look like you've tasted real combat. The kind where everyone around you must fall for your survival. Where their concession of defeat is not victory. You have not tasted the real world, true chaos, yet."
Richard would respond, were it not for being strangled. His vision begins to darken, the man's words become gradually less audible. His strength starts to ebb away, his body becoming less tense. The grip of the tendrils on his neck becomes stronger, as if his head was about to pop off at any moment. It was in that instant that his mind flashed back to memories of his father, pleading him to leave the Nara, to pursue his own dreams beyond the clan. To pursue his dreams of peace. But what could he do? Against an opponent so powerful, who could ignore all his attacks and blows without so much as flinching. His mind trails off on that thought, his consciousness fading...
Ba-bump
Richard's fingers suddenly contort, as if to grasp at something within reach, and Dark chakra pours from his seals, rapidly enveloping his body. In a moment's notice, Richard's body adopts a much more demonic visage, his hands and feet becoming claws, his face becoming a maw of gnashing teeth with a mantle of horns. He breaks free from the tendril holding his neck, the burst of energy eviscerating the tendrils which had pierced his feet. The man would watch Richard undergo the transformation, not appearing to be phased at all by the sudden development. Mockingly, he speaks to the transformed Lionheart. "You don't appear all that different from my own beasts now."
Growling in response, Richard stares down his target, not having entirely lost himself in that moment, but not being himself either. He was acting purely on instinct. Tensing his legs, Richard leaps towards his opponent, arm raised to slash at the head of the man. With tendrils raised to pierce his form, Richard instinctively channels his Dark chakra throughout his body. In that moment, the tendrils pass through his body, having become completely intangible. He passes through the man, sapping chakra directly from him as he emerges, landing on the ground behind him and turning to make another slash at the man's head. Another tendril passes through his body, resulting in more chakra being sapped. The man leaps away as Richard's clawed hand reaches for his head, turning to face the beast-like knight from where he stands on the other side of the room. His intangibility ending, Richard faces his opponent, looking only to deal harm to the man, all thoughts of escape having left his mind.
He leaps forth again, aiming to attack the man again. The opponent summons three more beasts from his body again, in addition to the single one already present, this time to unleash a large torrent of flames that would incinerate him. Fortunately, Richard's current form allowed him to assimilate the flames, and thus, he would continue on his current path to the man. The ground cracked in a small circle beneath his feet where he'd stepped, and Richard gripped two of the beasts with his bare hands, attempting to rip them out of the man's body. "Do not think it so easy to tear apart my body. I, Nero Chaos, am of a different level of existence to yourself. Even if you should rip apart my body, I will simply regain form, and even should you manage to tear off my head, you will have only killed one of the six-hundred and sixty-six beasts that reside in my being. You cannot kill me, boy."
Richard dismissed the challenge, not as a conscious decision, but he was too consumed in his own lust for blood that it had merely registered as noise. Releasing a hand from Nero's shoulder, he shapes it into the form of a large knife, which he would thrust straight through the chest of Nero. There'd be a brief pause where it seemed as if Nero was taken aback by the blow, but as before, it had barely even registered to him. The beasts lunged forward from Nero's body, biting and gnawing at Richard's body, attempting to rend him limb from limb. Pain flares in Richard's body, and he lets out a slight groan. Smirking, Nero feels the blade in his chest slowly withdraw, anticipating that Richard would soon succumb to his own condition. To his surprise, a purple miasma concentrates around Richard's torso, the denseness of the energy causing the air around the two to distort. Richard gazes up at Nero, his rows of teeth forming into something of a small smile. The energy is briefly drawn into Richard, before being explosively released as a charged, omnidirectional blast of raw energy. The release sends Nero flying through the wall behind him, the knife having been drawn cleanly from his body by the impact that expelled him from the room.
