43 - Fishing and report
"Ha-ah, I really didn't know alright? Can you drop it already." said Levi, sighing, exasperated as he flew next to Acnologia high in the air.
After they left the massacre ground that Acnologia had caused, Levi noticed that his scaly friend seemed to be angry at him, confusing him to no end as he hadn't done anything that might warrant that.
But after much pestering, the dragon finally decided to share what had happened through their telepathic link, shocking Levi and making him feel really guilty.
It seemed that his analysis skills weren't up to par with his fighting ones, which had caused This misunderstanding.
He had been apologizing ever since then but it seemed that the small dragon was having none of it.
'System any advice?.' asked Levi mostly out of helplessness, he didn't think that the system might provide an answer, and he was right as he didn't receive any.
Looking at the ground moving past them at speeds that were impossible for a normal human to track Levi suddenly got an idea.
If anything was going to make his scaly friend forgive him then it was food, trying to spot anything that might be helpful on the ground Levi spotted a long and wide river, splitting the colourful earth below them in two as it ran past it.
In the river he could clearly see all kinds of spirit fishes of all colours alongside every detail on their skin, with a smirk on his face Levi prompted Acnologia to follow as he dove straight down.
Acnologia had a confused look on his face but he followed him all the same.
Before long Levi was standing at the bank of the river and staring at the running water, once again yearning for his bending abilities back but sadly that wasn't how the world worked, no matter how hard he wished for it he wasn't going to get them back anytime soon.
Shaking his head to get rid of those distracting thoughts Levi summoned a golden spear from Divine armament, one of his favourite weapons along with the sword.
Walking towards the water not worrying if he would get wet or not Levi felt the cold water brush against his feet and move up his legs until it was just below his knees, 'Sigh, how I missed this feeling.' thought Levi with a look of reminiscence on his face, it felt like forever ever since he submerged himself in water like this, he used to do this during his training sessions with Tenzin all the time.
Snapping from his distracting thoughts for the second time Levi stood on the lake staring at the fishes swimming past him as if frozen in place not daring to move in case he scared his prey away. Acnologia just sat at the side watching him and tilting his head.
This was nothing new to Levi, he had gone out to the shore of the southern water tribe more than once with his father to fish using his spear and he had gotten pretty used to it, just as a fish was swimming past him Levi launched his spear down so fast that it wasn't able to react at all before getting impaled on the spear tip.
Throwing the spear with the fish in Acnologia's direction who scurried out of there so fast that Levi barely saw him move -apparently he was still traumatized by Divine armament- Levi immediately disabled the spear letting the fish lay on the shore before summoning another one in his hand.
Acnologia came back just as fast as he ran away when he saw the fish lying on the shore, the only thing stopping him from jumping on it and wolfing it down was Levi's mental prompt to wait.
Levi kept going like that for a while before deciding that he had spent enough time reminiscing about his time with his dad, jumping back to the shore he unsummoned his spear and immediately summoned a wide net, the same one he used to catch that one eagle, before throwing it into the river and pulling.
It felt so heavy that Levi barely got it into the shore, and even then Acnologia had to help him by biting down on it. dragging it with him. When it was finally out of the water Levi could see that there were so many fishes in it that he couldn't even count them, way more than he had caught with his spear.
Acnologia was literally drooling to the side with an absent look on his face, Levi wondered how he had even held himself until now.
"Haha, just a little bit longer buddy." said Levi laughing and making Acnologia's shoulders drop, this was all done for the sake of Acnologia in the first place, he didn't need to eat and if he did he would definitely not eat this much fish.
Dragging the fish he caught further from the shore Levi sat down on a rock and summoned a small knife into his hand as he started to swiftly remove the fish heads, doing it quickly and making sure they didn't feel any pain, if that was even possible for them.
After he was done with that he moved his knife gently but very fast on their skin, slowly peeling away at their scales until there was none left.
[Ding]
[Due to a specific action a new skill is created]
[Cooking (Active) Level 1: The user can cock meals that recovers HP, MP and SP by 1%, the higher the level the higher the recovery rate]
Looking at the notification that suddenly popped up Levi couldn't help but smile, that was another boost to his strength no matter how low it was, 'I should cook meals and carry them with me from now on just in case.'
'Although I don't know how feasible it is to eat during combat, probably not a good idea, I'll just save them up for when I need to recover.' thought Levi as he scratched the idea of taking meals and eating them mid-fight, in a high intensity fight one fraction of a second could mean the difference between life and death and he couldn't be that distracted.
It took him a while before he was done with all the fish that he had caught, Acnologia was basically being tortured while watching him and not being able to eat but he will have to wait a little bit more.
After he was done with cleaning the fishes and making sure they were ready he gathered a bunch of wooden sticks that he threw inside a circle of rocks he made previously before turning to Acnologia, "Care to do the honours…" before he could even finish Acnologia's was above the fire pit breathing fire as if his life depended on it igniting the fire.
Smiling helplessly, Levi skewered the fishes on wooden sticks after washing them in the river and stabbed the wooden sticks into the ground so that they were leaning towards the fire, getting cooked slowly.
Before long the smell of cooked fish wafted into the air making even Levi droll this time, taking the sticks out Levi held one into his mouth and bit on it savoring the taste while he held one to Acnologia who finished it in one bite.
'Needs a little salt and seasoning, but otherwise it's fine.' thought Levi as he tasted the fish, it wasn't up to his standards but it was edible, seeing Acnologia done he took out another stick and held it beside his mouth as he also finished this one in one full gulp.
