During the time that had passed, despite the fact that he was basically the most talked about person in the whole academy, Atticus’s routine didn’t once change.
He behaved completely like a robot, as though his schedule was programmed into his very being.
Wake up, train in the caves with, go to classes, hang out with either Zoey, Ember, or Kael for a little time, and then head straight to the elemental room to train.
Unfortunately, Atticus didn’t have the luxury to go on dates or even spend time with her for a prolonged amount of time.
While he actually liked the girl and they’d been getting closer every day, Atticus was very determined to quickly awaken his space element within the scheduled 5 weeks, and he had no intention of allowing anything to interrupt this goal.
Luckily, Zoey had been very understanding; she welcomed it, even claiming that she had to train as well. But regardless, even if it was just for a few minutes, both of them always made sure to take a walk through the garden of the academy campus while talking, much to the entirety of the academy students’ dissatisfaction.
This particular routine went on for a long while until Atticus discovered a loophole he could use to earn more training time in the elemental room. It was so simple he almost hit himself for not thinking about it sooner.
The academy allowed the youths to purchase extra classes with academy points if they ever wanted, as long as they could afford it.
Didn’t that mean that if Atticus purchased a class which was scheduled on a weekend, he would be able to go to the academy campus then?
Atticus had immediately put this to the test.
He paid for 2 classes each on Saturday and Sunday at a staggering price of 20 thousand academy points each. He could only choose a leader’s course.
And when the weekend came, Atticus was elated to find out that it actually worked. He had been transported to the campus.
Atticus immediately ditched the class and headed to the elemental room, only to discover a rule that made him almost rampage around the campus.
He couldn’t use any facilities nor attend any other classes if he had an ongoing scheduled class. Plus, missing any scheduled class attracted a severe penalty that he would rather not take.
Atticus was thoroughly pissed. But after a few minutes and having taken a few deep breaths, he calmed down.
He reluctantly attended each class on Saturday and Sunday. They were courses about survival and beasts.
The first was simply a course on how to survive in the wilderness, while the second was a class about beasts.
His presence completely shocked the students and even the instructors taking the course, with all of them wondering why he was there.
While both courses might seem necessary, the academy hadn’t deemed it so. The purpose of the academy was always to prepare the youths for the military.
And in the military, students wouldn’t be dealing with beasts nor playing Boy Scout in a forest. They would be fighting a war.
After 5 surprisingly educational hours, Atticus immediately left for the elemental rooms.
With this new addition to the routine, Atticus was able to cut down the time it took to awaken the space element to less than 4 weeks instead of the initial 5.
The time went by peacefully. Atticus was subtly glad no one had started anything and distracted him; he didn’t even see the mastermind of that initial attack on him.
There were no incidents on the academy campus, no incidents at his division camp, and just like that, the day for the long awaited division war was imminent.
Before this day, the tension in the academy reached an all-time high. No one knew who they would be fighting next.
All the friendships that had formed over the past months crumbled, completely replaced by wary looks and enmity.
Everyone was trying to find out as much information as they could about the leaders of the opposing divisions.
And then finally, the day arrived.
Atticus stood confidently, donned in a slick black trench coat which seemed to flutter due to the breeze, and directly behind him was the determined figure of the Ravenstein youths.
Their appearances hadn’t changed since only a month had passed. But although small, each of them radiated a slightly more powerful aura than before.
Aurora stood closest to Atticus while also facing the terminal. During the past month, she had also been training tirelessly and intensely. The sight of Atticus always spending his time training was all the motivation she needed.
Nate wore an excited grin as he also stood behind Atticus. His broad sword was already in his hand, resting on his shoulders, his form slightly trembling.
After hours upon hours of sitting and listening to what he considered completely boring lectures, it was finally time for his go to battle! He was thoroughly elated! He couldn’t even wait!
Lucas stood beside Nate with a wearied look. He was already beginning to look like members of the Enigmalnk family youths: large panda eyes and droopy eyes, plus a look that screamed, “I am tired of living.”
Lucas didn’t show any reaction to the division wars. In fact, it looked as though he didn’t want to participate at all in the battle.
Just behind Lucas were Eric, Aria, and the other Ravenstein youths.
After the incident where he saw the both of them kissing, Atticus had learned to live with it. Although they both still acted like they didn’t know each other in public, Atticus simply decided to ignore them both.
The rest of the division members were all lined up neatly and orderly behind them in their respective units consisting of the usual dealers and armored, each of them donned in their full equipment, with the group of archers lined up at the back.
Every single one of the youths was focused on one thing: the countdown clock. Each of them waiting for the timer to end.
Luckily, they didn’t have to wait long. The clock struck zero and this time around, no AI voice sounded.
As an instinctual response, each of the youths all closed their eyes and instantaneously, the terminal lit up in a blinding light that shot up to the skies, encompassing the whole camp. And then, the whole camp disappeared.
…
“What is the theme of this month’s division battle?”
A tall and bulky man with orange hair turned to face a man with serpentine skin and asked.
Slate couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as he heard Jared speak.
So this bastard could control his voice, but he still decided to torture them with his loud voice the last time they were here?
Snake shook his head, getting rid of the murderous thoughts slipping into his head, and decided to respond to the big guy. “No one knows the theme until it begins. It was the same last time too. Nothing’s changed,”
Jared raised his hand and scratched his head awkwardly. “Ah, okay okay. I guess we’ll see what theme this would be soon,”
Snake nodded in agreement and turned to face his front.
The duo were currently standing inside the first-year control room while overlooking the myriad of screens displayed on the wall.
Just like the last time it had taken place, the control room was packed with instructors and operators alike who had come to watch the battles. And like last time, most of them were only here to watch one student, the same infamous white-haired boy that we all know well, Atticus.
The video of his brutality had spread to even the instructors themselves.
Many of them hadn’t even been shocked that Atticus was capable of easily defeating the third years.
They had each seen the extent of his power.
And despite the fact that the result of the test was plenty obvious, many of them still came to watch, curious about what Atticus would show them.
As usual, at the forefront of the instructors stood the father and daughter duo, Harrison and Isabella.
Both of their gazes were focused on the screen, anticipating the start of the battles.
The room was also packed with different operators, both the ones on duty and the ones off duty.
Gon, the instructor who had won the mass betting the last time the operators wanted to see how fast Atticus would defeat the shadow Seraphon, stood with a huge smile on his face while gazing at his artifact.
‘The point will be mine today too,’ he thought with giddy anticipation. The room was filled with hushed whispers and chatter of the instructors and operators alike, each of them talking about the upcoming battle, the anticipation in the room palpable.
And then, without warning, a loud chime reverberated throughout the control room and as if flipping a switch, they all quieted down, each of them focusing their gazes on the screens.
The division war had begun.
