Dario audibly cleared his throat before speaking.
"After Master Avalon came out with the Obsidian Order head, the Aegis ship escorted him back to the Ravenstein estate, where he's being held under heavy guard."
"Then Mistress Lyanna ordered the Silent Nexus cells to spread the information that the branches of the Order in sectors 3 and 4 had been annihilated," Dario continued.
"Did anyone respond?" Atticus asked.
Dario shook his head. "Not to my knowledge, anyway. Considering the play, I have a few guesses as to what the main family was expecting, but I'm not completely sure."
Dario might be well-versed in the politics of the human domain, but he still wasn't privy to the most critical information within the family. In fact, if not for his keen senses, he wouldn't have known there was something more in store when they spread the information.
"Hmm," Atticus pondered the situation carefully. He knew the whole reason Lyanna did that was to gauge how the other families would react and make the necessary assumptions from there.
'The tier two families are at the top of the list. Only a family of such standing could be involved in this,' he thought.
Focusing on the tier two families would significantly narrow down the list of suspects. There were only three tier two families in sector 3, after all.
'The Vermore family…' Atticus thought.
This was the family he suspected the most. Reflecting on everything that had happened so far, they seemed the most likely suspects.
Atticus never forgot anything. He still remembered the Vermore family youth who had approached him at the academy.
The young man had acted friendly and tried to get closer to Atticus, much more persistently than the others from the tier two families. Atticus hadn't thought much of it before, but now it felt suspicious.
'I'm sure Dad and the others already suspect the same thing but haven't found concrete evidence,' he reasoned.
The Ravensteins were ruthless but also shrewd. Attacking the Vermore family without solid proof would eventually backfire. The fact that they were going out of their way to search for proof could only mean one thing:
'They intend to annihilate them,' Atticus concluded.
Dario remained silent, allowing Atticus to contemplate. After a few seconds, Atticus explained his findings to Dario and Yotad, with Dario agreeing immediately.
"What about the other families? What are they doing?" Atticus asked.
"The tension is still high, but nothing conclusive has happened yet. We're all on high alert," Dario replied.
Atticus nodded, then asked a few more questions to ensure he was up to date on the current state of affairs in the human domain.
If he was honest with himself, he could handle a grandmaster- rank now, but only if they didn't utilize the overwhelming power of their domain.
If a war broke out now, Atticus doubted he would be able to play a major role in the battles. In more blunt terms, he would be nothing more than cannon fodder.
"Alright, let's leave this for later and get some food for now," Atticus said.
The trio stood up and started heading out of the room. Atticus couldn't help but notice Yotad glancing at him repeatedly. Yotad hadn't said much during the earlier discussion, which neither Atticus nor Dario had expected.
'Does he want something?' Atticus wondered.
"What is it?" Atticus asked.
Yotad quickly looked away awkwardly before speaking in a low tone, "Can I enter your shadow, Master?"
Atticus shook his head with a sigh. "You can do that when I leave the airship. When we're inside, especially when Grandfather is present, just do your own thing."
Yotad reluctantly nodded, seeing that he had no choice.
The trio made their way through the airship and reached the mess hall, quickly grabbing a meal. Unlike before, the mess hall was empty, with no one else present.
After finishing their meal, Atticus and the duo left the room.
'I miss those magical beasts,' Atticus sighed inwardly. While the food he had just eaten was undoubtedly nutritious, it couldn't compare to the magical beasts he had eaten in the chasm.
The taste was like night and day, with the airship beasts being far superior, but more importantly, he missed the energy the magical beasts provided.
Upon reaching his room, Atticus sat down on the bed after dismissing both Dario and Yotad.
The first thing he did was replay everything that had happened since he entered the chasm in his head—every close call, every battle, and most importantly, every mistake. He had made quite a few mistakes during the journey, mistakes that could have cost him his life.
He had managed to leave with his life intact this time, but he might not be so lucky next time.
After meditating for a few hours, Yotad returned to inform him of Magnus's summons.
Atticus stopped training, left his room, and headed towards the training section of the airship.
'So this is where everyone was,' he thought as he entered through the door, seeing almost all the crew members engaged in sparring sessions.
"I really don't think you should be here, young master," Amara, who had immediately noticed Atticus, approached and remarked.
Atticus chuckled. "I really think this is where I need to be." He took a deep breath. Despite his hellish months and incredible improvement in the chasm, Atticus still felt an overwhelming desire to train. It was already in his blood.
"Besides, I was summoned."
Amara, who had wanted to speak, froze. Only one person could summon Atticus on the ship.
A man entered through the training room door, and every single person paused whatever they were doing.
They hadn't noticed Atticus before because he had been restricting his aura; however, it was impossible not to notice Magnus's overwhelming presence.
The crew members, along with Amara, bowed as Magnus approached Atticus.
"Follow me," Magnus simply said, leading Atticus into a training room with a large red door.
Atticus was met with a very expansive, pristine white room. 'This room can withstand grandmasters?' he thought, impressed.
It was hard to miss the big red door among the other normal doors in the training area. Atticus had asked about it earlier and had been told that it was a training ground that could withstand grandmasters.
"Attack me with your strongest move," Magnus's words brought Atticus out of his thoughts. He was baffled for a second before realizing that Magnus wasn't joking.
Atticus moved forward and stood across from Magnus. His hand moved towards his katana's hilt, but before he could unsheathe it…
"Strongest," Magnus repeated.
Atticus paused, understanding what Magnus wanted. 'He wants me to use my exosuit,' he realized.
Seeing no other choice, Atticus's piercing blue eyes suddenly took on a hint of red in the irises. Tiny pentagon-shaped objects streamed out from the stumps on his chest, engulfing his body in an instant.
The sharp hiss of his katana coming off its sheath was accompanied by a red shroud covering his face.
Atticus's aura surged, an overwhelming amount of energy coursing through his body as the suit siphoned mana from the air and into his body.
The room maintained its pristine whiteness, with the scenery remaining unchanged.
Then, Atticus blurred, and an uncountable number of azure slashes materialized before converging into one large crimson crescent slash that shot towards Magnus with intense speed.
Magnus remained unmoving, his posture steady, his figure resembling an immovable wall.
Just as the crescent slash reached a five-meter radius from Magnus, it was as if a high-pressure beam of light collided with an overwhelming force, scattering the energy in all directions, leaving crackling lightning snaking outward where the crescent had suddenly clashed.
"Hmm, not bad. But it's not enough to cut off the hand of a grandmaster+. How did you achieve that power?"
'As expected,' Atticus thought. Magnus had immediately determined there had to be more. The attack he had just unleashed had been powerful on every level, but it wasn't fast or lethal enough to sever the hand of a grandmaster.
"It's one of the functions of my exosuit. I can absorb blows from my opponent and unleash them in one overwhelming strike."
Magnus nodded, piecing together what had happened. "Are there any limitations? What happened when you unleashed the attack and cut off his arm?"
"The suit lost the energy needed to operate and went dormant," Atticus explained.
"Hm. It's a great card to have during battle. But we have to test everything and know exactly where its limitations lie."
As soon as Atticus nodded, his torture began.
Atticus couldn't even see a blur. To him, it was as though Magnus never moved from the 20-meter spot where he was standing.
However, he felt a bombardment of devastating punches, the likes of which he had never experienced before.
It all occurred in an instant, in just a single second. Atticus was struck from every possible direction, unable to resist or even react.
As the second passed, he inadvertently staggered a step forward, struggling to withstand the pain that coursed through his body all at once.
Two more seconds passed, and Atticus finally gathered enough bearings to think.
Then, he felt an overwhelming amount of power coursing through his body.