This took WAY longer than it should have. But, I have excuses, sure those excuses mean jack all in the long run my dear readers but they are valid nonetheless.
One, my dominant wrist got messed up a bit at the beginning of the year, not long after I posted the latest chapter of Oh Snap. Ironically enough, your wrist making snapping noises every time you move it does not feel pleasant. Whoda thunk it? So, I kept off it for a little over two months. I DID put in an effort to write a bit, typing out some of this with my non dominant hand and... well... that didn't end up pretty either. Needless to say I cant type one handed effectively.
Two, I've kind of been busy with other things, up to and including getting back into the video gaming and movie scene since I got me an AWESOME and Kickass new TV, 43 inches of DLP flatscreen goodness. And, while this might not seem like that much for those videophiles out there, this is coming from a guy who progressively went up from a 14, to a 22 and finally a 26 inch CRT TV!
That's right, curved glass TUBE TV's! Any of you even remember those at this point? Hell I don't think they even sell those in pawn shops anymore, that's how out of style those big heavy bastards are. That 26 incher I've had since I was in middle school, I'm in my 20's now -Hey if it ain't broke-
So yeah I am a very happy camper right now.
And three, I was pissed off, because reasons. Actually I think I will talk about this one, you don't have to read it but this is something that's bugged me for years now and I finally got a chance to vent the other day. It starts off with me dicking around on Deviant Art about a week or so ago and I found an amazing artist whose work was pretty damn high up there on the awesome factor. However he had the annoying habit of including little gems like this in his artists comments.
"You can steal this if you want but you're not good enough to make people think that you made this."
Or something to that effect. I know this was aimed at art thieves in particular but this just kind of grinded at my sensibilities. I know I'm an asshole but even I can tell that this kind of reaction towards art thieves only drives away fans because you come off as a self-important twat. Which was further hammered home when a commenter pointed out just this, quoting the artists above comment then commenting on how this would drive away fans and said that he no longer was one due to said artist's comment. The artist then came back with a slap in the face, a single word reply.
"Later!"
That... that pissed me off so bad that I couldn't even attempt to write for almost a week. I replied to both the commenter and the artist and said my piece to both. The first, to point out that this was aimed at thieves so shouldn't be taken as an accusation of the whole, and the second to point out to the artist how rude it was to say something like that. Paraphrasing here, my words were-
"Respect is a two way street. Just because people can and will be bastards doesn't make it right to be a jaded prick. Having talent doesn't excuse you even if you are a good artist, being an asshole only makes you an asshole that just so happens to be a good artist."
I understand that art or any form of artistic expression is difficult to pursue and is entirely dependant on the people you're selling it to "Liking' the product. I mean that's inherent everywhere, but even more so in artistic things because it's not a necessity like food and utilities. Trying to please a crowd that becomes ever increasingly belligerent towards you will make you jaded, just like every famous artist on DA seems to have become lately. It's like the market is cornered on assholes there. You say one word in the negative towards a majority of the artists and they get pissy at you. Worst case they sick their mindless fans on you despite the fact that you're trying to criticize in a positive way.
I'm sorry if I rambled this authors note, I just needed to vent a bit and this is relevant for even the fanfiction community. Demanding of and demeaning artists only makes an artist cruel towards their fans, be courteous and they shall be courteous back, you cant get everything your way just like they can't.
Respect.
Bitch. (For emphasis)
Now onto the chapter at large.
Fic o' the day: Code Geass 50k: Lelouch of the Imperium by Soraga This. That's all I really have to say about this from a neutral standpoint. From a fan standpoint... well... this is one of my wet dreams. Code Geass meets Warhammer 40K, two series I love and can fanboy endlessly over. Basically, the story starts up 10K years later from the current 40K canon. Humanity has been limping along, barely holding on as the Imperium falls down around their ears. With Chaos too close to home and even greater threats to humanity rearing their ugly heads only mankind's forgotten soldiers, the hidden right hand of the emperor himself; the Black Knights, can save them from destruction.