Still standing where he was during his last attempt to attack Nero, Richard's purple form slowly fades, revealing his human appearance. Gasping for breath, Richard's entire body had become heavy, his chakra expenditure, combined with his restless movement and attacks from mere moments earlier, had drained him greatly. However, he had to confirm whether or not Nero still lived. Trudging through the hole in the wall, he steps back into the tunnel network, looking to his left and right in search of Nero. To his left, he sees the light of day, and footsteps leading towards that light. Sighing, he falls to his knees, the sharp stinging pain in his feet finally registering completely. Turning himself around, he crawls back through the hole, hoping to find something to patch himself up with. Luckily enough, there were bundles of bandages, strewn on the floor after his fight. He wouldn't expose them directly to his feet, for fear of infection after contact with the ground, but he'd keep them wrapped over his broken boot, stemming the bleeding somewhat.
To be continued...
Other Information
Lion's Heart ➟ Richard has a particular affinity for Fire Release, achieved through countless hours of training with the art. Mastering it thoroughly, he is capable of performing all Fire Release techniques without a single seal as a Handsealess Specialist. Furthermore, this specialty with the element grants him access to techniques such as the Great Fireball Shower. Combined with his artifact, the Memory of Fire, he is a particularly formidable user of Fire.
Sword of Forever Distant Victory ➟ Richard's passion for swordplay is at the heart of his skill at it, making him a Kenjutsu-based Tracker Specialist. His childhood desire to become a knight led him down the path of learning the ways of the sword, and through his passion-driven training, his tenacity and dedication to learning it rivaling and arguably surpassing that of his Fire Release, he possesses greater tracking abilities, as well as the ability to combat enemies without initiating or maintaining eye contact.
Wandering King ➟ At an unknown point in time, Richard became versed in the sealing arts, and he is able to conjure barriers and utilise various specialised tools revolving around seals. His skill and efficiency with chakra, honed through the practice and study of Fūinjutsu, makes him a Chakra Control Specialist, able to utilise his speciality, Fire Release, with a lesser cost.
Unholy Allegiance ➟ Richard was born to a user of the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai, an Advanced Element which is formed from the union of Fire and Lightning Release natures. Engraved on his palms are the signature Dark seals that are indicative of the Kekkei Genkai's manifestation. These marks allow him to absorb incoming techniques by draining the spiritual and physical energies composing them, and converting them into his own energy for later use. Richard is able to release this special form of energy through these seals, unleashing it as violet or purple flames. Implanted within his chest is the Hōgyoku, a mysterious object taking the shape of an orb which is closely linked to his nervous and chakra circulatory system. It responds to his desires, granting him greater power at mere thoughts, transforming his body in order to accomplish this.
Remnants of History ➟ Richard's travels through the land eventually saw him take part in a great battle in the Chilli Pepper Pass in the Badlands of Earth. Fighting against Saladin and his men, Richard was able to survive the gruesome encounter, and retrieved a small ring from the battlefield. This ring, Hinokioku, or 'Memory of Fire', is an object which passively enhances Richard's Fire Release techniques, bestowing upon A-Rank and lower techniques with a single increase in rank, and higher rank techniques with an additional 10 damage. Another unique ability of the ring is the ability to change the inherent properties of their Fire techniques, changing them into ash or gas.
Sword of Forever Distant Victory ➟ Richard's passion for swordplay is at the heart of his skill at it, making him a Kenjutsu-based Tracker Specialist. His childhood desire to become a knight led him down the path of learning the ways of the sword, and through his passion-driven training, his tenacity and dedication to learning it rivaling and arguably surpassing that of his Fire Release, he possesses greater tracking abilities, as well as the ability to combat enemies without initiating or maintaining eye contact.
Wandering King ➟ At an unknown point in time, Richard became versed in the sealing arts, and he is able to conjure barriers and utilise various specialised tools revolving around seals. His skill and efficiency with chakra, honed through the practice and study of Fūinjutsu, makes him a Chakra Control Specialist, able to utilise his speciality, Fire Release, with a lesser cost.
