The Hidden Dungeon [Quest][Emi]

[|Ayame Unbound|]

A strange place had materialized in the Land of Rain. Normally this would not be a cause for such worry but those who have entered have not returned. Thus the village of Rain had decided to send one of their ninja. Despite the fact that the ninja was a Genin they had a long standing with doing great service to their village. The entrance to this new place appeared as a swirling portal within the forest, to step on the portal would teleport you into a whole new world. Was the Genin from Amegakure ready to investigate this strange place and put a stop to the disappearances? Rumor had it that there were three levels to this dungeon and as all good adventures, Emi would begin at the entrance to level one.

[~Emi~]

The dimensional portal

[Enter]

Emi had gladly accepted the mission to check out the strange dimensional portal that had appeared in the rain country, the politics had frustrated him for quite some time and he craved some open action. He had expected portals to get stable sometime since not long ago he had experienced a bunch of strange ones appearing all over the country.

Are you ready to discover what those portals really leads to?

A smile escaped Emi's lips as he turned to his friend and gave him a hard pat on the back. To make sure Zetsubô would be free to act as he wished, Emi removed the chains he had used as leash and hung them so they wouldn't be in the way. Their steps through the forest echoed spooky as they approached the portal. Emi's eyes wandered the area to find any sign of an escaped beast or element, but he was only meet with a semi-dead forest and a warm breeze from the portal. The sheer size of the crack in the dimension surprised Emi, it was more than twice the size on the biggest one he had seen before. It took Emi a couple of seconds to realize he had stopped and awed the portal, but he shook his head and took a long and deep breath to gather himself. He knew he respected powerful things too much, and if he were suppose to survive the task alone, he would need to snap out of it. A small bump woke him up.

Wait, I need to see if there's anything I forgot.

He said a little stressed as he realized he hadn't gone through his items, so his hands quickly wandered over to his pockets and containers. The buttbag contained their normal amount of 10 Shurikens, 6 kunais, a world map and 3 blood clot pills and after a quick headcount, Emi nodded and reach for the pockets on his black crimson rain robe. Even though they weren't very deep, he still had managed to fit in two sets with lockpicks, a smoke grenade, a compass, 10 incendiary tags and 10 locking tags. Emi hesitated a little, even if he had everything with him, he considered to put some of the tags on the kunais. But he didn't need to think for long before he placed 3 incendiary tags on 3 kunais before putting them back into his bag. He didn't need to check for the polearm, because he could feel the regular weight pushing him down unto the ground. Even if he had used it for several years, he had started to regret the heavy weapon, it was useful and strong, but too slow and immobile.

Wait, where's my scrolls?

The sudden realization that he might've forgotten something, his hands stumbled over the pockets once again, but when he finally found them in a small side-pocket, he breathed out and started to walk towards the portal. He was now prepared for whatever was on the other side. The warm wind increased a little in strength and Emi started to jog towards the gate and since he was unable to see anything on the other side, he prepared for an impact. Zetsubô had started to get so thrilled that when the duo almost had reached the portal, he sprinted on ahead with a load roar. The love for his friend was huge, so even if he liked the beasts enthusiasm, he couldn't help but feel a little worried what would face them on the other side.

If I fall Zetsubô, I want you to get back to Amegakure, PROMISE ME THAT

But the beast only continued to roar like if he didn't hear it, then the world got quiet and a cold chill spread across Emi's body when he crossed the portal.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

23.

He would step into the first portal. He found himself in a small 'room', measuring roughly fifteen feet by fifteen feet in a square. Despite the enclosed space it was indeed some kind of forest with lush grass and a tree in the top right corner. Crawling along the ground were five large insects, they appeared to be some sort of caterpillar. They were roughly six inches long and four inches tall. They crawled along aimless paying no mind to each other or the strangers.

Emi had entered from the south though if he looked back there would be no portal. There was however a portal on each of the other three sides. Each of the glowing white circles on the floor seemed to pulse, like water after a stone had been dropped in it. The caterpillars seemed to avoid the portals that led to who knows where. What would Emi do? Attack the caterpillars? Try one of the portals? Or something else entirely.

[~Emi~]

The dimension revealed

The light was the first thing that struck him as he got out from the portal, his stomach had turned upside down from the experience and a small buzzing sound had appeared in his ears. Instinctively his arms prepared themselves for combat and his legs widened to give Emi some better balance, but as he noticed that the environment was completely calm he breathed out. His nerves had been so tense that he almost hoped to be surprised by something on the other side, but the beautiful surroundings still made him happy. The space was a lot smaller than he had expected which made his eyes immediately turn to the strangest things there except for the portals, the caterpillars. Emi hadn't heard about any caterpillar of that size before so he took a small step towards the closest one, hunched down next to it and watched it carefully.

