Many things happened in the world, but he didn't expect to be brought inside the Nihility Dimension while undergoing the mutation.
"Why am I here? Did something wrong happen during the process?" Atlas moved his gaze around and found himself standing a few steps away from his statue in the Nihility Dimension.
"Hmm... what a strange but familiar feeling... where did I encounter this before?"
His head was a little foggy, and he found it difficult to even think properly.
"Hmm... I know... that it happened not too long ago..."
Looking at his partially transparent hands, a memory of the past came up.
"Right... This is my Soul Form... but why am I here in this state?"
More and more thoughts popped into his mind but disappeared faster as if devoured by something.
While Atlas was slowly drifting toward an unknown condition, the cavern's walls changed.
It was a slow process, but no one could say anything against that. When even Atlas, the owner of the Nihility Dimension, could do nothing about this matter.
After a very long time, some words appeared all over the cavern.
They were in the same strange language he encountered at the cave entrance, yet as soon as his gaze landed on them, the symbols started changing into a more comprehensible form.
"Hmm... what is that?"
Atlas started reading what was floating in front of him: "Eternal Sun Soul Art... Hmm...AHHH!!"
He wanted to read more, but as soon as he moved his gaze a little toward the right, he felt an intense pain hitting his mind.
Atlas couldn't endure anymore and lost consciousness shortly later.
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"Hmm..."
He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but when his eyes opened again, Atlas found himself lying on the cold floor of the same cave as if his Soul Form was somehow locked in this place.
"Mmm... what the hell is going on?"
Looking upward, he noticed the same strange symbols all over the cave's walls, yet the words he had read before were gone.
"Mmm... there was something called Eternal Sun Soul Art..."
Atlas remembered perfectly where those words stood, so he looked intently at the same spot, but those strange symbols were the only thing floating there.
"It's so strange... What is this so-called Eternal Sun Soul Art?"
Atlas's confusion only increased with time, yet at some point, when his head was lighter and the pain was gone, the symbols changed again...
"Mhm?! There is more now... Eternal Sun Soul Art... ... Eons ago, there was a legend about an existence born from the blazing core of the Primordial Sun... Hmm... AHHH!"
There was more, but as had happened the last time, Atlas's mind became chaotic and drifted slowly into oblivion.
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"Hmm... bloody hell! It happened again..."
As soon as Atlas woke up, his curse filled the entire cave, and realizing that he was still trapped there almost drove him crazy.
"... Geez... and I'm still in my Soul Form..."
Lying on the ground, Atlas looked at the cave roof covered with rocks and sighed deeply: "... What's going on? While my body is undergoing a transformation, something is forcing my Soul Body into this place... is it all related to this so-called Eternal Sun Soul Art? Could it be Nihilir's machination?"
Countless questions popped into Atlas's head, and he couldn't help but shout: "Nihilir!... Nihilir!"
His shouts reverberated inside the cave, but no one responded to his voice.
"Hmm..."
Since there was nothing he could do, the young man closed his eyes and let his mind recover.
It was clear by now that an incredible quantity of Soul Power was necessary each time he read those words. He didn't know why it was like this, but it was evident since he fell unconscious every time in his Soul Form.
It took him a while to recover enough power, but finally, his eyes opened again.
"Well... I must hurry and learn everything from this Eternal Sun Soul Art before my body completes its transformation because I don't want to spend my entire life in this damned place."
Like he did last time, Atlas fixed his gaze on the symbols, and sure enough, they started changing one after another...
"Eternal Sun Soul Art... Eons ago, there was a legend about an existence born from the blazing core of the Primordial Sun, the Child of the Sun, which was what the ancients called it. Entire universes were shaken by him since, in his presence, even young Suns lost some of their luminance... Hmm... AHH!"
An unbelievable amount of pain hit the young man again. However, it was even more remarkable this time and instantly made him unconscious.
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Atlas showed his stubbornness to its fullest and kept repeating the same process until the end.
He lost count of how many times he ended up unconscious, but he was sure to mark all those words in his memory.
