Tower of Heaven

"As you have chosen the concept of flexibility, I will focus our training there. Considering what you have said about your situation, there is no need to pay attention to the rest."

Veradon immediately put Atlas to work. First, he learned as much as Atlas was willing to share. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Unfortunately, Atlas couldn't share anything about the Heavenly Unification Law with Veradon despite the connection they'd formed. It was too risky.

The treasure he had in his position was mostly an unknown entity. It did what it wanted to when it wanted to. But, there was one thing that Atlas did know.

'Despite being able to sense my unique dantian, this man, with his connection to the Great Dao, could not sense my treasure.'

It had to be something with origins even more mysterious than Veradon's physique. For both his own safety and his master's, Atlas only spoke about what he needed to.

Therefore, all Veradon knew was that Atlas was practicing a technique that allowed him to cultivate the five elements as long as he focused on only a single concept of each. At this level, it was a bit easier to accept the scale of Atlas' potential.

After all, the Five Element Technique was something magical, but not something impossible.

Nevertheless, knowing that Atlas chose the concept of flexibility for water and the concept of everburn for fire, Veradon immediately created a training plan.

"Take this talisman and use it to return here every day when the sun rises. We will first focus on water and then move on to fire. I will teach you techniques to use both, their intricacies, and more. It is only a matter of how much you can absorb."

The teaching method was the same. Really, the Tatsuya Clan was filled with the same kind of people.

Training with Veradon started Atlas' day and training with Alaric ended it. For 6 hours, he learned how to manipulate water. He learned about the properties of flexibility and the best way to use it, and later on, he learned some specific techniques to utilize his power for both defense and attack.

The training with Alaric became fiercer as well.

Bang!

Atlas jumped back and landed in a crouched position with his chain sickles in hand. Alaric lowered his arm with a grin on his face.

"Good! This is a good state! You're finally at the starting line. Now that you're properly adjusted, we can move into the real training."

He said it casually, but he didn't mean it casually at all.

"These past two years, I've seen how stupid you are, so I created a technique specialized for stupid people like you. With this, even you can use those weapons to their best potential."

It was a sentence filled with insults, but it was filled with just as much care. Though he still acted like he didn't want anything to do with Atlas, he'd grown quite accustomed to his half-disciple.

Atlas soaked up everything he taught at a magnificent pace. Training someone who showed visible improvements every single day was fun even for the trainer.

Alaric had been carefully paying attention to Atlas' growth over these years. With what he learned, he put his trait to use and created an entirely unique technique for him alone.

Atlas couldn't help being touched, but he didn't say words of thanks. With Alaric's personality, he'd react negatively to such words.

'For now, I can only absorb his teachings. Still, I will have to repay these graces eventually.'

He couldn't let Alaric do this much for him without doing anything in return.

Six hours in the morning were spent learning how to manage energy while six hours in the night were spent learning how to wield the body and weapons. Atlas felt like he was a real young cultivator. He was absorbing so much new information, gaining so many new abilities that even he had to be surprised.

And it wasn't just a matter of strength.

"Seriously, it's too much!"

The one speaking was Artemia, who squeezed herself into the time Atlas had between his lessons with the two masters.

"You can't be that much older than me. Why do you talk like an old man?!"

It was an issue that Atlas wasn't planning to address.

"Say it right now. Say 'Don't.'"

Still, with her prodding, he had no choice.

"Doo..nt…"
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The sound was strange. It felt like a different language.

These things called "contractions" that had been invented since the induction of the Tower differed from the language he knew but had the same roots. Everyone used them. With his perception skills, Atlas was able to understand their meanings long ago.

He was using them too at a point, but that changed when the Heavenly Emperor's memories settled within him.

The sounds just felt strange coming out of his mouth. He couldn't express himself the same way that the young Atlas Vaun of the past would.

He couldn't say those words with confidence. They were sounds he knew, but using them in this context wasn't easy.

The language went through many changes during the rapid development of society caused by the Tower. Atlas was born in an era after all of those changes when the language was relatively complete. As such, the discrepancies between what they spoke now and what they spoke before his death were hard to bear.

Artemia was the one who decided to put a stop to that.

She commented on it before, but after living alongside Atlas for some time, she realized that it was a real problem. How was it that Atlas spoke like he was older than both of her parents?

It was truly unacceptable.

With her nagging, she forced Atlas to understand the new language and perfect it. No, she made him go beyond that so he could learn how to properly express himself like the young cultivator he was supposed to be.

It was definitely the strangest of his lessons, but he didn't mind it too much. In the end, this time could be counted as relaxation, so he accepted it happily.

Until five years passed in Vanatos, nothing major would change in Atlas' routine. He would train and spar with Artemia, learn from his two masters, and eventually get himself an alchemy furnace in the city.

There were only two real events in those five years that deserved focus.

The first was his progress in alchemy. It had to be elaborated on in detail as it was an extensive process even with the Formation Spark's help. And the second…

The second was a conversation that he was forced to have with a certain Spirit King.

It was a conversation that was meant to give him answers about the things he didn't know, but he was fated to be left with only more questions.

It was after one of those sessions with Artemia.

"Oh, by the way, Sylvanus has been nagging me for a while. It seems like he really wants to talk to you," she said.

She used her artifact and summoned him before Atlas could object.

"What the hell did you summon me for this– Oh! Boy, I've been looking for you!"

The Spirit King entered the world just as loudly as always.

With that, Atlas knew that he could no longer avoid it.

He had to confront the man who knew him in the past.

And he had to hear the things that he didn't want to hear.