"Atlas! Wake up! The sun has risen, and that old rooster has already sung his ballad..."

At first, the voice was gentle and delicate, but then it became so unbearable that it tore away the poor young man's mind, which was still immersed in the peaceful and comfortable world of dreams.

"Mmm... what a pain..." Atlas muttered to himself, "...it was such a beautiful dream..."

The young man tried to move his eyelids, yet they were glued by the nectar that gushed from his eyes during the night.

"... Mmm... Maybe I should sleep for a little longer... just a few minutes..."

Atlas was very tempted by that fleeting thought. Unfortunately, the world around him had different plans in store for him.

Indeed, hovering between dreamland and reality, the rooster's crow resounded in the room and assaulted his poor eardrums for the umpteenth time.

But it was not over there. Indeed, that unbearable voice reappeared, completely shattering that illusory dream that was slowly fading.

"Atlas! It's dawn..."

Annoyed by all that noise, the young man opened his eyes wide and interrupted the voice with a thunderous shout, so mighty that it made even the window panes vibrate, "Damn bird... SHUT UP!!!"

The window frames were very fragile and were of little use. In fact, they failed to block the sound, which spread outside, upsetting that arrogant rooster, all caught up in his morning duty.

Badly interrupted, the rooster did not sing his last ballad and instead fled from the top of the walls, taking refuge in the humble dwelling behind him, which was protected by hordes of hens armed to the teeth.

The silence that followed that scream created an ideal atmosphere for plunging back into that pleasant world. Alas, the sun's rays chased away the inner voice of his lazier self, bringing him back to reality.

At last, the surrounding world became concrete, and the roughness of the paper below his cheek became evident.

"Damn... I fell asleep again with the book open."

As he did every morning, Atlas lifted the book from his face and stared fervently at the strange golden writing that filled the two pages: "Hmm... I have memorized every phrase and symbol depicted on every single page... but what I miss can never be replaced by my willpower..."

The bitter reality was a reminder and a recurring thought that had worn him down since childhood. However, it was hard for the young man to give up.

To buy that precious book, Atlas had spent a hefty price, almost entirely eroding a whole gain from one of his past works. Still, he did not care, for he did not dare to let himself be corroded by the cruel and macabre fate that had been with him since his birth.

"Fortunately, the pages are infused with an ounce of power. Otherwise ... years of hard work would have vanished because of silly slime."

The young man very carefully wiped every remnant from the page, even smoothing the corners like a fragile crystal, and then imprinted in his mind the complicated energy flows inscribed in the rough parchment.

"How boring..." Atlas sighed bitterly: "I remember every single detail...I could even rewrite every page with my eyes closed... however...I can't test it."

The tone of his voice indicated that the words were filled with sadness and despondency. Still, after a few deep sighs, his eyes opened wide, filled with an extreme desire: "Perhaps... before long, I too will be able to live the life I desire."

Spurred on by that thought, the young man closed the book without further ado and placed it on the nightstand next to all the other treasures in his possession.

The riches he had collected over the years were not many. However, every single item was priceless, or at least that is what his instincts told him.

The first object was a nameless martial technique, which by now had replaced his fluffy pillow and accompanied him into dreamland when other books from the library couldn't do it.

The second object was a small gem, the size of a chicken egg, with a heart wrapped in a dense multicolored cloud.

The third object was a black rock covered with microscopic golden crystals, very similar to amber but with a decidedly different composition, also not very large in size. In fact, the young man could hold it quietly in the palm of his hand.

The fourth was a ring. Somewhat battered and covered almost entirely with what looked like rust. The top was adorned with five tiny gems set among the tenacious metal clutches with a very intense anthracite color. The peculiarity of this object was that each gem, though covered with a layer of indestructible material, managed to convey a tiny glimmer of its majesty.

Atlas was convinced that those five precious gems of different colors contained immense power, yet drowsed by magical power beyond his knowledge.

Finally, the last object leaning against the bedside table was a small old shovel with a handle as long as an average man's arm and a rusty metal head.

At first glance, it looked like a worn-out old tool, but for some strange reason, something in his heart led him to believe that it was a priceless object.

Those were all the most precious treasures he held dear in the last years.

