Chapter One: Enter Isamu Kurenai

In a huge castle, that towers above all in a huge kingdom. Red-cloaked men stand present as the door opens as all of them bow as a figure walks through them and up the steps before sitting comfortably on a golden throne in front of them. He then raises his hand as all of them stand up in front of him. "Your majesty, we've assembled a force to carry out the plan." One of them said as the figure looked upon them. "A squadron for a group of non-mana users. How embarrassing, don't fail." The figure said. "We will not fail, your majesty. Everything will go according to plan. You must not be worried." One of them said. "Did you say I was worried." The figure said, smirking before shooting him down with his finger. "Now carry out this mission. Leave no survivors." The figure said as one of them stood up. It was a man with middle-length combed jet-black hair with red eyes, wearing a black and red armour. "Your majesty, it is I, Mazoku Kurengai of the Kurengai family with my fire demons shall complete this battle without failure. Thank you for your time, exalted one." Mazoku said as he bowed before they all left with Mazoku in charge.

A young boy can be seen running through the village. "So full of energy, kids are these days." One of the villagers said. "Isamu, Tanaka is waiting for you." One of them said. "Thanks, doctor Sato." Isamu said as he ran with a grin to the forest. "Isamu, you're here." Tanaka said. "I did it." Isamu said as he then showed them a bag, carrying sweets and drinks. "He actually did it." Eiji said. "Well he is the smartest in the class." Takao said."Thanks, Takao." Isamu said. "Surprisingly." Takao said as Isamu got angry as Tanaka then put his hand on Isamu's shoulders and took out a drink. "Let's party." Tanaka said as everyone cheered. Isamu was a short kid and big-cheeked kid, he had black spiky hair and brown skin color with black eyes. He wore a grey shirt with white shorts and grey sandals.

In the night, Isamu sits on a huge rock as he stares at the full moon as Tanaka sees this as he walks over to him as he gives him a juice box. "You know when people look at the full moon, it makes people have strange behaviour. That makes sense since you're normally a fun-loving, smart guy." Tanaka said as he laughed as Isamu still looked at the moon, shocking Tanaka. "Oi, Tanaka What do you wanna do in the future." Isamu said, shocking Tanaka as Tanaka smirks. "I'm gonna be a doctor like my father. I've always wanted to learn the secrets of the world, though." Tanaka said as he laughed. "I wanna have an adventure, I wanna be me. I wanna live my life to the fullest. I wanna be like Korobe. I wanna go past just our village. Are you excited?" Isamu said as he grinned as Tanaka laughed. "Isamu, you're a great guy. You wanna pursue your dream, then do it. I'll do it too. We'll do it together because we're friends till the end." Tanaka said as Isamu looked at him with shock. "Don't count us out." The rest of the gang said as Isamu smiled. "Guys, you mean it." Isamu said as tears fell from his eyes. "Let's do this." Isamu said as everyone cheered. "Look at the time, we gotta get home." Daichi said. "You're such a buzzkill." Isamu said as they all laughed before going home.

Isamu walked into his hut. "Isamu, you're home." A woman said as she smiled. "Yes, mom." Isamu said as he grinned. A man with short spiky hair with a rope tied around his head like a headband, wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt with matching pants while wearing sandals stood in the kitchen. "Oh, food's ready." A man said as Isamu ran into the kitchen as he then sat down, trying to eat biscuits before being smacked on his hand. "Wash your hands first, Isamu." His mother said as Isamu washed his hands and chowed down on rice and fish. "I caught a big fish, it was the catch of the day." His father said. "Yeah, dad. It's great." Isamu said before finishing the bowl. "One more, please." Isamu said, smiling wide. "What's on your mind to make you that happy. Is it a girl." His dad said, making Isamu blush and his mom laugh. "No, me and everyone are thinking of finding life beyond the gates." Isamu said, making both of his parents stop. "Why do you wanna go outside these gates." His dad said. "Well, I don't wanna be here forever. I wanna have an adventure." Isamu said with glee in his eyes. "I guess, it's time to give you the talk." His father said as he then looked at Isamu and Isamu could feel something was up. "The reason for these gates is not to keep us caged, it's to keep us safe from the beasts. Beasts that can only be defeated by the mythical mages." His father said. "That's just a myth. Mages don't exist. In school, we're taught that the mages are legends and have possessed mana, something we don't have." Isamu said. "It's true. Mages use mana to defeat the beasts." His mother said. "Korobe went out, he survived." Isamu said, shocking his parents. "The truth is Korobe died. He died, fighting those beasts. His father made sure that the kids wouldn't know since he was your hero." His father said as Isamu went to his room in shock as tears fell from his eyes. "Did you have to tell him that." His mother said. "He had to know the dangers. He has to know that some dreams don't come true." His father said as his eyes lost a bit of fire as Isamu sat in his bedroom, looking into the horizon before sighing and looking down.

