The Jewel's of the North [Mission]

Mission Specs:

A blistering snow storm had been growing in intensity over the past few hours, making traveling to up the mountain during such a time a treacherous task for even the most hardened of adventures. Still, the thought and excitement of a challenge pushed Raian onward as he forced his way through the snow, thankful to the gods for his large muscular frame which was helping to create and conserve body heat. His mastery of the divine breathing technique also helped him maintain control of his body temperature to a better degree than most, didn't really help much in a fight but pushing through cold weather was something he could manage with it.

"I wonder what this, special challenge is that you have to do in order to claim the jewels. Whatever it is, no one else has come back from attempting it, so maybe it's a monster or a secret order guarding it!" Raian said to himself, growing louder and louder with excitement.

He quieted down quickly however, the sound of something quickly approaching him through the snow alerting him. Spinning a complete one eighty, he turned to face the approaching person. It was a man, quite the average looking fellow. A thick fur around him to keep him warm and a small scar on his cheek but nothing that would say he stood out in any fashion. "Heard ya say earlier down at the pub that ya was going up looking for that challenge. Well my old partner went looking for it too, now it's just me, don't know what happened to him. But that old story ain't what ya wanna hear, I know how to get up towards the general area so just came to point ya in that right direction if you really wanna have a go at it. Take this mountain pass up about, oh five or six kilometers, where the moon hits the mountain. There, right in the moon light is where the cave be."

Raian smiled, he couldn't believe his luck, the rumors he had heard back in the land of irons markets about the cave hadn't really been to exact with their information. This person however had just given him all he needed, and so randomly, but then again he did say his partner had gone there and never returned. Perhaps he hoped Raian would learn his fate along the way, or had some other motive for giving Raian the info..

[Nature Energy Stacks 0->1]
[WC: 406]

Moving onward, after gathering the info the man had brought him for whatever reason. He pushed towards the direction where the moonlight met the mountain there in it's glow would be the cave according to the man. Moving up the mountain, north, using the brightest star in the sky as a marker Raian hoped to get there quickly as each passing minute the blizzard seemed to get worse. "Wasn't really prepared for the mother of all blizzards. Damn this is gonna be brutal!" Raian thought to himself as he pushed onward.

After just a short while of travel Raian came to a small ravine, the gap only spanned about five meters but still at the heigh he had already climbed a call would I need be hazardous. He kneeled down, building power in his legs as he easily leaped across the ravine, making sure to land carefully so that the ledge he landed on didn't crumble beneath him.

Continuing forward after the small delay, he eventually came to a small pass in between two of the mountain peaks. Bringing one hand to his chin, Raian though to himself for a moment that the place he was looking for had to be in here. Yet such a tight space would prove a challenge should any dangers arise. "Oh well, not like I've ever been careful before!" Raian thought to himself as he shrugged and happy continued forward. It wasn't long however before he was stopped yet again, this time by a mysterious hooded figure blocking the path forward.

Raian walked to within about ten or so meters of the figure who at that distance he could tell was a man without even being able to see his face. At that distance Raian called out to him "Identify yourself!" Was all Raian said, hoping for some response, and he got one as the man stood up his hands clasped together hidden within his sleeves. "So you wish to claim the Jewels of the North?" The man began to speak finally lifing his head so that Raian could see his face. He had the appearance of a man who was VERY old, possibly triple digits in years of Raian was forced to guess. "How had this old decrepit man gotten all the way out here?" Was the only thought Raian had running through his head as he could only force a nod in response.

"Very well then," the mysterious man continued in a raspy voice "your challenge awaits!" The man finished with a roar as he pulled his arms from his sleeves, each hand holding one half of a small cane. He clicked the two halves together before slamming them down hard into the ground, causing a massive plume of snow to rise up forming a massive cloud that obscured vision entirely. Raian dropped down into a defensive stance, fine tuning his senses and preparing for an attack from any angle. Moments later however, the dust cloud cleared and where the old man had once stood now stood a different figure. And this one was even more surprising than the old man as it looked just like Raian or another Raian anyways.

At that same moment, a voice seemingly forced it's way into Raians head, a voice he immediately recognized as that of the old man. "Now you must prove yourself against the ultimate foe. Prove you can defeat even yourself, only then can you claim the Jewels of The North." Raian roared in anger for the voice to get out of his head as he kept his eyes locked on the figure in front of him. The person looked EXACTLY like him down to even his clothing, the scars all over his body, the devil horned hairstyle, and even the eyes, and how scary they were to see from the other side. "I live for this shit!" Raian muttered to himself under his breath as he and the copy both rushed forwards at full speed, slamming into each other and locking hands in a contest of strength. "Well.. at least the strength is dead equal with the real me, this might actually turn out to be pretty fun." Raian said with an evil looking smile, sharpened teeth at bare, which his copy immediately emulated.

