During the few days of his recovery, Magnus hadn't visited Atticus. However, Atticus didn't feel any anger or resentment about this. He could still feel the man's presence, as though Magnus's stare could reach him even within the enclosed space of his room.
Atticus left his quarters and made his way to the upper section of the airship.
Along the way, he briefly spoke with Amara and other members of the crew. They had all heard about his condition and had paid him a visit to check on him.
It wasn't until they saw with their own eyes that he was truly okay that they each relaxed.
Atticus had helped them regain their lost spark, and the last thing they wanted was for him to meet his demise.
As Atticus reached the upper section and stood in front of Magnus's room, he took a deep breath. He always needed to prepare himself when stepping into a room where Magnus had been for a while. The shift in the atmosphere was always substantial.
The door parted open, and a wave of pressure hit Atticus, making his hair flutter. He stepped into the room, his body pausing as he adjusted to the weight of the air.
Atticus approached Magnus, who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room.
'This is more like a training room than a living space. Where does he even sleep?' he wondered.
The room was completely empty, without a single piece of furniture. Magnus's eyes opened, and he immediately scrutinized Atticus from head to toe.
"You've healed," Magnus stated.
"Yes, Grandfather. Though it took far too long," Atticus replied.
"Hm. Are you aware of what occurred?" Magnus asked.
Atticus nodded but said nothing else. However, he soon became weirded out as Magnus continued to stare at him without saying anything further.
'Is there something on my face?' Atticus thought, baffled.
The stare lasted for several seconds, and Atticus began to feel incredibly uncomfortable. 'What is going on?'
"Uh—" Atticus started to speak.
"Be more careful next time," Magnus finally said, but it was not what Atticus had expected. 'Was he trying to… scold me?'
Atticus almost burst out laughing. Magnus seemed like he wanted to scold him but had been searching for the right words or something.
"Yes, Grandfather," Atticus replied, bowing deeply with a smile on his face.
"I'm so close. I'm sure if I can meditate for a while longer inside the fire, I would be able to form it," Atticus added, eager to continue his training.
Magnus didn't respond immediately, and Atticus looked up from his bow to see Magnus staring at him again. 'Don't tell me he's going to ground me or something?'
If Magnus's intent had been to scold him, forbidding him from training for a while was at the top of the list of things he might do.
"You have to pause your training. We're already late," Magnus finally said.
"Late?" Atticus asked, baffled.
"Yes, late. Now that you're fully healed, we need to head to Sector 6," Magnus explained.
Atticus could practically feel his own confusion, and it was well warranted. He had no idea what was going on.
Fortunately, Magnus decided to elaborate.
"We're meeting up with the heads of each family of the human domain for the Apex Recognition Event."
…
Atticus walked out of Magnus's room deep in thought, pondering what had just been explained to him.
Every year leading up to the Nexus Event, a domain-wide competition known as the Apex Recognition Event was organized to identify the apex of humanity.
During this event, each family of the human domain was allowed to choose a single genius from their house to participate in the competition.
This tradition had been followed for decades, but this time, the competition was postponed due to the emergence of the unprecedented talent that was Atticus.
Magnus had managed to convince the Paragon Council to allow Atticus to represent the human domain as their apex, but it came with certain conditions. The first condition, proposed by Oberon, was that Atticus had to win the Leader's Summit to prove his worth.
The second condition, however, was different. It was the most agreed-upon condition by the other paragons in the council.
The competition would still take place, but on a smaller scale than usual. Each of the tier-one families, should they choose to participate, would select one genius to battle alongside Atticus in the competition. The winner would then be declared the apex.
As Magnus finished explaining everything, only one thought dominated Atticus's mind:
'What a massive waste of time.'
This was valuable time he could spend training. But instead, these fools were deciding to waste his time by making him fight a bunch of kids?
It wasn't arrogance or that Atticus was looking down on them.
He simply knew where he stood, especially compared to his peers. Atticus could already literally battle grandmaster+ ranks.
What could a bunch of kids possibly do?
Atticus calmed his frustrated heart as he made his way back to his room after excusing Dario and Yotad.
Without the Fire Sanctum, forming his domain would take much more time and effort. The best he could hope for now was to get this ordeal over with quickly and return to his training.
The Aegis airship took off in a blur of speed, leaving Dekai and the sanctum masters staring as it departed.
"I miss my little brother! Why didn't he try to form the light domain first?" Aeliana, the Light Sanctum master, spoke.
"Don't be delusional, Ana. That kid is old enough to be your great-grandson! Besides, he should have formed his air domain first!" Aeolus retorted, surprising everyone, even Aeliana.
The man had always acted like a tamed dog when Aeliana was present, but now he was talking to her like that?
But Aeolus didn't care. It was clear that he was disappointed Atticus hadn't chosen air as the first domain to form.
The others soon joined in on the ranting, but there was only one person with a wide smile—Dekai.
The boy was close to forming his fire domain! Dekai couldn't wait; he just couldn't!
'I'll ask him to unleash his domain for me once it's fully formed. I wonder how it would look?'
A domain was a representation of who the individual truly was and everything they had experienced. Dekai was curious—how would Atticus's domain look?
…
The Aegis airship took the pathway that cut through each sector for easy and fast travel.
After several long hours—almost a day—Atticus found himself inside the control room of the airship, gazing at the majestic sight of Sector 6, the Enigmalnk family's domain.