Before long both Levi and Acnologia were lying on their backs and staring at the colorful sky of the spirit realm, it was blue when he had gotten here but now it was rainbow-colored, Levi had given up on trying to understand the physics of this realm long ago and was just enjoying it, it was the best thing he'd done for his mental health.
As for Acnologia Levi could tell that he had completely forgotten about his earlier grudge, truth be told he would have gotten over it sooner or later but there was no harm in spoiling the little dragon a bit.
Yawning Acnologia turned towards him and closed his eyes while wrapping his wings around Levi
'I guess there is no harm in taking a little rest.' thought Levi, smiling before closing his eyes and dozing off, of course, he wasn't fully asleep and would be able to react to the slightest bit of movement, that coupled with his danger sense will make sure that he's always ready.
***
One week later
Levi and Acnologia could be seen sitting on top of a giant tree branch as they faced a white-haired man with a serious expression, it was Tobirama.
He and Acnologia had been flying high in the air when Tobirama had just appeared beside them out of nowhere startling them before he started falling straight down.
Levi had rushed to catch him before he hit the ground but it seemed that the seasoned shinobi didn't need it as he gracefully landed where they were sitting now followed by him and Acnologia.
The reason he was here was obviously to deliver Levi his weekly report he had asked for as well as update him on the task he gave him to search for the library.
Levi still had his blue eagle wings out on his back as he sat, only folded to not take space but were still visible, as he looked at them Tobirama couldn't help but marvel again at Lev, he seemed to come up with a new power every week.
"What is it, spit it out." said Levi as he saw Tobirama in a daze snapping him out of it.
He of course knew what he was thinking, Tobirama was above all a researcher and maybe a scientist if that makes sense, he created unparalleled jutsus in his previous world, and so it was inevitable that he would be interested in the new addition to his body and how it happened but it was not the time for that now.
"Sorry about that, I was just fascinated by the wings on your back, how did you manage to do it?" asked Tobirama in genuine curiosity.
"It's an ability I developed while I was here, it lets me merge with spirit animals and use their powers and body parts as my own." said Levi giving the best explanation he could that wouldn't reveal the system's existence, the same one he gave to sage before, "This isn't the end though I plan to make it even stronger later on." added Levi referring to when it leveled up, he didn't need to hold anything back from Tobirama, he was mostly assured of his loyalty by now.
"What a marvellous ability!" said Tobirama his eyes shining, it kind of reminded him of the jinchurikis of his past life but this one seemed way more versatile judging by how Levi had said he could use it to merge with spirit animals meaning he can merge with more than one, and by the wings on Levi back.
"It is, now about your weekly report." said Levi, not bothered by Tobirama straying off topic.
"Yes about that, I left a clone in the tribe just in case and departed the moment I spoke to you last week." said Tobirama narrating what he had done, "It wasn't hard to get hold of some maps and after some time spent travelling I am already at a place they call Si wong desert, it may take some time but I have a good feeling about this, if everything goes as planned I should find the library you mentioned soon."
Nodding his head in approval Levi added, "When you do Inform me first before venturing inside it, and it is best if you send a clone in, the spirit inside can sink the library at any time it wants so it wouldn't be wise to go there yourself." said Levi warning Tobirama.
"That would indeed be dangerous, I'll keep it in mind." said Tobirama with a serious look, in his top shape that would have been child's play but right now he was nowhere near it and getting buried alive might be a little hard to get out of.
"How is my family and master doing?" asked Levi after making sure that Tobirama took his warning seriously, it would be disastrous if anything happened to him.
Not to mention losing all contact with the physical world, but on top of that he would also lose a very competent subordinate, and most importantly no one would be left to protect his family, he had seen how the southern water tribe had ended up in the show and he couldn't help but shudder as he thought about it.
"Ha-ah, not too well but life goes on. They will return to their normal way of life soon but I don't think they'll ever be the same if you don't come back." said Tobirama, sighing, he was no stranger to loss and death, in fact he knew it first hand and knew how hard it can be and how hard it can affect those around you, his hate for the Uchiha was one such example.
Tobirama's blood boiled as he remembered that and remembered how they had killed his younger brother and countless of his clansmen, taking a deep breath in and releasing it Tobirama calmed down, 'That's all in the past, now I have a new life and a new purpose.' said Tobirama as he stared at Levi, his inner conflict remaining like that, inner, not a trace of emotion showing on his face, that was the bare minimum of one wanted to become a competent ninja.
Levi, who didn't notice anything wrong with Tobirama sighed heavily, he had done everything he could for now and made sure that his tribe and family would at least have a measure of protection, the only thing he could do now was try his best to find a way back home.
"As long as they're safe, you don't need to give me weekly reports from now on, unless it is something important like you finding the library." said Levi, he didn't want to put himself through this every week and remember his family and worry about them.
Tobirama, seeming to understand him nodded his head before speaking, "If that is all I will be taking my leave." he said and waited for a while in case Levi wanted to say something else before dispersing.
Acnologia was rubbing his head on Levi feeling that he was a little down and trying to cheer him up, and it seemed to work as the smile came back to Levi's face, "Thank you buddy you're the best, let's go now, we have a long way ahead of us." said Levi
"The one in the lead before the sun sets gets more food." said Levi quickly before launching into the air leaving a shocked Acnologia who quickly followed with a panicked expression.
***
AN: I realize that the first part may seem like a filler but in my opinion parts like those are necessary, it shows Levi and Acnologia's bond and friendship and adds depth to their characters.
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As always if we reach 150 power stones in 12 hours you'll get another chapter immediately 😎 😌
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