Ulithi was a man who was the opposite of Isolde, the sanctum master of the ice sanctum. Isolde's path to strength was filled with significant struggle and grit; she clawed her way to strength from the ground up.
Ulithi, however, was different.
From the very beginning, he had achieved extraordinary things that many people could only dream of with minimal effort. His talent in the darkness element was so high that he reached the height of sanctum master without putting forth his best efforts.
Ulithi was a lazy old man, but even he knew his situation better than anyone. He didn't feel the need to boast, nor was he proud of his achievements.
However, he knew well that he was among the top 5% in the human domain. This was exactly why he had always been lazy and whined about the matters of the sanctum.
Since becoming sanctum master, he had never met anyone noteworthy—anyone who could make him want to go out of his way to teach them, anyone as talented as him.
These small facts were exactly why, immediately after Atticus passed the impossible test he had given him in mere minutes, his whole demeanor changed.
After regaining his composure, he analyzed and understood everything Atticus had done. This led him to one conclusion:
Atticus Ravenstein was a monster.
A monster even more than himself.
'Let's test his limits,' Ulithi thought with a serious gaze as darkness enveloped his whole body, and he disappeared from view.
This was one of the advanced uses of the darkness element despite how simple it seemed. He was curious about how long it would take Atticus to learn it.
'I can feel him staring at me,'
Atticus didn't know what to think about this instructor of his, so he did what he knew best—ignore.
He closed his eyes and focused. Ulithi had made a small mistake. If he truly wanted to test Atticus, the worst thing he could do was demonstrate it. Not only that, the man actually went ahead and explained the principles to him again.
For those who knew Atticus, the result was as expected.
Darkness engulfed him, and in an instant, he disappeared—a perfect replication of Ulithi's demonstration.
Ulithi's mouth trembled. 'What is this guy…'
He was used to people feeling awe of his talent and skill and never imagined he would be left feeling this way for another person.
Ulithi released his hold over the darkness around him, his face becoming utterly serious. He didn't need to ask Atticus any questions; he knew true, unrestrained talent when he saw it.
"G-good job," he struggled to keep his composure.
It took a few seconds to get himself together, and when he did, he asked Atticus to release his darkness. His hand rested on the bridge of his nose in silent contemplation.
'Was this why he got to the darkness sanctum this early?' Ulithi wondered. He had been too lazy to meet with the other sanctum masters. Because of this, he had never had the luxury of hearing about the boy's feats.
'Now how do I go about this?' He wondered. It was obvious that his presence was nearly as important as he had thought.
In fact, if there was a textbook with the teachings of the darkness elements in it, it would be the same as him teaching Atticus. The boy's problem wasn't that he couldn't learn the element; he was just looking for a way to fast-track the process and have someone demonstrate and explain how to use the darkness element to him.
Ulithi had never felt more useless in his life despite being so lazy.
Taking a deep breath, he resolved himself. He would demonstrate to Atticus everything he knew about the darkness element and be done with this sorry excuse for a lesson.
Then, Ulithi continued his lesson. True to Atticus's thoughts, the darkness element had been something he had been neglecting for a long while.
It was a power he should have been focused on.
'It's not too late; I'll simply focus on it now,' Atticus thought.
Next up, Ulithi taught Atticus how to control and manipulate the darkness. The old man decided to start from the ground up despite how useless it was.
He showed Atticus how to shape the darkness into simple spheres or lines. This was as simple as it sounded, something Atticus was well-versed in doing.
He simply arranged the converted molecules of the darkness element according to the desired shape and size.
Then, Ulithi moved to teaching Atticus how to move the darkness on different surfaces. He moved the darkness along walls, floors, and objects, maintaining its form and consistency.
This improved his ability to manipulate the darkness even more.
Even though the old man was truly weird, Atticus had to give it to him that he knew how to teach. He was enjoying his lessons.
After that, Ulithi taught Atticus an advanced way of utilizing the earlier learned concealment: moving while it was active.
It had been incredibly hard, and Atticus spent some time before he could do it. It wasn't as simple as it sounded.
Atticus had to keep track of every single molecule as he moved, making sure to maintain the cloak's uniformity. Every single movement required Atticus to make adjustments to each molecule.
However, just as Ulithi had expected, he achieved it, but it was only barely and would need more practice.
Ulithi knew this fact, which was why Atticus's next lesson furthered this skill. He made Atticus practice maintaining the cloak in different lighting conditions.
Atticus found himself inside a small room that seemed to change its lighting in seconds: bright, dim, darkness, rapidly changing.
Atticus struggled and struggled until he eventually got the hang of it.
Then, Ulithi moved to making Atticus create sturdy constructs from the darkness.
This had been one of Atticus's fortes. The weeks spent creating fire constructs were still fresh in his mind.
Atticus learned how to condense the darkness into solid form, starting with a small cube first. It was the same principle as the air element. He only had to stack up molecules until a strong and sturdy layer formed.
Soon enough, Atticus moved to creating more complex shapes like weapons and shields. He also created animal and man-shaped constructs and made them move and unleash attacks. The fire element had truly helped him in this regard, and
Atticus was able to finish even before Ulithi had expected, surprising the poor old man.
Ulithi wiped the sweat marring his forehead. He appeared exhausted despite having done nothing. He was a grandmaster; was there anything present that could make him sweat if not the man watching over them from above?
However, Magnus wasn't even releasing his pressure, which meant it wasn't him! The one making Ulithi flustered was none other than Atticus himself.
Creating the darkness with molecules, shaping it, creating constructs that could move, and using it for concealment while moving. He had even gone as far as putting him in a place where the lighting conditions changed rapidly. However, in the span of an hour, Atticus had grasped everything.
Ulithi was frightened. Was there even supposed to be someone this talented in the world? Was Atticus actually a god in human skin? It was just that absurd.
Cleaning the sweat on his forehead, Ulithi took a moment to gather himself and then continued the lesson. The faster he finished this, the better.
The next lesson had been an ability Ulithi called shadow steps.
It was simply using the darkness molecules to teleport over short distances by moving from one shadow to another.
To achieve this, Atticus first had to identify the stable shadows in the environment. Ulithi taught him how to observe and focus on the depth and stability of each shadow, thereby identifying the shadows suitable for transportation.
Then he moved on to the actual teleportation. Atticus only needed to generate darkness, visualize the destination shadow, make a connection with their collective molecules, and then step into it.
Atticus made sure he was well-prepared before attempting something like this. Ulithi had been kind enough to warn him about the dangers of failure.
Ulithi took this lesson further by teaching Atticus how to move rapidly from one shadow to another while under stress. He attacked Atticus from every angle, forcing him to achieve it.
Next, Ulithi taught Atticus how to create a stable and sturdy armor made of darkness around his body. It was straightforward, similar to creating a construct. However, Ulithi emphasized the importance of the armor, especially during critical battles, making Atticus take it seriously.
The following ability was darkness binding. It involved controlling your opponent's shadow and using it to bind them before they could react.
Atticus first learned how to do it on stationary objects.
The principle was somewhat similar to shadow step. He had to form a connection with the opponent's shadow and then control it.
After mastering this, he moved on to doing it on moving objects.