This is quite possibly one of the most epic fics I've read. It's definitely in my top ten so far.
Song/vid of the day: Tom Thum - I Need a Dollar (Beatbox Cover) If you're as much a fan of beatbox as I am, you can truly respect the technical skills of Tom, the Brisbane badass himself. If you're a fan of music in general you can truly respect the skills needed to be a one man band and cover a song that's usually meant for an entire group of people. Plus, it sounds amazing. That's all that really needs to be said here.
Word/s of the day: Mountain Goat to the Cooch If you know what this is, good for you. I found the channel that started this the other day and watched EVERYTHING. It is HYSTERICAL. I never thought I'd spend an entire day watching video game characters get hit in the hacky sack and doorbell, but it happened and my sides thank the creator for it... just as soon as I pick them up off the floor...
ooo-
"Talking"
'Thinking'
-ooo-
Chapter 7: The Chase Begins.
Fouquet stood, pacing back and forth in a small wooden hut in the middle of the woods. Her face was marred by a scowl, thoughts focused on what she should do now that she had the Staff of Destruction in her hands. She stopped, glancing at the strange device in the box. It didn't even 'look' like a staff, but the inscription on the box labeled it as such. She paced several more seconds before throwing her hands up into the air.
"Oh to hell with this. They want this thing so badly they can have it. Like hell I'm going to try and figure out how the damn thing works." Logueville shivered a moment later as she remembered the evil red eyes of the man who had almost killed her. She would NOT be returning to the school, that was too close for comfort and simply too dangerous now.
Mind made up, she grabbed the box, staff included and left the cottage, making her way out of the forest to the nearest Wind Ship port. As she left , she never noticed the same red eyes that followed her every movement, nor the crow that shadowed her every step.
-ooo-
Itachi sat, annoyed by the bureaucracy that corrupted this continent as he waited for the nobles in charge to decide who to send after Fouquet. It was sad that those self same nobles were too cowardly to do it themselves so they left it up to children to fix their mess. He was only too glad that Louise had taken his advice to heart that no matter what was said that they would take a wait and see approach to this, it seemed that she was taking his advice far more seriously after that fight with Fouquet, which was a good thing in Itachi's book. Nothing good is attained by being impatient or a glory hound after all.
Which benefited them, seeing as Tabitha was the first to offer her services for the task with Kirche -*Shiver* damn that fangirl to hell- following right behind her. Itachi duly noted that Louise was reaching her limit, the fact that her rival was involved only made it harder for her. So, with a light tap -which was the signal to allow her to speak- Louise opened her mouth to interject herself -quite readily- into the hunt.
She raised her wand "I also, would like to accompany Ms. Tabitha on her hunt for Fouquet. On my name as a Valliere."
Headmaster Osmond stared between the assembled group. "So three of you have chosen to undertake this task, it is quite brave of you." The old man sighed. "I would send a letter to her highness about this but my secretary Miss Logueville has been absent since last night. She left a note saying she'd come down with a fever and has retired to her quarters and none have gotten her to respond since, quite a sad state of affairs today."
Itachi resisted the urge to roll his eyes, that lie was so transparent that he wasn't even going to bother revealing it. Not that Itachi needed that hint. His shadow clone had sent him that information by creating then dispelling another clone hours ago. She was on her way to what appeared to be La Rochelle, an airport that would allow her to travel to Albion, where it was assumed she would try to sell the device to the highest bidder. The civil war going on there would make a device such as that a valuable commodity.
He would have taken Fouquet right there if she hadn't mentioned that there were other players on the board. She was going to deliver it to someone and whoever that was had commissioned her to steal it. So, clearly it wasn't the royal faction of Albion, that left only the rebels or some anonymous party. Whoever it was Itachi was determined to find out, by their instructions he and his student had come under attack which would not stand in the slightest.
