Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Safari Of A Lifetime

"So, what's up with those fiery arms you're throwing around?" Skaven's voice distracted the Empress while the two were rushing downstairs in search of the other Stars. "It's not something I've ever seen Mana use. Is it a mental invention? Some ninja invent flashy techniques when fighting inside the mental realm to impress their opponents, but I've found it to be the most comfortable to translate your will with what you know best. I'd have thought you to be of the same school of thought."

"You ignoramus, I am Mana," the Empress beamed an angry glare back at Skaven, freezing him on his toes there while the Nara wondered if his comrade would flip out and attack him next. With how odd this young woman in an all too familiar face and a red dress that looked rather alien on her acted, nothing would have been out of the ordinary at this point. "What you meant with that ridiculous observation is that the Sorceress hasn't used armor ninjutsu. Somehow I don't doubt that."

"Sorceress? So, you're an alternate personality... That explains it." Skaven snapped his fingers, shaking Shige-H up a tad, who still bumped on his shoulders while the two rushed down the stairs.

"Explains it? Explains what exactly?" the Empress stopped and turned back, placing her hands over her hips. Her mean glare advised Skaven to choose his next words carefully.

"How effective you are at dismantling and resisting this mental control. There are still a few questions, yes, but it is unlikely that tutor Ridworth knew about your altering personalities. It would explain why he'd not be able to contain you once you manifested," Skaven explained in a defensive posture. At that moment he clarified that he'd have rather not held a deadweight klutz in an extravagant dress over on his shoulders.

The Empress vanished in an azure blaze, this sign of aggression baffled Skaven as he didn't think he'd have set his comrade off with that answer, but the azure whirl blasted well over his head. The Empress whirled her authoritative foot over her head while floating upside down and stamped it onto the ceiling, splatting a sword-legged arachnid with a bowler hat concealing its wind-up body. With puny clangs and jingles, the separate pieces clattered all over the floor while the Empress descended and pressed the lines of her dress down as they were late to catch on with the kunoichi's position.

A pair of blazing armored hands emerged from a firestorm of ethereal energy centering at the Empress' upper body while separate fractions of armored limbs, interconnected at the center through a non-existent pin thrust its blade-tipped edges like a flurry of fists, decimating an entire swarm of these spying critters that might have sought to latch onto both ninja and put them to sleep or to ruin their mental avatars by slashing their faces off with those knifed legs of theirs.

"Armor ninjutsu is a pinnacle of shape manipulation. The Uchiha revere their signature armor ninjutsu technique as something that comes from Gods themselves. Of course, Sorceress would be too afraid of her potential and shy away from using such amazing techniques. I, however, am not the Sorceress. I shall bring happiness back to my life by living up to the potential lying within this body." The Empress proclaimed while striking a flashy pose that was very much unlike the Mana that Skaven knew, then again, it was very much unlike Shige-H to act like a pampered little princess too.

"Psychic signals detected. Tomi detected. Shall I lead you to her location?" Damisan exclaimed in a mechanical and apathetic tone.

"Lead the way, buddy," Skaven sighed, knowing full-well that this janky mechanical version of his friend wouldn't move anywhere near fast enough to lead the way to anywhere, resulting in them having to lag behind it.

Truly, dragging behind this helpless and lagging tinman built out of rejected scrap felt like torture all of its own. There were only two ways through this staircase: down or up, and yet this tin scarecrow knew the exact floor they needed to stop on, which would have made the arduous task of checking every door much simpler.