STAY!!

Emi screamed as he saw that Zetsubô had smelled on a caterpillar before turning towards the right portal and prepared to charge through it.

We can take that one soon, but we can't just charge in one direction.

Even if the caterpillars were rather strange, Emi switched his attention and analyzed the situation. The portal he arrived in was gone, something he had expected due to people had disappeared entering it, but he didn't think it'd be that calm. The area didn't seems to have affected the other travelers at all, since there was no corpses there and the caterpillars hadn't been taken as a source of food. Emi started to look for any footprints in the grass or if the tree could reveal any previous travelers path, and even if he had some skills in tracking people, he didn't know if others had come to the same place.

Would you like to eat the caterpillars before we leave?

Emi said as on a joke to Zetsubô which immediately shook his head in disgust, he hated bugs after all. He rose up from the ground and walked up to the tree.

Let's mark where we went?

He didn't want to get lost in a foreign dimension, and if someone else came after him, he wanted to display which way they could take to get to him. So Emi drew one of his kunais and carved three circles that would stand for the portals and made an arrow pointing at the one he would go through. If he had been able to see any tracks telling him if someone had walked through one of them, he would chose that portal, otherwise he'd be taking the right one. Emi then placed back the kunai into his buttbag and removed some of his hair from his face. The portals looked like the first one, so he expected himself to be more prepared for the feeling of going through them, but he hesitated a little as his stomach made an uproar just by remembering it.

Just gimme a second Zetsubô

After he had taken a couple of deep breaths, his stomach has settled enough for him to feel prepared for the next portal. But this time he thought it'd really be something suspicious, so he had his arms form a defensive shield in front of his face while he took a couple of long steps with his feet very close to the surface at all time. His movements were smooth and slow until he felt the strange chill through his body again, which made his muscles rather stiff and he went through the portal.




I've 46 Skill points in the skill tracking

[|Ayame Unbound|]

20.

The caterpillars would do absolutely nothing of interest while Emi watched. Emi would move through the portal and find himself in a similar room. Trees lined the edges of the same sized room, yet this room held six foot tall bi-pedal insects akin to grasshoppers. They bounced excitedly on their two feet while holding a stick with a large leaf attached. They would seemingly take no notice of the pair. One thing of note was, if Zetsubo attempted to smell where they were in relation to where they had been he would not be able to. The smell could not or would not travel through the portals.

This room held only two portals. One on the north side and one on the east. Emi it seemed had materialized in the center of the room making it hard to say which direction he had come from.

[~Emi~]

Trapped in a maze

With a couple of stumbling steps, Emi walked through the portal. The area in which he had entered wasn't any more dangerous than the one he just had left, so he lowered his arms and shrugged his shoulders. With a quick look around the area he saw that there still was no traces of any other travelers.

Wonder how many more of these small places there is.

He looked at Zetsubô which immediately had rushed to one of the other gates and wagged his tail and made some happy growls, he was prepared and wanted to find some action. But Emi shook his head to his friend and sat down on the grass and looked on the insects. It was something strange with the different dimensions, they all were similar to each other but the insects was different. Then Emi remembered that there had been a tree in the previous area, but as he looked around the space there were no tree. The amount of portals appeared to have decreased as well, but he got the feeling he just had entered an endless maze containing only a couple of harmless insects.

So, it's probably for the best if we continue to make some kind of markings, to avoid taking the same portal again. Don't you agree Zetsubô.

But despite that Zetsubô shook his head and was about to charge through the portal, Emi smiled and picked out one of his shurikes. With a few short steps towards the right portal, Emi tried to count the amount of steps it would require to get from the center to the portals, he wanted to know how much they were alike each other. When he had reached the portal, he threw the shuriken into the ground so about half of it was above ground.

Let's see if taking all right turns makes us go in a circle.

Before Emi walked through the portal, he took a quick last look on the grasshoppers and regretted that he hadn't brought a pencil. If he would've, Emi could've recorded what kind of animals there were in the different portals, so he would be able to see if there was a pattern. The dimensions didn't however seem dangerous, so as his left hand entered the portal he had barely any adrenaline pumping in his body, it was quiet, almost too quiet. The last thing he was able to notice was a happy Zetsubô jump after him into the portal, the landing would be rough.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

23.

As luck would have it the right hand portal did take them back to the caterpillar room. But would that always be the base? It had taken fifteen steps from the center to the portal. Emi would appear in the center of the room facing north once more. The same portals stood, one before him and one to each side. Would he be able to make it out of this maze?

[~Emi~]

The first circle found

Emi was barely capable of jumping to the left before Zetsubô came crashing through the portal and hit the ground with a loud bang. The big head was momentarily stuck in the earth before Zetsubô was able to pull it out. A loud sigh escaped Emi as he rose up from the ground and dusted of some dirt that had stained his crimson robe. The first thing Emi noticed in the dimension room was a big caterpillar passing by him, oblivious that Emi was something dangerous.