"And it's such a shame too, that weapon was entrusted to me for safe keeping by a fire shadow." Itachi's ears perked up at that and his attention was turned fully on the man when he noticed him giving him a subtle glance out the corner of his eye.
Curious.
With that Osmond waved the group out of his office and as Kirche and Tabitha left, Itachi held Louise back a bit. When the girls had moved beyond sight Itachi turned around with Louise in tow back into Osmond's office.
"I suppose that mean's I have your attention?" Osmond mused.
"Among other things." Itachi agreed. "Speak, time is precious in missions of this nature."
Osmond nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, that is true. Am I to assume you have one of those... duplicates trailing after Ms. Logueville?"
Itachi blinked, now that was something he hadn't expected, outwardly he showed nothing of his surprise which brought a small grin to the old man's face.
"As serious as he was I see? That man was of a respectable bunch though, despite his profession."
"Who?" Itachi asked firmly, Louise shifting in discomfort as she kept quiet and simply watched. It seemed she had taken his words on silence while superiors were talking just as seriously. He was honestly enjoying a student who was both readily learning what he taught her, but took to heart what he told her.
"I met him long ago while in my somewhat younger youth." He chuckled a bit as he made light of his advanced age. "I was beset upon by a dragon and a man, roughly middle aged and dressed in blue armor saved me by using the Staff of destruction to bisect the beast in half."
"In half?" Itachi frowned. Normally, a staff would be used to bludgeon.
"Oh my yes." The elderly man took a piece of parchment and drew a rough sketch of the staff. To Itachi's surprise it resembled a Vajra, a holy tool used by the Fire temple in it's blessings. Strangely enough he could swear he had seen that somewhere before... "When the man used it, it called forth a blade of lightning from the end that was as sharp as steel. Yet, when he used it against the dragon it extended by several feet to the length of a lance and bisecting the dragon's head in half. I attempted to name the device a Sword of Lightning but the king at the time was rather bigoted towards the non magical's and wouldn't accept my idea that it was most likely a blade rather than a mage's staff."
"And did the man tell you his name?" Itachi asked, having finally deduced who it was. There was only one person who wielded the Raijin -for that was what it was- to that level of skill.
"Tobirama Senju, I believe his name was." Itachi nodded, suspicions confirmed. "I had enough time to cast a translation spell upon him and get a few bit's of information out of him. He was bleeding quite heavily from his arm which had been reduced to a stump on one side. I attempted to heal him but he was all but gone by the time I could attempt anything."
"The Gold and Silver Brothers." Itachi mumbled to himself. It was well known that the Second Hokage's body was never found, the only thing they could find was the left arm severed at the shoulder, his weapon was presumed lost or destroyed by those few who had found the arm. However, unknown to the majority of the village, several seal masters had created a replica of the blade. It was functional and still a very reliable weapon, but it was nowhere near the power of the true blade which had been created through Uzumaki seals. Last Itachi had heard the replica blade had been stolen by some low ranking jonin and was later destroyed by Sasuke and Naruto;* Now he finally knew why they could never find the rest of the Nidaime's body.
"That was the names spoken by him, yes." Osmond again agreed, stroking his beard idly. "He said he was injured protecting his team, allowing them to escape while he stayed behind to stall for time, he later succumbed to his injuries and was buried as per the customs of the time. His weapon was later seized by that dolt of a king and kept in a vault until it was later entrusted to me by the father of Henrietta, the late King Henry. I have since had several encounters over the decades with other's from time to time that know of and are able to use your craft. The last that I know of died at least a decade ago of old age; he was a good friend."
"Did any of them leave behind anything that could be useful to us?" Itachi asked, curious about what he could glean from other Ninja of the past.
In response to that Osmond pulled several scrolls from within his desk, laying the rolls on the top. "These scrolls contain a list of jutsu of all five element's along with a few non standard ones that my friend had learned over the course of their life." Before he handed them over to Itachi Osmond gave the man a firm glare. Gandalfr or not he would not willingly giving away something like this without asking a certain question. "I was given these in good faith to pass them on to someone who would use it for just means and along with a few other things I've accrued over my life, I ask, what are your plans to do with these."
