Guardian of Earth

“yeah, Hephaestus. Nasty bloke, that one.” Dwayne said as he spit to the side. “Well, what can I do for you, Master Sage?”

Reo laughed. He didn’t mean to be offensive, but he was hardly a master sage. “I’m only a novice Sage. I would hardly say that I am a master…but, while I have you. I’m wondering what you know about Hephaestus? Master Kyut said that he was after me and that was why they were wanting to teach me to become a Sage already.”

Dwayne’s face turned to stone. “Hephaestus is after you? Shit…that makes sense. I mean, not that he’s after you, but it makes sense why they are interested in you.”

[Post 10: 115 Words]

“Well, what do you know about him?” Reo asked again, hoping to get more information from the Jounin. Dwayne seemed almost scared for Reo. That didn’t bode well if an Iwa Jounin was scared of this Hephaestus.

“Hephaestus was an Armadillo Sage before I even became a Jounin. He was one when I first signed my summoning contract. I didn’t interact with him on a personal level very often, but he was incredibly powerful. I remember the last time I saw him…he had unlocked some other type of power. His skin was scaly when he was fighting. That was right before he left the village and became a rogue ninja.”

[Post 11: 110 Words]

Scales. Reo’s mind flashed to the dream he had the previous night. A large scaly creature that had eyes the size of a dinnerplate. The creature had put the fear of all the deities into Reo, but it was based purely on imagination. What did it mean that Hephaestus had unlocked an ability that made him have scales? It had just been a dream; Reo didn’t even know if dragons were scaled creatures. Still, it was too much of a coincidence for the faithful young monk to ignore. He clasped his hands together and said a silent prayer.

Perhaps these three knew far more about dragons than Reo himself did.

[Post 12: 110 Words]

“If he is after you, then you will need to get stronger. I know of a skill that he has that you will need if you wish to defeat him.” Dwayne half smiled as he looked towards the rocky outcropping they had trained at previously. “meet me in our previous training location in an hour. I’ll see you there.”

With that, Dwayne shut the door and Reo was left to look around. This Hephaestus person sounded like serious trouble. Not that Reo needed any additional trouble since Apollo had sent an entire squad of bandits after him. Ares had sent just a single soldier, at least.

[Post 13: 106 Words]

Reo wandered around for a half hour before heading out to the rocky outcropping. It wasn’t extremely far out so it only took him another half an hour to make it there. When he arrived, Reo sat on a rock and waited.

It took Dwayne about five minutes to arrive after Reo. He had probably been tailing the monk the entire time.

“Alright, so I know I said it’s a skill but…it’s more of a way of fighting. This is the only thing Hephaestus personally taught me, so be warned that he has the endurance this type of training grants, too.”

[Post 14: 101 Words]

“What do you mean it’s a way of fighting?” Reo asked, curious about what he could be talking about. He hadn’t thought that there was something else lacking in his knowledge of Iwa fighting styles.

“I mean…look, what you’ve learned of Iwa encompasses standing your ground. Fighting no matter how hard it is and withstanding blows, right?” Dwayne said as he stumbled over his words. Reo couldn’t help but think that he was having trouble explaining this to him. “The difference here is that this fighting style is for what happens after you fall. It’s about getting back up. A boulder may get destroyed, but the wind will always bring about another one.”

[Post 15: 113 Words]

The next few days passed in a rush for Reo. He didn’t go back to the tavern. He wanted to, but Dwayne wouldn’t let him. Everytime the young monk would mention it, Dwayne would mention how one did not learn to rise up whenever they are enjoying the comforts of a hotel room. Reo tried explaining that the rock tavern was far from comfortable, but it didn’t work. The training was grueling, but simple. Simple, but effective. Reo and Dwayne fought. Reo was allowed to defend himself, but he could not throw any blows back.; Essentially, he played defense in a fight against a Jounin for three entire days.

[Post 16: 109 Words]

The training was effective, however. Reo learned what Dwayne meant when he said that there was more than just withstanding a blow. The body didn’t just tank hits like they were nothing. That was impossible against some opponents – as it was for Reo against Dwayne. Instead, the body needed to learn how to bounce back after taking a hit. It wasn’t the same principle that he had learned in Kiri. It wasn’t the principle of going with the flow but rather of taking the hit and recovering. It was strange how the body could adapt to this so easily. Reo would take a hit and be able to keep moving, even though it definitely hurt.

[Post 17: 115 Words]

At the end of it all, Reo felt confident when he was done with the training that he had learned all he was going to from Iwa. It was time for a new adventure. Of course, it had been some time since he returned home so Reo added that to his list of things to do.

“So, what’s next for you? I don’t know where Hephaestus is, but if he is after you then you should get somewhere safe. I’d say we could defend you here…but the man is a monster and has friends in Iwa. Someone would let him inside the city, of that I have no doubt.” Dwayne spoke to Reo as a close friend. Perhaps they were now.

[Post 18: 121 Words]

“Next? Next, I need to go visit my home in Suna. After that, I think I will go to Kumo. So far I have learned a little more about this trio that is after me at each location. I don’t think it is impossible that I will learn more in Kumo.” Reo spoke calmly, though inside he was a maelstrom of emotions. Anger. Fear. Excitement. Everything mixed within him. Over it all though, was the knowledge that he had said he would return to Suna as a shinobi once he was done with his tour of the main villages. His tour was quickly reaching its zenith.

[Post 19:106]

“Trio? Well, good luck. I would join you but I don’t think that I can leave my post here in Iwa just yet.” Dwayne said as he began to walk away. Reo sighed. The next leg of his journey filled him with too many emotions. For now, he would focus on getting back to Suna and seeing how things were back in his hometown. Perhaps Fuu or Tsukasa would be doing something interesting that didn’t involve Ares, Apollo, or Hephaestus.

Reo began to walk down the rocky road. It would slowly turn into a dirt road and then into sand he knew. But, for now it was rock.

[Post 20:108 Words][QUEST COMPLETED: REWARD: + 25% Endurance]