CHAPTER 3- ELELMENTAL GUIDANCE: PART 1

6 WEEKS LATER

It had been six weeks since he got adopted and those were some of the best days of his young life. Naruto kept looking around the house, touching anything he can, telling himself it was not a dream. He really had a family now. A bizzare and weird one, but he loved it all the same. Turns out, they were from outside the continent, which explained their weird names and why they looked a little different than most. He learned a lot about his new family.

Warlic was the calm, wise, and knowledgeable one. He knew a lot of things. It was no surprise he was working in the public library since he was a walking encyclopedia himself. He was also very good at teaching him some basic things like reading, math, and some history of the Elemental Nation. He was also very keen on limiting his interaction and time with his new uncle Cysero (for good reason).

Cysero was the fun loving uncle every kid always wanted. He was very energetic and always look for ways to make things interesting. He taught him card games, board games, and even darts (though Warlic put a stop on the last one when he heard that the target was not a dart board, but a glass of explosive powder with the darts being set on fire). He was also good at making things out of metal like swords, daggers, and even household items. This got him a job as some sort of blacksmith or something. It was always so fun being with his uncle so long as his father thought there was no explosives nearby.

His mother Celestia was so kind and warm. She always showed motherly love on him that it made him so full. She was a good cook and always made some delicious tea that he got a craving for it. The tea wasn't just good but also healthy for a young growing child. She also made some good snacks that was also healthy. She had a job opening a cafe giving snacks and tea for everybody. It became a popular haunt for many people including kunoichis.

Now here he was at home in the dinner table reading a book that his father gave him and he was very much enjoying it. He noticed that all books his dad gave him were about some sort of male hero who kept saving everyone from giant monsters to dragons. He found all of them good but he knew already they weren't real. If you have lived in a world where only women were gifted with extraordinary powers, you tend to find stories like these as nothing more than fairy tales. Just stories that help kids like him fall asleep. Despite that he was quite enjoying the book he was reading and more often than not imagined himself being the hero. Hey he's a kid, give him some slack.

If there one thing he discovered about himself is that he loves to learn new things. Where as kids today, either girl or boy, loved playing, he loved learning from his family. Whether it be cooking, reading, and even smithing, he loved it. He just could not stop wanting to learn more.

However today was different. His father told him that when he came back from work that they have something very important to show him. His mother and uncle were just outside waiting for his father. He did not know what it was that they were going to show, but it must be very important from how his father said it. He was kind of scared and curious as to what it was.

He was reading right now just to calm his nerves. It was when he heard his mother calling him from upstairs did he get up and closed his book bringing it with him. He was going to his mom and dad's room when he saw his mom just outside the door. "Come sweetie, we have something to show you" she ushered her son and went in the room. Naruto walked in but to his shock, his mom was nowhere to be seen. Confused, he looked around behind the door. "I'm here sweetie!" he heard his mom's voice but could see where she was.

His head kept looking at every direction but again found no trace of his mother. "Here!" his mother called out again, this time he faced the source of the sound and found it by the corner and found the standing mirror. Curiously, the boy slowly walked to the mirror. He peered into it, and suddenly the image of his mother appeared causing him to fall to the floor in shock and fear and dropped his book. His eyes wide he crawled backwards and tried to get up. "No sweetie! It's me. I'm sorry if I scared you. See, it's mommy" Celestia got out of the mirror shocking her son even more. "Don't be afraid. Mommy is here. Nothing bad will while I am here. Please" she soothed her scared son and took out a hand for him to hold. Naruto still wide eyed, his breathing erratic, and heart beating very fast, looked at her hand.

"Mom...what's going on?" he trembled and asked. He looked at her hand and she softly looked at him. "I will tell you everything I can my son. Please come with mommy. We have a big surprise for you" she smiled to soothe him. Naruto again looked at the hand. 'Mom would never hurt me right? I mean I do want to know how she went to that mirror. Also she said there was a surprise' he thought as he slowly grabbed his mother's hand and got up. "Come dear, it will be good surprise" she said as she led Naruto to the mirror, and to his shock he also went in. When he got to the other side he was shocked at what he saw. It was a huge field. One side was a forested area full of trees. At the center was a grassland and flat. On another side was a huge crystal clear lake. The whole place was wide as the eye could see (this is basically the same place as where you can find Warlic in Book 1 and 2 combined with Celestia's place. The place where you customize your dragon).

"Wow! What is this place? How did we get here!?" his anxiety and fear forgotten, he looked around in awe and excitement. His mom was happy to find him smiling at what she and her husband worked hard to make. "To answer your question, this is where you will discover many great things" Warlic appeared behind them, now in a blue robe holding a wooden staff and what appears to be a crystal ball. Naruto was confused by his father's new look and his choice of clothes. "Father? How did you get here? What is here?" he became even more confused.