Itachi stared back into the mans firm gaze, if he had known about the Uchiha bloodline he wouldn't have done so without being either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish. As he was unaware that he stared into the eyes of an Uchiha this fact was lost on him. It however didn't lessen the man's firm resolve to keep dangerous artifacts out of the hands of those who would use them for ill gains. Itachi shifted slightly, motioning with his hand towards Louise. "They would be used to teach Louise. I already have a large list of abilities that these are not necessarily required. They, however would be appreciated and respected as any life's work would be."
The two stared at each other for a few more moments as Osmond fiddled with the scrolls. As last he seemed to come to a decision and pushed the scrolls across the table. "Very well. But I will be watching to ensure that they are not abused." Before Itachi could place a hand on the scrolls Louise spoke up, seemingly reaching her limit on patience at being left out of the conversation.
"Wait!" She flinched when the two men in the room turned to regard her. "I... Um... How exactly do you know about ninjutsu Headmaster?"
Osmond blinked at the odd question, hadn't they already covered this? "It's quite simple Ms. Valliere. They were left here by one of you and your familiar's predecessors, one whom I had the distinct pleasure to converse with on the subject I might add."
Louise's eyes widened. M-my Predecessor?"
Osmond voice rose as he waved a dismissive hand. "This isn't the first time a shinobi has made their mark on our world. In fact-" Osmond paused, looking pensive for a moment, wondering wether he should say any more on the subject. His choice was made for him when he looked up and saw the expectant look on Louise's face. "Ahem. In fact, there are ancient stories that mention one of Brimmer's familiars was a man who could wield the four main elements like their master but could do so by gestures of the hand. It is my belief that one of Brimmer's familiars was in fact a shinobi."
"Does that have anything to do with Louise being a Void mage?" Itachi asked quietly.
Osmond appeared startled for a moment before what Itachi had said seemed to register. "So you are aware of Miss Valliere's magical status then?" A sharp nod from Itachi answered that question. "Yes, it's true, Miss Valliere's affinity is most likely that of the long lost element of the void."
Louise quietly sucked air through her teeth. It was one thing to assume something, it was entirely another thing to have someone in authority confirm that your assumptions were in fact correct.
The elderly man shook his head. "And no Miss Valliere, I was not aware of your affinity until just recently when Jean came to me with his finding's on your familiar's runes." Osmond glanced over at Itachi. "The runes of Gandalfr, the left hand of God."
Louise remained silent, despite now knowing of her status, she couldn't help but wonder what cruel fate it was. To have an affinity to an element that hadn't been used for six thousand years. Even if it was the holy element of their founder it was practically useless since there was no one to teach her and very few if any books that had survived the six thousand years that described the spells Brimmer had used.
"Regardless." Osmond interrupted her from her musings. "That doesn't change the fact that Ms. Logueville has stolen school property and as such she needs to be brought to justice."
"She is on her way to La Rochell to Albion." Itachi added. "But she mentioned other parties involved, which is why my clone is still following her and hasn't brought her back yet."
"You intend to track down those responsible?" The headmaster guessed.
Itachi nodded. "They threatened my and my students life, as well as many others. They also stole an artifact of my home village which is both rightfully mine by association and by the fact that the Uchiha and Senju are sibling clans; sharing a common ancestor. It is my right to reacquire that weapon as a stolen family heirloom."
Osmond filed that information away for later use. "I will admit that I was not aware of that fact. Very well, I will not stop you in your endeavors but be wary of your targets. There is a war in Albion right now and the Rebels are even now pushing back the Albion military; one of the most powerful armies of Halkegenia, so be prepared for a fight if it's them whom you confront."
In response to that, Itachi's eyes flashed to his Sharingan. "I believe I can handle myself well enough."
"May the Founder guard your journey." The older man blessed, Itachi and Louise nodding politely back as they left.
