Fantasy Realm — Naruto: Blood-Mist

[As a reward for surviving a Duel mission, you receive a random reward]

[Selecting reward….]

A reward?! Nice!

I guess it's only fair! A Duel Mission essentially demands that two players try to kill each other… a mission with a 50% lethality rate. Without a special reward, these would be the worst missions to accept. A little compensation sounds only logical to me.

A large slot-machine-style wheel spins in front of Alex. He watches as numerous mysterious symbols flash past. He spots the image of a sword, armor, a ring, a potion, a book, something that resembles a hammer, and several others he can't quite place.

Finally, the wheel comes to a stop on the hammer.

['Upgrading' category]

Another oversized wheel appears, this time covered in glowing color fields. It begins spinning rapidly. Alex spots the colors White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, and a single, ominous Black field. As expected, the colors aren't evenly distributed—White, Green, and Blue dominate, while Purple is rare, and Gold is even rarer.

Please!! I want black. GIMME BLACK!

The wheel starts to slow and glides just past the Black field, making Alex sigh.

Shit… that would've been too easy, right?

It continues spinning and finally appears to be settling on a White field—but then it creeps forward, painfully slow, inching closer to a Gold field. It stops. Then, by some miracle, it nudges forward again—just barely—until it lands on a dim-looking Gold slot.

YES! That is good enough!

[False Legend Merging Token]

World: Fantasy Realm

Quality: Light-Gold

Effect: Combines two items of Light-Purple to Deep-Purple quality and creates a new Deep-Gold quality item, at the additional cost of 2 Medium Soul Crystals. Both items can't have similar or duplicate effects. Can only be used once.

Effect: The new item will inherit some of the abilities of both items, but will not receive a unique ability like other gold-ranked items.

Effect: The new item can't be traded or improved in any way, besides ranking up and will be at the Deep-Gold level. When converted into shards, this item will only yield the shards of a Light-Gold item, even when ranked-up.

Note: It contains seemingly ultimate might, which turns out to be merely a false legend.

Note: The more you invest into your new item, the more you will regret it in the future! Tread carefully. This token can ruin you.

Note: It can only be used on base-rank items, can't be traded, and will disappear exactly 24 hours after obtaining this item.

Alex stares at the new item, visibly confused.

I'll think about this later. This thing seems almost too good to be true, but I can already see a few nasty restrictions and hidden traps baked into it.

You received False Legend Merging Token.

Alex reappears in his player room. It looks pretty much the same at first glance, but then he notices something—it's about 10% larger than before, and there are subtle differences.

Menchi and Jewel appear beside him.

"You're here with me! Thankfully, I don't have to pick you up again!" Alex says with a smile.

[Welcome back, Host. I sense no injuries on your body worthy of being treated this time. This pleases this system greatly.]

"Thanks, 1337. Yeah, this is a new experience for me too. Hehe, I guess this mission was surprisingly easy. Mostly thanks to Menchi and Jewel!" Alex responds with a grin, glancing at the glowing orb of light floating beside him, before it quietly disappears into his body.

Alex sighs, "I want to relax, but sadly, I think things are about to get very busy. I received a special reward for this mission. I have 24 hours to use it—I'm talking about the [False Legend Merging Token] I just got."

Princess Jewel is impressed! Soulmate must act quickly before the item disappears.

"Yeah, how's the saying go? You snooze, you lose?" Menchi asks.

"Please don't talk like that, that is such a douchebag phrase," Alex complains, then adds, "regardless of how true it is in this case. I guess no sleep for me. Let's head back home, greet Tereza, who is hopefully remaining calm and collected, and then figure out this problem. Might as well send a message to the fake Kira while we're at it."

Alex opens his system interface, quickly types out a message, and sends it through the system: "I'm back, it was pretty easy, talk to you later! Alex"

He squeezes onto the teleport platform. Menchi steps up beside him with a smug smile, hugging him while staring directly at his face, and Jewel jumps onto Menchi's head, using it as a launchpad to leap onto Alex's head—where she promptly settles in.

"Jewel…" Menchi says, flashing a slightly terrifying smile.

Princess Jewel apologizes—she didn't do it on purpose!

"I'll ignore it this once, but only because you gave us a few nights alone during the last mission. That was very mature of you—and I needed that," Menchi says, making Alex blush again as memories flash through his head.

Menchi likes it rough… I guess it suits her character. Whenever Jewel went out for a walk, the way she looked at me before we fucked… I won't forget it… ever.

Alex turns away, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"1337! Teleport us home!" Alex orders.

[Understood, Host!]

Alex arrives home and looks around. No sign of Tereza in the living room. He and Menchi check the girls' bedroom—which Tereza still shares with Menchi—but it's empty. No sign of Tereza.

"My bedroom?" Alex suggests.

"Must be," Menchi nods at him.

They walk into Alex's master bedroom and see Tereza passed out on the bed. Surrounding her are mountains of junk food and several empty bottles of alcohol. Alex also spots a pack of sleeping pills. Quickly checking it, he sees she took four. Which is exactly four times the recommended dose.

"What is that smell?" Alex asks, lifting the bed cover—only to find her stained panties.

"What the fuck!? She ate like a pig, emptied multiple bottles of alcohol, and then overdosed on fucking sleeping pills! Women are really vile creatures!" Alex curses, prompting Menchi to swiftly kick his ass with her leg—while Jewel jumps on his head repeatedly in protest.

He rubs Jewel to coax her into stopping and mutters, "Fine… I take it back. Damn, she was really worried, wasn't she?"

