Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Loneliness Amongst Friends

A lizard-like amphibian of a threateningly proportioned head and black scales pulsing with venomous pustules at their edges hissed out. With its mouth splitting open, it unleashed a trio of whipping tongues, all of which ended in a more substantial mass where a purple liquid swelled up. Upon being whipped about, the growths at the tip of the tongues became so overburdened by the swelling liquid that it splashed it about.

Endo, Mana, and Tomi dashed aside, observing the showering venom closely so that they could pull out of its way and not experience the adverse effects of famed ninja salamander venom. What neither of the three had expected was that the venom burst into hissing fumes the moment that it spent a good pair of seconds exposed to the air of the unsealed battlefield resembling a mountain cave slapped together from two intertwining rocky ridges rising from opposite directions and forming a cradling triangle of pocket air in between them.

The trio erupted in a fit of coughing as the burning air filled their lungs. The composition of the venom was tough to pin down, but it felt like breathing something hot enough to rend and unravel one's skin while something viler, more chemical corrupted the sensitive flesh, causing a very nervous irritation in one's entire airway system. Mana couldn't even hear the salamander hissing over her own wheezing and whining.

She wanted to cry out to Tomi, who rolled forward and jumped with her hands and feet open, latching onto the salamander's shield-shaped forehead in a manner similar to a hug as the brat rubbed her face at the enemy's. While the exact effectiveness of this method was yet to be determined, Tomi confounded the lizard greatly at the very least.

"I know you doing this whole thing right now, but I also know that you'd much more rather be burrowing around that soft, wet soil down under, huh?" Tomi muttered as she let go of the giant salamander's forehead with one hand and used it to rub it gently over its forehead. The amphibian croaked out with rippling bubbles of air, making Mana almost forget the fact that she had breathed in some highly irritating substances and try to keep her eardrums from rupturing for a few moments.

The large lizard smashed its head against the ground, grinding the rougher patches underneath to mushy dust as its relatively small for its colossal proportions, arms began burrowing and the amphibian disappeared from sight within seconds. Having dropped on her butt, Tomi just chuckled, marveling at the sight from down below as the floor cleared up for them to claim their prize and complete the training exercise.

"Humph... That's right, tuck your tail and run," Endo grumbled as he was regaining his breath and breathed in enough oxygen to get back on his feet.

"I've seen nothing like that," Mana's jaw dropped, half because of the surprise of seeing a lizard being defused by mere pets and cuddles and a very mesmerizing suggestion, another half because she was that short of breathable air in her chest to where it felt like being choked. The sooner they'd leave this corrupted, noxious field the better.

"Salamanders are just big goofs. All they want to do is burrow around and eat venomous maggots to fill up their reserves. The poor thing must have been so frightened to spit venom at us even though it didn't intend to eat us," Tomi made a worried face staring down at the hole.

"It would have absolutely eaten us!" Endo sheathed his double-blade weapon before exclaiming as the battlefield lit up in bright light and became just a fluid mirage that sealed back into the glyphs drawn in patterns over the ground. Despite the rather bland and unimpressive appearance of the default training grounds, it was preferable to choking in venomous fumes that were spreading and thinning out until the recruits leaving the lecture and sharing their impressions couldn't even notice it anymore.

"Nonsense, you're a mean-spirited human. Too nasty for most animal species to eat, though, perhaps, salamanders are a bit too silly to care for the good of their own digestion..." Tomi began pondering to herself as the trio waited for Stars to reassemble so that they could go back to their room together like they did on most days.