Dawning Skye

Genie, or rather Jin Laos to his subordinates, was everything a shinobi aspired to become. His record was nearly perfect, and he held the highest of honors throughout the republic, and even in other kingdoms. There wasn’t a person or Fae over the age of six who hadn’t heard of Genie’s exploits.

Which was the reason why all six of the shinobi gathered silently swore to make Skye’s training as hellish as possible..

Genie’s grin kept it’s arrogant form as he replied; “If you can get passed the three I assign to you, then you can have a go at me. However, if you can’t beat them, then you will just have to try again tomorrow. And the next day-”

“And for the next few weeks, if we can have any say on it,” one of the ninjas stated.

Genie didn’t say anything to his subordinate; he just stared at the two with an expression that said; “Prove him wrong.”

Skye was glaring at him when Tidas started to chuckle, then asked; “Magic or no magic?”

Genie’s face shifted to an expression akin to expectant as he replied; “Magic first, then we’ll see how your hand-to-hand combat skills measure up.”

Tidas smirked as her cracked his knuckles while saying; “Fine by me.. So which three are mine?”

.....

Genie looked over at the three guards to his right, then nodded at them. The three had instantly surrounded Tidas, and readied themselves to attack. Looking as Skye, Genie told her to come stand by him while Tidas did his test.

Skye practically growled at him when she came over, but didn’t say anything past that. Genie could practically feel the hostility rolling off of her, and decided that he would let her get some aggression out before broaching why she was so angry with him. As they watched the four take their positions, Genie explained the rules for the sparring..

“No low blows, or attempted death blows! This test is to Strictly see where you two may need improvement, and to assess your capabilities in combat. Tidas, you will be fighting a Fire mage, a Manic, and a Tank. If you can land a single hit on all three, then we will spar a bit, too.”

“I’m good with that,” Tidas replied as he summoned the bulk of his power.

After crossing his arms over his chest, Genie continued; “One of the first things that I look for in potential shinobi is if they can sense magic. It’s almost a prerequisite to join, and the six that I have selected specialize in sensing. They are the best of the Tracking unit, and despite your experience: they will be very difficult to best..”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Tidas quipped as he bent his knees, and focused on his opponents.

“You are mistaken if you think that the Way they sense magic, and the way you do are the same.. But you will learn that soon enough,” Genie replied, then nodded his head..

Without a word: the shinobi charged him.

The Fire mage had instantly started by throwing a fireball at him. Tidas easily dodged it, but that sent him straight in the direction of the Manic mage. His sleeves were rolled back, and he had strange metal gauntlets on that were glowing with a bluish light.

Tidas knew right away that he couldn’t allow that mage to touch him, so he intentionally landed on his ankle wrong to avoid being hit. A faint blue spark shot out a few inches from the mage’s hand, confirming the validity of Tidas’ initial wariness. As he shifted to his good foot and funneled his Shaman trait to his ankle, Tidas tried to hit the mage’s extended arm.

The Manic had immediately kicked off with his foot, and twisted his body in the opposite direction of Tidas before he could touch him. As he hit the ground and rolled away, Tidas tried to pivot towards him, but the Tank mage stepped in front of him. He tried to deck him, but it was like the ninja knew that he was going to swing before he’d even made the actual motion to do so.

As he crouched down to try and sweep the Tank’s legs out from under him, he caught a glimpse of a rapidly-shrinking shadow. Tidas had just finished healing his ankle when he had to nearly sprain it again to avoid the Fire mage. He was trying to get a better footing and kick out when the Manic came up to his side, and tried to hit him.

Tidas managed to avoid it by rolling backwards, then dodged the Fire mage again. It went back and forth between the four for over ten minutes before Tidas had finally landed a small blow on the Fire mage. It wouldn’t have been enough in a real fight, but it was enough to declare him ‘out of the game’.

The remaining two had immediately switched tactics as soon as Genie called back the other. The Manic started to fight from a distance while the Tank made head-on assaults against Tidas. He was relatively swift for his size, and his power was extraordinary compared to other Tanks that Tidas had seen develop both aspects of the trait.

‘He’s pretty good, but Shasta’s faster.. And she hits harder..’

Genie hadn’t set any limits on Tidas other that basic sportsmanship rules. The Tank mage had hit him several times, but hadn’t caused any damage. He wasn’t sure if the ninja was holding back or not, but they’d been fighting long enough for Tidas to understand his fighting style..

