A crimson butterfly, the widely known bells of death, their gentle yet aggressive shine is what makes them distinct from other red butterflies, those butterflies use the blood they absorbed to reproduce and also as a survival mechanic, with the usage of mana and blood they can achieve light-speed thus traveling anywhere fresh and tasty in their way blood would spill
There are approximately 44 of them and whenever they appear they have been the same for over a century
Two years later the crimson butterflies decided to pay Teras a visit once again for his long-awaited fight with the Jack of Hearts
"Maybe I'm wrong because it doesn't shine like the books say, but if it happens to be a real crimson butterfly does it mean that this fight will be brutal for them?" Lola asked concerned
"HEY YOU TWO DON'T KILL EACH OTHER OVER SUCH A WORTHLESS BATTLE!" The king yelled and then laughed it off
It was indeed a crimson butterfly and Max knew that there was no way to stop the killing from happening
A Crimson butterfly is a mark of death after all
…
"You are not a real angel kid so draining the enemy's entire mana poll won't work as a trick for you so you can't just grab on someone like a leech, you should think of this ability as a tool to enhance your fighting ability, not replace them"
This time the dark figure talking to Teras was a rather tall strong-looking man, not the kid he always saw
---
"Don't look at me like that! Just because you went out of your way to blow your whole mana on something insignificant doesn't mean you have to abuse your one trick so get up and fight me manaless! That's what helped you survive, didn't it?
…
In an instant, Teras used the extra mana he had sucked from Balor to create a powerful explosion around his body that allowed him to escape Balor's death grip
"Why back down kid? I thought we had a test of power" Balor said with a cocky smile as he got up
"I thought so too but it's boring for the audience don't you think? In this rather peaceful world you are surrounded you are a performer and nothing more, so why not do your job?" Teras said as he picked up his sword and dagger
He then created multiple air slices toward Balor but they had the same effect as a gust of wind
"Come on kid those attacks are meaningless! I want you to hit me with the same attack you hit the king! He told me you were strong but I guess he overestimated you" Balor said as he dashed behind Teras in the blink of an eye
Before Teras could react Balor kicked him with such force that made him pierce through the wall of the arena that stood on the other side of where he originally was
~1 year ago~
"Just because I have been holding back on every fight we had been in doesn't mean people like me can't eat you for breakfast! What I'm trying to say is that people above your power level can not only overpower you but out-speed you, out-think you, and out-maneuver you! Meaning don't go around fighting whoever just because you have been training with me! You have a long way before being able to challenge a platinum or even a gold-ranked adventurer" Enyo explained to Teras as she was shaving her body hair
"Why take care of your body so much if you are going to remain a virgin until the day you die?" Teras asked as he helped Enyo shave her legs
In a flash, Enyo stepped on his head with force
"DID YOU EVEN LISTEN TO WHAT I SAID?"
…
'Enyo was right this whole time he was playing with me... I only had an advantage when I used an incredible amount of mana for defense! Right now I'm nothing but a glass canon... No, a glass slingshot'
Teras thought as he used his mana overflow to circle around Balor hitting him with air bullets and mana-enhanced attacks with his sword but even after using all those tricks he did no damage to Balor
"Mana-enhanced tools can only take you so far kid!" Balor said before kicking Teras across the stage once again
"The last guy that told me that is in heaven!" Teras yelled as he used mana overcharge to shoot an air bullet from his dagger that made the dust that had risen disappear
Balor was cocky so instead of dodging the attack he decided to block it with one of his hands
'What the hell? This actually hurt me a lot, is this guy crazy? What if I hadn't dodged the attack? The crowd would have been damaged!'
Before being able to complete his thought Teras had already prepared his next attack on Balor
Teras firstly kicked his stomach, then he followed with a kick to the chin that redirected Balor's sight toward the sky and the last attack was a backfoot kick to the head that launched Balor away
Every single kick was overcharged
"Surprised? A hunter's job is to tell how stupid a prey is so they set certain traps according to the situation, I know you wouldn't have the pride to dodge ONE attack so I showered you with many before hitting you with the real stuff, cool right?"
