Jack stood motionless as the beings walked around him inspecting him when one, which was Time said in a deep thunderous voice that Jack would never forget, “Let us see his mind, the proof lies within it.” the other two said in unison, “Indeed.” As soon as they had said that Jack felt the three of them peer into his mind. They plowed through his memories, his life, and other aspects he didn’t know he even had in his head. They were busy pushing through his very being back into his soul, and they found what they were looking for, on their way out however they found the Fire. An intense rage welled up within the Masters as they simultaneously pulled from Jack’s mind and held the Seer by his mind. The Seer’s screams filled Jack’s ears as the Master’s barraged the Seer’s mind to find the answer as to why they were deceived in the past. They quickly found the answer, because the Seer could not kill his own brother, only spare him. The Three stopped their assault on the Seer and he slumped down to the ground in pain. Time said something in a language Jack could not comprehend, it was far more complex than any he had known of, definitely more than what he heard as well. Destiny asked Jack, “Do you know who the Fire really is?” Jack said, “No, I always thought he was my anger that manifested into a metaphysical form.” Destiny swiftly replied, “He is a hater of man. He was doomed to die by his crimes against all races of humans spread across the universe. He killed trillions and we understand what the Seer did, condemned him to a fate worse than death, a life forever lived within human life. For this we forgive the Seer. The Seer saw that the death of the Fire would unrest balance, so he kept it even though it was our job to do so.” The Seer rose, the pain seemingly went away instantly and he bowed. The three beings stood in front of Jack and Fate said, “We must prepare you for your task human. You must be trained to handle the power we will gift you.” Jack said, “Am I not dead though, I had cancer.” The Seer said, “I placed that there so I could secure you from Earth, otherwise the balance would be upset. You have no cancer, but you do have a new purpose.” Jack asked inquisitively, “What purpose is that exactly.”

The Master’s said in unison, “To become our Reaper.” Jack looked at them and asked, “Reaper of Death or what? What exactly will I be reaping here?” Time started, “You are hereby tasked with the monitoring, and keeper of balance in this universe…..” Destiny started, “....You are hereby sworn in as our loyal servant and you shall not defy us in any way shape or form possible to your mind….” and Fate started, “.....You are now in control of balance, should you fail, the universe fails. Should you succeed you will spend eternity keeping the balance…..” All three at once said, “You shall start by assuming a new name, one of your own device, and you shall begin your training immediately. Do not fail us.” Jack did not know what to say next. Before he could question anything however the Master’s departed leaving him with the Seer alone on the top of the middle tower. The Seer simply said, “You have your task, now to start your training.” Jack asked, “But why me? What is so special about my mind that I was chosen for this?” The Seer said, “You have great power lying dormant. Your mind is the same as a lost master, a fourth made for this task but he was lost eons ago in a great war. He latched himself onto a living particle, that traveled throughout the universe and left a trace. A trace which I followed right to you. So you see, you are the fourth of them, you are the Reaper, and you will become more powerful than you could ever dream of. You cannot refuse this as the proof is in your deepmind. The Master’s found their brother, and they want him awoken.”

Jack asked, “Would I still be me should I separate him from me?” The Seer answered, “Sadly, no. He is you and you are him. One cannot survive without the other. You are fused at an interdimensional layer. There is no separating you from one another.” Jack said, “Well, I guess I have to go with it now thought don’t I?” The Seer said, “Yes. It will not be easy however, this will no doubt test both your mental and physical strength but your determination, willpower, and patience as well. You will need to start your training by first travelling to a system in which you will be helped to open your mind and allow all things to be felt by it. You must learn to feel the things around you and know at all times where they are and what they are doing. You must become aware of all things, a Reaper must be able to see when things are not right, and fix it.” Jack listened intently to the Seer’s description of where he would be going and what he would be doing. He would travel to a system far from here and on the way he would work on the name he would choose for himself. The Seer gave him his ship and let Jack name it. Jack named it, the ‘Daedalus’ and the Seer said in approval, “Good name for this ship, good name. I have seen the glimpses of the future as my purpose changes and I am turning into a knower of knowledge and secrets. I can see the ship in not such a long time in fact and I should say the name is fitting. Good luck Reaper, may you return task done and new identity in close pursuit.” The Seer bowed and faded into mist and Jack boarder his new ship.

Jack input the system's coordinates into the ship's navigation console and the Daedalus lurched towards its destination. Jack searched the ship and became familiar with it. Ever since leaving Earth he felt a stress lifting from his mind that he could not explain. Like something that was limiting him before was leaving. He looked at a small book on a shelf opposite of him in the store room aboard the Daedalus. He tried to lift it with his mind and to his surprise, with a little effort, the book rose from the spot where it laid for many a millennia, a perfect outline around where it sat of dust could be seen. He moved the book towards him slowly and it came to rest in his hand. He was just about to try some more when the ship started to slow down. He had arrived at his destination and he had the perfect name for himself. He landed the ship in a very large open area occupied by thousands of other ship's. He thought to himself, that it looked like an interstellar parking lot and he chuckled to himself. He was leaving the Daedalus when he saw an armour locker he had not found before, within it a set of armour. He went to touch it and it collapsed into a harness type object.

