"This damn headache won't quit, huh?"
The Commander of Buraun's military, Haishi, could be seen walking through a complex of small buildings, otherwise known as the barracks—housing all of the warriors.
Clutching his head to soothe the pain, Haishi made his way to a certain home, looking at the nameplate of the building.
'Kou Kazuko'
The Commander trekked past the nameplate, making his way to the doorstep as he pounded at the wood of the door with his knuckles. After a few short, quiet moments, footsteps could be heard getting closer from the inside.
With a small creak, the door opened, presenting the owner of the home—Kou Kazuko.
Haishi gave a light smile. "Good morning, Kou."
"Good morning to you, Commander," Kou replied joyfully.
Being a warrior, it was quite rare to see particular people amongst the barracks without their typical sets of armor on. In this case, Kou and Haishi had only been dressed in loose-fitting clothing.
Kou immediately noticed Haishi's hand placed atop his head, her eyes gleaming with worry. "Has your headache not ceased, Commander?"
"What's with you calling me 'Commander' all of a sudden? And, no, the son of a bitch is still going strong." Haishi responded, rubbing his fingers across the frontal part of his head gingerly.
Kou's shoulders slumped at those words. "Oh. Well, what brings you here?"
Haishi perked up at the inquiry, removing his hand from his head. "I have only come to merely check on Sona and Toshiro."
Suddenly, before Kou could formulate a reply, a high-pitched voice radiated through both of the adults' ears.
"Who's at the door, Ms. Kazuko?"
Haishi peered over Kou's shoulder, scanning the home for the owner of the voice. In a near instant, he had found both of the siblings of Mizuki—Sona and Toshiro.
"You're up and early, huh?" Haishi asked jokingly, standing up straight as Kou moved to the side.
Sona frowned. "The loud sirens that play every morning aren't exactly easy to ignore."
Oh, that's right. Every morning, a loud siren blares over the homes of the barracks, rousing every warrior in the vicinity out of bed. Unfortunately, Haishi never thought about how the children had to suffer through it as well.
Regardless—Haishi, once again, shrugged it off. "Welp, it builds a good habit."
Before Sona could retort, Toshiro took the liberty of silencing his sister by clamping his hand over her mouth. "Not today, Sona; it's way too early for your bickering."
Haishi chuckled, walking past Kou and entering the home.
Haishi took a few quick glances around the home, contemplating what to say next. These children have been through quite a lot—at least from what they've been told.
Sona and Toshiro had revealed the dark truth behind the previous Minister of Ryakudatsu, known as Father Laurence. The old man had conducted his own experiments on Mizuki, simultaneously dragging his siblings along with him in hopes of cooperation. There had been a hidden basement underneath the Montgomery Church, and that was where Mizuki had supposedly been forced to wield some magical item or curse.
Whatever it was, it led to Mizuki's kidnapping and the destruction of Sona and Toshiro's village. Thousands of other villagers from that holy village must've been through hell and back after the raid.
"Have you two been enjoying your time in Buraun?" Haishi reeled himself back to the current situation with a new question, observing as the two children looked up at him.
Toshiro was the first to reply, parting his lips to speak, "We haven't been introduced to the village properly. Ms. Kazuko said she'd give us a tour later today if we behaved."
Haishi's left eyebrow knitted. "Have you guys been misbehaving?"
"No," Kou intercepted, walking toward the three. "I just need them to break out of their grieving stage. I thought that getting them out for a bit might help."
Sona grounded her teeth. "We are not grieving! We're just mad that we couldn't kick those rogues' asses!"
"Sona!" Kou reprimanded sternly, putting her hands on her hips. "You need to lose that attitude of yours, you won't make any friends if you don't."
Sona turned her head to the right, avoiding meeting Kou's gaze in an attempt to rebel.
Haishi looked at the situation in curiosity, then brushed it off as a surge of pain rushed through his skull once again.
"I'll take them for a quick tour, Kou." Haishi offered, stepping behind the siblings.
Kou looked at Haishi incredulously, folding her arms across her chest. "Don't you have matters with the Council?"
"Ah, it's fine. I've taken days off before. And the Council promised me a grace period before I have to return, anyways." Haishi waved off Kou's questioning nonchalantly, making Kou sigh.
Looking the Commander in the eyes, Kou then said, "Fine. Make sure not to lose them."
XXX
"Haa!"
*CRASH!*
With his magically conjured whip, Naguru Akogare toppled the last life-size wooden stand. The blonde grinned as he realized how much he had progressed. Akogare could proudly declare that he had matured since the beginning of the year, thanks to his infrequent sparring, learning certain body shifts to aid him in fight, and a significant improvement in whip-wielding.
"Good job, Akogare. I can see how much you want to grow."
Mr. Oshieru stood a few meters away, observing all of the students. At the moment, he had just so happened to be watching Akogare finish up with his set of wooden stands.
