Almost an entire day passed, and finally, the purest energy inside Atlas's Chaotical Core peaked.
'Hmh... it's more strenuous than I thought.'
His body was still fine, but his mind couldn't hold on for much longer, so he took a moment before moving on to the next step.
He didn't know how long they had been away from the border, and he didn't care since everything looked fine until then.
'Luckily, after forming the Infant Sun Flame, the newly formed flame will automatically perform this tedious process. Otherwise, it would have hindered my cultivation path greatly...'
The Eternal Sun Soul Art had many benefits but required a risk. In fact, what he had to do right now was so dangerous that the young man's heart and mind were hollering in fear.
Collecting the energy was tiring, but forming a sun flame was different.
'Damn it... It's now or never... It will pain as hell, yet I know I can do it.'
Reaching this point, Atlas continued and followed the instructions recorded on the art.
'Move the pure energy from the Chaotical Core to the soul...'
It took him a simple thought, and soon, that fiery energy appeared in his mind, almost making him faint.
'Mmmm...'
A different burning sensation assaulted his body, which was way higher and more ferocious.
'Damn...'
Suddenly, the heat increased at least tenfold, making his facial skin change color entirely. Streams of hot vapor flowed from his nose, instantly evaporating the water obstructing his nostrils.
The burning sensation increased exponentially, almost reaching a point where he couldn't handle it anymore. Luckily, right when his mind was dangerously losing control, a spark shot from the center of his soul.
Initially, it was a tiny and barely discernable sphere. Still, it slowly enlarged into a giant golden flame with dark red tongues roaming its surface frenetically.
Beastly roars echoed inside his head for a few seconds until everything became silent and tranquil again.
'Did I succeed?' Atlas asked himself, perplexed by the stunning result: 'This should be my Infant Sun Flame, but its power is beyond my imagination.'
Feeling the immense and brutal power coming from his mind, Atlas couldn't help but wonder if it was only a dream. Everything looked so unreal to him.
'Well... I should try one of the soul techniques listed here to test its effective power.'
The young man wanted to test the depths of his newly acquired power, so he reorganized his thoughts about the basic soul technique at his disposal.
'Solar Detection... feel the existence of any nearby creature. It is directly related to the soul, so it is practically impossible to escape from its detection. Creatures with souls more powerful than me can detect my probing and, in the most dangerous cases, even detect my location. The range detection depends completely on the level of one soul.'
A simple scouting technique with a higher level of detection. Atlas had noticed it almost instantly and had wanted to test it as soon as possible.
'Well... let's try this out...'
Activating this technique was easy, and soon, the Infant Sun Flame inside his mind sent a powerful wave of heat all around his body, reaching further than he could have imagined.
'Incredible...'
Many things appeared directly in his mind, clearly reporting his surroundings. Still, the young man had greatly underestimated this power and suffered a brutal backslash.
'Ahhh... Drol...'
Blood sprouted out from his lips, and his mind blurred, leaving his body floating toward the surface...
|||
"This brainless kid... How could he do such a stupid thing?"
"Well... if he was normal, he wouldn't have even stepped inside this damned place."
"True..."
The sound of two different voices entered the young man's ears. It took him a while, but in the end, he recognized the owners as the two old monsters accompanying him along his journey.
His head was still aching like hell and screaming for a more extended break. Alas, the young man opened his eyes and directed his gaze toward the old dragon.
With difficulty, his mouth opened: "How long?"
"Fool... it's been five days... What the hell have you done to cause such great harm to your soul?" Deus shouted angrily: "I thought you were attacked by some insidious fellow, yet looking at your calm expression, it's clear as the day that it was your fault."
Hearing his harsh words, Atlas hastily checked his soul, searching for any trace of permanent damage. However, to his surprise, it was in perfect condition. It seemed even more robust than five days ago.
"Unexpected, right?!" Deus commented, noticing his weird countenance: "I thought the same as you. So, why don't you tell us what the hell is going on? You shouldn't have the resources to heal your soul..."
Under the inquisitory gaze of his companion, Atlas couldn't help but speak out the truth. It didn't take him long, and soon, a long sigh echoed into his ears.
"Huu... you are even more lucky than I thought." Deus lamented with an unch of envy: "How could exist someone like you?"
This time, the old dragon didn't curse but merely complained about the unfairness of this world. He had suffered and fought for everything he possessed, so his envy was acceptable.
"Hey... It's a good thing... another trump card at my disposal..." Atlas grinned, seeing his companion's actions.
"Sure... but still unfair..."
Finding out about Atlas' achievement greatly surprised the two old monsters. Still, since they were delving further into the depths of the Endless Primordial Desert, they put that matter aside for the time being.
After a few questions about the journey, Atlas found out that they had almost crossed half of the deadly desert in those six days.
Hearing their stories, I learned that many things happened during their trip.
One, in particular, was the encounter with a strange creature similar to a blue salamander with its body covered in dark blue scale and deadly icy spikes on its back. From Deus's words, it took almost half a day for Kurmanus to deal with it, and he didn't even kill it but only scared it in the end.
Just this tale made the young man's legs shake madly. He survived the encounter with another God Realm creature and didn't even know.
Undoubtedly, the Endless Primordial Desert was filled with dangers. Still, soon enough, he would have discovered that perils weren't the only thing hiding there.