As he sent a massive amount of magic to his leg, like he was going to kick the Tank ninja; Tidas swung a magic less fist at him instead. It had instantly connected as the mage focused on his opponent’s leg instead. It was a trick that Tidas often used himself, so he was familiar with the tells of paying attention to such things.

As the shinobi went to walk away, Tidas called out to him, then said; “That’s an excellent way to have a seemingly hidden advantage in battle, but don’t ignore your other senses. If you would’ve been looking at all of me, then you would’ve seen me wind back my fist.”

The shinobi bowed to him, but didn’t say anything. Genie was still standing near Skye as he yelled; “I’m surprised that you picked up on that so quickly.”

“That’s because I do the same thing, but I also treat it as just another sense,” Tidas replied as he stared at his remaining opponent.

Genie chuckled loudly; “I see! That’s quite impressive! Tanks are naturally better at sensing magic that ther other traits due to it’s very nature. But it’s rare to see someone develop a Ki skill without any guidance.”

Tidas smirked; “It’s just battle experience.. And what’s Ki? I mean I know what the ancients referred to it as life force, or life essence. But I’ve never heard magic called Ki before.”

“That’s because you are right: Ki isn’t magic,” Hana replied as she entered the arena; “But you use your life force to direct your magic. When your magic swells in a certain place in your body, it is because your Ki sent it there, through your will.”

Skye rubbed at her chin; “So is my Ki is my will?”

“No, your Ki flows based on your will, which is rooted in your emotions, and the level of understanding you have of yourself,” Genie replied with a touch of wisdom in his voice.

“That makes no sense,” Skye said with an exasperated expression.

“Then you still have much to learn, my student.”

The cocky look on Genie’s face when he’d spoken chafed at Skye, but she kept quiet. Waiting until it was her turn to fight.. ‘Ima gonna knock Genie flat on his arse after I beat me three ninja..’

Right as the thought crossed her mind, Tidas and the remaining shinobi started the final round of their sparring session. Without the other two to distract Tidas, it was much easier for him to focus. Manics were known to have the widest variety of tricks when it came to their trait, and Tidas wasn’t about to underestimate his opponent.

They circled each other several times, trying to find a flaw in the other. When Tidas had ran over halfway to the ninja then stopped, they had accidentally revealed one of their tricks..

The Manic had pulled something off of his upper back, and had pointed it at Tidas. He had dodged it just in time, then ran straight at the Manic from an angle. Based on the buzzing from the weapon, Tidas imagined that it took a moment to build up a charge.

Seeing what he thought was an opportunity, Tidas had rushed the ninja. Panic shined in his eyes before he squeezed them shut, and swung with his electric gauntlet. He had technically missed, but the electric current had connected with him. The jolt wasn’t much due to his stamina and experience, but it had still caused him to back off; just in time for the Manic’s pulse gun to finish charging.

He fiddled with a dial on the side of it, then took multiple shots at Tidas as he ran around in a circle. The blasts were smaller and thinner, and didn’t go as far as the larger ones. As he watched the shinobi bouncing between frustration and panic, Tidas decided that he knew what to do..

“Those are some pretty awesome inventions, there! Did you design them yourself?”

The shinobi didn’t answer at first, not until he had heard Tidas praising his masterpieces several times. Since he seemed to know some things about technology, the ninja didn’t see the harm in talking while they fought. He was mainly stationary, and getting the Alconian Prince to talk would wear out his stamina faster...or so he thought.

Tidas had slowed down his movements every few seconds, seemingly becoming absorbed in their conversation. Genie silently watched on with pride, happy to see that Tidas had turned into an excellent soldier, and leader. He exercised both intelligence and diligence in everything he did, making Tidas one of Genie’s most accomplished students ever.

‘And this is why he’s qualified to be the Commander of the RMC,’ Genie thought as he watched Tidas inching closer and closer to his opponent.

The Manic ninja had become completely absorbed in his conversation, and didn’t notice that Tidas was standing directly in front of him. After he had pointed out parts on his gauntlet, he went to show him the pulse gun. As he handed it to the prince, Tidas smacked his shoulder, and stated in a jovial manner; “You’ll have to show me that after I fight your boss..”