Silence enveloped the entire training ground as each of the students processed Atticus's words.
A hundred of them died? How?
The majority of the division members expression, even the Ravenstein youths, immediately morphed into confusion. How was it even possible for a hundred of them to die without their knowledge?
A hundred wasn't a small number; at the very least, it should have caused a commotion.
But with everything that had just happened, none of them were foolish enough to think that Atticus was kidding. It really did happen.
Atticus narrowed his gaze slightly, his eyes moving at alarming speed as he scrutinized the more than a thousand youths gathered in the training grounds.
As soon as he had spoken, Atticus had raised his perception to full throttle, scrutinizing each of the division members gathered in the area.
Throughly scrutinizing a thousand youths, checking to see any slight change in expressions or body language, was something many couldn't even dream of doing. And in less than a second, 'I see,' Atticus thought.
He had already expected this situation. All of them feigned ignorance, with many showing confused expressions.
But their body language could not escape Atticus, no matter how much they tried. He could see some of the youths amongst the crowd clenching their fists while trembling, each of them clearly afraid.
Atticus decided to wait for a full minute to give them a chance to step out.
But during this time, the youths all kept on looking at each other in confusion. Except for Aurora, who simply stood directly behind Atticus without showing any change in expression, the other Ravensteins youths were also confused.
Even if a hundred members had actually died, how had Atticus known it? Of them, it was Lucas who had the slightest clue of what was going on. 'He gets notified about our deaths and considering the fact that he's currently angry, he probably gets punished when any one of us dies too.'
Ever since that night Atticus had warned Hen when he finished addressing the non-combatants, Lucas had always wondered why he had been going through such lengths to protect the lives of the division members. But what he had just concluded would explain a lot.
The minute went by fast and as soon as it was up, Atticus saw that none of the youths expressed any intention of stepping forward.
Atticus nodded. "Alright then."
He didn't get angry nor did he erupt into a fit of rage. He didn't feel like there was any reason to; nothing would change.
Not everything was about brute force. There was always a smart way of doing things and that was what Atticus had chosen to do.
As Atticus opened his mouth again to speak, the soft murmurs and chatters that filled the training grounds immediately quieted down.
"I'm sure you are all aware of academy contracts," Atticus asked.
The majority of the division members nodded their heads in affirmation, with some of them whispering what the academy contracts were to the youths beside them.
The non-leaders section was unlike the leaders section that was mostly filled with the tiered students, in another sense, proud individuals.
Here, rumors and news spread faster because the students actually talked to each other. So, many of them were well-informed about most of the academy features.
Atticus nodded and simultaneously raised his arm to tap on his artifact.
He continued, "In a few seconds, you will all receive an academy contract. You will all sign it," Atticus commanded.
Immediately, the youths processed those words, and each couldn't help but flinch. The ones who knew about the academy contract were well aware of the punishment for breaching anything in the contract.
The scene of the third years getting electrocuted was still fresh in their heads. None of them wanted to experience that.
What was worse was that they had no idea what Atticus would propose in the contract; he could turn them all into slaves for all they cared.
Atticus saw many of the youths immediately express their dissatisfaction at what he had just asked them to do, but none had the guts to do it openly; they did it in the most subtle way possible. But none of it could ever be subtle enough to escape Atticus's perception.
And Atticus's eyes couldn't help but narrow as he noticed it was the same people whose trembling forms he had noticed earlier.
Atticus's expression remained unchanged. He cared not for what they all thought.
Atticus navigated to the appropriate section and immediately started drafting the contract. He had long since decided on what he was going to add to the contract.
In under 5 seconds, Atticus finished drafting it and immediately sent it to each and every one of the division youths, surprisingly including the Ravenstein youths as each of their artifacts dinged, notifying them.
Even Aurora hadn't been excluded. But she hadn't expressed any surprise or shock unlike the other Ravenstein youths who turned to look at themselves. She simply accepted the contract without even checking its contents.
Atticus had no intention of taking any chances.
Each of the other division members opened the contract and read the terms.
Suddenly, in an extremely trembling voice, one could immediately tell that said individual was mustering the entirety of his courage in order to speak.
One youth in the middle of the crowd suddenly spoke out, his voice squeaking, "T-this is u-unfair! I-I c-cannot a-accept t-this!"
But before the youth could finish speaking, an incredible amount of force engulfed him as his body was brutally slammed on the ground.
The division members around the area immediately scattered, each of them not wanting to be caught in the attack.
The youth felt unimaginable amounts of pain as his form was enveloped in the air and lifted up high.
And with an abrupt motion, he was once again slammed against the ground with brutal intensity.
This action repeated itself a few more times until the youth became all bloodied and battered.
In the next instant, an invisible force enveloped his form, raising him and setting his body straight as he stood as though nothing had just happened. But his completely bloodied body would say otherwise.
Each of the division members turned to face the only person that had the power to do such a thing: Atticus.
He looked down on all the youths, his form having not even appeared to have moved. There was no indication that would suggest he had been the one responsible for what just happened.
They were all completely astonished. The youth who had just spoken had been at the back lines of the gathered crowd, hundreds of meters away from Atticus! Yet Atticus had still gotten to him.
They each felt chills run down their spines. If Atticus wanted, he could get to anyone anytime he wanted.
Atticus's cold words followed, "It wasn't a request," he declared succinctly.
None of them needed any other explanation; they all instantly started accepting the contract, even the Ravenstein youths.
Every time a contract was accepted, Atticus would receive a notification. In under a minute, he had received more than a thousand notifications.
Atticus swiftly asked his artifact to do a head count on the number of youths that had accepted the contract. His gaze turned cold as he heard the number: one thousand one hundred youths.
The meaning was very clear: there were 100 members of his division that were yet to accept the contract.
And it just so happened that it was this same number of youths that had died.
"Point them out," Atticus instantly instructed his artifact, and it did one better; his artifact lit up as a monocle-shaped hologram appeared over his eyes.
Atticus could instantly see as most of the youths started glowing a golden glow, while a few retained their normal color.
Atticus didn't need time to think to know who was who. With a thought, the earth underneath the youths without any glow swirled, and their forms immediately got enveloped in the earth, locking each of them in place.
The youths instantly got startled as each of them wondered what was happening. But before they had time to think, Atticus suddenly spoke.
"The rest of you can leave," Atticus's command rang out, taking them out of their reverie.
Seeing that they each had a chance to leave the presence of this white-haired monster, they all started scattering about, leaving the training ground in a few seconds.
Atticus turned his gaze towards the Ravenstein youths too and addressed them, "I'll explain everything later; you all should leave too," Atticus suggested.
The Ravenstein youths had all been loyal to him and had always listened to his orders. It would be wrong to treat them like the others. He owed them an explanation at the very least.
They each turned to look at each other first, and then they turned towards Atticus. With a bow, they each left the training grounds.
Only Aurora, Lucas, and Nate remained behind, and with a glance, Atticus could tell that they wanted to remain.
Atticus nodded and turned to face the youths encased in earth. With another thought, they were all moved from their position to directly in front of Atticus.
Atticus removed the earth encasing them but still bound their hands and legs.
The current state of the youths was without saying, pitiful.
"Scared" would be an understatement when one wanted to describe how they were currently feeling.
As Atticus focused on them, their legs shook as many of them started urinating.
Atticus simply ignored their pitiful state as his cold words sounded,
"You have 5 seconds to accept the contract."