Are we back?

He rose his gaze and watched the rest of the area, and he immediately recognized the tree that was growing in the right corner. Even from the side he was on, Emi was capable of seeing the markings he had left there the previous time. A smirk spread across his face and he walked to the center of the area. When he knew he was in the center of it, he took a couple of slow steps towards the right portal, careful to make even steps while counting them. Even though Zetsubô kept on bugging him, the count was quickly finished and Emi was able to determine the size of it. He wasn't very surprised by the result, but it was good that he had confirmed it.

So, shall we discover the whole dimension then Zetsubô ?

Just a happy growl came as an answer, but Emi agreed, their mission had to be to discover the dimension and learn what was the reason behind it, there could also be survivors left in there. Since Emi didn't have any tent or lumber to make up a fire, there wouldn't be any reason to make the area into a base. But he expected to return to it several times, so he made sure to absorb the view once more before walking back to the right portal. When he had walked through the portal, he noticed that the nauseating feeling he previously had was gone, and he had been able to keep his balance when walking out on the grassarea.

So, left now is it?

He asked Zetsubô which would run ahead of Emi and enter the portal before Emi had even been able to put a shuriken in the ground. After he had take na quick look around to confirm it was indeed the second area he had been in, Emi threw the shuriken similar to what he had done before and would enter the left portal.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

11.

Emi would now find himself in another room, the same dimensions of the previous rooms but with a different set up. There was a path down the center, running north and south, that Emi would be in the middle of. The path was five meters wide. On either side of the path was a ridge leading up to a higher level of ground with trees on each side. Flying through the room were yet more insects. One foot tall and red in color, they resembled flies. All told there were ten of them. Immediately they swarmed Emi and Zetsubo. The crash of their bodies had a surprising effect, each carrying a D rank worth of damage. Five swarmed Emi and five her beast. They came from every direction to smack into the pair, those behind would bite hard enough to draw blood. One in front of Emi would beat its wings and unleash a bolt of air towards the boy.

They seemed intelligent, darting in and out of range and timing their attacks so the pair would be under a constant barrage.

[~Emi~]

We're under attack ! ! !

The calm nature they had during the previous travels suddenly changed as they walked through the left portal and the insects were capable of catching Emi and Zetsubô off guard. Zetsubô was the first one to be attacked as he was also the first one to go through the portal. Angry roars filled the area as the very large insects hit on the big beast one after the other, and before the roars had been able to reach Emi's ears, he felt a strong thug from the first attacker. Emi was use to taking a lot of damage and had been training to endure it, but as it came so sudden and from so many angles, a small cry of pain escaped him.

Zetsubô, dig down in the ground!

Emi screamed as the second insect was about to hit him. The instincts told Emi that there were dangers coming even if the insect was coming from a blindspot, so Emi trusted them and turned his upper-body as the insect hit him. He hadn't been able to avoid the attack, but it had barely made an impact on him. A little surprised that he would actually be able to roll with the hits from the insects, Emi continued to do that as a couple of more came crashing into him and when they all had attacked and flown off to a little safer distance, Emi noticed that his body was basically unharmed. With a quick look at his comrade, he saw that even he had managed to avoid any visible damage.

I told you to hide, didn't I ?

There were a clear joking sound in his voice as he shouted the remark on Zetsubô, but the animal didn't seem to be listening at all to his master, his focus was completely on the insects. Since they had given themselves a little distance to the big animal, Zetsubô dashed towards them using an incredible speed. The bodyflicker wasn't anything he usually used, but he didn't like surprises and had gone bored on the calm nature they had seen so far. To make sure that the insects didn't know from where he'd be attacking, he moved in an arc towards them. When he had reached them, Zetsubô jumped up in the air and tried to slice them with his right claw. The attack went through the air with a swooshing sound but he didn't know if he had hit anyone. So Zetsubô used his second claw while still being in the air by the insects, and tried to swing it from underneath instead as the insects might've have a blind spot there.

The flight through the air was was rather fast, and when Zetsubô had come so far towards the insects that he basically was about to hit them, he reached out with his jaws and tried to bite down on at least one of them. When his projectile path had made him pass the insects, he used his tail in an attempt to slam them, but he didn't have any good visual of them, so it would just be lucky if he did manage to hit any one of them. As Zetsubô landed on the grass, he quickly turned around to face the insects yet again and to see what he had managed to accomplish.

