"Tch."
Apollo's abrupt and irritating visit to his house still annoyed Atlas. Even though it was an hour ago and he was now wearing a shirt, AND he had apologized multiple times, Atlas still couldn't get over it.
The god sensed his thoughts and resorted to begging.
"Look man, I'm sorry. Plus, I wouldn't. Your father would kill me from the grave!"
Despite all that, Atlas still could not bring himself to accept the apology after reading all the fucked up shit that the gods were said to have done.
Every time he looked at Apollo, a strange expression would appear on his face.
'They really did stuff like that, huh?'
The god had no idea and was just taking him to the nearby forest next to the city. This forest was, of course, planted by… Zeus!
When Zeus first came around and planted oak trees, Atlas watched them and had trouble understanding them and thought it was rather out of character for someone as rich as him. However, after researching the greek gods and coming across some pieces of information, Atlas began to notice things that he had taken for granted. (A/N: Oak trees are one of Zeus' symbols)
The demigod had bought all the land spanning for a while and planted a few oak trees that became cornerstones for other plant growth in the area. The forest eventually developed into such a vast expense of land that it encroached on surrounding cities and towns.
They described his actions as the most substantial contribution a single individual had to the restoration of the earth. And the entire world made that declaration for a few years.
Atlas stared at the forest filled with lush green trees, though, and saw nothing but a few lies. Zeus didn't do it to help the climate or anything like that. He only did it because the presence of Oak Trees would strengthen him a lot!
"Come on, let's go." Apollo ushered him towards the fenced gate, which was guarded by men holding guns. A lot of guns.
"Halt! This is private property. State your business or get the hell out of my face!" A large man suddenly pointed his gun at the both of them, yelling and transferring his mouth germs.
Atlas scrunched his face a little, trying not to move his hand, yet making sure the spit didn't get anywhere his orifices.
Apollo merely looked at the man and gave a somewhat charming smile, whipping out his ID before anyone of them could react.
In an instant, all the guards bowed down slightly.
"My lord!"
Even the one that was spitting everywhere earlier!
Atlas gawked, mouth half opened and had only one thought on his mind.
'That was so cool. That guy must feel so slapped on the face right now. I should do it sometime!'
He planned his face slap scene with enthusiasm as he followed after Apollo. The god had a smug look on his face.
After walking for a while, it looked like they had finally reached far enough to avoid the guards standing in front of the large metal fences.
"Right now, you're pretty weak." Apolo went straight out the gate, insulting him as he raised his pale, thin fingers.
"The only advantage you have is your physical strength, which is even supernatural by mythical standards. You practically lack practical elemental abilities or resistance to them. At most, you're a monkey who knows how to build a fire and wield a stick."
Atlas really wanted to fight back. However, the insults were true in a more literal sense than he'd have liked to admit.
"Rin told me yesterday that you chose Empty Void Breathing over Demon Moon Dance. From my perspective, you chose the worst technique not only because of its difficulty but also because it isn't complete!"
"That part doesn't matter right now. What really matters is that you learn and understand how Empty Void Breathing works."
Atlas nodded, as he had a few conjectures, but still allowed Apollo to talk about it.
"Empty Void means nothing, but thinking about it, it can also mean everything. So Empty Void is nothing and everything. Aside from Divine Energy, it is the one type of Energy that can be transformed into nearly every element to exist,"
Atlas was relatively surprised and didn't bother hiding it on his face.
"However, since it is nothing and everything, every person that has practised this technique all has different interpretations. Hence, you can't rely on your predecessors' teachings as most other techniques are used to."
Atlas nodded and could only hope Apollo would get to the point, as the suspense was killing him.
"Well, this comes to that. You're going to build up elemental resistance and tact by dodging attacks from me all day."
Atlas looked around and felt a sudden chill run down his back, although there was no wind blowing anywhere.
The god put his fingers to his lips and began murmuring softly. The wind rose the leaves in response, tickling the faces of men. It was a brief second, but when it was over, Atlas immediately noticed the large golden bow in Apollo's hand and the quiver of multicoloured arrows.
One strange thing, though, was that the bow didn't have a string. But it didn't seem like that to Apollo, though.
The god picked out an arrow from his quiver and drew the invisible string, laughing.
"I will count from one to ten. Better run while you can!"
****
Author's Note: Follow my Instagram @purplemidnightnovels
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[Real Note: referring to the oak tree stuff, Zeus' symbols are the thunderbolt (obviously), eagle, bull and oak. I know I should not be admitting this, but I barely did any research before starting this book. I can confidently say that my time on Wikipedia has increased x10!]