Chapter 1230: New Light

"I’m very beautiful, you can’t stop staring. I know."

Atticus smiled as Zoey opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on him standing by the door.

"Who says I’m staring?"

"Oh, please." Zoey gave him a look. "You wouldn’t dare look at anyone else like that."

"Oh?" Atticus raised an eyebrow, approaching her. "You’re threatening a god? That’s grounds for instant execution, you know?"

"Not if that god is mine." Zoey said, standing up and walking slowly towards him.

"Besides..." She flicked her hair and smiled. "Who would dare hurt me? I know people in high places."

"How high we talking about here?"

"A god."

They reached each other, and then both burst into laughter. In the next moment, Atticus pulled Zoey in for a hug and they held each other tight, staying there in silence for a long second.

After a while, they pulled apart, and Zoey gestured for Atticus to lower his head, then suddenly planted a kiss on his lips.

Atticus let himself melt into it, letting the stress ease away. When they eventually parted, they moved to the center of the room and sat down.

"How’s training been going?" Atticus asked.

"Really good," Zoey responded. "I’m still new to the whole mana thing, but since it’s technically close to spiritual energy, I’ll grasp it soon."

Atticus nodded. He could see the effort she was putting in.

"I assume all that commotion earlier was caused by you?"

She continued, seeing the slight confusion on his face.

"The crimson skies... the voice... the blue star..."

Atticus made an oh sound before nodding with a small smile.

"It’s not something I can interfere in, is it?"

Seeing Atticus shake his head, Zoey smiled wryly.

"That’s expected. I’m still far too weak."

"If you keep training, you’ll get there."

Atticus tried to reassure her, but Zoey just smiled.

"You’re very cute, you know that right?"

She stretched her hand and cupped his cheek.

"But it’s fine. I don’t feel bad. There’s nothing I can do about my current weakness. I am worried, though, for you. What are our chances?"

Atticus held her hand on his cheek and answered, "It’s still too hard to tell, honestly. There are a lot of unknowns. I’m still not exactly sure how to proceed."

"Follow your instincts, Atticus. If there’s anything that can be correct, it’s the one thing that brought you this far, yourself."

She squeezed his hand.

"You’re a god at nineteen years old. There’s nothing more trustworthy than what made this possible."

Atticus couldn’t help but make sense of Zoey’s words. He had done the impossible and become a god at such a young age.

And the only thing that had brought him this far... was himself. It only made sense to trust that moving forward.

Atticus planted a kiss on Zoey’s forehead. "You give good advice," he said.

"Perks of fusing with a centuries-old spirit," Zoey shrugged, smiling. She felt butterflies at Atticus’ kiss.

She couldn’t help but think back to their time at the academy. That one year had been the happiest of her life since her aunt died. At least until those... feelings came. But now, they were gone, and for the first time in a long time, she felt free.

Though she had lost everything, she was glad Atticus was here. With her.

After that, they hung out for a while, talking about random things and cracking jokes. The conversation turned light, avoiding the weight of the events ahead.

It was a calm Atticus appreciated. If only every day could be like this. To wake up without any worries... that was the goal.

Reaching that point, though, was proving to be harder than he’d expected. Still, no matter what, he would get there.

Eventually, Atticus left Zoey and made his way toward another training room on top of the hill.

There, instead of silent meditation, two figures were currently engaged in intense sparring.

Blazing flames on one side and chilling ice on the other, Aurora and Ember zipped through the training room, clashing at rapid speeds.

As Atticus’ gaze settled on them, he couldn’t help but smile. They had both grown remarkably.

’Both Master ranks.’

Aurora had always been considered a genius. Back at the military camp, she had already reached Expert+.

But after training hard, helped by the sudden rise in the world’s mana density, she’d jumped two ranks in such a short time span.

Ember was older, and while her talent wasn’t as high, she clearly hadn’t let that stop her.

Atticus sent a glance toward Caldor, who was watching the battle from as far away as possible, as though the two petite girls were devil’s spawn.

He chuckled, shaking his head.

Atticus didn’t release his aura and allowed the fight to continue until it reached its climax. The result had been exactly what he anticipated.

’She looks pissed.’ He nearly chuckled as he stared at the tip of the spear inches from Aurora’s neck.

Ember had won.

The ice goddess retracted her spear as Aurora’s flames settled. "Good fight," she said, giving her a curt nod before turning away.

