The fire on the fifth summit of the fire sanctum was scorching. When Atticus first entered the river of fire, it was unrestrained and unpredictable. The fire molecules were the most potent and free he had ever encountered, almost as if they were alive.
Atticus had no idea why this was so. Though they were numerous, as soon as he walked into the river of fire, he could immediately sense just how different these fire molecules were compared to the normal ones.
In simple terms, they were more stubborn, like rebellious teenagers unwilling to listen to instructions.
Just getting through to them was one of the hardest things Atticus had ever done. It required extreme patience, akin to a mentor or parent trying to reach a rebellious teenager.
Atticus had to first control the flames before even thinking about using them to form his domain.
However, through persistence and patience, he managed to achieve this initial feat. After months of meditation and connecting with the flames without a single break or sleep, Atticus finally felt something—a moment of perfect equilibrium.
However, Atticus had never sat in one position for this long before. He had gone days, which stretched into weeks and then months, without moving. More importantly, he hadn't eaten or drunk any water during this time.
At this point, Atticus's lips were parched, extremely dry and cracked, as if they might split open at the slightest movement.
His once flawless skin had grown paler, drained of its usual vigor. The sharpness of his features had intensified, with hollowed cheeks and dark circles under his eyes that made him appear almost gaunt.
His muscles, once compact and defined, had shrunk, leaving him with a frail, almost skeletal appearance.
Each breath he took was shallow and labored, and his eyes, once bright and focused, now seemed sunken and dull.
Despite all of this, Atticus's eyes blazed with intense determination. As soon as he felt this equilibrium, the river of fire swirled around him in a harmonious dance, causing the ground of the fifth summit to quake.
A blinding light ignited in the middle of the summit, engulfing even the river of fire before it shot skyward with intense force.
"Your control over fire is st—"
Dekai's words abruptly paused as his head shot upward, seeing the blinding light splitting the sky.
He had been instructing the five on the fourth summit when he felt the enormous energy coming from the fifth summit.
'Has he already…?' His heart trembled at the thought that the monster boy might be forming his domain.
It wasn't only Dekai; everyone in the sanctum had their gazes focused upward. They had all heard that the monster kid was on the fifth summit, and for something this grand to happen could only mean one thing—the formation of a domain!
Members of the other seven elemental sanctums paused whatever they were doing and looked toward the fire sanctum.
Everyone held their breaths, many of their gazes fixed upward, their expressions serious.
However, as Dekai turned towards the fifth summit where the cause of all the commotion was, his expression darkened.
But before he could act, a streak of lightning descended, splitting the blinding light in the sky in two and striking Atticus as he sat on the fifth summit.
The lightning engulfed his entire body, spreading outward and parting the river of fire for many meters.
Atticus felt no pain, not a single thing. It wasn't because his body wasn't in a world of pain—quite the contrary, it was. But Atticus had already gone unconscious, his breathing faint.
Magnus appeared on the fifth summit in an instant, lifting Atticus up with tendrils of lightning.
A vial appeared in his hand, and he immediately poured its contents into Atticus's mouth. A subtle glow radiated from Atticus's body, and a little life began to return to his skin.
Magnus's brows knitted into a deep frown. 'He almost died.'
The tendrils of lightning moved around Atticus's body as Magnus scrutinized every inch of it. After a moment, he found that nothing was wrong.
Dekai appeared in a burst of flames the next second, a panicked expression on his face.
"Master Magnus! Is he…?"
The situation was so serious that Dekai had completely forgotten to bow in respect.
"He's fine. I got to him before anything irreparable happened."
Dekai sighed in relief. As soon as his gaze had landed on Atticus earlier and noted his condition, his heart had nearly burst out of his chest. It had been so close! A second later, and the boy would have died.
"I'll take him back to the airship to recover. You should get things back in order here."
Dekai regained his composure and bowed as Magnus streaked upward with Atticus into the Aegis airship.
Another sigh of relief escaped Dekai's lips as he looked over the fifth summit. The space that was supposed to be filled with the river of extremely stubborn fire had been parted by lightning due to Magnus's descent. There was no battle; the fire remained docile, not even approaching the lightning in the middle.
"What happened?"
Dekai looked up and saw the figure of Liora descending slowly from the sky. Ironically, the Water Sanctum was the closest to the Fire Sanctum, so it wasn't a surprise that Liora had arrived first.
The other sanctum masters appeared a second later, each one asking the same question.
But Dekai simply shook his head, an exhausted expression on his face. His heart was still racing from everything that had just happened.
"That young monster happened."
…
Atticus didn't dream. All there was was infinite darkness, until his eyes flickered open and an intense light illuminated his world.
'I'm in my room.'
Atticus felt the soft comfort of his bed and tried to sit up straight. It was hell.
He felt an intense amount of pain and fatigue. He couldn't handle it and slumped back onto the bed.
'What is happening?'
His head still hadn't adapted to the current situation and was spinning around.
'Damn.'
Atticus shakily raised his hand toward his face, his sunken eyes widening as he saw his arm. It looked completely sickly, as though his skin was clinging to his bones with no muscle or meat underneath.
The door to his room opened, and Dario and Yotad stepped in. As soon as they saw that Atticus was awake, they rushed to his side.
"Young master!"
"Master!"
"W-what happened?"
Atticus's voice sounded hoarse, as though the air coming out of his lungs was passing through a desert. It wasn't until he spoke that he realized just how thirsty he was.
"We would like to ask the same question, young master. Master Magnus suddenly arrived on the ship with you in this state," Dario answered with a slight frown.
"What happened, master? Did someone do this to you?" The room suddenly became several degrees cooler as Yotad unleashed his killing intent.
However, "You fool!"
Dario quickly unleashed his aura and shielded Atticus, stopping the killing intent from reaching him. It was unclear what state Atticus was in now, and even something as little as killing intent could be a problem.
Yotad realized what had just happened and immediately fell to both knees. "Master! I-I didn't mean to! I deserve death!"
However, Atticus wasn't paying any attention to either Dario or Yotad. His focus was on trying to piece together everything that had occurred. The memories came in bits and fragments, but they were still there.
Dario turned away from Yotad, remembering what Magnus had instructed them to do. He brought out the same vial filled with deep green liquid that Magnus had used earlier. "Young master, Master Magnus instructed us to give you this."
Atticus paused his thoughts, wasted no time, and drank the contents. An instant wave of relief washed over him.
"Master Magnus said to give you time to recover and make sure you don't do anything strenuous until you're fully healed. I will be back later in the day with another vial,"
After Dario spoke, he sent a gaze toward Yotad, who immediately understood. After apologizing once more to Atticus, he and Dario left the room.
With his thoughts now in order, Atticus reflected on everything that had happened.
'I almost died,'
He had spent months without eating and drinking. While the mana in his body could supplement him to a certain extent—allowing him to survive as long as he did—it couldn't replace the nutrients from food.
'Everything got worse the moment I tried to form my domain,'
Atticus was positive he could have survived for weeks longer. However, as he made that connection with the fire molecules, he felt the tiny energy he had left in his body being siphoned away. If Magnus hadn't intervened, he would have died.
Despite everything that had just happened—life-threatening and dangerous on every level—a wide grin appeared on his face.
He might look sickly and weak currently, but even if he hadn't finished it, he had been so close, so close to forming his domain.
'Just a little push. I'll attempt it as soon as I recover. At full strength, my body should be able to withstand it,' Atticus resolved.