Chapter 136 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: A visit to the library, and Sakura Country

So here we are, Friday's chapter.
I also have the side story done which'll be posted later today.
My beta says this chapter felt good, it's "hitting its stride." So you know, there's some confidence for you.

Enjoy, and thank you for the support.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Trotting hooves smack repeatedly on a stone bridge beneath them. The knight and his horse have traveled farther than one would think possible in a very short period of time. Earlier today he was talking to a supposed lord in her room, a preteen girl too nervous to declare herself and make her claim seem more legitimate. His master’s pity bid him to journey here, but he would be here even if his own lord hadn’t bid him to. Some people are pathetic because they are born that way. Greatness only exists for the bold, and some simply aren’t born with the inherent potential to get anywhere. That’s a rule of his land, level caps and even an age limit are decided on birth, statistics are largely genetic, and stat growth is based on those.

Others are pathetic because despite their boldness, they’ve watched every option crumble before their very eyes. His current master was like that once, not too long ago. He still remembers her tears. She stood in a field of corpses, stained by the blood of friend and foe, thousands of lives lost over a small stretch of land now barren and unusable because of the very spells used to fight. No one could have the land, and yet a blood price was still paid. Lost, discarded, her friends would never be spoken of again.

Back in that room he had a very strong feeling that he was talking to the second, and for that reason alone, he knew even while he threatened her that he’d be going back with a shake of his boney head like they never discussed anything if she was indeed lying to him. His master might still punish her for lying, but that’s not his place or his decision.

“There is just no way.” The railings on the side of the bridge are made with wood, the way it looks to his old and knowledgeable fire filled gaze, this bridge was originally made wooden and they simply replaced huge parts of it as time passed. It makes sense, the rot from the water would collapse it before long if left to time, at least before too long for him. Despite the elegant scenery in front of him, his glowing ethereal eyes are focused on the distance. The waves of the water below, the endless bounty with no care for ownership or dispute. This much water would be guarded by garrisons back home, castles and forts and great mages capable of destroying large swaths of landscape to stop a single drop from being stolen.

They value the water so little here that he hasn’t seen a single guard. Even stranger is that it falls from the sky. The pitter patter of droplets smacking against his armor, horse, and the structure beneath his feet seem mystical. Rain is something he hasn’t seen in almost two hundred years, when the fourth Dark Lord split the sky and called down the wrath of the heavens for a betrayal. It just happens here. Thousands of spells are used to move and purify the water every year, and as he holds out his hand, he witnesses all that effort made meaningless by the sheer force of nature.

This alone proves Sakura’s claim, all that’s left is to make sure it actually belongs to her and see how she governs for himself. Humans are all too quick to boldly brag about half truths to make themselves feel better.

--------------------------------------------------------------

“He has glowing eyes, he's an envoy!” His feet barely touch the soil beneath him before a child starts pointing at him. A young boy with a strange hat on his head and a loud voice that pierces the air.. How he even knows what an envoy is isn’t something Reaver cares about, that they’re so eager to have one that even the children are excited to see a traveler is a different matter.

“What makes you say that, lad?” He takes a few steps towards the boy, his metallic suit clacking loudly and calling attention to them. There are a few people around to stare, but they seem more protective and ready to jump to the boy’s defense than anything. He likes that, it implies they’re happy and brave, not beaten down and afraid. “Does your lord commonly send conspicuous folks like myself?”

“No, but your eyes are glowing.” The boy explains, “Sakura’s eyes glow, it makes sense.”

“...” He should have known it was merely childish logic and not a pattern he could glean useful information from. “I am a friend of hers, though I am not here to send a message. Can you direct me to your information directory?”

“...”

“Your database.”

“...”

“Do you have a big building with lots of paper?” The Dark Knight finally asks, and watches as the child’s eyes light up with recognition.

“Oh, this way!” Now he’s following a random child, she better actually be their lord.

--------------------------------------------------------------

“That brat is actually a lord.” The documentation is clear, this place is in fact called Sakura country, and is being ruled by Sakura Haruno. Quite well he might add, the buildings look much nicer than most towns in the Darklands, and while the stench of recovery lingers in the air the documentation claims the transfer is rather recent.

By all rights, Sakura is a benevolent lord that hasn’t taken much if anything from the coffers and has devoted quite a bit of her own money to the development and recuperation of a starving nation. That her money barely scratches the surface of their needs only makes that fact all the more remarkable.

Unfortunately it does bring with it some troubles. “We can’t take from this settlement without paying.” Sakura claimed she could strike a deal, maybe even give them resources for free. While this land is prospering, its records do not lie, aside from donations this land is barely breaking even. Should Sakura’s and Naruto's support suddenly disappear, the land will quickly fall back into struggle.

Sakura’s bound to make it back, but Naruto… That name was in the registry of souls entered into the game, Naruto Uzumaki. “He’s got a remarkable amount of funds and generosity to be donating like this without taking anything in return. A true knight… perhaps I should choose him and train him for his contract.”

A stroke of the parchment flattens it, undoing a crinkle with a spark of magic. He’s not used to scribe work, but he pulls out his own parchment and ink to copy it nevertheless. His lord will desire this, and it’s proof that this Naruto is interesting enough to justify one of them taking him. It helps Sakura will likely be grateful a good friend and supporter of hers is guaranteed to survive.

“A benevolent lord, I do believe I misunderstood and misjudged her.” This reminds him of the second Dark lord, back when the first attempt at human and monster cohabitation resulted in settlements like this spawning across the entire world. Back before the twisted magics created the Darklands.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Luckily for Sakura the Mind Transfer Jutsu shows up in her skills list so it’s easy to get the basics.