He put the collapsed set of armour on and he was not expecting what happened next. As soon as he turned his back to it, it shot towards him slamming into his back. It drilled spikes into his back, connecting itself to him, becoming part of him. Intense pain shot throughout his entire body, the worst pain he had ever felt in his life. As it ended images were spread through his brain of how to use the suit of armour and he knew how to use it within seconds and he was amazed. That was the fastest he had ever learned how to do something ever. He held both arms at 45o angles and pushed his fists together fast and the armour formed around him. It had crisp white plate with a solid black outline and gold accents flared the trim around his shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, neck, and wrists. The gauntlets had on one hand just a jet black glove and the other had five white claws and he knew what to do even though he never had before. He placed the five fingers on his head as if putting his face into his palm, his helmet came from the white claws on his fingers very quickly enclosing his head. He looked at his reflection in a mirror and his visor was a skull whose mouth was open and whose eyes glowed a fiery color he could not give a name for.

He exited his ship and walked to the tall temple like building on the horizon at which he would start his training as the Seer left the image of the building in his mind. He walked for about 15 minutes when he came upon the massive structure. There were thousands who upon seeing him hurried away as if they knew who he was just by seeing him. He walked on to meet the heads of the temple and he was met at the gate by a group of elite guards blocking his path. He said, “I seek your masters, let me pass.” The guards laughed at him and the head guard said, “No.” Jack took a few steps back and lifted his right hand to them and said, “I’ll find my own way then.” He sent the group flying back several hundred feet further into the temple and entered it. He was surprised at what he could do and he realized now what the Seer was saying. He felt the armour also helping in remove the blockage of his powers which got stronger within every step he took. He walked past the group of guards that were still dazed by it and he said while walking by, “Who’s laughing now?” he continued on into the depths of the temple and found who he was searching for.

He approached the Blademaster of the temple and said as bluntly as he could, “I require your training. Your guards seemed not to want me here but looks like they couldn’t hold up to my power.” The old man looked at Jack eying his armour, somewhat concerned and said, “You made it past my elite guard then ehm? How easy was it for you?” Jack replied, “I threw them back without even touching them. I am not here to play 20 questions old timer, I need training.” The old man scoffed and said, “You need training? You could knock men back with your mind what would you need training for? Unless you are under par with a blade. Ahh that's it isn’t it? You need training with a blade. With this I can help you. I must know your name first stranger.” Jack said proud of his choice as a new name, “Atlas, Reaper extraordinaire.” The old man gasped at the inclusion of reaper and said, “So it’s true, they found him. They found the Reaper, the keeper of balance. Tell me….Atlas, Where do you hail from?” Atlas answered, “Earth, have you heard of it?” the old man said, “I don’t believe so what system is it in?” Somewhat confused Atlas thought what he meant by system when on the inside of his helmet’s visor a group of locations appeared. Atlas said the locations aloud, “Lunari is the system, Lunariexion-12823 is the supersystem, Milky Way, Solar System 5b-1283044//33ssd.” The old man said, “That’s clear on the other side of the Universe! I haven’t been there for many ages, did not like it there, the electromagnetic field around it limits those who are exposed to it for too long, inhibiting their abilities. Surprised you hold as much power as you claim. I showed them the secrets of forging steel weapons, but not the secret of imbuing them with power to convert them to a weapon beyond physical matter…”the old man pulled out a small round elongated cylinder shaped object that was simple yet elegant and he pushed a button and a strong beam of intensely concentrated energy came out of it. This made Atlas think of movies he used to watch about this same thing but he was looking at the reality of them.

The Old man continued, ”....This is the weapon you will become accustomed too over the course of your training, however. You first must master the steel before you master the power. You will forge a sword using the materials I give you of your own design and to your own specs. You will use this blade for the next 10 years in order to become familiar with it and to learn its secrets. Then you will forge your own Drahka, and I will show you how to imbue it with the power necessary to create a strong energy blade. You will proceed to the forge now, you will find all your materials there, go, so that your training can start.” Atlas walked in the direction indicated by the Blademaster. He reached the forge in a couple minutes and went to work forging his sword. He imbued some of his own power within it so that he may use it faster and with much more accuracy and swiftness. Also to enhance the blade and make it stronger and unchippable. He constructed a blade that was had a two handed hilt that fit his likings perfectly, a cross guard that was a diamond shape with very ornate cutouts included on it creating a sharp spiraling design towards the center where it connected to the hilt. His blade was a solid blade, 10x as sharp as any katana, and 10x as strong as any other blade ever made. It had a very elegant shape starting wide at the crossguard, about ¾ of the crossguards width slowly arching inward up and back out for a total of 1 and a half feet to where it went at a slight angle for another 2 and a half feet where it ended in a pointed off edge like a triangle on the end of the blade. A simple but effective blade style. He etched into the blade near the crossguard in runes of his making a word, his new name, Atlas. His sword was complete, it was lighter than a feather and sharp enough to cut thousands down and still be sharp enough to cut thousands more armour and all.

