Blame others
That's the best way to come off as someone perfect in a flawed world
That's what Teras thought most people did when he entered puberty, or rather, exited it
For Teras, puberty had not mattered, it lasted hardly a season, it was nothing but a winter
So that's why he felt he was more rational than others his age
But deeply inside, he knew he was lost, since nobody is supposed to have found his role on this earth that fast
A good sword has to go through the fire multiple times before becoming a defined piece of weaponry
But Teras was fried to begin with... How many times can a sword survive being burned?
Ten? Twenty times? If yes, then why does Teras feel like he went only one time into the fire, but still appears to be burned
Was it because he never got out of the fire to begin with?
…
"What's wrong, Teras? Did you come here to finally apologize? Did you finally give up your pride and accept that you killed us?" The gloomy version of Cara told Teras
He appeared to sit down and look at his feet
He refused to talk
The silence quickly turned into noise
…
It was the noise of birds that woke up Teras, who was sleeping on top of a tree
It felt fitting after that weird night with Lola and that vision he got
"Seline..." He mumbled over and over again
It was the first thing he remembered, the first thing he managed to understand from his visions
It was the second day, meaning many more fights were going to take place inside the big arena, so a lot more people arrived at the capital of the Heart kingdom
"It feels like it has been long since we last talked..." Maximus awkwardly said as he walked together with Teras
Maximus felt awkward because Teras wasn't the cheery guy he used to be
"Is something wrong, Teras? Are you perhaps feeling anxious about the upcoming fights?"
"It's not that... Look, Max, this is going to sound weird, but do you remember a second moon? Or does something about a second moon ring a bell?" Teras asked with a troubled look on his face
"Certainly no! The moon is the one and only heaven, dude! Why would a second exist? Hell also exists! It's the sun!"
Teras found it ironic because, despite his love for the night, the sunlight brings him more pleasure, a warmth that the moon can't provide
'I guess that's why it's called hell, a place where everything is unpleasant... Why do I know that? Hell? Nobody has ever explained to me what it is, yet I know it's something people who didn't live a righteous life go to, and heaven... Why is it the moon? Who decided it should be this way?' Teras thought as spaced out
"What's wrong, Teras? Please tell me! You have been silent for a long time! Is it because of dreams of a second moon?" Maximus asked
He seemed to know something this time
"Yeah, I dreamed something like this..."
"That's interesting! Usually, old people claim to dream of a second moon!"
After hearing that, Teras calmed down for a bit and then asked "Hey, Max, can I ask you a question?"
"Really? You are not the type to ask questions!" Maximus said with a smile
"That's not a yes or a no?" Teras asked with a disappointed face
"If I can answer it, I will"
"Do you think Icarus is a good person?"
Maximus was relieved that the question was an easy one
"Icarus? Why do you ask him about that bum? Of course, he is a bad person"
"Is that so? I talked to him and I can't understand how someone can bear this much anger in his heart..."
Teras's question felt odd. Maximus didn't know why Teras needed to know about Icarus
Well, in reality, he knew...
"He isn't going to join you, Teras..."
"I know he won't, but that's not going to stop me from trying... I want to try, and who knows? I might get that one in a thousand chance" Teras said with a smile before leaving Maximus alone
Even though Maximus was a good guy, Teras felt like he was straying with him a bit too much
'I might curse him too...' Teras thought as he smiled
Without noticing, Teras has found himself in the massive park that the kingdom's capital has, which was flooded with people and fruit trees
Teras took one lemon and sat on a bench
While eating it, he saw three kids playing together
A dark thought inside his head told him
"That could have been Lia's kid, the kid you murdered..."
Teras ignored it as he normally does and focused on healing the wound he had
Apparently, he had internal bleeding when he tanked that hit on the stomach, and these kinds of wounds are Teras's weakness
While training under Enyo, he developed one mentality about his fighting style that helped him complete himself as a fighter
In one way or another, he is going to cause harm to himself in order to deal damage to the enemy
Meaning there is only one way to prevent himself from killing himself when fighting
That is healing, the principle of mana
Having done two years of intense healing training and recently learning to use "mana strings" that the ranker healers refer to as "The key to immortality" because if you master the use of mana strings, even a severed limb could be restored
Teras was two levels below this level. He could use mana strings, but they're not very good, that's why he usually plays with mana strings
That's what he did while watching the kids play
"What brings you here?" Someone asked Teras
Surprised that he didn't sense the person, Teras quickly turned to see who was calling him out
"Icarus? Why would you care? Don't you have training to do? You are supposed to beat me, right? How do you plan on doing that while you have practiced nothing?" Teras asked as he cracked a smile
"Who are you, Teras? I know your origin, but it still doesn't make sense! How can someone like you exist and act like they do? Do you really expect me to believe that you are a mere nobody using mana? A nobody would never win against a Jack!" Icarus said as he looked troubled
"I'm an adventurer, I'm a student, and I'm also a hunter, but if I had to define myself with something, I would probably consider myself a murderer" Teras said with a cold voice as he glared at the kids playing
"I see, we Ruws are no different... I despise my family because of what they do to the world and what they did to me, too! That's why I'm searching for my grandad! He is the only free one! If I accompany him, I will be freed from this curse of mine too"
Icarus's words didn't seem fake to Teras, so the question brewing inside his head was 'Why would he say that to me?'