-ooo-
"Stop."
Louise froze, several steps in the direction of the stables as the duo made their way to the front gates; Tabitha, Kirche and Sylpheed just barely in sight patiently waiting for them.
"We are not using a horse to travel, nor am I going to be carrying you." Itachi stared at Louise, a blank expression on his face.
Louise turned around mechanically, gulping slightly as she did so. "T-then how...?"
Itachi's response was even. "You have been training to become a Ninja for the past two weeks and you have just had your first taste of real combat" He grabbed the younger girls shoulder and pulled her towards the gate. "It's time that we advanced your training."
"I thought you said I couldn't use the Shunshin at my current level." Despite the butterflies in her stomach, Louise couldn't help but shiver in anticipation at trying out the awe inspiring technique.
"That is because you are not." And just like that the butterflies plummeted. "We are, however going to be practicing your running technique."
Louise paled. "R-running? All the way to La Rochelle?"
Itachi resisted the urge to roll his eyes yet again. "Yes, running. And yes, the entire way there if you can manage it. Unlike the weak bodied civilians and even weaker bodied mage's of this world, a shinobi's body is inherently stronger." He eyed her limbs for a moment. "It is the main reason why I have been working your muscles without chakra since the beginning of your training."
"I... don't understand." Louise admitted timidly.
"And I didn't expect you to." He replied. "Chakra is an interesting thing. Your people may use it but very very few of them actually grasp it's utility. For instance, when a person is in control of their chakra, they naturally build more muscle and are able to utilize that muscle efficiently, this in turn causes you to eat more. Which is why-"
"-I've been eating like a Fire Mountain Dragon?" Louise blushed a deep crimson at her new dietary habits. The first time she had come back from training, she had literally eaten five times the food she normally did at dinner. On top of that, most of it had been meat and a few vegetables that she hadn't recalled ever liking but had been too hungry to care at the time. Even the taunts of her peers and the stares from the staff were lost to her powerful appetite. After the gauntlet of training she had gone through alongside the more nutritious meals... she definitely felt powerful now at least. For one thing she slept better, her overall temperament was better and she couldn't recall a time she had ever felt this good.
Itachi nodded, ignoring the blushing girl. "Yes, that is correct. However, that is not it's only purpose." The shorter of the pair glanced up, a curious look on her face. "On top of increasing the strength of the muscles, chakra can also be used to augment the muscles, depending on how much chakra is available to the user. Most learn to do this instinctively through training, others use special ninjutsu to mimic the effect." As they passed through the gate, Louise subconsciously drew a bit closer to Itachi. "Since we do not have the luxury of time, we will be doing this the... expedient way."
Louise swallowed. "The... 'expedient way?'"
"Some would call it the 'agonizing way' but with your level of chakra the sensation should be more akin to shallow cuts rather than dousing a burn wound with saltwater."
"How would you know what that-" Louise cut off her question when Itachi glanced down at her; her face gaining a tinge of green to it for the trouble. "Right, the less I have to know about that, the better."
The Uchiha made a small sound of agreement. Burn wounds on missions sucked but running out of medical supplies and having to sterilize them with boiled sea water was a bit much, even for someone who had trained to ignore pain. Itachi had been rather happy to discover that particular scar having disappeared along with the rest of his imperfections and ailments when he arrived in this world.
"Regardless." Itachi shrugged off the old chill of injuries past and focused on the present. "First, you need to channel chakra into your legs until it barely starts to hurt, this is the level you must keep your chakra at all times for the duration of this run."
Color drained from Louise's face as she did as was asked, feeling a skin deep burn similar to a rash or paper cut that incorporated her entire leg; she was expected to run like this?
"Good. This exercise will stretch the chakra pathways in your legs to accommodate running for long periods of time, it will also increase the ability of your legs by strengthening the muscles through repeated tearing and healing." He noted the horrified look on his students face. "As I said, with the amount of chakra at your disposal, the pain should be manageable compared to the alternative as large quantities of chakra accelerates the healing process and naturally dampens the pain from the area."