The copy then sent up a hard knee which planted firmly in Raians stomach, sliding him back a little as the clone jumped forward attempting to continue the assault. However, Raian knows his own "rush forward" nature of fighting and charged his body with electricity quickly before sending it expanding outwards in a blast. The blast knocked the clone away causing him to suffer electrical burns on exposed parts of his skin, mainly the hands he had used to shield his face. Raian rushed forward towards his clon, jumping on top of him as he was on the ground and landing two massive ground and pound shots to the clones face before the clone managed to throw him off. Raian smirked, "Just as I though, some basic level attacks aren't gonna be enough to bring you down. Just what I'd expect from myself." Raian proclaimed with a certain ego about him.

They rushed towards each other again, this time as they closed in Raian himself jump first, and just as he was about to land a massive superman punch on the clones temple, he noticed the clone smirking. Breathing in and out quickly, a huge sonic shockwave radiated out from the clone blowing Raian back onto the ground a few meters away. The clone at that point them emulated what Raian had done before and attempted to jump on Raian for the ground and pound. Raian put up his guard blocking the first two or three shots before he finally kicked the clone off him and got back to his feet. "That was my breath of the all Father technique, so he has my jutsu as well huh? How did that old man get me copied so well? That just doesn't sit well with me but.. on the other hand it does give me the opportunity to try out something new." Raian thought to himself as he kept his focus on the battle with his copy.

Raian smiled, almost overjoyed at the prospect of being able to try out one of the new tricks he'd learned. As his smile grew larger and more sinister in appearance, so did his body. Half his face and chest, plus his right arm turned a deep greyish color almost as if affected by necrosis. His fingers nail turned black and grew into sharpened claws, this form held only for a moment however as just a mere second later his hand shifted into a large axe head. Raian then rushed forward towards his clone, his clone also rushing at him in response. This time however when they met, Raian attempted to the slash the clone in half, however the clone instead slid under the axe swing Raian attempted having it miss him by mere centimeters. The clone slide for a meter or two before returning to a fighting stance. Raian turned back to face him grinning as he did so having figured out one of the clones weaknesses. He may have all of Raians normal jutsu and strength but it was just a copy afterall and hadn't inherited Raians blood and the blessings that came with it. Raian brought the blade of the axe up to his mouth licking it with a demented satisfaction.

Afterwards the two combatants then again rushed each, Raian leaped into the air bringing the axe down hard, the clone attempted to stop it by grasping it between his hands as it came down. However Raian had put all his weight behind it and forced it downward slashing the clones chest open, no blood spilled out however to Raians dismay. "Awe you can't even bleed, well that's no fun!" Raian said with a chuckle as the clone struggled to remain standing, starting him down with the same bloodlust Raian would if he himself were in the same situation. The clone rushed towards Raian with everything it had left, however, Raian in his powered up state simply planted a firm front kick into the clones stomach sending him flying backwards and skidding on the ground. Raian wasn't about to let him recover this time and with the intent to end this charade jumped forward quickly, slamming the axe down on the clones chest. This ended the clones life and as it's last breath faded away it's body simply vanished.

After his clones body had faded away Raian th n turned and he now saw the old man standing there again, having seemingly appeared from nowhere. Raians fleshed returned to normal, and he stepped forward grabbing the old man by his cloak in anger. "What's the big idea here old man?! How do you know so much about me? Don't think just cause youve be around for all eternity I won't smear you all over the sides of these mountains!" Raian roared at the man directly in his face. The man simply placed a hand on Raians chest and pushed lightly, this light pushed launched Raian back a full ten meters before he crashed to the ground and HARD. Raian sat up, quickly in utter shock at what had just happened, this old man had ungodly amounts of strength to do what he just did. Raian couldn't believe what had just happened. The man did not continue to attack however and merely pointed a wrinkly finger behind Raian, as Raian turned to see what he was pointing at he finally noticed the cave. It was glowing brightly in the moonlight just like was told. When Raian turned back towards the man he was gone, but his voice once again spoke inside Raians mind. "You have passed the most difficult part of your test, however it is not yet over, you may claim what is rightfully yours once you reach the heart of the mountain. For the mountains heart is, the Jewel of the North."

