Atticus darted to the right at fast speed, evading a fire shaped fist that threatened to turn him into a crisp. Without resting for a single second, he darted to the left again, dodging the streak of lightning threatening to electrocute him.
Atticus darted from the right to left, constantly dodging the attacks of both robots. He was already getting tired of the constant attacks.
This was how the robots fought. They started the fight slow and then increased the intensity when they saw the individual was able to take it.
‘I can’t continue this way,’ Atticus thought. He decided to change tactics. He immediately started creating the pipelines as he was dodging the attacks. After advancing to the Advanced- rank, it currently took him about 30 seconds to be able to create it, a stark contrast to the milliseconds it took when he was battling Astrion back when he had the power boost.
After about 30 seconds, Atticus was able to create the pipelines, and he immediately released 6 rapid bursts from his mana core, directing two each to his hands, legs, and blade.
Atticus suddenly blurred, swiftly and easily evading the constant barrage of the duo. He appeared in front of the robots, his katana was already drawn out, intending to sever both heads of the robots. But just when the strike was about to hit, their figures suddenly vanished, making his sword hit the air. Suddenly, Atticus saw a devastating punch coming from below. The punch was coming at a fast speed, but his eyes were still able to catch its movement.
But no matter how hard he tried, his body just could not react in time. The punch connected brutally from below with his jaw, its sheer force overwhelming his defenses.
Even before the force of the strike had a chance to propel him backward, Atticus was struck again, this time by a fierce kick delivered by robot Magnus. The blow sent him hurtling through the air, and he struck the ground with considerable force, rolling painfully across the floor for several meters.
Every fiber of his being screamed in agony, and Atticus struggled to regain his footing. His head still throbbed from the relentless blows he had received on his head, leaving him disoriented and dizzy, as he attempted to reorient himself.
Shaking his head vigorously, Atticus attempted to clear the lingering dizziness. After a few moments, he summoned the willpower to stand, his hands gingerly massaging his throbbing jaw in a futile attempt to alleviate the pain.
“You would think they have a beef with my jaw or something,” Atticus commented with a hint of wry humor. The last blows had nearly shattered his jaw and cheekbone.
‘They’re strong, very strong,’ Atticus thought, gazing at the duo who was standing in one place not moving at all.
“But that’s good, better even. The stronger the opponent, the harder I push myself, and the faster and stronger I grow,” Atticus clenched his fist hard, his gaze directly fixed on both forms. He dashed at them once again, but the same scene repeated itself as Atticus was constantly getting brutally beaten up by the robots.
While Atticus was accustomed to enduring pain and even dying in his quest for strength, this situation was unlike any he’d experienced before. This time, there was no safety net to revive him if he perished. There was nothing to restore his body to its previous state without erasing his hard earned progress.
Atticus continued getting beaten up, sent to the ground and always standing up every time and continued fighting, or rather getting beat up.
As Arya watched all of this brutal scene from the shadows, her heart clenched. It hurt her greatly to see him get beat up like this. What made it even more painful was because she knew why he was doing it. She also knew that no matter what she said or did, she wouldn’t be able to stop him, even if she wanted to. She couldn’t help but replay the scenes of Atticus’s childhood in her head: his cute laughter, the first time he tried to crawl, the first time he tried to walk. All of his adorable moments played in her head.
Arya shut her eyes as Atticus once again got up and dashed toward the robots once more.
After getting brutally beaten for a while, Atticus decided to stop for the day. He rested against the wall in the training room first to catch his breath and rest his body. After about 30 minutes, he mustered the strength to stand and laboriously limped back to his room. He had decided not to use a healing potion so he wouldn’t waste his efforts.
Arya watched all this with a sad expression on her face.
Both of them were completely oblivious to the figure suspended in the air, watching them from a few hundred meters away.
Magnus observed Atticus’s struggling gait as he headed back to his room, his expression unreadable.
After a minute, Atticus got back to his room. He tried hard to avoid meeting Anastasia on the way. Although she had agreed to let him train undisturbed, he still didn’t know how she would react if she saw him like this.
Entering his room, he found Aurora already asleep on the couch in his room. The blanket was half draped on her body. Atticus approached her with a warm smile, and he gently lifted the blanket, covering her entire body, making her stir and turn slightly in her sleep.
Atticus gazed at her for a moment and then walked into his bathroom to freshen up and have his bath. The next few minutes were very uncomfortable as he tried to avoid getting his open wound wet with water.
After freshening up, Atticus dropped down on his bed, covering himself with the blanket. He gazed up at the ceiling, thinking, ‘Here it goes again,’ with a sigh, and then he closed his eyes, entering a deep slumber.
