"Good job." Zephyra grinned as she landed a few punches at Acacia who blocked them with her arms. Her arm muscles throbbed at the force of the punches but she kept her feet planted in the ground. Sometimes she forgets how muscular Zephyra was when they weren't training.
'Can I even beat her in a fight? It's obvious she is holding back but I'm still struggling.' Acacia thought to herself as her feet further dug into the ground and she was finding it difficult to keep up her guard. 'I always wandered why she doesn't climb up the ranks, she seems to have the power to do so.'
"Come on! Just a few more minutes!" Kel yelled out from the other side with Edwin by his side.
"She is not going to make it." Edwin commented.
And as predicted, Acacia immediately called for a time out. Zephyra lowered her fists and Acacia sighed in relief while rubbing her sore arms.
"You lasted longer than last time." Zephyra patted her shoulder.
Acacia sighed and felt the pain in her arms subside, regeneration and fast healing was a curse and a blessing. She doesn't have to worry about permanent damage but the pain, she hasn't gotten used to the pain. Getting punched in the face still hurts a lot even if it heals moments later.
"How about you train with Maximus?" Kel asked.
"I will never do that." Acacia shuddered at the thought. If she thought Zephyra was strong and muscular then Maximus was five of Zephyra in one body, not to mention how huge he was.
"Anyways, where is Bella? She said she would be here an hour ago."
"She is helping Elric with some stuff." Kel answered.
"I see." Zephyra shrugged and gestured for Kel and Edwin to stand up to which they obliged.
'Well, it's not like it is any of my business.' Acacia rubbed her wrists and walked back inside the house. "I'm taking a break."
"Alright, don't touch my dried meat." Edwin called out.
"No promises." She walked towards the living room and saw Maximus on the couch, reading a book. "Not done with your novel yet?"
She heard a grunt of acknowledgement from him and she nodded. She went inside the kitchen and looked around, opened the pots, checked the shelves for something but found nothing. "Where did he keep it?"
She tapped her feet against the ground continuously until she spotted a small black bowl hidden behind the door and grinned. She walked towards it and opened the lid, she took three pieces of dried meat and closed the bowl. She walked out of the kitchen and chewed on one of the dried meat with a triumphant grin. She walked up the stairs and towards the girl's room and closed the door behind her.
She kept the remaining dried meat on her mat and went inside the bathroom. Her dark red eyes stared at her reflection through the broken mirror, each shard reflecting a distorted version of her face. She stared for a moment and bent down to remove the small pocket knife, hidden in her boots. She raised the knife and sliced her palm, her face twitched a bit. Blood started to drip down onto the sink, her gaze unwavering from her palm as she controlled the blood flow. A medium sized bubble of blood was formed, she pressed her hands against it, feeling the thickness and collected a bit from blood.
Her fingers worked on the small bubble of blood in her hands, shaping it and trying to mold it until it formed into a small butterfly. She slowly let go of the butterfly and tried to speak to it. "Hello? Are you alive?"
She got no response and groaned, she flicked the butterfly with her finger in anger and it disappeared out of thin air. Taking another small bubble of blood and molding it.
'You cannot even give them life.' Daemonis commented with disappointment.
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." She muttered in an annoyed tone and continued to mold until it formed another butterfly, trying to make it move or even flutter. "I directed my mana into them but they still won't respond."
'Then you need to work on that.' Daemonis replied.
"I have been working on that for a month yet nothing but failed results. Maybe I should increase my poison intake and training." She snapped her fingers and the butterfly disappeared. She watched as the blood slowly went back into her palm and the cut healed instantly. "I need to visit the traders market."
Acacia took a quick shower, wore a black form- fitting top with a dramatic open back design and matching black pants. She carried a small bag and counted the money in the bag, a total of 90 lumens, she zipped the bag shut and left the room. She descended the stars and gobbled down the remaining of the dried meat.
"Maximus, follow me to the traders market." Acacia said in a muffled voice as she walked towards him and nudged his arm but he didn't budge and simply adjusted his glasses as he flipped the next page of his book. 'Come on, your figure will terrify anyone from harming me.'
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Please! I promise to read your next novel with you." Acacia pleaded and waited for his response, after hearing his reluctant grunt of approval, a smile tugged her lips as he removed his glasses and set his book aside. He got up from the couch and started to walk towards the front door. Acacia followed closely behind him as he opened the metal door.
They left together and passed through the barrier, Acacia flexed her back and fluttered her wings, flying a bit off the ground as she followed him. It was a little practice she started to get used to her wings and have better control. Maximus stopped in his tracks and held her hand so that she wouldn't fly away and hit the ground like she used to.
They reached the market and passed through the barrier, her eyes taking in the sight of the market. It was busy and bustling as always, she moved with the help of Maximus until they reached Tosic's shop. Acacia gently landed on her feet and entered the shop
"Senior!" Poppy spoke out and immediately rushed to hug Acacia's waist.
"Hello!" Acacia giggled and caressed her cheek. The young boy, Henry, had a usual scowl on his face.
"Where is Tosic?" Acacia asked. Poppy let go of Acacia and ran towards Maximus who lifted her up in the air.
"He left as always. That old geezer is always leaving me to handle the shop." Henry scoffed but was dutifully cleaning every crook and corner of the shop.
"You can never catch a sight of him, huh? Anyways, I need poison." Acacia grabbed the cleaning rag from his hands and lifted it up in the air while Henry tried to grab it in frustration.
"Hey! Just because you are tall doesn't mean you can bully me! And the old geezer did bring something in today." Henry jumped in the air and replied in frustration.
