Nothing is Impossible

Atlas felt himself fade to nothingness and he floated, fully conscious by not aware. It was very similar to how Atlas had originally found himself in this world, floating for an unknown amount of time in the void. After who knows how long, he felt himself start to spin slowly, picking up speed until it felt like he was spinning fast enough to bore a hole in the void itself and then…

He found himself in a small room.

There were no doors in this room, now windows either. The only light source was a purple lantern hanging from the ceiling. Mist was everywhere, but it never went higher than his waist, it was though it was… contained, like it was forced to stay below his waist.

Each of the walls held a mirror, and each mirror held him. Or… someone that looked similar to him. Before he had the chance to investigate further, words echoed around him, seeming to bounce off the mist.

You are not here to win. Merely to endure. The mind is the only truth. The rest is noise. Will you break, or will you persist? If One Succeeds, All Run Free.

It was the eyeball's voice, though it seemed different this time. Weaker perhaps?

Atlas thought on the words. Not here to win? That's too bad, cause I'm going to win anyway. Atlas thought to himself, firming his determination. He was someone who had done the impossible before, even if he required the system's help a little bit, his accomplishments were his own.

He looked at the mirrors, if he was going to win, he needed to know what he even had to accomplish in the first place. Each mirror held a version of him. And from what he saw, he assumed this to be possibilities for his future.

There were four of them, each different from the last.

On one, Atlas held his scythe loosely in one hand, blood dripping from its edge, and the figure bore a wide, dark grin upon his face. People fled and cowered from him, but his grin only grew.

On another, Atlas held a sword in one hand, holding the head of a monster in the other. He held it up proudly, and the crowd that surrounded him cheered and an odd smile split his face.

On the third, Atlas hung his head, arms chained to the ceiling and legs chained to the floor with so many chains, it was hard to make out Atlas. The chains glowed with power.

In the last mirror, Atlas floated in the void, power wafting off of him in such waves, it seemed to warp the air itself. Atlas stretched out a hand, and an entire planet became nothing.

Atlas was in awe and he walked over to the picture of him wielding the scythe. The mirror flickered and the Atlas in the mirror appeared in front of him, though still in the mirror. It beckoned to him, grin growing wider.

Atlas did not like seeing that expression on his own face.

He stepped closer to it, so close that his breath fogged up the mirror ever so slightly. The Atlas in the mirror did the same, and Atlas felt that if he outstretched his hand he would be able to feel the Atlas in the flesh.

A voice seeped through the edges as the Scythe Atlas opened its mouth.

I am the future where you embraced Avatar of Death, and now I am the most powerful Avatar of the third generation, and I am almost as powerful as those of the second generation. With my power, I can kill beings that could kill the current you with a mere glance, and I have become someone who is feared across all the realms. If you take my power upon you, and embrace it. You will reach never before seen heights. Right now I am a possibility, but with you I am more, an embodiment of the future.

The scythe Atlas reached out to him, hand pressing against the mirror.

Join me, in my eternal quest for power.

Atlas smiled softly. "That is the only thing about you that even begins to persuade me. But I think that all versions of me will have that endless quest to get stronger." He turned to leave, before looking back over your shoulder. "I don't reject you. But I will be a better version of you. I won't be feared. And I won't stop getting stronger. Avatar of Death is only a small facet of who I am."

The Scythe Atlas widened his eyes, and a large crack appeared in his mirror. The Scythe Atlas exploded into black mist, congealing into an orb before shooting at Atlas, absorbing into his chest. Atlas gasped as the memories of the Scythe Atlas hit him.

Atlas stood in a dark room. Blood was everywhere, and broken bodies littered the floor, most of them beheaded. Only one man remained. A weak tier 14 who used light magic. He was the strongest of this uselessly weak church. The man who faced him was the bishop, but Atlas didn't care, he wasn't anyone important, and he wanted achievements. The man fell to his knees, eyes blankly surveying the corpses of his friends and allies. Tears welled in his eyes but he steeled himself, looking up at Atlas. "You are a monster. And monsters are always killed. Maybe not now, maybe not for a while, but you will be killed, just like every other person of your ilk." The man glared with righteous fury at Atlas, but Atlas merely swung his scythe, reducing the man to nothing more than a headless corpse. Atlas smirked at the dead body. "What you said is indeed true. Everyone dies eventually, for everyone is mortal. I plan to break the bands of mortality and reach godhood, like so few have. I plan to join the ranks of the gods." With that he spun on his heels, and walked out of the room which had once held some of the most holy people of this realm.