He also made a scabbard for his new sword. Making sure to have it be strong enough to hold the blade securely and safely. He also etched on the scabbard with a deep black the same runes as on his sword. He colored the sword to mirror his armour, blade being the white and crossguard being deep black, the top half of the hilt was deep black with a band of white separating the top and bottom halves of the hilt and the bottom being the same deep black.The pommel was a skull that was surrounded by black onyx and glowed the same fiery red as the eyes on his helm. He approached the Blademaster and once again surprised the old man. The blademaster said, “In all my years none have made a blade of such elegance yet such deadliness, these runes on here, what do they mean?” Atlas replied, They are of my name, they give me purpose, they show me that I am on with my blade as it is one with me. I lose it, I lose myself.” The old man sighed and said, “You are excelling at your training already and you haven’t even started, I think the stories fall short of what you will become in the future. Now we must begin your bladework, follow me if you will.” Atlas followed the Blademaster to a sparring arena where there were others there sparring and challenging each other. There was a group in the far corner whom Atlas realized as the arrogant ones based upon their reaction as they get challenged. They would laugh and tell the challengers to go away and that they are not good enough to duel them yet. Atlas made a note, he would show them they are not as good as they think, very quickly.

The Blademaster said to where all could hear and Atlas was not aware one could be so loud and was taken back at the intensity of the Blademaster’s voice, “Gather round, do not dally, we have a new student to join us.” As all the others joined around the Blademaster said to Atlas, “Introduce yourself to the class, all we need is your name, nothing more.” Atlas said with a fiery determination that all others there could tell he wanted them to remember his name, “I am Atlas, greetings to you all.” The class greeted him and the entire time he was eyeing the arrogant groups most arrogant person. He stared at him showing that he would want a piece of him if the chance arose but the Blademaster interrupted his thoughts by announcing, “Seeing that Atlas is new he will need to partnered up with another I believe Karee is open yes? Good. Atlas, you and Karee will be sparring partners for the remainder of your training. Reminder to all, the tournament will be in several weeks so be ready for that, now resume your activities.”

The Blademaster left to go about his official business leaving Atlas standing in a new atmosphere he had only been in once before, when he first met the Master’s…..no. His Master’s. He still had to get used to the fact he was a tool not an ally. He was in his thoughts when a woman approached him. She said, “Atlas, it’s good to meet you, I’m Karee your sparring partner.” Atlas bowed and said, “Good to meet you as well.” Karee said, “I will show you to the dorm rooms now, so if you will follow me.” Karee led Atlas across the sparring chamber in front of the arrogant crowd and Atlas’s suspicions were correct. As Karee walked by they group of students whistled at her and made lewd jokes, she simply ignored them when Atlas stopped and said, “How about I rip the tongues out of your mouth, let’s see if you still laugh then?” the group stopped their whistling and their leader approached Atlas and said, “I don’t know who you are or why you strolled in easily like that, my parents had to put up a good deal of money to get me here and I am no doubt the best bladesman here short of the Blademaster. So I’ll be the one making the threats around here.” Atlas laughed and said, letting the Fire shed some light on the subject, “I believe you will see my power soon enough, so get off of you high horse, before I knock you off of it.” The student laughed, “Do you want to challenge me? Really? Day 1 and he wants a piece of the best. I’ll tell you what you have a week to get into fighting shape and I’ll tickle your fancy. how about that?” Atlas dropped the scabbard and sword from his belt, the whole room went quiet and watched and he said, “How about we go now pretty boy and I teach you a lesson in respect?” the student stepped back and his group of friends stood up and approached his back and he said, “You get all of us then.”

Atlas laughed. He lifted his right hand and lifted the entire group with ease, the students around looked on in surprise. Atlas said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way, HAHAHAHAH.” the menacing laugh sent shivers through all of the other's spines, especially the group he had levitating above the ground. He dropped them suddenly and as they hit the ground the were dazed. Atlas said, “I would tread lightly if I were you, I’ll see you in the tournament pretty boy.” Atlas moved his scabbard back to his waist using his mind and turned to a breathless Karee and said, “Shall we?” she led him into the dorms, questions already rising within her mind. As they reached their dorm Karee turned to Atlas and asked, “What the Hell was that? How did you do that? What are you not telling us?” Atlas responded, “Hey, we just met alright, calm down there. Besides, I was told not to tell you certain things by the Blademaster.”

