Chapter 585: Possible Future


    ?


    Hearing the term ''lotus'' directly from the butterfly sent severe shocks through Adam''s very


    core.


    His most closely guarded secret that no one in the world knew, except Valerian, was now being spoken by a mysterious creature of the Spirit World that he''d only met a handful of times.


    The youth was thunderstruck, to say the least. For a long time, he didn''t know how to react and simply kept quiet as he stared at the butterfly with a look filled with disbelief.


    A few momentster he snapped out of his shock and involuntarily gulped in nervousness. "I- I don''t know what you''re talking about," he said.


    The butterfly continued to hover before the youth, pping its butterfly gracefully.


    The silence was deafening and Adam didn''t know what else to stay. His mind was somewhere else entirely and his heart was raging with tumultous waves.


    How did it know?! He thought to himself in extreme rm.


    No... there''s no way it should have known! Is it bluffing? No, that doesn''t make sense either. It specifically mentioned lotus...


    Damn it! What do I do? What do I do?


    Even though his physical body was not present at the moment, he could feel his throat be parched and his forehead covered in a sheen of cold sweat.


    Just as he was on the cusp of having a nervous breakdown, the white butterfly''s words echoed inside his mind once again.


    ''Like I said, young magus, you''re at a crossroads.''


    Following that, a portion of the River of Fate close to the bank on the other side thrummed ever so slightly. Countless silver threads rose from the currents and flew toward Adam and the butterfly.


    These currents then came together and coalesced into a small silver mirror that hovered mid- air. The butterfly pped its wings andnded on top of the mirror.


    With speaking another word, it pped its wing yet again, causing the surface of the mirror to ripple outward. Then, a scene yed in the mirror that caused Adam''s eyes to widen.


    In the scene, Adam, wearing his usual ck robes and the ck pointy hat, was standing amidst a sea of fresh corpses. He was kneeling on the ground and clutching at his face which was covered in his blood.


    The scene changed, showing a different angle. Adam lowered his hands which allowed his bloody face to be visible.


    His eyeballs had burst open, leaving behind nothing but dark hollow sockets!


    The scene then blurred and things started to pick up speed almost as if it was ying in fast- forward. The blurry scenes were not visible at all and Adam couldn''t make anything off of it no matter how much he tried.


    A few momentster, another scene appeared.


    In this scene, Adam''s physical body was lying on the ground, his head sted open, leaving behind nothing but blood, flesh, and brain matter.


    A transparent apparition floated above Adam''s body. It was his spirit body.


    The following moment, his spirit body lit up with a blinding light and in a brilliant ze of glory, destroyed everything in his surroundings.


    Then, his spirit body dissipated into motes of light before forever being extinguished. From the depths of his explosion, a bright object appeared.


    It was blurred in the scene, but Adam could tell exactly what it was.


    The white lotus!


    Sheer horror coursed through Adam''s being as he saw the silver mirror break down into threads before they flew back to the River, merging with the currents.


    The butterfly pped its wings, continuing to hover before the raven-hared youth. It didn''t speak a word, allowing him to gather his thoughts.


    It pped its wings a little whileter, causing Adam''s body to be enveloped in a starry cloud of dust again. He felt his mind calm down and his thought process turn smoother.


    He nced at the butterfly and spoke with a tone that didn''t hide his fear, "Was that... my future?"


    ''The River of Fate offers possibilities, shows glimpses of what it could be, but leaves the ultimate oue in the hands of those who dare to shape their own destinies,'' said the butterfly.


    Hope surfaced in Adam''s eyes as he hurriedly asked, his toneced with desperation, "So that means that the future isn''t set in stone!"


    ''A single brave choice, a moment of kindness, or even a fleeting mistake can have profound consequences, turning a life in an entirely new direction," the butterfly answered.


    ''The power to change the future lies in the present,'' it added after a brief pause.


    ''So, young magus, let me ask you this again - how long are you going to abuse its power?''


    A million thoughts spiraled inside Adam''s mind, but in the end, he asked the question that he wanted answered most.


    "Who are you?"


    ''Your guide.''


    The butterfly pped its wings and the scene around them twisted into a spiral. The next moment, the youth was teleported out of the elusive magical domain known as the River of Fate.


    Amidst his shock and panic, Adam found himself falling through the Spirit World yet again. However, his mind was in a state ofplete turmoil.


    My guide?


    Just who is that butterfly?


    How did it know that I possessed the white lotus?


    To be able to control a portion of the River of Fate, transforming it into a mirror, and showing me my


    future...


    Just how powerful is that butterfly?


    He didn''t how long he was falling through the dimension. It felt like forever, yet it also felt like an instant. Throughout the entire time, his mind was upied by the shocking events that had just taken ce.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of something akin to a fabric tearing. He lowered his head and saw the tear in the void, and through that tear, heid eyes on his physical body which was still standing inside his dorm room in Saratoga.


    The next thing he knew, he dove into his physical body and then immediately opened his eyes.


    He raised his head and looked up to see the tear in the void mending itself back. His vision was blurry but he focused it nheless. Then, he nced at the hourss on the table through


    squinted eyes.


    "Barely a minute has passed," he muttered to himself.


    "Ughh!!" He suddenly fell to his knees and sped his face. More precisely, he was covering his eyes which were now beginning to profusely bleed.


    He had overused the lotus far too much earlier today. First, he kept it activated for hours when he was following Alvertos into the sewers. Then, he used it to perform the divination ritual, further increasing the strain in his eyes.


    Through the pangs of pain that radiated throughout his head, Adam recalled the butterfly''s


    question once again.


    ''How long are you nning to abuse its power?''


    He then recalled the future that the mysterious creature had shown him. He knew that if he continued to abuse the white lotus as the magical focus and cast spells, he''d be walking


    toward his doom.


    The youth wiped the blood from his eyes as he gasped for air, thinking to himself, If I continue down my current path, I''ll die before I even step foot inside the Greater Universe, was it?


    Adam took a deep breath and finally came to a decision.


    "I see what I have to do now..."


    As blood continued to streak from his eyes and down his face, his lips curled up into a bitter


    smile.


    "I must change my future."