"How do you like my present?"
Emeric's voice echoed through the camp as he addressed Atticus with a smile.
His hands rose dramatically, fingers splayed, as if presenting an invisible treasure to Atticus.
Eager anticipation painted Emeric's features with a wide smile, but it soon wavered after a few seconds had passed and he received no response.
Just complete and utter silence.
Focusing on Atticus once more, his face morphed into a frown as he saw that he wasn't even looking at him.
Instead, his gaze was focused on the group of youths he was currently controlling.
'Why is it so quiet?' Emeric wondered.
The area was eerily quiet. It was very odd, considering there were more than a thousand members of his division currently standing behind him.
It was as though none of them dared to make a sound in fear of standing out.
'They're scared of… him?'
Emeric was confused.
There were many youths amongst the army of students behind him that were more powerful than him, although it was very embarrassing, it was the truth.
But even they were completely silent as though they were being suppressed.
Why was he the only one not feeling anything?
Emeric's eyes narrowed slightly, his guard raised as his eyes focused on Atticus, instantly landing on his face.
'Lucky bastard,' Emeric couldn't help but comment inwardly.
In the history of the Psyquillian family, in every generation they had always birthed individuals that many in the human domain would consider unattractive and, in a more harsh word, ugly.
And truly they were.
But despite the fact that the Psyquillian family were more than a century old family, none of them had ever gotten used to this trait.
In fact, it was because of this that they were all very conscious of their appearance.
Almost all of them, Emeric included, wore extravagant clothes and accessories that make them pop and look good.
Trying to drown out their unattractive appearances with these extravagant things.
Many of their women buried their faces every day in a mountain of makeup that could probably last a normal woman for a decade.
Although this was all far from fixing the issue, it did manage to alleviate some of their embarrassment.
And this was why Emeric was currently dressed in an extravagant bright yellow suit, which was adorned with a plethora of accessories.
One of the many things that each Psyllium family member despised was encountering someone who seemed flawless in every aspect, especially in terms of appearance.
Observing Atticus and his impeccably handsome features, Emeric felt a surge of resentment building within him.
In comparison to Atticus, Emeric was truly lacking in every conceivable way.
His countenance was as unattractive as they come, and even his height and build left much to be desired— standing at 5.3 feet tall with a scrawny physique.
'I guess it's a good thing he's my opponent for the first round. I'll make sure to ruin that stupid face,' Emeric thought with a cold glint in his eyes.
Emeric's thoughts, of course, were way faster than what many youths in the area could achieve, coming to this conclusion in just 2 seconds.
However, considering the person standing before him, it might have well been a month.
But despite this, Atticus remained unmoved, not uttering a word.
Emeric's frown transformed back into a smile as he spoke, saying, "You know, I've always loved simple minded people."
"You never feel the burden of questioning every single move you make, of planning 100 steps ahead; you simply only do."
Putting one hand on his chin and tilting his head slightly, Emeric continued, "If I didn't know better, I would say you guys were… incapable of thinking." He broke into a chuckle as he delivered the last part.
Many might be shocked at the way Emeric addressed Atticus, given that Atticus was a tier 1.
However, the reason Emeric could do this without any restraints was precisely that their families were in different sectors.
Unless the Ravenstein family was ready to go to war with the tier one family in sector 6, the influence they held there wasn't nearly enough to eliminate a tier 2 family.
And Emeric doubted they would go to war over a trivial matter like this anyways.
But of course, he made sure to only talk bad about Atticus. Even he had no idea what could happen if he were to insult the Ravenstein family in public.
He continued speaking, despite once again receiving no response.
"I'm extremely curious; what exactly was your plan when you sent all your members away? Were you truly that confident, or did you simply never think this far ahead?" Emeric asked.
It was truly a baffling situation for him. Emeric wanted to know what Atticus had been thinking when he made all these decisions.
But of course, Atticus would have to answer him first for him to understand his thought process.
Seeing the smug look on Emeric's face, Atticus released a small sigh. 'Looks like I was expecting too much,' he thought.
Before sending all his division members out of the camp, Atticus had meticulously planned for every possible scenario that might unfold during the battle.
Predicting the strategies the opposing division could employ, even without knowledge of the opponent's identity, was a relatively straight forward task.
Moreover, each strategy chosen by the opposition allowed Atticus to gauge the intelligence and decisiveness of the opposing leader.
If Emeric had simply attacked one of the terminal locations with his entire army, or even half, Atticus wouldn't have bothered about him. That was simply the most obvious choice.
However, what Emeric had just executed, despite ultimately playing into Atticus's hands, required a level of intelligence and decisiveness only a very astute individual could possess. Which was a difficult trait to find in a 15 year old.
Atticus had been instantly intrigued by the prospect of meeting such a person.
Yet, as he scrutinized the scrawny, short, and seemingly unattractive youth, whose demeanor screamed of an inferiority complex, standing before him, profound disappointment washed over Atticus.