[Mind Transfer Jutsu (Borrowed)

You may transfer your soul to the body of another temporarily. If your combined Mental and Charm stat is higher than theirs there is no chance of them resisting, but if it’s not they may struggle or even overpower you.

After 48 hours it may be hard to return to your body. Dying in their body will result in your soul passing on like normal. Chakra based damage may come with you when you return to your body.]

It’s a useful skill, but she doesn’t have the ability to check the stats of other people yet so how can she know if her combined stats are higher than theirs? It’s probably safe to say she shouldn’t use it against someone who’s danger rating is a mocking joke or anything like that, but what about Rosalia? And what’s that about forty eight hours? The skill only lasts for twenty four, so will she be able to return naturally without it or is she just forced to stay there forever because it ran out? The system seems to work for her just fine in Ino’s body, so maybe it’d work here and she could use Hero to take the skill again tomorrow and come back?

Whatever the case, she’s not about to test it. Another one of Kakashi’s oh so wise statements is ‘those that fuck around, die screaming’ and she’s not sure why he changed the normal phrasing but it’s probably true. “I hate this.” She grumbles to herself, letting her head fall back and grunting at the sky. Her room’s ceiling being the sky in this instance, she can’t even grunt at a real sky because she’s too depressed to leave her room. That needs to end, she can’t save Ino if she doesn’t go somewhere.

Her eyes close for a moment, before she takes a deep breath to center herself, and jumps out of her chair. Ino’s advice about breathing to pull her energies from deep within works, just not as well as she’d like.

Sometimes the best way to do something is to just do it. It’s stupid advice because it’s not actually helpful, but it’s sound advice in that it’s correct. Things do not get done until you do them, no magical force is going to save Ino for her and as much as she’d like to beg the universe to move in her place, doing so would result in silence and then screaming and then more silence. She needs more information, Rosalia is easy because she basically fell into her lap but that doesn’t mean she’s the best option available.

What she needs is information on nobles, information on these games, and information on the Dark Knights. Sitting around won’t help her, so even if every step hurts and she just wants to go curl up and maybe die a little, she has to break her chains and move. There’s no other option, move it or lose it and it’s not dinner at stake or something she can just give up on because it’s easier. She hasn’t learned anything, it’s just what needs to be done and as a ninja, doing what’s needed is her job. “For Konoha.” She mumbles to herself glumly.

So after stressful negotiation she finds herself in a real library up some stairs and at the center of the tall tower they’re all residing in. She has a trait to study like the wind, and she quickly finds her inner pain fades away the moment she steps into the den of books. Anguish, despair, depression, lost in the wind. A notice at the side of her vision tells her that her Tank trait has activated, which is odd because as far as she knows no one is trying to kill her right now. “Did I seriously struggle so much my body assumed I was fighting for my life?” Turns out mental struggles aren’t a joke, who knew.

It’s also nice to know it considers different kinds of pain instead of just stab wounds. It’s probably why she was able to fight Orochimaru despite how helpless everything seemed. So that’s the trick, that’s how she’ll beat depression, she’ll punch it in the face… Err, she’ll punch things in the face and the trait will activate. Do they have to want to fight or can she just activate it by swinging? She’s not checking right now, she’s got books to read.

Her feet - now with pep in her step and a bounce to her gait - lead her directly up to a desk in which a taller woman is sitting behind. She looks a little sleepy, with big tired eyes and a pure black paint in a circle around them. Her hair is a jagged white, and if she didn’t know better she’d wonder if Kakashi has a sister here. Her figure is a little on the thicker side, and her clothes are marked with odd symbols she can’t read that all seem to lead right back up to her face and sharp nose. She has sharp teeth, letting her know it’s a monster, triangular and shark-like. She’s also surrounded by a horde of books, so much so it wouldn’t surprise Sakura to find out this desk isn’t actually structurally sound and is held up with pure knowledge.

[Name: Venecia

Danger: Don’t stick your finger in her mouth and you’re good

Title: Librarian of Darkness

Brief Bio: Picked from a young age for her lack of motivation, Venecia mans the library in the neutral tower with diligence and a sense of purpose that doesn’t meet her eyes. Try not to stare too long.]

Well that’d be depressing if she wasn’t apparently in combat. “I need help, can you tell me where I can find books on the current Dark Knights, the Dark Lord, and the human nobles that are currently here?”

“...” She’s stared at for a long and extremely awkward moment, those dark eyes blinking themselves awake. The woman reaches up with clawed hands that can’t be good for turning pages and rubs her eyes clear. “Can you repeat that?” She sounds tired too, her voice has a bit of a whine to it that makes her want to pet her. She’d probably get bitten… also it’s rude to pet people older than you.

“I need help. Dark Lord, Dark Knights, visiting nobles.”

“Well, I can’t help you with the visiting nobles, they’re still alive so there aren't any books about them.” Her voice is a little soft despite her stature, and she looks at her with an ever so slightly tilted head. Her hair doesn’t follow gravity, like it’s glued to her or something. “The Dark Knights have all been around a while though, so people have written about them. Check the second floor, seventh row to the left in the north east section.”

“And the Dark Lord?”

“You’ll find past Dark Lords in the same section, but the current one, eh, you’ll have to ask her if she’s started an autobiography. She’s not very old yet.” She doesn’t move, stoically staring and giving Sakura a shiver as the creepy sets in.

“Why are you nicknamed the Librarian of Darkness?” Sakura can’t help but ask. It’s probably rude but she can’t get past the fact that she doesn’t even have a proper title but this random librarian does?

“Why are you nicknamed Murderbunny?” The way the woman’s gaze fixates on her, “second floor, northwest, seventh section.”

“I thought it was-”

“One or the other, have fun.” The shrug she gets leads Sakura to believe she said something wrong. She is however intelligent enough to know that whatever she did to make her mad was probably after the first request, so northeast she goes.