Unholy Allegiance ➟ Richard was born to a user of the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai, an Advanced Element which is formed from the union of Fire and Lightning Release natures. Engraved on his palms are the signature Dark seals that are indicative of the Kekkei Genkai's manifestation. These marks allow him to absorb incoming techniques by draining the spiritual and physical energies composing them, and converting them into his own energy for later use. Richard is able to release this special form of energy through these seals, unleashing it as violet or purple flames. Implanted within his chest is the Hōgyoku, a mysterious object taking the shape of an orb which is closely linked to his nervous and chakra circulatory system. It responds to his desires, granting him greater power at mere thoughts, transforming his body in order to accomplish this.
Hōgyoku / Breakdown Sphere
Type: Weapon
Rank: S-Rank
Range: N/A
Chakra Cost: N/A (-10 per turn of transformation process, -40 per transformation, -20 for Divino, x amount per chakra conversion in each transformation)
Damage: N/A (-10/-20/-30 per activation based on each form)
Description: Born from a union between science and chakra, the Hōgyoku is just like in the case of Samehada, a parasitic organism, but different from many we have seen prior. The organism is trapped into a hardened layer of itself, in a spherical shape, looking almost as a gem stone, shining blue. This organism is implanted in the user’s chest, connected via medical jutsu to the different chakra network channels. The Hōgyoku was projected to read the different kinds of wavelength of the chakra released. We have seen in the series that the chakra has a very deep connection to the emotional cases of the user, so the moment when the subject requires or needs more power, it will project that very desire into the chakra itself, being read by the weapon. In response to this, the Hōgyoku will begin to forcibly modify and restructure the subject's structural and physical composition, using the subject's chakra. It is capable of growing at will and since it is implanted into the subject’s chakra system and body, due to the connection it has to the blood vessels it can travel across the body of the ninja or shinobi to different locations, making its true purpose shine. The Hōgyoku can at will, grow at different parts of the users body, creating a very monstrous shape, which leaks out of the pores and forms, keeping the skin and muscle tissue of the person inside these inner created layers. The Hōgyoku will be able to form a very special membrane cover around very specific wounds, keeping the body together, but not in any way healing them. This organism is a parasitic one who helps the user, but does not heal him, so as the turns continue, the damage would get worse and more infected, but still work, due to the effect of the organic material Hōgyoku is made out of. As for the transformations, due to the extensive and complex process of molecular restructuring and transformation of the subject's body and chakra, the subject must wait one turn after each transformation before beginning another. The membrane produced by the Hōgyoku will progressively strengthen as the transformations continue, eventually reaching a final form where the membrane will be at its most potent. The turn of transformation initiation counts as the first of the allotted turns to transform. Every extra appendage and material produced by the Hōgyoku has the same resistance proportionate to the transformation. Attacks and techniques which are tangible (e.g. Water and Earth) will break through the coating where affected by the attack, leaving the area vulnerable. The main strength of the membrane is not its ability to protect wounds, but its ability to passively absorb chakra from energy-based techniques (e.g. Fire, Lightning and Wind) of any kind, and from direct contact with beings that possess chakra as well, similarly to Inhaling Maw. Because the Hōgyoku is a parasitic organism, it requires chakra to activate and remain in a state of activity. As such, it will passively drain chakra from the user every turn at a set amount, to fuel the transformation. Even when the process of transformation is not being undergone by the subject, the Hōgyoku is still active, siphoning small portions of the user's chakra and converting it into Dark chakra for the subject's use at a 1:1 ratio once per turn, which also applies to direct absorption from beings with chakra (e.g. 10 normal chakra points → 10 Dark chakra points), which varies between forms (in its pre-transformation state, -5 points will be passively siphoned and converted to Dark chakra for the subject), transformation costs and penalties are exempt and are not converted into Dark chakra. All changes to the subject are irreversible, and permanently active unless an area unprotected by the membrane has been attacked. If the whole membrane armour is completely destroyed or otherwise removed, the subject will resume their previous features prior to transforming. Beside it's absorption capabilities, the armour is immune to C-Rank and below techniques of a physical nature (e.g. Earth or Water). This also renders it immune to freeform and unranked damage such as the explosions from paper tags. Anything above the stated threshold or anything which exceeds the Hōgyoku's capacity for absorption will destroy the armour and continue onwards to strike the user's body. It will be capable of taking one B-Rank technique (without the user sustaining harm to their body) but in doing so, the armour will be shattered and neutralized in the process.
