The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance

This did not happen when he saw his parent's face, or when he arrived back at his room. His mind automatically normalized everything, either than her.

'Was she so into my mind that, I was actually looking forward to seeing her the most?' Damien thought to himself in slight shock. He still kept looking at her for a few more seconds.

Yet even then, the Juliette now, and the Juliette of the future, they were not aligned. The current her, was completely different from the future her. In multiple degrees than one.

But it mattered not. She was his Juliette. And he was her Damien. The two childhood sweethearts. Not the two killers of the future.

"It's alright. It's alright. Let's go in, wear something proper and I'll explain everything to you." Damien, with Juliette in his arms, walked into her house and closed the door behind him.

It took time for Juliette to calm down, but she ultimately did. And afterwards, she went to her room to change. Afterall, she only wore a loose night gown right now.

Damien sighed, as from now on, things would be hectic for both of them. During the trial, there will either go against a single opponent at a time, or multiple weaker opponents.

The experience would be to the point where it's difficult, yet not impossible. But Damien was quite strong. In fact, he had the titles of both being the strongest and fastest human of this generation.

A peak third generational human.

So he was not worried. He knew he could easily go through this no problem, even when involving the now-still-fragile young woman, Juliette Silver.

And speaking about her, Juliette was...

The only person who actually understood him better than anyone. She knew his thoughts even before he said them.

She knew what he liked, and what he disliked. His deepest secrets and his weaknesses. Yet, out of everyone out there, she was also the one... to abondan him.

Or he abandoned her. He did not know. But he would find out soon enough. Even if he does not, he will make sure that in this lifetime... she belongs to him.

Or he, to her. It did not matter, as long as they were together in this lifetime.

"..."

Damien thought silently, watching Juliette do her own things. Of course she was changing, and he did not shy away from looking.

Nor did she feel repulsed either.

Little did she know, that the Damien standing before her, was a completely different man to the one she grew up with and came to cherish.

He was, partially different. But different nonetheless.

And niether was she aware that what was to come... would be the biggest step she would have to take in this lifetime.

*** Juliette Silver ***

Juliette Silver.

That was a name given to me by my parents fifteen years ago, during my birth day. One that I came to like as I grew up into a fine, young woman.

It meant many things. Juliette meaning "Youthful", for one. And Silver... meaning more than a lot. But to me, this name defines me as simply...

Youthful and Vibrant~

That's why I love it so much, and I love it more when my loved ones call me by it everyday. Especially when my parents used to says it.

Unfortunately, times of peace and joy never last. For those loved ones, left me at quite the young age of three years old.

I lost both my parents to the constant battles with the monsters and wild beasts we still have even as of late. The rivalry between both races.

Or more likely, to the ambush they did on us about twelve years ago. The monsters, I meant.

My father was one of the toughest men of the second generation, being the only man who, though not as physically strong, but physically durable enough to take a beating from the strongest man of that time.

And not just one or two hits. My father could literally stand his ground even for hours on end. Gaining himself the respect of humanity, and humanity's greatest.

As for my mother. She was but an ordinary woman. Her only striking feature would be her good hands, and extreme beauty.

Mother was good with the chores, cooking, washing, cleaning, making, fixing. Basically anything that required simple thought process and one's hands.

Though not a special trait, it was still worth noting. Especially so, with her stamina. Mother could work from dawn till dusk, without breaking a sweat. Then work me and my father as well.

But it was unfortunate both had to lose their lives at quite an early age. It still hurts at times, thinking about them.

Father died protecting many young warriors, who are now growing up to become fine young men and pillars of humanity. One of them being the infamous Damien Gray.

They were out training at an early age of seven to nine, but big brother Damien was around four to five years old at that. Approximately four.

Yes, strange. But he was apparently strong even as a child. He had a tough body and a clever mind, so he was, for some reason, also being trained.

Everything was flowing perfectly fine for a while. But that did not last long.

The Flarizards, a specie of blazing lizards that can spit out literal fire, fireballs out of their mouth, made an ambush on them.

As it seemed, they planned to ambush from behind, grab the young ones, and escape. It would have been possible considering that the training ground was at the far edge of the city.

And the walls were not large enough to stop those slithering snake-like bastards from climbing up. Our defenses were not impenetrable.

Thus, they carefully sneaked up from behind everyone. I honestly blame the guards for being lackluster and careless, but truthfully, nobody expected an ambush so deep within the settlement.

Hence they were caught off guard. Including father. From what I heard, fireballs were spit everywhere, humans burned, and flarizards were skewered.

It was a mess.

And when Father reacted, it was too late.

He had no choice but to take the vanguard and hold back the flarizards, while Mother, who just so happened to want to watch father do his job, helped the children evacuate.

Pity... Truly, a pity indeed.

Father did, manage to stop the flarizards for a while. But at the end of the day, a human, was but a human.

No matter how durable father was, he was, ultimately still a human, and not some supernatural being made up of steel. He was still made up of flesh and blood.

He ended up losing his life, and the flarizards pushed on at full speed. Mind you, the guards were still not here yet. It was strange.

I, for one, find it strange.

But maybe it's my rage and unwillingness to accept everything. Or so everyone tells me so. Everyone except my new family of course.

Either way, all the men, and the few women, including mother, who had come to watch their husbands and children, turned back to fight as well.

Stupid. I know. I sometimes resent mother for that silly decision. But at the end of the day, they did save lives, including big brother Damien... but at what cost?

Life.

Saving life, at the cost of life.

Really, stupid...

The guards ended up arriving on time, but as far as I heard, they said that the flarizards were torn apart from limb to limb, and their hearts dug out brutally.

They said the scene was a gore scene, as blood sprayed everywhere, with organs and intestines decorating the area even more.

Not even a grown up men, could bare watching for a bit longer than a couple of seconds, let alone the women and the elderly.

And till this day, nobody still knows what actually happened, and who was as monstrous as that. People claimed it was my father, and the claim did make sense.

Some claimed that it was humanity's strongest of that time, Uncle Gray. This claim likewise made even more sense. And some, just blame it on their luck.

But why, don't I believe any of that?

Yes, my father is strong, but not so strong?

And uncle Gray arrived late as well. He, himself also denies it. So it does not make sense. But what does not make more sense, is my belief.

I believe big brother Damien has something to do with this. I don't know how, or why, and also should not care. But I just do. And my belief is baseless, I know.

Let us forget that. What's important is that, since then, the Grays took me in and adopted me.

I was raised with their son, big brother Damien, who is a year older than me. I was under their care until I came of age, and they bought me a house just next door.

I was actually spoiled by them.