"So, the Pearl of the Forgotten Abyss can help me remember my past?... Grandma... What happened to me?"
Atlas's desire to find out the truth was boiling.
Somehow, they could understand his current state and continued their story: "Atlas... we found you fifteen years ago inside the Ancient Site... At first, we didn't know how and why a little child could appear in such a place, but then we discovered the sign of an Ancient Teleportation Formation..."
"There is something like that in there? And is it still in function?" Atlas asked hastily.
"It should be... Old River said that with enough power, the Teleportation Formation will operate normally..."
Hearing her positive response, Atlas stood up: "Then what are we waiting for? Maybe she is still waiting for my return..."
"Marigold... look at him, those damn memories have done something wrong to his mind..." August shouted, holding Atlas's wrist.
"You two... calm down..."
Dissatisfied with their action, Marigold slammed her palm to the table: "Atlas... think about it. You can't go back now. Who knows what's there? We don't even know why you were sent here... Don't you find it strange that your mother prepared this Artifact for you?"
Her words made sense. Nobody knew the truth, so why was Atlas acting like that?
"I... What am I doing? What are these feelings of longing?"
Atlas held his chest as if wanting to placate his furious heart.
"Grandma... what am I doing?"
He felt lost, lost like a little child.
"Atlas... some of your memories have returned, but you haven't realized it yet."
"Mmm... but I can't remember anything... Why?"
"I don't know. You are the only one who can find out the truth. Maybe the Pearl of the Forgotten Abyss can help you..."
Hearing her suggestion, Atlas held the black Pearl in his palm firmly.
Unfortunately, nothing happened.
He even used his Chaos Energy, yet no response came from the Artifact.
"It seems that you are still too weak or need something particular to activate its latent power..." August patted his shoulder and continued: "... but don't worry, we will help you as much as we can."
|||
The trio talked almost until night since they had a lot to discuss.
Atlas still kept most of his dangerous and embarrassing adventures hidden, telling them that he had gone to some forest filled with creatures.
After sharing all the information, their hearts were finally calm again.
Even Atlas, who was affected by those memories, was fine.
"You don't need to worry about the Bloody Butcher of Saints. We can protect ourselves and handle that fool easily, but what about you? Since using regular resources to advance will slow your cultivation path... What are your plans?"
August was the most worried about Atlas's current condition. He thought it would help him with the resources they had obtained in the past, but they were useless.
Then who could protect him if that bastard found him?
"Grandpa... if you can protect yourself and grandma, then don't worry about me. I will go to another part of the continent far away from this place for the time being."
"Little Atlas... Do you want to enter the Minosir Cretion Divine Sect?"
Marigold was quite sad hearing his words, but there was nothing she could do. His little child has grown... It was time for Atlas to survive in this world filled with perils because what awaited him was something beyond this tiny world.
Atlas thought a bit about his next plan, yet he wasn't sure.
He needed a battleground if he wanted to advance faster...
But he also had some unfinished jobs to complete.
He had to help the people in the Black-Clawed Crab Village, but this was easy to solve since he could ask for Oakur's help. Alas, his plans had gone astray in those waters, and he had to wait for the old Drunkum to wake up.
His primary target should be to find the other four Celestial Fruits.
Falgnis even gave him a little incentive, so he also had to focus on this mission.
He should maybe go to the South and use Oakur's connection with the Divine Sect to his advantage.
He had many possibilities, so after thinking for a while, he said, "I will go to the South..."
"So, you have decided... fine. Since that's the case, I will go to the alchemy room for a while. I will prepare some potions for your journey."
Time was little, so Marigold went directly toward the basement.
Instead, August had other plans: "Since you chose that little bear as your companion, let's go out and take care of it."
|||
Outside was already dark and even a bit cloudy, yet they were used to such an atmosphere.
"Atlas... let me see this so-called Nihility Dimension... I'm quite curious about that."
Atlas didn't hide the existence of the Nihility Dimension from them because it was pointless, and it was better to leave an Aethereal Ebony Orchid on top of this mountain.
Alone, he still couldn't let it bloom, but with their help, it was an easy matter.
"Grandpa... before that. I would like to leave one of the Aethereal Ebony Orchids here. Can you help me with that?"
"Sure, let's go toward the back. The safest place is near Flare's living place..."
The old palace of Flare was relatively calm. Tonight, that old roster was standing on top of a pole, looking around with a strange gaze.