First Fusion: Crisálida
Second Fusion: Evolucionar
Third Fusion: Divino
With each of the forms, the user will lose a total of 10 – 20 – 30 health at the moment each form is activated, and the last form itself will absorb up to 20 chakra points per turn and 20 health per turn as well. Both Crisálida and Evolucionar can remain active indefinitely but Divino will last a maximum of five turns before it deactivates. This will revert the weapon to it's dormant state and render it unusable for the rest of the battle. When Divino ends, the user will also become incapable of using techniques above A-Rank for three turns.
Notes
- The shockwave, for all intents and purposes, is of B-Rank strength and is short-range
- Chakra conversion and transformation cost penalties stack
- Passive absorption counts as a use of Inhaling Maw for techniques which require absorption
- Membrane properties are passively active, but will not apply when an unprotected area is struck
- Each transformation counts as a move during the turn the process begins
- Can only be used by Rᴜʀūsʜᴜ
Rank: S-Rank
Range: N/A
Chakra Cost: N/A (-10 per turn of transformation process, -40 per transformation, -20 for Divino, x amount per chakra conversion in each transformation)
Damage: N/A (-10/-20/-30 per activation based on each form)
Description: Born from a union between science and chakra, the Hōgyoku is just like in the case of Samehada, a parasitic organism, but different from many we have seen prior. The organism is trapped into a hardened layer of itself, in a spherical shape, looking almost as a gem stone, shining blue. This organism is implanted in the user’s chest, connected via medical jutsu to the different chakra network channels. The Hōgyoku was projected to read the different kinds of wavelength of the chakra released. We have seen in the series that the chakra has a very deep connection to the emotional cases of the user, so the moment when the subject requires or needs more power, it will project that very desire into the chakra itself, being read by the weapon. In response to this, the Hōgyoku will begin to forcibly modify and restructure the subject's structural and physical composition, using the subject's chakra. It is capable of growing at will and since it is implanted into the subject’s chakra system and body, due to the connection it has to the blood vessels it can travel across the body of the ninja or shinobi to different locations, making its true purpose shine. The Hōgyoku can at will, grow at different parts of the users body, creating a very monstrous shape, which leaks out of the pores and forms, keeping the skin and muscle tissue of the person inside these inner created layers. The Hōgyoku will be able to form a very special membrane cover around very specific wounds, keeping the body together, but not in any way healing them. This organism is a parasitic one who helps the user, but does not heal him, so as the turns continue, the damage would get worse and more infected, but still work, due to the effect of the organic material Hōgyoku is made out of. As for the transformations, due to the extensive and complex process of molecular restructuring and transformation of the subject's body and chakra, the subject must wait one turn after each transformation before beginning another. The membrane produced by the Hōgyoku will progressively strengthen as the transformations continue, eventually reaching a final form where the membrane will be at its most potent. The turn of transformation initiation counts as the first of the allotted turns to transform. Every extra appendage and material produced by the Hōgyoku has the same resistance proportionate to the transformation. Attacks and techniques which are tangible (e.g. Water and Earth) will break through the coating where affected by the attack, leaving the area vulnerable. The main strength of the membrane is not its ability to protect wounds, but its ability to passively absorb chakra from energy-based techniques (e.g. Fire, Lightning and Wind) of any kind, and from direct contact with beings that possess chakra as well, similarly to Inhaling Maw. Because the Hōgyoku is a parasitic organism, it requires chakra to