Phantom in Naruto (AU)

Chapter 1 — Reincarnated

-The world was on fire when I opened my eyes; scores of buildings ripped apart by a battle that would've made international news back home. Half a castle stood in front of me, the other half smoldering like it'd been struck by a meteor. 

Nothing moved around me. Nothing could. Everything was ash and fire, and for the longest moment. I sat on my ass, wondering where the fuck I was. 

The last thing I remembered was getting prepped for a date with this girl I ran into at the auto shop. She had a proper Mustang and the brightest smile I'd ever seen. I was turning onto the street in my car when…I saw a truck?

Suddenly, I felt the stab of a nasty headache and saw flashes of a gruesome scene. Several cars were strewn apart, half-crushed, their drivers dead or being attended to by EMTs. Night became day as dozens of ambulances, rescue choppers, and news reporters filled the street. 

But the thing that stood out the most was the pitch black wild skid mark angling out from a capsized semi truck half-buried in the ruin of a bakery. No light seemed to touch the truck, the same truck I had seen. And underneath, under its off-kilter corpse, was a car.

I felt my blood run cold as I recognized the glossy blue of my new Corvette. 

Did I die? 

Without warning, my headache grew to an almost blinding pain and I doubled over, too hurt to scream.

Gah! I must be clearly losing it. 

I heard stone shift and crash to the floor somewhere behind me, calling me back to my present. My entire body seized up as I heard noises and footsteps approaching. 

My first instinct was to call out to them for help. I had been transported half a world away to a battlefield againg my will, and they could help me get home. 

But what if they were the bad guy? 

That thought gave me pause. I didn't recognize the castle before me, but I knew I was somewhere in Europe, and it'd been a landmark. Only terrorists and hostile military states were crazy enough to attack landmarks.

Eitherways, it didn't look good for me. I hurried to my feet and tip-toed to one of the few structures that seemed to have survived the attack– a shed. Or was it a bombing? I saw no metal slugs. I didn't even know if the fire was radioactive… No, no. No use overthinking Sam. Take things one step at a time. 

"Yeah, I need to find somewhere to hide until I figure shit out," I muttered as I hurried up to my feet. I spied a small shed that was still standing. Half of it had collapsed in on itself when it'd been hit by whatever ammunition they were using, and luckily, the fire had gone out. I hopped into the shed through the large hole and hid in the deepest corner I could find as I listened and waited.

They passed me not long after and spoke in English, though it was in an accent so thick, I barely understood.

"This is the fifth time we've circled the stupid academy. I see no reason why we can't join the others. It's not like any of the mages would've been stupid enough to wait until we arrived."

"Grandmaster Silver was clear," the other voice said. "We keep up patrols until dawn. We cannot afford to let our guard down around the Archmage."

Archmage, I thought with a slight frown. That sounded like something straight out of a fantasy novel. Was it some kind of code for military rank?

I followed their voice and pressed against the cold walls of the shed to listen.

"Archmage?" the first voice said with some panic and came to a stop. "I thought he was a grandmaster?" The other patrol man stopped as well.

"Have you ever heard of a grandmaster who could cut through several masters and adepts by himself?" he scoffed. "We're facing the very best here. And that apprentice of his will be no joke either."

"Then why are they sending us after them?" the first voice said. "We're adepts, let the Masters and Grandmasters look for him. We'll be dead long before we even lay eyes on him."

The other man offered no immediate response. "You know how this works. It's an honor to be called for a hunt like this. The Academy can't tolerate upstart academies or forbidden realm freaks. Succeeding on a hunt like this guarantees we'll reach the very top."

"I know..I know." 

"Cheer up," the other man said with a slap. "I mean look at this place. There's no chance someone was foolish enough to stay."

With those words, they were out of my earshot, and my entire body began to shake as I tried and failed to wrap my head around what I'd just heard. 

Grandmasters and Archmages, Adepts, and Mages. Oh, God, I thought. I've either been yoinked into a fucking fantasy novel, or I was losing my mind. I knew it was unlikely that it was the latter, given how real everything felt. The cold ground underneath me, the stone, the smell of ash and brimstone, and the passing wind— which had begun to pick up. 

As crazy as it sounded, the latter was more likely, which meant I was a dead man walking. I was stranded in the ruin of a monastery occupied by tyrannical, supremacist magic people looking for a powerful mage and his apprentice. I'll be killed or trapped on sight!

"Status.' I whispered in my panic.

"System?"

"Stats"

"Quest page?"

My voice grew increasingly louder as panic began to set in. Where was my cheat? Wasn't this how it was supposed to go? A regular dude gets killed and transmigrates into another world with cheats that help him survive. I couldn't possibly be the one exception to the fucking rule! Suddenly, I felt stupid for wasting many a break time at work catching up to my favorite book or fanfiction, and I shrunk deeper into the wall and tugged on my jacket.

The light from the fires outside didn't seem as bright now, and I stuffed my hands into my pocket, now wishing I'd died with a pair of gloves and maybe better shoes.

And it was when my fingers caught on something strange, and I pulled it out. I had to blink to be sure I was seeing what I thought I was. It was an honest-to-goodness, scroll. It was about as thick as my hand, and it hung off a spine that was made of polished bone and pure gold.

I stared at it for a long moment, half-exicted and afraid of what I'd find in there. Finally summoning the courage, I broke the seal attached and undid it.

If you're reading this, then you didn't lose your jacket before you unsealed the scroll. Or you're running into this many, many days or years after this might've been useful to you. 

If that's the case, then sucks to be you! What kind of idiot doesn't look through his pockets after he's been kidnap— I mean transmigrated? 

What the fuck! I fumed. This cheeky ass did what!  My growl almost escaped me before I remembered where I was. I knew I wasn't on earth anymore, but to have my wildest fears confirmed really set me off.

After a few calming breaths, I realized he saved me. At the very least, I knew I wasn't insane for sure… not that it was ever in question. I checked to see just how much scroll I had left. I was a quarter of the way through. I continued to read.

