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Chapter 154 Through Flame, Through Soul, Through Pain
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"For starters," Rickert said, leaning back against the cool stone, "crystal lizards have only been recorded in recent history about two to three hundred years ago, give or take."
"How is that recent?"
Rickert gave him a crooked look. "Well, by Lordran's standards, yes. Some of the oldest beings here were alive when fire first appeared in the world. A few still walk around. Two or three centuries? That's a nap."
Naruto tried to imagine that. Konoha wasn't even a quarter that old. Their proud Hokage monuments, the ancient clan traditions, the stories passed down through generations—by Lordran's measure, it was all brand new, barely a scratch on the surface of time. And him… he was now undead. Functionally immortal. Barring hollowing, he could live far longer than he was ever meant to.
His heart dipped a little.
Would I outlive everyone back home? Iruka sensei… Kakashi… even Teuchi and Ayame at the ramen stand? Would Ichiraku become rubble? Would the taste of miso pork become just a memory? Would the places I love vanish?
The world he came from suddenly felt fragile. Ephemeral.
Rickert kept talking, unaware of the storm behind Naruto's eyes. "There's a lot of debate about crystal lizards. Among the blacksmiths of Vinheim some believe they're fragments. Living remnants of the Nameless Blacksmith Deity. Creatures born from the scattered sparks of his forge, wandering the world, hoarding smithing materials like lost children searching for a father they never met."
Naruto blinked out of his thoughts. "So… is this guy anything like the Nameless King?"
Rickert gave him a sharp look. Naruto quickly explained what he knew, and the blacksmith's eyes widened in shock.
"Well, that's a heavy secret to carry," Rickert muttered. "But no, different story. The Blacksmith Deity never had a name to lose. Born broken with a twisted spine and one leg. His own kind cast him out. But instead of dying, he built. He did more than survive," the man continued. "He shaped the first great forges. Made weapons for gods, reforged ruins, taught the flame to behave. He turned his broken body into a tool of creation."
Naruto let out a low breath, the weight of the story settling in. "But… no name?"
"Why name something you never plan to acknowledge?"
Naruto's jaw clenched. "That's stupid."
"Perhaps," Rickert said, "but legacy doesn't need a name. The legend lives whether anyone remembers his face."
Naruto glanced at Oscar, who was happily nibbling on a titanite shard like it was candy. "So you think he made these guys?"
"One theory," Rickert said. "They're small, fragile, no real offensive ability. But inside? Titanite. Twinkling, rare, and powerful. Some say if you gather enough, you can forge a weapon fit for the gods."
"Sounds like a rumor."
"It is. We've never seen anyone do it. But the fact that they exist at all? That's something."
Oscar chirped, lifting his head as if to say I am something, thank you very much.
"But," Rickert continued, "not everyone agrees. The scholars of Vinheim have a different theory. They say crystal lizards are the work of Seath the Scaleless."
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he followed the logic behind the theory. Oscar was made of crystallized soul, the highest form of magic, and he was a lizard. That alone made the connection to Seath almost too easy.
"Some argue these creatures were either failed experiments," Rickert continued, "or lesser beings Seath allowed to exist either out of boredom or as a byproduct of his work."
Naruto frowned. "So… they're either descendants of a forgotten god's legacy or the cast off glitter poop of a dragon."
"Succinctly put," Rickert said, nodding. "History's like that—muddy, inconsistent, and half the time written by people who weren't there. But if you ask me?" He leaned forward, meeting Naruto's gaze. "It doesn't really matter where they came from. What matters is what they become. Especially that one."
Oscar paused mid nibble, looking up with a curious chirp.
Naruto smiled softly, scratching Oscar's head as he began explaining chakra to Rickert: how it flowed, how it mixed with magic, and how Oscar had begun developing his own reserves. The blacksmith listened in silence, eyes narrowed, occasionally jotting something down in a battered notebook, only to scowl and erase it seconds later.
Naruto let the man think. He sat back down on the stone steps, staring out at the ghostly waters of New Londo. Mist clung to the surface like a veil hiding the drowned secrets below.
