Chapter 20: The Butterfly's Dream
The battle against the Ice Spirits ended with surprisingly few injuries.
Several trainees nursed frostbitten fingers.
A handful of swords had become brittle enough to shatter after repeated contact with elemental ice.
One unlucky spear cracked cleanly in half.
That was all.
No deaths.
No crippling wounds.
The Frost Wolf Cavalry had been watching every exchange.
Whenever a trainee found themselves in genuine danger, an experienced rider intervened with terrifying speed.
A flash of steel.
A burst of Ki.
An Ice Spirit vanished before the young warrior even realized how close death had been.
Captain Han had made one thing perfectly clear before they departed the city.
"This is training."
"I intend for every one of you to return alive."
Watching the cavalry at work...
Yun Che couldn't help feeling impressed.
Their movements were efficient.
Their communication nearly silent.
No one shouted unnecessary orders.
No one panicked.
Every rider understood exactly where they belonged.
This...
Was what years of experience looked like.
He silently promised himself to learn everything he could during this hunt.
The company pressed deeper into the mountains.
Gradually...
The forest began to change.
Ancient pine trees lay snapped in half.
Some had frozen solid before exploding into countless icy splinters.
Elsewhere...
The earth itself had been torn apart.
Deep trenches carved through the landscape stretched for dozens of meters.
Massive claw marks scarred exposed stone.
Entire hillsides looked as though something enormous had crashed through them.
Several trainees exchanged uneasy glances.
Captain Han slowed his Frost Wolf.
"Our destination."
He pointed toward the destruction.
"The Frost Komodo Dragon."
Silence settled over the group.
"It has gone berserk."
"It no longer defends territory."
"It hunts."
"Wolves."
"Bears."
"Large cats."
"Anything strong."
"It kills."
"It leaves the bodies behind."
Yun Che frowned.
"Why?"
Captain Han answered honestly.
"We don't know."
"But..."
"It has already damaged the balance of these mountains."
"The natural predators are disappearing."
"And weaker creatures multiply."
His gaze shifted toward Yun Che.
Then Tianyu.
"That beast..."
"...is your target."
Yun Che immediately pictured the illustration from the city's bestiary.
The Frost Komodo Dragon.
Not a true dragon.
A draconic beast.
Nearly ten meters from its blunt snout to the tip of its tail.
Four powerful legs.
A body covered in pale blue scales.
Its mouth contained enough venom to kill ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Most troubling...
It carried a trace of ancient dragon blood.
That alone granted it astonishing vitality.
Strong resistance to Ki attacks.
Thick scales.
Relentless endurance.
The bestiary had placed a warning beneath the illustration.
"Never mistake diluted dragon blood for weakness."
Captain Han continued.
"If it survives long enough..."
"It may evolve."
"Beyond the Frost Komodo..."
"Stand the Salamanders."
"And beyond them..."
"The Wyverns."
Yun Che quietly swallowed.
Even diluted dragon blood could eventually become something truly terrifying.
They continued onward.
Before long...
Tiny flashes of blue drifted lazily through the forest.
At first...
They looked beautiful.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Then...
Thousands.
Blue wings reflected sunlight like floating sapphires.
The butterflies were each roughly the size of an adult's hand.
Elegant.
Silent.
Almost peaceful.
Captain Han immediately raised his fist.
"No unnecessary movement."
"The Blue Monarch Butterflies."
One trainee frowned.
"They're only butterflies."
Captain Han gave him a single look.
"They're more dangerous than the Ice Spirits."
The young warrior wisely stopped talking.
"They freeze whatever they touch."
Captain Han explained quietly.
"They feed upon warmth."
"They also possess illusion abilities."
"They rarely kill directly."
"They simply..."
"...convince prey that everything is already over."
Yun Che immediately became alert.
Illusions.
Mental attacks.
Something he had never experienced before.
The butterflies drifted through the air with graceful, almost lazy movements.
Trying to strike one proved unexpectedly difficult.
They danced around swords.
Floated away from spears.
Even arrows missed more often than they should.
Several Frost Eagles circled high overhead.
There were fewer than Captain Han expected.
"Their numbers continue declining..."
he murmured.
"No wonder the butterflies have spread this far."
Again...
The broken ecosystem revealed itself.
Yun Che tracked several butterflies carefully.
Don't chase.
Predict.
He threw a dagger.
One butterfly fell.
Two more drifted sideways.
His wires flashed upward.
Another pair split apart.
Then...
Something changed.
The forest suddenly became quieter.
The butterflies vanished.
Yun Che blinked.
"...Already?"
He looked around.
The snow had stopped falling.
The trees appeared untouched.
Tianyu stood nearby cleaning blood from his claws.
"You finally finished."
Yun Che smiled.
"That wasn't so difficult."
"No."
Tianyu nodded.
"We handled the dragon better than I expected."
Yun Che paused.
"...Dragon?"
"Congratulations."
Tianyu grinned.
"That armor you're planning should look good."