Karee asked, “Well what can you tell me?” Atlas said, “ I come from the other side of the Universe and I hold great power, I cannot tell you my job, I cannot tell you my past or future. I can tell you however I will continue to be as sincere as I can be….” Karee cut him off and said, “You call that sincere? That was far from it.” Atlas explained, “He was being rude and I intervened, I have always done those things.” Karee said, “Oh, well, this is our stop, now head on in and get some rest, you must need rest coming from the other side of the universe, did you use a system traveler or your own ship?” Atlas replied, “I used my ship, the Daedalus. I arrived within a week so it was not too bad.” Karee was once again left speechless and only said, “I’ll come back in a bit to tell you when dinner is.” Atlas watched her walk off and he only was reminded of his past and he was pained a little bit at the thought of her, Anahira. He entered the dorm room and there were two beds, one was obviously taken so he took the other, he took his armour off in the way he knew how too, even though he never did it before. He placed his right hand on his helm, returning the claws onto his right gauntlet. He reversed the arm motion and the plates disappeared.

The harness still visible however he donned the students clothes to cover them up. He meditated with his blades for several hours when Karee arrived and told him dinner was ready and she was surprised by the sight of him. She thought he would look different, Atlas without the armour was above average muscular, tall and had fierce flowing black hair that flowed in the wind as he walked. He stood and really enforced the vision he put out within his armour. He was large and stocky, far from what he had once been, perks of the armour conforming his body to the suit. He put on the clothes he was given, the standard at the academy and he followed Karee to the mess hall. He sat with Karee in the far corner, he positioned himself to where he could see all entrances and exits, he started this habit of his own accord, always be weary, always be ready. He ate very little and listened very little to those near him but tried what the Seer wanted him to be able to do. Feel and know where all the things around him were, to know at all times their position and movements. He steadied his mind and took in all the ambient sounds, voices, chairs moving, utensils screeching, and plates banging. He let in everything he felt and saw and everything he could not, using the others around him to fill in the blanks. He saw the outlines of the building he was in, it stretched far lower than most of the other's knew. He felt every passageway and every nook and cranny that existed. He followed the deepest corridor down further into the complex to a room that looked like a prison cell, for a single being. Atlas searched for this being and found a presence there, as well as counter to his prying, like the being knew he was there. He withdrew and knew what he was going to do, he was going to find whatever was down there.

After nearly the entire mess hall cleared out only Atlas, who at this point was alone in the corner, Karee, and several of Karee’s friends remained. Atlas formulated his plan and rose from his seat preparing to leave the mess hall and start on his pry into the deep corridor. Karee noticed him get up to leave and ran after him to talk with him. She said, “Wait up.” as she tried to catch up with him, however when she exited the mess hall Atlas was already gone. Karee went back to talking with her friends as Atlas stalked wearily through the halls of what was the temple’s restricted area. He snuck through the entirety of the are and came upon the final hallway. It was a long straight hallway with which he felt traps were littered throughout. He knew their location as he had studied the location intensely for the past few hours learning the traps function and their location. He slowly made his way down the hallway, he took about a half hour to make it to the far side where he was looking at a pit. The pit stretched far down and he looked down into it. He saw a lone figure sitting, laden with chains made of a material whose name he did not know. The figure looked up at him as if knowing Atlas was there. The figure spoke with a chilling voice that sent shivers up Atlas’s spine. He said, “I feel your energy stranger, I do not know who you are or why you are here, but the Headmasters will not like your intrusion here.” Atlas asked, “Who are you, and why are you here?” The stranger answered, “My name was forsaken, and I am here for crimes against an entire peoples that once populated this world.” Atlas asked, “What did you do to this people?”

The stranger said, “I used a forbidden power to take their souls from within them, erasing them from both the physical and metaphysical realm. I am doomed to live with their agony and pain, and I sit here listening to their screams.” Atlas asked, “Can this power be learned?” The stranger chuckled and said, “If you truly crave power yes, if you regret things then no. I can teach you, as my lifeforce is near its tearing point to where I will only be the agony and pain of this people. I will teach you, if you will promise to get revenge off of those who call themselves Headmasters. I know I was within balance, the three wanted it done but they did not ask me to do it.” Atlas chuckled and said, “I follow the three now, I am their Reaper.” The stranger laughed, “So the time has come, and he hath risen once more. The fourth strives to live again, I feel it in the way you talk, you crave power and you enjoy using it, like he did.” Atlas said, “I was sent here to train or so I was told, fate has a funny way of letting you know otherwise however.”

