Atticus came out of his thoughts to see Ember, Aurora, and the rest of the trainees approaching him.
He couldn't react as suddenly a petite girl collided with his already struggling form, making him fall on his back.
Atticus felt a huge wave of pain wrack his body, and despite not being a stranger to pain, he couldn't help but let out a low grunt.
He looked down at his chest to see the source of his problems: Aurora, who hugged him with her face buried in his chest.
As he was about to complain, he suddenly felt wetness on his chest where Aurora's head was buried.
Atticus let out a warm smile at Aurora's quiet sobbing. He raised his hand, giving her gentle pats on her head. 'She must have been worried,' he thought.
However, he just couldn't resist, "You were always a crybaby," he teased Aurora with a chuckle.
She immediately flinched, letting out a low-pitched sound, and then she cleaned off her tears on his clothes and gave him a swift punch in the stomach, which caused Atticus's face to scrunch.
She quickly stood up and retorted, "Who's a crybaby!?"
Atticus let out a chuckle, rubbing his stomach where Aurora had just punched while standing up.
As soon as he stood up, another figure suddenly hugged him, but this hug was a bit more subdued, muttering in a barely audible tone, "I'm glad you're okay."
Atticus, seeing Ember hug him, widened his eyes in astonishment. The silent, cold beauty actually hugged him? He was completely shocked.
Don't get him wrong; he knew that despite her cold character, she loved him and the family deep down, but this was the first time she was showing it openly.
Atticus gave another warm smile and gently patted her head, without any teasing remarks this time. He didn't want to say anything that would discourage her from acting like this; he liked caring Ember.
After a few seconds, they separated, and Atticus turned his gaze to the rest of the trainees.
They all currently numbered about 45. Five of them had died before Atticus had come back from the Life Weapon's realm.
Atticus let out a short sigh. It was truly terrible, but they were already dead; what else could he do? The dead could only stay dead.
Despite the fact that he had healed their injuries, they all still looked terrible. Their clothes were completely torn and dirty, with blood stains everywhere.
One could never tell that these were all young masters and ladies of the esteemed Ravenstein family.
Each of the trainees gazed at Atticus with one expression. It wasn't shock; it wasn't awe. It was the kind of expression one gives to things they couldn't comprehend: fear.
They all knew what they were capable of; they knew what they could do. They were well aware of what the geniuses and the so-called monsters in the human domain were capable of.
But what was this? What could they call this boy with piercing blue eyes?
A Genius? A Monster? Heavenly?
None could classify what he had just shown them!
He simply couldn't be human; that would make accepting this harder.
Almost every single one of the trainees gazed at Atticus with fear, including Hella, Nate, Sophie, and even Orion, who had always called him a coward.
Orion had never felt so relieved in his life. He had always antagonized Atticus during their stay in the camp because he wanted to prove he was better than him to his father.
Never would he have known that he was actually poking a sleeping dragon all this while!
He let out a silent sigh of relief, choosing to stay in between the trainees just in case. Orion was never one to cower like this, but what Atticus had just shown could make even the bravest of hearts cower.
While everyone was gazing at Atticus with fear, only one trainee's expression was different: Lucas.
Lucas's thoughts were different from the other trainees. Yes, he acknowledged Atticus's strength, but was there a reason to fear it? No.
Most of them were 10 years old, with the oldest being 13. Almost everyone in the human domain was stronger than them. Would he start fearing everyone he met just because they were stronger than him?
Lucas's mind was currently focused on one thing: how to get closer to Atticus. It was obvious, very obvious that Atticus would become someone very strong in the future, probably even the next paragon rank of the family.
The earlier he made a connection, the better.
Atticus gazed at all the trainees; they were all gathered around him. He saw the way they were looking at him, with caution.
But with the way they were all still gathered around, regardless of the fear, it was obvious they were waiting for his words. They now thought of him as their leader.
Atticus would be lying if he said that he wanted others to see his full strength, but there was no helping it. His life was on the line, and he'd be a fool not to use everything in his repertoire to survive.
Despite knowing that they wanted him to address them, Atticus knew they weren't out of the woods yet; they were still being hunted. But he still had to give them a little push.
Atticus gazed at the trainees and spoke, "I can't say I understand how you all are feeling currently. Some of you probably lost someone close to you in the camp,"
His words caused some of the trainees to clench their hands, tears streaming down their faces as they tried to use their sleeves to wipe them away.
Atticus let out a quiet sigh seeing this. 'They're still children at the end of the day,' he thought.
He continued, "And I can't say I know exactly what is currently on your minds. But what I do know is that we all want the same thing: to survive."
The forest was silent; only the sound of Atticus's voice could be heard, each trainee listening attentively.
"I promise you, there will be time for revenge later, but to have that later, we must survive first. We're not out of the woods yet, we're still being hunted, and we have to keep moving."
As he said this, Atticus pivoted, taking a deep breath to contain the pain racking his body. He took a step forward and began running through the forest, with every single trainee following behind.
They continued moving through the forest.