Just as the sharp earthen spike was about to impale Isaac, the artifact on his hand suddenly emitted a blinding light, swiftly encompassing his form. And Instantaneously, Isaac disappeared.
Every single one of this occuring with Atticus not even moving a single step from his position.
...
Back in the circular hall, a palpable silence filled the whole space. Each of the Paragons couldn't help but raise an eyebrow after witnessing Atticus's overwhelming display of strength.
Zephyrion frowned. The only reason he had interrupted Luminous earlier and called the attention of the other paragons was exactly because he saw the trap his grandson, Isaac, had set for Atticus. He had totally expected Atticus to lose.
Zephyrion knew exactly how powerful his grandson's illusions were. At the lower bloodline levels, it took time for one to set up illusions, and such was the case for everyone, including Isaac.
But once he had set up the illusions, Zephyrion was completely sure that none, apart from those who had already awakened their perception, could escape.
What baffled him the most was that even if Atticus was able to escape the illusions, his grandson wasn't weak.
He was at the advanced rank at the young age of 15, an achievement only attainable by the most talented youths in the human domain.
He had expected the fight to involve more struggle at the very least. But what he had just witnessed wasn't even a fight.
It ended in seconds!
Zephyrion was well aware of how much power the Ravensteins bloodlines were supposed to be able to display at the age of 15, but what Atticus had just shown was far too much.
His eyes couldn't help but gravitate towards Magnus; just what has this white haired man been hiding?
Just like Zephyrion, Luminous was equally baffled. He had been about to try and get a reaction from Magnus by belittling Atticus, but to think that the boy was a little monster in disguise.
The fight had ended instantly! Luminous doubted if even his own grandson would be able to do something like this. He decided to simply sit down quietly on his seat, choosing not to say anything for a while.
Out of all the paragons, the only one who didn't show much reaction was Aric. Amongst those in attendance, Aric had been the only one who had met and sensed Atticus's 'rank', apart from Magnus, of course.
He was well aware that Atticus was in Advanced+ rank, so he hadn't been too shocked to witness the results of the fight.
'But how was he able to locate him the first time?' Aric pondered. He was wondering how Atticus had been able to locate Isaac immediately after his trap had failed. 'Has he already...?'
Meanwhile, Magnus was currently looking as if he was trying hard to hold in a shit. He was truly trying his hardest to prevent his lips from curling upward into a smile.
Unlike previous times, Magnus wouldn't be able to get away with doing that here as each person in the hall had almost equal strength as him.
The silence in the hall persisted as each of them focused their eyes on the screen in the middle of the hall.
The only difference this time around was that each of them kept an eye on Atticus's live footage.
***
Atticus stood amidst the aftermath of destruction, a colossal crater yawning open beneath him, its edges jagged and fragmented as if the earth itself had been forcefully molded by some immense power.
Taking command of the earth, Atticus controlled the ground to coil around his feet. With a deft manipulation, it surged upward, lifting him gracefully from the depths of the crater.
Atticus was already well aware that Isaac wouldn't be impaled. It was said in the instructions, after all; they couldn't die.
Atticus raised his arm and clicked on his artifact, swiftly navigating to the ranking section.
-------------------------------------
| Rank: 99
| Name: Atticus Ravenstein
| Points: 25,948
-------------------------------------
Seeing his new rank, Atticus's expression didn't change. This sudden increase in rank only seemed to support his previous assumption: Isaac truly was from the main line in the Nebulon family. Only someone truly strong could have gathered so many points.
The points Atticus had gathered from Isaac had been so staggering that it had pushed him from his initial thousands into the hundreds.
'But how did he trick my senses for so long?' Atticus couldn't help but ponder how Isaac had been able to kill and hide all those beasts in the area without him even noticing a thing.
'It doesn't matter now,' Atticus shook his head. He always had the habit of thinking about every little detail of things.
Atticus quickly navigated from the ranking section and checked the time.
[1:40:38]
'Okay. I guess it's about time I ramp up the pace,' Atticus decided.
Even though he had gained a lot of points and risen high in the rankings, Atticus still decided to play it safe.
He was completely determined to obtain the first rank in the test. It was better for him to go all out earlier than later, as he had no idea what could happen.
Despite the fact that what he was about to do will reveal alot to the people watching, Atticus wasn't going to change his mind. Apart from Magnus's command, Atticus hated losing.
As Atticus took a step forward, the air around him began to change as though it was anticipating the power that was about to erupt.
During the past five years, Atticus had trained hard—so hard that many people would consider it torture.
Apart from the hellish training Atticus underwent with Magnus during the night, he also went through another hellish training during the daytime too.
Atticus had been harsh, too harsh on himself to the extent that it made Anastasia worried and sometimes even shed tears. But Atticus never once stopped.
His obsession with training was something that baffled even him; he truly couldn't explain it. He just loved the feeling of getting stronger.
For all his hard work, Atticus was rewarded with growth like no other could ever dream of achieving in such a short time.
It was to the extent that if anyone in the human domain ever got to know how powerful he was at just 15, it would be world shattering.
'Hmm, I've not checked in a while; let's see, status,' Atticus thought, and then a holographic interface materialized in front of his face.