To say that Mr. Oshieru was proud of his students would be an understatement. Their progress in gaining strength, faster reflexes, and overall adaptation to the role of a warrior has made the blue-haired instructor feel immensely exultant.
Shizen Utsukushi, the class kitty cat, has improved greatly, too. With her practice of scaling trees, hiding within the leaves of the perennial plants, and mastering her use of every one of her tails. So far, Utsukushi has been able to form three tails. But, perhaps she can form more in the future.
Senko Sukudo has now been able to create larger flocks of birds, ranging from the size of a pigeon to the size of hawks. His visual prowess with the aura-printed birds has also been enhanced; he is now able to see up to nearly two kilometers away.
Ninki Meisei's hand-eye coordination, similar to Apiru Naderamu's, has been refined to the point of near-perfect accuracy. Ever since the advent of the year, the white-haired student has always seemed to have excelled in eyesight, almost as if it was correlated with his aura print. Nonetheless, his bullseye boards have been worn thin. Every time the boy shot an arrow, his magic seemed to become more potent. Before, a simple arrow would simply dissipate upon hitting a tough surface or do next to nothing in damage.
Apiru Naderamu's progress had been vaguely similar to Meisei's, but was immediately differentiated by the sheer amount of power the blonde girl had gained. With her improvement of standard Aura Sense manipulation skills, along with every other student, her shurikens that were formed from her aura print have been both bigger, more durable—like Meisei's arrows—and no longer tucker her out as quickly. Previously, it took roughly thirty shurikens before Naderamu felt fatigued, then a burning sensation due to the drawbacks of the Aura Sense.
But… There was another student.
Tanjo Nozomu.
Mr. Oshieru has struggled the most with that boy. His control with his Aura Sense was faulty, failing to form a Genso-Kyu as to where every other student of Class 1AB has managed to successfully form a standard sphere of magic.
Mr. Oshieru has struggled the most with that boy. His Aura Sense control was faulty, as he failed to form a Genso-Kyu while every other student in Class 1AB successfully formed a standard sphere of magic.
Tanjo's combat ability was outstanding, compared to the others, at least. But having the upper hand in a physical encounter is just not enough in their magic-filled world anymore.
Mr. Oshieru watched Tanjo carefully, looking on as the jet-black-haired student took a deep breath before assuming a stance to conjure a Genso-Kyu.
"Come on, Tanjo. I know you can do it." Mr. Oshieru whispered breathlessly, narrowing his eyes at his student.
Tanjo quickly placed his palms in a stationary position, facing one another. His eyes were glued to the space between his hands as he started allowing the flow of his Aura Sense to rush through his arms.
To Mr. Oshieru's surprise—*FWOOM!*—a functioning blue Genso-Kyu appeared from between Tanjo's palms, shining brightly. So brightly, in fact, that Mr. Oshieru assumed that it was going to implode like usual. But it never happened.
"Woah…"
To Mr. Oshieru's left, Akogare stood in amazement as he looked at his friend, Tanjo. A smile tug at the blonde's lips as his eyes glinted with wonder.
Tanjo, on the other hand, managed to crack a smile of his own. "I did it! I did it! I did it!" The jet-black-haired boy cheered, not daring to move erratically and accidentally destroy his achievement.
The Genso-Kyu was larger than any of the other students' past attempts. Tanjo having stabilized it surprised the instructor of Class 1AB greatly.
'So this is what Ms. Tassei meant.' Tanjo thought internally, pondering at the revelation of the older lady's words from the day prior.
Tanjo then slowly let the Genso-Kyu go into one hand, prompting most of his magic to flow in his right arm. The more Tanjo fueled the sphere of magic, the larger and more powerful it grew.
Then, daringly, Tanjo aimed the Genso-Kyu forward, clutching his right arm with his left hand as a precaution.
Mr. Oshieru's eyes widened at the action, taking a step forward. "Hey, Tanjo! Don't fire—!"
*BOOM!*
Without any warning, a massive blue, blinding beam shot out from Tanjo's Genso-Kyu, directed at the trees that surrounded the academy.
In an instant, every tree in the beam's way was obliterated, being turned to ash upon making contact with the far-ranged attack. The beam went as far as the eye could seemingly see, shooting all the way to the other side of the Kodaina forest. That alone was quite impressive, considering that the Kodaina forest completely surrounded the village as a whole.
Every student, as well as Mr. Oshieru, stood frozen as they looked at the giant rut in the ground, also spotting the humongous pathway in the Kodaina forest, forged through the giant beam.
Mr. Oshieru closed his eyes, hearing as his students began to chat amongst themselves. Tanjo was quite the pain in the ass for this particular instructor.
"... I'm so getting reprimanded by the academy for this."
He could only hope to not get fired.
XXX
Damn, quite a big beam, eh? Well, if you think that a forest-long beam is impressive, then wait for the future! Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_