With a longsuffering sigh, Louise fell into step, prepared for a long time of physical pain ahead of her.
"What took you two so long? We've been waiting her for almost an hour."
She didn't even have the desire to snap back at her long standing rival; oh, the inhumanity.
"Follow my example." Itachi murmured, completely ignoring the Germanian. "Lean forward, keep your center of gravity over your center and keep your hands held back and low in a comfortable position while running with a toe-heel step." He then slowly ran around the trio of women to demonstrate the technique, which Louise then attempted to emulate.
"What in the name of the Founder are you two doing?" Kirche frowned in confusion, the two of them were acting strangely.
"Odd." Tabitha mumbled, face buried in her book, though if you were to pay attention you could see her glancing out of the corner of her eyes from time to time at the curious... exercise?
Itachi flashed his Sharingan eyes a couple times during the process to make sure that Louise wasn't intentionally doing more harm than good, which was a fine line in this kind of exercise. When he was satisfied with her level of ability, he called for a stop. "Good, what you are doing now is the absolute basics of ninja running techniques. We will go over the more esoteric practices at a later date." He turned on his heel and started walking away. "Come, we've wasted enough time as it is." Louise grunted with the extra exertion as she fell into step behind her mentor.
"Hey wait up!" Kirche called after them. "You can't mean to walk the whole way!"
In response to that, the pair accelerated. Louise was decidedly slower than Itachi but was by the same margin noticeably faster than anything the other two girls were capable of without magic or magical beast.
Kirche blinked as the pair went from a few dozen yards away to a blur in the distance. "Well damn, I guess they're planning to run the entire way." She turned her attention to Tabitha who was watching the retreating pair with a hidden interest. "Are we just going to stand here or let little Louise show us up?"
Tabitha released an annoyed breath from her nose as she and the Germanian climbed atop Sylpheed. With a hoot of joy from Kirche and a roll of the eyes from Tabitha, the pair launched up into the air, leaving a small dust cloud in their wake.
-ooo-
Siesta stared out Louise's window at the dragon and the small dust cloud that signified her new Mistress' and her teacher's departure.
The maid let out a small sigh. True, her contract had been purchased by Louise not long after she had been taken on as Itachi's second student but it was still a difficult change to get used to. Sure, she was paid far more than the academy had ever paid her but it still felt weird. Oh, that's not to say she didn't help with the continued upkeep of the castle and it's workers, it was just that most of her work was relegated to Louise room and the surrounding halls. It was at night however, when she was with Itachi that her real pay was earned. Itachi had struck up on another idea during training and it helped her gain a bit of acceptance with the other staff who had already heard from Marteau about Siesta's training and seen it's results from the ecstatic maid not long after she had perfected her first storage seal.
That training incorporated much of Itachi's ANBU survival training, where you could make rudimentary healing ointments from several forest plants and an infusion of chakra. These ointments were readily available for the commoner staff as most magical means were reserved for the students. That's not to say that the nurse denied the commoners when they were injured but most of the minor things like scrapes and minor burns were not serious enough to warrant a trip to the infirmary and were treated by the injured themselves. This negligence tended to end with an infection and a trip to the infirmary anyway along with a minor scolding from the nurse for not coming to see her in the first place.
A vicious if somewhat normal cycle
It was strange, but then again the commoners had their pride as well. Most wouldn't see the nurse out of some mistrust of magic in general, despite it's amazing ability to heal as well as harm. The ointment that Siesta made worked similarly to the ointment provided by the nurse but was several times stronger due to a general application of Siesta's chakra. Her fellow maids and the kitchen staff were hard to convince of it's effectiveness but Marteau again came to the rescue by being the first to try it on a burn he had received not an hour before while starting up the ovens. As soon as the cool to touch creme was applied the results were immediate and the effects were even noted as a small contact high by Marteau, as well as a pain dulling sensation that kept the burn from hurting the rest of the day.
