I hit the ground again, my face touching the dirt after my older cousin dodged my very strong punch.

Today, uncle Ken told us to spar each other and train our physical skills without magic.

We lived in the Saito clan house, it used to be full of members and lively. But as time passes by.. Many have left to find to join otther guilds.

I got up slowly and dusted my clothes. My eyes twitched at the tall boy in front of me.

"Can you stop dodging every attack I make?"

My opponent here is my cousin in the Saito clan, Lee Saito. He had messy black hair as if he just woke up and red eyes. Lee is currently fifteen years old, three years older than me.

He came from the main branch line of the clan and had an older sibling who is not currently in the clan house. Lee avoids talking about that subject.

" Silly Hana, your attacks are predictable and too slow that its easy to dodge." He just says.

"Slow huh? Take this!" I charged and aimed a kick to his face. He once again moved out of the way. I threw three shurikens at him.

He tried to dodge everything but was scratched by one in his left arm.

"Hahaha! finally got you!"

" Tch.. that barely did any damage." Lee looked at me and said. " Let's end this, I want to read my new comics."

Lee charged and I briefly see his leg about to kick my left side. I put my arms up to block it, but I still fell to the ground from the impact.

While on the ground and before he can attack, I quickly said, "Let's calm down here.. I'll surrender.."

He stopped moving for a brief second..he let his guard down.

.
..
...

"Paper Shuriken!" I used magic to fire three paper shaped shuriken towards the idiot's direction. I felt my energy deplete from using magic.

And Lee dodges it by moving to the side, but it almost hit his face.

" Nice try, it would have hit me if you didnt yell your attack out loud."

" That was so close." I sighed after the long days of practicing.. Magic is still draining to use.

" Yes but dont forget being a ninja is being stealthy and silent." He says. " Shouting your attacks seem dumb and gives away your plan."

" Ughh, you're starting to sound like uncle.."

Before he could reply, a high pitch voice called our names. " HEY! Hanako! Lee! Father is calling for you two!"

There appeared one of the clan's nurses, Reina. She was few inches taller than Lee  and in her early 20s, Reina had short purple hair and black eyes.

"Also try to not beat up each other too much in your spars. Are you okay Hana?"

" Yep, I'm barely injured.. Dont worry about me!" I said, ignoring my face, arms and clothes which had dirt.

" Reina, do we have to go now? I'm close to beating Lee here."

" Yeah right, you look like you're about to pass out." Lee said back. And he was right there, I was tired and out of mana from using magic.

I said. " Well since uncle called for us, I guess we have to continue this next time."

" Hold on.. you children went too far with your practice.." Reina smiled darkly and pinched our cheeks hard. " Let me heal you two first before we meet our father."

"Hey! that hurts!"

****

And we went to the main house, with bandages in our face and body, the sliding door opened and there was Uncle Ken.

He had long purple hair that reached his shoulder and same thin eyes as Lee. Uncle was an older version of Lee except the hair color.

" Good practice you two. You both can take the whole day to rest now."

" Lee, your speed is still good, as well as your reaction time. Just work on your offenses."

"Next, Hanako. I see your fighting skills has been improving and with your use of basic tools. Keep improving to move like a ninja."

"For the both of you, I would like to remind you that magic is not forbidden to use and I would not discourage you in practicing it. Use it however you like because the times have been changing.. We are still part wizards."

My cousin and I stayed silent while Uncle stopped talking. He looked out at a distance from our window and look back at us.

" The time has come for you children to travel away from here and start your own adventure."

"Huh what do you mean by that, uncle?" I asked, surprised.

" You and Lee will be free to leave the clan house, you can go to the city and learn more about the wizard world. But you children should come back from time to time."

" But isn't it too soon to make us leave?" Lee asked.

" Yeah! what if the clan disbands with few members. "

" Um Hanako, the clan still has members to keep it running.."

" Other clan members have already left around your age. The current members need to get stronger if more have learned magic."

"How about Reina? Will she go with us?" Lee asked, we all turned to her.

" It would be helpful for the two of you to have an older guide. Reina is familiar in many places in the city since she is currently a wizard from a guild."

Before I can ask what uncle means by guild, Reina answered back. "Honestly, I'd rather stay here at the clan house for my short vacation. But there's no way, I will leave these children alone." The older girl just smiled.

" Yaaaay !" I cheered.

" Take your time to decide when you will leave."

After Lee and Reina left the room, uncle told me to stay behind for a while.

He handed me an old scroll that was  dusty. " Your sister has already learned this before she left, it's only a matter of time that you will learn it too."

" What's this, uncle?"

I opened the old scroll he gave me, there was faded words. " Uh.. paper bomb..?"

" It might look like an ordinary paper bomb but it is a high level magic only few members know it. Since your magic is similar to her, this would be a great help for you."

"I see.. Thank you, uncle. I'll try my best to master it right away." Hanako hesitates to ask but said. " Where is Kamika anyway, uncle?"

" I do not know, she has left for a while now and with her own personal reasons. Unfortunately, I do not know where she is currently."

A short memory came to my head, an older black haired girl folding different kinds of origami with me. She slipped a paper flower to my hair.

*****
AN:
And chapter end !! prologue is done, I added a new OC- Reina and expanded on the clan backstory of the Saito.

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