His mind spun rampantly, his eyes darting between every student currently present. This was a fear that Tanjo himself never contemplated—it did not seem like a possibility. Now, he had no choice but to formulate a plan to save himself.
To escape from his past classmates.
Asamu had not acted; her mind was calm and calculative. If what Tanjo said was true, then the last thing the two of them would want is to harm any of the opposing students before them.
Suddenly, a blonde-haired student leaped down onto a branch adjacent to Tanjo and Asami, his features stolid.
'Akogare,' Tanjo stared at his previous friend, surveying his every move.
"Release the shield!" Akogare abruptly ordered, signaling for his comrades to stretch their arms outward.
*SHRRRM!*
Asami's eyes flitted as she noticed a blue barrier conjuring around them—she could have escaped, but Tanjo would not be so fortunate. In less than a second, the bubble of magic had sealed itself, trapping anything and everything inside.
"Stand down, trespasser!" Akogare continued to bark at both Tanjo and Asami with authority, a lengthy, blue whip materializing in his grip.
The masked teenager reflected on the current predicament, thinking of any viable plans of escaping without any injuries. However, then a thought struck Tanjo.
"They're planning on stalling us for backup; there's no way the village would sacrifice their students so recklessly." Tanjo conjectured, his blue eyes glancing at the hooded woman next to him.
Asami clicked her tongue. "Then don't let them."
With one hand, Asami tossed a yellow beam of light upwards—*BRRRM!*—shattering the blue barrier that encompassed the area. Tanjo had to remember that she was leagues above anyone present, and most likely anyone in the entire village of Buraun.
Each of the students looked up at the sky in surprise, amazed by how easily the cloaked adversary had ripped through their barrier—this was going to be so much more difficult than they had planned.
"Now," Asami began. "We flee."
"Understood." Tanjo agreed, bending his legs to start sprinting away.
Asami's reaction was immediate as she flew through the air, her incredible speed propelling her far into the distance. Tanjo had, too, pushed his feet off the branch on which he was standing, intending to dash southward.
This attempt, nonetheless, proved to be fruitless as his foot rammed into a blue string of magic, forcing his body to lose its balance and tumble to the ground. Instinctually, Tanjo spread his limbs and coerced his body to cease its flailing and land steadily on the dirt.
'They managed to set up traps? They must've learned a bit since I left.' Tanjo pondered, lifting his head to the tops of the trees as he watched for any movement.
The boy had let his Aura Sense flare once more, hoping to detect where everyone was, but he was quickly overwhelmed by a slough of magic. Slashing through the leaves of the trees, arrows rained down, prompting Tanjo to dodge each one carefully.
*WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH!*
'They're playing this quite offensively!' Tanjo remarked mentally, dancing around the last of the falling arrows. 'Damn you, Meisei!'
Tanjo then halted once every arrow was planted into the dirt, his eyes scanning the sky.
'What's next—'
*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!*
The wasted arrows stuck in the ground proceeded to implode violently, with impressive shockwaves blowing in every direction. Tanjo then jumped into the air, avoiding the explosions.
The masked teenager was close to landing on a new tree branch, but a new onslaught of magic was flung in his direction.
'Not Naderamu!' Tanjo moaned, his body twirling as the blue aura-printed shurikens spun past his body.
Emerging from the leaves, Akogare aggressively leaped at Tanjo, whip in hand, and slashed at him. "Please surrender!"
Tanjo wanted to respond, but his voice would potentially give away his identity. All the boy could do was maneuver around every swing launched his way. The blonde student was relentless, his whip cracking with every attack.
Fortunately for Tanjo, he had gained control over his speed to a much better degree. Unfortunately, he could not utilize every ability perfectly, leaving him to struggle vehemently.
'I have to get away from him!' Tanjo thought.
Boldly, Tanjo wrapped his hand around Akogare's whip, which seared his palm immensely—even aura prints contained the ferocious heat that the typical Aura Sense harbored; the only difference was the physical embodiment.