Anyhoo, let's get to it then. You're not on earth anymore if you haven't figured that out. You're in a world of my own making based on a story I was positively obsessed with. It's called Paragon of Destruction. Sounds familiar?

I paused and re-read the last line I just did to make sure I was reading what I thought I was. That story was my shit! I'd read it more times than I probably should and was obsessed with tracking down the author at some point. He'd left the story just when the protagonist was finally getting overpowered, and rightfully so. It only took him 400 chapters to do it…

Oh no, please don't tell me it's going to take me that long too? There were all manner of scary shit in this universe, and with the so-called secret war between Chaos and Order raging on…

I didn't dwell on the thought further and snapped back to the scroll instead. 

Are you excited? Scared! Mortified! I honestly don't know, but I can't wait to find out. I'm watching you right now! So, put on a good show.

I scanned the room, suddenly conscious, as if I'd catch him sitting on a sofa with popcorn and a drink or something. 

So everything you know from the book is canon. The Academy mages are dicks, but still a very real threat, the Shadowflame society at the border welcomes anyone competent enough, and the Hunters are secretly busted. The gods and chaos all exist, as do various realms, worlds, and beings in this universe. I took some liberties expanding the lore; I am sure you'll like it… or not.

Now, you might be thinking, how powerful must I be to create an entire expanded universe simply for my entertainment? You'd be right if you said Pretty Dang Powerful, but more importantly, bored!

You're starting from the very bottom of the ladder with no companions, systems, and only one cheat. That's right, I said it. You got a cheat! 

Feel free to do a small jig, dance, say a prayer to me. Whatever. I'm waiting!

A cheat! That was fucking music to my ears. I couldn't muscle down my excitement, and I pumped my fist despite trying my hardest not to give that Random Omniscient Being the satisfaction.

I expected a bit more excitement considering, but whatever. I've granted you a forbidden realm inspired by a character I thoroughly enjoyed. Kevin Levin.

I wrinkled my brow, trying to remember where'd heard the name. Wasn't that the bad guy from the show I enjoyed as a kid? It was Ben 10, right? Wow, this god dude was an absolute Neet, but a cheat was a cheat. I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

You'll get all of the abilities the character showed in the TV show as well as the weaknesses. Don't go absorbing everything you lay eyes on; that is an easy way to get yourself killed. 

That said, if you're anything like me, I know you'll do what you want, so I hard-locked certain abilities, so you won't get too ahead of yourself. 

You'll get a nasty surprise if you do.

-Don't try to absorb DNA until you reach the Master tier or an equivalent in mastery 

-Matter manipulation and production is off-limit until you're an Adept 

-Energy absorption and redirection are fine.

All of his rules sounded fair, although I was more than a little bit worried about his nasty surprise. 

Everything else you're realm can do, you can figure out on your own. 

One last thing… You're not the only transmigrator running around. Some assholes figured out realm travel and summoned a few otherworlders centuries back. I wiped out his entire lineage, but I let the spell stay. It's kinda fun to see what the clueless summoned would get up to. 

I threw in a few other people that started their own thing far away from the academy and Imperium. Planeswalkers, they called themselves. Dumb name, but they're fucking strong. They got their own broken realms and everything. And, oh, if you see them, run.

Any ways, That's everything. Get to adventuring, Sam! I'll be upset if you die too soon.

Good Luck,

Big G.

Oh! P.S after you read this line, toss the paper. It'll burn and turn to a mystical locket invisible to everyone but you. It'll help you with your realm, and if you entertain me well enough, I might even throw you a home every once in a while.

After reading those words, I quickly chucked the scroll, and it burst into deep, black flame mid-air. A silver pendant fell out from the fire, and I cautiously picked it up, and I ran my finger over it. It had a deep floral pattern, and on the back laid an intricate tapestry of dancing lines that hummed with energy. 

It pulled me, and I found myself reaching for its energy in a daze, but I caught myself before I broke the only gift a universe-making god entity made to aid me.

Dredging through everything I'd just read again, I supposed most of what he'd written made sense Osmosians were a subspecies of human subspecies with more potential than almost anything I've read in fiction.

Being able to absorb and manipulate matter, energy, DNA, and abilities meant I had the potential to become a god. If I recalled correctly, the only guy who ever got close to controlling the Universe in the Ben 10 tv shows was Osmosian. 

The only downside to being disgustingly overpowered was power addiction, sociopathic and psychopathic behavior if I didn't pace myself. I suppose that's what the necklace and the many warnings are for.

As for safety, there was not much of it in this world. Forbidden realms were forbidden for a reason. The protagonist, Arran's realm, made him an absolute unit, able to tank most magical damage and endure an ungodly amount of pain, and that was just only a sliver of its potential power. Any competent mage would need only one look at me to realize what I am. They would either seek to use me, kill me, or imprison me, regardless of my faction.

I needed to seal my realms, or I wouldn't last my first meeting with a mage, but more important than that, I needed a way to protect myself. Food, shelter, and learning magic were important, but security came first. After then, I'd see what I could do about escaping the mage encirclement alive.

For the first that night, I looked closely at the shed I'd chosen to hide. In the corner were robes and a stack of books belonging to someone who'd been meditating to open his magical realm.

It was how magic worked in this world. You were either born with a magical realm, or you were lucky to happen upon a realm-opening scroll. If you meditated and tried hard enough, you could unlock your first one and sprout fire, wind, or even shadow from your fingertips. With enough use and decades of training, you could potentially be powerful enough to burn entire villages with a wave of your hand.

I let out a deep sigh as I shook my head. I have a long road ahead of me, don't I?

I ditched my shirt and jeans for the robes but kept my kicks and jacket because I was about to go traipsing through medieval Europe without adequate footwear. The jacket stayed for sentimental reasons and I was cold. 

I skimmed through the books but understood very little and opted to save them for later, when I had a scroll to read. I eased open the shed door after almost an hour of observing the mages coming and going. Only the two mages patrolled this section of the Academy. I stepped into the night, and I began my hunt.

