Atticus experienced the same surreal feeling he usually does anytime he teleports, and after a few seconds, he opened his eyes and was instantly met with the familiar scene of the camp grounds.
The towering barracks building, the abnormally wide mess hall, and the large open space were still there, exactly where he had left them.
"You're late,"
Atticus didn't have to turn to recognize the voice of the person who just spoke.
He turned his gaze over to the right to see Aurora's figure with her hands folded on her chest.
"Sounds like someone missed me a lot," Atticus's lips curled up in a smile as he teased.
Aurora instantly released a derisive snort upon hearing Atticus's words,
"Ew, you wish!" She swiftly retorted.
"Pfft," Atticus broke into laughter as he started walking away from the obsidian floor towards Aurora, who was already looking as though she was about to erupt.
"Why did you come late?" Aurora asked in a low tone as he got to her.
Atticus smiled warmly.
"I met Ember," he responded.
Aurora simply responded with "Oh," sound, already understanding what happened.
"I also made a new friend, well kinda," Atticus added.
Aurora's eyes widened,
"You? Pffft! That's impossible! " Aurora broke down into laughter upon hearing Atticus's words.
Atticus made a friend? That was completely impossible.
The person in question had spent years, with months being spent at the camp where a tsunami of his age mates was there, and yet, he hadn't made a single friend.
Well, apart from her, but her case was special.
Atticus couldn't say he considered Lucas and Nate his friends. Sure, they were close somewhat, but there was still some kind of a barrier between them that he couldn't explain.
And he knew well enough that he was the cause of said barrier.
So it wasn't shocking to see Aurora bursting into laughter upon hearing what she had just heard. It was just so unbelievable.
Atticus's mouth twitched. Why was she making it seem as though he was that hopeless?
Sure, he had hardly made any friends, but that was simply because he saw it as unnecessary.
He spent most of his time training, when will he have time to hang out with them if he started making friends anyhow?
In fact, Atticus had overplayed it a bit when he said he made a friend. He had only conversed with Kael for a few minutes in which the boy hardly even talked.
He had just wanted to see how Aurora would react when he said he made a new friend.
'Well, I got my answer,'
"Yeah yeah stop laughing. Where did they send you guys too?" Atticus asked as both of them started walking away from the terminal.
The camp grounds was still devoid of the other students as the other division members still hadn't returned yet from their assigned classes.
After a few moments of laughter, Aurora finally stopped and answered Atticus's question.
"I'm not entirely sure. I was transported to some white room and later found my way to the classroom where we were supposed to be taught War strategies. But luckily, we were only briefed on the things to expect during the one year of the class, and we were dismissed early,"
Just as Atticus was about to comment, Aurora continued, "And then after that, I made my way to the second class where we were taught about survival lessons,"
"Oh, two lessons?" Atticus raised an eyebrow making Aurora nod in response.
"What about Lucas, Nate, and the rest? Weren't they in your class?" Atticus inquired further.
Aurora shook her head in response. "No, I didn't see them. I left immediately after the classes were over."
"I see… Okay then. So, how were the classes?" Just as Aurora was about to respond, their attention was abruptly pulled by a scream of relief.
"Yes! Finally! It's finally over!"
Atticus and Aurora both turned to see Nate exclaiming at the top of his lungs in profound relief.
He got down on his knees, both hands raised as he screamed while facing the sky.
"This dumbass," Aurora clicked her tongue and muttered.
"Was it really that bad?" Atticus shook his head while chuckling at the scene.
Given that they were allowed to leave the campus immediately after their classes were over, Atticus had wondered how Nate wasn't even the first to reach the expanse.
After a long minute, Nate finally finished his exuberant display, and Atticus also questioned him about where he had been sent to.
Apparently, just like Aurora, Nate, to his dismay, had also attended 2 different lectures, the strategic and Survival classes. But they had each attended it at a separate class from each other.
Nate also went on to talk about how torturous the experience was for him and how he hoped never to return to that hellish place again, but Atticus quickly shut him up, not wanting to waste time listening to his ramblings.
After a few laughs, Atticus and Aurora left the scene, their steps carrying them to the mess hall intending on filling their stomachs.
After eating, they both talked for a few minutes before they both separated with Aurora going to get some sleep.
Atticus left the mess hall and started making his way through the camp, his steps leading him to the northern gate of the camp as he broke into a sprint.
Atticus had 'wasted' one month without training intensively and barely made any improvements.
He had 'wasted' hours sitting down in the classroom and listening to lectures, not doing anything actively productive.
Although he had a happy reunion with Ember during this time, Atticus was still feeling uncomfortable for not having trained that long.
He had no intention of wasting a single moment again.
He needed to train.
Atticus got to the north gate after a few seconds, his form not even stopping for a single moment as he effortlessly jumped over the wall.
Still in the air, Atticus tapped on his artifact, instantly navigating to the individual daily objectives section.