Yun Che looked down.
His own black armor had changed.
Blue dragon scales now covered every plate.
Already?
They had returned to Mistforge.
People lined the streets cheering.
Yun Jian laughed proudly.
Lian Mei hugged him.
Lin Xia admired the new armor with shining eyes.
"Beautiful."
Yun Che smiled...
Then frowned.
Something felt...
Wrong.
Where...
...did all this happen?
He remembered fighting.
He remembered winning.
But...
Where were the conversations?
Where was Captain Han?
How had the dragon died?
His memories skipped from one event to another as though entire pages had been torn from a book.
His smile slowly disappeared.
"...No."
"This isn't right."
The world shimmered.
Like disturbed water.
Yun Che's heart began pounding.
"Every creation becomes my answer."
The words of his incantation echoed faintly.
"I do not seek borrowed legends."
The cheering citizens froze.
Their smiles stopped moving.
"My soul is the forge."
Cracks spread across the illusion.
Everything shattered.
Cold.
Intense cold.
Yun Che's eyes snapped open.
He couldn't move.
Blue Monarch Butterflies covered his shoulders.
His arms.
His helmet.
Several rested calmly upon his chest.
Frost spread rapidly wherever their tiny legs touched.
His armor had nearly frozen solid.
"Damn it!"
Ki exploded through his body.
Body Enhancement.
Heat surged from his meridians.
The forming ice cracked apart.
The butterflies fluttered upward.
Too late.
Swift Strike!
His sword flashed repeatedly.
Blue wings scattered across the snow.
More butterflies fled.
Several simply froze into glittering crystals after being struck.
Yun Che exhaled heavily.
His heart still raced.
Nearby...
A familiar voice sighed.
"I honestly thought you'd avoid it."
Yun Che turned.
Shen Tianyu sat comfortably atop his Frost Wolf.
One leg hung lazily over the saddle.
He looked utterly bored.
Not a trace of confusion remained on his face.
"You... weren't affected?"
"A little."
Tianyu shrugged.
"I realized something was wrong almost immediately."
"What gave it away?"
"You."
"...Me?"
"You smiled."
Yun Che blinked.
"You almost never smile that much."
Several nearby guards laughed.
Tianyu continued mercilessly.
"And then I saw you talking to absolutely nobody."
"You looked ridiculous."
Yun Che rubbed his frozen shoulder.
"I can't even argue."
"No."
"You can't."
Tianyu smirked.
"I expected better."
"I thought you were more observant."
Yun Che opened his mouth.
Then quietly closed it again.
Unfortunately...
His rival was right.
----------------------------------------------
Yun Che had escaped.
The other trainees...
Had not.
Captain Han's expression remained calm as he surveyed the battlefield.
One young spearman stood smiling foolishly at an empty patch of snow.
Another laughed while swinging his sword at invisible enemies.
A girl carrying twin daggers slowly walked toward the edge of a frozen ravine, believing she was returning to camp.
One boy had simply sat down, happily talking to someone who wasn't there.
Captain Han sighed.
"Exactly as expected."
The veterans weren't surprised.
Blue Monarch Butterflies rarely defeated people through strength.
They defeated them through deception.
Several cavalry riders moved.
Their Frost Wolves burst across the snow with astonishing speed.
One rider grabbed the girl moments before she stepped over the cliff.
Another struck the laughing boy lightly on the forehead, forcing him awake.
A third simply carried an unconscious trainee away from a growing cluster of butterflies.
Their movements were swift.
Efficient.
Gentle.
Years of experience showed in every action.
Yet...
None of them actually attacked the butterflies.
Yun Che noticed immediately.
"...Captain?"
Captain Han nodded once.
"They haven't learned."
"If I kill every butterfly..."
"They'll learn nothing."
He slowly raised one hand.
"Watch carefully."
Ki surged outward.
Unlike Body Enhancement...
This Ki didn't reinforce his own body.
It spread into the surrounding air.
The snow itself began circling.
Wind howled between the trees.
Then...
The currents folded inward.
Wind Prison.
A gigantic sphere of spinning wind surrounded nearly the entire butterfly swarm.
Blue wings beat frantically.
None escaped.
Yun Che stared upward.
The barrier stretched almost thirty meters across.
Normally...
Second-grade techniques became dramatically more expensive when enlarged beyond their intended size.
Captain Han didn't appear concerned in the slightest.
The huge warrior simply rested one hand upon his naginata.
Maintaining the prison effortlessly.
One cavalry rider quietly whispered to a trainee,
"The Captain usually casts one only a few meters wide."
"Today..."
"He's spending Ki for your education."
Yun Che silently estimated the amount of energy required.
Then immediately gave up.
The difference between them was simply too great.
A Ninth Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator...
Was terrifying.
Captain Han lowered his hand.
"The butterflies stay."
"You fight."
"If you become trapped again..."
"My men will save your lives."
"But they will not kill your enemies."
Several trainees nodded nervously.
