To Atticus, it had been a blip. His time spent in the water sanctum had been speedy.
Unlike Dekai, Atticus had found Liora extremely pleasant to relate with. The woman always radiated an aura of warmth and care akin to a loving grandmother. She was peaceful, just like a tranquil lake.
She had been far too nice, and Atticus couldn’t help but feel guilty about the state he left her in.
Just like the fire sanctum, the water sanctum also had its challenges. Liora had been kind enough to explain everything about what Atticus needed to start his journey.
It was exactly what Dekai had told him: it was all in the atmosphere, molecules. All he had to do was sense them, and this had been Atticus’s first training.
Atticus followed Liora through the gates of the Water Sanctum.
‘I’m sure it’s because of that old man,’ Atticus couldn’t help but blame Dekai for everything he went through in the fire sanctum. There was no test whatsoever as he passed through the gate. The only thing he felt was a certain heaviness in the air; it was wet, and moisture was thick.
The ground was basically water but weirdly thick enough to hold his weight.
Although not intense, he could feel his body becoming more sluggish. In fact, the attire he was wearing started becoming a little heavier as it soaked in the moisture from the air.
Just like the fire sanctum, the people of the water sanctum were shocked when they saw a 16-year-old walking behind their sanctum master, a wave of chatter permeating the space.
Atticus was all too used to it, having faced the same thing in the fire sanctum. He simply followed behind Liora, who smiled as she saw his calm demeanor despite the attention he was receiving.
‘Did he really finish the fire sanctum in such a short time?’ Liora thought seriously.
Soon enough, Atticus caught sight of a tranquil lake up ahead. There were a few Ravensteins meditating at the edges of the lake.
“This will be where your first lesson takes place. Move to the middle of the lake and sit down in a meditative position,” Liora instructed.
Atticus listened and immediately moved forward. His gaze couldn’t help but narrow as his leg sank into the lake. ‘I can’t control it?’
He couldn’t control the water of the lake no matter how much he tried. As Atticus continued trying to control it, he heard Liora speak from behind.
“The water of the lake is special. It cannot be controlled until you’ve learned to sense and form a connection with the water molecules. This will be your first lesson: sensing the molecules,” Liora explained.
Atticus finally got the gist of the situation. This environment was where the molecules were abundant. He listened to her instruction and found himself meditating in the middle of the lake.
Liora smiled, seeing Atticus’s focused figure. ‘Considering what Dekai told me, it should take him a few hours to sense and form a connection with water,’ she pondered.
Sensing the water molecules in the air was different from the fire. If one had to rank Fire and Water elements according to difficulty, then water would be more difficult.
Just as she was about to turn and leave Atticus to meditate, her whole body froze, her gaze narrowing as she saw a single ripple spreading across the lake.
But that was only the beginning.
Another ripple spread through the lake, and then another and another, until Atticus’s figure, which had been sinking into the lake, started floating up and sat down cross-legged on the surface of the lake.
Liora’s lips quivered. “W-what the…”
She walked forward slowly and stood at the edge of the lake, her intense gaze fixed on Atticus.
‘He formed a connection with the molecules in seconds?’ Liora couldn’t believe her own thoughts.
Seconds. Seconds!!!
“Unbelievable! Have you done this before?!”
Atticus opened his eyes and looked at the surprised Liora. He shook his head in response.
‘He’s telling the truth,’ Liora realized, her heart beating fast.
The students opened their eyes to see why their sanctum master was shouting. What or who could make such a peaceful woman react like that?
Upon seeing Atticus, their gazes also trembled.
Initially, they had assumed that Liora had been showing him around or something. But what the hell was a boy as young as that doing controlling the lake’s water? Their concentration had been lost, their expressions mirroring Liora’s.
Liora shook her head after some time. “Follow me,” she said firmly.
The lake’s water engulfed Atticus before he could react, and he found himself inside a… cave. There was no one in the cave except for Atticus and Liora.
All around him were small bodies of water letting out a blue glow. The sound of drops of water hitting the lake echoed across the cavern.
“Sit down; we’ll move to the next lesson immediately,” Liora instructed.
