Hearing Mortrex's words, Atticus's expression didn't change. He stared at Mortrex directly in the eyes without uttering a word to him.
This action seemed to confuse Mortrex a little bit, causing him to furrow his eyebrows.
"What—"
"I never forget my grievances," Atticus suddenly spoke, interrupting Mortrex.
Mortrex allowed Atticus to continue, not saying anything.
"The boy you protected from me a few minutes ago, along with the other Grandmaster that appeared, both tried to kill me, with the former being foolish enough to threaten my companions. I meant every single word I said to him: I will end his family."
Atticus didn't know for certain, but considering the fact that they were all clad in the same attire, had the same patterns on their skin and even had the same insignia engraved on their chests, he was sure that they were all of the same family.
Which meant that they were responsible for the hunt for him. Many would call Atticus cruel, Spineus had come to take revenge because he had killed Zekaron, but Atticus didn't care.
Zekaron was dead because he had tried to kill him in the first place, why should Atticus have to care that Spineus was after him because of that?
Mortrex's hands involuntarily clenched hard. 'Shit,' he thought. He was currently in a situation he had absolutely no idea how to circumvent.
If it were up to him, Mortrex would gladly give up on Vertebrea, but Spineus and the Ossara family were another thing entirely.
Aside from the obvious fact that Spineus was a once in a generation genius and that the Ossara family were very important members of the bone race, Spineus was Viviana's younger brother, and the Ossara family was her family!
She might have cut off all communications with them until recently, but Mortrex knew her well. Deep down, she loved them, especially her younger brother Spineus.
There was no way he would be able to face her should he agree to something like this. He had to search for another way.
'But those eyes…' Mortrex sighed. The look in Atticus's gaze couldn't lie. Mortrex knew it instinctively; there would be no other way.
'They awakened a slumbering beast. What's the best possible move from here?' Mortrex truly didn't know what to do.
On one hand, he could allow Atticus to do what he wanted, but then he wouldn't be able to face Viviana ever again. On the other hand, going against Atticus would be a very stupid thing to do.
Even if he wanted to, Mortrex couldn't kill Atticus here since he had the artifact on. If he showed any hostility towards Atticus, he would simply be signing a future death warrant for the bone race.
'There's nothing I can do currently, and provoking him isn't an option. I'll handle this later,' Mortrex sighed. He was Mortrex the indomitable, the great Ossarch of the bone race, and yet he felt incredibly drained just dealing with this 16 year old.
The fact that Atticus still kept his intense gaze without even the slightest ripple despite just learning about the power of a Grandmaster and the frightening power Mortrex held inside this space was enough to make Mortrex's heart tremble. He truly couldn't believe that this was a 16-year-old. The world truly wouldn't be fair if it were true.
Mortrex didn't bother to ask Atticus for another way; it felt useless. So he simply nodded his head in acknowledgment of his words.
Atticus nodded back, his expression undisturbed.
"I treat people exactly the way they deserve. Enemies are treated as such, enemies. Allies as allies. I will not make a promise of a future that isn't certain yet, but should I reach the top and we do not end up as enemies, I will remember this favor," Atticus explained.
This was Atticus at his deepest level. He was cruel, brutal, and dangerous, but Atticus would never harm innocents unless it directly threatened his survival or that of his family.
Mortrex maintained the stare with Atticus with furrowed brows. If he had to be honest, he had been expecting more than this, but he knew that this was the best he was going to get currently.
Mortrex nodded. "Well, that's that. Any other questions before I release my domain?"
Atticus shook his head, then suddenly remembered something. "Can you wait for a few minutes?"
….
Everyone's gazes were fixed on two points, alternating every other second. The first was the screen showing the massive white cocoon, and the second was the platform where the contestants were supposed to appear when they 'die' during the competition.
It was no secret that the person Atticus was currently facing was incredibly strong, someone not even he should be able to win against. And yet, why hadn't he been 'killed'?
"Ahhhh, this is taking way too long! Are they having tea in there or something!?" Nate screamed, releasing a deep sigh while facing upwards, as though hoping for a miracle.
"It's only been a few minutes; calm down, you bonehead," Lucas shot him a death stare. The whole coliseum was currently completely silent.
Despite being Tier Ones, their area was getting a lot of intense stares from the other students because of the noise Nate was making. They were all subtle, though; no one actually dared to start or say anything.
Low murmurs instead permeated the platform the contestants were on as many of the students spoke to each other. Surprisingly, even though a few minutes had already passed, the injured students hadn't been attended to.
It was a brutal reminder that they were still in the academy and there were no free handouts. They had to buy healing potions with their academy points.
Reaching that conclusion, there was one face that couldn't help but darken among them—Seraphin. His bloodline wasn't strong enough to heal an injury as severe as his.
The penalty for missing one class wasn't too staggering that many would shed tears. It was simply five thousand academy points.
What made it brutal was the penalty for missing two classes whether consecutively or not was double the one for missing one.
And then the one for missing three was three times that of the second.