Emi hadn't seen Zetusbô's fight as he had his eyes fixed on his own insects. Even though they were insects, Emi didn't want to underestimate them as just the sheer size of them said they could be dangerous. As he thought that, a couple of them came in from behind and attempted to bite Emi, but he had been able to get a good foothold and was able to avoid the attacks, which he knew were coming with quite little effort. The insects appeared to use their speed to their advantage as they bolted around, but that only made it easier for Emi to avoid any individual attacks.

Why are they capable of this level of teamwork?

He thought as he saw the flies move in sync with each other without even have eye contact. But he ignored the fact fr the time being as one of the flies send a gust towards Emi. He hadn't been expecting such an attack coming from them, so he reacted a little poorly and had to make a big tumble to avoid the attack. The dimension was no longer friendly, he expected he would need to fight for every step he would take from now on. While he tumbled up back on his feet, Emi drew and threw four of his shurikens towards two of the insects. He didn't know if they would hit or not, but he threw them so if the insects did avoid them, the easiest way to do that would be to fly closer together to each other. When Emi then had regained his foothold, he threw one of the incendiary kunais towards the pair of insects he had tried to stick together. Another four shurikens came flying from Emi's hands before he finally decided it was time to activate the tag.

KATS!!

The explosion filled the area with warm air and Emi's hopes got up, had he been able to get at least two of the insects, or would this fight be harder than he had expected?




Items used:

SPOILER: Click to show

Tag: Incendiary x1
Rank: "S"
Type: Secondary, 80 per Slot, Explosive, Tag
Effect: Exploding tags are scraps of paper inscribed with a special writing, centering on the kanji for "explode" (爆, baku). Infused with chakra, they will explode after a set amount of time that bursts an area into flames.
Special: ---
Drawback: May harm the user if not put right.
Description: Paper that is 2 inches by 6 inches in size and 0.039" (1 mil) thick. Tags can be activated to explode within 6 seconds, or by a simple technique. A tag that can be attached to any surface that has the ability to burn an opponent. The pouch has a death distance with fire within 1 meter diameter while having a severe burning/wounding distance of 2 meters diameter within the point of origin. May be attached to 3 items without taking up room in a single slot.
Limit: These types of items may be capable of being bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 12,000 Ryo per Slot, or 150 Ryo Each.

Kunai (Overview) x1
Rank: "C" Rank
Type: Secondary, 2 per Slot, Piercing/Slashing, Knife
Effect: A digging tool, a bit like a trowel. The blade was soft iron and unsharpened because the edges were used to smash plaster and wood, to dig holes and to pry. Also used as a knife.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The kunai is conventionally wrought in ranges from 6 to 8 inches, with the average at 7 inches. The kunai was used by common folk as multi-purpose gardening tools and by workers of stone and masonry. The kunai is not a knife, but something more akin to a crowbar. The blade was soft iron and unsharpened because the edges were used to smash plaster and wood, to dig holes and to pry. Normally only the tip would have been sharpened. The uses to which a kunai was put would have destroyed any heat-treated and sharpened tool like a knife. There could be multiple kinds of kunais such as handless ones, or even double sided kunais as long as they are within the same length.
Limit: These types of items may be capable of being bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 1,000 Ryo per Slot, or 500 Ryo Each.

Hira-Shuriken (Overview) x8
Rank: "C" Rank
Type: Secondary, 15 per Slot, Piercing, Shuriken
Effect: Is a concealed weapon that is generally for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Hira-shuriken is constructed from thin, flat plates of metal derived from a variety of sources including hishi-gane (coins), and kugi-nuki (carpentry tools), and generally resemble popular conceptions of shuriken. In modern popular culture, these are called "throwing stars" or "ninja stars". They often have a hole in the center and possess a fairly thin blade sharpened only at the tip. The holes derive from their source in items that had holes - old coins, washers, and nail-removing tools. This proved convenient for the shuriken user, as well, as the weapons could be strung on a string or dowel in the belt for transport, and the hole also had aerodynamic and weighting effects that aided the flight of the blade after it was thrown. There is a wide variety of forms of hira-shuriken and they are now usually identified by the number of points the blades possess.
Limit: These types of items may be capable of being bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 1,500 Ryo per Slot, or 100 Ryo Each.