activate and remain in a state of activity. As such, it will passively drain chakra from the user every turn at a set amount, to fuel the transformation. Even when the process of transformation is not being undergone by the subject, the Hōgyoku is still active, siphoning small portions of the user's chakra and converting it into Dark chakra for the subject's use at a 1:1 ratio once per turn, which also applies to direct absorption from beings with chakra (e.g. 10 normal chakra points → 10 Dark chakra points), which varies between forms (in its pre-transformation state, -5 points will be passively siphoned and converted to Dark chakra for the subject), transformation costs and penalties are exempt and are not converted into Dark chakra. All changes to the subject are irreversible, and permanently active unless an area unprotected by the membrane has been attacked. If the whole membrane armour is completely destroyed or otherwise removed, the subject will resume their previous features prior to transforming. Beside it's absorption capabilities, the armour is immune to C-Rank and below techniques of a physical nature (e.g. Earth or Water). This also renders it immune to freeform and unranked damage such as the explosions from paper tags. Anything above the stated threshold or anything which exceeds the Hōgyoku's capacity for absorption will destroy the armour and continue onwards to strike the user's body. It will be capable of taking one B-Rank technique (without the user sustaining harm to their body) but in doing so, the armour will be shattered and neutralized in the process.
First Fusion: Crisálida
After 1 turn, the first transformation will complete, which will be marked by the release of a massive discharge of purple chakra that can potentially harm any that are too close, pushing them to mid-range and dealing blunt-force damage. Upon transforming, the user will emerge with a phantom-like appearance, consisting of a white cloak which is split in four sections near the waist. There is a cross in the middle of the cloak, showing where the Hōgyoku is embedded in the subject. The membrane is able to passively absorb energy-based techniques up to and including B-Ranks at this stage. In response to being shattered by a B-Ranked physical attack, the white cloak appears to crack and fold, and is able to be broken, at which point the user's actual body is exposed, with additional physical changes being observable; their eyes turning grey with purple sclera and longer hair. In this form, the Hōgyoku will siphon -10 chakra points from the subject per turn, which will then be converted to Dark chakra immediately for use.
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Second Fusion: Evolucionar
The subject may not begin another transformation process until one turn after the completion of the first transformation. Upon which, the subject may then begin the next. This transformation process requires 2 turns to complete, during which the same abilities regarding attribute increases apply. After the transformation process completes, the subject will emerge from an explosion of chakra similar to that of the last transformation. The subject will have undergone an even more drastic physical change: the subject has a hole in the center of their chest with a cross in the middle of it. The form-fitting white robe which enveloped the subject in the previous form lengthens, and flares out at the ends. In this form, the subject's irises vanish, as well as their eyebrows. Embedded in their forehead is a diamond-shaped object. The most distinguishing feature of this transformation is the 3 sets of butterfly-like wings which can be used to cover short-range distances at rapid speeds when flapped (use of the wings counts as a move). With this transformation, the user gains a stronger membrane covering compared to their previous form (energy-based techniques up to and including A-Rank can be passively absorbed). In this transformation, the membrane covers all parts of the body except for the head, with the wings counted as part of the membrane. In this form, the passive chakra siphon of the Hōgyoku increases to -15 per turn, and will return 15 points of Dark chakra.