Teras said as he tried to recover from all the moving and attacking
"YOU BASTARD! Do you think you can make a fool out of me?" Balor yelled as he charged at Teras
But Teras didn't flee or try to defend, he went for the kill too
POW POW POW
Teras defended against Balor's punches by punching his fists, the same way he did with the king but something was off... Balor's fingers were starting to crack and Teras's breaking but nobody backed down
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
'Is this kid doing this? I'm considered a high diamond why can't I squash this bug?' Balor thought looking down at Teras fighting for his life
"Why are you making that face? Scared?" Teras yelled while mocking the Jack of Heart in his own home
'This child dares to mock me... This NOBODY DARES TO CALL ME NAMES IN FRONT OF MY FACE!!! I thought he was acting pridefully because his teacher was with him but NO! THIS FUCKER ACTUALLY THINKS WE ARE THE SAME LEVEL, I WILL SHOW HIM'
"I WILL KILL YOU" Balor yelled as he proceeded to hit Teras with a combo of uncountable attacks after that kicked Teras in the air with all of his force sending him relatively high before preparing another powerful attack
As Teras was dropping Balor took a step back and threw his punch
At that moment time froze for Teras, his breathing became natural to the point where you couldn't tell the difference between breathing and not breathing but he was inhaling at 100% capability, and he didn't have his eyes open while in the air, he didn't feel the need to see
'Everything is so quiet...' Teras thought as he saw the punch slowly coming at him
His heartbeat had been synched with his mana core, the place where mana is gathered when making a whole rotation in the body to shortly make another rotation, his blood and mana moved in sync like it was one
There was no separation of Teras the human and Teras's aura, it was one inseparable thing. Teras's shadow was the only thing coming out of Teras
Nothing but air entered Teras's body and nothing exited, like a black hole that only sucked air
And like a black hole that he closely imitated Teras decided to act while watching the punch slowly approach by ducking under the attack by using an almost inexistent mana shield
Confused by Teras's reflexes Balor felt the need to defend and that's what he did
The fight had ended
It was a draw
Teras threw a punch that shattered Balor's hand and chest and launched him so hard at the edge of the arena that almost made him pierce through the whole building
Teras on the other hand had broken his hand and a part of his spine, the most fatal wound was his hands since his bone pierced the skin, and it was dangerously dislocated
Many healers rushed to the arena
'A beautiful butterfly...' Teras thought as he watched the single crimson butterfly sucking on the blood that was dripping off his bone
It was a white and red scenery
A scenery worth dying for but luckily for Teras he simply faded as he would do in most of his fights
…
"Mana what?'" The kid dark figure asked the adult dark figure
"Mana flow state, the true human instinct, it's something most of my ancestors used to fight against those unholy beasts for ages, nowadays it's lost since monsters like that have ceased to exist but I believe that deep down every human has it" The adult figure explained
"So how do I learn it?"
When the kid figure said that it got slapped by the adult
"I told you it's like a survival instinct, something like an overflow but way stronger, even I can't possibly use it in this day and age, it has no use, I believe this is the power of human D E T E R M I N A T I O N but on the other hand it just shows how beast-like we truly are, oh by the way why did you ask that?" The adult figure asked
"Because **** was able to use overflow on command I just wanted to know if there is something greater that maybe he could master!" The kid asked
"I see! If you can use it on command now it means you have archangel-like genes, huh? Or is it your hell of a life? I don't know but good for you! You will need it in this world"
"Wait you never told us what it is though!!!" The kid whined
"You're right... To simplify it is like sacrificing your 5 senses to boost one sense, the mana sense of course"
…
"Miss Enyo, can I ask you something?" Icarus asked Enyo as she was waiting outside the doctor's office
"What is it, kid?" Enyo asked as she looked visibly fatigued
She had been waiting for news for the past six hours
"What did Teras do while he was under your wing?"
