Atridis was a proud Rakore boy whose name comes from a star that forms the constellation of warriors in the night sky with three other stars, known as the constellation Pansen in the Lakol culture. Although Atrius was not the fastest and strongest of the young warriors of Titan's Peak, nor was he the most skilled in swords, guns, swords, halberds, and weapons, Atridus had the determination and perseverance to never give up, and his endurance was the most famous among his peers. Every day before dawn, when the others were still asleep, he would get up and run along the rugged mountain roads of the Giant God Peak, and after nightfall, he would always be the last to leave the training ground, his hands like lead from the practice of weapons.

Atrius and another young samurai named Pyras gradually became rivals. Born into a prestigious samurai family, Pyras is highly skilled, physically strong, and popular. He seemed destined for an extraordinary life, and no one of his peers could beat him in the arena. Only Atrius refused to admit defeat, and every time he got up from the ground and continued to fight, bruised and bloodstained, he was knocked down again and again, and got up again and again. Although Atrius earned the respect of the aging instructor, it made Pyras hostile, and he saw Atris's refusal to admit defeat as a contempt for himself.

Alienated by his companions and often beaten by Pyras and his followers, Atrius carried it all with his own forbearance and perseverance. He kept his ostracism strictly secret from his family, knowing that telling them would only cause them pain.

One day, the young samurai and their instructor went out on an early winter patrol, and after a day's march, they came to a Lakol outpost, but all they saw was smoke-filled ruins. The snow was stained red with blood, and the corpses lay on the ground. The leader immediately gave the order to retreat, but it was too late, and the enemy had already pounced.

The strangers, covered in fur and heavy armor, leapt out from under the covered snow, their tomahawks glistening with a cold light. None of the young warriors had yet to complete their training, and their captains were old and frail and had long since passed their prime, and even so, each of them would have killed several enemies before they fell. However, the enemy was outnumbered, and the Rakor fell one after another.

Atridus and Pyras fought back-to-back, and the last of the Rakor still stands. Both men were wounded and bleeding. The battle would only take a few moments to end, but they knew they had to go back to the village and sound the alarm. Atrius plunged his spear into the throat of one of the barbarians, while Pyras slashed down the other two, making a brief opening in the enemy's encirclement. Atrius told Pyras to go first, stopping the enemy himself. There was no time to argue at that time, Atrius had already charged the enemy - Pyras fled.

Atrius fought hard, but as a tomahawk sliced into his chest, he eventually collapsed and fell into a coma.

When Atrius woke up, to his surprise, he saw not the heavenly afterlife, but the same place where he had fallen. The sun had set below the mountains, and his body was covered with a layer of freshly fallen snow. Numb and confused, he struggled to stand up with his hands. He walked among his fallen fellow Lakoor, but no one survived. To make matters worse, Pyras collapsed not far away, with a throwing axe embedded in his back. Their village was not alerted.

Atris staggered to Pyras, where he found his former rival alive but badly wounded. Atatris slung the young warrior on his shoulders and began to trek in the direction of home. Three days later, he reached the outskirts of the village and finally allowed himself to collapse.

He woke up to find Pyras guarding him, his wounds stitched and bandaged. He breathed a sigh of relief to learn that his village had not been attacked. But then he was shocked by the news that neither the Rakol nor the Sun Cult elders had sent Rakolak to track down and kill the invaders, instead they had decided to stay where they were, fending off any possible attack.

In the months that followed, Atridus and Pyras soon became close friends. All the old resistance was erased, and they threw themselves into training with a new energy and purpose. During this time, Atrius's dissatisfaction with the Sun Cult grew. He believed that the best way to protect the Rakor was to be proactive, seeking out and eliminating potential enemies who posed a threat to them, but the new leader of the Sun Cult's warriors—Leona, who had been part of the same clan as him—advocated an alternative approach to protection, which Atrites saw as a sign of weakness and passivity.

Like all Rakol boys, Atrius and Pyras grew up listening to stories about great heroes who climbed to the top of the Titan and were given divine powers. Together, the two friends passed the brutal trials of the Lakore warriors, and they began their most devout training, intending to climb the heights themselves. Atreus hoped to gain divine power to find and destroy the enemies of the Rakor Clan himself, as it seemed that the Sun Cult did not intend to take the initiative.

Only the strongest would challenge the Titan Peak, and few out of a thousand people had caught a glimpse of the peak. Even so, Atrids and Pyras had many companions from the scattered Lakol villages at the foot of the mountain, and once they had gathered, they began to climb. Soon after they set out, the silver moon passed directly in front of the sun, and the day turned into night. Some people think this is a bad omen, but Atridus thinks it means that he made the right choice – meaning that he is not biased in his opinion of the Sun Cult.

After weeks of climbing, the team was reduced to half of its original size. Some retreated halfway, while others were carried away by the giant peak, or stumbled into the abyss, or buried in an avalanche, or frozen to death in the cold night. They have gone far beyond the clouds, and the sky presents unpredictable light and shadows and illusions. They're still moving forward.

The air thinned out, from weeks to months, and the cold grew bone-chilling. Several climbers paused to catch their breath, but never moved again, the cold binding their flesh with the Peak. Others, losing their minds due to lack of oxygen and exertion, jumped off the cliff and fell like small rocks. One by one, the Giant Peak took away those who tried to challenge it, and in the end only Pyras and Atreus remained.

(End of chapter)