Training

"Atlas, as you know, people have the ability to control mana and manipulate it as they will. Technically, mana can be manipulated into anything as long as the human brain can comprehend it."

Largos stood in a shallow part of the cavern's river, Atlas across from him. The young elf gripped his staff in tight fists while Largos held a sword in loose hands. He had conjured it himself using earth magic.

The more time Atlas spent with Largos, the more curious he was about what Largos was. The being seemed to know how to use all elements and was strong with them, too. Atlas wondered if Largos had knowledge of all the spells that existed in the world. He seemed like he might.

"Do you understand how time works, Atlas?"

The elf said nothing.

"Well, I'll show you. Let's start with something simple like stopping time."

"That doesn't sound simple at all!"

"It is, trust me," the being stabbed his sword into the water and leaned against it, "to put it simply, there are two ways to control the fabric of time."

Largos held up two fingers.

"One is creating a box around you of mana that is so deeply rooted into the fabric of this world, that you, as the mage, can decide what to make of it."

"The other way is to break the fabric of time itself with mana in an area, causing permanent damage in this world, but yielding the same result. Do you now see why this is so dangerous and a spell of dark magic?"

Atlas nodded.

"Well, then, let's begin your training. Like I said earlier, we will begin with stopping time because although the two ways of using time apply to all types of time magic, to dominate the simplest technique will help you dominate the rest."

"We will start with a demonstration. Here I come, boy."

Atlas braced himself.

"What are you doing? Come at me! Fight me!"

Something about his mocking tone annoyed the young elf and caused him to charge towards Largos…only he wasn't charging because he couldn't move.

"What the-"

Atlas watched as Largos walked towards him and pushed him into the water. The elf lay flat on his back drenched from head to toe.

"That was phase one. I used the box technique that covered this entire cavern. I will now show you phase two."

Atlas blinked and the being was gone.

"Over here," he heard the being say from behind him.

Atlas turned around to see the being sitting on the shore. It felt like he had teleported.

"No, I didn't teleport. I walked over here, but since time stopped for you, to you it looked like I teleported."

"It's a very useful spell," Atlas said nervously.

"You try doing it," Largos said.

Atlas closed his eyes and imagined a box. He pictured it surrounding himself-

"Start off with a small box!"

He pictured it being one metre by one metre-

"Let it be at least one by one metres!"

He pictured it reaching the deep fabrics of time. That's when he arrived at a crossroads. No, literally. Atlas stood in front of a crossroads, fog covered all the paths.

"What does time look like?" Atlas called out to the fog.

The fog did not answer literally, but instead, echoed a ticking sound. Tick, tick, tick, tick!

He pictured a clock and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a purple cube the size of one by one metres. Largos didn't seem particularly fascinated, in fact, he seemed somewhat disappointed; as if he expected more. Atlas could have been over exaggerating, however, because Largos didn't make any facial expressions.

"You didn't enter the first stage, boy. You made the box, though, I'm proud!"

"Thanks," Atlas replied.

The box suddenly ruptured and purple crystals fell slowly to the ground. It was a beautiful sight and Atlas smiled as his body gave away and down into the water he went.

Days passed by and then weeks. Although Atlas was worried about Primrose, he knew that she was fine somewhere because the annoying Largos kept reminding him so.

"She's alright, boy," he'd say, "she's just training."

Atlas tried to believe him and tried to focus on his own training. After three days, he was able to freeze time for three seconds on his opponents. After a week, he extended the range of his box and the freeze time to eight seconds. After half a month, his box could reach five metres and he could freeze time on his opponent for thirty seconds.

"Atlas, the box is your domain…don't forget that."

"Atlas, you must retain the spell the most efficient way you can. What I mean by that is that you need to conserve mana and stamina in order to fight if things go south."

"Atlas, why are you a prodigy? Is this a weak-to-strong book? Is Rane_writes really that lame?"

"Atlas, you're ready for stage two."

A month passed and Atlas learned how to use phase two. His limit for phase two was thirty seconds, but even at fifteen, he was still left incredibly weak. It was determined he had to build up his stamina.

"Atlas, you are not ready."

"Huh?"

"You will lose the battle coming if you continue like this."

"What battle?"

"Can't say."

"Why?"

"Spoilers."

"What is a 'spoiler'?"

"Nevermind that. Your final test is to kill me."

"S-sorry?" Atlas cried.

The being stood over Atlas in the river and held out his hand.

"Get up and fight me."

"Okay," Atlas said, accepting his hand.

"You can use other spells. I don't care. Just kill me."