Atlas and the Forsaken as he started to call him worked for the next several days and Atlas learned this soul harvest ability. The Forsaken made a remark when Atlas had done it for the first time, “What is a Reaper without a way to harvest souls. Now you know how the power flows through things, no doubt another one of your tasks, learn to feel everything.” The tournament was coming up and Atlas knew he had little time to work on his swordsmanship. He only had two days to prepare and cram all that he had missed whilst training with the Forsaken. He worked with Karee to perfect only a few parts of the discipline he chose but they were the hardest to master. The days drew on and the tournament arrived. Although Atlas was not technically able to participate he did so anyway, the Blademaster allowed it. The matches drew on Atlas fighting and winning his matches made it seem easy. However he was struggling towards the end as the ones who he dueled knew his weaknesses. He managed to make it to the final round which was against none other that the same arrogant pretty boy with whom he had taught a lesson days earlier. The duel began with the boy on the offensive, Atlas was on the defensive blocking his attacks with ease. After a few minutes of this Atlas went on in an explosive show of force beating the boy back with heavy blows from his blade.

Atlas used his blade to throw the blade of the boy away from him. He then took a single slash across the chest of him leaving the dueling armor they spared in in tatters. He held his sword at the throat of the boy and only smiled. He sheathed his sword and held out his hand to help the boy up and he said when the boy was on his feet, “You might think it weird I’m saying this but you have potential, you’re just too sure of yourself, know your limits and know your strengths.” Atlas then proceeded to the final task of the tournament, a duel with a Headmaster. Atlas waited in the sparring pit for the Headmaster to arrive and he heard them before he saw them. Large hulks of men, clad in plate from head to toe, the plate covered in stones of wavering energy, he assumed this was how they beat the Forsaken, limited his power and took him down as the same stones littered the pit. All of the Headmasters came to watch, 10 in all. They all had unique sets of plate armour and weapons at their sides. The Headmaster he was to fight was the most skilled of all of them with a blade. The headmaster was also the worst tempered. The Headmaster entered the sparring pit and asked Atlas, “Do you have a set of armour, this will be a proper duel ending when blood has been spilt, but no life will be taken.” Atlas replied, “I do, shall I put it on for you?” The Headmaster, whose name was Karken, replied, “Do so quickly I have business elsewhere.” Atlas dropped his belt from his waist and he donned his armour. All around him were in awe of his armour being with him at all times, and this made them wonder who he was. Headmaster Karken scoffed, “Fancy armour, too bad none have withstood my blade.” Atlas stood with his arms at a slight downward angle. His sheath and belt moved up through the air and repositioned itself on his waist. This again brought murmurs from the crowd. Headmaster Karken and Atlas assumed their positions and the duel began. This was one of the hardest tasks Atlas would face for quite some time. The duel was about halfway before the first time mark when Headmaster Karken and all the other Headmasters shuddered, they felt something stir. Atlas saw the pause and moved in on it, he struck Karken’s chest plate severing several of the stones and slicing deep into his plate and found his flesh. This cut was not severe but did cause blood to spill. Atlas came out on top of the best bladesman for many Supersystems. The cheers from the crowd roared out and the Headmasters rushed off as if to check something, Atlas knew what it was, he freed the Forsaken and was hiding him in the same tree that the Seer used on him, right outside the temple door in fact.

The Headmasters stormed into the mess hall hours later and demanded a full council and everyone was to report to the council chamber immediately and with caution. Once everyone was in the council chamber the Headmasters locked them all in and dimmed the lights. The Blademaster had his blade drawn and was looking out of the windows while walking around the chamber. Headmaster Brauen spoke very loudly to where all could hear, “We have an unexpected event happen. As you know we keep prisoners in the restricted section. What you may not know however is that one of these prisoners is the same being whom we will simply refer to as, the Forsaken. The once prosperous race that dwelled here were annihilated by the Forsaken, using a forbidden magic we will not speak its name. He has escaped from his cell, we do not know how. We also do not know what he plans to do. We ask you all to take great caution until we can make sure he is either dead, or recaptured.” as he finished and went to walk away Atlas stood up and asked, “What exactly did this magic do?” Brauen said, “It takes the souls out of its victims, we made these stones to protect us from it and we imprisoned him. It is a cold and unforgiving magic, forbidden in nearly all of the systems, who knows where he learned it from.” Atlas sat back down and the Headmasters unlocked the doors and sealed off parts of the temple, leaving only the internal sections and a single exit and entrance for supplies.

