Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

The Legacy Ace

Young Stea and Doma were trading fists. It's barely been a handful of months after she was picked up by the old man and since her training started but she was matching up to Doma almost flawlessly. The girl disliked all of this fighting, it somehow felt like she was using all of her talent in all the wrong ways, instead of directing it at ending the starvation, she was just throwing fists randomly at people she could call family.

"She's not bad", Gasco breathed out forcefully, observing the two kids duking it out at impressive for their age and rather short time of training speed. "Still, I don't quite understand how she beat that first ninja. Her signature went from that of a normal human to outright monstrous, had I not sensed the second one's signature evaporating, we'd have never known he was even there – she completely disintegrated him".

"She's a talented kid. The one in a million kind. Every person has the capacity in them to be an average ninja, only a few handful can achieve the tallest heights there are without making excessive sacrifices. Stea is one of those talented kids", the old man nodded his head a couple of times before continuing to follow the two kids as they blitzed around the dojo. "One should never underestimate the power of emotion in molding chakra, it was because of her boiling feelings that her already tremendous latent chakra potential grew temporarily to the unbelievable heights that it did".

"She isn't fighting seriously, her mind isn't behind this", Gasco mockingly grunted after Stea got punched in the cheek and then kicked down hard enough to devastate the old master's floor. The girl appeared from the muddy depths below the house, the sludgy layers that required most houses to be elevated with wooden or stone platforms or be built in a manner that would make the whole house rise with each passing wave of muddy waters.

"That was a simple right cross, I thought she'd see it. Guess I'm just that good"! Doma laughed out childishly stroking his own itchy nose in both embarrassment and childish pride in his accomplishment.

"I'm sorry, master Haldus... I just... Can't focus", Stea wiped her muddy eyes so that she could open her eyelids without getting excessive handfuls of mud in them.

"Something on your mind"? old Haldus wondered. "You didn't seem to have this problem when I trained you in the basics – you were one of the most focused and reserved students I've ever taught".

"I just... Can't lose the thought that... I'm wasting my time here", Stea rubbed the back of her head shyly. She was not a bold enough girl, not like Doma at all, she had trouble relaying her honest thoughts to authority figures and figures did not get any more authoritative than old master Haldus.

"Oh, is that the case"? The old master closed his eyes in consideration.

"I mean... All we've been doing so far is fight each other over and over again, train more and more and that's fine and all but... The village has not gotten any better. Yes, the rampant murders have stopped, but only because the people lack the energy to even kill each other for survival anymore." Stea was becoming bolder and bolder with each passing sentence she was allowed to utter. This was her chance to make an impression on her old master and she had to utilize it.

"And what do you suggest we do"? Haldus asked curiously.

"Well... It's no mystery that plenty of people wanted to escape Getsugakure when things got rough. They would not get far because of the bandits that are circling the village further to the shores of the island. Even if they made it to the beaches, the pirates would pick apart what little is left of their party while they're making their way to the continent..." Stea vibrantly explained, she was not wrong either.

"So instead of wasting your time working towards the strength required to embark on a high-rank mission, you'd use it to fight pirates and bandits with our limited food and resources so that the people could leave our village instead of bringing it back from its pitiful state? You'd rather make them surrender all that was built on this island, all that was lost making the international community acknowledge Getsugakure as a village worth of their recognition"? Haldus strictly scolded his student.