The Ninth Vessel

Ivan was sitting on one of the stools, looking even paler than usual after using his Aether earlier. Atlas wanted to question him right away, but he paused, noticing Ivan slowly rise.

"So, you've seen it then, the truth of how you arrived, though you're still too weak to see the full picture."

Ivan smiled softly and began hobbling toward Atlas, closing the distance until they stood face to face. In a hushed whisper, he continued.

"I've had many like you torn from the horrors of the maze by my design. Many have tried to take me to the end, but the gods deemed each one unworthy. You are the ninth... but you will also be the last."

Ivan raised his free hand, channeling Aether from his core into his fingers and palm.

"My powers are gifts from the deities. They allow one to see the unfathomable, or as I call it, the truth."

Without warning, his hands moved, one touching Atlas's shoulder, the other hovering over his left eye. Aether surged through Atlas's body, making him as stiff as a board.

"Not good," Atlas thought.

No matter how much he trusted this man, being completely immobilized wasn't a position he wanted to be in.

He forced his core into overdrive, trying to resist the purple Aether, but it was useless.

Ivan's Aether seemed in a league of its own.

This proved to Atlas that no matter how strong he got he was still only of the Veiled rank. This man was at least a Sentinel, but something told Atlas that he was much stronger than even that.

Then, Ivan's hand touched Atlas's eye directly.

Atlas gasped.

His left eye's vision changed drastically, seeing the world through an aquamarine tint. His head was spinning and he felt like he was going to throw up. Pain hit his eye like a hot knife but went away only a moment later. 

Atlas then felt a change within him, like writing had appeared deep deep down somewhere inside him.

Splitting his consciousness between his Aether Core and the real world, he entered the Aether room that he hadn't explored in a while.

On the wall, new text was etched, yet he heard no acknowledgment from the Woman's voice. It felt as though it had been forcibly placed there.

----

{Warp}

Rank: Sentinel

Level: 0/6

{??? Eye}

Rank: ???

Level: ???

Core: 1/6

---

The "Eye" line was scrawled in, as if carved by a knife. There were no numbers for leveling up, and the ability's name remained partially hidden. This was an odd situation with no precedent before, clearly this was something unordinary.

Returning to the real world, Atlas saw the aquamarine tint fade. He wanted it to return, but he sensed this ability could only be activated briefly.

Driven by curiosity, he searched for a connection to the new power within his core, he grasped and poked trying to find that same type of mental connection like he did when he used his "Warp" ability. Finally he found it and latched onto it.

Pulling the connection it felt a little unnatural almost as if the power was not his, it was akin to using someone else's limbs to move, his vision was once again cloaked in aquamarine.

This time, he focused.

As Ivan returned to his seat, Atlas saw a brief vision, the future.

Ivan's Aether body moved slightly ahead, predicting his path. It was only a split-second glimpse, probably a total of only half a second, but enough to see his next move.

This was like a lesser ability from the vision he just had when he put the symbol over his eye.

The ability lasted only around five seconds before Atlas's eyes forcibly closed.

Another two seconds passed before he could open them, no matter how hard he tried.

He was now in utter shock. To really see the future even if it wont help much now due to its limits, it will be a huge asset if he is somehow able to increase its level. 

His powers were really turning into something from a fantasy novel.

Now, it was Atlas's turn to speak.

"So, you want me as your escape vessel. But why give me this power? What exactly did I have to sacrifice to gain it? And just how strong are you?"

Ivan's classic smile and laughter returned, this time with the tone of a parent speaking to a child.

"You're so weak that it's not hard to be stronger than you. Though I am curious how you got that Warp ability. Maybe the gods blessed you. As for sacrifices? There was none, At least not for you personally, I took care of that myself."

He paused, coughing before regaining himself.

"Now for giving you this power, that's simple. I need to make you stronger to reach the end of this Trial. The gods sent the eight before you to teach me with each mistake."

Atlas processed this information. It surprised him that Ivan knew about his Warp ability. He'd never shown it to him, though if Ivan could pull him here, maybe he'd been watching.

Another possibility was that Ivan had access to his AetherCore Room.

Ivan could imprint the "??? Eye" ability, but that didn't necessarily mean he could enter and read it. Yet he mentioned Warp where most people would use the word teleport...

So many questions ran through Atlas's mind. He felt vulnerable, as if his life rested in Ivan's hands. If Ivan wanted to, he could kill him easily, and Atlas despised feeling so exposed, like an open book laid before a scholar.

He needed to regain control, to stop letting curiosity cloud his judgment. Recently, he'd been far too trusting, it didn't feel like him at all. Was this some unseen force pulling strings behind a potentially nonexistent curtain, or was it his carefully cultivated logic cracking under the pressure of a real challenge?

Atlas had only been human before this, a normal person with mostly normal problems. Now, he was in a jungle beneath an ocean, in a maze filled with mythical creatures and became a man who could glimpse the future, if only for a moment.

He needed to recalibrate and return to his calculating nature.

Blocking out unnecessary thoughts, he asked the next pressing question.

"What do we do next?"

This time, Ivan didn't smile. Instead, he walked toward a wall, pulling on the head of a creature resembling a deer but with a third eye in its forehead. The head lowered like a lever, and a hidden entrance opened on the far side of the room.

Ivan answered simply.

"We train."