Atlas Bron Sheratos is a fighter, a teacher, a protector, and a soldier.
Since the beginning of his life, Atlas has been very different compared to those around him.
He was faster, stronger, taller, and smarter.
If an average person needed weeks to learn the basics of mana usage, Atlas, on the other hand, could finish that task in a matter of hours, minutes even of he forced himself.
He was a prodigy among prodigies. The Holy Grail of the continent. But with great power comes great responsibility.
Those on his side called him a powerful ally', while his enemies called him a monster on the battlefield.
Growing up in the army, Atlas had never known the warmth of having a family. He lived his life surrounded by cunning and cruel people who never batted an eye on whatever happened to him, also making him do the same to retaliate and protect himself when necessary.
After the war ended, Atlas received wealth, fame, and honor. Given by the current king of the Human Kingdom 'Veyserius', but it wasn't enough, or, to be more accurate, Atlas never wanted any of that.
He retired at the age of 23 after honing his skills to the point where a single flick of his finger was powerful enough to shatter a few large house to pieces.
The current king, Licht Von Dragonov Veyserius, respected his wishes. Thus, Atlas started to explore the continent alone, searching for a place he could truly call home.
Days, months, and years elapsed, but the longer he searched, the more his expectations disappointed him. Like the army, it seems like the rest of the world is also full of cunning, merciless people.
Atlas experienced many tragedies during his adventure. Town's burning because of a corrupt leader, Villages being destroyed by a siege of magical beasts, Cold-hearted thieves who leech off the poor, Cities being corrupted by an unknown plague, and several others that would have ended much crueler if he wasn't there.
One might call Atlas a hero in the dark, someone who helps those in need without expecting anything in return.
One thing led to another, and another title has been given to his name. At the age of twenty-six, Atlas became a part of the Five Heroes in name only.
He didn't intend on saving the people he crossed paths with; he saved them because the problem that was occurring might become bigger if unsupervised.
But with this title, his goal became farther and farther away, until the very destination was covered with thick fog.
Years passed once again, and Atlas turned thirty. It came to his understanding that it would probably be better to give up and just live in seclusion deep within the mountains, but by the time he was about to hide from the eyes of the world, he crossed paths with a peculiar little boy inside the Adventurer's Guild in a town called SilverCrest.
Atlas felt excitement in his bones but never knew why.
Without him realizing it, the boy caught his attention, and the next thing he knew, he felt drawn by his unknown presence.
After spending a few months keeping an eye on the kid, Atlas realized a few things. The boy's name is Jack Pyrrus, a single-born with brown hair and dark red eyes who struggles to kill magical beasts just to feed his bedridden mother. Morning, noon, and night, there wasn't a time when the boy stopped moving his legs.
Whenever he can, he ventures to the outskirts to collect anything he can to make some money. Atlas felt awed, and one day he decided to approach.
"Do you wish to become strong?" Atlas asked, staring down at Jack.
"What the hell? What do you want, old man?"
Although his words were more rude than Atlas thought, a faint light sparkled in the boy's eyes. So he pushed a little more.
"I can make you stronger than anyone you've ever met. You need only to ask." Atlas pulled a single leaf from the nearby branch and demonstrated his powers.
"Look...and learn." Pinching the blown leaf in his hands, with a flick of his finger, the leaf pierced the nearest tree, leaving a mark, but that didn't end there.
As Jack felt his eyes opening wide, he glanced at the several other trees behind the first; the rest were also pierced within the bark. Not two, three, or four; instead, a rough number of fifteen showed a leaf pattern in each of its bodies.
Staring in awe, with his jaw wide open, Jack knelt on the ground before Atlas changes his mind.
"Now..do you wish-"
"PLEASE TEACH ME, TEACHER!"
And the months of training started. With each one, their teacher-student bond grew, and both of them started changing in the process.
Jack's mother became healthier through the years, and money was something that could be easily earned by now, that also stated how the magical beasts declined in the outskirts of SilverCrest.
Realizing now that Atlas has finally done his job, it is now time to leave the boy. But, as fate took a turn, he was stopped by the family before he could even step out of the home.
"Mr.Atlas, if you have nowhere to go, you can stay here if you like?" Mrs. Pyrrus suggested, and with her words and Jack's wide puppy eyes, Atlas has decided to stay.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
Jack, married one of his childhood friends, a bright and intelligent girl talented in the arts of magic and stealthy movements, named Eve.
They received a son a few years later as their firstborn, and they named him Aenar.
Then came the other heroes, who also wanted to live in peace. The other four never intended to move at this particular town, yet, just like how Atlas was drawn to it, the other four did was as well.
The next thing everyone knew, the town of 'SilverCrest' became the home of the Five Heroes, the five pillars so to speak.
Atlas felt the moment pass by in an instant. Next came a boy with peculiar-looking gray eyes, bearing only a resemblance of is mother's hair.
As soon as Atlas saw Eve with the boy in her arms, he instantly knew that the child was different.
Unlike Aenar, Jack's firstborn, the little one didn't cry at the sight of Atlas' big appearance.
His eyes showed intelligence as if he already knew the language they were speaking, and at some point, the child even grins for unknown reasons.
Atlas believed that the child 'Bane' was possessed by a spirit. He felt uneasy, so to be sure whether the child posed no threats to the family, he checked the child with his own hands for abnormalities.
Bane was definitely strange—weird even. But he wasn't possessed by evil or any spirit at all. The child's soul and body are on the same wavelength.
Realizing this, Atlas took a breath. But it was too late now to turn back; after all, they were already at the Door of Truth. A location that can only be opened by the Five Heroes. It was meant to be a meeting place or an interrogation room made by the five.
But knowing that it wasn't needed now, his actions took a turn.
Sending magical messages to the other heroes to change the plan, because he, Atlas Bron Sheratos, messed up big time.
If Jack and Eve found out about this, he knew it wouldn't end easily.
Becoming an uncle has made his actions biased, and to decrease the chance of losing his title in the family, Atlas, began to act as per his title.
As he carefully placed the boy on the table of truth, Atlas looked at his feet and made his best clown impression.
"Let...us...play...with him."
Thus the moment when Bane stares in shock at his clenching weird face.