"It was nice seeing you kid!" The beastman said as he charged at Teras
Teras blocked the man's first attack with his sword but he also had to use his dagger to block since the beastman's strength was much greater than his
Teras then pushed him back and he also did a light jump behind, he then created a wind slash that was directed toward the man
It was easy for the man to block the incoming attack by slashing it but what he wasn't expecting was another hit, this time Teras hit him with a mana-enhanced attack with his sword, and that attack almost fully landed because the man was left open after blocking the wind slash
The beastman was barely able to block the attack that launched him violently at a tree
"You rely too much on your weapons' abilities, I guess you are just a big shot..." The beastman said as he immersed through the dusty cloud that was created from the attack
"These aren't my only weapons idiot! If they were then I wouldn't have lasted until now" Teras said as he sharpened his sword with the dagger
"Well... Might as well use all of them now because I'm really going in for the kill now" The man said as he got into a strange stance
'What is he do...'
Before Teras could finish thinking the man was launched like a rocket toward Teras
He once again used both his sword and dagger to defend and this time he also charged his sword with mana so his block was stronger than before but despite all that the block wasn't enough
Teras's legs started to be pushed back little by little, destroying the muddy ground below his feet
"What?" Teras mumbled as he was flying in the air
The attack managed to send him flying
'But I mana charged the sword...' Teras thought as he was floating in the air
Suddenly the man appeared on top of him with his sword ready to penetrate Teras's chest
Instinctively Teras extended his hand
'A big one...' He thought as he created a mana overload big enough to launch the beastman away and also make Teras's body slam the ground hard
"I thought the explosives were a gadget but I'm surprised to see you did all that with your hands, your secret weapon is way more flashy than mine's! I'm kind of jealous" The beastman said as he healed the injury caused to his face
Teras started healing his light wounds too
'This guy is really a monster! I heard that beastmen are supposed to be humans with better attributes but he is truly extraordinary, being this unharmed by an explosion is wild, well not too much though, I used mana vision and I saw that he managed to defend his body in the last second'
"I guess I have to go all out..." Teras said with a smile as he released his mana overflow
"You are overflowing? I guess this is a life-or-death situation for you" The man said as he got ready to defend
In a flash Teras came close to him and swung his sword at him, after the man blocked it Teras swung again and again until he suddenly took a step in, closing the distance even more
"You are done!" Teras said as he attacked with the dagger
The dagger was so close to piercing the man but he blocked the attack at the last second
Teras to respond to that swung his mana-charged sword from the opposite side of the dagger's attack
'Damn this kid!' The man thought as he managed to block the attack by bringing his right hand all over to the left side of his body
Even though he managed to block the sword attack he was unable to block the kick that launched him meters back and broke his nose in the process
To perform such a kick Teras lowered his body as much as he could and extended his leg to the maximum, this way he created the strongest kick he could perform in a such state
"Do you still have room to talk?" Teras said with a victorious smile on his face
"Don't get too cocky kid, but I have to admit you fight with a good sense of your surroundings and your skills, it's rare to find someone like you these days, so I deem you worthy of knowing my name before I kill you" The beastman said as he slowly started walking toward Teras
"My name is Pecus!"
"Teras! But don't get cocky either! I still have a trick under my sleeve" Teras said with a smile
Teras was somewhat bluffing, he wasn't sure about the "ace" he had under his sleeve, he bet on the possibility the strength he "awakened" on the day he fought the Joker would come back to aid him once again but that was a savage bet
"I'm sure you have but it's over Teras" Pecus said as he got into a weird stance
At that moment Pecus released an incredibly loud wave of sound that was directed at Teras and out of surprise Teras wasn't able to dodge it
Letting that wave sound hit him was his fatal mistake
His whole body was paralyzed, it was natural, his muscles fibers were destroyed after all
Blood was running from his wounds, his eyes, his mouth, and his nose
'What the fuck just happened?' Teras thought as he tried to unsuccessfully move his body
"It's over kid! Any last words? Oh, I forgot that you can't move haha, you fought bravely kid, at least die knowing that"
Pecus said as he raised his sword up, suddenly the sword he was holding swapped places with a stick
"What?"
Before Pecus could realize what was happening Enyo came out of nowhere and punched Pecus in the stomach, breaking a couple of his ribs in the process and also launching him away from Teras
"Close one! Wouldn't you say so brat?" Enyo asked Teras as she smiled
"Now what the hell are YOU doing here?" Enyo asked with an annoyed look on her face
"I escaped of course! I didn't hurt anyone yet so can you just let me off the hook?"
