《Atlas Awakens》Chapter 6- Broken In Half
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Waking up in a similar manner to yesterday, Kye checked his phone seeing it was 8 a.m. this time, he got out of bed and brushed his teeth before going downstairs. Now instead of just Hephaestus on the couch of the living room, there were two more people. One was a massive man with bulging muscles that were barely contained by his shirt and the other one was a gaunt pale man who wore a neat black suit without a tie.
"Ah kid, you're awake, good. I want you to meet Ares and Thanatos, they'll be training you in the ways of combat and dark magic."
Ares stood up bringing his full two metre height to bare over the 140 cm Kye. He had a smile on his face and spoke out in a loud and deep voice/
"We saw you yesterday when you were forging. I have to say, I was quite impressed with your focus kid."
He held his hand out as to offer a handshake.
"Name's Ares kid, i'll be teaching you how to use your weapons."
Thanatos stood up and approached Kye with his hand also outstretched to offer a handshake. Kye shook Ares hand but didn't shake Thanatos'. He widened his eyes before chuckling softly and withdrew the dark mana that coated his outstretched hand.
"Very good young one, to have been able to spot the man flowing to my hand means you have very good mana perception. It seems that my dear sister's judgement was correct."
Ares heartily clapped Thanatos on his back.
"Of course it was Thanatos, didn't you see the kid yesterday?"
Thanatos just nodded and extended his hand again without the dark mana this time. Kye shook it and Thanatos' smile widened slightly. Ares started taking to Hephaestus.
"So, as much as the kid's impressive and all, why would you call us here to teach him? Isn't he blessed by you?"
Hephaestus shook her head.
"No Ares, the kid isn't blessed by me and I called you here because of this fact."
Hephaestus motioned for them to sit down and for Kye to sit next to her. They followed her instructions and she began explaining. After the explination was over, Ares had a fire in his eyes with a massive grin while Thanatos wore a grim expression.
"This is great sis! It's a good thing the kid I blessed broke after one training session with me and went back to his spoiled life with his rich family. I'm all in on training the kid and helping bring out his bloodline magic."
Hephaestus looked to Thanatos as if begging for a reply. Thanatos closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh.
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"These are not signs of gentle change sister, brother. A Titan blessing a child means-"
"The others are still sealed Than. I checked with Zeus before I didn anything else. Atlas was relieved of his punishment when Olympus merged with the Earth, he was free to do whatever he wanted."
Thanatos just sighed again and nodded his head.
"You're right sister, i'm sorry for doubting you. We all knew Atlas was a noble soul."
Thanatos' eyes drifted to Kye.
"You would be willing to accept training from all three of us, no matter how hard we pushed you?"
Kye nodded.
"If it means being able to use my blessings, I will do anything."
The two gods looked at one another and nodded.
"What weapon do ya use kid?"
"Well, i've trained with sword and shield but I prefer greatswords."
Ares smiled and nodded. He held out his palm and using a small knife, cut along his palm dripping blood onto the floor. His blood coagulated into the shape of a greatsword before hardening and revealing the dull lustre of an iron greatsword.
"Pick it up kid."
Kye knelt down and hefted the sword onto his shoulder. Ares nodded before forming a secondary sword just like it.
"These weapons are made from my blood. They'll injure you but the injuries will heal themselves fully in a few minutes after the fact. We'll be using these so that you can build up a pain tollerance without the risk of dying."
Thanatos nodded and added his own item to Kye's training regime.
"Mana is cultivated in an intangible well that lies in the heart, though i'm sure you already knew this. The first task we will be doing is learning how to expand our well to allow for more maximum mana. Each time you are done with Ares' training, You will meditate in a method I will show you to cultivate more mana. As you will be undoubtedly exhaused, this will make you go through greater effort to cultivate small amounts of mana. While this isn't efficient for mana cultivation, it allows your mana veins to widen more to help facilitate the increased flow of mana. This will allow you to use more powerful spells quicker as more mana can flow through your body."
Hephaestus added her own part to the already hellish regime.
"After you're done with Than, you will find me and we will do what he have been doing in the forge for the past two days again."
