Atticus moved towards the east side of the forest at a fast speed. Although his body was filled with crimson blood, already showing signs of drying, he was more or less healed.
But regardless of how many healing or stamina recovery potions he wanted to take, it would do little to recover his will.
Atticus was still battling with an inner turmoil, one that questioned his every move. Every action or thought he took or planned to take was always done with multiple times the effort.
However, despite the setback, Atticus's movements were swift and agile. His body felt as though he was as light as a feather, his feet barely touching the ground before he had already moved a few meters away.
Atticus hadn't encountered any more enemies on his way, an occurrence that he should be happy about and thanking his stars for, but a deep frown found its way to Atticus's face, his hands clenching slightly.
After running through the forest for several minutes, Atticus finally reached a small clearing, and his heart couldn't help but tremble as he gazed at the current scene.
His assumption had been right. The fact that he hadn't seen any enemies could mean that they had already gotten what they wanted and left.
The area was filled with signs of battles, with trees being broken, splatters of blood, and deep craters scattered across the area.
Atticus clenched his hand, forcefully calming down his beating heart, and took in a deep breath. Then he allowed a hint of rationality to take over instead of losing himself to his emotions.
Atticus used his perception and scanned the whole area thoroughly.
'There are signs of scorch marks, but I don't think they're from Aurora. It's probably from their guns,'
Atticus thought, recalling how Aurora had gazed at her hands in confusion when they had just been transported.
He was sure it hadn't only been him affected by the restrictions. Due to the dire situation back then, he hadn't thought to check her rank. If not, he would have confirmed his assumptions.
Atticus' mind spun, going through numerous possible scenarios, and reaching the most likely conclusions in a second.
'They might have killed her, and her artifact teleported her away, if that feature was still available, that is. Or just like me, she defeated them and left with their bodies, or she lost and was captured and taken somewhere."
Out of Atticus' assumptions, he was leaning towards the last one. Atticus wasn't trying to look down on Aurora; he just felt like it was the assumption with the highest possibility.
Without perception, dodging their laser beams wouldn't be easy. Plus, considering the fact that she was being limited and without her bloodline, it was something that would take her some time to get used to, especially if it was something she had been used to using for most of her life.
Atticus could completely understand her loss.
Atticus' gaze moved at a fast speed, taking note of every single detail in the area. Every scorch mark and blood splatter, even the tiniest footprints, were taken note of.
He also went one step further, releasing a pulse from his core and trying to see if there was some kind of detail that wasn't visible to his eyes.
He was able to see multiple handprints, their dimensions unmistakably Aurora's. Unfortunately for Atticus, she and her opponents had been fully clothed, which made them not leave any mana imprints with their steps.
Regardless, Atticus kept on searching.
After a few moments, Atticus' gaze suddenly turned towards the north of the forest, taking note of the subtle trails and footprints that led away from the area.
Atticus approached and saw about five different sets of footprints, proving that his assumption had indeed been correct.
'These two look deeper,' Atticus noticed two out of the sets having a deeper depth than the rest, with the first one out of the two deeper than the second.
'Looks like she didn't go without a fight. One was carrying Aurora, and the second their comrade she knocked out,'
Reaching this conclusion, Atticus acted immediately and dashed through the forest, his perception working at full speed as he followed the trail carefully.
A whole myriad of thoughts were going through his mind, but Atticus silenced them all and kept on moving. At this point, he could only hope.
It didn't take that long; after a few minutes of moving at top speed, Atticus suddenly noticed signs of movement up ahead.
His speed exploded, his every movement silent as he approached a tree to his side. With quick, effortless steps, Atticus scaled the tree with his steps, reaching the top and hiding himself among the leaves and branches.
From the tree, Atticus squinted his eyes, his gaze focusing on the forms of three individuals donned in the same purple futuristic suits, equipped with guns, walking and looking around the forest.
After thinking about it a little bit, Atticus decided not to attack them and simply kept quiet, staying out of sight in the tree.
The men walked past the tree, none of them seeing Atticus, and continued moving through the forest.
After a few seconds, they were both out of sight.
'Patrols? Is there some kind of camp nearby?' Atticus speculated.
Deciding to confirm his assumption, Atticus turned towards the direction the two had come from and continued moving.
But instead of running on the ground, Atticus decided to move through the trees. They would provide good cover for him, and he would easily be able to see the area from a high vantage point.
Atticus jumped from branch to branch, moving at a rapid pace. During his move, he would encounter a set of three men patrolling the area and would always hide.
He would have loved to take care of them, especially when they were divided, but if they truly were patrolling, they were sure to have ways of communicating and alerting the camp should they fall.
After a few minutes of moving, his form abruptly stopped on one tree branch, his gaze focused on what he had been searching for: a camp filled to the brim with imposing individuals all donned in futuristic battle suits.