The world around Adonis faded and alongside it, so did the woman.
"I hope to see you see you soon, young master." She last said as she faded away.
Adonis had just undergone a plethora of changes and most of them, he didn't fully understand.
But this didn't matter. He felt good. Unbelievably so.
The world around him blurred once more but this time, he found himself in the middle of a grand gladiator arena.
In front of him was a huge man. The man had long brown curly hair tied in a bun, perfectly complementing his pure golden eyes that radiated with hope and honour.
He wore a full silver armour set as beside him, a grand sword lay, dug into the ground.
"That was rather quick. I expected you to stay with her for a few years at the very least."
The man's voice sounded like the intermingled roar of a dragon and the falling judgement of thunder as the world shook at every word he uttered.
"I am Atryan, Vanguard Knight of the Fallen Star. The woman you previously were with was Eteha, True Magus of the Fallen Star." He added.
Adonis nodded in understanding.
"I am Adonis, nice to meet you. Forgive me for asking but is the 'Fallen Star' the creator of the Boundless Mansion or is it part of your fictional identity?" He asked.
The Knight harrumphed.
"Fictional? Boy, we're all as real as it gets. Yes, the Fallen star is, indeed, our master."
"Do not take his name as a record of one of his failures. Alone, he resided in the skies and illuminated the world from its darkness and in his mercy, he fell from the very Heavens he led, allowing his radiance to overflow the lands of these lowly mortals."
"He only fell to rise again."
Adonis awkwardly smiled and scratched his head as he heard this.
'Wow, a bunch of real fanatics. That means their Lord is either insanely powerful or ridiculously charismatic. Or both?'
Atryan suddenly grabbed his blade.
"Anyways, let's get started. Let's shape you into a being worthy of carrying the Will of the Fallen Star. I'll make sure to beat the weakness out of you."
A spear materialised in front of Adonis and he immediately grabbed it and shot forth.
[Layer; 1-
"Lesson one, don't lose sight of the enemy."
Atryan appeared behind him and punched, sending Adonis flying.
"Lesson two, if you do lose sight of them, assume they're behind you. Most warriors are ridiculously predictable. If they're not behind you then they're above but that's even more manageable."
BOOM!
The earth he stood on cracked and shattered as he shot forth, his blade gliding across the air, aiming to tear Adonis apart.
Though still discombobulated and within the air, Adonis managed to use his pole to block but this didn't stop the force of the strike to send him crashing into the circular walls of the arena.
Already aware that Atryan was most likely gonna follow up with another strike, Adonis grit his teeth and acted.
[Layer; 800x]
Veins popped all over his body as it was put under great pressure and strain but Adonis didn't care as he couldn't afford failure.
BANG!
The part of the wall he'd been embedded in shattered under the might of Atryan's blade as he missed Adonis by just a mere moment.
"Good."
Adonis appeared in front of Atryan, his spear thrusting forward as the man sneered and simply moved to parry but as he did so, Adonis smirked.
{Freeze.}
[Layer; 1200x]
Adonis suddenly reached ridiculous speeds as his muscles tore apart and his blade seamlessly dug into Atryan's stomach, completely ignoring his armour as if it wasn't there.
For a moment, Atryan was frozen in shock, but soon joy consumed him.
"GOD! YES! GOOD!"
The world shook as he freed himself from Adonis' grasp and began to truly battle.
A violent exchange ensued, Atryan's overwhelming strength and honed skill forcing Adonis to constantly push his limits and toe on the line of death.
Adonis was forced to battle across time. As he fought in the present he used moves Atryan had done in the past to predict the future.
Unknowingly, he began to measure each and every single one of his steps as his breaths became deep and his gaze sharp.
Continuously, the way he grabbed his spear changed as he endlessly adapted and bloomed.
Despite his body being covered in wounds, Adonis felt overjoyed as he felt himself advance during every passing second.
After a while, all his gifts blended into a harmonious style that made Atryan grin like a madman.
Adonis swung and the air whistled, cold sweat covering Atryan's back as he sensed the power within this strike.
He parried, wincing as he felt his bones crack and tremble but he didn't have time to linger as Adonis sped up for the billionth time and appeared before him, his gaze terrifying as the tip of his spear lay on his chest, slowly beginning to dig into his upper body.
BOOM!
Just as Adonis was about to claim victory, he was violently pushed back by a gust of power coming from Atryan.
Adonis crashed into a wall, his breaths heavy and laboured.
Looking at his opponent, his gaze widened as he saw all his injuries vanish one by one, as if they'd never been there in the first place.
"That was really good. I now have a good grasp on your potential."
"I also understand what's missing."
Adonis didn't even have the time to recover as a lecture ensued.
"You have two problems. Core and comprehension."
"What I mean by core is that you don't have any real martial style that acts as the root of all you do in a battle, whether it be via your spear or your hand to hand prowess. You punch just to punch, there's no artistic conception behind it and this really limits the strength you can display."
"To further expand upon that, your use of your Gifts limits you. The fact that you snatch experience from others and assimilate it corrupts the purity of whatever you would be able to build."
Adonis' pupils widened as heard his secrets be laid bare like this.
"The second issue is actually twofold. First, you don't understand the trinity of any of your abilities and second, the fact that you don't understand your trinity makes you look like a stupid baboon waving a banana thinking it's a gun."
"We'll fix all of that."