Atlas was ushered into the car by his mother, and as the dream continued, his anxiety soared. Her boyfriend Darren started driving away from their ho, and Atlas, paralyzed by fear, tried to speak but found no words ca out.
Each mile felt like a stab to his heart as he thought, 'This is the day she left at the orphanage.'
The car turned onto the motorway, and Darren's voice cut through Atlas's mounting dread, boasting about the holidays they would be taking. The conversation seed foreign, a jarring discord in his mories. 'I thought we were going on holiday. How naïve I was. If I had asked her why, things wouldn't have been so bad.'
Finally, Atlas croaked out, "Why are you abandoning , Mom? Don't you love anymore?" His voice trembled with the weight of his fear and confusion.
His mother's face stiffened at his question, but Darren's frustrated voice answered, "We're not leaving you, boy. Your mother and I are attending a business eting in another country. The place you're staying in is ant to care for children."
Hours later, they arrived at a town outside London where the orphanage was situated. The car stopped, and his mother, with tears streaming down her face, pulled out his suitcase. She whispered, "I'm sorry, honey, but this needs to be done; he told it's the only way to ensure you're safe."
Atlas was bewildered by her words and the sight of her tears. She approached two won, Pala and Sarah, who respectfully welcod him. His mother gave him one last bittersweet smile and said, "Atlas, my love. I will co back for you. I can't explain now, but this is the only way."
The next eight years unfolded in a blurred haze of sadness and abandonnt. The pain of being left behind by the one person he loved most buried itself deep within him, resurfacing with each painful mory of his lonely days at the orphanage.
The scene slowly faded, and Atlas drifted into a deeper sleep, only to be jolted awake by a sudden, piercing scream. He rushed out of the tent and saw explosions all over the grassland, which confused him.
Atlas couldn't see what was happening but soon noticed bandits fighting the knights protecting the students. He summoned his armor and weapons before dashing into the fray while slashing at the enemy's legs as the sll of smoke and blood hit his nose.
His attacks brought them to the ground, allowing Atlas to plunge into the bandit's skulls before moving on and slashing out as he sped past. Soon enough, the enemies were put down thanks to the combined efforts of the knights, but that's when he realized it was still nightti.
The knights retreated to their camp as Marcus scread for him to move, but it was too late. A Dark One lunged at Atlas, who yelped before quickly using Void Step to avoid the creature's claws an inch away from his face.
Atlas cast Void Blast at the monster, causing it to be sent flying into the forest as more of them appeared. They sward toward him, and he started sprinting toward his camp but was tackled as he crossed the Runes by a sneaky creature that appeared out of nowhere.
He went to defend himself, but the Dark One was burning until it turned into ash, allowing it to flop to the ground. As more monsters circled his camp, Atlas ignored them and started cooking more of the boar at.
While sitting there, he pulled out the Lover's Band and instantly received a ssage, [Are you alright, my Amore? When you receive this, please send a ssage as soon as possible]
'Athyst,' Atlas thought when seeing the writing pop into his vision before he replied, knowing he had one ssage.
[Athyst, I'm on the Zarandar Continent and will travel toward the Wildheart Kingdom, where the war has stalled. The Nightowls are chasing , but I've managed to lose them for now]
Atlas smiled, knowing he could keep in contact with the girls. Once done, he started eating the at he cooked but soon noticed the female knight approaching. She entered his camp and handed over sothing, ''Here's so Hearthfire Allspice to make your at taste better.''
He looked at the older woman before taking the offering with a smile while thanking her, ''Thank you, but why are you giving this?''
''A small gift for helping us; not many adventurers would risk themselves to fight bandits when they're not in danger,'' she explained before holding her hand out. ''I'm Marcia Valemont, Captain of the Everlasting Shields.''
''Azhar'Zul,'' he took her hand as he asked, ''Whats the Everlasting Shields?''
Marcia smiled, ''May I sit with you, Azhar'Zul?''
