Atlas could finally feel mana! He could perceive it flowing throughout his body, and its introduction filled him with a sense of boundless wonder and curiosity. The possibilities were endless!
'Is this what it truly means to be an Awakened?' Atlas thought to himself, euphoric beyond belief.
Radon, however was smiling. 'Magic truly is extraordinary.'
He stood and waited for Atlas to recover.
Atlas, snapping out of his daze, looked at Radon with a grin on his face.
"Alright! Give me the Essence Tome, old man!" he said with a smirk.
Radon didn't answer, but instead, he hit Atlas upside the head. "You brat..." he snarled, with a tick on his forehead.
He shook his head, banishing any violent thoughts. He gave the Essence Tome to Atlas, who grabbed it like a lifeline.
"Now, listen carefully," Radon began. "We barely know anything about the spiritual plane, and Arcanes have died there, from our Empire and the other nations. You have to be careful, because I won't be able to protect you. Coordinates are always scrambled when entering, and no two people end up at the same place." He paced back and forth as he made this statement.
"Luckily," he started, "no beings higher than your current strength should be interested in you because they have much 'tastier' prey to hunt." He said the 'tastier' while making finger quotes.
"Just drip some blood onto the Tome, since you can't manipulate your mana externally yet, and you'll enter the spiritual plane. I'll protect your physical body."
Radon looked deeply into Atlas's eyes before speaking again. "And come back in one piece, alright, boy?"
"Yes, old man," Atlas said with a smile.
Radon did not have the heart to discipline the brat, especially after knowing what the boy was about to endure.
"I'll be fine," said Atlas, grinning confidently.
Radon caused a small cut to appear on Atlas's index finger, which the latter pressed to the Essence Tome. It began to glow with a white light, archaic lines appearing on its previously blank surface
The white light began to flow around Atlas's body, covering him like a blanket. He started to disintegrate into tiny white motes that flowed to the center of the Tome, before he was completely gone.
Atlas had entered the spiritual plane!
~~
Radon Hemisphere POV
He caught the Tome as it fell. He felt terrible on the inside. He knew what Atlas would have to do, but this was the only way forward. If he did not enter the spiritual plane, not only would he never reach enlightenment, but his path as an Arcane would be mediocre among others with his potential.
His hands were tied, and the perpetrator of all of this had given him no room for failure.
"Where did it all go wrong?" he thought aloud.
"We were supposed to be the protectors, but we're relying on kids to protect us!" he shouted.
"We're killing them so that OLD FOGIES LIKE US CAN LIVE!" he screamed, voice raw with pain.
Radon Hemisphere was an honorable man, but he had found himself bending his rigid morals very frequently. But what was he to do? The one behind this was vastly stronger than him, and he did not desire for someone worse to train Atlas, breaking him mentally forever.
Radon did not realize, but his fists had clenched, and he felt incredible anger, toward himself and that person.
"I'm sorry, Atlas," he said, full of rage, though he knew Atlas could not die, at least for now.
~~
Atlas Vesper POV
Atlas was having the time of his life! While walking, he observed his surroundings
He had appeared in a forest, but it was quite unconventional. One thing he found strange was that he could no longer feel his mana, but he deemed it unimportant for now.
Interestingly, it was composed of towering and glowing purple marigolds, each as tall as a tree. The ground was covered with shining blue grass. More importantly, however, were the changes in his body.
He no longer had any distinguishing features and appeared to be made of pure white light given humanoid form. Nevertheless, it seemed not to affect his movement or senses. He wished to find a reflective surface to further inspect his new form, but did not want to waste time.
As he continued to walk, exploring his surroundings, whines and howls started to resound around him. Quickly, he pressed himself against the white stalk of a mushroom, covered within its shadow.
An instant later, exactly where he stood moments ago, a green fox the size of a motorcycle sprinted past him at least 70mp/h, whining in distress. The next second, hot on the fox's heels, a blue and purple wolf the size of a car ran by, snarling voraciously.
When they had both passed, Atlas, who had been holding his breath, finally let out a large exhale. Death had come incredibly close, and brushing against it had toned his excitement and curiosity down, until only calculation remained.
He thought about his situation critically. He was stranded in an unknown place, surrounded by an unknown number of enemies, and had no supplies. It was there that he came across the problem of a lack of food, if this body even required it.
'Okay,' he thought, resolving his mind. 'First, I'll look for a secluded place where I can meditate and reach enlightenment upon my affinity. Then, I will leave. If I come across any spirit beasts, I will hide, and if I am detected, I will run. I will stick to the shadows, staying away from sight.'
It was at this moment that he realized the lack of information he had been given by Radon. The spiritual plane held many dangers, and the old man had barely instructed him on how to survive.
'Guess I'll have to ask him after I get back,' he thought with a sigh.
Atlas breathed in and out to bolster his mental acuity before beginning to move.
Whereas previously, he walked in plain sight with no effort to minimize the sound he was producing, now, he walked in the shade of the mushrooms, stepping carefully to avoid making noise.
He headed in a random direction, for he was clueless about the layout of this region.
As he was moving, he heard a mind-rending screech. He stumbled, almost falling, from the pain that coursed throughout his body as a result of that sound.
"Fuck!" he said
The screech resounded again, forcing him to his knees as he covered his ears with his hands, hoping to dampen the sound. The screech resounded once more, closer, but by then, Atlas had lost consciousness.
~~
Atlas Vesper POV
When he regained awareness, he was lying exactly where he fell. As he inspected his soul body, he was shocked to notice something. Cracks had started to appear all over his entire body!
Granted, they were quite thin, but they were there. Atlas felt a chill run throughout his frame as he wondered about the consequences if his soul body were to be destroyed.
He also felt angry! Radon had given him almost no information, and he, lost in his excitement, didn't bother to ask. He didn't even know how to leave the place! 'Really can't trust anyone,' he thought darkly.
However, while he did realize essential truths about his personality and the darkness ever present in the world, this experience was not enough to change him completely.
More accurately, it only gave him slightly more caution when dealing with other people, no matter how trustworthy they may seem. However, change always took time, and Atlas had taken the first step.
He tried to get up, but even the slightest movement caused incomparable pain, so he ended up leaning against the stalk of a mushroom tree.
'Since I'm not going to be leaving for a bit, I may as well attempt to reach enlightenment here, instead of sitting around doing nothing,' he thought to himself.
He closed his eyes, intending to meditate, but they snapped open just as quickly.
'What does enlightenment even mean? That old man didn't give me any fucking information!' Atlas was getting angrier at himself as time went on, at his cluelessness and blind arrogance and trust.
He could only sigh, for he had no one to blame but himself.
Not knowing what to do, he ended up closing his eyes once more, and diving into the memories of his past, hoping that he could find enlightenment through affirmation of his darkest moment, something he hadn't touched in years.