Akogare's eyes widened as his whip was gripped tightly by his opponent. In response, the blonde student tensed his free hand, conjuring a blue Genso-Kyu—*BOOM!*—which discharged a scorching beam of light at the masked boy.
"Go down!" Akogare hollered, his blue headband swaying harshly from the Genso-Kyu's power.
With one hand, Tanjo thrust his palm outward and created a red barrier, taking the brunt of the blue light beam. From this, Tanjo's body was launched backwards through the air, smashing into the earth.
"I need to stop being so hesitant…" Tanjo muttered, finding his balance and hopping out of the beam's course.
Filled with determination, Akogare closed the distance between them once more and swung his whip with much more ferocity. The two continued their clash for several seconds—Akogare never stopped winging; Tanjo never stopped dodging, scared of harming his past friend.
Within Akogare's mind, he felt scorned. 'I can't use my sword that Mr. Oshieru lended me or I would be in trouble for attempting to kill the target!'
'I can't let more warriors catch up to us!' Tanjo thought, a dilemma forming in his head. 'So I'll have to be a little forceful here…'
After Tanjo parried another incoming swing from Akogare's whip, the masked boy stocked his left arm with his Aura Sense and landed a direct blow to the blonde student's chestplate using his fist, knocking him back several yards.
"Grahg!"
'Sorry, Akogare!' Tanjo apologized silently, swiftly turning around to flee.
The masked boy then used every branch as a step to escape, and he did so for a few seconds before something else came into view. In the sky, a blue hawk was soaring through the air, making Tanjo realize what was happening.
"Sukudo," Tanjo voiced in a whispered tone, his eyes glowing through his mask. "I forgot about your reconnaissance."
Just then, Tanjo could detect a new presence rushing straight toward him. Craning his head to the side, the boy glanced behind him for a moment.
'Naderamu.'
The blonde girl sprinted at Tanjo with animosity, both of her hands filled with three shurikens. She reeled her arms back and tossed the six total shurikens in Tanjo's direction, her arms fueled with her Aura Sense.
"Come back here!"
With relative ease, Tanjo pointed his index finger at the incoming shuriken and blasted them away with red beams of light. Naderamu growled at the action, prompting her to run much faster.
Naderamu glowered at the fleeing opponent. 'He's almost outside Buraun's territory!'
With nothing else to use, Naderamu formed a Genso-Kyu, the only thing in her arsenal that could keep up with her masked opponent. With one palm, Naderamu shot out a blue beam—*BOOM!*—which immediately caught up to the masked boy, colliding with his back.
"Wuahh!" Tanjo cried as he fell from the branches, his arms flailing.
The brief scream from her opponent made her eyes widen and her body freeze. As Tanjo hit the ground, Naderamu merely stared at the masked boy below her. Tanjo lifted himself off the ground as he heard a voice pierce his ears.
"Tanjo!?"
The boy in question lost his breath. 'Shit! I slipped up!'
Naderamu grinded her teeth together. "Tanjo, is that you!?"
Now that she surveyed her opponent, he was the same height as Tanjo; the scream that emitted from underneath his mask also sounded exactly like the jet-black-haired boy that used to be her classmate—he always sounded the same whenever she struck him atop his head.
Also, his magic—it contained more than just one Aura Sense!
"Answer me!"
Tanjo sighed. "Please, Naderamu—let me go."
Naderamu's mind struggled to work; her fists clenched tightly. After all this time, when she obviously thought Tanjo had moved to a different village, the boy had actually run away from Buraun.
"Why!?" Naderamu demanded, her hair swaying across her face.
Tanjo lifted his head, looking at Naderamu. "I don't have time to tell you. Please, just let me get out of here. I don't want to cause any more trouble."
"You don't get to make that choice anymore!" Naderamu yelled, shurikens appearing in her hands. "You are coming back to Buraun, Tanjo!"
XXX
A little tight, but Tanjo is once again separated from Asami and his ineptitude over his Aura Amalgamation is showing. What will Tanjo do now that Naderamu knows who he is, and will he fight his previous classmates just to escape? Stay tuned to find out!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_