It had reached nightfall, the men marched down on the muddy slopes as they reached their location. "Mission: Destroy Sakomotsu Village is underway. '' Mazoku said as they marched on to their unsuspecting victims. An old man saw them in a hut as he stroked his beard as the men marched past his hut. The men marched as they saw many trolls. "Fire Demon Formation." They said as they got in formation as they fired a huge fire, burning the trolls except one, which devoured three of the men. "Such useless soldiers." Mazoku said as he stood in front of the troll as he raised his hand as he sent a fire blast, burning the troll entirely. "March forward." He said as they marched forward as they reached the gates. "Kill all of them." He said as they marched in as Isamu fell asleep. "Kill all of them." Mazoku said as the fire demons rushed forward as they burnt the huts down. They viciously murdered them as the people screamed in agony as they were maliciously burnt by them. They viciously massacred everyone just before they reached Isamu's house, the last house in the village. "Search the house." One of them said as they opened the door as Mazoku walked to Isamu's parents. "We've come to inspect the hut." Mazoku said with a smile but Isamu's parents heard the screams. "Well, we've been expecting a child soon so we can celebrate." His father said as Mazoku smirked. "Thanks for not wasting our time." Mazoku said as he burnt them. Isamu woke up as he heard the screams as he then walked down as Mazoku was about to leave. Isamu cried as he saw the burnt corpses of his parents. "No." Isamu said as he cried as Mazoku smiled, walking to Isamu, who was on his knees. He crouched as he then gave him a smile. "Goodbye." Mazoku said as he left Isamu, leaving him in the house as he then burnt the entire house, leaving Isamu in the burning house. "Our work is done, gentlemen." Mazoku said as he walked away as he smiled. After a while, the old man came to the scene. He looked at the burnt down huts and saw one that was still on fire. The old man thought as he saw a burnt boy. He checked for a heartbeat, he searched until he heard a constant heartbeat.

Isamu woke up with a start as he woke up with an alarming pain on the left side of his face. The pain left as quickly as it came. He saw that his left side was bandaged and most of his chest. "What." Isamu said as he remembered his parents' death as he cried as tears fell down, burning him. He screamed in agony. "Mom. Dad." He screamed as the old man came with a wet towel. "I can see you're in a lot of pain." The old man said as Isamu saw the old man. "Is this just a horrible nightmare or is this reality?" Isamu said as he pleaded for a chance this could be a bad nightmare and that he could wake up with his parents next to him. "I'm sorry." The old man said as he remembered seeing the red-cloaked men. "Who were they." Isamu screamed. "The elemental demons. They're mages on a mission to kill every village in the lower-region. People with low-mana people." The old man said as Isamu looked at him. "I can help you become stronger. You hated them, don't you?" The old man asked as Isamu remembered their sinister voice. "I wanna make them pay." Isamu said with fury echoing in his voice. "Then I'll train you to increase your mana and in 5 years, when they come to the next village so you can save them. I'll train you in the ways of the mage." The old man said as Isamu cried. "Don't cry, it'll pain even more." The old man said as Isamu kept crying. "Thank you, I thought I was done for. I'll do it. Thank you." Isamu said as the old man smiled. Isamu cried for a while before stopping as hatred left his eyes "I guess, I forgot to ask. Who're you?" Isamu said as the old man smiled. "My name's Horus, a mage." Horus said.