Chapter 606 Darkness

Chapter 606 Darkness

Ulithi was a man who was the opposite of Isolde, the sanctum master of the ice sanctum. Isolde's path to strength was filled with significant struggle and grit; she clawed her way to strength from the ground up.

Ulithi, however, was different.

From the very beginning, he had achieved extraordinary things that many people could only dream of with minimal effort. His talent in the darkness element was so high that he reached the height of sanctum master without putting forth his best efforts.

Ulithi was a lazy old man, but even he knew his situation better than anyone. He didn't feel the need to boast, nor was he proud of his achievements.

However, he knew well that he was among the top 5% in the human domain. This was exactly why he had always been lazy and whined about the matters of the sanctum.

Since becoming sanctum master, he had never met anyone noteworthy—anyone who could make him want to go out of his way to teach them, anyone as talented as him.

These small facts were exactly why, immediately after Atticus passed the impossible test he had given him in mere minutes, his whole demeanor changed.

After regaining his composure, he analyzed and understood everything Atticus had done. This led him to one conclusion:

Atticus Ravenstein was a monster.

A monster even more than himself.

'Let's test his limits,' Ulithi thought with a serious gaze as darkness enveloped his whole body, and he disappeared from view.

This was one of the advanced uses of the darkness element despite how simple it seemed. He was curious about how long it would take Atticus to learn it.

'I can feel him staring at me,'

Atticus didn't know what to think about this instructor of his, so he did what he knew best—ignore.

He closed his eyes and focused. Ulithi had made a small mistake. If he truly wanted to test Atticus, the worst thing he could do was demonstrate it. Not only that, the man actually went ahead and explained the principles to him again.

For those who knew Atticus, the result was as expected.

Darkness engulfed him, and in an instant, he disappeared—a perfect replication of Ulithi's demonstration.

Ulithi's mouth trembled. 'What is this guy...'

He was used to people feeling awe of his talent and skill and never imagined he would be left feeling this way for another person.

Ulithi released his hold over the darkness around him, his face becoming utterly serious. He didn't need to ask Atticus any questions; he knew true, unrestrained talent when he saw it.

Atticus struggled and struggled until he eventually got the hang of it.

Then, Ulithi moved to making Atticus create sturdy constructs from the darkness.

This had been one of Atticus's fortes. The weeks spent creating fire constructs were still fresh in his mind.

Atticus learned how to condense the darkness into solid form, starting with a small cube first. It was the same principle as the air element. He only had to stack up molecules until a strong and sturdy layer formed.

Soon enough, Atticus moved to creating more complex shapes like weapons and shields. He also created animal and man-shaped constructs and made them move and unleash attacks. The fire element had truly helped him in this regard, and

Atticus was able to finish even before Ulithi had expected, surprising the poor old man.

Ulithi wiped the sweat marring his forehead. He appeared exhausted despite having done nothing. He was a grandmaster; was there anything present that could make him sweat if not the man watching over them from above?

However, Magnus wasn't even releasing his pressure, which meant it wasn't him! The one making Ulithi flustered was none other than Atticus himself.

Creating the darkness with molecules, shaping it, creating constructs that could move, and using it for concealment while moving. He had even gone as far as putting him in a place where the lighting conditions changed rapidly. However, in the span of an hour, Atticus had grasped everything.

Ulithi was frightened. Was there even supposed to be someone this talented in the world? Was Atticus actually a god in human skin? It was just that absurd.

Cleaning the sweat on his forehead, Ulithi took a moment to gather himself and then continued the lesson. The faster he finished this, the better.

The next lesson had been an ability Ulithi called shadow steps.

It was simply using the darkness molecules to teleport over short distances by moving from one shadow to another.

To achieve this, Atticus first had to identify the stable shadows in the environment. Ulithi taught him how to observe and focus on the depth and stability of each shadow, thereby identifying the shadows suitable for transportation.

Then he moved on to the actual teleportation. Atticus only needed to generate darkness, visualize the destination shadow, make a connection with their collective molecules, and then step into it.

Atticus made sure he was well-prepared before attempting something like this. Ulithi had been kind enough to warn him about the dangers of failure.

Ulithi took this lesson further by teaching Atticus how to move rapidly from one shadow to another while under stress. He attacked Atticus from every angle, forcing him to achieve it.

Next, Ulithi taught Atticus how to create a stable and sturdy armor made of darkness around his body. It was straightforward, similar to creating a construct. However, Ulithi emphasized the importance of the armor, especially during critical battles, making Atticus take it seriously.

The following ability was darkness binding. It involved controlling your opponent's shadow and using it to bind them before they could react.

Atticus first learned how to do it on stationary objects.

The principle was somewhat similar to shadow step. He had to form a connection with the opponent's shadow and then control it.

After mastering this, he moved on to doing it on moving objects.