Chapter 2

The night grew colder as I scampered from smoldering hut to smoldering hut, rooting through the wreck for items on my survival list.

At the very top was a sword. It didn't have to be a good one. Anyone would do. It was mostly to test my Matter absorption powers, the most practical of my realm's abilities. The message from G said to keep to just energy absorption and manipulation, but it was very unlikely I'd find a mage who'd happily stay still while I sucked him dry. If my attempt failed, I could look threatening at the very least. 

The magical fire was second on my list, though I didn't hold my breath. I was far away from the Academy structure, and it'd been hours since I arrived. According to the book, the Archmage who'd taken on the academy mages was a certified badass. If any magical energy was worth absorbing it'd be his. I could probably knock out a few adepts with his raw essence alone.

Much to my disappointment, all I found in most of the ruins were charred skeletons of petrified, burned initiates and ruined books. The sights of the initiates made my blood run cold and did not let me forget that despite how ridiculous it all was, this world was very much real. The weapons I did find were blackened and twisted from the heat. I carried one with me nonetheless. Progress was slow, and I had to pause and pray that the scouts never got a sudden urge to search deeper or look at the latest hiding hole I'd managed to shove myself in short notice.

Eventually, towards the hour mark of my little journey, I found a small dying fire radiating so much heat with so much heat I felt the hair in my cheeks curl from several paces away. It was no larger than a stove's fire, and I immediately knew it was made from fire realm essence. Coming up on it, I could hardly contain my excitement, but I was cautious enough not to try absorbing it immediately. Instead, I fed the fire by chucking mats and half-burnt books a dozen paces away, and waited for the next guard cycle before I came to it.

Calling on my realm felt impossible at first. It was like trying to use a toothpick to leverage a boulder. Sweat pooled on my face, and my hand shivered from the effort, but eventually, it awoke, and immediately, I felt its grip like a chokehold. The energy from the fire flowed into me faster than I could blink as I realm held me gasping in place, disoriented from the heat.

Even after the fire was gone, its hold over me barely slipped. I felt an ache deeper than any hunger or urge, begging me to find more energy, to use my stolen strength to take it. 

The fire was delicious lava in my veins. With an Arch Mage's flame, I could take in initiates, even adepts. Master mages might not even be safe, and then…then, I'd go after beasts, adding their strength to my own. I could…

Suddenly, I deep chill struck my chest, cutting off my train of thought. It felt like I'd been swept up in a storm without a jacket. But the cold never spread past that spot on my chest where my pendant lay. Looking down at it, I realzied, that was what Help meant. Slowly, I realized I'd lost control on my first attempt at controlling my realm.

I frowned. This is going to be a real problem going forward, won't it? I thought.

With a deep breath, I shelved the episode for future me to deal with. Scavenging and survival came first.

Another hour went by, and I finally found what I was looking for and a welcome surprise in the only intact shed I found. It was a half-eaten bowl of fruit, some books, a complete set of clothes, and a dagger under the pillow of a sleeping matl. The door was half-open, probably from when the initiate inside, stepped outside to join the fight or flee for his life. 

Either way, his loss was my gain. I mopped up the bowl and scooped up everything he left as I hurried towards the mountain range behind the academy. Windsong, the Grandmaster of this place, had built it deep within the mountains, leagues away from most of the academy's territory. 

If my memory served me right, there should be a rickety cabin hidden in a valley on the hill. It belonged to the top Adept in the Monastery, and If I could find it and stay low, I could avoid the mages altogether.

It took nearly an hour of searching dead-ends and backtracking, but I finally found a path that led far into the mountains. The path snaked and crept, and had me teetering on the edge more than a few times. The day had broken before I started my journey, and it was mid-afternoon before I found the valley. I had thought about stopping more than a few times, but the fear of the mages kept me going, as did the fire burning in my veins. 

Stolen essence, I found, served as a second stamina pool of sorts. I pushed myself past by limit, passively tapping into it, and it allowed me to continue the steep climb long after my out-of-shape body gave up on me. I suspected that all flavors of energy would grant me some level of passive boost.

My legs finally gave out as I came to a small stream running through the valley, and I sat by it for the longest time, content to just drink and lay in the grass.

The valley seemed lived in. Certain spots had been worn from repeated spars, and scarred boulders stuck out on the field.

With a heave, I pulled myself up and came to the shack to access the food situation. Three people had been sent here to train in secret, so the food should be plenty. I only hoped it wasn't all rice or something equally as bland

My fingers were on the door when I saw it. A moving shadow in the cabin. I nearly yelped at the sight before my mind kicked into high gear. 

Was it an academy mage? I shook my head, instantly dispelling the thought. I'd already be dead or worse if it were. A fleeing mage was more likely. 

"I mean no harm," I said loudly. "I just need shelter."

"You'll find neither here," a voice sounded out. It was a womans' and it was loud and thick like a disagreeable aunty. "Leave. I won't ask again."

Panicking a bit, I took a step towards the cabin. "I'm not from the academy, I swear it. I'm just a guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just need a little bit of help."

The cabin door swung open at those words, and a tall woman nearly my height stared up and down at me with deep green eyes. 

"You're no fighter," she pronounced, unsheathing her blade. "But you're dangerous all the same. Do you think I can't see that fire essence you have churning in you?" 

Oh shit. 

I raised my hands even higher. "It's not what it looks like." If she could see the essence flowing through me, she wasn't any garden variety mage. It meant gathering essence for an attack was out of the question. And even if I did succeed. She'd cut me down before I got the attack off.

The woman approached me with slow, sure steps that produced no sounds. Up close, she was almost as tall as I was and stunning. Her face was round and smooth and flawless, and she was less curvy than most, but through her traveler garb, I could see the bulge of her trained body and marveled at the grace at which she carried herself.

 "When I saw you claw your way up onto this valley, I knew there was something strange about you. You carried yourself like a spoiled prince yet have far more essence than most adepts. I would have spared you if you'd turned away, but now, you have me curious." 