"Oh? What is it?" Acacia asked in a curious tone. She dropped the cleaning rag in his hands and he grumbled under his breath. He walked away for a moment and came back with a medium sized pouch bag.
"This was taken from one of the Flow heroes that trespassed and the sixth kin group, The Moon Eschen, took care of them." Henry slowly opened the pouch and the sight of multiple small round blue balls. She stiffened at the sight for a moment, her hands clenched into fists. 'This was what killed me.'
"You okay?" Henry asked.
"Huh? Yeah, I was lost in thought. Do you happen to know the name of the Flow hero that had this?" Acacia blinked and snapped out of her daze.
"No but it was a female."
"Oh." Acacia replied and her clenched fists slowly loosened its grip. 'Am I that scared of my brother?'
"How much will it cost?" Acacia shook her head and asked.
"1000 lumens and if you don't have money, the skin and teeth of a bat boar would be the compensation." Henry answered.
"So expensive, where does the money even go to in this old shop?" Acacia whined and rubbed the back of her neck. The shop was still disorganized but Henry always made it bearable when he was around.
"That old geezer's tea collection, that's for sure." Henry snorted.
'I miss my old rich life sometimes, I would've paid for this in a flash. But I really need it, I can ask money from the others but my pride would be wounded to beg for money and bat boars are annoying to deal with. I should just buy one to see if it works.' She has a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Just take this, I'll come back for the rest of it's worth it." Acacia took one blue ball and poured her money on the table.
"Huh? Wait." Henry quickly counted the money while Acacia made her way towards the exit. "This is just 90 lumens! A ball costs 100 lumens."
"Then make a discount, bye!" Acacia left and Maximus set Poppy back down, adjusted the bow on her head and followed Acacia outside, leaving behind a bewildered Henry.
Acacia looked at the small blue ball with a bit of worry, even though she was immune to poison. The sensation she felt from this poison wasn't pleasant but it was going to give her a chance at strengthening her blood and maybe those butterflies would finally answer her.
She flexed her back and her wings lifted her body up, her hand subconsciously looking for Maximus hand as she was distracted by the ball of poison. Maximus held her hand to keep her at balance as they left the traders market and went back home.
The minute they stepped back inside, she landed on her feet and saw Edwin nursing a bruise on his cheek.
"You look ugly."
"We both know that's a lie, not even a measly bruise can hinder the beauty of my face." Edwin averted his gaze and covered his ears face with his hand-fan.
"Then why are you covering it?"
"Because I can, now shoo."
Acacia chuckled and walked towards the stairs. "Thanks for the escort, Maximus! I'll read that novel with you tomorrow."
She heard another grunt of approval before she entered the room and closed the door behind her. Her smile turned into a thin line as she inspected the blue ball. She sighed and went inside the bathroom, her heart started to walk hammer against her chest.
"Well it's not like I've not died before. Let's just think of it as an experiment, if it doesn't strengthen my blood then I will find a different poison." Acacia motivated herself and threw the ball in her mouth, she chewed on it before she could hesitate any further.
As expected the burning feeling erupted in her stomach and chest once more. She gasped and wheezed as her heart felt like it was about to burst, tears falling down her cheeks while trying to remain steady. She stumbled against the wall and slid down to the tiled floor, her chest heaving up and down. It felt exactly like the moment in the alleyway, the pain and the despair. The only difference was that she wasn't dying this time.
She removed the pocket knife from her boots, and cut her palm. Beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she controlled her blood and molded a butterfly with shaky fingers, silently hoping that it would work. Her body kept switching from energetic to weak as she tried to focus. Once the butterfly was formed, she spoke to it.
"H...Hello?"
The butterfly didn't move and her expression fell at the sight. She was about to snap her fingers when she saw the wings flutter, legs slowly stretched out and antenna formed as the butterfly came to life. It flew to her face and landed on her nose.
"Ah...yes! I did it! So increase in poison was the answer!" Acacia felt like dancing if her body didn't feel like it would break any second. She created a second butterfly and waited for a response but she got nothing.
'It won't answer, you manage to give life to one butterfly but it only lives because of your energy, you are not strong enough to handle more.' Daemonis said in an amused tone.
"So that means more poison and more training. I guess going after that bat boar is inevitable." Acacia sighed. Even though she was disappointed at least she managed to create one, she will just have to increase her training sessions. The butterfly kept walking around her face but she didn't react to it.
'How do I even explain this to the others? No one knows that I can manipulate my blood, they know about my regeneration and immunity to blood but it would look odd that someone has both abilities. After the war 83 years ago, there were two distinctive abilities, magic users and beast men. Magic users manipulate abilities with mans while beast men take the forms of their mana with animals or insects as their abilities. I can manipulate and I also have a beast man form. Should I just feign ignorance? They all think I lost my memories anyways.' Acacia thought about it and gently removed the butterfly from her face, holding it in her hands.
'It is best you feign ignorance. For humanity, it clings to the familiar like a drowning man to driftwood, fearing the vast, uncharted ocean of the new. They build their homes upon the foundations of habit, and any tremor in that well-worn earth is met with fear, not curiosity. For difference, in their eyes, is not a spark of potential, but a shadow lurking at the edge of their known world, a harbinger of chaos they desperately seek to banish.' Daemonis spoke, his voice a chilling whisper that carried the weight of ages. A chilling echo that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
Acacia felt a bit shaken by the sudden change of his tone. She actually felt like a god was speaking in her very soul and it didn't feel good at all.
'Alright, I've heard you. No need to go all out on me.' Acacia thought in her head but got no response and decided to just shrug off the bad feeling.
"I'll summon you another time, little guy." Acacia said to the butterfly and it tilted it's head before disappearing out of thin air.