Magnus's mouth twitched in embarrassment. Did he really have to be so brutal?
"I only said all that so you'd understand the severity of the situation. We paragons are not 'useless.'"
Atticus couldn't help but release a slight chuckle seeing Magnus's reaction. The man was trying so hard to hide the fact that Atticus's words had affected him.
Magnus, who heard Atticus chuckle, suddenly narrowed his eyes. A feeling of dread immediately engulfed Atticus.
It was now Atticus's turn to clear his throat, which he did in the next second, immediately stopping his chuckling.
"Like I said before, there's already a mana contract in place. Mana contracts are absolute, even when dealing with paragons. They won't be able to go after you openly. None of the higher-ups could. There's a slight flaw in the contract though, the best they could do is send people discreetly, but this also has its limits."
Atticus nodded to Magnus's explanation. This was one of the main things he wanted to know. Should he participate in the event and win, would he still be safe? The fact that the humans were weak was a complete killjoy.
What good would showcasing and winning the event be if he lost his life afterward?
Atticus had no intention of sacrificing himself for anyone. "I'll do it on one condition."
"If I ever feel that revealing myself would do me more harm than good, I reserve the right to back away from the whole thing."
Atticus's gaze was firm as he met Magnus's. He was thoroughly serious about his request; there would be no in-between. In fact, this was basically his in-between, and Magnus knew this well.
Atticus's mind had gone through a multitude of different scenarios during the short time he learned everything. At the end of the day, he settled on two things.
What would be better: him participating and winning the Nexus and then ending up dead, or him completely avoiding it and growing his strength until he was powerful enough? To him, the answer was obvious: the latter.
It was either this condition or a firm no.
Magnus nodded. "Alright, I accept your condition."
Atticus's face didn't show any shock, nor did he feel it. He already expected Magnus to accept his condition in the first place. He smiled slightly.
The answer came instantly.
"The Nexus is in a year. Despite how overwhelmingly powerful you are compared to your peers, the current generation of Apexes is a different breed altogether. You need to train like never before."
"The current generation?" Atticus frowned.
"You'll understand soon. I'll give you one day to say your goodbyes. We'll be leaving the academy tomorrow."
"Wha—" Before Atticus could say anything, Magnus suddenly burst into tendrils of lightning, and in the next second, Atticus found himself inside the hallway, standing in front of the entrance to the office he had been in with Magnus.
Atticus's frown deepened. "It's too soon."
He would be leaving in a day? That was way too early! He had people here in the academy; just what was he supposed to tell them?
Atticus sighed deeply. What would he do?
'I don't want to leave them, but I must. I need something challenging,' it had always been Atticus's primary goal to grow stronger.
He wasn't sure what training with Magnus would entail, but what he did know was that it would be a hundred times better than here.
The five years he spent with the man were a testament to this.
'It's just two years,' Atticus reassured himself, noting that only two years remained for each of them to finish the academy, with some already finishing.
Atticus turned and started walking down the hallway towards the elevator, his steps resounding across the otherwise quiet hallway.
The elevator opened with a soft chime as he reached it, and one of his eyebrows couldn't help but raise as he saw the figure of Isabella inside. She flinched slightly as she saw Atticus, as though she had been caught doing something wrong.
Atticus didn't say anything and simply entered the elevator, the door closing behind him.
An awkward silence enveloped the space as the elevator started descending, neither of them speaking.
"St—" Isabella hesitated.
A few seconds passed, and she tried to speak again. Gathering her resolve, she suddenly turned towards Atticus.
"S-Student Atticus, did you a-accept?" she asked softly.
Atticus turned to look at Isabella, his gaze narrowing slightly, his guard raised. 'How much does she know?' he pondered.
But in the next instant, he lowered it back down. 'Since the first day I met her, I've never once felt any ounce of bad intentions from her.'
Isabella gave Atticus a sort of big sister vibe that he could rely on. Atticus suddenly smiled and shook his head. "No."
Isabella let out a sigh of relief before registering Atticus's answer.
"What!?" She instantly turned to face Atticus, clearly not expecting that answer. 'If he refused, then what will—' Her frantic thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of Atticus laughing.
Isabella's gaze narrowed. 'Was I being toyed with?'
Atticus stopped his laughter after a few seconds, his gaze meeting that of Isabella, who was already looking at him intensely.
"Pfft, I was just joking. Of course I accepted."
Isabella looked at Atticus intently for a second before releasing a short sigh. She was way too happy about the development to even get angry about Atticus toying with her.
Isabella couldn't help but break into a smile. Just like Gon, she too had simply watched Atticus's feats and cruelty; this was the first time she would actually relate to him .
Seeing the cruel white-haired devil of the academy playing pranks and laughing like a normal person was surprising, but this small scene seemed to make Isabella happy.
'At the end of the day, he's human just like us.'
The elevator door reached the bottom, and Isabella was happy to learn that Atticus had decided to leave the whole matter about tearing the academy down. She was also slightly sad that Atticus would be leaving the next day.
The academy would most definitely feel his absence.
"I wish you good luck," she said with those parting words, smiling at Atticus as he walked through the door of the administration building.