Atticus meditated deep into the night, but that wasn't all he did. He finished preparing his mind for what was coming quickly and decided to use the opportunity to train his darkness element.
To the shadow Seraphon watching Atticus with rapt attention, the tranquil aura he was initially radiating suddenly intensified. The beast, with its powers entirely focused on darkness, could feel how harmonious Atticus had suddenly become with his surroundings.
A small low pitched screech sounded from the shadow Seraphon as its two eyes fixed on Atticus, who had basically become invisible at this point.
But Atticus's mastery was still far below that of the shadow Seraphon. Regardless, the area around Atticus felt rich due to the darkness element converging around him.
As time passed and the Seraphon felt not an ounce of ill intent from Atticus, it found itself drawn towards him, laying just a few meters away.
The night went by quickly, with the sun rising after a few hours. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for the inhabitants of the large cavern, not a single ray of sunlight reached the cave.
However, Atticus, who currently had his eyes shut and his back resting on something he found incredibly comfortable, suddenly noticed something bright even with his eyes closed.
Although he was sleeping, his mind hadn't been disoriented in the slightest. He still remembered that he was in the pitch-dark cave where no sunlight should be able to reach.
His eyes instantly flickered open, wondering what was going on. As his gaze landed on the figure in front of him, Atticus couldn't help but sigh.
Just standing a few meters away from him was the figure of Magnus. He was blinding, so bright that the entire cavern was illuminated by the light coming from him.
Atticus wasn't even sure if the man was doing it intentionally, but it was as though there dare not be so intense a darkness when he was present.
"It's time to leave," Magnus's succinct voice brought Atticus out of his reverie, but he wasn't the only one.
Atticus had barely sat up straight from what he had unknowingly been resting on before it suddenly started trembling with intensity.
'Wait! Did I really…'
Atticus swiftly turned around, his gaze landing on the massive figure of the shadow Seraphon just behind him.
He looked down and saw that what he had been resting on had been one of its tendrils.
'To think they were actually so soft… wait! How the hell did I let my guard down so much!' Atticus's thoughts were frantic, but then he suddenly remembered who the man standing behind him was and immediately cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to hide the fact that he had let his guard down and was now surprised.
He fixed his gaze on the beast once more.
Compared to yesterday when Atticus had seen it shake, now, Atticus could feel what it was currently feeling: primal and complete fear.
It didn't run, not that it could move even if it wanted to, nor did it look up. Its torso was bowed, eyes facing downward.
Every single one of its tendrils had somehow lost their power, lying down as though they were lifeless appendages.
Atticus knew immediately that it wasn't him that was the cause of its behavior; it was simply the man behind him.
Releasing a chuckle, Atticus turned his gaze back towards Magnus, standing upright.
"Won't you at least let me have my bath?" Atticus joked.
Magnus didn't seem to care about the reaction of the beast. To him, it was a natural reaction, and he was all too used to it.
"You'll do that on the ship. I trust you've said your goodbyes?"
A sigh escaped Atticus's lips. He had said his goodbyes, but even then, leaving them stung his heart. He had only spent one year at the academy, but he had forged some bonds he would rather not abandon.
Atticus took a deep breath before nodding in response to Magnus. There was no helping it; it was all for the future.
Not even a second passed after Atticus nodded before Magnus suddenly exploded into tendrils of lightning that engulfed Atticus.
To Atticus, there was no pause. As soon as it engulfed him and he unknowingly closed his eyes, the next second he opened them, he found himself in another place entirely.
Atticus turned his gaze around, trying to get his bearings. Tendrils of lightning still snaked around his figure as he floated suspended in the air, with Magnus just beside him.
Beneath them was a lush forest filled with trees stretching in every direction, and just in front of them was the inner side of a massive blue dome.
No matter how far Atticus focused his gaze to the right and left, he could still see the dome.
'Looks like the same one I saw from outside the academy,' Atticus could still remember the large dome he had seen when he arrived at the expanse before the entrance test.
The blue dome encompassed the whole sector and, in turn, the academy. Its power was so absolute that even Paragons were required to stop in the face of it.
Atticus couldn't help but recall the things he had found out about the Aegis Shield during his first year. It had been covered during the leader's course with Isabella.
The Aegis Shield was a dangerous weapon, one that could be used against Paragons, and its creators, the Alliance, knew this well. On the entire planet, only a select few were given the privilege of having the knowledge to build it and were heavily bound by an insanely strict mana contract.
As an extra precaution, each shield had an inbuilt bomb which would unfailingly detonate should the Alliance will it.
Directly in front of them, a small opening suddenly appeared, and before Atticus could wonder what was happening, he shot forward against his will, suddenly appearing outside the academy.
There was no standing ovation, no announcements, or even a send-off. No one in the academy knew except for the staff and a select few students, but the white-haired devil whom many feared—the same boy who still had his name spoken in almost every conversation, the same boy who had made his legend known after just one year at the academy—had left.