"So what exactly caused Teras to stand frozen with blood all over his face? It must have been the wind, no?" Enyo ironically asked
"He is different, you are his master so if he happened to see me he would report me to you at once, for once I left my previous life behind and I'm willing to start from zero, so I thought of staying in this town, but of course you being here is a big nuisance and I know I wouldn't be able to do that unless I killed this brat, by killing him you wouldn't be able to get info about me, therefore, I could achieve this dream of mines, I promise he would have been my last kill"
Pecus said with a more timidly voice than before, his cocky attitude also changed
"Do you think people like you and I have the right to have dreams?" Enyo said in a cold voice
"Please Enyo! I promise I won't harm anyone while staying in the village, I just want to escape the circle of fighting and killing"
"Then if you wanted to escape this circle, why didn't you try to talk it out? All I see here is a barbaric act of violence..." Enyo said as she turned her look to Teras
"Hmmmmmmmmmm"
Enyo froze for a moment and thought deeply about something
"Well, I'm a genius so I can make you a deal!" Enyo said with a smug smile
"1 month, that's the time I will give my pupil to train so he can beat you, if you manage to survive then I will turn a blind eye to your stay here, but if he beats you even once then I will take you back into jail. You will attack him daily but the attacks will be clear, meaning no sneak attacks, Teras should see you with his eyes and you will have to announce that you will attack and you have to make sure he knows, and remember NO KILLING, sounds fair?" Enyo asked
"Giving me a chance in the first place sounds very fair, so okay, let's see how it will end" Pecus said as he slowly walked
"Heard what I said Teras? You have to work even harder now and you will have an actual sparing partner" Enyo said as she started to heal Teras
"Why..." Teras mumbled with all the strength he had left
Enyo was a bit confused
"WHY THE HELL DID I LOSE!" Teras scream
"Shut up kid! It makes sense because he was way stronger than you, even if you fought smarter you didn't stand a chance, plus he is a beastman so he has added strength, and this screaming thing he did to you, most lion-based beastmen have this ability but the effectiveness of it changes depending on the mana someone puts into it and obviously experience"
"Still after all this training I should have been at least on a level to hurt him but I failed to even scratch him with my sword! I had to surprise him with a sudden move to hit him" Teras said as he started walking toward the house
"Look at you! Even after all that you can move? I barely healed you!" Enyo said surprised
"You had a healing crystal at home, didn't you? If I used that I could quickly heal and then start training, you said it yourself, without training I won't be able to beat him so please Enyo, make me a monster!" Teras said with D E T E R M I N A T I O N in his eyes
"Don't push yourself Teras..."
"I'm not! I just want to see how far a person like that can take me..."
"I see... Then I better get you all fixed up huh?" Enyo asked jokingly as she started teleporting to her house with Teras on her back
…
When they arrived Teras was connected with the healing crystal and Enyo started doing some paperwork on the Joker, while she was doing the papers Teras who was sitting on a couch with the crystal above his head asked
"Wasn't the knowledge about Joker's existence something worth killing for? Why are you keeping me alive?"
Enyo laughed at Teras's question
"Of course but only you know it so why bother killing a single brat just because you know, it's not like anyone will believe you..." Enyo said as she looked directly into Teras's eyes
"Why do you choose to hide the existence of the Joker, I mean he is a problem so why ignore him?" Teras asked as she looked at the ceiling
"The reason we do that is to keep the calm state of the world after the great angel war nothing major has happened and we intend to keep it this way, if the world learns that the Joker wasn't defeated back in that war then the world would probably be in big trouble and everyone would start to freak out and riots probably will start, you understand right Teras? I know you are a smart kid..." Enyo said as she continued writing some papers
Teras felt a bit bad about having to keep the Joker a secret but what Enyo said made enough sense, Teras concluded that the best he can do now is go for a walk, after all he needed some fresh air after all that happened
'I now have to fight this beastman over and over again every day until I win huh? This sure sounds tiring but at least I'm not dead...' Teras thought but something problematized him
"Am I really scared of passing away?" He asked himself out loud as he looked at the cliff he once tried to suicide from...
This thought was enough for Teras to take a step back and evaluate his goals, before now his goals were to find memories of his past but this goal was proven to be a deadly one since it cost all of his friends' lives
'What is the reason I'm still waking up every morning?'
Teras thought as he stared at the moon
Lately, the moon is the only thing bringing him peace during these dark times of his life...
…
Some days passed and as a task from Enyo Teras had to document every fight he had with Pecus, this task was set to help Tera learn from his previous battles
Only three days have passed and Teras didn't find much of a progress
"Why are you writing sword like that?" Enyo said as she pointed out the character for the sword
"It doesn't mean sword, this character is for writing sword user" Teras told her
"It's like a more complex writing method, huh? The kings and the well-educated write like that, you must have been very educated in your previous life"
"You sure look lively... If you continue like that my goal will be way too easy..." Pecus said as he was sitting on a tree across from Teras and Enyo
"My student won't lose to you, he just needs to get good with the basics..." Enyo said in a mad tone
"I'm not fighting as good as I used to for some reason... I feel like I can't put out the same energy I used to put in weeks ago" Teras talked to Pecus normally even though he was his opponent
"Maybe you overestimated yourself kid, you might have fought many fights in the past but I bet no battle was similar to ours... I'm simply a way bigger threat than what you had to face"
Teras started manically laughing at what Pecus said, both Pecus and Enyo were confused about his reaction
"I was always the weak one in my fights, this time is no different than any other time, I just need my time and you are done for" Teras said as he stared at Pecus in his eyes, Teras was smiling the whole time
"You stand for nothing kid, you just fight to fight and that won't take you anywhere, fighting isn't a brainless brawl between two individuals, it's an art and if you don't respect the art or the artist you will simply be overwhelmed by the better and more passionate artist" Pecus said as he left Teras and Enyo behind
"Stand for something..." Teras mumbled as he looked at his scars from all the fights he had fought so far hands...