Strictly following the map, after more or less 23 minutes, they both crossed the distance. Atticus raised his right arm to stop their advance when he saw that they were only a small distance away from their targets.
During the journey, they had encountered beasts along the way, but they had both completely ignored them.
Aside from beasts, they hadn't encountered any humans or members of the bone race. The latter was completely to Atticus' satisfaction.
Gesturing towards a nearby tree, Aurora nodded in understanding, and both their figures shot forward, climbing and reaching the top of the tall tree in a few seconds.
As silent as panthers, they both jumped from tree branch to tree branch towards their intended destination.
Atticus couldn't help but subtly steal glances at Aurora, who had been keeping up with him. 'She's been training this hard, huh,' he couldn't help but offer praise to her.
It was one thing to feel her improved aura, and it was another to actually see her improvements in action.
The youth she had easily taken care of had been a third-year. Although the Alverians were not a warrior family, it was still a big achievement considering the fact that they both had their bloodline locked.
Aurora's movements were swift and without hesitation, effortless and fast. He couldn't help but see glimpses of the past where she had been revered as a genius at the Raven camp. While he wasn't running at full speed, it was still a significant speed.
A small smile appeared on Atticus' face. 'I should spend more time with her.'
Making sure she didn't catch him, Atticus focused his gaze back on his front, increasing his pace a little bit. Aurora, of course, kept up with him easily, and after a few moments, they both abruptly stopped on top of a branch.
Aurora, who had stopped because of Atticus, turned her gaze to see him looking in a particular direction. Following his gaze, Aurora was met with what she would like to believe was their target.
Two Nebulon family 2nd year youths were currently engaged in a heated argument.
"I think we should still go after them. We don't have a choice anyway," the one who had just spoken was dressed in a simple purple robe. He had his hand crossed while resting on a tree.
"Didn't you see who our target was!?" The second youth exclaimed.
"Arlo?" The first youth replied calmly.
"Yes, Arlo! Our first ranker!"
"Is he that strong though? I mean, his bloodline is restricted, right?"
"What the hell are you talking about…"
"Can I shoot?" Aurora whispered silently. Atticus turned and saw that she had already brought out one of the snipers they seized from the Alverians that attacked them earlier.
Atticus had given her 2 of the space storages he had picked up, along with some weapons in Zekaron's space storage just in case.
Aurora locked eyes with Atticus while showing her puppy eyes and holding up the gun.
Atticus chuckled while shaking his head. He gestured for her to go ahead, enabling Aurora's lips to curl up into a radiant smile.
Aurora searched for a slightly lower, flatter, and sturdier branch and jumped on it, lying down and setting up the gun.
Seeing Aurora getting ready, Atticus also focused his gaze on the two youths. "You can have the one shouting; I'll take the one resting on the tree," Atticus whispered.
Aurora nodded, her focus undisturbed as she looked through the scope of the massive sniper-like gun, her gaze fixated on the head of one person.
Gazing at his target, Atticus's mind swirled. On his way here, he had been thinking of different ways in which he could utilize the water element effectively, especially now when he was restricted to only using it until further notice.
Atticus's water element bloodline gave him control over water in its entirety.
On his way here, something had struck Atticus: water was quite literally everywhere. It was in the human body, in the air, in the earth, grass, leaves, and most importantly, in the trees.
He had been too fixated on creating water from just the air and had overlooked everything else.
Atticus couldn't control the water of a person remotely; he had tried and had failed miserably.
This led his mind to consider multiple reasons why and, in turn, a solution. To control the water inside another living organism, be it humanoid or trees, for now at least, he needed to make contact.
Atticus suddenly placed his right hand palm on the tree he was standing on, his body radiating an aura of intense focus.
Breathing in and out, Atticus felt the flow of water in the tree.
As Atticus reached that conclusion, he made a major discovery that seemed logical upon reflection. The tree he was standing on, and every other tree in the forest, were connected.
This simply meant that if he made contact with one tree, he was basically making contact with the other trees.
Atticus traced the flow of water, imagining it coursing through the tree's roots and up its sturdy trunk.
With each passing second, he followed its path, following its movement across the earth and connecting with other trees in the area.
Atticus directed his focus towards the direction of the tree the Nebulon youth was resting on, tracing the flow until he reached the tree.
"As I keep on saying, we don't have a choice. We have no points, haven't gotten anything from the store yet. If we fail this, we'd lose a limb," the youth resting in the tree said.
But the other youth wasn't convinced in the least. He was the leader and thus knew Arlo better than his subordinate.
"Our best bet would be to wait for our hunters to attack us, but who knows, the leader might be an even bigger coward than yo… hm?" Before the youth could finish his speech, he suddenly felt water dripping on his head.
The loud and intense bang rocked the forest, followed by a radiant golden light that illuminated the area, enveloping the second youth.
Before the first youth could formulate his next move, a wave of water suddenly burst out from the tree he was resting on, enveloping the youth's body in an instant.
The youth tussled and struggled, trying his best to escape from the water enveloping him, but it was all to no avail.
After a few moments, he used up the air he had in his lungs, both his arms on his neck as he started drowning.
The youth stared at the location where his companion had been before, only one thought appearing in his head,
'Lucky bastard.'