This time...
They approached much more carefully.
Yun Che glanced sideways.
Shen Tianyu was already smiling.
"I have an idea."
"I don't like that smile."
"Competition."
"I knew it."
"Whoever kills more."
Yun Che couldn't help smiling himself.
"You're on."
The instant Captain Han lowered his hand...
Both vanished.
Tianyu became a white blur.
His Frost Wolf bounded across the snow with incredible speed.
The beast's fur gleamed beneath the winter sunlight.
Its pale blue eyes burned with intelligence.
Its name...
Bingya.
"I'll take the left!"
Tianyu shouted.
"As if I'd let you."
Bingya leaped nearly four meters into the air.
Tianyu pushed from the wolf's back.
Instead of falling...
He almost seemed to fly.
His clawed gauntlets flashed.
Blue butterfly wings scattered everywhere.
One.
Three.
Six.
Ten.
He landed lightly back upon Bingya's back before immediately charging again.
Wolf and rider moved together so naturally they appeared to share one mind.
No commands.
No hesitation.
Only instinct.
The cavalry riders watched with approving smiles.
"The Young Master's synchronization has improved again."
Yun Che didn't chase.
He watched.
Measured.
Calculated.
Then...
His fingers flicked outward.
Dozens of metal wires exploded from beneath his sleeves.
They spread through the air like an enormous silver web.
Unlike swords...
Unlike claws...
The butterflies couldn't predict the wires.
Several flew directly into them.
The sharpened strands sliced through delicate wings effortlessly.
Others attempted to dodge.
The wires suddenly changed direction.
Guided by Ki.
A butterfly escaped left.
A wire followed.
Another climbed upward.
Three more strands intercepted it.
Blue powder drifted gently through the air.
Yun Che kept moving.
Never remaining beneath one swarm for long.
Whenever the butterflies gathered densely...
His wires became devastating.
They swept through entire clusters at once.
One cavalry rider laughed aloud.
"Perfect weapon against flying targets!"
Another nodded.
"The young blacksmith found his battlefield."
Not every attack succeeded.
One butterfly landed quietly upon Yun Che's shoulder.
He immediately felt warmth leaving his body.
Frost spread across the armor.
Another landed upon his gauntlet.
A third aimed directly for the gap beneath his helmet.
Too close.
Yun Che rolled sideways.
The butterflies followed.
Elegant.
Silent.
Almost beautiful.
Until one remembered they were trying to freeze him alive.
He released another bundle of wires.
The strands curved through the air.
Several butterflies escaped.
Most did not.
Blue crystals fell like frozen rain.
Across the battlefield...
Tianyu laughed.
"You're cheating!"
"I'm adapting!"
"You've always got an excuse!"
"So do you!"
Bingya suddenly spun beneath a cloud of butterflies.
The Frost Wolf's tail struck several from the air.
Tianyu finished the rest before they reached the ground.
"Count those!"
"I already did!"
Yun Che replied while severing another cluster with three intersecting wires.
The nearby cavalry couldn't help laughing.
Even Captain Han's stern expression softened ever so slightly.
Children...
Competing.
While surrounded by creatures capable of freezing them solid.
Perhaps...
That confidence wasn't entirely a bad thing.
Half an hour later...
The Wind Prison finally dissolved.
Only silence remained.
Blue powder covered the snow like glittering frost.
Butterfly wings shimmered beneath the afternoon sun.
Captain Han walked slowly through the battlefield.
He inspected both boys.
Neither had serious injuries.
Good.
Then he looked toward the gathered materials.
The Blue Monarch Butterflies would not be wasted.
Every body would be collected.
Every wing carefully preserved.
The fine blue powder produced from them possessed remarkable medicinal value.
It soothed severe burns.
Healed damage caused by fire.
Alchemists paid generously for it.
Ice cultivators refined it directly during meditation.
Rune Masters mixed it into inks.
Blacksmiths occasionally used it while forging ice-attributed weapons.
Nothing in these mountains lacked value.
Provided one survived long enough to harvest it.
Captain Han finally looked toward Tianyu.
Then toward Yun Che.
"Report."
Tianyu folded his arms confidently.
"One hundred and seventeen."
Captain Han nodded before turning.
"Yun Che?"
Yun Che scratched the back of his helmet.
"...One hundred and thirty-four."
For several seconds...
The only sound came from the mountain wind.
Then Tianyu groaned dramatically.
"I hate your wires."
Yun Che laughed.
"I believe that's my first victory today."
"It doesn't count."
"It absolutely counts."
"It was an unfair battlefield."
"The mountain doesn't care about fairness."
Captain Han allowed himself the faintest smile.
"Correct."
He looked toward the forest ahead.
"A warrior uses the right tool for the right enemy."
"Today..."
He nodded toward Yun Che.
"...the better tool won."
Far ahead...
Beyond the next ridge...
Ancient trees lay broken beneath something unimaginably large.
The Frost Komodo Dragon's territory had finally begun.