Atticus, Anastasia and Aurora headed downstairs of the mansion. Their rooms were located on the upper floor, with the rest of the facilities below.
As they approached the ground level, Atticus noticed that the rest of the family had already gathered, waiting for their arrival.
Avalon, Ember, and Caldor were all standing not to far away from each other, each impeccably dressed for the day's occasion.
Although for someone of their status, they were all constantly well dressed, but one could tell that they had put extra effort into their attire today.
The trio turned to see them approaching. Avalon's gaze was immediately drawn to Anastasia breath taking form, making his heart skip a beat. Although, they have both been married for a while, Avalon still could not get used to her beauty.
After the incident with the Raven camp, they had mended their strained relationship and gotten even even more closer than before. Anastasia had been in a vulnerable state, and Avalon had provided her with comfort and support, deepening their bond.
Avalon immediately approached his wife gazing at her with a warm smile and complimented, "You look absolutely breathtaking,"
Anastasia's smile lit up the room as she basked in her husband's praise. A woman can never get tired of getting compliments from the one they love.
However, this tender moment was suddenly disrupted by an unexpected sound – "yuck."
Avalon turned to find Atticus looking at them with an exaggeratedly disgusted expression on his face. Avalon couldn't help but chuckle at the young man's reaction.
"You little rascal, you'll understand when you have your own wife." Avalon said, ruffling Atticus's hair and ruining Anastasia's hour long effort, earning a glare from her.
Aurora chuckled at Atticus's predicament making Atticus grumbled trying to straighten his hair while walking towards Ember and Caldor.
During the last two weeks since the incident, Atticus had hardly seen Ember. Even during family dinners, she had always been absent always training alone, making everyone in the family worried.
Atticus had been avoiding meeting Ember due to the recurring night mares he always had. However, seeing her now made Atticus realize his foolishness.
Ember was a child, and he was not, so why was he avoiding her and acting like a clueless fool?
Atticus approached the duo, responding to Caldor's greeting. Caldor remained unchanged even during these problematic times. He had been trying his best to bridge the gap Ember had been trying to create.
Atticus looked Ember's stoic face in the eye and said, "Hey."
"Hey," Ember replied with her characteristic subtle voice.
"Let's hang out after this," Atticus suggested.
Ember was surprised at his forwardness. She was about to refuse, telling him she had to train. But when she saw the look in Atticus's eyes, her words froze.
He was giving her that look, the one he always had when he wasn't going to take no for an answer. With a reluctant thought, she nodded and said, "Okay."
Atticus smiled, but before he could respond, Caldor interjected, "Don't leave me out!"
Caldor was shocked, Ember had actually agreed? When Atticus had asked her, he was sure she was going to say no.
Atticus turned and gave Caldor a wry smile.
Then he heard another more subtle voice by the side, "Me too." Atticus turned to see Aurora looking away shyly. It was obvious she wanted to come along.
"Sure, let's all hang out together," Atticus smiled and agreed.
Caldor was enthusiastic, exclaiming, "Awesome! I know the perfect place." seemingly already planning their outing.
Atticus turned to see Avalon and Anastasia, who were alread done with whatever they were doing, approaching them.
"Let's go," Avalon said.
Then the group started heading towards the Ravenstein hall.
Two weeks after the incident, once everything had settled down, the Ravenstein family decided to host an event to honor the youths who fought and survived the assault of the Obsidian Order.
The families who had lost their children would also be compensated, a gesture meant to show the family's strength and resilience.
The Ravenstein Hall was brimming with attendees. The usual arrangement of chairs lined the hall's sides, creating a clear path leading to the thrones.
However, there was a slight difference this time. The space closest to the thrones, usually reserved for the most important members of the family, was now occupied by exquisitely dressed young individuals.
Each of them was clad in attire that exuded opulence. The parents had spared no expense in making their children look their best. All the trainees from the Raven Camp were present, spanning from first years to third years.
Among the children in the front row, one could easily spot a particular young man with thin narrow eyes. He sat there with his chin held high, as if he aimed to pierce the heavens with his chin. It was none other than William.
William had to be the luckiest child on Eldoralth. After Atticus had kicked him and his subordinates away from the platform when they were trying to escape, William immediately hid underground with his Earth element.
Normally, he would have been found in a heartbeat, but due to the perfect distraction, he had gone unnoticed.
Astrion, Vorlock, and Malora had been focused on Atticus and the rest of the trainees, completely ignoring the trio.
This current event had been exactly what William had been anticipating when he had wanted to take leadership of the group from Atticus's hands. But this was all ruined by Atticus taking the spotlight.
The entire Ravenstein family was shrouded in competition. Every single one of the children was trying to gain recognition within the family, and it all had an end goal.
The members of the Ravenstein family were just too numerous, numbering in the millions. Their family had been in existence for thousands of years, so it was not surprising.
And all these millions of people were controlled by only one family, the main family. Despite what one might think, the main family wasn't constantly just one family. There was only one way one family could control such a large number of people: overwhelming strength.
In every single generation, only the most talented and powerful of the generation were allowed to become the heir.
If it was ever found out that the child or children of the current family head were talentless or weak, another child would be selected, and that child's family would automatically become the new main family.
In Eldoralth, nothing was set in stone. A father could be extremely talented and powerful, while his child would turn out talentless and weak.
That was why in the Ravenstein family, strength was the absolute and best virtue. No one would allow someone weak to lead the family, especially with a family that numbered in the millions. Although not all, but most of the tier one families in the human domain operated in the same manner.
Atticus was only ever shown to the family during the funeral, and he had been 5 years old then and 'unawakened'. Basically, it was impossible to know at that time if he was talented or not. After that, no one had heard anything about him.
The current main family had been giving birth to monsters for different generations now, not giving any other family a chance. This was why the trainees all thought that Atticus would be the heir.
But the adult had all believed they had a chance this time around because many assumed that maybe there was no prodigy this time around.
But they had all been shocked when they found out about Atticus's exploits during the attack.
That had been exactly what William was after. William's talent was well known throughout the family, and this was further accentuated by the fact that he had bested Sirius's son, Orion, at the Raven camp.
Although the camp staff weren't allowed to talk about the trainees, the trainees had no such restrictions, especially given the fact that the camp ended abruptly.
William turned his gaze to a man sitting not too far away from Sirius, a seat reserved for one of the important members of the family.
The man had the same thin eyes and a certain resemblance with him, it was obvious they were related.
Meeting William's gaze, the man nodded reassuringly, making William smile and nod back.
…
After walking for a few minutes, Atticus and the others arrived at the front of the large double doors of the Raven Hall.
They all stood waiting for Magnus and Freya before they could enter. This was Atticus's first time being here; this hall was different from the one that used to host the funeral. The Raven estate was huge, and he hadn't really had the time or care to tour around.
After a few minutes, Atticus and the others turned to see Magnus and Freya approaching. As usual, Atticus felt the overwhelming weight of Magnus's presence, making him instinctively want to bow.
Not only Atticus, but the others, including Avalon, all bowed as they reached them.
Upon reaching them, Freya offered a warm smile to her grandchildren while Magnus simply acknowledged them with a nod.
Without wasting time, the double doors swung open, and they all entered.