Thanatos spoke out once more.
"Instead of sleep, you will be doing a form of restful meditation that will allow you to regain your energy and vitality within a few hours, allowing you to get back to training."
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"Cause we're gods and all, we don't need sleep or anything like that. So, kid, you're gonna have one hell of a time. Sure you still wanna do this?"
Ares added. Kye just bowed his head.
"I will do my best Teachers!"
Ares and Hephaestus laughed while Thanatos just smiled.
"Well alright then!"
Ares slapped Kye on the back and motioned to follow him. Kye kept close to Ares and he brought them out into the spacious yard.
"Then kid, lets get to it!"
Ares yelled and bolted towards Kye, swinging his greatsword down with incredible speed. Kye barely maged to dodge to the side before another swing collected him in the side and left a deep gash in his side. Kye's eyes watered as the searing hot pain from the would ran through his body.
"C'mon kid, your enemies aren't gonna be as nice as me and wait for you to get up before continuing. Every second you spend on the ground is a second you come closer to death."
Using the greatsword as a crutch, Kye lifted his body up and glared reproachfully at Ares. Ares just laughed.
"Good! You're angry, thats good! Use that to pick yourself up and keep going."
Kye lifted the greatsword and swung but it was parried easily and sent him off balance. Not wasting any time, Ares smashed the flat face of the greatsword into Kye's body and sent him flying. Staying silent this time, Ares observed as Kye lifted his broken body and reached for the greatsword. Kye could barely lift it with one of his arms broken. Dragging the sword behind him he approached Ares.
"Good, never stay down kid. Thats what they want."
Ares let Kye swing his sword at him before parrying it and stabbing his own through Kye's chest. Kye's limp body hit the ground and he breathed shallow, laboured breaths for a few minutes before all the wounds closed. Kye stood back up, the pain still wracked his body but the wounds were gone. Able to now lift his sword again, Kye took up a shoddy stance. Ares smiled a wicked grin.
"Good, now come at me kid. SHOW ME WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!"
Kye released a gutteral scream from his throat as he brought his greatsword down. It was effortlessly parried but instead of losing his balance, Kye twisted his body as to catch the greatsword and regain his composure. Ares swung his own greatsword and it smashed into Kye's, forcing him to one knee. Kye threw his body to the side to dodge the follow up swing and using all the power in his body, lifted the greatsword over his head and swung down. Ares easily deflected it and kicked Kye in the stomach, winding him and sending him flying through the air. Kye's entire body groaned under the weight of itself, he muscles screaming at him to just lie down and take a break. Ares just stood with the greatsword on his shoulder, staring intently at Kye's limp body, almost as if daring him to stand back up. With immense effort, Kye grabbed onto the sword handle and propped his upper body up with his arms. Kye very slowly dragged his body upright, leaning on the greatsword as if it was his only salvation. Staying like that for a few moments, Kye took a stance and held the greatsword in both hands. Ares smiled and held both his arms open.
"Come and get me kid."
Kye kicked off with his remaining energy and charged Ares. Kye swung the sword across his body and down attempting a diagonal slash from shoulder to hip. Ares grabbed the sword with his bare hands, stopping it in swing.
"Good tenacity kid, but you're still using your body like this thing is a longsword. You're taking a lot of defensive action, greatswords are meant for offence. Your footwork is all wrong for this type of sword."
Ares swung his sword down and severed Kye's left arm from the shoulder. Opening his mouth in a silent scream, Kye clutched the stump that was his left arm and fell to his knees. His tears flowed freely down his cheeks and his body was wracked with soft sobs.
"I will teach you everything from the ground up."
Ares said this as he knelt down to look Kye in the face.
"Even if I have to break you in half to start."
With those words, Ares clenched a fist and punched Kye in the face, sending him several metres back and knocking him unconscious.
"We'll see how you're doing after a short rest."
With that Ares sheathed both greatswords on his back and walked towards the two observing gods. He pet Thanatos on the shoulder.
"Your turn."
Thanatos nodded and walked towards Kye's unconscious body, preparing himself for the coming trial he would be enducing on Kye. Thanatos almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
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