A simple yet difficult-to-explain answer
"He fought for his life for almost two months before starting a hardcore 14-hour daily training with only one day to rest which he used to cut wood, the most interesting question I would like to ask is what Teras was doing before coming to me, and not the half true Teras knows, the full thing, you see he isn't a fan of telling this to people but he has no idea who he was or what he was doing, when he woke up one day randomly inside a dead tree, that's what he keeps telling me when I ask him where he came from, he can suck mana and control a mana overflow and he can also create explosions. Ruw do you understand how crazy this sounds? This person doesn't have a start, not even your family has such an interesting story to tell" Enyo said as she cracked a smile at the end
Icarus then left Enyo alone and was on his way to return to the town so he could find a place to sleep
'He had no idea who he was? He most certainly wasn't a noble since I would have recognized him from a special trait every famous family has... Red eyes... Demons have them but he isn't one, he appeared to have masterful control over his mana like an elf but he isn't one either, is he an angel? But he lacks the characteristics of one... What are you Teras?'
While thinking Icarus met Maximus while walking in town
"Is Teras okay?" Maximus asked
"Why would I care for him? He's your friend not mine, just because we shared a hot spring once by coincidence doesn't mean we are friends"
Maximus grabbed Icarus's hand before he could leave
"Don't say that Icarus, I know you don't mean that, I don't like people like you from strong families that think they are great but while I was with Teras I couldn't help but feel like you were a friendly face! Are you telling me you are not?" Maximus asked
Icarus quickly broke off Maximus's grip and pointed his sword at him
"Don't talk like you know me! I could kill both you and him and not feel a thing"
"What would make you if you did something like that?"
"It would make me a Ruw"
"No, it would make you a monster, are you a monster Icarus?"
…
It was the next day, a rather cold day but not cold enough for Teras to wear a shirt
"What the hell are you doing?" Lola screamed as she threw multiple pillows at Teras
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm enjoying the morning breeze!" Teras said as he stood at the edge of the window
"YOU ARE GOING TO FALL! Plus it's cold! Close the window!" Lola said as she pulled Teras back inside her room
"I can't believe I was forced to adopt you once again! Plus why are you acting like nothing happened? The whole world could see your bone coming out of your arm and now you are acting as if nothing happened? How senseless can you be to the things happening to you?" Lola asked confused and annoyed
"It was an injury, a healable at that so since it's healed why worry?"
"Why worry? Did you actually ask that? What if you died Teras have you ever thought of that?"
Lola couldn't comprehend Teras's thought process
"If I died there then I wasn't worthy of my dream" Teras said with a smile as he looked outside the window through the glass
"What are you even staring at?" Lola said as she too looked outside the window
She saw the moon, it was slightly visible in the blue sky
"I didn't know that could happen..." Teras thought out loud as he kept staring
"Whatever you star freak! Just get out of my room already since you are okay!" Lola said while turning her back to Teras
"Hey, Lola want to go for a walk in town?" Teras suggested
"What? I'm a princess you know! I can't simply leave my post"
"Come on you are not even doing anything, you just stand there and look pretty for the masses, how about we go for a walk and have a chat like every person our age?"
"So you think I'm pretty?" Lola said blushful
"You got stuck on that?" Teras said as he looked disappointed
After a long time of consideration, Lola agreed to Teras's proposal but before they exited Lola disguised herself with clothes borrowed from Enyo's closet made her hair messy, and also hid most of her face with a scarf
"Are you sure it's not very hot for spring?"
"No way it's perfect! I never knew casual clothes were so easy to move in! Not even my practice clothes aren't so flexible" Lola answered as she made many sudden movements
"Okay now get on my back" Teras said as he crouched
Lola hesitated for a bit before getting on Teras's back, maybe she felt shy being carried like that
"I never realized how tough your body was!" Lola said as soon as she felt Teras's back and arms
"Stop touching me like that I'm ticklish!" Teras said as he giggled
Realizing that she was touching Teras's body a bit too much Lola kept her hands to herself and shortly after Teras hopped out of the window beginning their adventure