[WC: 1689]
[TWC: 2095]
[Nature Energy Stacks 1 -> 2]
[NE Stacks used 2 -> 1]

jutsu Used:

Upon entering the cave, the interior seemed massive in scale from what one would expect from the out side. Raian stepped inside slowly awestruck by the glistening stalagmites in the light of the moon at the entrance. A few meters from the entrance a crevice in the rocks just wide enough for Raian to squeeze through was located, Raian took it as it was the only way out of the first area of the cave he found himself in. As he moved in between the rocks the space seem d to get smaller and smaller, almost appearing as if Raian would get stuck for a few moments but he eventually pushed his way all the way through. Claustrophobia had never been a major weakness of Raians but even still, tight spaces like that were still quite uncomfortable none the less.

Finally reaching the other side, Raian stood upon a ledge, with a seemingly bottomless hole in front of it. The bottom of which was completely shrouded in darkness, rendering visibility zero. Raian kicked a small pebbled from the ground over the ledge, hoping he would be able to use the sound of it's drop to measure the distance to the cave floor. After a few minutes however, instead of hearing the rock impact the floor, a swarm of bats sprang up from seemingly nowhere. Raian knelt down, allowing the bats to fly over him and flee the room they and Raian both found themselves in. When the last of them had finally left Raian looked back over the ledge in amazement. "Damn that's gotta be a long drop. I didn't even hear that stone hit the ground. Note to self: don't fall." Raian thought to himself as he looked across the ravine noticing another crack in the rocks for him to fit through on the other side. The gap was easily Twenty meters or so and the ledge on the side was quite thing making a half hazard jump rather dangerous.

Raian rushed towards the ravine, timing his jump perfectly. As he landed on the other side though, the very edge of the ledge gave way under Raians landing. He tumbled off the ledge, as he fell however, he had the instinct and quick thought of mind to quickly pull a kunai from one of the weapon pouches at his waist. He then slammed the kunai into the rock wall with all his might, embedding it just far enough into the stone to halt his decent. As he lung there, he looked back down into the pitch black void below then back up to the ledge which he had only fallen a few meters away from due to his quick thinking. He quickly focused a steady burst of chakra to his feet which allowed him to cling to the ledge horizontally before pulling the kunai free of the stone wall and placing it back within it's home on his side. "Phew.. that was a close one. Not sure even I could have walked away from a fall like that." Raian thought to himself with a slight sense of relief as he walked back up to the ledge before halting the flow of chakra to his feet and continuing on with his journey.

Once he cleared the second chamber Raian then found himself On a much smaller chamber than the previous ones. This one was only about the size of a small bathroom, cramped, with a single well sized hole in the middle of the room. Raian stepped towards it looking down into it and all he saw was the same lifeless black of dark he saw before. Sensing a looming presence however, Raian turned quickly to face it, surprised to see the old man once again. The old man walked around Raian and the hole so that he stood on the opposite side as Raian did. He looked down into it and then back up to Raian before speaking. "Proof your faith, unwavering, for those with doubt in their hearts dare not continue."

Raian snickered, stepping forward with crossed arms and lifelessly walking off the ledge and into the hole, almost mockingly. As he plummeted down the darkness, his vision faded and it felt as if he had been falling forever before he finally felt the cool wetness of water. He splashed down pretty hard from the fall, and the darkness still kept his vision at near zero. The strong current kept him from gaining his balance and all he could do was struggle endlessly as it swept him away. Finally he was thrown off a huge waterfall and into a large pool. When he surfaced, gasping for air and attempting to gain his bearings the first thing he noticed immediately was that he could see. He was in the largest room of all now, a large hole in the ceiling of the cave letting on glistening moonlight which of came down directly onto a set of large blue jewel, held in the hand of a large stone golem. The golem statue appeared to be the guardian of the Jewels, their beauty so magnificent as it reflected the moonlight throughout the whole room.

[WC: 863]
[TWC: 2948]
[Nature Energy Stacks 1 -> 2]

jutsu used:

Raian walked towards the jewels, his jaw in awe as at their beauty. He climbed the stone golem and retrieved the jewels. However, it was not to be that easy, as upon grabbing the jewels and jumping back down to the ground the stone golem would slowly come to life. Dust and debris pouring from it's joints as it freed them from a slumber that must have remained undisturbed for eons. The golem lumbered forward slowly before swinging a large stone hand with enough force to produce a large crater in the stone floor of the chamber. Raian himself dodging away from the mighty blow at the last second. "Oh you have got to be kidding me.." Raian said to himself in a disappointed tone as he dodged another blow from the mighty stone warrior. This time however, Raian charged forward after his dodge and leapt toward the stone golem attempting to strike back. A large stone hand quickly swatted him out of the air however before he was able to close the distance. "Hmph, for a pig guy made of rock he's actually pretty quick." Raian thought to himself as repositioned himself in the air so that he would land on his feet. Raian charged forward again soon after, this time he zig zagged back and forth with small jumps to disguise which direction he was going to be attack from. He leapt towards the golem again this time from the right side. The golem, as expected, swung for him with a large stone hand. Raian was prepared for it this time and simply ducked underneath it before swinging a kick with all the force he could muster into th back of the golems right knee joint. This was good enough to cause the golem to fall backwards, Raian getting out of the way of it falling body just in time.