"Do you know of any material that specifically reacts to chakra?" Rickert finally asked.
"Yeah," Naruto replied, looking over. "Why?"
"If we can fuse that metal into Oscar's internal chakra network," Rickert said, tapping his pen against the page, "he could potentially channel chakra more safely. With enough precision, it might act like scaffolding for his chakra."
Naruto frowned. "Wouldn't that cause a reaction with the soul magic in his body?"
"That depends entirely on the metal," Rickert replied. "Titanite can absorb nearly any energy, but it's indiscriminate. You'd need something attuned to chakra alone."
Naruto reached into his inventory and pulled out a shimmering sliver of chakra metal, its surface pulsating faintly with life. Rickert took it, studying the stuff under the faint light.
Rickert scraped off a few shavings of the chakra metal and began conducting small tests, channeling traces of magic toward it to observe any reaction. After several minutes of careful experimentation, he leaned back and shook his head. "Hm. It behaves like inert metal under magical influence," he muttered. "Doesn't absorb it, doesn't repel it. It just sits there."
He looked over at Naruto. "That's actually a good thing. If chakra flows cleanly through this metal without reacting to magic, it means we can use it to line Oscar's chakra pathways. That way, his chakra and soul magic won't mix and more importantly, won't blow him up."
"Great," Naruto grinned. "So how do we move forward?"
For the next two days, Naruto and Rickert worked tirelessly. Shadow clones of Oscar acted as test subjects. Progress was slow, but with Rickert's deep knowledge of magical ore and Naruto's understanding of chakra—and a little help from the system:
[ Name: Naruto Uzumaki ]
[ Level: 30 → 34 ]
[ Intelligence: 18 → 20 ]
[ Faith: 12 → 14 ]
Between chakra control, blacksmithing theory, and trial after painful trial, they finally devised a solution that held up under every test.
They were ready.
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Oscar laid unconscious on the reinforced bench, his crystals faintly pulsing with residual firelight. The air inside Rickert's forge felt charged. Naruto stood just inside the blacksmith's work cage, eyes sharpened with focus as he molded hand seals. Clones poofed into existence around him in rapid bursts of smoke. By the end, the tight space was a hive of iron clad clones, each one primed with a specific task.
Rickert, expression stern but calm, stood beside the forge as molten chakra metal shimmered like liquified lightning in his crucible. The blacksmith had removed every impurity with a precision honed by centuries of practice. What remained was a brilliant, almost sacred white.
"Here we go," Rickert murmured, lifting the crucible with a flicker of gravity defying magic. "Hold him steady. This is either going to work... or it's going to kill him."
One of Naruto's clones stepped forward, cradling Oscar's limp body with reverent care. Another clone took the crucible, tilting it forward with exacting slowness. The molten chakra metal flowed in a thin stream, directly into Oscar's open mouth. The crystal lizard didn't react yet.
At that same moment, Rickert placed one hand gently on Oscar's crystal body and the other on his sorcerer's catalyst. Closing his eyes, he began to weave a delicate spell, channeling his magic not to cast, but to redirect. Threads of energy pulsed beneath his palm as he carefully siphoned and rerouted the overwhelming soul magic coursing through Oscar's core, guiding it away from the chakra pathways Naruto was about to forge. The goal was simple, yet precarious: prevent the volatile fusion of chakra and soul magic before it could ignite into something catastrophic.
A third Naruto clone watched Oscar's status screen with soul sight active. The lizard's HP began to plummet almost immediately.
"He's losing integrity!" the clone shouted. "We're burning his inner structure!"
"Now!" Naruto ordered, voice sharp.
A squad of clones surged forward, each already prepped with glowing miracle sigils. They began casting Heal miracles in rapid succession. Waves of warm golden light rolled over Oscar's body, knitting what fragments they could and buying precious seconds.
Meanwhile, the original Naruto pressed his hand to Oscar's body and closed his eyes, drawing in chakra.
