The display left Atticus feeling utterly baffled. The fire element was truly profound.
‘I assumed I’ve figured out everything but it seems like that old man has ways of bringing me back to reality. So where do I start from?’
The students of the third summit stood awed at the sides. Their gazes were still focused on the beam showing no signs of stopping.
That, that was what they had been trying so hard for years to recreate. The instructors had done a good job demonstrating this move, but no one could do it as well and effortlessly as Dekai.
The students snapped out of their reverie and turned towards Atticus standing in the middle.
“Welcome to the third summit, young master,”
A burly man whose demeanor screamed confidence approached Atticus.
Atticus paused for a second but after scrutinizing the man and seeing no hint of ill intent, he responded,
“Hello?”
The burly man smiled as he saw the confused look on Atticus’s face. He understood completely why he had that look.
“Why am I talking to you?”
The man took Atticus’s silence as a yes, an intense grin appearing on his face,
“Because you, young master, are the real deal,”
The burly man’s expression turned serious,
“I must apologize for the cold welcome you received when you arrived at the sanctum. I’m sure you know this already, but most of the people here at the sanctum come from families with significant influence in the Ravenstein family.”
Atticus swept his gaze around, looking at the gathered white-haired individuals.
“However, despite this influence, every single person here got into the sanctum based on pure hard work. To enter the fire sanctum, you not only have to have an intense talent for the element of fire, but you also have to have made a significant contribution in the human domain, something that would bolster the name of the family. We have each gone through that, and it is something we carry with pride.
“I mean no disrespect, young master, but seeing a 16-year-old boy, regardless of him being from the main family, basically tarnishing our pride was something that we all didn’t take well.
“However, one glance at the fire molecules around you would suggest that we were wrong. Which is why we are apologizing to you,”
Each one of the individuals in the third summit gathered around Atticus with firm gazes. With a fist placed on their chest, they each bowed and greeted in unison, “Young master!”
Atticus’s response was… cringe, insanely so. The first time he had said it, it had the elements of cringe.
However, what now made it intense was the fact that he repeated the same exact thing he had said at the first summit, word for word to the people of the third summit.
After he was done, Atticus almost felt like puking; however, it was only him. The people of the third summit had been thoroughly touched. So touched that the burly man had immediately approached and offered to do something that shocked even the instructors on the summit.
“Everything you’ve learned so far?”
The burly man nodded seriously. “Yes, young master. The test of the third summit is something that requires a lot of time to achieve. Firstly, because you have to rack your head to figure out what they did in the first place, and the second part is recreating it,”
Atticus nodded and motioned for him to continue. While he believed that he would eventually figure it out, Atticus wasn’t so prideful that he would refuse obvious help, especially if it would speed up the time it would take to pass this summit.
What he would face a year from now was still at the forefront of his mind; he had no time to waste on things when he had an alternative.
The burly man quickly began explaining, but he wasn’t the only one. As soon as the burly man was done, surprisingly, the other people of the third summit started approaching him one by one, sharing their findings so far.
Most of them had been at the third summit for over a year, and Atticus found everything they said profoundly useful.
It was a bit shocking they had done this. It seemed that they let go of their inhibitions as soon as they saw that Atticus was the real deal.
It lasted for about an hour, and during this hour, Atticus listened to every one of them, making sure he didn’t miss a thing.
Afterwards, he excused himself from the group and sat down cross-legged on one side of the summit, immediately entering an absolute state of focus.
With mind-numbing speed, Atticus collated every single piece of information he had gotten from the group.
Truly, it wasn’t much; it was simply the same process, but each of them explained it in different ways.
It was all in the molecules.
First things first, the construct.
Before, Atticus had been simply creating a stationary construct. Something that wasn’t meant to move. Basically a statue.
But given the demonstration, that would most definitely have to change.
In order for his construct to become functional and mobile, Atticus had to add many elements he had never considered before.
He had to incorporate joints to allow for movement, as well as mechanisms to enable fluid motion and balance.
This involved designing a complex system of interconnected parts that could work together seamlessly, almost like an intricate puzzle coming to life.
In essence, Atticus had his work cut out for him.
In addition to this, apart from designing a construct that could move, Atticus would also have to design one that could utilize mana.
His observation hadn’t been wrong, and the other people of the third summit confirmed it.
What Dekai’s construct had used hadn’t been the fire element, but it had been pure mana.
‘There are arts that enable people to utilize the elements, but to think a construct could do that,’
Apart from mobility, Atticus would have to create a way for mana to flow smoothly through its body.
It was a heavy project, and Atticus couldn’t help but understand just how the people of the third summit had spent so much time here.
‘This will take time. Let’s get to work,’
Atticus’s gaze firmed as he closed his eyes.