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Third Fusion: Divino
Upon completion of the second transformation, the subject must wait one turn until they can begin their next and final transformation. After the transformation process completes, which takes 3 turns, the subject will enter their final transformation stage. The subject emerge from the resultant chakra explosion with a very demonic appearance, the diamond-shaped point has broken open, revealing a vertical black third eye upon the center of the subject's forehead, and the skin on the face splits open down the middle and pulls back around the sides of the head to reveal a blackened, demon-like skull. The subject gains three holes running vertically down his chest, the Hōgyoku standing at the center of the top hole. Additionally, the subject's feet become single claws, and their hands and feet become blackened. The butterfly-like wings change into a set of six sheet-like wings with eyes set upon the center, adorned with demonic skulls, and trailing into tendrils. The user's membrane covering will reach its ultimate point (energy-based techniques up to S-Rank can be passively absorbed) in addition to the same utility of wings as the previous form granted. This is the most offensively oriented form that the Hōgyoku grants the subject, as the small skulls on the wings now have attack capability. Each of them can fire off a small, compressed ball of Dark chakra that will detonate on impact and create a large explosion (each ball is of A-Rank strength, an individual usage counts as a move, and can reach up to mid-range). In addition, by drawing on the subject's chakra, the Hōgyoku can fire an extremely powerful blast of S-Rank power Dark chakra that can reach up to long-range with a diameter of 7 inches, and counts towards the move limit. The membrane covers the whole body in this transformation. In this form, the chakra siphoned is -20 points, with 20 points of Dark chakra being returned).
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With each of the forms, the user will lose a total of 10 – 20 – 30 health at the moment each form is activated, and the last form itself will absorb up to 20 chakra points per turn and 20 health per turn as well. Both Crisálida and Evolucionar can remain active indefinitely but Divino will last a maximum of five turns before it deactivates. This will revert the weapon to it's dormant state and render it unusable for the rest of the battle. When Divino ends, the user will also become incapable of using techniques above A-Rank for three turns.
Notes
- The shockwave, for all intents and purposes, is of B-Rank strength and is short-range
- Chakra conversion and transformation cost penalties stack
- Passive absorption counts as a use of Inhaling Maw for techniques which require absorption
- Membrane properties are passively active, but will not apply when an unprotected area is struck
- Each transformation counts as a move during the turn the process begins
- Can only be used by Rᴜʀūsʜᴜ
Remnants of History ➟ Richard's travels through the land eventually saw him take part in a great battle in the Chilli Pepper Pass in the Badlands of Earth. Fighting against Saladin and his men, Richard was able to survive the gruesome encounter, and retrieved a small ring from the battlefield. This ring, Hinokioku, or 'Memory of Fire', is an object which passively enhances Richard's Fire Release techniques, bestowing upon A-Rank and lower techniques with a single increase in rank, and higher rank techniques with an additional 10 damage. Another unique ability of the ring is the ability to change the inherent properties of their Fire techniques, changing them into ash or gas.
(Hinokioku) – Memory of Fire
Type: Artifact
Rank: S
Range: Short
Chakra: N/A
Damage: N/A (+1 Rank Katon)
Description: A ring traditionally worn on the right ring finger; the ring is a relic from centuries ago during the Hangurian Campaign of Fire, an era that would usher in the great expansionary era of the Freehold. It is fashioned out of an indestructible red stone that augments the user’s fire manipulation skills. All fire techniques of the user’s are strengthened by one rank up to A-Rank. S-Rank and above techniques are augmented by an additional 10 damage. Once every other move the ring can alter the inherent properties of the user’s Fire techniques, granting them ash or gas properties.
Rank: S
Range: Short
Chakra: N/A
Damage: N/A (+1 Rank Katon)
Description: A ring traditionally worn on the right ring finger; the ring is a relic from centuries ago during the Hangurian Campaign of Fire, an era that would usher in the great expansionary era of the Freehold. It is fashioned out of an indestructible red stone that augments the user’s fire manipulation skills. All fire techniques of the user’s are strengthened by one rank up to A-Rank. S-Rank and above techniques are augmented by an additional 10 damage. Once every other move the ring can alter the inherent properties of the user’s Fire techniques, granting them ash or gas properties.
Picture(s)
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Theme Song & Background Music
[video=youtube;Mvlm7lKunjI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvlm7lKunjI[/video]
Battles
Won ➟ 0
Lost ➟ 0
Lost ➟ 0
□ Approved □
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