His mother knelt down to look him eye to eye so that he can feel more safe, "Naruto, me and your father have decided that today will be the day that we will teach you our art. A long lost and nearly forgotten art. You see my child, those books we gave you holds many truths" she pointed to the book in his arms. Naruto looked at his book then to his mom with shock. The stories in his books were real? Knights? Magicians? Dragons? MAGIC KNIGHTS WHO RODE DRAGONS?! THAT SOUNDS AWESOME!

His parents could see the building excitement in their son's eyes as he kept looking at the book. Warlic coughed to get his attention. "Now my boy, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I need to see if you truly have what it takes to learn. For that, I set out a scavenger hunt for you" Naruo looked up to his father who produced another orb after waving his hand in the air. This one was like his but smaller, small enough for him to hold. Warlic gave it to him carefully. Naruto took it and looked at the crystal ball and found what seemed to be an arrow pointing to a direction kinda like a compass. "Follow the arrow to where it will lead you to your target. It will as soon as you reached it. There will be something you have to do and once you finished you will receive something to show you have done it. We will wait for you to finish. You have no time limit so take your time, and please Naruto, do NOT make them angry" Warlic instructed his son who looked confused about the last one. Before he could ask, both his mom and dad flashed away but not before Celestia called out good luck for him.

Naruto was amazed at that act. As any kid his age, he found something like that fun and awesome! If he passed this game he could learn to do that! Excitedly he looked at the crystal he got and looked at the direction it pointed to. For about twenty minutes he walked to the forested area. The crystal led him to a stone circular platform. In the middle was a candle burning and strangely wasn't melting. No wax was dripping from it and also it was hotter than normal when got close to it. It was just a small fire but it felt like he was near the sun. Suddenly the crystal he held stared to emit a bright reddish orange. The fire in the candle began to dance and then began to grow bigger and bigger every second. Soon the flame turned into a sort of tornado made of fire that began to heat everything around it. Naruto could do nothing but cover his face to shield himself from the heat. It felt like a heat wave suddenly hitting him causing him to sweat like a marathon runner on a sunny day. As soon as it appear however it disappeared just as fast. Naruto not feeling the heat anymore slowly looked back to where the flames were and saw something very scary. There stood now a figure. A being that was made of fire. It wasn't humanoid in shape, but seemed to have a head, torso, and arms. It had no legs but had a thin pointy end as its body reached to the floor (This is a fire elemental for anyone who hasn't played the game).

The being of fire looked directly to Naruto's eyes causing him to freeze ironically. He didn't dare move not knowing what the being will do to him if he did so. To what may feel as hours to Naruto, which was only a minute actually, the being then spoke, if he was correct to assume it came from it, "Come here". The order only seemed to make Naruto even more scared of it. "I SAID COME HERE BOY!" It ordered again loudly. Naruto jumped in fright but immediately went close to it. He didn't want to anger it any further.

"H-h-hello. I-i-it's nice to meet you ah..." Naruto stuttered out trying to be polite. "Tell me boy. What am I made of?" it asked him.

"Fire" Naruto whispered out.

"Yes. I am fire. The element of heat, the element that breathes, and the element that is most important" it drawled out. Some of Naruto's fear went away and replace by curiosity as the being kept speaking.

"I am the element that warms the world. I am the one that many fears for I bring destruction to those who play me. I can burn down many things. I am an element of destruction as I am an element of life. Now you see why I am the most important boy?" it asked Naruto who was listening to everything it said. After that the boy looked kind of sad. The being said it was an element of life but only describe how it can only destroy. "You said you are also an element of life, but why do you only say things that harms others? I know you are more than that. You help warm us every day. You give life to flowers and plants we need. You also help us make food to eat. I know you can do those. I see it everyday" he answered. Then suddenly the elemental went close to him and it looked angry. Naruto was scared he may have offended him in some way. He didn't understand. He just said was was true. His mom told him honesty was a good way to help people. But this one got angry at him. As it was just a foot away from him, it stopped and then began to shake. And suddenly, boisterous laughter sounded from the elemental. It was laughing. "You are quite different. I wish to see where you will go with that thinking" it then held out its arm where a small ball of fire formed. Then it started to compress more and started to turn solid. The fire turned to a beautiful reddish orange gem that floated in its arms.

Naruto looked at it and thought it was beautiful. The gem then floated towards the crystal he was holding and then phased inside it. Naruto was wide eyed at what he saw and looked back at the elemental. "You have passed the first stage, 8 more to go" it said as flames surrounded it then shrunk back to nothingness and disappeared as if it was never there. The candle was gone from the platform, but in its place was strange seal like markings that glowed the same color as the flames. He then noticed his crystal ball started to glow again. He looked and saw the arrow now pointing elsewhere, and from the corner of it he saw a red dot signifying the gem he got a few moments before.

"One down eight to go he says. I wonder what else I can find and learn. This might be fun" he was now excited. He wondered what the elements were. If he remembered correctly from his book under his armpit it must mean the eight elements of magic! But wait, he did a mental math process and added it to nine. That was strange. He met a being of fire so that must logically means he will meat the other elements but what was the ninth?

"One way to find out" he exclaimed as he now trended to the direction of where the arrow pointed.

Off to where his destiny will start