It was a final showdown between Teras and Prodo, the wind had started to pick up, and Teras had his eyes glued to Prodo, he didn't want to make a sudden move on him, and Prodo did the same, the atmosphere between them was intense, the idea of fighting to save someone's life was making Teras anxious but it wasn't about feeling anxious or being scared, it was a DO OR DIE situation either Teras won or he lost his life along with everyone in the camp, the only thing that required for Teras to win was D E T E R M I N A T I O N, he knew that but he still couldn't bring himself to make the first move

"Here we are kid, it's me and you, I told you that you would regret it if you didn't help me, I think you can tell from the situation that you are completely screwed, but don't take it on yourself, it wasn't your fault, the one responsible was this idiotic brat that was so eager to kill you and everyone else"

Prodo said, Teras was furious, he closed the distance between them and stroked him with his blade, Prodo easily blocked it

"Don't speak about my friend like that you bastard! Now tell me where is he!"

Teras told him, Prodo left a small laughter

"Didn't you hear me, boy? He was nothing but a scam, he wasn't your friend"

Prodo told him as he was striking back

'I can't block his hits he is far stronger than me right now, so for now fight fluidly, just like water'

Teras thought as he saw the attack coming at him, before Teras could get hurt he evaded his attack by deflecting Prodo's sword, the sword hit the ground and an opening was created for Teras, he then quickly slashed Prodo's head, his head flew away from his body hitting the ground not too long after, at this brief moment Teras left his guard down

"TERAS WATCH OUT!"

Recka screamed at him, but it was too late, Teras was kicked by Prodo, and the kick sent Teras flying, he came in contact with multiple trees, the damage dealt to his body was great, he had scars all over his body, but thankfully he didn't break any limbs, Prodo then slowly picked up his head and reattached it to his body

"Kid, you can't win against me, so I will give you a special chance to redeem yourself, so join me and we can accomplish amazing things together, what do you think kid?"

as soon as Teras heard this offer he broke down laughing, Prodo was confused

"GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD"

He screamed, before Prodo could make another move an explosion occurred on his right leg, it was a sphere bomb, Teras left it right before he got hit by Prodo's kick, as soon as the explosion went off Teras quickly enhanced his body with mana and charged at Prodo, Teras slashed him multiple times, but no slash fatally damaged him but Teras didn't stop he kept on slashing and slashing, after a little time Teras backed down so he can recover some stamina, Prodo's body was a mess but he regenerated quickly, even his chopped off limbs attached to his body but before he could fully recover Teras threw another one explosive spheres, the sphere exploded dealing a good amount of damage to Prodo

'that's it! if I attack him with a barrage of blows he will not be able to heal'

Teras thought, so that's what he did, after the explosion Teras attacked Prodo again, but this time Prodo was ready, he had prepared an attack and since he was hidden inside the cloud of dust that the explosion made it was hard for Teras to see it, the attack caught Teras by surprise, he barely blocked it, even after the block the attack did massive damage to Teras, Prodo's blade managed to dislocate Teras's shoulder, the attack also sent Teras flying once again, after the attack Teras was lying down, he was out of energy

"What's wrong Teras stand up, the fight isn't over until you surrender, I'm barely using any of my power to give you a fair chance, don't treat my kindness like that"

Prodo told him with a cocky smile, Teras didn't reply, he just stayed down

"Say something before I kill this woman!"

Prodo threatened him, after hearing that Teras slowly got up

'it's now or never, I have to put all of my training to use and defeat this monster, even if it breaks me like before, at least I will make it out alive'

Teras thought as he was releasing a huge amount of mana, Prodo understood that Teras didn't plan on surrendering

"Teras stop! you will hurt yourself all over again!"

the injured Recka yelled at him, Teras just smiled and said

"I'm going to be fine"

Teras used mana overflow, Prodo was amazed since he hasn't seen anyone using mana overflow while they are under control

"What's wrong Prodo? did you think you are the only one holding back?"

Teras told him

"Don't make me laugh kid, there is no possible way you ca.."

