The Village Disciples

Author's Note:

Hey! Before the chapter begins, I would just like to say that this is the final chapter within the arc "Aura's Clash!" I never originally planned for it to be extended out for this many chapters, but things happened. I originally just wanted to use these chapters to show off new potential characters that'll be relevant throughout the story at certain moments. I also wanted to use this as an example of the first-year's current abilities.

The red aura's in these recent chapters are meant to be more advanced,(Explanation as to why can be found within the arc) hence why they seemingly overpowered class 1AB almost every given time. But I also realized that I was making class 1AB run away way too much, probably why this seemed like it was being milked(At least to me it did). I have so much in store for this book and having anything like this preventing me isn't what I want or need. So, one final heads up: This chapter may or may not be lengthened out more compared to the rest of the chapters. Two of the chapters in this arc managed to reach 2,000 words, but the majority has only been 1k+.

(This is also the end to the first Volume/Season of this book!)

Enjoy!

XXX

"Kuroru!"

Resuming the battle between the now shattered glasses-wearing student of class 1AR and Apiru Naderamu of class 1AB, we can see a new adversary for Naderamu appear in the fight, completely dissipating the blue magic-filled shuriken that was previously tossed in the shattered glasses-wearing student.

The student who has been labeled as Kuroru has spiky navy-blue hair that reaches down to the top of his nose in length, azure blue eyes, and appears to be quite thin compared to the other student's that were present in this match.

"I hope that she isn't too much to handle, Kakudo." The student named Kuroru stated in what seemed like a tired tone, taking note of his friends' current state.

"Well, I'd certainly appreciate some assistance!" The shattered glasses-wearing student now known as Kakudo replied in slight annoyance.

With Naderamu, she remained still, thinking of any possible solutions to giving her an advantage in the slightest. But the additional opponent will definitely prove to be more than what she can handle.

'I don't even know what this guy can do! I only know what abilities the red aura students have if I've seen them at one point. I haven't even seen this guy once so I don't know if running or fighting is a better option!' Naderamu thought apprehensively, trying to quickly devise a plan before any of them take initiative in this fight.

Suddenly, Kuroru raised his--his palm facing Naderamu-- and then clenched his hand to a fist. The action left Naderamu in a confused state, or at least it did until she heard numerous sounds of tiny footsteps rumble all around her.

"I don't have Kenshutsu with me this time to supply my ants with explosives, but I'm certain that this will fare for the time being," Kakudo informed monotonously, a bored look plastered on his features.

Naderamu's eyes shot open, her anxiety surging. 'Ants!? He was the one directing the ants!?'

As if the gods answered her question, ants with the familiar look of red magic started flooding the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the three students. Naderamu looked around sporadically, glancing at every rooftop that contained the onslaught of ants.

'If I just stand here, I'll get caught exactly like my classmates did!' Naderamu mentally panicked, making her adrenaline kick in and start sprinting as fast as she could.

As Naderamu was running, she kept seeing the horde of ants that were hot on her trail from the corner of her eyes. In retaliation, she tried throwing shurikens at the ants- only managing to dissipate a few of the ants at a time.

'I can already feel a burning sensation in my arms from using my shurikens so much. But these ants are not going to allow me to hide!' Naderamu reflected on her current situation, looking at her hands as she ran, the familiar burning sensation from when Mr. Oshieru made the class fire off beams of magic to test their resistance and durability.

*WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH*

The familiar sound of flying arrows reached Naderamu's ears. Registering the sound, she looked up and noticed three incoming arrows filled with red magic.

In response to the incoming arrows, she made an attempt to dodge them. But as a result of her dodging, her pace when running from the ants decreased-- the ants being even closer than before.

'So that's how they're planning on catching me? With me being alone and practically running in the open; I'm an easy target. I can only hope to run into my classmates, or unless I find a way to fight back of course.' Naderamu observed silently.

'No matter what it takes, I'll try to turn this fight around!'

XXX

"AHH!"

Tanjo can be seen getting tossed, a giant armored hand clutching Tanjo's arm and throwing him full force at a nearby building, causing the wooden wall to crack and collapse.

'Ow, I can already feel that my arm has burns on it.' Tanjo thought, feeling a burning pain spread throughout his left arm.

*THUD, THUD, THUD*

'Shit! He's coming to finish me off!' Tanjo took note of the incoming footsteps of the heavily armored opponent.