He could feel it, the molten chakra metal flowing like lava inside a crystalline maze. With careful intent, Naruto began shaping it with chakra manipulation, forcing it to align with Oscar's developing chakra network. It was brutal. Exhausting. Like threading molten rods through the shattered bones of a patient without anesthetic. The metal scorched its way through, carving new channels of energy in a body never meant to host them.
It helped that Oscar had no blood or organs, just condensed layers of soul crystal. But that didn't make the work any less harrowing. He was reshaping Oscar's very essence, cutting a second circulatory system into a being of pure crystal.
A lot of clones encircled the forge, each with soul sight active, their eyes glowing faintly. As one clone popped, another replaced it instantly, whispering data into the original Naruto's mind.
"Too much buildup near the first gate! Pull it left!"
Naruto absorbed it all, adjusting in real time, guiding the molten metal like a weaver at a divine loom. Sweat poured down his face, dripping onto the floor of the forge. His arm trembled. His breath came in ragged gasps.
And still, he held on.
As the final traces of molten metal reached the end of Oscar's nascent chakra network, Naruto barked an order.
"Cool him down. Now!"
Two clones hefted large buckets and dumped ice water onto Oscar's body. Steam hissed violently, filling the room in a scalding cloud. The metal inside Oscar hissed, then snapped into a solid state, locked into place, fusing with the chakra network.
Naruto didn't let go.
He stayed there, hands pressed to Oscar's back, feeding gentle chakra into the system to stabilize the bond. Another clone moved beside him, placing a glowing hand on Oscar's shoulder.
Great Heal Excerpt.
A wave of white light enveloped both of them. Naruto exhaled sharply, eyes fluttering closed from sheer exhaustion. And then...
Oscar stirred.
His crystal eyes blinked open slowly, refracting the torchlight like a thousand stars. The gentle hum of chakra now pulsed beneath his crystal skin, no longer wild and erratic, but controlled. Harmonized.
Oscar shifted his limbs slowly, like someone waking from a long sleep. He looked down at his claws. Flexed. Moved his tail. And then he looked up at Naruto.
Naruto, still kneeling, gave a tired grin and wiped sweat from his eyes. "How do you feel, partner?"
Oscar blinked then he chirped.
Not a weak, tremulous sound, but a deep, reverberating note that echoed across the chamber. A clear, crystalline tone filled with awareness, strength, and a strange new energy. It wasn't just magic anymore. It was chakra.
Naruto laughed softly, his voice cracking from fatigue. "That's what I wanted to hear."
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Author's Note
Hey everyone! Just dropping in for a quick explanation of some of the lore additions in this chapter.
1. The Nameless Blacksmith Deity – Why I Made Him Crippled
If you've been wondering why I described the Nameless Blacksmith Deity as crippled, there's a reason for that. I based the concept on the Titanite Demons—those one-legged golems scattered across Lordran. Given that these creatures supposedly appeared after the death of the Nameless Blacksmith Deity, I thought, what if their appearance reflects their creator?
On top of that, I took inspiration from Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmithing, who was famously born with a congenital impairment. Since Dark Souls already draws from myth and legend, I felt this addition fit naturally into the world's storytelling.
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2. The Convoluted Mystery of Crystal Lizards
I love worldbuilding that doesn't provide easy answers—where history is pieced together through conflicting accounts rather than clear cut facts. It makes a setting feel alive, like people within it are genuinely arguing over history rather than just reading from a perfect record.
Crystal Lizards are a perfect example of that kind of mystery. Across all three Dark Souls games, we're never given a definitive answer on where they come from.
Some believe they're linked to the Nameless Blacksmith Deity because they drop Twinkling Titanite and other materials associated with his legacy. Others believe they're Seath's creations—artificial lifeforms bred in his experiments—since they can use crystal breath attacks, and many are found in Seath's Crystal Cave.
Personally? I like the idea that both theories could be right—or neither. What do you guys think? Which school of thought do you subscribe to?
That's all for now! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Next time, things are going to ramp up—because if you know what's connected to the Valley of Drakes, you already have a good idea of who's coming soon.
Stay tuned!
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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 75, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.
To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!