Shadows of Atlas

4- Nature Man Part I

"Is the specimen ready for further testing?," a StriveCo scientist asked. "Yes, we are preparing to transfer it now," another one responded. Suddenly, they hear glass breaking and they run to investigate. "What happened here?!?," one of them asked. "Specimen 2146 has escaped," an aide said. "Shit, sound the alarms!," the scientist ordered, but Specimen 2146 had already made it outside the facility near Floralia village.

"Owowowowow!," Eto yelped in pain. "I'm sorry, but we did warn you that the medication would hurt," the nurse said. "Who was the guy and why was the Phantom so interested in you?," Ernie asked. " How should I know? I've never seen that Phantom before," Eto retorted. "Then why did he give you those strange artifacts?," Ernie asked sternly. "I don't even know what those are, the Phantom just looked at me, I blacked out and then those things appeared," Eto defended himself. "It's true, I saw the Phantom with my own two eyes and it seemed interested in Eto," the Coran girl said. "And what is your name?," Ernie asked. " I'm Zai, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl" Zai introduced herself. "So you claim that the Phantom stared at Eto for a while and let those things behind?," Ernie asked one more time. "My god, yes; stop asking me all these things, I told you the truth already. Now please leave me alone," Eto said in irritation.

"Sir, we've been analyzing the objects, but they don't seem to react," a Coran said. "Interesting, try bringing them next to Eto," Ernie suggested. As the Coran brought the objects, they started to glow and suddenly Eto was brought to another place. It was a place full of stars and planets. "Why am I in outer space?," Eto asked himself outloud. "You are special Eto, a great destiny awaits you," a voice said. It had a soft female tone which made Eto feel calm. "What kind of destiny?," he asked the voice. Then an unexpected beam of light shone upon Eto and bestowed him with a new power. "Unite the one who became two and the true guardian shall appear. He shall banish the evil that plagues this land, use the power of the cosmos wisely, else the world decays," the voice said and in an instant Eto was brought back to reality.

"Eto? You okay? After the flash of light you went blank for a few minutes," Zai asked to make sure he was okay. "Yeah, I am, but I thought a I heard a voice call out to me... something about uniting the one who became two. Anyways, if those artifacts reacted with me then it must mean I can wield them, ergo I think I should test them out," Eto suggested. Therefore Eto and Zai went out of the base in order to test the artifacts. "Huh?," Eto said in confusion. "What is it?," Zai asked. "My transformation item, it's changed...," Eto said. "Hmmm, check it out then," She suggested.

"Chaos Star Power, Rank Up!," Eto said as he transformed into a black vest style shirt with white long sleeves and a checkered bottom, alongside black pants and white shoes. He also gained a darker shade of blue in his irises and a pair of multicolored broken stained glass-like wings. "Woah this looks awesome!!!," Eto yelled in admiration. "Summon your weapon!," Zai exclaimed and he did so, revealing the blade with an open star shaped slot. "What is this slot for?," Eto asked as he slid the red crystal star in it and the blade transformed into a fire styled blade and the white segments of his outfit turned red. "Woah! I can wield fire magic???," he asked in shock. "Try it out on me," Zai suggested. She summoned an ice wall and he shot a fire attack but it only melted the surface of the ice. "So I can wield weaker versions of the elemental magic that corresponds to each star," Eto deduced. "The scans indicate you have a new type of magic as well, try removing the star and cast a spell," Ernie said through a speaker and Eto did so, returning to his previous form. "Star Spinning Barrage!," yelled Eto as he shot a barrage of stars that destroyed the ice wall.

"I see, you should come back for now, we need to keep testing you for- watch out!," Ernie yelled as he viewed a fast vine attack the two of them. Eto defended with a shield spell and got a glimpse of the attacker. It looked like a man, but he wasn't sure because it started fleeing into the forest. "I sensed something from it. Confusion? Sadness? Hurt? I have confront it again," Eto said as he gave chase. "Eto wait!," Ernie and Zai yelled, but they were too late. "Hey! Wait up! I'm not gonna hurt you!," Eto exclaimed as he caught up to the perpetrator.

"Leave me alone!," he yelled with a russian accent as he launched another vine attack, but Eto skillfully dodged it. He then casted a Leaf Hurricane spell, but Eto countered with a Cosmic Storm spell and neutralized his attack. "Who are you?," Eto asked, but was attacked again. "Leave me alone," the man said as he attacked with the vines. Without warning, Eto became overcome with a mix of sorrow, fear, and aggresiveness. He proceeded to slash through the vines and shoot rapid fire stars, hurting the man as much as he could. He summoned a giant star, but came to his senses before he did anything too drastic. "D-did I do this?," he stuttered as he saw the unconscious man on the ground. He decided not to tell anyone about this and took the man to the base.