Nana opened the box before her. She took out the updated chakra blaster, aiming down the sight. She then looked down at the rest of the box's contents, which were a number of small contraptions. Bob-sama nodded at her.

“Your blaster can also fire projectiles via your chakra. This is special ammunition we’ve developed for you.”

Nana nodded. She looked up at Bob-sama, then bowed deeply.

“Thank you for the generous gift, Bob-sama. I swear, I will not let you down.”

“I look forward to it. Just make sure you take care of yourself too.”

Nana’s eyes widened and her heart pounded. Bob-sama was worried about her.

She swore again she would live up to this amazing, intelligent, and incredibly kind boss of hers, whatever it took.

Nana sat in a corner of the shooting range, pouring over an instruction manual. She nodded.

Time to begin.

She took the blaster and walked over to the deck, taking aim.

Blue bolts of chakra flew through the air, striking the target’s dead on.

Nana nodded and then loaded one of the pieces of special ammunition. She took a deep breath and took aim. This time, instead of gathering her chakra in the back of the barrel, she fed her chakra through the walls of the barrel itself.

She squeezed the trigger.

The projectile whistled as it surged through the air, and struck its target just slightly off center.

Nana loaded it again and fired once more, adjusting her chakra and her aim. A few minutes later and several targets had darts in the center of their torsos and heads.

Nana looked at the blaster.

Feeding her chakra into the device was strange at first, but now that she tried it in two different ways, it was not so different from using hand signs.

She twirled a lock of her hair as she thought.

She held up the blaster once more.

A simple change. Instead of gathering her chakra in a simple ball, she tried to stretch it out a bit.

She fired the blaster.

The bolt was similar to the others, but slightly elongated.

Nana stood, staring into the air, mind racing.

The next morning, a haggard Nana stood in front of the range. She spent all day yesterday at the firing range, and then stayed up all night brainstorming ways she could adapt her chakra. All on top of the Mistress’s normal training sessions, carefully tailored for the maximum exhaustion and pain they could recover from. She let out a yawn as she loaded a dart into the blaster. Her chakra hadn’t fully recovered, but if she focused on the projectile mode she could still squeeze in some practice.

Her hand trembled slightly as she pulled the trigger.

Nana grimaced as the shot went off-course, deflecting off the target. She clenched her fists at her side.

Then the dart hit the wall, and ricocheted off that.

And then hit another wall, and ricocheted off that as well.

And then struck the shoulder of a different target.

Nana stared down the range for a second before her eyes began to widen. She loaded another dart, this time taking aim at one of the side walls.

And so Nana ran out of chakra for yet another day.

Nana stood in a room, several targets surrounding her, including one behind cover. She took a deep breath, then vanished.

She reappeared in the air, blaster at the ready, and swung her arm across the field, Chakra bolts rained from the sky, striking the targets in the head and torso. She spun around, loading a dart, and fired towards a corner of the room. The dart ricocheted twice and then struck the target behind cover. Nana landed in with several targets bunched up behind her. She spun around, pointing her gun at the center target, and squeezed the trigger. A blue cone blasted from her gun, knocking over all the targets.

“Well that’s a neat trick. No good in real life though.”

Nana jumped and spun around. Xiong Huang was leaning against the wall.

“You’re thinking too much, hesitating, aiming for perfection. Makes for an impressive show against cardboard cutouts. But against a real, living opponent?”

Xiong Huang vanished and reappeared in front of Nana, lifting the girl by the collar.

“That moment of hesitation will get you killed.”

Xiong Huang dropped the girl and then walked back to the edge of the room.

“You’re going to use me as your target. Every time you miss, I’m going to hit you. Every time you hesitate, every time you take too long aiming, I’m going to hit you. Every time you do something I don’t like or I just feel like it, I’m going to hit you. I’m going to beat the hesitation right out of you. Understand?”

Nana nodded and gave a short bow.

“This unworthy one thanks you for your instruction, Mistress.”

Xiong Huang made a sadistic grin.

“If you want to sound sincere, thank me after your beating.”

Nana gulped, and raised her gun.

Bob, Cikizwa, and the team stood in the observation deck of the sparring room. Xiong Huang, Saydaa, and Elise were currently in the actual room.

"Winner, stupid magic girl!"

"YES! AHAHAHAHA! IN YOUR FACE, YOU STUPID JERK! GUESS WHO'S THE FIRST TO BEAT KILLER ROBOT GIRL?! NOT YOU! HAH! GUESS WHO'S THE STRONGEST NOW?!"

SLAP!

"You're annoying, you got the first spar without her killer AI active specifically because you're the weakest. Now go back to the deck before I decide to spar you myself."

