Magnus stood with an air of authority, facing Atticus, who sat cross legged in front of him inside a pristine white room.
He spoke, "Your current approach to your bloodline training suffices for now. We will divert our attention to refining and correcting the way you train your perception."
Atticus nodded in silent agreement. After he had awakened his bloodline when he was 7 years old, he had done extensive research on bloodlines and how best to train them. It was expected that Atticus had no issues in that area.
Magnus proceeded to pinpoint an issue with Atticus's training regimen of perception, "The problem you have now is that your sight has grown incomparably stronger than your other senses. You rely on your sight too much," Magnus explained.
"In order to correct this, you would have to completely forget about your eye sight throughout the duration of your training. You must learn to see without seeing."
As soon as Magnus finished speaking, before Atticus could even comprehend what he was talking about, a bolt of lightning materialized in front of Magnus at a speed Atticus couldn't track.
As swiftly as it materialized, it shot towards Atticus at a very fast speed, striking him directly on his head.
And then, with control over the element that was difficult to comprehend, Magnus manipulated the lightning with frightening precision, making it interact with his ocular cells, altering their configuration temporarily.
The intense electrical surge caused an overstimulation of the cells responsible for vision, effectively rendering them unable to function for a brief period.
In essence, the electrical shock temporarily blinded Atticus through a neural overload, disrupting the normal functioning of his visual cortex.
This display of control over the lightning element was as awe inspiring as it was terrifying.
The amount of understanding of the lightning element and pinpoint control needed to pull off what Magnus just did was beyond the scope of many. It was a level of control only achievable by paragons.
With a muffled cry, Atticus clutched his head as a disorienting wave swept over him, leaving him in a sea of inky blackness. Panic gripped his heart, his usual composure shattered in an instant.
Atticus's heart immediately seized as he realized he couldn't see anymore. Completely disregarding his respectful attitude he usually addressed Magnus with, Atticus's voice trembled as he demanded,
"What have you done? I can't see!" Atticus exclaimed, constantly waving his arms back and forth in front of his eyes in a desperate attempt to believe it wasn't real, but it was completely futile, his vision completely black as ink.
His heart started beating fast as reality set in, and immediately a feeling suddenly gripped Atticus. It was something he hadn't experienced in a long time, not even when he had encountered Alvis and Ronad: overwhelming fear.
No matter how Atticus considered himself to always maintain a cool and calm head in any situation, suddenly losing his sight was an experience that would break many, him not being excluded.
It meant that he wouldn't be able to see the world, the colors; it meant that he would never be able to see his family again. His life would forever be completely dark.
Magnus maintained a calm demeanor as he watched Atticus's breakdown without any change in expression. "Calm down, Atticus," he advised, his voice a steady reassurance amidst the chaos that had befallen Atticus.
"It's all temporary. You will be able to regain your sight after training," Magnus explained, his words being the light at the end of an extremely dark tunnel for Atticus.
Hearing Magnus's words, Atticus calmed down considerably, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of embarrassment for losing his cool like that.
But then again, he wasn't to be blamed. Magnus should have at least warned him first! Atticus couldn't even begin to imagine what level he had to reach to be able to control the elements with the same control his grandfather just displayed.
Magnus completely ignored Atticus's annoyed expression, swiftly issuing a concise command, "Stand."
Atticus came out of his thoughts and immediately followed Magnus's words and stood up from his initial seated position.
He immediately felt a difference. Moving without sight was a weird feeling, it was as if he didn't even move at all; the only thing he could sense constantly was complete and absolute darkness.
He was thinking a lot more compared to before because he had lost his vision.
"I took away your sight so you would learn not to rely on it. From now on, you will be training without your sight, with this repeating itself in every lesson."
Atticus shivered hearing Magnus's words. He truly wasn't a fan of being blind. But despite clearly having reservations about this, he knew the importance.
His other senses were severely lacking compared to his sight. Although his hearing was still way better than normal, it wasn't even close to the same godly level as his sight.
"We will begin with sound. The task is simple; I shall release bolts of lightning at you without warning. Your job is to dodge them."
"What—" Atticus's words were abruptly cut short by a bolt lightning that forked with blinding intensity through the air, striking Atticus directly.
The surge of electrical energy surged through his body like a tidal wave, causing his muscles to convulse uncontrollably. A deafening crack filled the air as he was hit, and the force of the impact sent him sprawling to the cold, hard floor of the advanced training room.
Atticus lay down on the floor, his whole body twitching from the aftermath of the lightning strike.
Every nerve in his body seemed to fire at once, causing his limbs to jerk and tremble involuntarily. The pain was overwhelming, and his entire being seemed to vibrate with an unrelenting intensity.
Minutes passed, but the twitching and convulsions showed no sign of abating.
Magnus, unfazed by the spectacle, observed Atticus's writhing form with a neutral gaze, his expression remaining as inscrutable as the darkness.