"Is this the lake you were referring to?"
Peering into clear water, Tanjo observed his rippled reflection in a motionless stupor. Asami, on the other hand, arched her brow as she watched the boy with curiosity—he had previously said to find this lake, so where to from here?
Subtly, Tanjo reached into his cloak, fishing for the small note that had fallen from the heavens a few minutes ago. "Now we just go right…"
Angling his head to the side, the teenage boy's blue eyes stared down at the right of him, returning the small, foldable note in his cloak once more. So far, Asami was complying, and, hopefully, they were closer to a village.
"Let's continue right, Asami—the village should be just through this side of the forest." Tanjo assured, fueling his legs with his Aura Sense and lunging to the trees once more.
Asami sighed, feeling like a mindless minion following the boy throughout the nation. Ignoring the annoyance of being guided by a teenager, Asami knew it was for the better; finding Mizuki would relieve Tanjo of his frightful goal and lead him into assisting her even more.
Tanjo may be smart, but his naivety was something to behold—maybe after a while, Asami could purge it through her influence. However, she put that thought on hold, looking back to the direction Tanjo leaped in.
"I feel like a dog…"
With one swift motion, Asami jumped into the air, following Tanjo.
XXX
Yuso huffed, wiping water droplets from his lips.
"My kimono is completely ruined," the redhead mumbled, standing up from the small pond he hovered over.
Though the male sustained no injuries, his black attire had several visible scratches stretching all throughout his torso and legs. On another note, Yuso hadn't gotten any stronger from facing the masked rogue he encountered, meaning that they weren't strong enough to come close to pushing Yuso to his newer limits.
"Perhaps Master would accept my interminable hair if it signified my growing power." Yuso muttered, staring toward the sky.
Thinking of his master, Yuso still hadn't caught the rogue with the green ring. The redhead remembered that Furusato was a village that went down in history. Its demise was even heard by the mighty Kyujo's who dictated to the nation of Shanti.
He knew he was close, especially since the rogue he fought just a day prior was also searching for it. It wasn't farfetched to assume that their timelines would merge once again—it was only a matter of time and if the masked rogue survived long enough. His Tansu vessel partner would most likely stick around for quite some time.
"The Serpent of the Sea, the Tansu known as Suijin." The redhead recalled, his mind flashing back to the flood of water that was blasted from the blue-haired woman. The power that a Tansu vessel had was quite formidable. Even the lords of each nation would fear such abilities, especially since they were made as warriors for the gods.
Suddenly, Yuso's Shirugeto whirled mightily. "If our fates collide, rogue, your best bet for triumph would be by whisking my life away in the process…"
An encompassing glow of a vibrant red light shone brightly, Yuso's body vanishing along with it.
XXX
*CLANG, CLASH!*
Once again, Akogare swung his sword valiantly, his blade clashing with his instructor's weapon.
"You're leaving yourself open again," Mr. Oshieru claimed. "Stop that."
With one thrust, Mr. Oshieru redirected Akogare's blade and drove his tachi sword's hilt into his student's solar plexus. From the strong hit the blonde had the wind knocked out of him, gasping for air.
"ARRGH! Why do you have to hit so hard!?" Akogare complained, rubbing his abdomen to placate the pain.
Mr. Oshieru stuck two fingers up. "For your endurance and durability, and to give a good reminder for staying guarded at all times."
"How durable does one person have to be?" The blonde asked dumbly, rectifying his posture and standing tall.
The instructor shrugged, his gray eyes shutting to contemplate the question. "Enough to endure the weight of a few mountains falling on you."
"Hah!?" Akogare spewed, his blonde hair becoming prickly. "How!?"
Mr. Oshieru almost wanted to chuckle at the response. Sometimes, teaching was entertaining—sometimes. "Your Aura Sense is as protective as you want it to be. Its only limit is your body, Akogare. Obviously, you aren't shielding yourself right now, so my strike felt more painful. I'm sure that you would've barely acknowledged the pain if you brimmed yourself with magic."
With a heave, Akogare assumed another stance, balancing his body steadily. "Fine! If I'm still struggling, then I want to keep going for as long as I can—until I learn from my mistakes!"
