"You have proven yourself worthy."
Those five words were words that Atticus had been waiting to hear all this time! As he heard them, all his bloodlust and battle intent faded like smoke in the wind, his raging heart calming down as his gaze lost its coldness.
Atticus exhaled, taking in another deep breath. He closed his eyes as the figure lowered his body slowly to the ground.
It had been an incredibly short time, but Atticus had gone through a whole lot in that short period. His will had been pushed to its limits, and with the way he currently felt so calm while looking at the figure, Atticus was sure it had improved significantly once more.
"Intriguing. Very intriguing," the figure said while smiling at Atticus. "Not only did you gain a sudden boost of power during the battle, but your eyes are also different."
He met Atticus's gaze, and despite the fact that he was currently not suppressing his power, Atticus didn't flinch, staring directly into the figure's gaze.
"You look like you've been through a journey of life and death," the smile on the figure's face widened, staring silently at the quiet Atticus.
He could hear the figure's words, but at this point, Atticus just wanted to catch a breather. He had been through a lot.
'You sure took your time.'
A smile couldn't help but appear on Atticus's lips as he heard the words of Ozeroth in his head.
'What are you talking about? It wasn't even up to a second in real life,' he almost rolled his eyes as he responded.
'Even that is too much! As my bond, you have the honored responsibility to be perfect in everything you do.'
'It's impossible to be perfect.'
'Tch. Speak for yourself. You're bonded with the most perfect and handsome person in this universe…'
Atticus could practically feel the pride oozing from his words, and he almost burst into laughter, shaking his head.
After some moments, a wistful smile appeared on Atticus's face.
'Thanks.'
Ozeroth paused mid-sentence, not expecting Atticus to suddenly thank him.
'Hmph! I guess my advice came in handy, huh.'
Despite Ozeroth's words, Atticus could feel the wave of delight that had suddenly passed through the spirit. His smile grew.
'No, it didn't. But I could feel your worried ass throughout the trial. In fact, I was more worried you'd get a heart attack from worrying too much than I was about dying.'
'That's a lie! I was not worried! How would I, the great Ozeroth, be worried about a puny boy!?'
Ozeroth's voice boomed in his head, and Atticus inwardly burst into laughter. His reaction had been so priceless!
'Don't forget we're bonded. Why is your heart beating so fast?'
'You!' Ozeroth screamed. 'Let's see what happened!'
Atticus could hear Ozeroth huffing and puffing, and he could tell that the spirit was flustered. In the next instant, Atticus felt Ozeroth trying to go through his memories and quickly blocked him.
'Aha! Why are you blocking me? You're hiding something!'
'Of course I'm hiding something. I was naked for most of the trial. Is that what you want to see?'
'That won't work against me! I've gone through your memories before, and I've seen everything!'
Atticus's mouth twitched. He had hoped that would work. Seeing as Ozeroth was being persistent, he eventually gave in and allowed the spirit to go through his memory. After some moments—
"You rotting liar! Not only did you lie about your nudity, but you got thrown off a cliff!? How didn't you see that coming!? It was so obvious!"
Atticus inwardly cleared his throat in awkwardness. 'I saw it coming, I was just playing along.'
'Do you live off lying? Just take a look at your expression!'
Ozeroth played the scene of Atticus being thrown off the cliff, highlighting his intense and angry expression.
'Does this look like someone who was "expecting it"?'
Atticus paused for a slight moment, feeling a little embarrassed. 'Well, at least I planned for it from the beginning.'
'Yeah, all thanks to me,' Ozeroth scoffed. 'I still say this: without me, you'd probably be dead already.'
Atticus rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, yeah.'
"Are you done?"
Atticus's gaze sharpened as he was pulled from his thoughts by the figure suddenly speaking.
'He's just been watching me this whole time?'
'Creepy old man,' Ozeroth added.
'You're also old,' Atticus retorted.
'You!' Ozeroth was flustered. 'I am not old! I am ageless! Y—'
Atticus tuned out Ozeroth as he focused on the figure in front of him.
The figure smiled. "Since you're done catching up, shall we get to the matter at hand?"
Atticus's gaze sharpened. 'Catching up.' He noted those words. The fact that the figure used them meant that he knew he and Ozeroth had been speaking to each other after some time had passed.
However, Atticus was supposed to have been fighting the figure all this while. 'Does he know?' Atticus pondered hard, but he soon had to focus on the figure as he continued speaking.
"Once again, congratulations. You have proven yourself to be worthy, and so I will tell you my name."
The skies above suddenly flickered as stars began swirling faster and faster, their light growing brighter with each passing moment. The figure stepped forward, his presence commanding as he spoke:
"I am Elderish, the last of my kind, the first and original of Eldoralth."
'Original?' Atticus's brows furrowed in confusion, and Elderish noticed it immediately. He continued, his voice calm but carrying immense gravity:
"Atticus, as I mentioned earlier, this is the Eldest Veil, a sanctuary created to inform those worthy of the past. You have proven yourself, and now I will reveal the truth of Eldoralth to you."
The stars above spun so quickly that the dark, space-like skies turned into an intense white. Then, with a sudden explosion of light, the scene changed.
Atticus instinctively shielded his eyes before lowering his arm to take in the sight before him. Above him hung the image of a massive planet, vibrant and awe-inspiring, its sheer size enough to dwarf anything he'd ever seen.
'Beautiful.'
The planet glowed with a celestial light, floating higher than the others beneath it.
The image suddenly zoomed out, revealing a system of planets arranged in layers. Below the first planet, smaller planets orbited in concentric circles, each positioned lower than the one before it.