"A-Atticus, are you sure you're okay?"
Anastasia ran toward Atticus, who was sitting on the bed, and quickly placed a palm on his forehead. Her eyes were filled with genuine worry.
Atticus sighed. "I already told you, Mom. I'm completely fine. There are no drawbacks…" He trailed off, lowering his voice. "…this time."
He felt a bit embarrassed.
If he didn't have a history of fainting after every power-up, maybe his parents wouldn't be this worried.
He sighed audibly as Anastasia continued checking him to make sure, then turned toward Avalon.
Even he was staring at Atticus with a serious expression.
It was obvious he was taking this matter very seriously.
"If there's anything happening, you can tell us," Avalon said, his tone firm as he placed a palm on Atticus' shoulder.
Even after Atticus reassured them once more that nothing was wrong, Avalon's expression only became more concerned.
Atticus was used to Anastasia worrying, but this was the first time he had seen Avalon like this.
But Avalon couldn't be blamed.
He had trained and lived on the path of power for decades, and there was one undeniable truth—
There is no shortcut to power.
A sudden and very significant boost in strength, like the one Atticus had just achieved, simply couldn't be normal.
There had to be consequences.
But only Atticus knew that there were none.
The boost he had gained was due to his years of effort, building the foundation that led him to this point.
The air in the room abruptly shifted as Atticus' will flooded the space.
He was serious.
And so, the atmosphere became serious.
Avalon and Anastasia paused, turning to look at Atticus.
"I'm not hiding anything," he said.
His voice was steady.
"Currently, I am perfectly fine. There are no drawbacks, nor are there any consequences to this power. I am fine."
The room fell silent, and both Avalon and Anastasia could feel the weight of his words.
They released a short sigh before glancing at each other, then nodding in resignation.
"…Alright."
But neither of them left.
They both sat beside him on the bed, their eyes fixed on him.
They said nothing, but their expressions said everything.
It was obvious what they wanted.
Atticus sighed.
They wanted him to explain everything that had happened.
However, he had no plans of divulging everything.
He had no idea how they would react if they knew what he was truly up to. So, he told them exactly what he told the human paragons.
He left out many details.
They pushed back against some of his explanations, pressing for more, but after a while, he managed to get them off his back.
After staying with him for some time, they finally left, leaving Atticus alone.
'You shouldn't lie to your parents, kid.'
Ozeroth's voice was more serious than usual.
Atticus sighed. 'I know.'
He knew it was wrong.
But he would only feel more guilty knowing he had made Anastasia even more worried than usual.
'Still… they raised you. Don't repay them with lies. It's cowardly.'
Atticus fell silent.
It was obvious this mattered a great deal to Ozeroth.
He slumped back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Atticus had no idea when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, he felt the same.
No fatigue. No discomfort.
Only that his energy reserves had peaked.
They had been drained due to the earlier battle.
Afterward, he took a bath and stood in front of a mirror.
And that was when it truly hit him.
'Damn, I'm tall.'
While his facial features hadn't changed much, Atticus had undergone some obvious changes.
He now stood at seven feet tall, his white hair had grown longer, flowing like silk rather than normal hair.
His eyes were mismatched, one glowing azure, the other purple.
And his charm…
It overwhelmed the room, so potent that he could feel it.
He felt like a super magnet.
"Yotad." Atticus suddenly called out.
His shadow extended, and Yotad materialized, bowing before him.
"Master," he greeted, his voice calm and steadfast.
The hesitation, the uncertainty he had once held was gone.
Before, he had felt inadequate when Atticus was still at grandmaster rank, thinking himself useless as a protector.
But now?
After seeing Atticus train and grow at an unbelievable rate…
After watching him battle and kill paragons…
He had accepted reality.
There was no comparison.
Atticus was simply on another level.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine, Master. How can I be of service?"
Atticus observed Yotad for a moment before nodding.
'He has accepted it. Good.'
"I want information. Inform Dario. I want to know what everyone is saying and thinking, the tiered families, the common people, and especially the other races."
"As you wish."
Yotad disappeared into the shadows, moving to fulfill Atticus' command.
Atticus' thoughts churned.
'There will be many pieces moving now. I need to be ready for all of them.'
He left his room, stepping out of the mansion.
His form blurred, appearing in front of the building that housed Magnus' training room.
Atticus' gaze sharpened.
'Another building?'
The land where the training room stood was expansive, originally holding only one structure. But now, there was a second, equally enormous building, one even larger than Magnus'.
"That'll be your new training room."
Magnus landed beside Atticus.
Due to Magnus' words, for a moment, Atticus had been too excited to acknowledge him.
When he realized, he scratched his head.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa," he said. "You built one this fast?"
Magnus shook his head. "No. Oberon and Garvin built it."
'The Emberforge Paragon?'
Atticus understood Oberon, but Garvin was a nice surprise.
He nodded before stepping inside.
'It's bigger on the inside…'
The inside was pristine white, and Atticus could see multiple jutted platforms at the edges.
Instead of just one, like in the Ravenstein advanced training room, there were many.
'I'll be able to continuously spawn opponents during training.'
Atticus had already begun planning his training sessions.
'I can't wait to see the data this training room has.'
The previous training rooms had already been impressive, but if Oberon and Garvin had personally made this one…
He couldn't imagine what to expect.
Seeing that Atticus was already engrossed, Magnus nodded and quietly left.
Time passed with Atticus enjoying every aspect of his new training room. Then, suddenly—
His gaze snapped upward.
He had just felt a powerful presence right outside.
'Who?'
He didn't recognize it.
It wasn't Magnus.
Nor any paragon he had met before.
Atticus' figure blipped, appearing outside the building.
His eyes sharpened as they landed on a man clad in a tight-fitting uniform.
'The Sentinel Guardians?'