Atlas followed behind Windy outside the hut to see that he was surrounded by similar looking huts around them. Some individuals were out and about cultivating different vegetables and fruits while others were tending to farm work.
The one interesting thing about these individuals is that they each had the characteristics of green hair or a blend of green and dark orange.
"Hey," Atlas said doing light stretches as he saw Grayzer and Windy doing them while he looked around the individuals in the village.
"Do people here tend to take on the hair color of their elements?" Atlas wondered
"Not usually," Windy responded "If they do it's probably they come from a family or clan. But hair color doesn't tend to determine affinity."
"Hmmm," Atlas hummed as they continued to stretch their whole bodies making sure to target arms, torso, back, legs, and joints.
"Alright let's get going." Grayzer said getting down on one knee with his back towards Atlas.
"What are you doing?" Atlas asked looking at Grayzer with confusion.
"Hop on." Grayzer said turning to look at Atlas.
"Why? Can't we just take a carriage or whatever sort of transportation you use?" Atlas asked raising an eyebrow.
"No, it'll be faster to fly." Windy said as she started levitating off her feet into the air. If Atlas's eyes weren't closed they would be bulging out in shock right about now.
"What the hell?!" Atlas screamed out pointing in Windy's direction surprised. "You guys can fly?"
"Yes! Now come on, Atlas. We don't have all day. Hop on." Grayzer rushed as he pointed towards his back with his right thumb.
Atlas gulped and got on Grayzer's back who then stood up and started levitating off the floor. Atlas's arms around Grayzer's neck got tighter the further away they got from the ground.
"Gagh! Relax, Atlas. You're not gonna fall." Grayzer said adjusting his neck to try and loosen Atlas's hold on it. "But we sure will if you strangle me."
Windy let out a giggle from the overreacting Atlas, but Atlas paid it no mind as he looked at the view in front of him. They weren't high up to touch the clouds, but high enough to soar above the buildings. His nervousness disappeared and his grip on Grayzer's neck loosened.
"Ha...haha...Hahahaa." Atlas laughed out in amazement. He couldn't help but to open his eyes and take in the buildings.
"This is incredible! We're actually flying! Hahaaa." Atlas happily yelled out as he stretched his arms out to feel the wind resistance. Windy and Grayzer shook their heads with smiles on their faces. They knew what Atlas was feeling as they felt it themselves their first time.
Usually Atlas, would have been scared due to his fear of heights. But for some reason that fear didn't last for long and got replaced with excitement.
"Where are we headed?" Atlas asked closing his eyes again and turning behind him to look at Windy.
"To the adventure guild to meet the young masters." Windy responded to Atlas's question. "It'll take about 12 more minutes though."
Atlas's nodded his head and turned back forwards to enjoy the wind blowing through his hair.
'I'll take this time to review the system. Show status!'
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS] [CURRENCY]
—---------------------------------------------------------
NAME: Atlas Blaze
AGE: 13
RACE: ???
BLOODLINE 1: 🔒
BLOODLINE 2: 🔒
STAGE: Mortal
REALM NAME: Awakened (Condensed x3)
REALM RANK: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜4/9
PROGRESS: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️◾⬜⬜⬜⬜55.5%
'My progress increased by .5%. The meditation actually increased it!'
'Show Attributes'
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS❗️] [CURREN
—---------------------------------------------------------
♥️ HEALTH: 🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥◾(65/65)
🔷 MANA: 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦◾(85/85)
🔶 STAMINA: 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧 (177/177)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
{ MENTAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔷 ➖
🔷 INTELLIGENCE: 25 ➕
🔷WISDOM: 25 ➕
🔷WILL POWER: 15➕
🔷FOCUS: 20➕
PERCEPTION: 15➕
CHARISMA: 12 ➕
> M.A POINTS: 2
{ PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔶 ➖
♥️🔶VITALITY: 40 ➕
🔶FORTITUDE: 20➕
♥️🔶ENDURANCE: 25 ➕
🔶STRENGTH: 23 ➕
🔶DEXTERITY: 23 ➕
🔶AGILITY: 23 ➕
🔶SPEED: 23 ➕
> P.A POINTS: 3
'No changes, huh. Thought there would've been 0.5 increase to will power and focus but it probably doesn't work like that.'
[Mana breathing must be for at least 30 minutes to increase stats.] Cel reminded Atlas when he realized that he didn't receive the slightest increase in his stats.
'Bummer.'
Atlas thought and pouted for a short moment but his interest was picked at when he saw the exclamation next to skills.
