It was still very fresh in their memories, the figure of Atticus easily defeating geniuses of the third years and then going ahead to brutally torture them by burning them alive.
If he could easily do that to third years, if anyone of them were stupid enough to offend him, wouldn't they be completely screwed up?
This wasn't even about the fact that he was a tier one again; none of them even dared to cross him personally.
This was what the lower-tiered students were feeling. For the tier ones, their feelings were different.
They all had their pride ingrained into their very being from their childhood.
Nothing was set in stone.
Just because he had defeated third years didn't mean that he could easily defeat them.
Each of them was seated on their seats, all acting as though they didn't care about his entry. But despite their nonchalant demeanor, only each of them knew exactly how they were feeling inwardly.
Atticus felt an intense stare as he walked, and turning his gaze towards the direction, he was met with a certain red-haired girl who suddenly turned her head away from him the instant their gazes met.
Apart from Lila, none of the tier one students had been staring, and after a few seconds, Atticus and Kael sat down in their seats.
Atticus turned to see Zoey completely ignoring him and simply facing her front.
"Hey," Atticus suddenly called out, making Zoey's form flinch. Atticus' voice had been loud, enabling some of the other students to hear.
Many of them, especially the tier one youths, all perked their ears, curious about what he was about to say to her.
Zoey really didn't want to respond, but the consistent chanting in her head convinced her otherwise.
Zoey reluctantly turned her gaze towards Atticus, and before she could respond, Atticus suddenly spoke up in a forceful tone while looking straight into Zoey's eyes, "I want to see you after classes."
Zoey was completely caught off guard by Atticus' authoritative demeanor that she didn't even know when she started nodding her head in agreement.
Seeing that Zoey had agreed, Atticus didn't say anything else and turned to face his front, while the rest of the students who had been listening in were at a loss for words.
Since when did they get close? What was going on?
The video of Atticus brutalizing the third years had spread on Friday, enabling each of the first year youths to also watch the video.
But Atticus had walked with Zoey on Friday evening when most had already gone home.
Plus, the fact that most of them had no classes on weekends meant this was the first time they were seeing Atticus and Zoey together.
Seraphin's gaze narrowed dangerously as he looked at Atticus, his smiling expression nowhere to be found.
But he made sure to reel in the massive amount of killing intent he was feeling towards Atticus.
His hands were clenched so hard beneath the desk that it had long since drawn blood, the drops dripping from his hands already forming a small pool on the floor.
Anyone who currently saw him would absolutely believe that he was about to erupt, but at the next instance, Seraphin took his gaze away from Atticus, his expression becoming neutral.
His hands healed within a second, and with a subtle focus, the pool of blood disintegrated.
As usual, Isabella arrived on time and immediately commenced the lecture. After five hours of learning, she ended the class and immediately left.
"Let's go," Atticus turned to Zoey and declared.
Zoey absentmindedly nodded her head, and before any of the students could understand what was going on, they both stood up and left the class.
Atticus and Zoey walked side by side through the hall as they made their way to the highest floor.
Neither of them said anything to each other, with both of them walking quietly.
They got to the highest floor and started making their way to the teleportation room at the end of the hall.
As they walked, Atticus kept noticing Zoey stealing quick glances at him without saying anything.
Atticus sighed.
"Look, I'm so—" just as Atticus was about to apologize, Zoey abruptly stopped and turned to him, "I-I'm sorry!" She apologized, stuttering.
Atticus raised an eyebrow, "For what?" He asked.
Zoey sighed softly. It took her a great amount of courage to face Atticus after what had happened yesterday.
She mustered up even more courage, and she immediately locked her amethyst eyes with Atticus's,
"I'm sorry for ignoring you this morning. I really shouldn't have done that. It's just that I didn't know how to face you after what happened yesterday,"
Zoey didn't seem to be able to maintain eye contact when she got to the last part.
Her face flushed in a shade of crimson as she bowed down her head slightly, muttering softly under her breath, "I'm sorry but I'm not ready to k-kiss yet."
Atticus stared at Zoey's blushing form for a few seconds, and just as the latter was about to raise her head, wondering what was going on, Atticus suddenly burst into hearty laughter, his actions making Zoey baffled.
As she was about to ask what was going on, Atticus chuckled a few more times before wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye.
Atticus opened his eyes to see Zoey's amethyst eyes staring at him inquisitively while blinking.
"I'm sorry," Atticus chuckled slightly, "Your reactions are just so adorable," he explained.
Hearing Atticus, Zoey released a cute pout before she started walking away through the hall, leaving an audible "Hmph!" in her wake.
Atticus smiled as he watched Zoey walk away. With a slight chuckle, he also started walking and caught up with her.
After escorting Zoey to her teleportation room, Atticus doubled back and immediately headed towards the elemental rooms.
Kael had been right beside him when he asked out Zoey, so he knew Atticus would be indisposed for today.
Atticus arrived at the elemental rooms and immediately paid the academy points for as long as he could stay on the campus, which was two hours.
'The remaining elements are already high enough, and I still have more than two years left in the academy. I should focus on unlocking and advancing my space element first,' Atticus decided.
Upon entering, unlike last time, Atticus could see a bunch of students in the room, clearly here to use the facilities.
As soon as Atticus entered, the hall went completely quiet upon seeing him.
Without uttering a word, Atticus made his way to the space elemental room.
It was fortunate that it was the last room and located deeper in the hall. Atticus didn't want the students finding out about his space element.
Just to be safe, as soon as he got a certain distance away from them, Atticus utilized his ethereal cloak and disappeared from view.
He reached the space elemental room and immediately started his training. After less than two hours of practice, Atticus left the elemental room and made his way to his division.