Before Prodo could finish talking Teras quickly punched at his stomach, Prodo coughed from the amount of force that was put on the punch, the hit also launched Prodo multiple meters away, despite the strength that Teras had Prodo quickly recovered but Teras didn't stop, he jumped on a tree branch and used it so he can attack with the height advantage, Prodo saw the attack but couldn't block it, it was much faster than he could react, Teras axe kicked him, the attack was soo strong that made Prodo fall flat to the ground, Teras then backed down so he can figure out a tactic to beat him, Prodo got up and took a good look at Teras, his whole body was shining with a silver light and his eyes were glowing with a bright crimson color

'he looks like...'

Prodo's thought was interrupted from another strike from Teras, Teras didn't let him think for even a second, as long as he had the advantage he could win and he knew it, Prodo used mana vision so he could see Teras's movements, he also enforced his body so he could fight properly, Teras attempted to strike his head to behead him, but this time it was different, Prodo blocked the hit, he then tried to counter attack but Teras quickly stepped at Prodo's body to get away, he dodged the attack but Prodo still managed to scratch him, Teras then decided to do something risky, Teras started to bounce from all the trees surrounding them, Prodo had a hard time trying to keep an eye on him, Teras continued jumping around but he mixed in some attacks too, Teras was engaging and disengaging within seconds, Prodo couldn't do anything about Teras's strikes, but even thought Teras seemed to have the advantage he couldn't harm Prodo, since the attacks weren't destructive enough, after some minutes Teras got exhausted so he stopped, the pain of his injuries was also distracting

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"That was an amazing display of power my child but it is not enough to stop me"

Prodo told him, Teras was lost, he didn't have an alternative plan, and he was out of ideas, Teras froze for a moment, this time was enough for Prodo to strike, he tried to attack with his signature swing from the top that Ronie used to do, Teras instinctively dodged it

'I have dealt with this attack way too many times to fall for it again'

Teras thought, Teras then jumped and sliced his left arm, Recka then quickly threw a rock spear that pierced the arm and took it with it

"You are still kicking huh Recka!"

Teras told her with a smile, and she too replied with a warm smile

"Focus on your enemy you brat!!!"

Prodo yelled, he then swung his blade at Teras, Teras blocked it with a mana shield and he counter-attacked with a kick, he made sure to put a good amount of mana in it so he can expand the distance between him and Prodo, Teras then decided to attack one last time, this time he was sure that it would work

"Recka prepare a shield, we are going to need it"

Teras whispered, Teras stopped his mana overflow, then initiated one last attack, he used all of his mana to charge his sword, but he only kept enough mana for a single jump, he then stayed low and ran towards Prodo, Prodo felt for Teras's trap and swung his blade low, Teras then jumped high up and did a front flip so he could build up momentum for the hit, Prodo realized it so he quickly set up his sword for a block, Teras's sword clashed with Prodo's sword, a huge shockwave formed, the amount of strength they had was inhuman, this was exactly what Teras wanted to happen, as he was falling down he threw his belt filled with explosive spheres at him, before Prodo could realize what this belt was Teras threw a spare sphere that he grabbed before the attack and threw it at him, as soon as Teras threw it he ran towards Recka with all of his might

"Put up the shield quick!!!"

Teras screamed, and Recka quickly started making it, as soon as Teras got close to Recka he hugged her and fell down to the ground for protection, then a huge explosion happened, the night became day and the sound was so loud that destroyed Teras's and Recka's eardrums, the sound also woke up everyone, when they got outside to figure out what the sound was, they saw a massive dust cloud deep into the forest, after the explosion a rain of blood began to rain down on the forest, the first person to arrive at the area was Becka, when she arrived at the location she saw a massive creator in the center of a destroyed area, the whole area was surrounded by blood, after a little she spotted 2 people laying down, it was Recka and Teras, Recka was crying, she was begging for Teras to wake up, the shield didn't hold up so Teras's back was burned and damaged from the explosion

"Recka what the hell happened?"

she asked her injured sister, but she didn't reply since she couldn't hear, in a state of shock she started to heal both of them, and after some minutes some other students arrived at the scene, Becka asked for the students to help her if they knew how to heal, some did, eventually they were healed from their major injuries, they were then rushed at Recka's house and the night passed slowly, the day after was a sad one, this was the day that Ronie was buried or at least whatever remained from his body, Becka was sent to Ronie's house so he can spread the news to his parents, everyone was gathered around the coffin praying and crying for him

"Today is a sad day for all of us, we lost a friend who, unfortunately, died due to suicide, he took Teras's equipment when he was sleeping, and took his own life away, we tried to stop him but he fought us, and in the end, we couldn't protect him, I couldn't protect him, may his soul rest in peace"

after Recka mourned his death she allowed everyone to take a break until the graduation exam, all of the students packed their things so they could leave

"I'm afraid you were right my friend, Ronie really was hiding his suffering, but why though? I thought I knew him, he wasn't the type that could give up his life like this... maybe I could have saved him, if I didn't ignore his signs maybe he would be here with us..."