Show Skills
—--------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS❗️] [CURREN
—---------------------------------------------------------
{MARTIAL 🥋SKILLS} ➖
> Void Vision Lv. 2 (Active/Passive) ➕
> Mind Compulsion Lv. 1 (Active/Passive) ➕
> Regeneration Lv. 1 (Active/Passive) ➕
{AFFINITIES❗️} ➖
> 🔥FIRE ( Current Mastery: Novice - 2%) ➖
->Rank: Awakened
> 🔥 AFFINITY SKILLS➖
N/A
'I got the fire affinity! Let's go!'
Atlas was excited to see that he gained the fire affinity. Unfortunately, he didn't have any affinity skills yet. But the thought of being able to use fire magic made a grin develop on his face.
As he scrolled through the interface tabs he had remembered that he had yet to check out his quest tab.
—---------------------------------------------------------
ENTORY ][QUESTS❗️] [MAP] [REALM WALK]
—---------------------------------------------------------
{Daily Quest}
Quest Title: The Path of Mana Breathing ➕
{Weekly Quest ❗️}
Quest Title: Forge of the Body ➖
⬜️ Day 1: Strength of the Titan ➕
🔒Day 2: Steps of the Swift ➕
🔒Day 3: Circulation of Heart
🔒Day 4: Mind of the Sage ➕
🔒Day 5: Warrior's Discipline ➕
🔒Day 6: Rejuvenation ➕
🔒Day 7: Mastery of the Blade ➕
{Monthly Quest}
{Yearly Quest}
{No limit Quest ❗️} ➖
Quest Title: Whispers of Shadow and Lights ➕
'Cool, so I also have quests that aren't random.'
Atlas thought to himself as he skimmed through the quest tab before releasing a sigh.
Finding out my origins seem stressful, but I don't really have that motivation to get strong.
"Alright, we're here." Grayzer spoke bringing Atlas out of his thoughts. They were heading closer to the ground in front of a building with a symbol of a shield and two swords crossing behind it.
Atlas was amazed to see the bustling city with all these people and stared in fascinating at everything that was going on.
When they reached the ground, Grayzer lowered himself to a knee to let Atlas down. Windy landed next to them and crossed her arms walking near the front door where she and Grayzer usually wait for the young masters.
Atlas followed where Windy stopped at with Grayzer walking beside him.
Looking around him, Atlas couldn't help but realized the stares being sent their way. Some people seemed to be whispering among each other or occasionally glancing their way.
"Why are they staring?" Atlas asked
Windy sighed before responding "Can't blame them. You do stand out with your..." Windy thought about a word to not sound offensive, while looking Atlas up and down "Appearance."
"Appearance?" Atlas questioned,
"Your skin and hair, man. It's far from the norm around here." Grayzer honestly said causing Atlas to hum in a tone between understanding and annoyance.
"I see," Atlas responded deciding to ignore the stares and whispers.
Not long after, three individuals with ombré hair color of orange and red with blonde hair roots landed in front of Windy, Atlas, and Grayzer.
The two siblings to the left and right of Atlas got on one knee while lowering their heads a bit.
"We greet the young masters" Windy and Grayzer spoke at the same time.
'So these must be the young masters'
Atlas thought to himself.
"Oi," the one with a faux hawk style to the left of the guy with short spiky hair spoke getting Atlas's attention. "Aren't you going to bow down."
"Why?" Atlas asked creasing his brows. "I don't serve any of you."
Whoosh!
The guy that spoke to Atlas seemed to have disappeared before appearing in front of Atlas and sending a punch to his stomach.
BAM!
Contact was made causing the air in his lungs to escape.
"Gargh!" Atlas eyes went wide and he fell to the ground on one knee to support himself.
"That's more like it." The guy who punched Atlas said turning around and walking back next to the one with short spiky hair.
"You people and your ego." Atlas spoke through gritted teeth.
"Atlas don't..." Grayzer went to reach out to Atlas to stop him but was surprised when he suddenly disappeared in front of him. It was a shock because that was nearly the speed of a peak awakened or early spirit realm cultivator.
Grayzer saw Atlas already in the air sending a mid air kick towards Kevin's head, but was stopped by Alex.
Atlas was surprised by the sudden appearance of Alex stopping his kick, but then a grin appeared on his face.
[strong individual detected. Would you like to release tier 2 and double stats?]
"Tier 2...release!"
BOOM!
A black and white energy released from Atlas body allowing him the strength to knock Alex's hand back shocking him.
"What?" Alex's eyes narrowed as he felt the power released doubled while Atlas disappeared and appeared in front of Kevin.