They were various objects of little valor for anyone else. However, every time the young man's gaze rested on them, his heart throbbed frantically, somehow appeasing, if only slightly, the insecurity and doubts that gripped it.

"Everything will change today... I'm sure of it..."

He had wasted too much time brooding in those soft sheets, so the young man stowed the nameless martial technique and all the other items in a small space bag.

This artifact contained a dimensional space inside, which allowed the possessors of such an artifact to store some items inside and lighten the load that weighed on his shoulders during the adventures.

This treasure was of low grade and not of great value because it had only one cubic meter of dimensional space, but it was still handy.

The secrets behind this object were very archaic and abstruse. In fact, the knowledge required to recreate such a thing required years of hard work to understand the mysterious origins behind one of the most complex mystical sources in the world: Space Energy.

After stowing the items in the small space bag, the young man leaped out of bed and grabbed the tops of the sheet, propelled into the air by that abrupt movement.

In a few instants, he tied the ends of the sheet to the corners of the wooden window through which the sun's warm rays were entering.

"Hmm... everything is ready..."

The young man opened the window and quickly moved to another side of the room.

Seen from an outsider, his actions were strange.

After all, why did he need to prevent the morning air from entering his room?

Well... Although crazy, every action he took made sense...

The fresh, purified air from the morning sun sneaked into the room, slowly replacing any odorous residue within with a sweet scent of lavender.

Surrounded by that suave scent, Atlas reached a narrow, long stone dumpster and began to drag it, holding the heavy boulder firmly by one of two iron handles.

The object's weight was frightening, but Atlas was not intimidated, and seeing that he could not move it even a little with one hand, he employed all his strength to the extreme.

"Move!... AHH!!!"

The effort was so enormous that veins began to pulse along his arms.

"One...Two...Three!!!"

Finally, the crate moved a little...

"One...Two...Three!!!"

And it continued to move faster and faster.

"One... Two... Three!!!"

With some coordination between his arms and legs, Atlas finally managed to position himself under the window. Still, the effort had been so enormous that his body collapsed to the ground, and his chest began to frantically inflate and deflate.

"AH...AH...AH... it's a great morning workout. I never thought I could reduce the timing by so much in such a short time. HAHAHA..." Atlas burst out laughing with difficulty, but suddenly, his expression changed, and he spurred his body one last time.

"Damn... Maybe I'm still in time..."

Although exhausted, he reached the bed in a few shakes and threw the soft pillow toward the boulder, hitting the slight indentation at the top squarely.

Suddenly, the sheet shook repeatedly as if struck by something, and several prismatic objects fell softly on the soft pillow.

Two, three, and four strokes followed, and noticing that everything had calmed down, the young man snickered contentedly in a hushed tone of voice, "Hahaha... thank you for your donation... Old Bird..."

It took him a bit to recover his breath, and then Atlas carefully picked up the four crystals lying on the pillow and added them to the others.

The gemstones were small, like an apple, but long and slender with flat faces. One of them could easily stand in the young man's hand.

They weren't so shiny, yet there was something special in their core that gave them a particular cyan halo.

Those weren't simple crystals but the most precious things in the martial world, the Chaos Stones, holders of the primary source of power in the universe, the Chaos Energy.

They were basically the world's current currency, so that madman was literally throwing away money and resources.

With the four he had just collected, Atlas reached a number of fifty, and even if those were only Low-Grade Chaos Stones, it was a fair amount more than enough for the journey ahead.

Soon, the Chaos Stones ended together with all his riches inside the space bag. So, he carefully sorted the room and then headed for the window with a satisfied smile on his face.

The morning air was fresh and fragrant, so he took a deep breath and shortly afterward shouted with all his might, scaring even the poor creatures hiding in the forest's branches surrounding the small mountaintop cottage.

"Flare... Thank you for the gems. I will make good use of them!"

Dazed by those cries, the rooster came out with determined steps from his palace adorned with precious jewels, waving his wings covered with golden feathers that gave him a majestic air and flapped his wings responding to the young man's provocation with all his arrogance.

"I know... I know... You are the best!"

Seeing the snooty rooster surrounded by his mistresses, the young man chuckled with disdain. Still, he did not linger any longer and closed the window, ready to delight his palate with the hearty breakfast that awaited him on the ground floor.