Atticus turned and saw Liora floating in front of him. She appeared to have lost her peaceful demeanor, a firm expression on her face.
He sat down on the small round platform jutting out from the water, just as she had instructed.
“Since you’ve not only learned how to sense the molecules but also how to form a connection with them, we’ll move to manipulating them and materializing them out of thin air. Watch closely,” she said.
Liora suddenly raised her hands, and the air instantly became humid. Atticus watched as tiny molecules in the air swirled around her, gaining bulk and becoming visible.
In the next second, a swirling wave of water formed around her, moving with intense power.
Liora dropped her hands, the water calming down before dispersing. “You saw the process, right? Replicate it,” she instructed.
Atticus nodded and closed his eyes while Liora’s eyes never left him. She didn’t want to miss anything this time around.
Unlike before, she chose not to give Atticus any explanation. ‘Let’s see what he’ll do,’ she thought.
To Atticus, the water element was simple. He only had to identify the water molecules in the air, form a connection, and coagulate them together to form water. Luckily, he was in an area with a massive abundance of the molecules.
Earlier, he had controlled the lake. It was a bit different from materializing water, more difficult.
However, with the process of forming fire already mastered, Atticus found this extremely easy.
The air around him became more humid, and Liora’s gaze narrowed into pinpricks. A second passed, and an intense wave of water swirled around Atticus.
Liora stared at the scene without uttering a word. ‘What the hell did the main family give birth to this time around?’ she wondered.
The sanctum masters were all basically old foggies. They had each been great talents in their respective elements and had lived long enough to master them. They each only wished for one thing: the growth of the family. They were all focused on training the next generation to hold the mantle of the family.
Avalon had been a genius that each of them had been proud of and were completely sure that they were leaving the family in good hands. But his son, he had given birth to something they never would have imagined.
She failed to imagine the heights Atticus would take the Ravenstein family to.
Liora shook her head. “Do this next!”
Water swirled in front of her, and the perfect statue of a petite young girl formed.
Atticus opened his eyes. ‘What’s wrong with her?’
He noticed the changed demeanor of Liora. To him, what he was doing was expected. He had done all the work in the fire sanctum already. The fact that the water followed almost the same principle made everything straightforward.
Atticus decided to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. His concentration at its peak, water swirled and formed in front of him.
Atticus spent a bit more time on this—about a minute—most of it spent getting used to controlling the water molecules.
It was a lot of time to him, considering the humongous size of the fire construct he was used to creating.
However, it was only to him. To Liora, it was as though she forgot to breathe. Everything she had learned since her youth up to now had just been crushed by this boy.
She had seen how happy Dekai had been when he had been talking about Atticus, but now she was starting to understand why.
Liora took a moment before she regained her composure and gave Atticus a multitude of other challenges to face.
In her head, they were supposed to be challenges, but the way Atticus breezed through every single one of them made her question if everything she knew about the water element was true.
Atticus learned how to form different shapes of water with the molecules and also went as far as using the water element to heal.
There were other advanced ways of using water, just like teleporting with fire; one could also do the same with water, albeit with a different flair.
And just like healing, one could apparently also drain life with water.
Liora hadn’t expected Atticus to be able to do any of it in the first place. It was something that needed time, and indeed Atticus had seen that he needed more time to be able to do it like the fire element.
Exactly 15 hours passed, and Liora walked alongside Atticus out of the water sanctum gates.
Her peaceful demeanor had long since disappeared, replaced by one of utter fear.
As they crossed the gates, she couldn’t help but stare at Atticus’s nonchalant self as though she was staring at a monster.
How could he be so nonchalant after everything he had just done!?
Liora didn’t utter a word. She doubted if she would be able to control her voice enough not to tremble.
With a wave of her hand, water swirled around Atticus, and he abruptly disappeared.
Liora breathed a sigh of exhaustion. She brought out a mirror and checked her face, noting the few wrinkles that had appeared as though she had aged a few years.
“I need rest, lots of it,” she muttered.
Considering all the comments, I’ve decided to simply breeze through it. The sanctum mini arc will be done in a few chapters.