Atlas grabbed Kevin by the arm while turning his back to him. Atlas leaned forward dragging Kevin's weight to his back which acted as a pivot point and easily slammed him hard on the ground.
BAM!
Kevin bounced up coughing up blood before staying on the ground with wide eyes.
He couldn't move as Atlas's fist started heading toward his face. But Kevin quickly disappeared and Atlas punched the ground sending dirt and debris to fly out as fissures and cracks appeared on the ground below him.
Atlas slowly got up and looked in Alex's direction.
"What? Won't let him finish what he started?" Atlas said turning to Alex a devilish smile appearing on his face.
A chill went down everyone's back when they saw it.
'She was an awakened rank 4 not too long ago. How is she giving off the speed and strength as a spirit realm cultivator!'
Alex realized in shock, did she use some kind of forbidden technique to double her strength? This didn't make any sense otherwise.
"You paid him back. Leave it be." Sophie said as Alex placed Kevin down on his feet who wiped blood from the corner of his lips.
"And if I don't." Atlas said taking a step toward them. A deeper grin appearing on his face when he saw dark red particles with blue in its center surrounding Alex's figure. Some of those particles started to gather in his hand.
"Are you preparing an ability? Variant 'young master'." Atlas said quoting young master with air quotations.
'How did she?!' Alex thought as his eyes narrowed before responding "Just as a precaution."
"Uh huh," Atlas responded taking another step.
"Atlas, stop!" Windy said appearing next to him placing a hand on his left shoulder.
"No," He responded "he needs to know his place and fix his ego."
"Atlas," Grayzer began placing a hand on Atlas's other shoulder. "Relax!"
Atlas looked between Grayzer and Windy's hands that were trembling on his shoulders. "Tier 2 seal." He voiced and his power went back down to his original Awakened ranked 4.
Grayzer and Windy turned to the young masters. "Apologies, young masters."
"You seem quite friendly with this girl. What happened to questioning her?" Alex wondered with a raised eyebrow.
"Who the hell you calling a girl? I'm a boy!" Atlas replied causing Alex's eyebrow to twitch.
"Seriously?" Alex questioned looking at Grayzer who nodded.
"It is very much true young master Alex." Grayzer replied bowing his head. "His name is Atlas."
"Atlas, huh." Alex looked at Atlas up and down. "An interesting individual you are."
"Atlas these are our young masters Alex, Kevin, and Sophie." Windy said pointing at each of them to help Atlas match the name with the face. Atlas just nodded his head but didn't say anything else.
"Well I'm sure they already ask but I'll like to ask you personally." Alex began looking at Atlas "Do you have the beast core?"
"Heh," Atlas grinned "Maybe."
"Maybe?!" Windy yelled out and turned to Atlas surprised by the different response.
"You said you didn't! The truth seeker even shined blue." Grayzer said also surprised by the different response.
Atlas shrugged "well I didn't know I had it at the time. So I bypassed the truth seeker." Atlas honestly responded.
"Can you give it to us?" Alex requested holding his hand out.
"No." Alex rejected narrowing his eyes.
"Atlas!" Windy yelled out.
"What? They were rude first. I'm not giving it." Atlas crossed his arms.
"Originally we needed it to have Kevin here form a spirit contract for breaking through the spirit realm. But our father graced him with the core of a rank 3 Raging Flame Tiger."
"So?" Atlas responded nonchalantly.
"So, I was thinking we sell the core and split the earnings between us 4."
"4? Why not 6?" Atlas asked
"Hmm, it's always been that servants only gain 5 percent of our total gains of a bounty."
"Y'all are cheap, huh? Fine, how much we talking here?"
"Price varies depending on the beast multiplied by its rank. For a Wildfire Boar its starting price is 5 gold coins per elemental rank. The one you have is a rank 3 putting the price at 15 gold coins."
"Hmm, let me think about it for a sec."
Cel is that a lot? Atlas wondered.
[It's a good price. The conversion for this realm is
1,000 bronze coins for 1 silver
100 silver coins for 1 gold coin
10 gold coins for 1 platinum coin
From Gaia 1oz of gold, which is a weight of a gold coin, is currently worth about $2,300. Since the beast core is selling for 15 gold coins that's about $34,500.
If you split between the 4 of you that's 3 gold coins and 75 silver coins or $8,625]
Atlas eyes would've turned to dollar signs if his eyes weren't closed.
"Alright sounds good to me. Where are we selling it?"
Alex smiled and pointed right behind him at the Adventure guild building. "Right here of course."