Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

The Elusive Time

Mana's mind just wasn't into it. Even when Garikan stood perfectly still and let Mana mold and channel her chakra her attempts to toy with his time perception just didn't stick. The magician might have rolled back on most of the progress she made training with Yushijin. And here Mana thought that she might have been close enough to something that she'd have possibly relied on it working in a pinch to give it a shot. This sparring session served as a cruel revelation that she still needed to keep it in the "to be polished later" bag and away from public view.

"Don't beat yourself over it, I... I think I felt the time extending somewhat..." Garikan scratched the side of his neck.

"Thanks..." Mana belched out. It only made her feel worse knowing that she made her sparring partner so bored with her attempts to stop time for him that she actually made him feel like time had extended to an eternity without any aid from genjutsu.

"Hey, are you seriously okay with this? Like... We don't want any part of your crew. Heck, we'd probably join it, either one of us," one of Garikan's friends approached the pair when they seemed like they had finished their training.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Even if they had the right to tell me what to do and when they'd have to remember that I exist for that to happen," Mana let out a weary growl as she rubbed her tired eyes. She probably didn't mean to sound this mean though maybe she did, it was just that the better, more rational part of her obstructed the path for those words to come out.

"Did you get in a squabble with your crew or something?" another one of Garikan's friends got curious. "It would explain why Ion is rubbing backs with the star crew of the prep course."

"Yeah, sorry to break it to you, but if you're looking for the opening of my spot on the crew, you might be short out of luck. No problem, there's still an opening for Skaven. Maybe you can fit in there for the time being," Mana waved her hand in dismissal as she bowed in gratitude for the training session when she thought she needed it and began walking away from the gym.

Even the old man with a shaggy winter hat from the staff quarters began yawning watching Mana fail at time perception manipulation. That was always a good sign that it was time to wrap things up and brush up on something that might not have been working before trying whatever this was again.

*****

"I didn't expect to see you walking around by your lonesome," oddly enough it was Skaven who approached Mana this time after history class, where usually it was the other way around with Shige's crew having to make moves on him.

"Yeah, I've just been feeling like I want to be with myself this past couple of days, you know?" Mana shrugged. Despite getting solid six hours of sleep, she still felt like Garikan's illusion hadn't let go of her and she's been just snoozing her way past through her life, leaping through time at random intervals.

"Trust me, I might be the only guy in this entire building who knows what's that like," Skaven replied.

Now Mana was sure she was seeing things – Skaven couldn't have actually been smiling right now. It was a creepy and rather weird-looking extension of violet-colored lips that showed off just how unnatural this state was to the young man's face but Mana felt sure like he was actually smiling at her. Though maybe it was just her mind playing tricks, maybe why it looked so weird that Mana's head just couldn't wrap itself around how Skaven would even look smiling?

"So, you just walked up to me to ask how come I was all alone?" Mana wondered. Skaven's breathing rate picked up, his eyes began shifting around. Was he getting angry, feeling confused, or embarrassed? Honestly, Mana couldn't tell. Being able to probe people's heads and read into the complex symbolism of their mental tales sort of robbed one of their natural perception of reading people. It began feeling as if though the only time Mana could understand what people were saying or doing was when they attacked her.