The only ones who didn't really show any visible reaction were Ember and Kael. They both still had their weapons in their hands, gazing up at the screen ever so calmly.
Ember and Kael had never been ones to panic much; the former trusted Atticus that much, while the latter just couldn't find a reason to panic. Their artifacts weren't for decoration.
The confusion among the students intensified when they also found out that Atticus didn't appear on the platform with the rest.
They each murmured, coming up with different speculations, before deciding to simply focus on the screen and wait.
…
There was no one among the instructors who didn't know what a domain was. Many of them were in the process of trying to form theirs, after all.
The number of instructors that stood up as soon as Mortrex deployed his domain was staggering.
Many were shocked beyond words. Why the hell was he using a domain against a 16-year-old? But as though remembering Harrison's words, they each sat down without uttering a word.
Isabella and Jared didn't bother to stand up; it was as though they knew it would be pointless. Just like the students, they chose to focus on the screen.
…
Darkness—that was what Atticus could see. Even when he saw the cocoon unfurling, Atticus's gaze didn't once blink.
He immediately knew that there was no outrunning it and decided instead to maintain his alertness.
His hand clutched his katana tightly, his life weapon vibrating in an assuring manner. His stance remained undisturbed, his piercing blue gaze with a hint of crimson in his irises fixed ahead from under his exo suit.
Then, Atticus waited.
But he didn't have to wait for long as the scene suddenly changed and Atticus underwent a series of afflictions.
The air suddenly became heavy, the temperature plummeting as a new scene manifested in its full, awe-inspiring glory.
Bones rose from the ground, forming towering dunes and jagged outcrops. Skeletal trees appeared, their branches rattling in the frigid wind.
The landscape transformed into a vast, eerie desert, shimmering with a spectral light.
Atticus's gaze flashed, his mind working at high speed as he attempted to comprehend everything that was happening.
The Desert stretched as far as the eye could see, an endless sea of white and pale hues.
The ground was a mixture of fine, powdery sand and countless bone fragments.
Around him were massive dunes composed of both sand and bone fragments that shifted with the wind, creating an eerie, ever-changing landscape.
Here and there, large skeletal remains jutted out from the sand, some resembling rib cages of colossal beasts, towering vertebral columns, or skulls the size of boulders.
But this wasn't all.
Sparse, skeletal plants dotted the landscape, their structures resembling twisted bones.
The climate seemed to shift every second.
At one instance, a certain bleached brightness would radiate the space, the sun beating down mercilessly, bleaching the landscape to a blinding white, creating a dazzling, almost otherworldly brightness.
And at another instance, the temperature would suddenly plummet as the desert took on a ghostly appearance under the moonlight, with shadows stretching long and the bones gleaming in the silver light.
Atticus was completely and utterly speechless. He could feel an intense amount of weakness acting upon him, as though being in this space alone was draining him.
'What is this?' There was only confusion in Atticus' mind. This was the first time he had ever encountered something like this.
But he didn't have to ask, as in the next second, as though he could read his mind, a voice suddenly spoke,
"Welcome to my domain,"
The voice came from every conceivable direction, and despite that, it sounded in unison. It was as though a god had spoken.
Atticus didn't utter any words, his hands still clutching his katana. He recognized the voice that spoke.
If he hadn't before, he knew now that there was no escaping this unless Mortrex himself wanted him to.
"Relax, if I wanted you dead, you would be already."
Mortrex's next words were the push Atticus needed to reach his next conclusion. He released his hold on his katana, releasing his exosuit.
There was no hostility coming from Mortrex, and if he had heard Mortrex's last words before the deployment of his domain correctly, then he should be expecting a favor from him.
Atticus faced no one in particular and suddenly spoke, "What is this place? A Domain?" he asked.
The ground a few meters behind Atticus suddenly swirled, the sand and bone fragments swirling upwards together until the pristine white figure of Mortrex was formed.
"Yes, this is my domain," the rapid climate changes suddenly stopped, the bright radiance of the sun shining down on the space.
Atticus's head snapped backwards, his gaze fixing on what had just spoken. It looked like Mortrex down to the last detail, but Atticus could tell that it wasn't the real him.
Feeling Atticus's stare, Mortrex continued,
"I call this the Bone Desert. It is a manifestation of my power and my experiences from the day I was born. Here, I control everything you see."
Mortrex's words were followed by the climate abruptly changing once again, the temperature plummeting as the desert took on a ghostly appearance under the moonlight.
Atticus frowned, his confusion evident. Seeing this, Mortrex decided to explain further,
"A domain is a representation of an individual's power, a level of mastery that only those who have attained a profound understanding of their abilities can achieve. Within this domain, the laws of reality bend and conform to my will. Like so…"
Mortrex suddenly raised his hand, and instantaneously the bone dunes around the area began to shift and change.
The ground beneath Atticus's feet trembled as a multitude of massive skeletal ribcages rose from the sand, forming an imposing archway.
These ribcages, each the size of a tree trunk, curved upward and met at a high point above, creating a grand, eerie gateway.
Mortrex continued,
"This archway symbolizes the gateway to my power. Every single thing here is under my command. As a Grandmaster, my domain mirrors the theme of my abilities—in my case, the complete control and creation of bones."