Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Kick It 'Till You Make It

"Now that was just rude..." Mana pushed the falling strands of hair off her face before taking a mighty leap and sticking to the wall where the enormous snake-human hybrid once stood. Now the giant just lumbered up and over, it had clearly not predicted ever needing to withdraw as its lower body, comprised solely of faceless reptilian tentacles was ill-suited for climbing.

"Hurry after it, human. If it aims its heads from up there, we'll be fish in a barrel!" One of the mongooses growled.

The magician focused a precise and controlled amount of chakra to the bottom of her feet. While her feet were attracted to the surface of the cavern as if drawn by magnets, the magician dashed upward in an attempt to chase the monster. If the titan had not slain so many mongooses that day, maybe she'd have given it the chance to withdraw. Although the mongoose must have been right, it was not withdrawal that the titan was seeking but a superior position to kill.

Following the rushing onslaught of mongooses running up the wall in a berserk chase of the giant that could have easily threatened their entire population, Mana heard loud thundering from up above. While the mongooses were too self-indulging in their rivalry with the human-serpentine titan, Mana got absolutely baffled by the insane reaction to the giant's uncontrolled strength.

Thunderstorms raged all around the plains, causing large fires all around. The walls of flames tall enough to reach the sky, the turbulent and suffocating smoke that rose from the flames covered the sky in a dark gloom while the leaking from the giant chakra dyed the layers of gaseous clouds violet.

"Because the giant is not balanced, its chakra is leaking out. It can't control it. It seems that Earth itself is crying in pain of supporting such an abominable monstrosity." Mana figured to herself as she looked around and truly listened to the Earth's cries. Yes, that was how the thundering and crumbling ground truly sounded like. Moans of pain. The gurgling, fiery magma from below that burst from underground whenever the giant attempted to stomp out dozens of mongooses at once and missed sounded like spilled blood.

"This battle cannot drag out. If it truly cannot control its fearsome might, it will destroy more than the human mind can stretch if such fearsome chakra leaks." Mana looked around, desperately trying to find the blazing orb of the Sun in the sky but failing for the Earth's gloom was too thick. They were lucky not to have the battle take place near an ocean, being as far from the far-reaching watery embraces as one could be at each side.

If the giant had approached the edge of a continent, he would have broken it. If it stepped into the waters, it would have drowned the world in them.

Regardless of how fearsome the situation was, there was only one thing left to do. There was no use coordinating the mongooses. Those that had any semblances of their mind left to lose would have known to cut for the upper heads, those that had lost it in the heart of battle would be too far gone to reach and only the defeat of their enemy could have brought them clarity.

While the natural, seemingly cosmic thunderstorms raged around Mana across the entire land that the battle was raging in, the magician had some lightning of her own left in her system. The girl's chakra turned to lightning, arced and sparked around her before the Audra wand in her hands lit up. It was time to thunder how she had never thundered before.

Mana moved on, she did not waste chakra on a flight, even though it may have helped her aim a little. It would have made her too slow, her maneuverability would have been limited. The magician ran forward, carefully feeling her massive opponent. It was an odd feeling, reaching out for its chakra.

As the young kunoichi evaded the giant's stomps and massive fists and dispersed into rose petals before compressed streams of water and flames tried to leave not a single trace of her, Mana realized something profoundly curious about the way she's been sensing this giant's chakra.