Tanjo and Asami were quick to leave the mountaintop. The warriors that were miraculously freed from their mental constraints were far too opposed to the idea of lurking within the depths of the rogues that murdered them so callously. Asami had an idea of who to contact for a potential invasion of Furusato, and Tanjo simply followed along. The teenager was told of the rogue who wielded fire as a weapon and how deadly he was. It was sheer luck that Tanjo did not face him during his mission to save Mizuki from their clutches.
As usual, to circumvent neighboring villages, the duo traveled at controlled speeds to prevent themselves from being stopped for reckless use of magic without an authoritative figure. It was how it always was with Adonai. Due to most warriors being able to travel at speeds relative to light, it would be easy for someone, most likely a criminal, to arbitrarily decide to sprint to the other side of the planet and escape. So, as precautionary measures, villages are constantly alerted to the speeds at which people travel throughout the nation and dispatch warriors to hunt down whoever flees.
"Who did you have in mind again?" Tanjo looked to his instructor, hopping from branch to branch. "If that Imawashiki guy is as strong as you say he is, then we need more than just one person."
Asami primarily concentrated on the path head, feeling the wind drift through her hair. "Imawashiki is a Tansu vessel, Tanjo. Only a Tansu vessel can beat another Tansu vessel."
"But you're a Tansu vessel, Asami." The boy pointed out, perplexed.
The cloaked woman was silent for a few moments. "I'm a tempered vessel, Imawashiki isn't. And this person I'm looking to for help is also a vessel—one that you know."
Tanjo blinked repeatedly, swimming through his memories to potentially recount an encounter with another Tansu vessel.
Asami sighed, stopping on a branch. "I'm surprised you never put two and two together. Who in your life has used an element?"
Old Man Nozomu. The jet-black-haired boy dwelled on the idea of the monotonous man being a Tansu vessel, and he could not help but be conflicted. Tanjo was raised by Old Man Nozomu, lived with him, and learned about him. The concept aligned with the man's use of lightning, but Tanjo had spent hours on end formulating reasons for the strange power.
"...I guess I always brushed past that possibility." Tanjo murmured, looking down as he stopped next to Asami.
The boy gave it a thought: Asami grew up with Old Man Nozomu; they both harbor elements, along with Imawashiki. If Asami and Imawashiki are Tansu vessels, then it would only make sense if the old man was as well.
Tanjo felt like an idiot.
"I guess he never really told you. Probably assumed you would've figured it out yourself anyway." Asami voiced her opinion, arching a brow at the teenage boy.
The jet-black-haired teen clicked his tongue in annoyance, greatly peeved at the late revelation. As Tanjo turned his head to speak to Asami, he noticed that the cloaked woman had a strange look on her face.
"Asami? What's wrong?" Tanjo inquired worriedly, his eyes glued to the blue-haired woman intently.
Her eyes became wide as saucers.
"Tanjo, move!"
*FWOOSH!*
Tanjo never had the chance to move as a clenched fist became lodged in the boy's ribs, launching his body through the trees uncontrollably. Every tree in his path toppled, and the wind that was expelled from Tanjo's ferocious velocity shredded every leaf around.
Asami clenched her teeth as she witnessed an individual dressed in a Furusato cloak stand tall, balancing himself on the branch of a tree. It was fast—incredibly so. The person was also magnificent at veiling the magic it radiated, which bewildered Asami mere moments before Tanjo was punched into the distance.
"Who are you!?" Asami demanded, forming water in her hands.
The stranger in the Furusato cloak, its face concealed by the hood, did not speak.
"I see you're from Furusato! Are you one of the rogues?" Asami tried to get a response from the individual.
The wordless stranger craned its head in the Tansu vessel's direction. The two stared at each other for an unknown amount of time before Asami was forced to brace for an incoming punch from the stranger, knocking the blue-haired woman off balance.
'They're fast… faster than any warrior I've come across in a long time!'
In retaliation, Asami lifted her leg and slammed her foot into the stranger's chest, only for her calf to be grabbed in a vice-like grip. The Tansu vessel proceeded to spin her entire body and bury her second foot into the stranger's head, sending its cloaked body flying into the ground below.
'Even managing to withstand a kick from me…' Asami inhaled, observing the ground underneath the branch she resided on.
*BOOM!*
A red beam of light escaped from the dirt, disintegrating the tree Asami stood on. Fortunately, the woman successfully relocated to another branch, but a shocked visage was present on her features.
She could barely sense the stranger, meaning that any attack thrown her way was difficult to predict. Perhaps Asami needed to heighten her senses more than usual for the first time in years.
Then she sensed the stranger move.
*FRSSHH!*
Spikes made of ice were sent outward in all directions, preventing the cloaked stranger from initiating its next attack. To Asami's luck, one of the spikes pierced the stranger through the waist, pinning them to the bark of a tree. Blood pooled from the wound slowly, but they did not groan in pain. Instead, the stranger snapped the icy spike with one hand and leaped away.
'Remember to use thicker ice.' Asami thought to herself briefly.
She sensed the stranger again.
"Quit it!" Asami yelled, spinning and blocking an incoming punch once more.