Tanjo stood back up immediately, looking back at his enemy who was slowly closing the distance between the two. "Sorry to be hurting you like this! We could go and grab a bite to eat after this if you're down?" The giant red figure offered, adding to the uncountable amount of times made Tanjo question who or what he was fighting again.

But with that apology being said, the red titan sped up and charged at Tanjo. With Tanjo having nowhere to turn, he took the brunt of the attack, sending Tanjo soaring through the air.

Due to Tanjo standing on a collapsed wall of a building, getting knocked back more rewarded him with a very uncomfortable spot on a wooden floor inside a small building.

'That hurt.' Tanjo said, having next to no air left in his lungs to even speak out loud.

The familiar thuds of thundering footsteps could be identified as now walking inside the building. The chandelier that dangled from the roof made a metallic ting noise, the result of the armored giant hitting it when walking to stand over the immobile Tanjo.

Tanjo's vision went from blurry to focused almost instantly as he saw a huge and red foot get raised above his body, threatening to get slammed down on top of him. 'Is he trying to kill me!?'

"Again, I'm sorry to take you out like this- but I have friends to win for. I hope you understand." The deep voice of the red opponent reached Tanjo's ears, fear washing over him in response.

The giant foot was then thrust down, taking directory at Tanjo's weakened body

With the small amount of strength that resided within Tanjo, he pushed his arms out to make a fighting effort against the stronger opponent. The foot then made contact with Tanjo's hands, making his arms bend from the force.

The amount of force being put into the stomp made Tanjo's elbow slam into his torso when making an attempt to stop the foot with his hands. 'AHG! It burns!' Tanjo groaned in pain, feeling as if his hands were touching metal that was just recently smithed by the fire of hell.

'I don't want it to end here! I still remember a swear that I told the old man all those years ago, way before I enrolled in the academy, 'my reason for wanting to become a warrior!'

--FLASHBACK--

Currently, Nozomu and a younger Tanjo can be seen walking down a path within the village of Buraun.

"Remember, be on your best behavior. Today is an appreciation day for warriors who have lost their lives protecting this village. We're only going to be out for a little while, but use this as an opportunity to understand what goes into keeping people of this village safe and fighting for our rights." Nozomu informed the younger Tanjo, looking down at the nine-year-old that was grasping onto his hand as they traversed throughout their home village.

Tanjo adorned a curious glint in his eyes, looking up at the black-tinted white-haired man that guided him throughout the pathways of the village. "Is it fun to be a warrior?" The younger version of Tanjo proceeded to ask with vast anticipation.

"No," Nozomu replied instantly, his reply being devoid of any emotion.

"Oh," Tanjo acknowledged. The old man seemed to know a lot when it pertained to serious subjects like surviving on a day-to-day basis. He always knew how to make Tanjo's boo-boo's go away, he always knew what type of food Tanjo should eat. The old man said it was so he could be "healthy".

Tanjo can remember the first time he witnessed Nozomu use lightning to turn on a broken toy Tanjo was playing with. The batteries ran low from within the toy and Nozomu tapped it once with a small amount of electricity and the toy suddenly started working again.

There was mainly one word that could describe the younger Tanjo and fit him to a 'T'. Observant. Tanjo would always be aware of what was going on around him, even the dead and empty expressions the old man would make every day.

Nozomu would never smile. He would smile when talking to strangers, making Tanjo feel small amounts of happiness, but then that happiness would be drained away when he watched that smile vanish once he was done talking. It was almost as if he was faking being happy.

A question popped into Tanjo's head, prompting him to ask the old man about it. "Do warriors fight for people to be happy?"

Nozomu's brow raised slightly, but just enough for Tanjo to notice. "Yeah, some do." He then responded flatly.

With Tanjo receiving his answer, a face full of thought emerged onto his younger face's features.

Nozomu noticed the blank stare Tanjo had while they were walking, "You look like you have something on your mind. Spill it out before we arrive, I want you to learn from today." Nozomu requested, looking back down at the child next to him.

"What if I want to become a warrior?"

Those simple words made Nozomu stop abruptly, halting Tanjo as well. Nozomu then let go of Tanjo's small hand and kneeled in front of him instead.

Nozomu moved his originally free hand to his left and placed it upon Tanjo's small head, ruffling some of his hair on impact. "Before I answer, may I know what brought you to asking me that?" Nozomu inquired, a serious look staining his face.

"Well, I always see you with a mean-looking face. It makes me think about if you ever feel happy? Then I thought about other people who have the same looks, and if they feel happiness. So if a warrior fights for the happiness of the people, I was thinking if I could fight for it as well?" Tanjo answered, looking right back into Nozomu's royal blue eyes.