The two stood face to face, silent. Then, Atlas rushed towards Largos. He decided not to form the box just yet. Atlas fired an earth bullet at Largos, who calmly walked towards Atlas. He took out his index finger and swiped the bullet out of the air. Atlas fired off a light spell, which temporarily illuminated the cave and when it was gone, the elf expected to see the being stunned, but he was still walking.

Atlas decided to do a feint attack. He fired an earth bullet, concentrated his mana and placed the box around Largos.

Atlas started the first phase as the earth bullet flew towards the being. He realized that the bullet would hit the barrier and not go through, so he would have to manipulate the box and open it. Atlas had never done that before, but now was not the time to stop. Still, Atlas had grown to like Largos, as annoying as he was, and the earth bullet wasn't meant to kill him, only wound him.

The elf assumed that his master was testing his morals. He couldn't be serious about killing him, right?

Beads of sweat made their way down Atlas' forehead. He manage to make a hole large enough for the bullet to slip through and-

Suddenly, Largos appeared behind Atlas and kicked the back of his leg down. The young mage fell into the water and grunted, but Largos wasn't done yet. He picked up Atlas by the head and kneed his face, causing teeth to come flying out of his bloodied mouth.

"I yield!"

"Do you think in the battlefield your opponents will be merciful?"

Somehow, without Atlas noticing, Largos had placed his box around the entire arena and had managed to escape through the hole while using phase two. It was an intelligent move.

Largos continued to beat Atlas until he passed out. When he woke up, everything was healed and everything broken seemed as it was…normal.

"You failed. You get two more tries. Lose the other two and I'll kill you."

Largos sat in front of Atlas, watching him as the elf held his eyes closed and had fists tightly bawled. Since his time training with the elf, he felt like he had gotten closer to him. They hadn't left the cavern for a whole month and he knew how much that took a toll on Atlas.

Largos hadn't planned on killing Atlas, but he needed some encouragement. He needed to know that he needed to accomplish things quickly in order to be safe. In order to do that, Largos had to make himself appear as the villain.

"Remember, you get to decide when to spar with me, understood?" Largos said.

"I can't concentrate," Atlas muttered.

"In a battlefield-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Atlas continued to train, but not only in time magic, but also in his other fields. He learned how to heal himself and how to shoot solar rays.

"I'm ready," Atlas said one day.

Largos nodded and they each took their positions across from each other. Largos decided to start off. He fired an earth bullet. Atlas pointed his staff at the incoming stone and sent out his own, making dust particles explode everywhere. As the smoke emerged, Largos stood over Atlas, leg raised, ready to kick.

Atlas dropped to the water and rolled away as the being struck the shallow floor, causing small waves to jump into the air. Largos realized that Atlas had learned from their previous battle that he would need to use his stamina to dodge the being's attacks.

"Well played, boy," the being said.

"I'm not done."

Suddenly vines erupted from the water and wrapped themselves around Largos, who didn't bother struggling.

"You're in a time box now. Do you yield?"

Largos sighed.

"That's not how this works."

"I was afraid that you'd say that. Sorry, but this is for my survival."

Largos couldn't move as Atlas approached. He managed to break through the vines, but even then, he was stuck.

"First phase, eh?" Largos said.

Atlas kept approaching.

Largos waited for an opening, any opening. Usually when the box was opened, just a little of mana was able to escape and that's when he'd make his move. Atlas entered into the zone and Largos dashed forwards, using wind magic…or at least that's what he tried. He still couldn't move.

"Huh?" he said, confused.

Atlas stood in front of Largos and pointed his staff at his chest.

"Gravity magic," he said quietly.

"You-how did you learn that?"

"While you were asleep."

"Kill me."

The pair stood face to face. One, accepting his death, and the other, emotionless, but pain fueled on the inside.

"I never activated the box," the elf said quietly.

"Smart."

"Please," Atlas said as he grabbed Largos by the arms, "I don't want to kill you. Let me go."

Largos said nothing. Instead, he smiled. Something Atlas didn't know he was capable of.

"Kill. Me."

Tears rolled down Atlas' face as an earth bullet burst through Largos' chest. Blood trickled down his mouth and he fell to his knees.

"You are ready. Now, before I leave. I shall take something from you. TRANSCEND!"

Largos went limp and that's when the pain hit Atlas. His eye felt like it was on fire. It burnt like flames of hell and felt like it'd burst right out of its socket. Atlas fell to his knees and stared at himself in the reflection of the water. His eye color had changed from blue to yellow…at least for his right eye.

"AHHHHHH!" Atlas screamed.

That day was the day that Atlas Woodsbarrow killed Largos, the time god, and gained an incredible power.