Atticus eventually managed to escape the extremely awkward situation, slipping away from the group with a sigh of relief.
As he walked through the estate, he couldn't help but notice the stares he received from the other Ravensteins. It was clear he had left an impression on each of them.
'That was close,' he thought, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. Lyanna was a woman he truly must avoid at all costs.
As he made his way to his room, he saw two familiar figures standing in front of his door.
'I almost forgot about them.'
"Where have you two been?" Atticus asked, raising an eyebrow as he approached.
Dario and Yotad both turned and immediately bowed in respect.
Atticus nodded his head, acknowledging them both. One of the conditions he had made with Seraphina back in Sector 6 was that she would only carry him back to Sector 3, leaving the others behind.
"The Lady Anastasia refused to let anyone disturb you until you had fully recovered," Dario explained. "We rushed over as soon as we heard you woke up."
"Hmm, that sounds like her." Atticus then glanced at Yotad, who was eyeing his shadow with a hint of suspicion. "What are you doing?"
Yotad's brow furrowed. "Young master, I could be mistaken, but... there's another Ravenblade in your shadow."
Atticus let out a sigh, realizing what he meant. "Come out."
The shadow swirled, and Arya emerged, standing before them.
"This is Arya," Atticus said, introducing her. "She's supposed to guard my mother, but I have an overprotective mother, so here we are. Arya, this is Yotad and Dario. Yotad is my Ravenblade."
Arya and Yotad locked eyes, their gazes sharp and filled with unspoken tension. Both of them had instinctively taken up protective stances, their auras clashing.
"What are you two doing?" Atticus asked, his voice calm but firm.
They flinched and bowed, speaking in unison. "Nothing..."
Atticus stared at them for a moment, his gaze sharp enough to make them uncomfortable before shrugging it off.
"I'm going to meditate in my room. I don't want to be disturbed by anyone," he instructed.
"But—" Yotad began to object.
"It's an order," Atticus interrupted, leaving no room for argument before turning and entering his room, closing the door behind him.
Atticus sighed as he settled cross-legged on his bed, exhaling deeply to calm his mind.
'A lot has happened this year.'
His thoughts churned. It had been only a year since he left the academy, but it felt like decades had passed. So much had happened—so much that his past self wouldn't have believed possible.
There were two major changes in his life that he couldn't ignore. The first was his mindset. His perspective on the world had shifted dramatically.
In his current state, there was no such thing as impossibility in his vocabulary. To Atticus, anything could happen at any time, without warning. And there was only one true preparation anyone could make: being overwhelmingly strong when it did.
Power—unimaginable power—was the second thing. He had gained an incredible amount of strength, far more than a 16-year-old should possess, and it was something he wouldn't have achieved if he had stayed at the academy.
'Let's see what the formation of my domain has done to my status,' he thought.
It was time. He hadn't had the opportunity to properly assess the changes, and with time running out, he needed to know where he stood, strength-wise.
**Character Profile:**
**Name:** Atticus Ravenstein
Intelligence: 68 → 75
**Level:** Master (New!)
**Bloodline:** Primordial Elemental Bloodline
- Water: 97.9 → 99.9%
- Earth: 97.5 → 98.5%
- Light: 84.8 → 98.2%
- Darkness: 86.3 → 98.9%
- Lightning: 86 → 99.1%
- Space: 33.2 → 40.2%
Atticus blinked in mild disbelief, his fingers tracing the numbers in his mind as he went over the stats. The changes were substantial, and he hadn't even realized just how much he had grown.
"These are huge jumps…" he muttered.
His attention was first drawn to his attributes—the stats, which didn't even account for his use of arts or bursts of power.
His strength alone had risen significantly. His rank was now Master, and despite being only 16, he could match or even surpass those of higher ranks.
Atticus tested this assumption by having Yotad arm wrestle him using only pure strength and without actively using mana.
The result had been a tie, something that surprised Atticus. He was currently at the Master rank, and Yotad was Master+. It was already an achievement that his strength could match, but he could already battle Grandmaster ranks. How was that possible?
Atticus suddenly had a realization and asked Yotad to wrestle him once again. But this time, they used mana. The result was instant. Yotad felt as though his arm was almost yanked out from its socket. The force had been that great.
This led Atticus to a simple conclusion: his real strength lay in his mana. Somehow, it was special—so much so that it gave him an overwhelming boost in power when he utilized it.
Checking his stats once more, Atticus noticed that they hadn't changed when he channeled mana around his body. True to his assumption, the stats were a measure of what he could achieve when he utilized his mana, arts excluded.
His gaze then turned to his elemental affinities.
It was a major accomplishment, but Atticus wasn't smiling. He remembered the overwhelming rage he felt during the formation of his fire domain. It was powerful, but his control over it was limited. Worse, the drawback was immense.
Utilizing the fusion left him utterly drained. If he released it recklessly, he would collapse from exhaustion.
He had fainted for over 10 days because of the last battle, and unless he gained more power and energy, he would be at risk of repeating that same weakness.
Atticus sighed deeply, the weight of everything pressing down on him.
'Power is the only solution. I need more.'