Zeras stood there, his mouth wide open, dazed.
"Sammodra Zean. Do you mean..."
"Yes. Sammodra Zean."
"While many knew him simply as the king's adopted child, none of them knew his true past."
The old man shook his head with regret.
He beheld an expression like that of an old man watching a young generation that had forgotten its past, diving headfirst into the Abyss.
"Do you know, young man, that Sammodra Zean isn't an Atlantean?"
The old man asked again, shocking Zeras.
"If he's not an Atlantean, then that means he's an..." Zeras gasped as he discovered the truth.
"Yes, Sammodra Zean is not an Atlantean. He is, in fact, a Skull." The old man said matter-of-factly.
Zeras looked at the old man blankly, his face shifting through expressions.
"But I don't understand. Why would the king spare an enemy and even adopt him as his own son?"
"It looks kind of..." Zeras said, not finishing his sentence.
It looked stupid to him, adopting the child of an enemy.
"Even though King Atlas was a great man and a powerful king, who understood the essence of the word 'necessary evil', he still could not bring himself to do it.
Sammodra was found after the end of the battle, with a dead mother and father.
He had just been born at that time.
Atlas couldn't bring himself to kill a newborn boy who had lost his mother and father.
Perhaps it was the guilt in his heart from having killed the last of them.
So, he decided to raise him, believing he could wipe away the Skulls' naturally ingrained and insatiable greed for powerful artifacts.
"A seemingly good decision, but unfortunately, fate." The old man said, shaking his head.
"The king loved Sammodra, and he later accepted him as one of his own, training him to become his successor."
"But as Sammodra grew, so did his urge for powerful things."
"The Skulls' desire for powerful treasures is not something slowly built in them; it's a deep, greedy urge forever etched in their blood."
The old man spat out coldly.
"The things Sammodra saw could no longer satisfy his urge, and he finally found something that did."
"And that was Atlas's Golden Trident."
"It was the same thing that caused the battle with the Skulls in the first place."
"How could the king not know of this? But could he bring himself to get rid of the son he had raised since young?"
"Besides, King Atlas himself had sustained grave injuries, and he only had so much time left."
"This...Sammodra also knew, so he waited patiently for Atlas to die, and he'd automatically obtain the trident as the next king."
"That's why King Atlas created a throne rule, that only the most powerful Atlantean can become the next king of Atlantis."
"It was a rule with bleak intent."
"Atlas was leaving the owner of the trident to fate."
"If Sammodra obtained the trident, he'd soon learn of his past, and can you guess what he'd do once he did that?" The old man asked.
"He'd destroy Atlantis and go on a mindless search for his own race."
He answered.
"Correct."
"But there should be someone who can defeat him, right? Is Sammodra that powerful..."
"Sammodra Zean is probably the most powerful in Atlantis."
"How?"
Zeras asked in doubt.
"King Atlas, the most powerful King in the history of Atlantis, raised him as his own son, teaching him Atlantean secrets that were mostly unknown."
"Besides, Sammodra also had the blood of the powerful Skulls running through him."
"He's the perfect combination of two powerful races, and no doubt powerful."
"In fact, I currently cannot think of a match for him."
"All the ancient warriors of Atlantis are dead, and the Atlantean soldiers of this generation are just heedless flies, grappling around for anything they might find in the dark."
"In short, they're lost..."
Zeras swallowed, finally realizing just how tough his trial was.
"But I believe there's one who can defeat Sammodra."
"Really?" Zeras asked curiously.
"Did you remember that three people survived, after King Atlas and Sammodra?"
He asked, and Zera's eyes gleamed.
"Yes. The king's advisor!" Zeras answered.
"The king's advisor is not an ordinary advisor."
"In fact, he's the one responsible for teaching him the secrets of the Atlanteans and protecting him since young."
"In other words, you can say the king's advisor is the king's teacher since birth."
"If the king's advisor were to teach another person, then that person would be as powerful as King Atlas himself, easily defeating Sammodra."
Zeras mused to himself, realization dawning upon him.
What the man said was really true. But there was still a flaw.
"Since the king is dead, I believe his advisor should have also died, right?"
"No, his advisor is not dead. He's very much alive." The old man said with a smile.
"He is? Where is he right now?" Zeras asked curiously.
"He is..." The old man said, and when he completed his words, Zeras looked at him blankly for a while before bursting into laughter.