With that shining endorsement the rest of the staff proceeded to try the ointment on any one of the numerous cuts or scrapes they had. The results spoke for themselves as Siesta eyed the bulging purse she kept hidden in Louise's room. Hey, she had to pick herbs on her own time, the least she could get out of it was a bit more money. The staff at large couldn't care less, only having to part with a silver or two for a jar of the ointment, as a result most of the teaching staff noted that there was an extra bit of pep in the step of most of the commoners serving them and as a result things got done quicker and with a bit more zeal than before.
But that wasn't really the problem -not that making more money was a problem to begin with- No, what was frustrating her at the moment was that her sensei had left her with the bane of all teenagers everywhere.
A written test.
Specifically a fuinjutsu test that Itachi had dumped on her after this first week of teaching her fuinjutsu. He had mentioned that this would be bi-weekly and cover everything that she had learned up until then, which was rather frustrating as this was only her first week. Itachi had then pointed out that what he had taught her over the past week was a number of minor things that would branch out further down the line, so learning what she was best at earlier would be the best thing for her.
The frustrating part about this?
She was stuck... And with Itachi gone she couldn't ask for help. With a sigh the girl went back to scratching a few notes on how one of the formula she was studying would interact with another that she had just learned this afternoon. "This... with that... the reaction caused...?" The girl scrubbed her fingers through her hair, frazzling it a bit. "Ends in an explosion. What about... Ugh!" The girl held her face in her hands. "Nothing happens, both of the seals fail." This was all so frustrating, what made her think this was a good idea again?
"Miss Louise? Are you in?"
A knock on the door had Siesta nearly jumping out of her skin as she quickly picked all the scattered notes from around Louise's room and placed them on the her desk, she then fixed the few things on her dress that had been moved out of place before answering the door. "H-hello?"
As soon as the door was opened wide enough, the blinking face of Colbert was revealed. "Oh, um." He blinked again, taking in the room at large. "Drat... I just missed Louise didn't I?" The man cursed silently when Siesta nodded to the affirmative. With a sigh the man began to turn around. "Oh well... I suppose I'll speak with her when she returns." He was almost out of the threshold when something caught his eyes. Stopping, the man turned back to the room and gave the stacks of paper on Louise's desk a second look; something about the shapes and numbers on the pages seemed to catch his eye.
Siesta, who was now sweating lightly, was standing off to the side of the doorway, too scared of the mage in front of her and what he'd do to someone like her who'd dare attempt to learn magic. She needn't have worried.
"Oh my... is this?" He walked past the fidgeting maid. "Hmm yes." He picked up Siesta's hastily written notes and shuffled through them. "I don't recognize the language, but these numbers... yes... hmm. And this... this is..." He frowned, his face skewing up a bit. "Some manner of magic storage device?"
"M-my sensei c-called it a chakra s-s-storage seal." Siesta stuttered in the corner, she nearly whimpered at her own foolishness as Colbert turned to regard her with a curious expression.
"I was under the assumption that it was impossible to store magic." He hummed to himself, stroking a non-existent beard in thought. "Yes, this could definitely work." His eyes rose as he took in the stains on Siesta's hands indicating that she had been writing with the tools littered on the table. He also noted the hasty scribbles which could only come from a hand that wasn't used to writing, as any noble would be ridiculed if their handwriting was this atrocious. It was still legible, of course... but there were just some things that Colbert could tell at a glance and being a teacher who regularly graded tests made this even easier to discern.
"These are your notes, correct?" He held up the stack for the girl to see, which got a shaky nod from her. "Hmm." He looked down at the paper again, a focused look marring his face. Then, a smile. Siesta nearly had a heart attack right then and there. "Wonderful!" He held the notes up. "Do you mind if I borrow these for the afternoon?"
Siesta opened her mouth to try and say something but all that came out was a few um's and uh's that didn't lead anywhere. Taking her silence for acceptance the ecstatic mage smiled.