When he noticed August and Atlas approaching his place, Flare was so happy that his two mighty wings started flapping frenetically.
"Little fellow… you are finally back!!"
Sure enough, like Atlas had guessed, he could understand Flare.
"So, this old roster is a powerful Chaos Creature..."
He couldn't perceive its Realm, but this wasn't so important.
"Yes, old fellow, I'm back. How are you?"
Hearing his response, Flare almost fell to the ground from the shock.
"Hmh?!"
"Yes... Flare, we can communicate now... Don't be so shocked..."
Atlas found its exaggerated response quite funny because this was the first time he had seen that old fellow in this condition.
He had already told them about his precious ability, so August wasn't as shocked as the old roster. Actually, he was enjoying the scene with a wide smirk.
"How is this possible?"
"This is not so important... what truly matters is that we can talk like two normal people from now on."
Flare was a curious creature by nature, so Atlas's response annoyed him a bit, yet it didn't insist: "Hmm… why are you here?"
"Well... I'm going to create a portal to another dimension. If you can help Grandpa, maybe I will let you see what's inside."
"Are you really able to do that?"
"Of course... look at this... Aetherium Heart!"
Summoned by his master, the Artifact appeared in his hand, shocking both August and Flare.
It was shocking because they didn't perceive any residual power coming from a regular Space Ring.
Without delay, Atlas pierced his fingertips with its claws and let his blood flow down the orb's surface.
Crack!
A strange sound was heard, and then something fell from the bottom of the crystal, right where the claws joined and where his blood had condensed.
"Okay... be prepared to infuse your Chaos Energy inside the seed."
Finally, the seed fell, and similar to what happened on the island, the ground around it began to dry.
"Now..."
Seeing the strange situation, August and Flare sent energy waves into the soil.
Unlike Falgnis, they took almost an hour to let the Flower Bloom.
Clearly indicating the difference between them.
"Damn... this thing. It almost depleted all my energy..."
"Me too..."
The duo was covered in sweat and looked exhausted, but with the help of some Chaos Stones, they recuperated in less than half an hour.
Clearly, Atlas had not stood still. In fact, while they were busy with the seed, he had already pulled out the Bear and started coaxing him with manners.
"Hey... little Bear... If you keep wasting our time, you will regret it!"
Flare couldn't bear to watch Atlas wasting so much time, so he started threatening the poor creature.
The Rocky-Armored Bear was instantly suppressed by Flare's power, yet it was a stubborn creature and didn't yield immediately.
Growl... Growl...
Atlas couldn't understand the Bear, probably because it was still too weak.
So, he let Flare take care of the matter.
"Mhm?! You don't want it? Are you stupid? Look at me... Do you think I'm this strong because of my good looks? No, I became this strong because I followed that old fellow there..."
The Bear turned his muzzle toward August and growled...
Growl... Growl...
"NO! He is my master... If you want to grow stronger, then you must follow him!"
This time, the Bear turned his muzzle toward Atlas, but his growl was much lower...
Growl...
"The hell are you talking about? If you follow him, of course, your power will grow stronger... He is August's nephew. How could he be a stupid fellow?"
Listening to their conversation, Atlas was mad: "I even saved you from those Ice-Winged Melittidures... You were so stupid to steal their Holy Glacial Honey and have the nerve to call me stupid? Damn, your ancestor!!"
ROAR!!
The Bear replied with a mighty roar as if Atlas's words were too much.
"Is that true?" Flare didn't let them discuss it and meddled between them: "You truly are an ungrateful fellow. Since he saved you, why are you so stubborn?"
Growl... Growl... Growl...
"Enough with this shit..."
After listening to the Bear's reasons, Flare turned toward Atlas: "Young Master... this fellow is still not convinced. It says that he will never follow a weak master..."
"Is its head broken or what? So, it prefers the hard way... well, that's fine too."
The Bear's response left him speechless, yet he wasn't scared by this.
"Come here... let's finish this shit... I will make you understand who is the weakest between us..."
Seeing the human ready to fight, the Rocky-Armored Bear didn't even look at the roster and assaulted that arrogant human with all his power.
August and Flare watched from the side, unsure if Atlas could handle this matter alone.
They were even more curious about Atlas's technique.
A battle erupted between a human and a beast...
A battle to determine who was the boss between them...