Atlas Online: by Nick Venom (best books to read for knowledge txt) 📕

“You give up after 279 swings?” Royal Captain Dize, an older man dressed in a white and red trench coat, shouted. He carried his trusted weapon, Venomous Eagle, a weapon made out of magically enhanced iron -which made it stronger than diamonds. 

Dize stood over Tin, watching as he sweated through his clothes while swinging Ashbringer. Every swing released a wave of fire that grew brighter and went farther with every swing. 

“For your poor performances, now you’ll have to do 1,000 swings!” He ordered. Tin nodded, throwing another swing. His clothes were soaked in sweat and his body wavered back and forth as his balance unstabilized. 

“I think that’s more than enough. You’re going to overwork him.” A female warned Dize. She approached Dize, dressed in the same colors, but with a cloak instead of a trench coat. She wore a puffy hat that shielded her from the burning sun. 

“It’s not overworking him if he isn’t doing any work,” Dize responded. “You’ll get him in the afternoons Emma, it’s my time now.” 

Royal Court Mage Emma nodded, taking a few steps back. “The King won’t like it if he collapses and dies on you.”

‘Well-” Dize started, glancing at Tin. “-that’s why you’re here, right? To heal him?”

Emma shook her head. “Meatheads like you don’t understand exhaustion.”

Dize chuckled, nodding to himself. “Fine, thanks to Emma’s sympathy, I’ll let you off for today. However, I’m doubling the number of swings for tomorrow.” He threatened.

Tin nodded, being thrown a towel by Emma. He wiped himself down but failed to get rid of all of the sweat on him.

He sheathed Ashbringer, turning to face Emma and Dize. “Morning, Miss Emma.”

Emma nodded her head at him. “You’ve been adjusting a lot better. I can’t believe it’s been three months since you first arrived here.”

“You wouldn’t be able to tell based on his physique,” Dize noted, staring at Tin’s muscles through his shirt. They weren’t bulging through the shirt, still materializing. Most of his early training consisted of mana training and less of physical training. 

“Okay, before the King appears for his scheduled arrival, let’s have a short duel to see if you are any better than during our first duel?”

Emma shook her head disapprovingly. “Fights, swords, muscles, that’s all you care about?” She asked.

“Well, a certain somebody used to love all of those things before… way in the past.” Dize winked at her. Emma blushed, looking away.

“Idiot.” She muttered, taking a few more steps backward.

Dize turned back to face Tin, holding out Venomous Eagle and pointing it at Tin. Tin brandished Ashbinger, barely able to wiggle his fingers. He pointed it at Dize, lingering in his spot for a few seconds, before charging forward. 

Tin swung, emitting a wave of fire that Dize easily dodged. He sidestepped around the wave of fire and pushed onward. With Tin unable to use One-Shot Kill in a friendly duel, he had to rely on Ashbringer’s Wave of Fire and his strength. And he wasn’t confident of the latter.

The two collided swords, the sound of metal clanging exploding around them. “Last time we did this, I blew you away. Now you’re able to hold your ground-” He glanced down at Tin’s legs, which were trembling. They held their ground, but were slowly cracking. “-if only barely.”

Tin gripped Ashbringer tightly, glancing to the side of Dize. As he expected, Dize had activated Venomous Eagle’s skill, Venom. The attack saw five chains erupting from behind the user and ambushing the user’s opponent. 

The ugly head of one of the chains appeared, forcing Tin to retreat. He jumped backward, nicked by one of the chains. He fell to his knees, staring up at Dize. Simply clashing swords were more than Tin could handle.

Even so, he forced himself back to his feet. He smirked at Dize as if to say, Did you think you could defeat me that easily? Dize tilted his head, raising both eyebrows before the expression disappeared. It turned into a smug grin. 

“You’re doing better,” Dize remarked with a smile. The smile disappeared quickly as he lowered himself, preparing to charge towards him. Tin did the same, preparing himself to deflect the blow.

Dize then charged towards him. Tin steadied Ashbringer, bringing the blade to his chest. He glared at Dize as he got closer and closer to him. Announcer, are there any secret offensive skills hiding in Ashbringer that I can use? Tin had been training his connection to Announcer, which was him having one-sided conversations with Announcer until he, eventually, responded.

Now he could communicate with Announcer with thoughts only. He didn’t have to say anything out loud anymore.

~Two sub-skills haven't been unlocked. You could get them if you were better with Ashbringer, instead of swinging it like it was a normal weapon~ Tin didn’t enjoy hearing Announcer being so snide and rude to him, unlike the version that he was used to while on Earth, but he had gotten more and more use to it.

Can I unlock it before Dize hits me? Tin asked him. He stared down Dize while communicating with Announcer. Time wasn’t slowed down.

~Nope, you need to be better to activate it~

Tin gritted his teeth before swallowing his anger. How do I activate it?

~You won’t have time to do it. Try your best to not die~ Announcer remarked, leaving Tin on his own. Tin shook his head, annoyed. He faced Dize who now was a few feet from him. He kept Ashbringer close to him, using it to block the brunt of Dize’s blow. He was pushed back a few inches before his legs gave up on him. 