Techniques used by Emi

SPOILER: Click to show

Damēji Heri (Damage Reduction)
Rank: "D", "C", "B", "A", ["S"]
Skill: TaiJutsu
Effect: This technique is similar to that of Roll With the Punches, except that this technique works on a stacking manner to Roll With the Punches, as well as it works against Blunt, Bludgeoning, and Solidified attacks. The user is capable of withstanding more then usual as their body becomes adaptable towards broad attacks, where the muscles harden making the Brawler durable.
Special: ---
Drawback: Does not work on Slashing, Piercing attacks, or attacks that are not solidified, that hits in a mass amount.
Description: When the user first learns this technique they are capable of only reducing the damage of techniques of Bludgeoning, Blunt, and Solidified Attacks of "D" Rank one rank below then its capability. When the user learns "C" Rank version of this technique they are capable of reducing the "C" Rank Bludgeoning, Blunt, and Solidified Attacks down one Rank as well as as "D" Ranks go down 1.2 times reduced capability. When the user learns "B" Rank of this technique the user is capable of withstanding "B" Rank Blunt, Bludgeoning, and Solidified attacks reducing the power down by one rank. It is capable of reducing "C" Rank techniques 1.2 times reduced, and "D" Rank techniques 1.4 times reduced. When the user learns "A" Rank of this technique the user is capable of withstanding "A" Rank Blunt, Bludgeoning, and Solidified attacks reducing the power down by one rank. It is capable of reducing "B" Rank techniques 1.2 times reduced, "C" Rank techniques down to 1.4 times reduced, and "D" Rank techniques 1.6 times reduced. When the user learns "S" Rank of this technique the user is capable of withstanding "S" Rank Blunt, Bludgeoning, and Solidified attacks reducing the power down by one rank. It is capable of reducing "A" Rank techniques 1.2 times reduced, "B" Rank techniques down to 1.4 times reduced, "C" Rank techniques down to 1.6 times reduced and "D" Rank techniques 1.8 times reduced.
Limit: Must know Sekondo Nen (Second Sense) "B" before going into.

Roll With the Punches
Rank: "B"
Skill: TaiJutsu
Effect: The user is able to roll with the punches, and not take as much damage that should have been delivered.
Special: ---
Drawback: Does not work on Slashing, Piercing attacks, or attacks that are not solidified, that hits in a mass amount, this technique does not work against NinJutsus.
Description: The user has become quite good at handling hits and taking them, they have now trained themselves to roll with their opponents punches as they come to them. By moving their body with the direction of their punch they are able to dodge or take less damage from the hit. When they are hit they go along with the punch or kick to take less damage. Whenever someone would attack bluntly with punching, kicking like techniques, or anything that is blunt like techniques the user sways with the direction of the attack as the attack becomes deafened, the attack becomes lighter, giving less harm towards the Brawler. When the user learns this technique the opponent's techniques become one rank less powerful then it is initially used. This technique does not work against NinJutsus as it only works on Bludgeoning, and Blunt TaiJutsu techniques.
Limit: Must be a Brawler

Sekondo Nen (Second Sense)
Rank: ["D", "C", "B"], "A", "S"
Skill: TaiJutsu
Effect: The brawler depending on the rank of the technique the user is capable of reacting through subconscious mind against attacks against the user in different manners such as being flanked, and from behind. This technique makes the brawler incapable of being surprise attacked.
Special: ---
Drawback: The user may only learn this technique by the class that they are. This means that in order to learn the "C" Rank version they must be "C" Class, if they wish to learn the "B" Rank version they must be "B" Class.
Description: A technique where the subconscious mind, where the subconscious body reacts just as they are attacked while flanked or while their back is turn. The body reacts in such a way to where they are capable of withstanding so much. This technique makes it where the Brawler is incapable of being surprised attacked, a sudden second sense kicks in as their body screams out to them yelling at them telling them to move, duck, dodge or anything else within that manner. If an opponent comes to a Brawler at a bar, and attacks with a sword, or a club, the brawler gains the urge to dodge to the left, or to the right, where they are capable of reacting before the action is completed. This works on whenever they are being attacked. This technique however has a major flaw. The user is capable of dodging only whenever the opponent's class is equal or lower to that of the rank of the technique they know. This means that a "D" Class user that knows this technique can not use this against an opponent that is "C" Class or higher.
Limit: Must be a Brawler

Techniques used by Zetsubô

SPOILER: Click to show

Shunshin no Jutsu - Ko (Body Flicker Technique - Arc) x1
Rank: "D"
Skill: NinJutsu/TaiJutsu
Effect: A Jutsu that allows a user to rush in an arc in almost instantaneous speed. Allows the user to avoid the opponent's attack and gaze.
Special: ---
Drawback: Takes away the number of usages Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi (Body Flicker Technique - Push). Same distance applications apply. Same drawbacks apply when over using.
Description: User is able to move in an arc along the ground in almost instantaneous untraceable speed while temporarily masking the user's movements within 10 meters. User may move forward, or backwards if they know Tweh version of Shunshin. This Jutsu is used to get around and behind an opponent without sacrificing multiple Shunshins. Supplement of Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi (Body Flicker Technique - Push) using same schematics.
Limit: Universal NinJutsu or Universal TaiJutsu, Must know Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi (Body Flicker Technique - Push)