Har said to Teras, he kept his head down

"Well as I said before everyone hides their real self, so you don't have to be sad you tried as hard as you could, it's not your fault Har nobody knew about it"

Teras told him in an attempt to comfort him

"BULLSHIT! IT'S ALL MY FAULT I WAS HIS CLOSEST FRIEND AND I DID NOTHING, HE WAS SUFFERING EVERY DAY AND I JUST IGNORED IT! I DIDN'T DESERVE HIM!!!"

Har screamed with tears in his eyes, Teras didn't say a thing, he just hugged him, Har hugged him back as he was crying, and after some time Har left, Teras then decided to go to the location of the fight, while he was walking Lia approached him

"Teras about what you said you were right, and also I'm sorry about what I did in the spring, my mind was foggy back there but now I can see why you said what you said, Cara knows it too but she won't admit it, right now she is depressed, so if you can, forgive her as well"

Lia told him, Teras simply nodded and walked away, after some minutes of walking he reached there, the whole place was bringing bad vibes to Teras

"So you came here too huh? Are your back and shoulder ok?"

Recka asked him

"I'm pretty injured and I can't hear really well but I can put up with those injuries, now that we are alone can you please tell me what really happen so I can too have a clear view of what I did"

Teras told her, she could tell that Teras was sad by his tone

"You see Ronie actually hated all of you, he made a deal with this tall creature, Ronie told him to give him all of his power but the tall man instead of giving him his power, he killed him and took over his body, that's why his body was shaped weirdly, but as I said he hated you, Ronie was actually an asshole so you don't have to feel sad, he got what he deserved"

Recka told him

"Well I expected it to be the case, I could tell he was evil before he met Prodo, I can't describe it but it was something in his voice, actions, and much more, also the look he had in his eyes gave it away and I hated it because it reminded of me, every time I see my reflection I see his eyes"

Teras told her with a cold expression

"Then why did you keep on defending him?"

Recka asked confused

"I don't know, maybe because he seemed so lonely or maybe because I believed that deep inside him he was a good person, maybe because I saw a part of me inside him, I guess nobody knows"

Teras said as he looked at the sky

"Hey Recka, do you think that what we did yesterday was the right thing to do? even if Ronie turned evil did we really have the right to take his life away? I mean what if we could talk things over? I can't sleep thinking about it!"

"Teras snap out of it! He tried to kill you, you just defended yourself, is not like you could do anything else, he had us in a corner, if we didn't act all of the camp would have been vaporized by him!"

Recka replied trying to ease Teras's mind

"But still! We didn't know if there was another way to deal with him, maybe we could have saved him, are you really okay with what we did?"

Teras told her with a cracking voice, Teras was holding his tears at this moment Recka didn't reply, and after some time of silence Recka went back to the camp, she was probably preparing for the graduation exam, at this moment Teras was in peace, there wasn't anybody around, the place was quieter than ever, Teras then decided to sit down, he closed his eyes and waited, after some time his mind went blank and the shadowy figure appeared once again

"Good job my child you managed to overcome your problems with the usage of your head and skills"

the figure told him

"What are you?"

Teras asked it quickly

"Don't tell me you forgot, I'm #### "

Teras quickly snapped out of it

"What the hell was that?"

Teras didn't comprehend it the first time but the figure had opened its cursed eyes, all he could see was a disturbing white color, but for some reason, he wasn't scared, Teras just felt like it was something familiar but he couldn't remember what it was

"I have to stop trying to understand this guy, I have to focus on my training, so I can prevent things like this to happen ever again"

Teras was D E T E R M I N E D to change so for the next week he kept on doing nothing but train, the graduation exam was coming up, and he had to overcome the event of this day because if he doesn't he will be haunted by it for all of his life