He collapsed, unable to stand. He lost all energy in his legs. Tin looked up at the smugly grinning Dize. “You did a lot better than I imagined. You even forced your body to keep fighting when it was giving up.” He remarked. He held out his hand.

Tin nodded. “You got me.” He said as he grabbed Dize’s hand. He was pulled to his feet. He then collapsed again. “Well, time for my break.” He joked.

Emma shook her head, smiling. “You two are idiots, you know that.”

“Last time I heard you were into idiots,” Dize said, winking at her. “Would that make you a larger or smaller idiot than us?” He teased her.

Emma blushed, shaking her head violently. “Idiot! That was a mistake!”

Dize smiled. He turned back to face Tin, who was trying to regain his legs. His legs refused to work. “Make sure your legs work by the time the King arrives.” He told him

“You don’t have to worry about that.” King Peter remarked, approaching them. Dize and Emma kneeled immediately while Tin tried to kneel but awkwardly failed. King Peter shook his head, motioning for them to rise. “I see that Tin’s been diligently training.” Arlin and Siora were at King Peter’s side. He treated the siblings as his own children, teaching them to read and write using what free time he had. Tin was thankful to him for teaching the siblings, especially considering his standing as the king. 

“Good to see you in perfect health, your Majesty,” Dize said.

“God bless the Majesty,” Emma remarked.

King Peter waved off their remarks. “May, please step in.” May, one of the seven Guardians, strolled into the training area after coming out of her hiding spot behind bushes.

“Yes, your Majesty?”

“I don’t enjoy people hiding from me.” King Peter remarked, clearly remembering the assassination attempt at the ball three months ago. Since then, no Royal Balls had occurred. 

“Sorry… Your Majesty.” May bowed her head.

“It’s nothing, May.” He turned his attention back to Tin. “It’s almost time. You understand what that means?”

Tin nodded. “Yes, your Majesty.” The siblings rushed to his side, hugging him. He embraced them while keeping an eye on the king.

“Good, then you’ll be ready… Ready for the Atlas High Tournament.”

TBC…

“Atlas High Tournament?” Tin questioned, his eyes widened. “Wait! I’m going to a tournament? Shouldn’t you be sending me to a dungeon or something?” In the game, cleaning dungeons of its valuables and monsters was the easiest way to grow stronger. 

King Peter shook his head. “Dungeons are good sources of training, but if you want to defeat Helina, then you need experience fighting strong opponents. In the Atlas High Tournament, every strong being in the world will be uniting for competition. S Rank Dungeons are rare and rarely appear in my kingdom. The tournament, meanwhile, will begin three months from now.”

Tin nodded. “Where is the tournament?” He asked.

“In the neighboring nation - the Aska Kingdom. I have already sent a message ahead of you to inform the Royal Family about your arrival. They’ll be prepared for you.” King Peter said.

“Uh… T-Thank you, your Majesty.” Tin bowed his head.

“Raise your head.” He turned to face Dize and Emma, who stood near each other. “How is he faring?”

“Better than I expected, your Majesty. He’s still green behind the ears, but I think, with the tournament, he could be better.” Dize bluntly said.

“What he means is that Tin has been doing well, but he needs more training and real experience,” Emma said, stepping in front of Dize. She was shorter by a few inches compared to him, allowing Dize to peek up over her. “Him participating in the tournament will be good for his future.”

King Peter nodded. He glanced at the siblings, both of them staring at him. “As for the elven siblings, they’ll be joining you.”

“Are you sure?” May spoke up.

King Peter glanced at her, silencing her with a single glance. She bowed her head again. 

“Aska is filled with elves. The entire Royal Family consists of elves and the majority of the population are elves. It’ll be good for them to be with other elves. They won’t have to worry about being discriminated against there.” He said.

Tin nodded - a tear in his eye. “Yes, your majesty! Thank you for this opportunity!” He exclaimed.

King Peter shook his head. “You have been graced by God himself, Orville. He has given you a prophecy to fulfill. Kill this Helina person and save the world - the only person who could do this is you. You are more important than everybody in this world.”

Tin didn’t mutter anything, nodding softly to himself. 

King Peter turned around to May. “Will you be joining Tin or do you have duties elsewhere?” 

May raised her head. “I apologize, your Majesty. I was recently called by my elder brother, Guardian Benjamin, to assist in a subjugation mission.” 

King Peter stroked his chin. “Mind to tell me who your elder brother is subjugating that needs the help of another Guardian?”

“An Eater, your Majesty. They have emerged in his territory and are consuming everything.”

King Peter took a step back. “An Eater? The creatures from ancient history?” He asked, glancing at Dize and Emma. They both tilted their heads, raising an eyebrow. Access to books was limited to only the Royal Family and high-level nobles.

“Yes, your Majesty. Eaters, the four-legged beasts from ancient times, have returned and are consuming everything. The Eater that my brother is dealing with has already consumed a village and is on its way to a