The lessons resumed however and after several months the temple was reopened and everyday life went back to normal. All the while Atlas perfected the soul harvest on the local fauna. One day he was sitting outside about to try and rip the soul out of a bird that was annoying him when Karee approached. She sat next to him and asked, “What are you doing out here all alone?” Atlas replied, “Honing my skills….” he caught himself, “....within my thoughts of course.” She said, “I know you snuck away all those days way back. I really hope you aren’t caught up in all of that.” Atlas asked, “Why is that?” Karee said, “I overheard the Headmasters and they said when they found out who freed him they would use the magic on him.” Atlas scoffed, “Not if he finds them first.” At this point Atlas was growing weary of waiting to strike so he let loose his secret. He said, “Watch this.” He pointed towards the bird and he laid his hand out flat. The bird came down and landed on it. Atlas, with little effort took its soul, and when he did that the bird seemed to burst into flames and the all too familiar rush of power surged through him.

Karee surprised asked, “What was that? How did you do that?” Atlas stood up and offered his hand to Karee and said, “I’ll show you.” She hesitated at first but took his hand and followed Atlas to a tree a good deal away from the temple. When they got there Atlas said, “Once you see this there is no going back and no turning away, for fear of what I may yet have to do.” Karee not totally understanding nodded to continue on. Atlas drug his hand softly downward on the trunk and the tree opened revealing a living space within. They both entered and Atlas clapped 2 times very loudly. The Forsaken moved out of the shadows, his arms still scarred from the eons in chains and Karee asked immediately, “Who is that Atlas?” Atlas smirked, “The one who taught me how to harvest souls. Like with the bird earlier.” Karee nearly fainted, this was not happening. She got dragged into the plot against the Headmasters and turned to leave when Atlas said, “I told you there is no turning back, let us explain before you overreact.” Karee saw no other alternative and listened to what they had to say.

After the lengthy explanation Karee sat in though. She said after a while, “How can I trust you?” The Forsaken approached her and said, “I will show you young one, through my eyes and what I saw, did, and felt. I warn you however you may not like what my past entailed but I have moved on and I know that I was in the right.” She asked, “How will you show me?” The Forsaken placed his hand on her head and closed his eyes, immediately after which a surge of energy went through the Forsaken and into Karee. Most of which was memory being shared. After he was done the Forsaken keeled over and Karee sat in shock. Atlas asked, “Do you believe us now?” Karee said nothing and remained quiet. Atlas and the Forsaken talked for awhile and Atlas made a choice, he would complete his part of the bargain and get revenge on the Headmasters at the end of the week. Karee was told to stay put within the tree and be safe as she knew too much now to be of any use other than for later use when his ship would need to be staffed. He underwent his preparations for this week slowly making the defences the Headmasters dwindle down to no longer working although giving off the appearance they are. He also decided he would harvest them all at the same time. He would take all their power in as one as they took the Forsaken’s power all at once he would give them the same punishment, minus the still alive part. Atlas set his drain runes, or so the Forsaken called them around their patrol routes and waited until the end of the week. Atlas ran the plan through his head hundreds of times and he knew it perfectly.

The day came, Atlas awoke from his sleep in the normal way, stressed. He rose from his bed and looked in the mirror on the stand next to his bed. He barely recognized himself, he barely noticed any part of his old self save from the hair, which no longer grew for reasons unknown to him. He took his sword and put his belt on heading out to the tree where he would release the Forsaken from it and sneak him into the temple to cause the distraction. Atlas worked his way into the mess hall which was filled with the first year students, he planted the distraction device which he stole from one of the first year dorms and set it off. As he walked out sparks flew around the mess hall and sirens were set off, the device was part of the distraction Atlas used to sneak the Forsaken into the temple where he would spring the trap. Atlas led in the Forsaken while everyone was busy trying to find out what was going on. A large crowd manifested outside the mess hall and the Headmasters had shown up and entered. They found the device and traced it to the first year who had it in his dorm room who planned to use it later on and they scolded him deeply for a long while. Long enough for Atlas and the Forsaken to both get into position. As the Headmasters resumed their routes they came upon the section to where they all met at a single section. They stopped to talk about what they found, one spoke of the mysterious appearance of a tree and the other's reported nothing of great interest other than Karee was nowhere to be found. This was the moment, the Forsaken stepped out from where he was hiding and laughed a very maniacal laugh that shook all the Headmasters and had them turn in fear to meet their greatest foe. They drew their weapons and the Forsaken raised a device.

The devices purpose was to expel the last of the power in the stones the Headmasters had to repel the soul harvest. The Forsaken said as he used it, “Balance comes for you, I hope your ready for revenges chilled embrace.” The Headmasters stumbled as their power was drained from their stones, they regain their footing when the Forsaken moved out of the way and all the Headmasters saw was Atlas. Atlas stood with both hands raised towards the Headmasters and he was in full armour. Atlas yelled as he let loose the soul harvest, “The time of your Reaping is at hand, You shall be erased as you defied my masters and upset the balance.” the Headmasters froze in their advance, their blades clanged to the ground and they burst from the inside out in an intense red energy almost as if they were burning from the inside. The same red energy raced towards Atlas’s outstretched hands and went into them, transferring all the power into his very being. Atlas was not ready for the amount of power that was flowing into him, he fell to one knee midway through not sure that he would survive when a familiar presence rose from within, the Fire. as the Fire compelled him to stand, he did. The Fire compelled him to finish the job, and he did. The Fire left almost as soon as it had came, it only helped him power through as to not pass out and die. Atlas stood up, sweating and he made eye contact with the Forsaken who was on his knees.

