Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Pride Cometh

"You..." a strong telepathic signal emanated from the head of the Five-Tails statue that Mana's displaced spirit now inhabited while her actual body rested inside some test tube in the Conductor's facility. Ashoka twitched, realizing that the strange statue that had stepped in to assist him was in fact addressing him. "Tell me what you know about Drasko. You two seem to share a history together."

"You would address Ashoka the Obelisk this way?" the oversized mound of muscle flipped his column club over on his shoulder and stepped to the statue's side. The size of this man was so ludicrous that he made Mana look like his pet when the two stood side by side. "Let it be known that I am under no obligation to tell you anything. However, you have aided Ashoka and you have therefore earned the Obelisk's favor."

"I don't care about your pride, macho nonsense. Just tell me what you know about Drasko," Mana turned her snout at the spiky-haired goliath. The telepathic signal coming from her became so intense that the transmission of the telepathic waves could've been visible as a halo sparking around her head that took a hotter hue approaching, being bright red at its most boisterous and fearsome.

In a snap, Priskom landed by Drasko's side. His bouncy feet absorbed the shock of his impressive dash wholly, which resulted in the leader of the Chaos Factor landing without a thud or as much as a tap. Drasko glared at his superior, though this could've been only perceivable by observing the flame of spiritual chakra rustling as the core that kept the mangled pieces of armor and ruined scrap floating in mid-air.

"I knew it was a bad idea to trust her with the fate of our bodies," Drasko let out ear-raking metallic grunge by rubbing two jagged pieces of mangled armor together in a way that let out an intelligible sound resembling human speech if one listened what the sound suggested.

"You trust no one. You would have come here alone if the Conductor recruited nobody else," Priskom replied before turning to Mana. "Mana, listen here, you are putting the fate of all our bodies in jeopardy. I won't pretend like Drasko was or is a good man, but neither you nor the rest of us deserve to live the rest of our lives in these bodies because of the sins of a man we didn't choose for this mission."

"This bores me," Ashoka yawned. "I'll leave you strange folks to settle this by yourselves." Just as the musclebound giant turned around to walk away from the scene, a marble tail rumbled in his way and spewed pebbles and dust off of its surface in its motion. The conqueror of the western lands sighed and turned to Mana's back.

"You have quickly squandered the favor that Ashoka the Obelisk granted you," Ashoka said with a tone that was approaching the venue of being threatening.

"Mana... You're not going to be able to return to your old body by just making enemies out of everyone here, including those whose interests align with yours. Would you really let a man's enemy tell their story?" Priskom tried reasoning with Mana again, knowing full well that if the Chaos Factor was to succeed in the goal set by the Conductor, they'd need to work together.

"If the man himself won't," Mana leaned her front lower, preparing to dash in a headstrong tackle and challenge the Chaos Factor herself if needed.

"Ashoka the Obelisk does not repea..." the mound of muscle turned to Mana's rear only to receive a bucking straight in his face. The frame of the Five-Tails statue was shimmering with the gleam of spiritual chakra emanating from its core and surrounding it like a lively aura. It bolstered the kick to where even a man such as Ashoka the Obelisk staggered from the hit.

"I thought I told you I don't care about your macho pride. Whether or not you repeat yourself, whether your fragile ego is hurt or not. Tell me about Drasko," the Five-Tails statue turned sideways to hold both sides of the argument in between her. Ashoka on the right, Priskom, and Drasko on the left. This wasn't a position she preferred or was used to. Mana would've liked to be the voice of reason, the mediator in any situation, and here she was just butting into an argument to make enemies of both sides.