She was so close I could smell her perfume, yet I was shivering from her intensity.

"Who are you? And don't you dare lie."

My mouth open and closed a few times before I spoke.

I told her I was a humble merchant who was kidnapped by a powerful mage experimenting with a dangerous spatial spell. And I woke up last night in the ruins of the monastery with no idea how I got here. 

I wasn't even lying about the merchant part. I was into ecommerce in my past life.

"Why would the Mage want you, merchant?" She asked.

"I–I don't know. I didn't think to ask him," I said. "I was too busy begging for my life."

 "Surely it would have been safer turning yourself over to the Academy mages running about?" she said, giving me a once-over look. "Why come up here?" 

The question was rather obvious, but it caught me off-guard. But I wasn't so flustered I couldn't keep up my half-truths. 

"I heard the mages say they were looking for someone. If I surrendered to them, they'd never believe me," I said and let out an unhinged laugh. "I have a hard time believing any of this is real myself. They'd either toss me in jail, kill me, or cut me open trying to figure out the crazy mage's spell."

She said nothing for a long moment before she finally sheathed her blade. "You're lucky, Merchant. The Academy mages are even more desperate than you know. Coming up here probably saved your life."

Her features softened noticeably after those words. "There's enough grain to last an entire month up here, and the accommodations are…adequate." She twisted her mouth, looking back at the crooked cabin. "The mages should be moving on by tomorrow, and so will I. The cabin will be yours to do as you see fit. In time, maybe you will recover, Merchant."

At a brisk pace, she walked past me and continued past the entrance of the valley.

"My name is Sam," I called out, unsure what came over me. She looked back at me, brow knitted.

"You keep calling me Merchant, but my name is Sam," I said. "I just thought you should know my name in case we meet after tomorrow…."

I saw an amused twinkle in her eyes. "You're a strange one, Merchant." She disappeared beyond the entrance at those words.

"You're the strange one," I muttered as soon as I was sure she was out of earshot. What was she doing up here in the first place? Had she thought I was lying or a threat for a moment, she'd have ended me. 

Or maybe she was still making up her mind, a dark part of me thought.

She wasn't afraid I'd learn who she was either. Her words told me she grew up rich, probably powerful, and my first instinct was to get as far away from her as possible. 

But could I manage it. I was high on top a mountain, with limited resources, no food, and only one way down.

With a sigh, I stepped into the shack, inspecting its various facilities. There were three beds, a store room, and a lunge area filled with crummy hand-carved furniture lined with pelts. The fireplace that doubled as a kitchen was out back as was a small outhouse.

I set my things down on the bed furthest from hers and went about the business of fixing dinner for both of us. I decided to stay with the strange woman. Running would make me look even more suspicious, and besides, I had nowhere else to go. 

Chapter 3

I was tossing out my third pot of over-boiled, salty gruel when I realized I'd starve to death long before any beast or mage got me. Cooking in fantasy land tested what little talent I had in the kitchen and reminded me why I mostly ate out in my old world. 

I was contemplating eating the damn grains raw when Tall Sword Lady swung around the back of the hut, casually hauling a mountain goat.

I gaped as my eyes roamed over the ugly thing. It was the biggest mountain goat I'd ever seen.

Looking at the mess I made, she asked. "Just how wealthy were you Merchant?"

"Excuse me?" 

"You must've been brought up rich. You can't even manage a meal that takes almost no talent," she said. "So, I'll ask again, how wealthy were you?"

She pinned me with an amused look that deeply unsettled me, though I tried to play it off.

"Wealthy enough that I never bothered with cooking," I said with some exasperation. "I was trying to make dinner to thank you for letting me stay."

"I never was one for grain," she said as she heaved the dead goat beside her. She produced a skinning knife from a pouch that hung from her side. "Meat and greens were always better. I assume you don't know how to skin animals either?"

I shook my head with confused shame. If I had known I would be kidnapped by a crazy god, I would've taken a survival class or something.

"Watch carefully then," she said with a teasing smile. "You'll need to know how to handle a knife when you leave."

In less time than it took for me to make my gruel, I watched her gut the goat, skin it, prepare the meat, and start a small fire to roast it. I offered to help her several times, but she simply said, "'Watch," each time I opened my mouth.

My pride and shame kept me from reaching for the meat until she was done cooking. She shrugged and tore into the meat like I wasn't there.

 She produced a jug of wine from thin-air at some point and poured herself several cup-fulls, all the while I watched her, not quite believing my eyes.

I only began to prod her after her seventh cup.

"I never did catch your name."

 "And I have no intention of telling you," she said with a smile that stirred something in me. 

"Why?" 

"Because I'd have to kill you," she said with an exaggerated whisper. "If the Academy mages ever stopped you, all you'd tell them was that I had a pretty face and was good at skinning things, and they'd be onto me. You're safer not knowing my name."

The meat went sour in my mouth. At that point, I'd given in and taken a stick of meat. My stomach gave me very little choice.

Sword's lady's weapon was no where in sight, but I knew that meant little with that mystical pouch by her side. I wondered if I could manage to gather enough fire essence before she could draw her weapon, or would a casual flick be enough to kill me

"Oh…Thank you?" I said weakly. 

 She burst out with a sudden laugh. "Oh…you should see your face." She contorted her face, straightened her back, and repeated my words back to me in a horrible manly voice, then laughed some more

I stared at her, mouth twisted like I'd swallowed a giant pill, not quite sure what to make of her. She was probably drunk, which was great for me I supose. 

When she finally stopped laughing, she told me her name. "Night Gale." It was her Mage name, and I told her I'd tell her mine when I thought about a clever enough one. After that initial bit of awkwardness, we traded barbs and joked like we'd been friends for years, and when they offered me a cup for the fifth time that night, I did not reject it. The wine was richer and sweeter than anything I'd ever had before, and after three cups, I felt bold enough to start asking questions. 