The Forsaken said, “Now for the final part, the final task in our deal. End my suffering.” Atlas asked, “Are you sure this is what you want, I can find a way to take the suffering away, I’m sure the Three will show some form of thanks.” The Forsaken though for a moment and said, “No, I want this. I cannot forget what I’ve felt, I must.” Atlas said, “As you wish.” Atlas held out his right hand and soul harvested the Forsaken. As Atlas watched the same fiery red energy envelop the Forsaken, the last thing he said was, “Thank you.” Atlas felt the onrush of power from the Forsaken, nearly knocking him over and he remembered. There was an entire populations worth of energy he was getting from the Forsaken. As the Forsaken slowly disappeared a large crowd started to gather around Atlas. One of the students asked, “Who was that?” Atlas replied, “That was the Forsaken…” gasps could be heard around the hallway, “...Sadly he killed the Headmasters, but I used his own powers against him to defeat him.” Atlas was heralded a hero even though it was a lie. When the crowd was about to dissipate and make arrangements for the funerals of the Headmasters the air grew somewhat dense near Atlas and all could feel it. Atlas remembered this feeling before and he knew what it was. A visage of Fate appeared and he said, “Well done, your training is complete, return to us and we will give you your next task, bring some other's along as well, you will need them.”

Atlas replied, “As you wish.” The crowd around began murmuring as Atlas went to leave. He went back to the tree to get Karee when he approached the Blademaster. The Blademaster said, “In all my years here none had as much potential as you show. You are worthy of the secret of pouring energy into a blade. Here…” he handed Atlas a book titled, ‘Enargo Bentunari’, and the Blademaster continued, “....This book will teach you how to do it, and take this as well…..” Handing him a blueprint for the receiver of the energy based blade. “....This was of my masters design, he made it for a reason which he never told me, only that I would know who to give it to when the time came. I also felt Fate’s presence. Are you their Reaper?” Atlas replied, “Yes, and your Headmasters interrupted the balance, and they paid the price.” The Blademaster scoffed and said, “They were elected by the Council of Peace, they may be Heads of the temple, but they are not my masters. I didn’t really like them anyway.” With that the Blademaster made his way back to the temple. Atlas opened the tree, Karee came out and asked, “What was that feeling I felt?” Atlas replied, “That is not of concern now, go get your things and that one guy, what was his name? Karvan? Korvan! that’s it. Bring him and tell him to get his stuff.” Karee asked, “Why?” Atlas replied with a smirk, “We’re going on a journey.”

Karee returned with Korvan after about an hour, Atlas had the ship prepared and ready for takeoff when he noticed them walking up. He exited the ship and approached the two. Atlas said to them both, “You will go to places you will most likely never go again, you will see things you will never forget and you will have the greatest and most epic fights of your life…” he directed at Karee, “....As I said you will be my first mate….” now directed at Korvan, “....You will be the head of my personal guard.” Both Karee and Korvan agreed to the positions offered by Atlas. Atlas said, “I have one more thing before we go on this journey. You both must pledge your unending and ever faithful loyalty to me.” Both Karee and Korvan pledged their allegiance and loyalty to Atlas and he said, “Excellent, now let’s be off, we have a mission to receive.” The three of them boarded the Daedalus and Atlas flew the ship into orbit. They were cruising through space when the Seer surprised them all by appearing out of nowhere. Startled Atlas had his blade drawn and at the Seers throat before he realized and when he saw it was the Seer he sheathed his sword and apologized. The Seer said, “That is fine, I did come unexpectedly, I see your task went well, and I have a treat for you…..”

The Seer handed Atlas a black onyx skull ring. Atlas took it and asked, “What is it for?” The Seer laughed and said, “You are human, and humans die of old age don’t they. With this ring you will never age and you can grant this same power to other's. They however don’t need any certain thing. Atlas placed the ring on his hand and he felt a short but powerful surge throughout his body. He felt an energetic onrush of adrenaline and his body went a bit awkward but resumed its normal functionality within seconds. Atlas asked, “What was that?” The Seer said, “That was the effect setting in. You will be fine now, do not dally now however, the Masters are waiting.” With that the Seer vanished in a plume of smoke and sparks. Atlas didn’t really know how to feel being immortal now or so the Seer said. He didn’t dwell much on it and he went back to piloting the ship. For the remainder of the trip he tasked Karee and Korvan to explore the ship and find out where everything is, get familiar with it. As Atlas approached the white plane he called for Karee and Korvan to return to the bridge. They returned as they were entering the massive maw of the portal to the Real of the Three, they both sat in awe as well.