"Fuck... Even after all these times, I'm still trapped here... Who knows how long it's been outside? On the other hand, the Chaotic core transformation may be long over now."
Just like he had done countless times, Atlas stood in the middle of the cave, recuperating his Soul power. It was a lengthy procedure, but it was no problem since he was isolated from everyone here.
After some time, Atlas exhaled deeply, freeing himself from all the useless thoughts, and then looked back at the wall: "Well... there is only one last part..."
Starting from the beginning, Atlas's voice reverberated inside the cave: "Eternal Sun Soul Art... Eons ago, there was a legend about an existence born from the blazing core of the Primordial Sun… the Child of the Sun, that was how the ancient called it... Entire universes were shaken by him since, in his presence, even young Suns lost some of their luminance... He was born from the primordial flame and devoured flames to satiate his hunger... The same legends stated that when he was old enough to comprehend, his thirst for knowledge was irrepressible... the Eternal Sun Soul Art was created right from that vast knowledge, enough to cover the entire Universe... The Primordial Sun burns my Soul but spares my flesh!"
That was the end, but Atlas was disappointed since this was more like a story than a Soul Cultivation Art.
"Just like that? I endured all this pain for what?"
There was also a bit of anger in his voice, but what could he do other than curse heaven?
"Bloody hell! At least let me go out!"
His angered voice echoed in the cave, but nothing changed. He was still there in his Soul form, along with his statue.
After shouting a couple more times, Atlas sat down on the ground. His anger was burning fiercely, yet it was evident that his outburst was useless.
"Geez... maybe there is some hidden meaning in those words? They may be the key to exit from this prison..."
This was the only possible explanation since there was literally nothing else in this place other than his statue, and he was sure that the massive piece of stone portraying his mightiness had nothing strange on its surface.
He took a moment to calm down his fiery spirit, and only after doing this he looked back at the words still floating on the walls.
"Eternal Sun Soul Art..."
"Eternal Sun Soul Art..."
"Eternal Sun Soul Art..."
He kept reading it countless times, but nothing different happened.
Actually, there was something that caught his interest, the last sentence.
In fact, it was out of the story's context, more like an incantation.
"Hmm... The Primordial Sun burns my Soul but spares my flesh... This part... I don't know why, but I found it odd and familiar in some way that I can't explain."
It was a simple and straightforward sentence, but Atlas felt there must be some hidden meaning.
"The Primordial Sun burns my Soul but spares my flesh..." He was lost in thought for a while and then started mumbling: "... If this so-called Sun's Descendant was truly born from the Primordial Sun, it was clear that there was no flame in the entire Universe that could harm, as for his Soul... Hmm..."
Atlas didn't know what to think about this matter.
In fact, if the body was immune to the flame power, why could the Primordial Sun burn the Soul?
"Hmm... Could the Soul and the body come from two different origins? If this was the case, then all make sense. So, only the body was born from the Primordial Sun, a body without a soul..."
Those were only mere speculations, and Atlas knew that well, but for some reason, he took them as one of the possible explanations.
The young man was so enraptured by his thoughts that he didn't realize the room's changes.
Indeed, the symbols floating in the air were merging right above his head.
"Hmm... A body born from the Primordial Sun but without a soul... Could it be possible?"
Atlas kept thinking about this phrase until he felt a warm source above his head.
Intrigued by the sensation, Atlas looked up, and just when his gaze landed on the peculiar object floating a few inches from his head, the object fell.
"Geez..."
Atlas tried to move his body instinctively but couldn't do it because a strong power was stopping him.
"Fuck!"
The distance between them was so small that when the curse left his mouth, the object had already hit his head.
As soon as it happened, a burning sensation propagated from the top.
It started out faintly, but as the sensation passed up his neck, dark red flames appeared where it all began.
Atlas wanted to shout, but the flames devoured his soul body instantly.
Only muffled sounds came from him, and they kept becoming weaker over time.
Atlas didn't know that while the flames were roasting his soul body, in the real world, his flesh body was reaching the ultimate phase of the transformation...