Name: "Durable Carapace"
Rank: [C, B], A, S-ranked
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: A Jutsu that is used where shelled or armored creatures gain a stronger carapace, enabling the creature to endure stronger and stronger techniques.
Special: ---
Drawback: Depending on the Rank the animal learns this technique depends how strong the carapace of the animal becomes. Damage stack against the creature's carapace, which can eventually break, and expose a softer and weaker dermis (So if the animal take a C-ranked hit, while having B-ranked armor, their armor is now a C-ranked less is durability until the end of a fight). A animal with Durable carapace, cannot have "Hardened Skin" (for snake).
Description: Animals are often born with a dense shell, or armored hides, as a means of defense against predators. Through repeated damage and impact, the body of the creature can bolster forth a hardy armor, which has weathered through various attacks throughout it's life. The creature can add the rank of this technique, plus their current rank as a creature for the total amount of defense they can gain. So when the creature learns the "C-ranked" version of this technique, they are capable of enduring one "C" Ranks of Jutsu, plus their own rank of dense before it feels the full effect. (If the "C-ranked" version of this technique learned by a "C-ranked animal" can withstand 2 "C-ranked" attacks). This carries on till "S-ranked".
Limit: Must be a animal with a dense armored body.

Raking Claw Swipe
Rank: C
Skill: TaiJutsu
Effect: Slice the opponent with the claws of the front paws
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Bringing the paw upward, slash downward to inflict damage upon the target. This move is usually used from a jump to increase the damage done.
Limit: Must be a clawed animal companion.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

Between the myriad of attacks the insects would be defeated, yet the damage reduction wouldn't do much against the bites of the bugs, both of them would have bloody bites along their necks and backs. Not dangerous, but annoying. Now that they were gone what would the pair do?

[~Emi~]

Victory

The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins as the last fly came crashing down. The battle had been brief and even though the flies had been a lot stronger than their peers, they hadn't been much of a fight for Emi and Zetsubô. With a couple of smooth steps, Emi moved the a twitching fly and finished it off by stomping on it a couple of times. He scratched one of the bitemarks he had received as he leaned down and picked up one of the thrown shurikens.

Wonder what makes these insects so much more aggressive? flies doesn't use to be any more dangerous than caterpillars.

Emi could feel how the bite mark he was scratching already had started to close, the skin itched and some weird liquid had started to cover the wound. But he knew that it would still a while until the wound had been fixed, so Emi walked over to Zetsubô and started to take a look on his wounds. They were basically the same amount as his own and looked about as harmless. But Emi didn't want to risk anything, especially when they were in a weird dimension, out of reach of any medical treatment. So he put his hands tightly together and gathered some chakra. After a few seconds, he had managed to gather a fair amount of water in his hands by taking it from the air around them. By using the fresh and clean water, Emi started to clear Zetsubô's wounds and made them clean.

Don't worry Zetsubô, I'm almost done

He said as his friend started to growl a little from the annoying sensation of water in an open wound. When he was done, Emi took the rest of the water to his lips and drank it. It wasn't cold but he got refreshed from it. With a quick look around, Emi noticed that the area was quite different from the previous ones. Instead of being like a plateau, it was a corridor. But since he didn't know which portal would be leading him in any useful direction, he walked towards the one he currently was closest to, which currently was the portal to the north. Emi made sure that he had picked up all the used items, except for the now useless kunai and tag before he marked the portal with a shuriken and walked through.

Come now Zetsubô

The words echoed through Emi's head when he hit the portal, what if there were more hostiles on the other side? He mentally prepared to defend himself as he started to fear what could happen with Zetsubô if they got attacked every time they entered a new area, and never would get out from the maze.



Emi's trait

SPOILER: Click to show

Grendle Ancestry
Rank: "B"
Skill: Trait
Effect: A trait that grants healing properties to the user.
Special: ---
Drawback: Cannot gain any other Ancestry Traits.
Description: Some human bloodlines trace their linage back to a grendle, an offspring born of troll and human parentage. Living humans with this racial trait are immune to bleeding out. If they are also "C" Class they heal Minor damage per 15 rounds. If they "A" Class and they lose a limb, an organ, or any other body part, once per day the user's severed body members (fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, legs, tails, broken bones, and ruined organs grow back. The physical regeneration is complete in 1 round if the severed members are present and touching the creature. It takes 15 rounds otherwise. Regenerate also heals Serious Damage within 15 rounds, and rids the subject of exhaustion and/or fatigue. It has no effect on nonliving creatures (including undead). This trait replaces 2 of the 5 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 2 of 5 Freebies.