Tereza… 

As if controlled by an invisible force, Alex gently strokes her hair, removing it from her face.

He then carefully and gently shakes her. It takes him a few minutes, but she finally opens her eyes, staring at him in confusion. The moment she processes what's happening, her eyes fill with tears and she hugs him tight, dragging him down into the bed and kissing him with all her might.

Damn… she reeks of alcohol…

Alex gently pulls away, and she sobs, "I wuz… so worried!"

He sighs, "Is this going to happen every time I am on a mission, Tereza? This can't be healthy. That much alcohol, junk food, and sleeping pills? Even the biggest insomniac would pass out!"

She blushes as she catches her own smell, her expression shifting to shame. "I… I'm not good at this. Especially if someone I care about might never come back. I have issues dealing with loss."

"I get that… Anyway, can you wash up? We've got some things to discuss," Alex says, gently stroking her head.

She smiles at him, then shyly gets up and walks into the bathroom.

As Tereza showers, Alex starts cleaning the room. He strips the bed, replaces the covers, fluffs the pillows, and does his best to return it all to something tolerable.

Finally, the group sits down and Alex gives Tereza a quick summary of what happened.

"I see. So the item you earned for winning the duel needs to be used quickly, or it'll go to waste," she says.

"Exactly," Alex replies, sending a quick message to Rishi with his phone, explaining the situation. Surprisingly, Rishi responds immediately: "Let's meet inside the Realm."

"Okay, let's meet on the ground floor," Alex replies.

"You feeling okay? Want to come with us?" he asks Tereza. "You still look kinda tired."

"I slept at least ten hours. I'll be fine," she answers. "By the way, you were actually gone for about two days—way longer than expected… which is why I panicked the way I did."

"The mission lasted over two weeks," Menchi notes. "I guess that translated into a few days here, but I guess it seems to be kind of random."

Making their way to the Realm, the group descends the stairs of the player tower and returns to the first floor, spotting Rishi in the distance. They immediately enter one of the empty rooms nearby.

Rishi looks at Alex with his usual calm expression. "Show me what you've got. Time's an issue, right?"

"Nice to see you too," Alex says, pulling him into a surprise hug.

"..."

"Fine, here it is. Kira, please don't write my name in your notebook," Alex jokes as he shares the details of his [False Legend Merging Token].

"Very funny. I've barely even used that thing these last few days," Rishi replies while inspecting the item. "Interesting indeed. Yeah, this item is a trap. Still… I don't see a reason not to use it. Upgrading your new item, though, could be tricky. The item will be bound to you, and if there ever comes a time that you don't need it anymore, you'll be stuck converting it into shards, which is another issue. That said… if the resulting item's strong enough, I don't really see you wanting to part with it anyway. Got anything in mind?"

"I could always use it on my two rings, right? One's Light-Purple and the other's Deep-Purple. Their effects aren't similar or overlapping," Alex says, sharing the details of his rings again.

[Azure Flame Ring]

World: Fantasy Realm / Harry Potter / Wizarding World

Quality: Deep Purple

Type: Ring

Required Stats: MNA - 14, SPR - 12

Required Skills: Basic Meditation lvl 3, Basic Mana Control 3

Effect: Increase MNA by 2 (Flat boost, not increased by other skills).

Effect: Minor Fire Aptitude - Increases Fire Resistance and the Potency of all fire-related abilities by 10%.

Effect: Your flame abilities & spells are now azure-colored, gaining 20% Spell Piercing.

Note: Spell Piercing ignores the target's spell resistance, acquired through stats, abilities, skills, or items.

Note: A blue, majestic flame still lingers in this ring.

[Sealion's Might]

World: Final Fantasy 9 / Fantasy Realm

Quality: Light Purple

Type: Ring

Required Stats: MNA - 8, SPR - 10

Required Skills: Basic Meditation lvl 2, Basic Mana Control 2

Effect: Increases Max MP by 30 (Flat boost, not increased by skills)

Effect: Minor Frost Aptitude - Increases Frost Resistance and the Potency of all frost-related abilities by 10%

Effect: Frost-Retention: Decreases the consumption of Resources by 5%, when using Frost-related Abilities & Spells

Note: The gemstone that was placed on Sealions chest returned to it's initial blue color but has decreased in size and potency. Embedded on a small bone ring it looks slightly evil but still carries a powerful magical enchantment that empowers the wielder.

Note: This item had its quality forcefully raised using an [Upgrade Token]

"I see… Honestly, Alex, I'm not completely sure," Rishi replies. "You could buy something else, but the results might be unpredictable. And with less than a day left, there's no time to go hunting for the perfect item. These two rings look like solid candidates."

Alex can't help but nod, deep in thought. "Yeah… buying something now could backfire hard. I also doubt I'll find something good in time. Maybe I should ask Glimmerwhisk for advice. I should have earned her support by now. According to her father—who I briefly spoke to—she's already secured her place as the next head of the goblin union. No more chances for her idiot brother."

"I guess we should pay her a visit then," Tereza suggests.

Princess Jewel wants to escort Soulmate. She can't trust her Soulmate not to be tricked by that goblin manipulator!

"I agree, Jewel," Menchi says. "Alex is really weak to that kind of thing. Oh, by the way—Tsunami told me that she actually—"

"STOP! I said stop! Shut up, please!" Alex begs, flustered, as Menchi grins devilishly.

"You owe me," she says with a smug look, making Alex sigh.

What did I do to deserve this…?

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