Mr. Oshieru smiled delightfully at those words. He couldn't direct all of his undivided attention to Akogare, as he had other students to attend to. But, for the time being, he was more than willing to assist his eager student.
"Heh, you're more determined than I was at your age…" Mr. Oshieru mumbled, swinging his sword around in his hand, assuming his own stance. "New goal for today: don't let me hit you."
Akogare was frightened.
XXX
He was so high, the size of the trees becoming dwarfed from his aerial view.
Senko Sukudo was currently allowing one of his aura-printed hawks to soar through the air, his eyes closed as he looked through the eyes of his conjured animal. He was practicing visibility, speed, strength, and distance for his hawks. He wouldn't be surprised if he was used for reconnaissance on missions; he'd be elated to be proved useful.
The classroom clash with the class 1AR, however, proved that he could manage in close combat, or at least support others. His hawks could be versatile, covering distance and physical combat. The only problem was that the hawks used to dissipate easily. Now, Sukudo could topple several trees with one hawk—he didn't discover that on purpose.
He, like every other student of Class 1AB, has been improving vastly.
"I used to wonder why normal civilians didn't use their Aura Sense," Meisei appeared from behind, staring at Sukudo's hawk in the sky. "But then I realized that they're more likely to die before a single beam could leave their body."
Sukudo kept his eyes closed; this was good, he supposed—being able to be conscious while controlling a hawk and being aware on the ground. "It's a scary thought, that any one of us could've been injured or killed during training if taught improperly. We're lucky to have Mr. Oshieru."
Meisei concurred with a simple humm. Without warning, the white-haired student conjured a bow and arrow, aiming his sights on the aura-printed hawk in the air.
*SWOOSH!*
In less than a moment, Meisei's arrow went flying upward, traveling through the air faster than the eye could perceive.
It only took three seconds tops for the hawk to dissipate from the incoming arrow Meisei shot, forcing Sukudo out of his hawk's visual prowess into his own.
"I would ask that you don't do that, please." Sukudo said, his eyes sharply fixated on his classmate.
Meisei grinned. "Just testing my accuracy, dude! If you don't mind, make some more—I can try to shoot them down and you can try to dodge them. That sounds like good training, right?"
Sukudo stayed on the ground, his arms folded. It wasn't a bad idea, and Mr. Oshieru hadn't said anything that prohibits collaboration.
"Sure. I need something to help my hawks' reaction time anyways." Sukudo agreed, closing his eyes once more.
Within moments, four hawks were created around Sukudo. With one flap of their wings, the aura-printed animals lunged into the air, the force of their jump blowing Sukudo and Meisei's hair back.
Meisei scoffed. "Maybe relax on the take-off."
"Just shoot your arrows, Meisei." Sukudo replied, his vision transferring to the eyes of his hawks.
Meisei smiled arrogantly. "Alrighty!"
Pulling his bow's string back, four arrows made completely out of magic formed. The moment Meisei released the aura-printed string—*SWOOSH!*—the arrows went flying once again.
Instantly, Sukudo could feel the incoming arrows through his hawks' senses. Looking down, his hawks could visibly see impending shots of magic in the form of arrows, prompting Sukudo to commandeer the animals and have them dodge.
Unfortunately for Sukudo, two of his hawks were hit, bursting into thin air immediately.
"Looks like you struggle controlling all of them at once, huh?" Meisei inquired, his smile boastful.
Sukudo remained stolid. "Harder than just shooting arrows."
"Hah! You're just mad that I have the eyes of a sharp shooter!" Meisei taunted. "All right, we can keep going. Hopefully you can control more than a few soon."
The brown-haired Sukudo opened his eyes, glancing up to his classmate. His face softened as he nodded.
"And I hope that you can hit more than two targets soon."
XXX
Slightly short, as usual, but I went camping this weekend and wanted to push out a chapter for when I start a new one. Hopefully this sets a perspective of where everyone is as of right now, and I'll be able to hasten the plot slightly. This should be the 28th chapter of this volume, so we still have some time left till Volume 5—which still sounds crazy to me that we're already on four! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_