It went without saying that as Atticus told Aurora and the other Ravenstein youth about the Alverian family's involvement, another brutality occurred throughout the academy campus.
Lark and the other first years had been hunted and brutally beaten into a pulp.
Words could not begin to describe how much relief the 100 division members felt as they were freed.
They all approached and knelt down in front of Atticus's mansion while chanting his name and thanking him.
Atticus, as usual, occasionally hung out with Zoey, Ember, and Kael, who since that day had been looking at him strangely.
He occasionally made reference to the one-year time he asked Atticus to battle with him as though he wanted to cancel it and fight immediately.
But after witnessing Atticus's battle with the third years, Kael had confirmed his earlier assumption: Atticus had been greatly holding back during their battle.
Even during his battle with the second years, Kael could still subtly feel it; he was still holding back.
But regardless of how overwhelming Atticus might seem, it never once dampened his fighting spirit.
They were still going to do battle after one year.
The third years of the academy were still completely quiet. Atticus had hardly ever even met them. It was like they were all intentionally avoiding him.
The only third year he could say he met was Ember. Atticus also questioned Ember just in case anyone was trying to give her a hard time because of him, or if anyone even outright attacked her. But in her usual nonchalant manner, she assured him everything was fine.
The academy became relatively peaceful.
However, this peacefulness was related to big events that spread around the academy. The cruelty of the academy was still going strong, incredibly strong.
Many students around the academy still got bullied, with many still getting enslaved. The rules of the academy were put in place for a reason, a reason many still failed to understand even until now.
The misconception that many have about the academy was that it was just a place to foster the next generation.
This, this was just the half-truth.
The academy was an eye-opener, a place where the youth of the human domain were taught the ways of the world. As Aric Stormrider had said, it was a place to train warriors.
One of the major features the academy used to simulate the cruelty of the world was the Academy contracts and the rules governing them.
It was meant to completely mirror the features of a mana contract without endangering the lives of the students.
Many might deem it cruel for the academy to allow students to enslave one another, but the academy would call them naive.
This was the reality of the world.
There were mana contracts everywhere, and it went without saying that many were being forced to sign them.
The academy contract would only last for 3 years and won't work after one leaves the academy. But mana contracts are for life.
There was no way to get out of them. Once signed, said individual would be a slave for the rest of their life.
There was simply no better place to incentivize the student about the dangers of contracts and the consequences of signing one without thought.
To make the students painfully aware of the price you pay when you accept such contracts.
There was no better teaching method than allowing them to experience it themselves.
It was cruel, yes, definitely.
It could induce trauma in a lot of youths, yes, definitely.
It could ruin future heroes or talents that may pop up in the future, no.
It had been said from the beginning: this was reality.
Everyone was born with their talents and bloodline. There was no awakening of any latent inner power whatsoever.
Your worth in society was determined from birth and when an individual turned 7.
The majority of individuals in the human domain were weak. Only the elite, the tiered, could be said to be somewhat useful.
Rather than hope for the impossible, the academy instead chose to shape the minds of the youth in order to prepare them for the cruel world and the battles that were to come.
The strong would prevail, and the weak would be left in the dust.
Instead of millions of babied, weak-willed youths, the human domain would prefer a thousand of strong-willed youths.
Atticus still never saw Seraphin, Gerald, and Sonorous. Plus, even though he occasionally asked, Zephyr never showed up to class again, much to Aurora's dissatisfaction.
Weeks passed, and Atticus spent his time training and training. He had finally started watching the classes on Alchemy and blacksmithing.
The class had started the important bits, and he felt like it was time for him to start.
These new additions unfortunately affected his schedule, greatly reducing his training time a bit as he became even busier.
Months passed, and after the talk with Nate, Atticus had decided to leave everything about the division wars to them.
Since he was the leader, he still had to attend the battles, but he promised he wouldn't fight unless attacked or if the division was in deep shit.
Surprisingly to Atticus, the other Ravensteins had chosen Aurora to lead them. What surprised him more was seeing the hot-headed Aurora being nice and friendly to the others. She and Moon basically became friends.
Aurora displayed shockingly incredible leadership as she and the Ravenstein youths didn't disappoint; every single division war, although getting harder every day, was won without many casualties.
Months passed, and Atticus started becoming increasingly baffled. Not even once had the White Ravens fought any tier-one youth division. And when he spoke with Zoey and Kael about it, it was the same thing for them.
The division wars were gradually coming to an end as their first year was ending.
It was as if the academy was purposely avoiding the tier ones from fighting.
Atticus didn't bother about the matter for long. He would simply intervene if anything went sideways; otherwise, his routine continued.
Time passed, and soon enough, the day that Atticus had been eagerly waiting for since he heard about it, came.