The Sun rays of the morning sun shined through an open window of a hut. Atlas's eyes stirred under his eyelids once his dark vision started to become filled with 3D wireframes of his environment. His brows furrowed when he didn't realize the room he was in.
Where am I?
A sound to his right caused him to look in that direction and the wireframe of a girl around his age came into view seeming to be looking through some clothes. Atlas shot up surprised of his unclear situation and he "looked" in the direction of the girl.
"Oh you're awake?" The girl, Windy, said as she realized Atlas sitting up on her bed.
Atlas groaned and grabbed his head in pain when he remembered the last thing was fighting the wildfire boar.
I'm alive? I survived!
Atlas raised his head and looked at Windy. "Did you save me?" He asked as the girl shrugged with some clothes in hand.
'Weird...he sounds and looks like a girl.'
Windy thought to herself.
"You can say that. But that depends on our questions for you." Windy replied
Atlas tilted his head "Questions?"
"Yup, but first things first. I'm Windy. What's your name?" Windy asked Atlas
"Atlas."
"Atlas, huh. You got a last name?"
"Blaze." Atlas answered and before he noticed it he was grabbed by the neck and slammed to the wall behind him with a bang, barely able to breathe. He grabbed at Windy's arm reflexively trying to have her grip loosen but she was surprisingly strong.
"You're lying!" Windy's eyes narrowed, tightened her grip, and released a pressure that weighed on Atlas.
"I'm not *gasp* ly—ing." Atlas struggled to say with Windy's hand around his throat.
Around that time Rose and Grayzer ran into the room once they heard the sudden bang and raised their eyebrows when they saw Windy's hand around the boys throat.
"What's going on?" Grayzer asked looking between Windy and Atlas.
"This guy says he's a Blaze."
"A Blaze?" Grayzer scrunched his eyebrows together.
"Yup." Windy confirmed tightening her grip to the point where Atlas struggled to breathe.
What is with these people?
"Alright, alright. You can't get answers if you're going to strangle him to death Windy. Let him go for now." Rose said walking next to Windy and tapping her arm holding up Atlas.
"But—" Windy begins, locking eyes with her mother who sent a glare to her eyes causing a chill to go down her spine. "Fine!" She says and lets go of Atlas who falls back on the twin sized bed.
He coughs a couple times before taking a deep breath into his air deprived lungs.
"What the hell?!" Atlas yelled out hoarsely once he was able to speak.
"Sorry about that honey. It's just hard to believe you're a Blaze." Rose said to Atlas
"What does that even mean?! She is the one who asked for my name and I answer truthfully, but she tries to strangle me!" Atlas yelled looking at Rose with his eyes closed taking in her 3D wireframe physical body shape.
"She's very impulsive." Rose said releasing a small giggle. She hands Atlas a crystal like sphere the size of a tennis ball. "Here, hold on to this."
"What's that?" Atlas asked on guard at the crystal ball. He wasn't going to touch anything from these crazy people.
"It's like a lie detector. It shines blue if you tell the truth and red if you lie." Grayzer answered crossing his arms and looking at Atlas. "It'll help this...interrogation? Yeah let's say it's an interrogation."
"Great, now I'm being interrogated." Atlas says getting himself together and sitting with his legs crossed.
Cel is that really what he says it is?
Atlas asked looking at the crystal sphere in Rose's hands.
[scanning...]
[Object name: Truth Seeker
Description: A crystal ball designed to detect lies. Made from clear quartz, it uses advanced technology to analyze tiny changes in a person's voice and expressions to tell if they are lying.]
Atlas relaxes a bit when Cel confirmed what Grayzer said it was and grabbed it from Rose's hand looking between these three individuals.
He wished he was able to see these people with his real eyes and without void vision. There was just so much void vision can do. However, he was able to "see" some resemblance between their features, so he assumed they were related.
"Is your last name really Blaze." Rose asked and Atlas turned to Windy's figure with a serious face and a slight frown.
"Yes." He answered and the crystal ball in his hands made a pleasant ding sound and shined blue.
Windy's eyebrows twitched, while Grayzer was surprised when it turned blue.
"Hmph, I'm assuming from the sound it turned Blue." Atlas said from the expressions he caught on their faces
"It did," Rose confirmed "how old are you?" She asked Atlas.
"14." Atlas answered purposely lying. The crystal sphere made a buzz like sound that sounded similar to when a wrong answer is provided while shining red. When that happened, Atlas quickly changed it to the right answer and said 13 causing the sphere to turn blue this time.
"Just making sure it's not faulty, since someone didn't believe me the first time." Atlas said holding onto the sphere causing Windy to roll her eyes.
"Why were you in the blazing forest?" Windy asked.
What could he say to that? Oh some futuristic A.I in his mind randomly transported him to the forest from another world. He hardly believes he would be taken seriously. So he tried giving another truth to see if that will work.
"I don't know," Atlas began, shrugging his arms looking down at the crystal in his hands. "One moment I'm at home, and the next I'm in the middle of nowhere in some fire forest."
The crystal ball didn't immediately turn blue or send out the pleasant ding sound, which internally made his heart quicken but calmed when it eventually sounded but it was weak.
"Not a full truth, but not exactly a lie either." Grayzer said looking at the crystal ball. "However, we're looking for full truths, so tell us honestly."