"Treat me like I've just fallen out of the sky," I began with a wave of my arms, "because I might as well have. I come from a part of the Empire so distant that it might as well be on another plane. Most of my questions might come off strange."

"Ask away," she said, taking a slow sip out of her cup.

"How far are the closest settlement?" I asked. With food and shelter sorted, I needed to start planning long-term. The goal was the Shadowflame society at the western border of the Empire. It was my ticket to safety and power. The plan was to find a way to open more magical realms, learn to use my forbidden realm, and train body enhancement for a few years before heading west to join the society.

"Redwater is a month of travel from the monastery," she said. " There are a few villages here and there, so you won't starve to death before you reach the city. As for what you'll do after you reach them, well, that's entirely up to you."

My spirit dipped a bit at the realization that I'd be poor for a while, but I was no stranger to hardship. I'd started out poor back home too. I worked my way out of it. I could do it again. "Is there a market for natural essence beasts? I asked.

They were practically walking treasure to body refiners. If I could find a way to track and hunt them…I might have a chance. Plus, delivering one to a known refiner could buy me goodwill, and I had just the one in mind.

She raised a brow. "Only the richest clans and the imperial families have any use for them. They eat them for the rich meat and hoard them for sport mostly. "

"I see," I said, unsure of whether she'd chosen to keep the truth of the beast to herself or simply didn't know.

"Looking to change professions, Merchant ?" she asked with a hint of amusement. "Essence beasts are not for baby mages."

That much was very true, but if I got a handle on my forbidden realm, I could do it. The shadow flame society would turn me down if I had no talent, the mages would burn for my realm, and knowledge on body refinement was not easily given.

She laid back, stretching out on the grass without managing to spill a drop of wine. "Why don't you send a letter back home or something? If you're short on money, I'm sure the local bank will accommodate once they confirm who you say you are?"

"I have nothing to go back to," I said, not able to hide the grief in my voice completely. She pouted, looking at me with clear worry.

"Then why not go to the Academy then?" She asked. "After they leave, show up at a branch with your monstrous fire essence, and masters would practically be lining up to teach you." 

Surprised at her suggestion, I gave her a side look, and I found that all of the mirth was gone from her face. I shifted away from her in my seat on the grass, but she queckly sat up

"You can't, can you?" she snorted. "Because that essence isn't yours, and you're running from the academy." 

I got up to my feet, but before I could utter a word, a wall of wind slammed down onto me, pressing me hard to the ground. The pain was blinding. Every muscle and bone screamed as the pressure grew.

My vision grew blurry, and I blinked away grass and dirt, but I could see her clearly stalking towards me.

"Do you take me for a fool, Merchant!" she demanded. "You're going to tell me the truth, Now. And you will leave nothing out ?" Her voice had dropped low, barely a whisper. I saw her face, and I was terrified by what I saw.

Her disarming smile, the food, the wine…I'd been a fool. Trying to move even a single muscle sent me close to the edge of consciousness. Hot liquid wet my cotton pants, and I wished I'd just run away when I had the chance. 

The only thing I had some measure of control over was the stolen fire essence. It bucked and twisted like a wild bull as I tried to coax it. Night Gale was saying something, but all I heard was static. I shoved the essence so hard that I felt erupt in pain. The world seem to shudder with heat, and then everything went white.

The pain woke me. It felt like my skin had been peeled back and shoved into an open oven. Breathing felt like a herculean task. I didn't try to open my eyes the main almost too much to bear, yet the sensation itself gave me some pace.

It meant that I was alive and that one small mistake hadn't cost me everything. The attack should've killed Night Gale or at the very least injured her enough to make her think twice about finishing the job. 

I swore I'd drive a sword through her heart if she was alive. I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. One day here, and I was already swearing vengeance. That was very Xianxia of me.

I nearly died from shock when I felt a finger press on my forehead, and I heard Night Gale's voice.

"Oh, you're well enough to laugh, are you?."

My eyes shot open, and I saw her staring down at me with a frown. "Do you know I had to spend an entire month playing nursemaid to you? An entire month of training, research… "

I shut my eyes, tuning her out, begging, hoping that I was hallucinating or asleep or even mad. Yet when I opened my eyes, she was still there staring down at me, in the rickety cabin, in a valley on the mountain in a fantasy world.

"This can't be real," I whispered.

"Oh, but it is," she grinned. "I came for Grandmaster Windsong and this mysterious Fireheart's teachings, but you're a worthy compensation. You have the strangest forbidden realm I've ever seen. Imagine what sort of havoc you could wreak with proper training." She had a manic look that made me shiver.

Night Gale nursed me back to health with begrudging care. She muttered briefly to herself the entire time she fed me soup, helped me up, and applied fresh ointment to my wounds.

I spent most of the week I recovered scheming and obsessing over all the possible ways I could free myself of her and kill her. 

Force her to run into the protagonist in Silvermere and have the master he's studying under curb stomp her. 

Run into an Academy Mage's hand and assure our mutual destruction. 

Absorb DNA, mutate, and go ham on her ass.

Most of the ideas were outright suicidal, but I was that desperate. I'd caught the attention of the first mage I'd come across, and It'd taken what I'd jokingly predicted to stop me: a flick of her finger. 

 Aside from obsessing over revenge, the recovery time also gave me time to look inward and assess the damage. And it was less than I thought. My muscles felt like strings, but my mind had never been better. My Osmosis realm had grown from a tiny bit, and I had a new fire realm.

Gargling the leftover fire of an Archmage was powerful enough to force a connection to the realm of fire. Go figure. Unfortunately, I started out with barely any essence, and I estimated it'd take me years to grow my pool large enough to wield any real spells. Unless my Osmosis realm found a way to help me cheat. 

Idly, I wondered if I could gather realm by absorbing essence and holding them in for long periods or, better yet, If I could gather natural essence by stealing essence from beasts.

It wasn't until the end of the fifth day that I was strong enough to walk on my own and leave the cabin. Night Gale invited me to dinner by a new fireplace she'd constructed. There was a small crater where the old one used to be.