"Excellent! Come, follow me, I need help with something and I could use an educated opinion on the matter." He turned, mind whirring a thousand miles a minute as he quickly walked out of the room with her notes in hand. He didn't bother to see if she would follow him as he left for his own lab, fascinated by the formula on Siesta's notes, some of which were more advanced than most of what the academy taught and had taken several days for Siesta to accurately understand; even now they were a bit too heady for the girl, hence her frustration in the first place.
With a sense of dread in her stomach, Siesta followed after the professor, unable to stop herself or think to call for him to stop. After all, in his excited haste he had taken off with all her notes and the material that Itachi had left her. If she was to have any kind of progress then she needed those papers back and the only way to do that would be through Colbert, and that man was an eccentric at the best of times.
With a longsuffering sigh, Siesta followed after the professor, prepared for a long time of mental pain ahead of her
-ooo-
Guiche, was not having a good time.
"Twenty-one ugh. Twenty two, hrk. Twenty-thruuuuuee."
"Two more. Finish it or it will be doubled next time."
"Unnng..."
Make that a very bad time. Guiche grit his teeth as he finished his last set of push-ups and collapsed to the ground, under the ever watchful eye of one of Itachi's shadow clones.
"You may rest, in thirty minutes we begin the next set of exercises. With that Itachi's clone walked off, leaving the blonde to his own devices. Said blonde promptly hit the ground, sweating and gasping for air as he did so.
"I Think *huff* I might have bitten *huff* off more than I *huff* can chew." A valid assessment by the blonde, as he had been working non-stop since the end of the Fouquet incident to improve himself for his dear sweet Montmorency... It was at this moment that he wished Itachi had forgotten his little request for training. But the Uchiha had been adamant about training him into a top notch fighter, the markings around bare arms, legs and chest were proof enough of that. Gravity seals he called them, meant to increase the weight of the wearer times the number in the center of the seal, which could be changed at will. There was a slight initial problem, seeing as you had to use chakra to change it, however Itachi had unlocked the teen's chakra earlier that day and went through a crash course in chakra usage with him.
Since mage's molded natural energy from the world into their magic, Guiche even moreso being an earth mage, it was an easy process to have the boy learn how to channel the chakra in his body. He was still terrible at it, barely an academy student with a few months of tutoring behind him but it was enough to work with what they had. And now he was on his back, sweaty and covered in a layer of grime from great physical exertion.
There was a sexual joke in there somewhere but he was too tired to capitalize on it and even if he had been of the right state of mind to joke, his body was far too gone to really enjoy a good laugh; it would have probably hurt regardless...
He looked up from his laying position at the golem that was even now trying and partially succeeding in stacking several boxes off to the side. Itachi had mentioned that his Valkyrie were similar to Bunshins, whatever those were, and could theoretically move with barely any input from him at all, this dual exercise was capitalizing upon this mindset. While Guiche exercised and focused on one thing, he used the barest minimum of attention on his Golems, making them do things that he normally wouldn't have done with them to increase his multitasking ability and increase the Golems fine motor skills while his attention wasn't entirely on them. This would allow him to work independently from his golems and not be tied down by focusing all his attention on their movement.
So far his progress was minor, but he could definitely see the perks of this kind of training. The teen tried to get back to his feet after a fair bit of time on the ground, reflecting on his progress but the muscles in his arms and legs spasmed several times, sending him back to the ground.
"Ugh... yeah, definitely bit off more than he could chew." He tried again a while later to rise, to a similar result and continued to do so for what felt like a few minutes. That thought was quickly dashed when he noticed Itachi walking back into the field; had it really been thirty minutes already?
"Your thirty minutes are up." Itachi monotoned, eyeing the pathetic excuse for a trainee at his feet.
'Well, That answers that question.' Guiche quipped pathetically in his mind, prepared for a long time of spiritual -and no small amount of physical- pain ahead of him.
-ooo-
And that's that for today.