"I was randomly transported here from a home far away." He tried replying which was a better truth. This time the crystal ball sounded and turned blue. Atlas released a sigh of relief as it seemed to accept it as a truth.
"Did you come across a wildfire boar in the forest?" Grayzer asked releasing a pressure that crushed down on Atlas making him want to bow down and he hated it.
"Whatever you're doing, stop it." Atlas said looking Grayzer through clenched teeth.
"Answer the quest—,"
"I said stop it!" Atlas yelled opening his eyes and locking eyes with Grayzer. His eyes went dull and the pressure suddenly disappeared like it wasn't even there. Surprisingly, Atlas didn't feel a headache come on his head when he used his mind compulsion.
Atlas quickly closed his eyes just as fast as he opened them and Grayzer looked confused once his dull eyes went back to normal.
"What just happened?" Grayzer shook his head and looked at Atlas "what did you do?" He asked narrowing his eyes.
"I just told you to stop. Whatever you and her are doing when weighing me down with whatever that is, is very annoying." Atlas answered, which caused the crystal to send a ding since it was still in his hands.
"Was that your ability?" Rose asked seriously causing a chill to go down Atlas's back. He didn't feel a pressure but he did feel threatened as if his life was in danger.
"Y-yes." He stuttered and the crystal released another ding. "I can't control it when I lock eyes with an individual, so I keep my eyes closed." He didn't know why but he felt like it was best to explain.
'Does he have some kind of neutralizing ability?'
Rose wondered as she looked at Atlas with a serious look before releasing a sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Children, try not to release your will intent on the boy. You may continue with your questions."
Both Grayzer and Windy released a 'tch' sound sucking their teeth.
Grayzer decided to repeat his earlier question on if he came across the Wildfire Boar.
"Yes." Atlas answered truthfully
"Was it you that killed it?" Windy asked this time taking a step closer to Atlas making him look in her direction.
"And what would you do if I said yes?" Atlas answered with a question of his own. Windy was going to make a remark, but the crystal shined blue since Atlas said yes in his question.
"How?" Windy looked shocked by the crystal turning blue.
"That's impossible." Grayzer voiced out loud "you are just a rank 4 Awakened. That Boar was 2 whole realms higher than you."
"Rank 4? I don't know what you're talking about." Atlas said looking in Grayzer's direction with an eyebrow raised. He remembered that his status had said rank 1 when he last checked.
"Last time I checked I was rank 1 awakened."
The crystal ball in his hands rang and shined blue once again. Everyone in the room looked in shock at the revelation. They would've thought he was lying if it wasn't for the Truth Seeker within his hands.
"Where's the beast's mana core then?" Windy asked grabbing onto the collar of the monk like outfit and practically lifted Atlas up from the bed getting him in a kneeling position. Atlas let go of the crystal ball and quickly reacted with the minimal knowledge of self defense he learned for situations kind of like this.
He brought his left arm under Windy's two arms and made contact with Windy's left wrist, quickly twisted his body to his left causing her grip to loosen and pushed her back. It all happened really quick that Windy had to stabilize herself so she didn't fall on the floor.
"You—,"
"What is with you and grabbing?!" Atlas yelled full of anger and getting off the bed to stand up on the floor. Grayzer attempted to close in on Atlas when he saw Atlas push her back. He locked eyes with Grayzer causing Grayzer's green eyes to turn dull.
-5 🔷
"Trip and fall." Atlas commanded causing Grayzer to do exactly what he asked and fell face first on the floor. "And you," Atlas begins locking eyes with Windy turning her eyes dull,
-5 🔷
"Stay where you are and ask your damn questions without putting your hands on me."
Atlas locks eyes with Rose but her eyes didn't go dull, which surprised Atlas but then something made him realize why.
-5 🔷
[Error: Realm is too high for mind compulsion to take effect]
He can command people not neutralize their abilities. What clan is this boy from? I never seen such an ability. Luckily, it seems he can't command those on a higher realm than him.
Rose takes on a nonchalant like serious look as she looks at Atlas her motherly vibe flipping like a flip of a light switch.
"Y-you need to keep your children in check ma'am." Atlas said frowning
"Rose."
"Huh?" Atlas tilted his head
"Rose not ma'am. And my son is Grayzer and I guess you already know Windy."
"I see," Atlas closes his eyes as he feels a minimal headache in his head. Like a pulsating but not a migraine. He sits down on Windy's bed and sighs.
Grayzer gets up from the floor with a blooded nose that he wiped away and shakes his head from side to side once to get rid of the confusion.
'Again? A quick blur as if I don't know what happened. I'm pretty sure I was heading towards him and the next I'm on the ground. What in the world did he do?!'
Grayzer thinks to himself as he looks at Atlas warily.
"I can't move...why can't I move?!" Windy yells as her body starts to tremble. Not from fear but she couldn't move a muscle no matter what she tried.
"Seems like our little guest here can command those he locks eyes with." Rose says to her kids while crossing her arms and staring at Atlas.
"What?!" Both Grayzer and Windy screamed out.
"You guys brought back someone dangerous. It seems like he can't affect those 2 realms or more higher than him. We got lucky."
A chill went down their spines from that terrifying ability. Who exactly was this person they brought back?
"Release me." Windy says in a whisper as she looks at Atlas sitting on her bed.
"No, not until this so called interrogation is over with." Atlas says looking in Windy's direction. "I'm pretty sure you still have questions and I'm tired of you putting your hands on me.