As soon as Atticus heard the feminine sounds from behind, he released a large sigh, instantly turning his gaze behind him to see Aurora's blazing form cutting through the air, heading straight towards him.
He extinguished the flames enveloping him. Despite the sheer intensity of the raging flames, Atticus's attire remained flawless.
Atticus slightly shook his head, 'You asked for this,'
With a single thought, the earth surged from Aurora's rapidly advancing form, wrapping around her as it dragged her into the depths.
"Not agai-" her speech abruptly ended, swallowed by the earth's embrace.
But unlike before when Aurora had been forced to hold back when Atticus buried her at the platform, now there were no such restrictions.
Instantly, a burst of fire erupted from below, destroying the earth as Aurora's figure emerged from the rubble.
Her form was fully enveloped in raging flames, her fiery red eyes locked onto Atticus, "You bitch!" Aurora's voice thundered, her eyes flashing with fury as steam practically hissed from her ears.
She blasted through the air towards Atticus, instantly closing the distance between them.
"Aurora, calm down," Atticus called out, trying to soothe her. His lips were folded as he tried to stop himself from laughing.
But Aurora was having none of it. Closing the distance with astonishing swiftness, with her fist enveloped in seething flames, Aurora released a rain of punches upon Atticus, each one targeting a single part of his body, particularly his head.
It was clear to all those watching that she truly wanted to blast his head into oblivion.
But Atticus, with completely minimal movements, easily evaded each punch. His every movement was precise and fast as his figure blurred.
'How does she still have so much energy?' Atticus pondered as he kept evading her relentless rain of punches.
The Ravenstein youths were already starting to catch their breath and were looking at the duo while chuckling and slightly shaking their heads.
"Those two are like water and fire. I just simply can't understand how they're still so close together," Nate said to Lucas, who had approached from behind him.
"Don't let this fool you. Regardless of all these small bickerings, I have no doubt that they both care about each other greatly," Lucas responded to Nate's comment while gazing at the duo, specifically Atticus.
During the years they had all spent together, Lucas felt like he had an accurate grasp of Atticus's character.
Regardless of how he would like to say he understood Atticus completely, that was just not possible. People were beings that were constantly changing.
Just because an individual was exhibiting a particular character at a particular moment doesn't mean he would do the same thing at another time.
But even though it might not be 100%, Lucas was still able to observe two aspects of Atticus's personality that remained unchanging even after all the years that passed.
And these were his undeniable love for those he considered family and his need to exact vengeance on all those who wronged him. But regardless, Lucas was only focused on the former aspect. 'I just have to find a way to get in,' Lucas pondered.
"What's with the serious look?"
Lucas was snapped out of his thoughts by Nate's sudden question. He turned to see Nate staring at him with a raised eyebrow.
'Shit, I was staring too much,' Lucas's initially serious expression immediately transformed into a smile.
"Nothing," he responded to Nate's question.
"Hmm," Nate narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Are you sure you're okay? It seems as if that rune crafting thing you picked up is getting to you,"
Nate's gaze turned worried as he looked at Lucas.
Both he and Lucas had grown up together after his father had suddenly brought Lucas from lord knows where. They were practically brothers.
Ever since Lucas had started rune engraving, he had been acting weirder and weirder with each passing day. Nate couldn't help but get a little worried.
Lucas flashed Nate a confident smile, "You don't need to be worried; I said I'm fine," he responded, placing his hand on Nate's shoulder.
"Hm, okay. If you say so," although reluctant, Nate eventually agreed.
Then they both turned their gazes back towards Atticus and Aurora, who were still going at it.
Aurora's form was enveloped in raging flames as she kept releasing searing, fire imbued punches, trying to hit Atticus.
"Stay still!" Aurora yelled after failing to hit him countless times.
This scenario continued for a couple of minutes in which Aurora suddenly ran out of energy, her flames extinguished as her form fell to the ground.
She immediately started letting out large exhales and inhales as exhaustion finally kicked in.
Atticus chuckled while watching her. "You didn't land a single hit, and yet you're still so tired. I see somethings haven't changed,"
Atticus said as he got down and sat on the earth close to her.
"Shut up *huff* I just haven't *huff* gotten serious yet," Aurora responded through her exhausted huffs, her words immediately making Atticus burst into laughter, his laughter resounding in the now quiet expanse, shocking many of the youths who heard it.
Of course, the Ravenstein youths who were already used to his behavior weren't surprised by it; it was the other youths who were utterly shocked.
The monster could laugh?
None of them would have ever expected that this monster could actually laugh. The carnage that Atticus had just shown them was still very vivid in their memory. It was just very hard to place the one who had caused the massacre and the one who was currently laughing as the same person.
"Bitch," Aurora said with the little strength she had left, not having the strength to do anything more.
After a few moments of Atticus laughing, Lucas, Nate, and the other Ravenstein youths all approached where Atticus and Aurora were seated.
"So what's next?" Lucas asked as they all stood surrounding Atticus, waiting for his next words.
Atticus's initially smiling face turned serious, "Next, we find out just what the hell is going on."