Nozomu only looked at the younger Tanjo for a few moments, assessing Tanjo's indigo eyes that were filled with a resolute emotion. 'He's exactly like Sei- No. Not him. He can be better-- better than most of the fakes running out there and taking all of the glory.

"Old man?" Tanjo called out to Nozomu, confused as to why he wasn't getting a response.

"How do you plan on fighting for the people and their happiness? Just go out and fight bad guys like any other warrior?" Nozomu questioned the younger Tanjo once again.

The younger Tanjo shook his head slowly, closing his eyes in the process. As well as feeling his hair get even more ruffled from the action due to Nozomu keeping his hand planted on his head.

"I don't know how warriors fight. But if I could do anything, I would try to stop all of the bad guys and bad feelings from spreading in my own way. I don't know how yet, but I'd figure it out soon!" The younger Tanjo declared, pumping a fist into the air.

Nozomu remained quiet once more, 'Still a little naive, but he's got the spirit.' Nozomu then removed his left hand from the younger Tanjo's head, standing up after the action.

"I won't say no to your choice. It's your life to make, but your actions to be responsible for. If what you say is true, then I have no reason to say no." Nozomu finally answered, making the younger Tanjo smile brightly.

"Soon, everyone that lives here will have a smile stuck on their face for every day of their life!"

XXX

Returning to the present age Tanjo being stomped on by the hulking opponent, the fire Tanjo had all those years ago returned-- the feeling of determination reaching Tanjo's core.

'No! I refuse to lose to this overpowered and for some reason friendly enemy! I want to win and I will win!'

Suddenly, the familiar feeling of power returned to Tanjo's body. Feeling the exact same from earlier and when he uses magic.

Tanjo could explicitly feel the power surging from within him, seemingly stacking and boosting itself more and more over time.

The power only kept on growing inside him. It grew up until a noticeable change took place. Tanjo's arms started to raise, the burning foot in his hands becoming less and less heavy.

"Wait, what!?" The deep voice above Tanjo questioned in shock, now feeling and even seeing his giant foot get pushed back. 'How is he suddenly overpowering me? And he's a blue aura, they can't strengthen themselves with magic as we can. It'd destroy their limbs!'

The red giant lost his balance as his foot was then shoved upward, nearly kneeing himself in the stomach. Tanjo took his opponents stumbling to his advantage and pushed again with all of his might, up until he was able to shove the huge enemy back-- sending him flying backward.

Tanjo was now able to fully stand up, feeling his bones crack and pop from standing up straight.

The red giant collected himself by getting off of the ground, 'What the heck did he do!?' The heavily armored student staggered in silence.

With Tanjo now standing up straight, glaring at the red aura opponent in front of him, he parted his lips to speak.

"It ends here you overly friendly monster!"

XXX

'I still haven't managed to get them off my back! I keep forgetting how massive this training field is!'

Naderamu can still be seen on the run. A conglomerate of ants still chasing her throughout the various buildings and structures.

*WHOOSH*

'And they're still shooting those damn arrows!'

Naderamu's hands only started burning more and more over time, mainly because she continued throwing shurikens to fend off the ants the managed to get the jump on her.

One thing Naderamu also noticed was that her surroundings got even more narrow as she ran, confusing her as to why there are not as many turns to take.

Or, she was confused until she spotted a dead end at the end of her trail. 'Oh come on!'

With nowhere else to turn, she looked back behind her and gazed at the impending ants. 'Now I know how those four idiots felt when they were stranded.' Naderamu thought absentmindedly, staring at the red magic-filled ants racing towards her.

'Well, all I can do now is fig-*SWOOSH*"

Naderamu was cut off mid-sentence as she saw six hawks of the color blue dive down and kill any of the ants they flew through.

Naderamu looked all around her, trying to spot where the hell the hawk could've come from. 'Damn it, Sukudo. Where are you at!'

She continued to search for her classmate until she finally found him, along with Meisei and Akogare by his side. 'They're here too!?'

Naderamu watched as Meisei stocked his bow up with an arrow, releasing the arrow and sending over the ants.

The arrow was apparently intended to hit Kakudo as the shattered glasses-wearing student was forced to dodge the incoming arrow of the rivaling color.

With Kuroru being right next to Kakudo, the attack immediately registered in his mind. "Great, she has friends," he stated in a very tired and annoyed tone

Kakudo readied his crossbow again, aiming it at the new challengers. "I'll take care of them, let the ants continue their hunt on the girl."