"...Status Report: Logging elevated temperature and blood pressure. Heart rate increasing. Organic components reporting hostile presence, request continued engagement."

"That's called losing, little machine, which is what you just did. Now go back, stew in defeat, and enjoy your new experience."

"...Uncomfortable Observation: This experience is not enjoyable."

Nana stood in the observation deck of the sparring room, fidgeting with her hands. She jumped when Bob placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Nervous?”

Nana looked down.

“...it’s Amano-san…there’s…no way…”

“Don’t worry, this is a spar, not a fight. You’re here to learn, losing is not a failure. Just do what you practiced. If you lose, it’ll just show you what you need to work on.”

Nana nodded slowly.

“Ninja brats, get down here!”

Nana took a deep breath and moved towards the entrance.

“Miss Ueno, remember the first fight with Xiong Huang? It’s not about how powerful you are. It’s about how you use the power you have.”

Nana gave one last nod, and entered the sparring room.

She stood facing Kiyosuke, a stun baton in his hand, her chakra blaster in her, with Xiong Huang observing in between them. Nana bowed as was customary in the village.

“May the leaves hide you, Amano-san.”

“...let’s just get this over with.”

3.

2.

1.

The moment the buzzer rang Nana lifted her blaster and squeezed the trigger. Kiyosuke’s eyes widened ever so slightly as he leaned to the side. Nana continued her assault, firing blast after blast. Kiyosuke dodged to the side, leapt over another bolt, and blocked one with his baton before racing across the room.

Nana reached into her pocket and pulled out a machine pistol, loaded with rubber bullets. She brought it forward and opened fire. Kiyosuke clicked his tongue and changed course, running horizontal to Nana to evade the barrage. He leaned in slightly, changing his course from a circle into a spiral.

Click.

The machine pistol ran dry. Kiyosuke immediately stopped, legs bending against the ground, and pushed off, flying through the air towards Nana. He was about to strike her in the back when she spun to the side, holding out her blaster directly at his face.

She squeezed the trigger.

A spinning disk sped straight into his forehead…

Puff!

Kiyosuke’s clone vanished in a cloud of smoke. The real Kiyosuke appeared behind Nana.

“Weak. I expected someone from the village not to fall for the obvious trick.”

Nana stayed silent. The spinning disk continued forward, then bounced off one wall, then another.

As Kiyosuke swung his baton, Nana ducked.

The disk landed on Kiyosuke’s forehead and stuck there.

And then the taser shot lit him up.

Kiyosuke grunted as he fell to the ground convulsing. Nana spun around with her blaster, firing another shot. The shot exploded into a net that trapped Kiyosuke on the ground. She readied her next shot…

“Winner, stupid shy girl!”

Nana blinked as she heard Xiong Huang’s voice. She looked down at Kiyosuke on the ground, trapped under a net with electricity surging across his body.

She…won?

She beat...Amano-san?

Bob nodded at her as she returned to the observation deck.

“Well done, Miss Ueno. I knew you could do it.”

Nana bowed her head in a daze.

“T-Thank you…Bob-sama. I, I…did I really beat…”

Bob pat her shoulder.

“You did, and it was all your hard work.”

Nana shook her head.

“N-No! It’s all thanks to the special weapon Bob-sama made for me.”

“Miss Ueno, take some pride in yourself. It’s a leader’s job to provide appropriate equipment, that much is a given. It was you who had the skills to deserve such a weapon, and who put in the hard work to master it. This victory is yours, and yours alone.”

Nana’s eyes widened. She stood in silence for a moment, before bowing her head.

“T-Thank you…Bob-sama…”

Bob nodded.

“I look forward to your continued growth, Miss Ueno.”

Kiyosuke then entered the room. He glared at Nana for a moment before scoffing.

“So you weren’t entirely useless after all. Prepare yourself. I will not let you beat me again.”

With that, he left the room. Bob let out a sigh.

“Don’t mind him, Miss Ueno.”

She shook her head.

“N-No, I’m glad.”

Bob raised an eyebrow.

“Amano-san ignores everyone unless he recognizes them as strong. That…was the first time he ever spoke to me.”

Bob nodded as Nana turned to face him. She gave him a deep bow, a smile on her face.

“I used to be a weak, helpless no one. Then, you chose me, Bob-sama, gave me great gifts and training under a powerful master. And now, I am becoming someone special, someone worth noticing. I swear on my life, I will repay this debt. Whatever you ask of me, this Ueno Nana will see it done. I am your humble servant, forever, Bob-sama.”

Bob winced slightly.

“Um, thanks. That’s…appreciated. You can go…rest now.”

“Yes!”

As Nana turned to leave the room Bob held his head.

He may have made a mistake.

Dealing with low self-esteem is so annoying.