The room was utterly silent. As soon as Magnus had given the second reason, he hadn't said anything else, finally giving Atticus the time he needed to grapple with the enormity of the situation.
Atticus's feelings were hard to put into words. Did he feel betrayed? Yes. Did he feel like that particular incident needed some kind of retribution? Yes.
But now that he had found out the whole reason for the incident, Atticus was at a major crossroads.
It was going against his whole nature; from the beginning, he had always repaid back anything that was done to him manifold.
But Magnus was his grandfather; was he supposed to take revenge on him? There was no way Atticus could do that.
Magnus met Atticus's intense stare, his expression still as unreadable as it had been since Atticus had seen him.
"Why didn't I just tell you beforehand?"
Atticus nodded to Magnus's question. That had been exactly what was on his mind. He just couldn't understand.
If Magnus or any staff of the academy had simply told him beforehand, they would've avoided this whole situation from happening.
"Atticus," Magnus suddenly sighed before exploding into tendrils of lightning, wrapping around Atticus and then disappearing, only to reappear outside the structure in a burst of light.
Atticus's gaze snapped open only to find himself high in the sky just below the clouds. The entirety of the academic campus sprawled beneath him, majestic in its entirety.
The beautiful scene brought about a calming effect, as Atticus's raging blood started simmering as the seconds passed.
Atticus took in a deep breath before exhaling, continuing this action for a while.
Magnus gave him the moment, not uttering a word.
After feeling as though he were calm enough, Atticus turned towards Magnus, his gaze silently demanding answers.
Magnus continued, "As I said earlier, we're our own worst enemies. The greatest genius to ever appear in the human domain, this sounds so good on many levels but unfortunately, not everyone has that same perception.
"We humans are greedy by nature," Magnus turned his gaze down towards the academy grounds, looking at the staff strolling about and carrying out their business.
"For generations now, we the tier ones have maintained a somewhat stable power base with each family keeping each other in check. But with your emergence, that power base is about to be broken, significantly at that.
"In essence, the other families see you as a threat that would break the power scale of the human domain, which is why they came up with this… trick.
"The official reason for demanding I not tell you was to see if you could be controlled. A sharp weapon that couldn't be used or would harm its user was not needed. This was what they wanted everyone to believe, but their real reason was simple: to destroy the trust you have in me."
"Atticus," Magnus turned to face Atticus once more,
"I will be sincere. I'm not trying to justify my actions. Ultimately, I made such an important decision that could have ended your life without informing you. I shall take full responsibility."
The tone of Magnus's last words sounded a little lower than the rest, albeit very subtly. Not even Atticus had been able to notice it.
Only Magnus knew how thoroughly he had researched the experiment before agreeing to the council's request. There was no way Magnus would have taken such a decision if he hadn't been sure that Atticus could overcome it.
This was something he could say to Atticus to otherwise try to ease his anger, but Magnus wouldn't. He refused to make any excuses. He had made the decision and would take full responsibility. This was his ideal.
Atticus turned his gaze away from Magnus and towards the academy campus, releasing an audible exhale.
He truly had nothing to say. So many things were happening in the background that he had no idea about. The paragons were wary and scheming against him?
The emergence of a genius should be something of celebration, but he was just finding out that the other families weren't too happy about it.
'I might have to watch out for assassination attempts in the future,' Atticus thought. He had never been one to brood on issues that arose. He knew his potential well and the heights he could and would reach in the future.
From the first place, he hadn't been so naive as to believe that everyone would welcome him with open arms, but at the very least, wasn't it too early?
'I kind of expected this already, but it's far too early. To think they would scheme against a 16-year-old,' he pondered.
The paragons were entities at the top of the food chain on their planet, beings that Atticus couldn't even dream of fighting now, and yet he had entered their radar already. They had even gone as far as trying to destroy the relationship he had with the Ravensteins.
Atticus suddenly realized something. 'So that's why he told me I'll never be alone.' He just figured out why Magnus had given him that promise first before telling him all this.
At this point, Magnus needed not to say anything else. He had already said everything that even the dumbest of people would understand. No matter who or what comes after him, Magnus would always have his back.
Atticus closed his eyes once again, opening them after a few seconds. His heart calmed down completely as all the anger he had been feeling vanished. Now wasn't the time for pointless anger.
He then turned towards Magnus. "You mentioned something about the human domain getting eaten up. By whom?" Atticus asked. This had been something that had been bugging him since Magnus had said it.
The human domain would get eaten up by allies? "The other races?" This was the only thing that came to his mind.
The only other people he could consider allies were the other races, and Magnus confirmed this thought in the next second.
Magnus smiled slightly, easily noticing Atticus's calm aura. "Yes, if things should continue as they are, the other races would overwhelm us."
Magnus's words made Atticus raise an eyebrow, his thoughts spinning. "Are the humans hated by the other races?" he inquired.