As the golem hit the ground, Raian wondered if the fight would really be that easy. He soon got his answer though as the golem quickly got back to its feet not able to be done in by a single blow. Raian smiled, jumping back as far as he could with his back against the cave wall he continued by kneeling down onto one knee and forming a string of hand seal. Afterwards he then began to focus a substantial amount of chakra towards his right palm. The golem slowly started to walk towards Raian, and as he did so the crackling of what would sound like a million chirping birds would feel the air. "Lets see how you handle this one then! Chidori!" Raian roared as he sprinted forward at full speed, a ball of lightning seemingly clutched in his hand.

The giant stone golem swung it's massive arm yet again and instead of dodging it, this time Raian met the guardian half way with his Chidori. Upon their clash Raians Chidori ultimately prevailed destroying the golems arm in the process and knocking it back to the floor. It began to stand up a few moments later as if it hadn't suffered the injury at all. Raian growled still clutching the ball of lightning in his palm. "Oh no you don't! I'm not letting this continue on any longer!" Raian screamed as he quickly rushed the golem before it could get up smashing it directly in it's face with his Chidori. The impact turned the stone face of the golem basically to ashes, ending it's "life" for good as this time it would not attempt to get up. Moments later the ball of lightning would slowly fade from Raians hand returning the chamber to silence and darkness until the reappearance of the old man from before.

"Congratulations young one, you have done well to make it hear and survive against the mountains guardian." The old man began a speech before Raian cut him off. "Yeah yeah thanks for the heads up on that one funny you didn't announce that test like the others." Raian growled at the man the anger in his voice clearly audible. "Young one this challenge was your own, and you have thus completed it. You've earned the right to claim the jewels of the north. What you carry now in that little pouch of yours holds value beyond even your wildest dreams. The hollykage will be most pleased."

As the old man finished Raian caught his last little line and quickly ran forward in confusion stopping just mere feet away from the old man. "Wait.. the hollykage? Wasn't that just a story for young children? What does that have to do with this? Who are you?" Raian said the anger from before now clearly faded.

"I am merely an emissary, but my job here is now complete so I must return home. Come, I'll take you out of here I'm sure your tired from your journey." The man reached a wrinkled finger towards Raian forehead as he spoke. As it touched Raians skin, a glow began to emanate brightly from the point of contact. "Hey wait.. what are you-.." Raians voice was cut to silence before he awoke laying face up in the snow a few moments later. Raian sat up slowly, his head darting left and right as he attempted to get a hold on his location. "Huh.. I'm at the base of the mountain now? That's weird.. guess it beats walking." Raian thought to himself as he finally pushed himself back to his feet.

A few moments later a thought suddenly clicked into his head and he quickly checked the weapon pouch held on his right hip to see if the jewels were still present. To Raians dismay though, the jewels were no longer in his possession. "Well.. that's a bummer." Raian thought to himself, a clear tone of disappointment within his inner voice. He shrugged, figuring that in the end at least he had gotten to have quite a bit of fun over the course of his little adventure. He got to fight a stone golem and even more interestingly, a clone of himself. The clone fight specifically was beneficial as it provided insight into ways for Raian to improve his fighting style. Valuable information for a shinobi warrior, more valuable than jewels even, at least to some anyways. Raian personally wouldn't of minded having the jewels and the knowledge, a fond believer in the expression "why not both".

[Exit - Mission Completed]
[WC: 1,072]
[TWC: 4,020]
[Nature Energy Stacks 2 -> 3]

Jutsu Used:

Claims:
- 5000ryo
- B-Rank Jutsu Ticket
- 40 stats
- A-Rank Sage transformation (1000/1000) (previous WC trained here)
- B-Rank Split Second (1500/1500)
- E and C-Rank Basic Medical Ninjutsu (1350/1350)
- C-Rank Chakra Absorption (1000/1000)
- Remaining 105 WC towards D-Rank Lightning Uppercut Combo (105/500)

Approved