In a couple of hours, he was once again back at the village of Nevery.
It was late, and the streets were almost deserted.
Several merchants had already closed their temporary shops or were concluding the last exchange of the day.
Atlas ignored all the stalls and started leaving the village hurriedly.
He walked for a couple of minutes, but then his thoughts moved to something else: 'Hmm... Should I go and get a martial technique? There are many of them at home. Still, they are far more powerful than someone in my realm can handle...'
Indeed, with the influence and resources of his grandparents and their friends, that wasn't a problem at all. He had read most of them, yet they were more abstruse than the Nameless Technique that he had found years ago.
'Mhm?!...'
Suddenly, a small building appeared from the angle of the road.
Seeing the small store, Atlas couldn't help but smile and rapidly move toward the old wooden door.
The door opened, and the sound of a bell welcomed him into the store.
Ding! Ding!
"Hello... Dear Cust... Hmm... Atlas, what are you doing here at this hour?"
The old woman in the store wanted to greet the new customer as she always did. Still, when her eyes rested on the young man, her voice became much more friendly and affectionate.
"Hello, Grandma River... how was your day?"
Of course, the young man knew the owner of this tiny store very well because she was one of his grandmother's few friends.
She had grown him since he was a child and taught him the history and the secrets of Oblivion.
Furthermore, she had another impressive identity in the village because, just like his grandparents, the old woman was one of the founders of the Village of Nevery.
Grandma River watched the young man for a while as if noticing something strange about him. Still, she didn't find anything weird and smiled: "Hehe... like usual... it was so boring. Though, it's much better now that such a lovely young man like you is finally in my store..."
"Stop it, Grandma River. My appearance is normal... I don't understand where you see all this beauty..." Atlas smiled, a little embarrassed.
"Hehe... Anyway, it's been more than a week since you came this way... Did you finish another little trip of yours?"
"I struck gold this time, grandma." He grinned, shaking the pouch full of stones.
With her high cultivation realm, Grandma River could quickly find the amount of Chaos Stones in the sack. She was surprised by the result: "Atlas... where did you get all those Chaos Stones? Did you rob someone?"
"Hehe... it's the reward for a request... I swear!"
Even if it was a small lie, it was better than telling the truth.
Grandma River was unsure but did not investigate further and warned him slightly: "Mhm... Well, what did you come for today? Ancient books, Alchemy Tomes, or Forging Documentation? I brought back some ancient texts from my last trip to the Imperial City. They look interesting..."
Atlas didn't want to explain his radical change to his closet ones. After all, he didn't even know how he should explain all this matter. So, he looked a bit troubled.
"Hey... if you are worried about the payment, you should know that I won't take them..."
She wasn't her real grandmother, yet their relationship was so close that it didn't really matter.
She would have given him everything in her possession if the young man really needed it. Alas, Atlas had always tried to gain their approval and show them that he had grown up independent of their protection.
"Not this time..." He said firmly, "I gained enough to give you something back..."
"Are you sure?" She asked with a calm expression.
"Of course..."
After receiving his response, Grandma River didn't try to convince him further and instead respected his decision: "Fine... So, what do you need?"
He knew that his subsequent request would have inevitably caused confusion. Still, he opened his mouth: "I need a Martial Technique..."
"A Martial Technique?! What do you need that for? You can't even use them..."
"Grandma River..."
"Hmm... What are you hiding from me?! Why are you looking for a Martial Technique?"
Atlas expected such a question and immediately answered, making up another story, "It's a gift..."
"A gift?!" Grandma River glared at him angrily but then sighed: "Oh boy... you shouldn't waste your savings like that. Such gifts will never win a girl's heart. Besides, if you have to give such a thing as a gift, it may not even be worth it."
Grandma River had clearly misunderstood his intentions, but Atlas did not deny it and digressed a little embarrassed: "Well... it's still a gift... it won't go bad in any case."
The elderly woman lamented for a while but did not insist further: "Silly boy... If you want to try... All right. But I won't give you any discount. Otherwise, you will never learn from your mistakes..."
Atlas looked back at her with a troubled expression. Yet, he knew Grandma River's personality well and was sure that she would have given him a special price anyway.
"Then... tell me, what are you looking for?"
"A Mortal Technique of the elemental type, the Earth Technique: Earthly Blessing..."
Grandma River looked for the Technique among the shelves and returned to the counter after a while: "It's 10 Chaos Stones. Are you sure?"
"Certainly... Thank you, Grandma Riven!"
Ten Chaos Stones were not much for a Chaos Technique, and Atlas was well aware of this, so he left the stones on the counter and stowed the book in his new leather backpack.
After collecting the payment, Grandma River asked: "So... you spent your money on a gift for someone else. At least tell me who she is... It must at least be as pretty as I was in my best years. Otherwise, you're just a foolish man..."
Atlas did not know what to say to her because the whole story was based on a lie...
So, after thinking it over, he described the first thing that came to mind. The problem was that he started repeating Uncle Beard's exact words.
"Hehe... she is pretty indeed. She has long black hair with a shade of blue and a face comparable to that of a Goddess. Also, she is competent and intelligent. She is one of the best martial cultivators of her age in the Icy Storm Sect."
Of course, the old woman did not immediately believe his words and asked, with a strange smile: "Really?! And what is her name?"
'Her name?!... gee... maybe I should tell her another name... If I tell her the same...'
Atlas thought about it for a moment, maybe a little too much, because the elderly woman began to ridicule him: "Hehehe... Atlas... You don't even know her name?"
"Aurora! Her name is Aurora!"