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Atlas gasped, finding himself on the cold obsidian ground. He held his head and tried to calm his raging emotions. He turned his head to the side and threw up. Once he had steadied himself sufficiently, he pushed himself off the ground and found a notification waiting for him.

You have absorbed a piece of your future potential by not rejecting or accepting it fully, but by accepting that it's a part of you, but that you get to shape it however you wish.

Due to this, you have strengthened your connection with Avatar of Death, regaining your lost link with [Avatar of Death]. Creeping Death gains 10 levels.

Tiering up…

Cannot Tier up any further…

Ranking up…

Creeping Death (ZZ) -> Inevitable Death (ZZZ).

Inevitable Death (ZZZ): You are the Avatar of Death, and a single hit from you can kill. When you deal damage enough to cause the victim to lose any amount of Life Force, they can no longer regenerate Life Force for as long as you can see them. Their Life Force will slowly tick downwards, the number lost per second is equal to the number of times you have hit them. If their Life Force hits zero, their body will start to gain scratches all over, until they die. This effect is canceled when you can no longer see or sense them or they go more than 1 mile away from you.

Atlas felt slightly better after that, and he walked over to the next mirror. The one that held the Hero version of Atlas.

Hero Atlas seemed to notice him, and he took a step towards him, the crowd fading away. He tossed the monster head to the side and stood proudly in front of Atlas, a regal smile on his face.

Atlas saw through his smile instantly. He knew himself better than anyone else, he could tell when his own smile was forced, he noticed the ever so slightly hunched shoulders of Hero Atlas, as though the world was pressing down on him, trying to force him to the ground.

I am the perfect future. I have grown in power and have become a powerful warrior, abandoning the path of the Skill Sage and Avatar of Death because they caused me too much pain and heartache. They cost me Lesli and all my other friends. I instead pursued the path of a Warden. The path of slaying creatures who would try to cause my city harm. I prosper now, and I have everything I could have ever wanted. I have a perfect life, a perfect city that is thriving under my touch, friends who care for me and the people who love me. I have a perfect life, and you could have a perfect life too, you could join me, and I could share my hard earned knowledge of how to build a city. You know the basics, but trial and error has brought me so much more. I am currently just a mere possibility, but you could make me whole.

Hero Atlas extended his hand, much like Scythe Atlas had done before him.

Join me in my path to forge the greatest empire that Atherome has ever seen.

Atlas just sighed. "You are even easier to walk away from. Like Scythe Atlas, I don't reject you, but I won't fail like you have either. I will not stumble upon my path to power, and I won't remain trapped in Atherome like you have. I will be a protector, but I will not become a slave to the people, as you have. Your life isn't perfect. You're merely a pretender and a broken hero."

He watched as the mirror shattered and Hero closed his eyes, relief evident on his face, a smile broke out on his face. A real one this time.

Finally, My torment can end.

He faded to mist, and the mist condensed into itself, before shooting at Atlas and flowing into him. A bittersweet emotion swelled within him as Hero Atlas's memories hit him.

Atlas swung his sword, and the head of the Wind Troll was cut off, ending its siege on his city. Atlas tiredly grabbed it and teleported into his city, where all of his people were waiting. He forced a large grin to his face, and he triumphantly held the Wind Trolls head, feeling nothing but hollowness inside. He had been like this for years, and he had never healed. He had watched the brutal murder of all his friends because of the gang that he had upset when coming to this world. He had tried to fight back, but they were too strong, and he was only able to survive due to them being attacked by the Prince's Royal Guard. It had been hard, these years, but he was proud of the city he had raised from nothing. He tossed the head to the ground to the cheers of his people and he walked into his Mansion, finding nothing but sadness and grief inside. This was the place where he had lost Lesli, but he had never had the heart to leave it, no matter what his advisers told him. He slumped into his bed, and fell into a restless sleep.

Atlas slowly opened his eyes, tears welling before he pushed them down. He wanted to cry, but he knew the feelings were not his own. The news that all of his friends would die shocked him to the core. He shook his head. It wasn't guaranteed that they would die, as the future wasn't perfectly in place, they hadn't died in the first vision.

Or had they? Is that what had driven Scythe Atlas to kill everyone?

Atlas checked his notifications.

You have absorbed another piece of your future potential by not rejecting or accepting it fully, but by accepting that it's a part of you, but that you get to shape it however you wish.

Legion Recovery has gained 9 levels.

So close, but so far.

Atlas turned to the next two mirrors, narrowing his eyes in determination.