Hearing Atticus's cold words, many of the students couldn't help but suck in a cold breath, their bodies subtly trembling.
Despite the fact that Atticus's focus had been on Hen when he spoke, it was an instinctual feeling; they all knew that he was also referring to them.
Meanwhile, the focus of Atticus's threat, Hen, found it hard to stop himself from peeing as Atticus's aura pressed down on him.
But despite the intense fear he felt, Hen still clenched his fist hard, making futile attempts to stop his body from shaking.
He stared at Atticus defiantly, "I-I will never bow down!" he said with chattering teeth.
Atticus maintained his cold stare at Hen, but just when he was about to respond, "Young master!" Zara suddenly interrupted the scene, running towards the duo and standing between Atticus and Hen.
She immediately sunk on both knees, hands over her head, kowtowing towards Atticus, her head touching the ground, "Please forgive him! It has been a long day, and he doesn't know what he's saying," she pleaded.
"Zara, what ar—" before Hen could finish his words, Zara lifted her head, immediately shooting Hen a cold look.
He didn't have to be a genius to know what she wanted him to do, shut up.
Hen gritted his teeth, but despite the intense anger he was feeling, he knew very well that Zara was right.
He took a deep breath that lasted for a second, and then he suddenly bowed his head slightly at Atticus.
Seeing Hen complying, Zara bowed her head back down.
Before she came to the academy, she had heard a lot of things about kids from the big families. Amongst those things, what was constant was that they all enjoyed the feeling of being above others, being worshipped.
This was exactly why she had been bowing earlier and was kowtowing currently. She hoped Atticus would also be like that, and having his ego scratched, he would simply forget everything.
Atticus gazed at both of them in front of him without any change in expression.
'Did it not work?' Zara thought worriedly.
After a few seconds that made Zara's worry intensify, Atticus finally spoke, the tone of his voice maintaining the same chilling tone from earlier,
"I meant every single word I said,"
Atticus declared, and before anyone could react, Atticus turned and started walking away from the scene, the crowd of youths swiftly parting the way for him.
Lucas, after a brief look at Zara, also turned and started following Atticus behind.
...
Lucas walked quietly behind Atticus. His mind was churning about the incident that just happened. But after a few seconds, Lucas couldn't control his curiosity any more and asked, "Why did you let him go?" He inquired.
If he had to be honest, this was the first time Lucas had seen Atticus let someone go just like that.
Every time Atticus got into an altercation with another person, it always ended up with the other party getting brutally beaten, and this had happened multiple times over the years. He simply couldn't understand what changed.
Atticus chuckled a bit at Lucas's question, 'Does he think I beat people all willy-nilly?' He thought as he shook his head slightly.
Before Lucas could wonder why Atticus was laughing, Atticus responded, "He simply hadn't deserved it, yet."
Lucas couldn't help but suck in a cold breath at the addition of Atticus's last word. He knew all too well that Atticus wasn't kidding. His thoughts suddenly shifted to what he had heard earlier,
'Just how does it affect him? Is there a penalty when any one of us 'dies'?' Lucas pondered. It was the first time he was learning that any one of the members of the division dying would affect Atticus badly.
Atticus hadn't told anyone, even the other Ravenstein youths, about the penalty he would face if any one of them 'died'.
And Atticus had no intentions of telling them in the first place. To him, it was a huge weakness, a weakness he didn't want anyone to know about.
Atticus still had no idea about a lot of things. He wasn't sure if he would be able to identify exactly the student that died.
And there was no way he could have eyes everywhere.
There were just too many uncertainties. One youth who could simply be dissatisfied with him could easily put himself in harm's way and keep 'dying' just so he could get back at him. There were just too many ways to use this against him.
For now, it was better to keep this weakness to himself.
After this, they both remained quiet as Atticus led them into the newly built Barracks.
The Barracks was just a single large building. Upon entering the building, the interior was completely white, even the doors and ceiling.
There was only a single elevator on the first floor. The duo walked towards it, and with a scan, they both walked in and used it to move to the next floor.
Stepping out of the elevator, they were met with long hallways and rooms on both sides.
Atticus approached one of the rooms, and on the side of the door, there was a panel mounted on the wall. This was the same for all the rooms.
As they got close, it prompted them for a scan, in which Atticus immediately did, and then another prompt showed up asking if he wanted the room as his. Atticus refused.
He clicked on his artifact, checking the upgrade conditions for the barracks, being the same as the cafeteria, about 30% of the buying price, and the best thing, he would be able to receive rent by taxing the other members.
After a few seconds of roaming, they both left to check out the Mess hall.
It was also a single building but instead of the tall Barracks, it was way more shorter, but wide.
Entering it, they were met with just a single expansive hall with different chairs and tables arranged in a circular pattern, surrounding the middle of the hall where a big round structure stood.
It had different glass-like slots all around it, likely where they got their food. Without wasting time, they both left the Mess hall and headed for the last structure he had built, the training ground.
As soon as Atticus stepped foot on the padded ground, he immediately felt the difference in the atmosphere.
It was as though there was a thin boundary separating the entrance of the training grounds from the outside world.
This was the boundary he had identified earlier.