As soon as Atticus opened the door, he found himself immediately lifted into the air and spun around in exhilarating circles. His surroundings became a blur as he was twirled through the air.
Looking downwards, Atticus saw Avalon with an enormous grin on his face, gripping him securely by the armpits.
"Hahaha, that's my boy!" Avalon exclaimed, spinning Atticus with boundless enthusiasm, showing no intention of stopping.
Atticus felt himself growing increasingly tired from the dizzying spins, causing his vision to blur.
"Dad!" he quickly called out, his plea only reaching Avalon after a few more spins. Finally, Avalon lowered him to the ground.
Avalon ruffled Atticus's hair vigorously, his grin widening as he spoke in a softer tone. "You did good today," he said, offering Atticus a warm and genuine smile.
Atticus couldn't help but return his father's smile. It had been a long time since he'd seen Avalon so genuinely happy, and it warmed his heart.
Even though it came at the cost of a ruined cheek, it was worth seeing his father like this. "Thanks, Dad," Atticus replied with gratitude. His smile transformed into a mischievous grin as he added, "I'll get a reward, right?"
Avalon's lips twitched, his son's audacity amusing him. Although he had already planned to give Atticus a gift after the day's events, he couldn't help but shake his head at the shamelessness of his son.
"This boy," he mumbled with a chuckle. Despite Atticus's brazenness, Avalon couldn't resist smiling. "Expect something good!" he declared, making Atticus's heart skip a beat. He loved free stuff! And if Avalon says to expect something good, then it had to be good!
Turning his gaze away from Avalon, Atticus noticed the rest of the family already seated at the dining table, their eyes glued to the drama unfolding between him and Avalon.
They struggled to stifle their laughter as they witnessed Atticus requesting a reward from Avalon. Anastasia, Freya, and the kids were all present.
With a warm smile, Atticus moved to the dining table, taking a seat between Anastasia and Aurora, who gazed at the food with anticipation, a small trail of drool already escaping her lips.
"Ooooo, look everyone, it's the man of the hour!" Caldor exclaimed with infectious excitement, drawing everyone's attention to Atticus as he took a seat at the dining table.
Atticus swiftly shot him an embarrassed look, silently conveying that he should stop with the teasing.
Atticus was caught off guard by Caldor's comment, his embarrassment impossible to miss. Seeing Atticus all embarrassed, Aurora burst into laughter, her giggles sounding across the dining room.
During their time at the Raven camp, Atticus always wore a neutral or cold expression on his face. It was only when he spoke to her or Ember that he he would show a change in emotion.
It was when she came to the Raven mansion that she saw this other side of Atticus, and it was funny to say the least! Who would have thought that the cold and silent Atticus could get embarrassed!
Aurora, her laughter gradually subsiding, noticed the sudden hush in the room and turned to see her entire family gazing at her, with Atticus looking at her with a smug expression on his face.
Aurora immediately flinched, her face turned crimson, and she dropped her head, as if wishing she could hide underground. The warmth of embarrassment tingled across her cheeks.
Seeing her reaction, Atticus couldn't resist and burst into laughter, using his most annoying chuckle to amplify her embarrassment, "Muahahaha," causing Aurora to lower her head even more.
After a few moments, with Atticus making fun of Aurora, the family started eating while making small talk.
During the dinner, Atticus was bombarded with questions, all asking about where he learned everything he showed today.
From how he walked like Magnus to his confidence when speaking to Edward. Most of the questions came from Anastasia herself.
During the few hours when Atticus had been asleep, Anastasia had gotten a lot of time to think about everything. She came to realize how absurd her thinking had been.
Knowing every single thing about Atticus wasn't possible even if he was her baby. He was a human being, and it wasn't possible to know everything about a person no matter how much time you spend with them.
Despite him still being a 10 year old, Atticus practically and obviously already had a personality. It was obvious in the way he did things.
Anastasia couldn't comprehend how he had grown so fast, but it didn't matter. Even though she didn't know everything about him, he was still her son, and she was going to love him no matter how many secrets he kept.
But that didn't mean that she would stop trying to find out more about him. During that dinner, she made sure to bombard Atticus with questions.
Atticus, though, skillfully avoided the questions, mostly giving vague answers, like he had learned it from a book.
After enduring an hour of questions and satisfying the family's curiosity to some extent, Atticus was finally excused from the dining room.
He wasted no time heading to his room to change into his training suit.
Throughout the day, Atticus had been feeling restless. It was like an annoying itch he couldn't scratch. He always felt this way anytime he didn't train for a while.
Atticus had also experienced this feeling during the two days he had promised Anastasia to rest and not train. Today had been a day filled with unexpected events, leaving him with no time for his usual training routine.
He wouldn't be able to enjoy his sleep if he didn't scratch this itch. Atticus was determined to make up for lost time; he aimed to squeeze in some training before retiring to bed.
Clad in his training suit, Atticus made his way out of his room, his Katana strapped to his waist.
As he was walking through the hallway, Atticus suddenly came across someone he would have never imagined meeting that night, standing in his way - Magnus.