She produced a table, chairs, cutlery, and plates from her storage pouch casually while stew cooked on an open fire and set the table while I watched from a noticeable distance. 

"Come," she said. "It's time we had a proper talk about our situation."

Chapter Four 

Night Gale waved me forward, and I flinched, recalling the night in too vivid details.

"Oh," she said, picking up on my discomfort. "I suppose I should start out with an apology. I was too rough with you. You were unexpectedly fragile."

I couldn't hold the scoff back, and I remained where I stood. 

She went on like she never heard me, served our plates, produced a nice jug of wine, and poured herself a cup.

"I thought you were a spy or worse, a dangerous unknown," she said after a mouthful."When you've been running for as long as I have, you can't afford to let down your guard like that."

There was a logic behind her words, but I couldn't forgive it. To her, the wind spell had been a show of force; to me, it was death. She wore a somber look, but I could tell she was not sorry, not really.

I groaned as I slipped into my seat.

"You could've had your sword at my neck or threatened to beat me with my arms. I would've talked."

"Again, I am sorry," she said, and I nodded. 

"Now what?"

I wasn't the least bit surprised when she perked up with the very next sentence. 

"Now, I offer you an invitation. I belong to an organization devoted to gathering talented mages with forbidden realms and training them. And I want you to become our initiate."

My eyes went wide at her words. I'd never heard of the society of forbidden mages. I just assumed they all lived in secret, always running from the Academy. But on second thought, I realized it made much sense for them to band together. What better protection was there than trained mages adept in forbidden magics? Looking up, I saw Night Gale in a new light.

"You have a forbidden realm?" I immediately asked.

Her eyebrow twitched for a moment, but she never dropped her smile. "Unfortunately, I do not," she said. "Although, my sister does. She's rather gifted with the Swift Realm."

She was jealous. I thought and shelved that knowledge for another time.

"What is this Swift realm? I asked. "Tell me more about your organization."

"You will be joining, then?" she asked as if I had much of a choice. I chose to play along but didn't touch the food.

"I'd like to know who I'll be getting into bed with?"

She laughed "The organization I come from, we are not unlike the great societies. We protect those the Academy would otherwise turn away or kill and raise powerhouses who can rival those jumped-up Academy white bumpkins several ranks below them." 

Her words all but confirmed what I'd suspected. That she knew about strengthening the body through natural essence. But It could be something else entirely. It wouldn't be the first time that I was wrong.

"We are the Endless Night, and we will break the Academy and unshackle the Empire."

It took a great deal of self-control not go gawp at her and laugh in her face. She must have seen the judgement in my eyes because she chuckled.

 "You think me mad?" 

I shrugged. "You said it."

The Academy spanned the entire Empire, which was thousands of miles across and dwarfed every major faction, even the Imperial family. More than that, they were the only thing holding the chaos at bay, and I was right the most powerful among them could cross worlds. Unless they had Archmages and Sages in their pockets, I doubt the Endless Night would amount to more than an inconvenience.

"You still have much to learn, Merchant," she said with an enigmatic smile and drank deeply from her cup. "While you're right to fear the Empire, your fear won't protect you. They'll lock you away the moment someone powerful enough senses you. You'll spend the rest of your days starving in a cell in one of their many, many prisons. At the very least, your end will be quick." 

I gulped, and she licked her lips as she filled her cup with wine.

"Join the Endless night, and I promise you'll be strong enough to protect yourself in time. Perhaps even strong enough to get me back for that night," She winked, and I growled, unable to stomach my rage anymore.

"More than that," she continued. "We'll teach you how to use that forbidden realm of yours. You've only started to explore it and can steal fire essence, imagine what you could manage if you mastered it."

I knew what I could manage. I would be able to steal essence from my opponents, make my skin harder than the hardest metal, and take the abilities of creatures strong enough to flatten cities. In time, I would be able to crush all but the strongest mages under my foot, but without proper training and protection, I would die long before then. 

"Why not simply take me?" I asked. "You could simply subdue me and whisk me away to the Endless Night. I could hardly stop you."

She chuckled. "I think you underestimate yourself and overestimate me."

I snorted, and that seemed to amuse her even more. She had to be an adept-level mage at least. With how she carried herself, I was sure she was certainly not a lowly initiate or a blossoming novice. She was likely an Adept, but with mages, you never really knew. I could've been very well sitting before a Master, Grandmaster, or Arch Mage.

"I'd rather have you come willingly because it'd save us more time and prevent any spirited escapes," she said with a flat voice "Imagine how much danger we would be in if we caught the attention of someone powerful."

I didn't try to deny it. She'd read me like an open book.

"What's the catch?" I asked. There were no free meals in this world. "What would your Endless NIght ask of me?"

She pursed her lips in mock thought. "Nothing you wouldn't otherwise do at any of the great society– protect our interests and fight our enemies."

I sat, staring at her while she ate soup with seemingly no concern. I tried putting on a brave front through our entire conversation because I was seething; quite frankly, I was pissed, at myself, at G, and especially at night Gale.

I'd been ripped from my old world and tossed this way and that since I woke up. I questioned if I could've done anything differently, but I realized it was either her or the academy. Signing myself over to her meant a life of violence. 

I was a transmigrator, violence was expected of me, but I was not above eking out a quiet life as I slowly gained enough strength to protect myself. But now, I was joining an organization with a frankly silly name, hell-bent on fighting one of the most powerful forces on the planet. What could go wrong? 

With a heavy sigh, I took grabbed the cup of wine I'd been eyeing all night and drank deep. My throat burned as it traveled down. "When do we start I? I asked.

She looked up and gave me what I thought was the first genuine smile I'd ever seen from her. It was unsettling.

"Tonight!" she chirped. 

Chapter Five

True to her words, she started training me after dinner, but what she had in mind as entirely different from anything I would've hoped.

"You're teaching me to cook?" I ask, somewhat mortified as I watch her transform the table we'd just eaten into a kitchen countertop. She laid out exotic herbs, some spices, and a large blackened cooking pot. 