Technique used by Emi

SPOILER: Click to show

Suiton: Suibun Shuuko no Jutsu (Water Release: Moisture Condensing Technique)
Rank: ["D", "C", "B", "A", "S"]
Skill: Ninjutsu, Supplementary
Effect: Allows the user to condense water within the atmosphere for use in Water-based techniques.
Special: The user adds "Tiger" to the end of every technique they wish to use this in association with.
Drawback: The water that is drawn from this attack comes from the atmosphere itself. Unlike the Oxyhydro Conversion, which is the combining of molecules in order to create water, this attack pulls the actual moisture out of the air and condenses it. Because of that, the ability is less effective in dry areas, sometimes not allowing enough water to be drawn for higher-level techniques.
Description: A supplementary Ninjutsu ability that is combined with other Suiton (Water Release) abilities, the user will focus chakra into the atmosphere, pulling the moisture out of the air and condensing it into forming an attack. The user must have the corresponding level of this technique in order to use it for a technique. This means that in order to use this ability for "D" Rank Suiton techniques, the user must have the "D" Rank of this technique. If the user wishes to perform "S" Rank Suiton techniques with this ability, they must have the "S" Rank of this ability. Since the technique is simply condensing the moisture in the atmosphere instead of creating the water, this technique is much more chakra efficient than Oxyhydro Conversion. Drains an additional "E" Rank amount of chakra for every rank of a technique (starting at "D") when used in a moist environment. Drains an additional "D" Rank amount of chakra for every rank of a technique (starting at "D") when used in a moderate environment. Drains an additional "C" Rank amount of chakra for every rank of a technique (Starting at "D" Rank) when used in a dry environment.
Limit: Must be a member of the Hoshigaki Clan.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

1.

The edges of this room were mostly covered in foliage. At the north and western side were two more portals. This room too was filled with creatures. Eight animals resembling wild boars shuffled around. They stood nearly two feet high, their backs covered with long fur and their eyes glowing red. They noticed the arrival of the pair but otherwise made no moves towards them.

[~Emi~]

The Demon boars

The new vision that meet him was unlike the previous ones, instead of over-sized insects, he now was facing a group with small boars with strange eyes. As he noticed the two new portals in the area, Emi sighed low to himself, the maze was just getting bigger and bigger. He had discovered less than one third of all the passages in the maze probably, and it could be infinite from what all he knew. What puzzled him was that he still hadn't found a single piece of trace of other humans traveling through the maze. People had disappeared in there several times, and yet he was unable to find single footprint?

The area one gets teleported to shifts as time goes by?

The theory was just a guess, but it made sense to him. But as he thought that, he started to imagine how much bigger the maze had to be for all the humans to walk around without finding each other some time. Something close to fear struck Emi as he started to accept that he might not get out from the dimension if not by chance. Zetsubô looked up on his master as he noticed the boy had gotten frozen while thinking. The boars were calm, but Zetsubô just didn't trust the massive small creatures, he wanted to kill them and rip their flesh apart. But as Zetsubô leaned a little downward so he would be able to pounce the boar, Emi had awoken from his thoughts and laid a hand on the hardened back.

I want us to avoid unnecessary damage Zetsubô.

The bite-marks they had received earlier made a notice as a cold breeze hit them and send a small pulse of pain to their respective brains. Instinctively Zetsubô reached out with his big tongue and licked the wound, but it tasted clean. To show Zetsubô what he wanted without saying anything out loud, Emi pushed Zetsubô's head to the ground before releasing him and signing a couple of quick seals. Even though the boars were calm at the moment, Emi didn't want to risk having to fight 8 of them just because they felt threatened when the duo passed by. When the final seal was finished after 1.2 seconds, Emi leaned over and allowed himself to descend into the ground. Zetsubô growled a little as his masters head disappeared into the ground, but quickly afterwards started to follow him by digging a hole in his own size through the earth.

It didn't take long before Emi ascended on the other side of the boars, near the north portal. He shook of some of the dirt that was clinging to him before pushing himself of the ground. When he was standing firmly on the ground, he turned around and assisted Zetsubô to crawl out from his tunnel. Emi had a careful eye on the boars as he took out another shuriken and placed it on the ground in front of the north portal.

Come now Zetsubô, we have a long journey ahead of us.

With a couple of strong pats on his friends left side, Emi walked towards the portal with the knowledge that this now had become a life task, find a way out, or die trying. What would the next portal reveal and what dangers was ahead? Emi didn't know, but he forced a smile to appear as the coldness from entering a portal swallowed him and spat him out on the other side.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

21.

Emi would succesfully traverse through to the portal and come out the other side. This room was similar to the room with the red flies. Trees sprinkled the edges and a wide path sat in the center. Two portals sat, one at the north end and one at the south end. This room was filled with five bouncing green creatures. They were mostly spherical in shape, yet there was a smile upon their faces. They made no notice of Emi. The strangest part was they seemed to be made entirely out of some kind of gelatinous substances.

