Chapter 1204: Reason

The training room that had once been filled with the violent clashes of two warriors now echoed with pained groans and violent bursts of light.

Atticus had meant it when he claimed he could speed up Magnus’s transformation. His own had taken longer because he’d needed to allow his body to adjust after being pushed under so much pressure.

But now that he was a god, Magnus had the luxury of receiving first grade healing from a god himself.

Still, neither Atticus nor Avalon considered what Magnus was currently going through a luxury. His body was constantly being torn apart and renewed.

And while Atticus made sure to return everything back to the way it was, Magnus’s mind was a different story. It bore the strain and remembered all of the pain. The agony.

’I could try erasing his memories temporarily.’ Atticus recalled the ability of the last race of Eldoralth. It was one of the cores he had gotten from Whisker after Varnok had been killed.

They were called the Veltraxis, known as Memory Weavers. They could enter the mind of any being, read surface thoughts, erase memories, and trap people in an eternal dream.

’No.’ Atticus shook his head. It just felt wrong using it on Magnus. ’He wouldn’t approve either.’ He was already getting used to Magnus’s stubbornness.

Still, Atticus felt obligated to ask.

"Are you okay, Grandpa? Should I stop—"

"No." Magnus shook his head firmly. His eyes were tired but intense. It looked like his mind had gone through a lot. "Don’t stop. I’m fine."

Atticus sent his father a glance, who shrugged and mouthed, "You know him."

Atticus could only shake his head and continue the process. "Fourteen more to go."

Even he shuddered a bit at those numbers. He wouldn’t want to be in Magnus’s shoes right now.

The process continued, and eventually, Atticus had to force it to a stop, despite Magnus’s reservations. The man was nearing his limits, but he was just too stubborn to admit it.

"I’m tired, Grandpa. Each signature I’m copying is taking more than I expected. I need some rest," Atticus lied.

Magnus looked at him with narrowed eyes, unsure if he was telling the truth.

A god feeling fatigued was hard to believe after all. But Atticus had seen a pig fly, nothing could beat that absurdity.

He hadn’t left the room. He had chosen to stay behind until the process was completed.

"So, what will you do now that you’re a god, son?" said Avalon, curious.

They were both resting by the training room walls, overlooking a meditating Magnus. The man had wanted to go back to training, but Atticus had vehemently stopped him, claiming that while he himself rested, Magnus had to rest his mind too.

"I’m currently your teacher. You have to listen to me," Atticus had claimed.

Magnus had frowned but still listened. While he meditated, the father and son conversed.

"I’m currently focusing on grounding all the powers I’ve gathered until now, instead of adding new ones."

"That sounds good. You have so much power and so little time to train them."

’If only I had all the time I wanted.’ Avalon’s words couldn’t help but bring that thought into Atticus’s head. Time, unfortunately, waited for no one, even if he was a god.

His abilities were starting to pile up too much. He needed to train all of them for them to remain useful, but there was no way he could reach an acceptable power level if he tried to focus on everything at once.

’I have to choose my main powers and priorities, then rotate the others.’

To this, Atticus had chosen his Katana Arts, Will, and Elements.

So far, these were where most of his main fighting prowess came from. He would soon journey for the fifth katana trial, which would bring another boost to his strength.

To Atticus, these were now his priorities, and he would rotate the training of his other abilities.

"And afterwards? When do you plan on ascending?"

Atticus didn’t miss the tense look on Avalon’s face at the mention of ascending to the middle planes. He had briefed them on almost everything Whisker had told him.

Becoming a god, fighting for the right to ascend to the middle planes, everything.

While Avalon hadn’t tried to oppose his son, he had asked a question that most of them had wondered:

"Is it really necessary to ascend? We could bolster our forces here and make sure we’re strong enough to face any future threat."

But even though it was his father asking, Atticus had been as blunt as ever.

"The Gardener and Zorvan god were enemies sent to us by someone whose strength dwarfs anything you can ever imagine. We have no idea what he might send next. If we stay here, we’ll hit our peak and become stagnant. We’ll stop growing. And then, when the next threat comes, we’ll fall."

"But considering your words, we’d be heading into the domain of someone whose power we can’t comprehend. That doesn’t seem wise."

"There are rules, Dad. I’ve confirmed it. Higher worlds like his can’t target newly ascended worlds directly. We’ll only face those more or less on our level."

Those words silenced the doubts they had. Especially because they came from the strongest man on the planet.

Now back to the present, Atticus answered Avalon’s question. "Only when I feel like we’re ready."

He met Avalon’s gaze for a moment, and the latter chuckled, ruffling Atticus’s hair. "Just take it easy, alright?"

"Yes, Dad."

A while later, when he noticed Magnus had rested his mind enough, Atticus smoothly lied that he was back to peak and resumed the process.

After several more attempts, he lied once again upon seeing Magnus nearing his limits, only to return after his grandfather had properly recovered.

Back and forth it went, until at last, Atticus reached the final core.

"Are you ready, Grandpa?"

Magnus nodded, his once hardened gaze shifting, there was resolve, but also something else.

Though he had asked the question to Magnus, Atticus was also asking himself. This was the final core. After this, Magnus would become a full Eldorian.