"Naturally," she said. "Can't have you poisoning me or any of the other masters when I present you." She paused, then added, "Well, maybe a few." 

I was more than a little confused, and I couldn't help but sulk a little bit.

"I thought I was supposed to be learning to sling spells, not cater meals."

She chuckled. "Sure, spell casting is important, but that years and even decades to get a handle on that, but cooking, and more importantly, pioneering, takes half as long."

"Pioneering? My ear perked up.

"It's essential if you don't want to croak the first time you eat a fireball to the stomach." 

Her words conjured up an image of me on fire, rolling around on the floor like I was demon-possessed, and I shivered all over. 

"Aren't there healers and mages that specialize in crafting potions?" I asked, eyeing the station dubiously. Death by fireball was scary, but I was still hesitant to try my hand at cooking. 

"Where did all that fire and determination go," Night gale smirked. I had no doubt she was enjoying herself. "Don't worry, the recipes I have in mind are fairly straightforward. With the training schedule I've cooked up for you, you'll be glad to know them." 

I believed her. 

The next three hours that passed were an absolute nightmare. She poured over the various herbs on the table, explaining them in excruciating detail before demonstrating with a fire-essence fueled stove how to brew a draught of Recovery, 

She started with the bright flower of a plant she called Sunlight Yarrow, and two pinches scruffy twisted plants, and then ground down a chunk of water-essence-soaked tree bark. The started the fire, tossed in different ingredients at intervals, and drained the pot into several flasks when she deemed the potion 'ready.' 

I dreaded the potion taste even as she handed it to me and was pleasantly surprised when it touched my lips. It tasted like coffee creamer but grittier, coarser. Already, I felt the weariness of the hours of standing and listening fading. 

A stimulant of some sort, I thought, and I began to imagine all of the dreadful ways Night Gale could use them to speed up my training. Not that I objected to the increased pace. I needed a solid foundation If I was going to survive.

"Think you're ready to try it out yourself?" she asked as she knocked back a drink herself.

I gave a stiff nod and started to measure. I was not ready! Try as hard as I might, only the names and functions of half of the plants came to me, and I mixed up the quantities and cook timing. 

Night Gale said nothing as I brewed my abomination, content to simply watch me fail. The potion that came out was more poison than medicine. Several chunky bits of wood floated in it, and the color was all wrong.

The smell that wafted from it made me cringe. 

"Go ahead," she said. "Taste your first potion."

I hesitated but did as asked, and the taste made me wished I hadn't. She drew some herself and smacked her lips as if the potion was aged wine.

"This is no better than drinking mud water,' she pronounced, "but I have tasted worse, and we have plenty of time till midnight. I'll guide you through this time. I'm sure you'll succeed before then…I hope."

We worked long into the night and well past midnight, yet Night Gale did not complain. I tried to remind myself that there was no shame in learning something new as I failed and failed again. Her draught of recovery kept me awake and clear-headed the entire time we worked. 

Eventually, I got it right, and Night Gale awarded me with a smile and a separate potion. It was red and tasted like roses and strawberries. It knocked me out as soon as touched the bed, and I woke up several hours later to NIght Gale's shrill voice.

"Rise and shine initiate," she said. "Welcome to the worse eight weeks of your life."

I groggily sat up from my bed and found Nightgale standing in front of me with loose cotton clothes, her face hard as stone. It put be on edge. I'd only seen her like this when she was about to attack. 

She tossed a pair of clothes, and I nearly flinched from the suddenness of it all. The clothes mirrored hers.

"Meet me outside. Come on, we're burning daylight!" she said.

I groaned the second she left but did her bidding all the same. I got a feeling she was not in the mood for back talk, and for the umpteenth time since yesterday, I began to wonder what I'd gotten myself into. 

Outside the cabin was transformed when I stepped out. In place of grass, I saw strange wooden contraptions, hanging ropes, a makeshift circle for sparing, several wooden weapons, and what suspiciously looked like metal weights. 

"Come on," she yelled as she walked over to the ring, keeping a brisk pace.

"Now that you're my Initiate, there are a few important things I should tell you," she said as soon as I came to the ring. Her eyes drilled into me. "The Endless Night does not suffer weakness even from recruits, and neither do I. We've kept ourselves hidden for hundreds of years, and we intend to remain hidden until we are ready to strike out.

"I have high expectations of you, Merchant, and you can't let me down," she said. 'You will drink in whatever I teach and beg me to feed you more. You will grow faster than any other Initiate I have ever instructed because you have no other choice or excuse. Where we are going, you either thrive or die do you understand?"

I gulped and quickly nodded.

Her lips curled at the corner. "Excellent," she said. "Now let's begin."

Despite my worse fears, she didn't throw me at the obstacle course immediately. Instead, she began with assessments that started out easy but grew quickly in difficulty.

She worked me through a series of basic stretches that tested my flexibility, then had me lift different weights, and then finally sprint in several circuits around the valley. My lungs were on fire at the end, but I knew we'd barely begun.

The spar that came next was embarrassing. I could barely withstand her strike, much less force her to move from her position. And my swing at the obstacle course ended a few steps in. A sandbag knocked me on my ass so fast, I didn't see it coming.

The entire time I puffed and cringed at my own incompetence, I chanted a phrase over and over again.

You can do this. No one is born a fucking master. They learn to be one. 

"Eight weeks will get us nowhere," I heard Night Gale voice say as she loomed over me. She'd watch me the entire time with an impassive face, but I knew she was unimpressed by what she saw. My sedentary lifestyle, poor exercise habit, and diet was teling. And I knew it was about to make my life hell. 

"Sixteen weeks will likely be a better start," she said with a slight shake of her head, and I felt flushed with shame. 

Digging deep, I sat up and let the shame roll over me.

"If that's what it takes."

She studied me for a moment before she spoke. "It is good that you are not moaning this early on. Its better to save it for the coming weeks."