"I'm telling you this because I have no plans on letting you survive our fight... I guess you could intentionally lose against your next opponent, but then I will kill both the guy that will win you and Maximus... The guy you find so amusing!"
"I don't see how this concerns me, you could do anything you want to them" Teras said emotionless, but deep down he felt otherwise
"Heartless I see... Don't worry, I will hunt you down after the tournament as well"
Icarus was surprised at the fact that Teras laughed loudly, he even attracted the attention of some people inside the park
"I would like to see you try hunting me down!"
Seeing Teras calm after the fact that Icarus threatened him made Icarus suspicious
'Is it fake confidence or pride?'
The fact that Teras was confident that he would win never crossed Icarus's mind
"Anyway, I made a promise to crush you, so I wouldn't have backed down on this fight no matter what! So, do you have anything else to tell me? Or did you just come here to scare me?" Teras asked Icarus
"All my life, I had to fight to make it here, so no amount of training you have done or what teachers you had will help you win! You are a dead man walking as far as I'm aware" Icarus said as he glared at Teras
It was as if a falcon stared down a bunny before attacking it
"My training has nothing to do with the fact that I'm strong Icarus, what you fail to understand is that I carry the weight of hundreds corpses on my back, I'm the cause of everyone's death, I failed to save many but what I haven't failed at so far is saving myself, so unluckily for you I won't die... I can't die...." Teras said with a gentle smile
"That's dumb" Icarus exclaimed like a kid
"What's dumb?"
"The fact that you blame yourself for the inability of others... You are not supposed to, and you can't save everybody, Teras. Hearing a guy as praised as you say shit like that makes me wonder your maturity as a fighter"
Even though Icarus's words were harsh, they felt comforting
"You were attacked by the Joker, right? An encounter with him would have brought anyone to death's door, but you managed not only to survive him but even fight back! If this tale isn't just a fairytale, then that's an achievement that many wouldn't have stopped bragging about, but you? You seem sad about the fact that the people you were with died. What about the people you have now, Teras? Are you going to neglect them just because you lost some? Are you going to give half of your love to the people who love you now just because you are too busy loving the dead? Move on Teras! The real world waits not for a fool! Keep your head straight and don't turn back"
Icarus said while leaving Teras to drown in his thoughts without turning around to look at him one last time
'I feel lighter...' Teras thought as he felt that multiple hands let go of him
He could feel the presence of his old friends fading, they became nothing but a memory
As all dead should, every person that dies should rest, blaming the animate beings for their loss is like throwing many small rocks at a mountain, nothing will happen, yet there is a satisfaction out of this useless action.
This satisfaction is the translation of the beast-like nature of a human, but inanimate beings aren't humans, right?
So why keep on throwing rocks?
"Thank you, Icarus" Teras said gratefully to nobody. Icarus had left a long time ago
At that moment, Teras was sure of one thing
Icarus wasn't evil, at least not as evil as he likes to act
…
"Teras! Teras! TERAS! Wake up! Father is about to train!" Lola said as she aggressively woke up Teras
Seems like she has forgotten the previous night's event, or at least she pretends she did
King Max was feared as not the strongest king, but the most difficult to damage
His weapon of choice was something that none would consider a weapon
It was a pair of scales that both hosted two bright spheres, where most of his attacks would come from
A balanced yet deadly fighting style came with handling this weapon
The king could control the laser attacks perfectly and could use the laser to create a laser shield to defend himself from attacks, as he displayed in his training
On the one side, he controlled the offensive, and with the other, the defensive
A perfectly balanced weapon
The dark horse out of all the kings, which is not considered the strongest, but the one that can impact everyone, that's who King Max was
That's why the fact that his Jack was weak confused Teras
'Why? Why do things like these keep on happening?' Teras thought 'Why do so many things not make sense, and why does nobody seem willing to fix them?' Teras asked himself again
Without receiving an answer, of course
That's the day when Teras's dreams became weird and more cryptic
The first dream he had after his encounter with Icarus in the garden was one of a big golden eye, the same eye he saw when he first tried to gain the ability to use the precious cards of this world
"What?" Was Teras's first response, but the more proper thing to say in this situation was
"Why?"
Why would this eye that now seems to be surrounded by rings keep on looking at Teras's silently
But that image seemed flawed, it looked fake
That's when, on a closer look, Teras made out something like a lamp or a goat
It had multiple eyes and all golden like the eye that stared at him at the start
The beast opened its mouth, but before it could form a word, Teras woke up drenched in sweat
'I didn't hear it, but it spelled it with its mouth...' Teras thought as he tried to calm his heartbeat
The words Teras made out of the movement of the beast's mouth were terrifying
"I've been watching you, hunter"