The staff was definitely odd in her hands. She swung and swung and swung, but she just couldn't get used to the lack of a connection with her weapon. This wasn't a part of her, this wasn't an extension of her body and mind, this wasn't a magical focus. Still…
There was something else. Somewhere, deep within Nanoha, her blood sang as she moved through the Kata she had been shown, one by one, trying to imitate them to the best of her skill. Her body moved, responded and acted. Better, faster than she had expected. It was more like she was remembering old things her body knew how to do, rather than new moves she was being taught.
As she finished the last few movements, she returned to a resting position. "How was it, Sensei?" she asked, panting a little as she turned to look at the teacher Naruko had recommended.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was crying.
CRYING!
It was an absolutely hilarious image, to see him on his knees in front of a little girl. "You are the absolute best pupil I've ever had. Are you sure you don't want to be a ninja? You could be the greatest legend amongst legends!" he said, gesticulating wildly.
"Holy shit. So that's what having an actually hard working student does to him," one of the ANBU watching, "almost makes me wish I'd taken up the staff, just so I could say I made the God of Shinobi cry like a baby."
"Uhm… I'm sure," Nanoha said. "The Space Police needs me."
"Curses!" Sarutobi said, stomping his foot as he stood back up to his feet, his earlier crying fit all but forgotten. "Well, if you ever need a job, you know where to find me. Your ability with spears and staves is superb, and I have to say, your work ethic and diligence are amazing. You do need to work a bit on cleaning up your stray thoughts a little more. When you are training, you must be fully focused on what you are doing. Spreading yourself thin like you do is going to do you more harm than good in the long run."
"I'm just… worried about the future," Nanoha admitted, shaking her head.
"Don't be," Sarutobi said. "When you are training, or fighting, that is not the time to do that. There are times for everything, and you must dedicate everything of yourself to what you are doing! To do anything less, is to show a lack of respect for whatever it is you are doing, or whoever you are speaking to. Your dedication and work ethic are such that I'm sure nobody will notice in most situations, but…"
"I understand," Nanoha said, "it's just… I'm used to constantly running training simulations in my head using my device, and I'm also used to a constant drain on my magical energy. Since I don't have my device right now, I am doing neither, and that is making me quite restless," Nanoha admitted, shaking a little.
"If you are, you can come to me whenever you have free time. I will take care of your excess energy. Also, that seems similar to certain training techniques, such as putting weights on your body… I will warn you that you are inviting injury. If your Linked Core…"
"Linker Core," Nanoha corrected.
"Yes, my apologies," Sarutobi said, nodding at her correction, "if your Linker Core works like a muscle in that regard, then… I may recommend going to Maito Gai, here in this village. If anyone can tell you how to absolutely wreck yourself in training without it leaving a permanent scar on you, it's him. For now, however, let us return to our training. To be honest, I am impressed, you have talent and you have prior training."
"I come from a family of martial artists, some of it bled through," Nanoha said, taking up a stance with her borrowed staff.
"Very well. Then, let us practice all of the basic attacks once more, and then we'll start working on combinations. I'll be subtly increasing the speed gradually, I want you to try and keep up with me."
"Yes, sir!"
Fate squeaked as she narrowly avoided getting an unfortunate haircut. "Impressive. Your reflexes are top notch, and your ability is commendable," Hayate noted, taking a step back to avoid getting hit by the stylized scythe that his opponent wielded. "And your weapon allows you avenues of attack we hadn't considered."
Were she to be honest, Fate would readily admit being weakened by being locked into Haken form, in a sense. More importantly, if Bardiche's energy blade failed to cut through something, it wouldn't be caught, as the blade would easily break, allowing her to have an escape route ready if her weapon was blocked. Not being able to use an actual Bardiche was also not helping, as that was where the majority of her training had gone.
Even so, she wasn't sure she could've won on a duel with Gekko Hayate. At least, not without falling back into magic. Even if she increased her speed… The man was incredibly skilled, and he might be holding back a great deal more than he appeared to be. Of course, if Fate took the fight into the air, she'd have a massive advantage, but that would defeat the point of training entirely in melee combat like this.
The lack of a third dimension to her movement had forced Fate to step up on her footwork to keep ahead of the wooden plank fashioned into a crude broadsword that chased her. Shamal would heal all of the real damage inflicted to her at the end of the day, but she couldn't return her hair. And contrary to what people thought, a wooden sword could, and would, cut her hair if it was swung hard enough. Whatever possessed Hayate to actually give it an edge was probably also what possessed Lindy to think tea was supposed to be ninety percent sugar.
Admittedly, the faces Nanoha made when she witnessed that more than made up for Lindy's sweet tooth.
And getting distracted in the middle of a fight was a dumb idea, as she noticed when she had to let herself fall flat on her back to avoid getting poked in the stomach with a wooden blade. She raised Fake Bardiche and put the blade of the scythe next to Hayate's waist.
"That move seems… familiar," Signum said, as she closed her eyes with a smile.
"I'm glad you didn't hit me when you did it to me," Fate replied, because Laevateinn would've actually killed her, whereas a wooden scythe wouldn't hurt Hayate that much. Especially since Fate hadn't given it an actual edge, instead being rounded on the area where the edge should be.
Signum shook her head. "It wouldn't have killed you. Gravely injure you, yes, but a medic would have been able to heal you," she said. "Killing a TSAB agent wouldn't have done our mistress any favors in the future."
"Is that the only reason?" Fate asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I… don't enjoy killing people," Signum admitted.
Hayate finished cleaning his face from the sweat that covered it with a rag and joined the conversation. "You have to be a real nutjob to enjoy it. We've got a lot of those. Anyway, let's spar again. I won't fall for the same trick twice."
"Speaking about sparring, where IS Yuugao, right now?" Signum asked. "She should've been here…"
"She had a mission late last night and hasn't returned yet," Hayate commented.
"Very well… since she is not here, we'll have to do this another way. Very well, then… We will make this a three way spar. No magic, no chakra, just our raw skill…"
"You're well rested and we just got done sparring. You're evil, you know that?" Hayate asked, frowning at her.
Signum merely offered them a somewhat… frightening smile.
Vita sighed. "I would like to know… The way Naruko froze… that kind of terror is not like her at all."
Shamal hummed a little, leaning back on the couch. "You're right," she said, "our mistress hardly seems the one to freeze in fear at the slightest threat. Not when she was threatened during the invasion… No, there has to be something else here… And I know who could possibly know about it."
"Then, we should ask him. You mean the old man, right?" Vita asked.
"Yes, if there is anyone who knows what this could mean, it would be him," Shamal confirmed. "Signum and Zafira will be here with Mistress, so we can covertly get away and do a little questioning tonight," she said.
"Then we'll ask him then," Vita said, shaking her head.
"We can only hope it's not as bad as I think it might be," Shamal said, sighing.