After recording my baseline, NIght Gale sat me down at the middle of the Glade and gave me my first official lesson in Magic

"Essence is unlike anything else on our plane," she flicked her hand and conjured a ball of red fire that churned and collapsed on itself like a red star. "Master it, and you can become more lethal than any human or beast dears to hope, chase your dream without limit, and live at a leisurely pace for centuries."

"Is that what you want?" I asked, dwelling on her words.

She turned thoughtful before she vanished the fire ball. "Isn't that what all of us want in the end," she said with a small huff. "Peace and quiet." 

"But why not hide," I said, more to myself than her, " or stay a civilian? The Empire is safe enough." 

"Because I am no coward," She said plainly, "And you can only run and hide for so long before your past catches up to you for trouble finds you."

Her answer was vague, but it was enough to begin to understand what kind of person my new teacher was. Loud, manipulative, Violent, Damaged, Vulnerable. In another life, I might've wondered who'd hurt her, but I saw now I only saw weaknesses I could potentially exploit. I had no doubt she reading me too.

"But enough of that now," she waved, "back to magic. Techniques are the bread and butter of a developing mage like yourself. It helps double fold by increasing your essence reserves while also providing you the control you need to perform Essence Arts." 

"Essence arts?" The term was entirely new to me. I had heard of spells and techniques but never essence arts.

Night Gale unsheathed her blade and focused on her blade, forcing it to shimmer for a split second before she suddenly lashed out. A rippling wave sprung from it and slammed into the side of the mountain, throwing up a thick cloud of dust. Thick rock flowed down like water, coating the ground in a layer of rock. My mouth flopped open and close like a fish.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"A technique," she answered with a neutral look, but I suspected she was fighting back a grin.

"How?" I asked. "You shouldn't…." I stopped myself before I said any more, re-examining what I thought I did know about this world—which was frightening little.

"Essence Arts," she said like it explained anything. "Mages are quick to dismiss rudimentary essence techniques, but there is a depth to them, but when you mix two techniques together, you get something unnaturally powerful." 

She cast a look at the gash on the wall. "Of course, it takes years to gain enough control to do any real damage with techniques, but for an initiate like you, it lays the foundation for something more."

She gestured me closer for my first lesson, which consisted of gathering whatever pittance of the essence I had and expelling it. It felt like forcing myself to puke, but after producing my tenth puff of fire, I could somewhat repeat the action reliably. 

When I emptied my essence pool, Night Gale sat me down and demonstrated a complicated essence accumulation technique. It allowed me to draw more essence from my realm, and despite how knotty and complicated it felt, I had it down by my fifth try. Not because I was a genius or anything as glamorous, I just had un natural instinct about it. I drew essence from my gate with an unnatural ease, I only had to worry about guiding the essence as instructed. 

The last exercise for the day was far more frustrating and gruelling than anything I'd done up until that point. She had me expel essence, but before it left my control split it into as many bits as I could manage.

Practice lasted only lasted until sunset, but by that time, I was nearly blue from exhaustion. A quick chug of the draught of recovery Night Gale made the night before gave me the strength to keep working until midnight trying to brew my first potion. 

The final batch had the right colour, but the taste left something to be desired. Night Gale made no comment on my progress and scooted me over and brewed a fresh batch in 10 minutes or so. She fed the second strange potion and sent me to bed, and I woke up from bed to do it all over again. 

The second day was infinitely more painful than the first. She'd streamlined my training, having me start the morning with a long jog, tons of stretching, basic calisthenics, before we trained with swords and finished off with the obstacle course.

Every inch of my body burned with pain. Her potion of recovery got rid of most of the fatigue and strain, but I undoing whatever healing the potion did with all the exercise.

In between the hellish training, I had breakfast and snuck in small meals here and there, and a few hours after noon, I started essence practice and, by sundown, pioneering. 

The days blurred into an unfocused glob of unending pain and exercise, and gradually, I didn't collapse as often during the morning jogs, the obstacle course didn't feel as impossible, and my face didn't go red with anger and embarrassment after I lost to Night Gale.

Through all this time, Night Gale attitude towards me shifted. She grew short-tempered with me during physical training, thwacking me whenever I keeled over from the exhaustion or puked. 

The worse of it came during sword training. 

Each time I broke form, messed up footwork, or overcommitted to a swing, she pointed out my flaw painfully. Her wooden blade would angle out impossibly fast and score a light bruise on the offending body part.

"A toddler could take you apart with a stick with a form like that. Your sedentary lifestyle did you no favour Merchant," she'd said once.

You belong to the Eternal Night now. You must be better than those two-but academy mages. I will not present a student that is incompetent. I'd rather kill you."

Her voice was ice cold and I knew she meant every word. I did not know if this was a facade, she was putting on to push me further or the real her. Either way, I grew more determined than ever to train harder, to be strong, so that when my window came, I would not miss it. 

Pioneering went as bad as you'd expect, the only front I was making progress was my essence manipulation. 

I could hold fire essence without burning myself now, and I tried the natively absorb the fire I used so that I could cut back on the time I needed to recover essence. 

Night gale approved of the exercise and monitored me while I absorbed essence, making simple corrections to my technique when she saw me slipping. 

She showed far less care for my potion-making. At the end of every batch, she simply shook her head, listed out my shortcomings and asked me to repeat the process again. Eventually, I failed my way up to a second potion. She'd called it a draught of vigour, and it was the magic juice she'd had me chug every night before I went to bed. I was nowhere near making a passable batch.

Before I knew it two months had passed, and despite promising I'd kill her with my own two hands, I hadn't stepped one foot out of line. Fear and common sense kept me from absorbing other energy forms like Fire willy nilly because she could sense my every move.

On the last day of the second month, my opportunity came when she left the valley at the beginning of potion practice, telling she'd not be back for an entire day. She had to scout the valley around to make sure the mages were gone like she'd expected. 

I rushed my potion work as soon as she left and sat down to experiment with my forbidden realm, eager to waste not a single second. My survival could very well depend on it.