The two bounced around the forest, the stranger becoming more aggressive with every second. Asami scowled and let her magic flare, her movements becoming more fluid as she skillfully rammed her own knuckles into the stranger's face, knocking them back.
Upon the stranger's collision with the ground, the hood that concealed its face flung backward.
Asami landed on the ground, scrutinizing the stranger suspiciously. The woman had an odd sensation of familiarity bubbling within her. The person a few feet away, now revealed to be a man, met her gaze intimidatingly, his eyes flashing green.
'Great,' Asami frowned, 'another zombie.'
As the stranger bent his knees to jump at Asami—*BOOM!*—Tanjo came crashing down with a blue beam of light directed at the green-eyed man, leveling the earth around them.
"Sorry I took so long! He punched me pretty hard!" Tanjo apologized, falling next to his instructor.
Asami humphed and said, "He's decently strong. I had to actually put some effort into my moves."
"Then I should probably let you handle it." Tanjo jested, glancing at the woman. "Looks like you were having fun."
"Well, he looks like someone I should know." Asami voiced with exasperation.
*BOOM!*
As if the sound that rang in both of their ears was a cue, Asami and Tanjo hopped into the air to avoid a red beam of light that swept through the area devastatingly. Tanjo attempted to find the stranger from above, but it was too late when a figure flickered into existence in front of the teenage boy and punched him downward, sending him plummeting violently to the ground.
"...Shit." Tanjo cursed, pushing himself up from the crater his body made. "He's fast… I didn't even see his face."
*SWOOSH!*
The stranger began to propel himself down to the boy in the crater at rapid speeds. Tanjo was narrowly able to angle his head upward to spot the man barreling toward him, his eyes widening. In less than a second, the stranger's advancement was cut short as Asami tackled him mid-air, throwing the stranger's body into the sky.
"This guy is like a rat!" Asami bellowed, pumping her legs and kicking her body into the sky, chasing after the cloaked stranger.
Standing on the ground, Tanjo was frozen, his muscles refusing to move. He saw the face of the stranger and was able to discern specific details. The boy's heart raced, his breath becoming bated.
*CRACK!*
*BOOM!*
*SWISH!*
Tanjo watched as Asami proceeded to battle the stranger, eventually dominating the fight and smacking the man around like a ragdoll. After a few moments, the blue-haired woman formed a wave of water and overwhelmed the stranger immediately, sending his body crashing down inside a body of water.
"Gotcha!" Asami asserted as she returned to the ground, transforming the water into ice and trapping the stranger inside.
The jet-black-haired boy could not tear his eyes away from the stranger's face, his mouth agape. Tanjo slowly walked forward, moving closer to the giant body of ice that restrained the man.
"I saw that he was another one of those zombies, so I might as well keep him still long enough for you to do what you did to the warriors earlier." Asami suggested, folding her arms across her chest.
Tanjo reached out with his right hand and made contact with the ice with the palm of his hand. Asami believed the boy was getting ready to utilize his newly discovered power and turn the stranger back into a normal person, but nothing of the sort happened. Tanjo gently rubbed the ice that held the stranger while gazing at him for a few seconds.
"Tanjo, what are you doing?" The woman asked with puzzled eyes.
The teenager started to mumble, "He's…"
Asami listened closely.
"...My dad."
The stranger thrashed around in the ice, cracking the frozen prison that held him still. A red light began to illuminate the man's body—*BOOM!*—and the ice was blown away, turning into minuscule shards.
"That ice would have frozen thousands of volcanoes! Even a High-Class warrior would've taken a few hours to escape!" Asami sounded outraged, irate at how tenacious the stranger was.
The stranger ignored Asami and dashed toward Tanjo, grabbing the boy by his throat and flinging his body far away. Shortly after, the man lunged after Tanjo, leaving Asami bewildered.
Tanjo was forced to dodge an array of attacks launched by the stranger; every punch and kick that the man landed stung the boy's body greatly. The teenager could tell that the stranger's entire body was fueled by his Aura Sense, with his body emitting a heat that stretched a few yards beyond him.
"Wait!" Tanjo called out to the stranger, "I know your name! It's Oritsu—!"
The stranger with the name Oritsu grabbed Tanjo's hair and slammed his head into the ground. To save himself, the boy charged a fist full of magic and punched the man in the face—*RUMBLE!*—shaking the forest to its core and pushing Oritsu back a hefty distance.
"Oritsu! Your name is Oritsu Ketsueki!" Tanjo screamed, jumping to his feet. "You are a king—!"
The boy ducked under a red beam of light that was shot his way.
"And, from what I've learned, you're also my dad!"
Oritsu dug his hands into the ruptured ground and raised two large mounds of earth, lobbing them at the boy with immense strength. Tanjo had to create two red Genso-Kyu to blast the mounds to smithereens, pumping a cloud of debris and dust into existence.
*KRRSHH!*
Sprouting from Tanjo's hands, streams of the Disruption of Reality flourished in the air, orbiting around the teenager's body.
"So please stop this and wake up!"
XXX
Yet another fight scene! And this time it's no one other than Oritsu Ketsueki! Where did he come from? What will Tanjo do? Will he manage to revert the king back into normalcy? Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_