Atlas nodded while moving over to make room for her. Marcia sat beside him, giving him a good view of the mature woman. He found her beautiful. She had wavy brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes that glowed when the fire hit them.
He noticed she was a curvy woman with a well-endowed chest and fat in all the right places, which caused him to question, 'Older won are sothing else internally.'
''The Everlasting Shields is a group of warriors who ca together to defend the common people that the nobles forget about, especially in the Achaenid Empire where we protect towns, villages, and cities across Zarandar and Aridonia.''
Atlas was fascinated and offered Marcia so at, which she happily accepted as he asked, ''So you're a hero to the commoners?''
Marcia giggled, which he found adorable before she answered while shaking her head, ''I'm no more than a soldier and no less. I'm fighting to show the small folk that there are people who will protect them from the world's evils.''
''A noble goal,'' Atlas replied with a smile.
She nodded before the two of them started eating while watching the stars as the Dark Ones screaming could be heard in the distance. Marcia looked at him with narrowed eyes, ''Are you the Dahaka? The Achaenidian Devil?''
Atlas was taken aback when he heard Marcia's question and montarily at a loss for words, but she pressed on. "Personally, I don't believe you're the Bringer of Chaos, but who can say for sure?"
He looked around for a way to escape, which caused the mature woman to laugh as she continued, ''So you're him! You're the one who points the way to paradise.''
When Atlas heard this, he got nervous, which showed, causing Marcia to put her hand on her chest while reciting sothing, ''On this world mana and may the Goddess Sol be my witness, I will never reveal your true identity to anyone, Azhar'Zul.''
A slight glow was seen as he was confused, but sothing inside him said he could trust this woman. Without thinking, Atlas spoke, ''Do you want to fight? I've got an itch that needs to be scratched.''
Marcia's blue eyes glead with excitent as she replied with a grin, ''Trying to win a woman's heart, Dahaka?''
After speaking, she stood up and readied her sword while extending the protective Runes so they would have enough room to fight. The brunette approached the center, with Atlas following behind.
He took out his blades and prepared to fight, and when Marcus saw them, he panicked, ''What are you two doing? It's dark and not ti for a fight!''
''Don't worry, Marcus, the Night Demons have vanished and won't reappear,'' Marcia replied just before they started.
Atlas dashed forward but used Void Step to vanish. The brunette was ready and spun around while raising her blade to block his slash, causing his arm to vibrate. Marcia grinned as she went to kick him.
He raised his weapon to intercept her kick, but the force behind it hurled him backward, slamming him into the ground with a resounding thud. Atlas gasped for breath, quickly regaining his footing.
As Atlas leaped up, he unleashed a Void Blast in her direction to distract the older woman and scanned her to check her rank.
[Marcia Valemont]
[Level: 303]
[Rank: Expert]
'Damn, she's strong,' he thought, still catching his breath as he prepared for the next move.
Atlas smiled before rushing at Marcia again, who prepared for his strike. He swung again, but as it got close, he vanished again, only reappearing behind her. The mature woman giggled while using her bracer as she counter-attacked.
He was shocked by her sudden move, but Marcia spoke, ''I see you use speed, which makes sense for your age.''
She battered him away while continuing, ''You need to focus on precision, Azhar'Zul. You're small and delicate, so quickly strike at the weak points before getting away from the opponent before they can retaliate.''
Atlas nodded and tried again when she was ready to fight. He exploded forward but didn't use Void Step this ti. His blades clashed against Marcia's sword, and they started trading attacks while dodging others.
Her holding back annoyed him, but it made sense, 'Marcia would demolish .'
While thinking that, the brunette struck out and swiped his feet from under him as she spoke, ''You got distracted, boy! This isn't good.''
Atlas looked up to see her staring down at him with a smile, ''If you would be willing to travel with , I could train you, boy.''
He saw up her dress and noticed she was wearing pink panties, but Atls cleared that lewd thought before answering, ''That would be good, I do need to learn more to get stronger. But Is there a soul or spirit mage on the route?''
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