With Kakudo aiming his crossbow at the enemies, he'd expected to be able to fire, but something wrapped around his crossbow.

"No, you don't!" Akogare yelled, pulling the whip that wrapped around Kakudo's crossbow backward, disarming him.

"No!" Kakudo cried out in frustration, his hands reaching out to grab his crossbow back, but failing to return it to his clutches.

A blue magic-filled arrow then found its way to be lodged in Kakudo's arm, "Argh!"

Kakudo looked to find the person responsible for shooting him, spotting Meisei stock two more arrows into his bow and reeling the string back.

Meisei released the two arrows, sending them towards Kakudo and hitting him straight in the center of his armor on his torso, sending him off of his feet and landing onto the solid rooftop of the building he was standing on.

"That's not good," Kuroru said to himself, watching his classmate get knocked down.

Or at least he was watching until he felt something hit him in the shoulder. Getting knocked to the solid rooftop, he looked up and spotted hawks diving down on him.

Kuroru aimed his palm at the incoming hawks, shooting off red beams to kill the hawks. A whip was then seen wrapping itself around Kuroru's arm and yanking his arm to the side, letting the hawks continue their pursuit.

A hawk then slammed into Kuroru's head, knocking him out from the force. Also causing all of the red magic-filled ants to dissipate at once, freeing Naderamu.

Kakudo was then knocked off of the rooftop by Akogare, landing on the dirt-covered surface.

Kakudo looked up and spotted Naderamu walking slowly over to him, an angry look adorned on her features.

"Hey, asshat!" Naderamu called out, towering over Kakudo.

Kakudo attempted to stand up, but getting a foot slammed into his chest, dissipating the blue arrows in the process.

Kakudo's back hit the ground violently. Kakudo then looked up and saw a fist launching towards his face, then only seeing black.

Kakudo has been knocked out.

XXX

The face-off between Tanjo and the hulking student continued, the two staring at each other.

The massive armored student charged towards Tanjo. In retaliation, Tanjo clenched his fist and ran forward as well.

Tanjo dodged an incoming punch, slamming his own fist into the helmet of his opponent, making them flinch back from the force.

'How is he damaging me with strength alone!?' The red aura student caked in armor panicked silently.

Tanjo then launched his leg upwards, ramming his foot to the bottom of his opponent's chin, knocking the enemy back-- but not out.

The red aura student stood back up, raising his fist and pushing it towards Tanjo, only to be dodged yet again and get his leg kicked by Tanjo's leg- his leg flew to the side as Tanjo's elbow slammed down onto the solar plexus part of the red aura students' armor.

Tanjo was now the one towering over the red aura student. Looking down and looking at the hulking student, raising his foot to mimic his opponent from earlier.

"Well, I'm sorry to take you out like this- but I also have friends that I need to win for. I hope you can understand as well."

*THUD*

XXX

A familiar walnut-haired girl can be seen sitting on the edge of a rooftop, her feet dangling off the side. 'Welp, looks like we lost. I think we got too cocky or something.' She thought to herself, looking out into the training field.

"Are you sure you want to surrender?" She heard her teacher, Mr. Akushon, ask her.

"Yeah, I don't want to just throw bombs around on my own. They earned it." The walnut-haired girl declared, continuing to look at the field.

"Alright, Kenshutsu. With you surrendering, class 1AB will be deemed as the winners of this match." Mr. Akushon informed, looking at the walnut-haired girl known as Kenshutsu.

"I know, I just want to finish this anyways!" Kenshutsu stated, stretching her arms upwards and standing up.

Akushon only nodded, then looked behind. Mr. Oshieru was standing there with his arms crossed, looking out at the training field as well.

"Then that answers it,-

Class 1AB wins."

XXX

Somewhere far away from Buraun, a man with crimson red hair that resides above his ears was seen walking throughout a forest, then stopping abruptly.

A red pentagram appeared, allowing the man to walk through it.

The pentagram led the man into a dimly lit room. Once the man stepped out into the room, the pentagram disappeared instantly.

The crimson-haired man then walked over to a desk within the dimly lit room. Above the desk were multiple notes and drawings that were hung up on the wall.

The man only stared at the notes and drawings, then breathed in to speak.

"I WILL make these ambitions come to life."

XXX

Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It is now considered to be the longest chapter within the story! This also concludes Volume/Season 1 of "The Village's Disciple"

(Volume/Season 2 will be released soon!)

Have a Good Day!

Peace - Cr1ticalz_