Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Where We Come From

Long Range Ninja VS Long Range Ninja

A light tap echoed through the nearest acres of the forest. Mana gently kicked off of each branch in her way just to keep her moving. She was looking around and trying to see where the woman she was pursuing had gone, the swinging lady was incredibly agile and fast, she flipped around and must've possessed some degree of superhuman strength to swing around like she has been, she easily traversed the forest by perfectly adjusting her leaps using whatever it was she was using, it may have been a whip, a rope or a chain, either way the degree of speed, precision and agility was unmatched.

Strangely enough, for the most part of their little game, the woman didn't even try to escape Mana's sight, quite the contrary, the woman even taunted the girl, hanging on a branch upside down and gesturing for the magician to come closer. The more she taunted the more intimidated and afraid Mana felt, she was now all alone with none of her friends even close around to help her. She was chasing someone much faster and possibly stronger, this woman must've been in her early twenties at the very least since her voice sounded quite sultry and mature.

Sometimes when Mana got lost her voice came in to guide the girl, just something really weird and creepy like a joke or a direction where she should head. This woman could've been luring Mana into her trap or selecting a favored combat environment. Either way, it wasn't good. The magician did her best to look out for any traps but, with the speed she was moving in and the absolute darkness around her, it was impossible. If she stepped on a tag placed below the branch it would've been set off and Mana wouldn't have noticed it until her leg was shredded to pieces and the magician was already in mid-fall. Mana always assumed missions would be dangerous but she never thought she'd have to rely on luck and chance like this...

Mana stopped for a moment, she's been moving at the speed of a moving vehicle, leaping and flipping over branches, desperate to reach another branch on another tree which may have been ten or twenty meters away. The girl was tired, she may have been leaping around and running for an hour or maybe even two, this was getting to the point of ridiculousness... Was the woman intending to run away from Mana or to fight her? Did she have the boy or not? Most likely she didn't, several times Mana had come quite close to the woman but then the rogue just dropped and swung to the other end of the forest. It was getting quite ridiculous.

Mana was also quite worried about her friends. She had no idea how was Hisako or Kiyomi doing, despite Hisako's most genuine attempts to make Mana hate her the girl still cared for the raven-haired assassin and treated her as a friend. There was this thing that the magician had noticed in the woman, no matter how disgusting her swearing was, no matter how nastily she spoke or how she threatened everyone, when the time came Hisako did what was right all the time. 

She helped the three girls not to get themselves murdered when they first entered the mercenary camp, she saved the two from Hachi and had them healed, she listened to Mana's reason. Maybe this nastiness of Hisako's was just a façade, otherwise, why would she have done everything right when things came down to it?

"Awww... How cute, what's the matter, are you lost, little girl?" the woman's voice picked up. Mana heard the voice of a young man shouting in pain following the woman's taunt shortly, her eyes shot up in surprise so quickly that the girl's tired eyes shot out some tears. Mana hadn't slept at all that night, she was running for an hour or two at the speed that surpassed her usual limits just to catch up to the woman... Did she have the hostage with her? That changed everything! Mana leaped towards the voice.

Sharp pain emanated through Mana's abdomen, she looked down and saw a cruel smile, the woman was dressed in all black, the girl didn't even notice her jumping in from below and driving her elbow into her abdomen. The woman then grabbed hold of Mana's shoulders and flipped over the girl using them as her support, throwing the magician after her feet landed on something solid. Mana felt a cold breeze and the howling wind close to her, what amazing strength! Then she moaned pathetically when something made of leather wrapped around her neck – it was that thing that the woman used to swing around the forest.