Powerful Guardians + Sage Mode

“I summon you there, of course.” Armatus said with a smile. Then, he poofed into smoke. It looked very similar to the way Reo used his clones – except it was a short mustachioed armadillo rather than another version of Reo that poofed out of existence.

Then, Reo poofed. It was the oddest sensation in his life. One minute, he was standing in the room he had recently paid for the night. He had been reaching down to grab his belongings. Then… he was in another place. Luckily, he had managed to place a hand on his pack and it had come with him.

[Post 3: 104 Words]

Reo had expected to see the smoke that always accompanied the disappearance of a clone – and apparently the disappearance of a summon. He did not. Perhaps it was different since he was technically being summoned and not being unsummoned? Reo didn’t know. His knowledge base was in Sealing and Taijutsu. Anything outside of that was generally outside of his normal repertoire. Summoning was a strange ninjutsu which worked similar to a seal, but it didn’t contain anything. It brought something to you. In that regard, Reo had absolutely no idea how it worked other than knowing that he could do it no.

[Post 4: 102 Words]

The area around Reo was a rocky outcropping, though the rocks seemed to be of a browner color than they had back in Iwa. The second thing Reo noticed is that there were dozens of armadillos running around. They varied in size from a small creature that looked as if it would fit in Reo’s palm to one that was the size of a human. The elderly Armadillo known as Armatus stood next to Reo.

“Welcome to the Armadillo Canyon. Not many are allowed to grace these halls. Now, we must move.” The armadillo began to walk briskly through what Reo now recognized as an extremely large canyon. There were walls maybe a hundred yards to either side of Reo.

[Post 5: 120 Words]

Reo followed the little Armadillo further and further through the canyon, until he reached a spot that looked like a dead end. Confused, Reo turned to ask Armatus why he led him to a dead end, when the dead end yawned.

Reo stared a little closer. It wasn’t a dead end at all. It actually led to a cavern, which a humongous Armadillo – which actually looked very little like an armadillo if you asked Reo – was inside. This armadillo’s head filled the entire cavern which easily stood twenty feet high. Reo had mistaken it for a wall. The massive creature’s teeth shown in the moonlight before it shut its mouth once more.

[Post 6: 112 Words]

“Armadillo Sage Kyut.” Armatus said with a slight bow. Reo hastened to copy the movement – he didn’t want to disrespect an armadillo that could easily swallow him in one bite. “I have brought the human, Reo Gojisou that I spoke of earlier. He has signed the contract.”

“Goood” The voice of Kyut boomed throughout the canyon. Rocks fell from the edges and smaller armadillos had to scamper out of the way. “He is the one being hunted by the Rogue Sage, Hephaestus, correct?”

Reo’s heart stopped in his chest for a moment. Rogue Sage Hephaestus? Who was that? Reo has heard of Apollo and Ares so far, but not Hephaestus. How many people were after the Ryu Caller?

[Post 7: 118 Words]

Reo knew in that moment that he needed to use the Ryu Caller as soon as he could. Apollo. Hephaestus. Ares. Who else was after the scroll? What were their reasons? Did they want to unleash the Dragons upon the world? Why? Did they work together or were they fighting each other for the scroll as well?

Regardless, Reo could end this all if he just used the scroll and summoned the dragon. Then, he would seal the dragon within his armor so that it could cause no chaos.

“Yes, Grand Sage.” Armatus bowed slightly again. “He was asking around about the others – Apollo and Ares.”

[Post 8: 106 Words]

“Goood. We must train him to become a sage immediately.” The Large armadillo – Kyut – spoke slowly and sonorously.

“But the protocol.” Armatus began before being cut off by the large armadillo once again.

“Hephaestus is a danger to us all. We have deemed Reo worthy of our summoning. He would eventually earn the right to become a sage. All we are doing is speeding the process up so that Reo stands a chance against him.”

“Yes, Grand Sage” Armatus said as he bowed. Then, to Reo’s surprise, he turned and walked back the way he came. Reo wanted to go with him, but felt it wasn’t his place to turn his back on the leader of the armadillos.

[Post 9: 116 words]

“Grand Sage. May I ask who Hephaestus is? I have been attacked by people working for both Ares and Apollo…I have an idea what they are after, but I don’t know much.” Reo said politely. He gave a sort of quarter bow, as he was unsure if he should bow or not.

“I do not know these others well. I only know they are working with Hephaestus…Hephaestus was a previous summoner of the Armadillos. He was the last Sage we created…He betrayed us. He used us to commit crimes against his own country – Iwa. He stopped summoning us once we told him that we would not obey orders such as the ones he gave on that night, so we began to track him. We don’t know much, but we do know that he is targeting you.”

[Post 10: 136 Words]

“But what is a Sage?” Reo asked, unsure what he was signing up for in this particular moment. This seemed a step beyond the summoning contract if Dwayne had not become a sage and he could summon them.

“Ah. A Sage is one who masters the energy of the world. In this case, the Armadillos are experts at drawing out energy from the ground itself – though we draw from everything as do the other sages, such as the Beetle you may be familiar with.” Kyut boomed as he spoke slowly. Reo was intent on catching every word. Beetle? That seemed suspiciously like the creature that Fuu had used during the chuunin Exams. He hadn’t asked her very much about them at the time since he was upset about his loss.

[Post 11: !30 Words]

However, Reo had to admit that this prospect seemed promising. It was everything he had come to Iwa for and more. It would surely help him become a better ninja – though now he had a much more powerful purpose. He needed to stop Apollo, Ares, and Hephaestus.

“I’ll do it!” Reo exclaimed.

“Goood. I worry if Hephaestus succeeds in whatever his plan is, that he will come for us next. We would be unable to defeat him…as we have never trained a more powerful sage than him.” Kyut spoke in his usual slow voice, but he somehow managed to impress urgency upon Reo. Clearly they were worried about this Hephaestus.

[Post 12: 110 Words]

“I need you to sit down and meditate in front of me.” The creature boomed. Reo, who was expecting something far more urgent to occur than meditation, was thrown off by the request.

“Meditate?” Reo asked.

“Yes. You must be one with the world. Eliminate all distractions and focus on the nature of the world itself. Plants, rocks, water…everything possesses its own energy. Focus on that.” Kyut said as it clearly stifled a yawn. As Reo watched, he realized that he didn’t know where Kyut’s hands were. Were they too big to fit outside of the cavern exit? Why would he be in the cavern if he was too big for it?

[Post 13: 112 Words]