Atlas put the ship into overdrive and it shot forward into the portal and as if within seconds of seeing the blinding white light he pulled up and went level. In the distance stood three solid black towers. Atlas said as they came into view, “Welcome to the realm of my Masters. Welcome, to the Realm of the Three.” Neither Korvan or Karee could say anything, they only sat in shock at what just transpired. Atlas said, “Your questions will be answered soon, you will meet them of course and you will find your purpose from them.” Atlas brought the ship into the landing pad and set it down. Atlas, Karee, and Korvan stepped out of the ship and Atlas led them to the lift, he thought about warning them beforehand but where’s the fun in that. The three of them stood on the platform and Atlas said, “Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, and you also might want to hold on to something.” Korvan asked, “Hold on to what.” The platform shot up, Atlas was ready for it but Karee and Korvan both were far from it. The platform reached the top and both Korvan and Karee were unexpectedly laid out, as they were not ready for the stop either. They both regained their footing as Atlas approached a small circle on the ground. Or the floor? There really was no differentiating the two within the Realm of the Three.

Atlas kneeled in the circle and placed his right hand on the ground, he sent a shockwave of green electricity through the tower and it shook. Soon the other two dark towers shook and the masters appeared from a swirling cloud of mist. Both Karee and Korvan backed off a bit when Fate, Destiny, and Time materialized in front of them, Atlas remained kneeled. Destiny started the meet by saying, “You have done well our Reaper, balance has been restored in that portion of the universe.” Time said, “Your next task will be told to you after we give you your prize. We see the Seer has already given you the Ring of Archurion. We must gift you the Ring of Hebrechrion now. The masters each held out a hand and energy poured out, three different colors, all shades of red and near inseparable by normal eyes, and formed a white onyx ring, of the same design as the black onyx ring. Fate said, “This ring harnesses a power you must use and learn how to use it on your own, it is a power we use and the Seer uses, and many of our past adversaries as well. This power is essentially teleportation between any two points in this universe. You will be given access to come and go in this Realm as you please…..” Now directed at Karee and Korvan. Fate asked, “What is the knowledge you seek to know? What are your deepest desires, your lusts? Do you crave war? Or peace? Follow me and I will show you, even though you may not know, it is in your very soul.”

As Karee and Korvan followed fate they came to a large room and they walked inside, the door shut closing off Atlas’s view. Atlas turned to Time and asked him, “Is there any way I could learn to transfer or show my memories with another?” Time answered, “Yes, but not from us. It is a self taught ability, and everyone and everything is connection is different. You may find your answers within your past, the Forsaken knew it but he did not learn it his own, oh no.” Atlas asked, “How did he know how to do it then? If he never taught himself then he shouldn’t know how.” Time explained, “Soul Harvest an immensely powerful ability. You take the power and knowledge from another and you burn their soul to do so. You know how to do it, even though you did not learn it because what the Forsaken did, you did. You absorbed the power and knowledge of one who knew how to do it. You only need to try it and you will know how to do it.” Atlas thought on this for a while and he understood once he went through it in his head several times. As Atlas waited for Karee and Korvan to come out Destiny and Time gave him his next task.

Destiny said, “You will go to the Hypersystem: Tervon, Supersystem: Dexitervon, System: Onidexitervon- 13812, Solar System- Solemus, and the fifth planet from their largest star. You will use a device we have retrofitted into the Daedalus and all you have to do is arrive on the planet secure it, and end it. You will then plant the seed for new life and a new era to begin on the planet, a single seed, which is also on the Daedalus already. You will meet an especially dangerous race of beings, far from the humans you dealt with before. They are near invincible and are immune to most forms of elements such as fire, ice, electricity and diseases. They are also a war born race, fighting even whilst still in the womb. Always born in fours and always hot tempered and brutish. Their time has come our Reaper, for them to play their part in putting the next check into balance.” As Destiny finished telling Atlas his task Fate rejoined the group with Karee and Korvan behind. Karee and Korvan seemed eager to get on their journey and they assumed positions on either side of Atlas. Time said, “You have your task, see it be done well and swiftly. Balance is a precious thing.” Atlas and his two companions went back to the Daedalus and set off to their next location. Atlas knew that from the talk with Time that this would not be easy. He thought back on his life and many choices he made in it were not easy, but they were necessary. The Daedalus raced off, away from the three massive towers of black, over the pitch white ground, towards the start of their journey together, the start of a new age, the age, of the Reaper.