[~Emi~]

The universe is a strange place

As Emi had walked through the portal he immediately saw the creatures that both filled him with curiosity and disgust. They weren't like any living animal he had ever seen and was probably some kind of created beast. His eyes followed one of the larger ones as it moved around in the area with a semi bouncy look. As it didn't seem like any of them cared about Emi's presence, he tried to take a couple of steps around them. The steps were slow, but since he had never seen the kind of creature before, he made sure to be careful.

What do you think Zetsubô? Are these some kind of aliens?

A small growl came from Zetsubô's throat as he walked two steps closer and started to smell the air around himself. He couldn't connect the smell to any kind of thing he'd smelled before, so he turned to his instincts to tell whether or not he liked the creatures.

I think we should try to figure out this maze a little better, because I don't think it's a good sign that we're coming to less world like creatures.

Emi turned his head towards the southern portal and scratched his chin while he tried to get a grasp on the maze. If he would be able to go back to the previous area by entering the southern gate, there would be a theoretically way to get back at least. He walked towards the southern gate and threw a shuriken in front of it. After he had taken a long breath, he raised his hand towards the portal and had it enter the swirling vortex in front of him. Emi could feel how the portal tried to pull him inwards and swallow him whole, so before it was too late, Emi turned around and looked at his friend.

Stay here for a couple of seconds, If I'm not back in a minute, you can come after me.

There were a little worry in his voice, as he didn't know if the portal would change destination as time went by, but he knew that he would have to risk it to find things out. He had underestimated the dimension which was a huge mistake, so he decided not to think too low about it any longer and be prepared for the worst. When about half Emi was through the portal, he raised his hand towards Zetsubô to indicate that he really wanted his friend to wait there, then he disappeared and only left a dead silence and a sad beast behind.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

25.

The room he would find himself in was a large grassy field, the same size as the other rooms. Trees clustered in the corners and a warp portal stood at the north, south, east, and west sides. In this room there were five creatures nearly identical to the previous ones, except they were pink. They bounced around happily, ignoring Emi.

[~Emi~]

The maze of no return

A lot of Emi's psychology energy was drained as he saw the same gelatin creatures that was roaming the area. The fact that there was no way for him to return meant that the maze contained a lot more ways than he had hoped, and if he missed the correct way leading out form it, he would never be able to return to it. Emi sighed and sat down on the soft ground as he waited for his friend to follow him through the portal. It didn't take long before the beast rushed through it and started to smell around Emi to see what was new in the area. They would need a plan, but Emi didn't know what.

Every move we take Zetsubô, might make it harder for us to get home, so either we stay here and tries to figure out a way to discover the correct way, or we just risk it and head in a general direction.

The discrete growl was hard to figure out what it meant, but Emi expected that his friend just would get anxious if they stayed in one place. The weird looking creatures in the area would just suffer, something Emi didn't mind, but he secretly wanted to head out too. So he rose up from the ground and pat on Zetsubô.

Let's find something more interesting, shall we?

He walked through the area leading Zetsubô to make sure that the beast didn't attack any of the happy slime creatures. With so many creatures in every single area, he didn't want to make them into his enemies. He studied the leafs and bark of the trees in the area before he followed his normal routine when exiting an area, he threw a shuriken into the ground in front of the portal. This time Emi decided to take the north one, hoping that he had reached some kind of middle point of the maze, and the upward road would lead to some kind of source. If the next portal didn't show any interesting leads, Emi's anger would build, and who knows what could happen then.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

1.

Emi would take the portal and find himself in a familiar place. The room with the demon boars. His markings remained showing he had taken the north portal previously, leaving only the west portal if he meant to try another one. The boars would react the same, taking note of the presence of the two but not moving towards them at all.

[~Emi~]

More circles are found

a rolling laugh started in Emi's stomach and quickly exited his body in an over-exaggerated laughter. The theory about their pattern didn't add up, and when he thought he walked straight forward, he actually walked in circles. But he didn't have that much luxury to sit back and enjoy the moment, so he calmed down and stopped laughing about the same time Zetsubô came out. The big beast looked a little curious on Emi and wondered why the boy looked so happy. But as the beast looked out on the new area, he saw the big and juicy boars walking around in front of him. The holes were the second thing the duo noticed, which was clear indicators that they had been there previously.

Alright, shall we take the next way then ? There's no point in going through passages we've been in when there's still undiscovered ones closer.

He said a little hesitantly as he no longer knew what would be the best of approach to find things in the maze. Emi walked towards the western portal and prepared one of his shurikens as he walked there. Emi didn't give the boars much of attention, but he made sure to keep his distance from them. Zetsubô seemed rather confused as he walked around and smelled the grass, and Emi had to call out for him several times before the beasts giant head was lifted from the ground and he came rushing. A small tug could be heard when the shuriken hit the ground and Emi walked through the portal.