Aurora stared at her walking off with an expressionless face. But Atticus, who had known the girl for years now, could tell, she wasn’t happy with the outcome.

’She needs to calm down more,’ Atticus thought.

Aurora’s movements were explosive and crude, aiming to deliver the strongest possible blow.

Ember’s, on the other hand, were precise and patient. She observed, waited, and struck only when the moment was right.

Aurora’s impatience had cost her. While she was clearly more talented, Ember was undeniably more experienced.

Atticus released his presence, and instantly, their gazes shot to him.

"Hey, guys."

"Atticus!" Caldor exclaimed, running toward him. "Can’t you see how monstrous they’ve both become!? To think I once raised the both of them!"

"You never raised them, though," Atticus said, and Caldor looked up at him.

"Huh? I mean... I technically raised them. They were always looking up to me and all that."

"Trust me, Caldor." Atticus placed a hand on his shoulder. "They were not."

Before Caldor could respond, Ember reached them. "Hey," she said with a smile.

Atticus smiled back. "You’ve improved."

Ember shook her head. "Not enough."

Atticus could only smile wryly. He wanted to tell her to take it easy, but coming from him, that would just sound wrong.

As they spoke, Aurora, who still hadn’t moved from her spot, quietly clenched her fist.

’He saw the fight,’ she thought, her heart sinking.

’How long?’ Aurora’s eyes felt moist as she gazed directly at Atticus. Her feelings were not good.

She hated everything currently happening. Felt like burning it all to the ground. Her emotions were raging, her flames begging to be unleashed.

However, Aurora knew she couldn’t do any harm, even if she wanted to. She was weak. And it pained her to no end.

She knew everything that was going on. At this point, around their circle, it wasn’t even a secret anymore. But the fact that Atticus hadn’t bothered to tell her himself only showed how little faith he had in her.

She hated every bit of it.

Meeting Atticus back at the Raven camp, especially after he helped her and they bonded, the only thing she wanted after that was to help the one person she truly considered family, the one who had stuck by her. She wanted him to be able to confide in her if something was wrong. She wanted to help. For it to be them against the world.

But now, it felt like he was in his own world... and she’d been kept to the side.

Atticus suddenly turned toward her, and Aurora felt her heart throb. She buried her emotions and walked toward the trio with a smile.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Aurora asked.

Atticus gave her a long look. "I did."

"I swear..." Aurora gave him a once over. "It’s like you get taller every time we meet. What are you now, ten feet?"

"Eight feet," Atticus chuckled, correcting her. "But you’d know that if you weren’t so goddamn short."

"I’m not short." Aurora’s eyes were intense. "Am I?" She turned to Caldor and Ember.

Caldor instantly turned away, coughing dryly. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

"Yes," Ember said without hesitation.

Atticus burst into laughter.

Aurora’s face flashed red. She sent Atticus a death glare before storming off.

A few seconds later, she was outside, taking in the hot afternoon sun. But its heat barely affected her.

She was fire. Fire was her.

"Hey."

Aurora recoiled at the sudden sound, but relaxed when she saw Atticus beside her.

"Why did you appear so suddenly..."

"I’m the god of Eldoralth, remember? I can do whatever I want. How are you feeling?" Atticus moved to stand beside her.

"I... I feel okay."

"Hmm. That sounds very believable," Atticus said with a smile.

"Because it is."

Atticus sent her a glance. "I want to tell you something."

"What?" Aurora turned toward him.

"About everything going on. You see..."

Atticus began recounting everything, about the Virelenna and the other worlds they had to face. And by the time he was done, Aurora’s eyes were wide.

There were even more details she hadn’t known about.

"You need to get powerful, fast, so you can turn our enemies to ashes."

Aurora looked at Atticus, a little shocked. She hadn’t expected him to say something like that.

"...Yeah," she said after a second, looking down.

"Or annoy them to death," Atticus added with a chuckle.

"Are you calling me annoying?" Aurora said, the temperature around her already rising.

"Of course not." Atticus sounded like he’d just heard the most absurd thing in the world. "You? Annoying? Never."

Aurora stared at him. "Better," she said before turning away.

"Anyway, get stronger. Fast. That’s all I came to tell you. I need you."

Atticus vanished immediately after.

Aurora clenched her fists as he left. One phrase echoed in her mind, Atticus’ words.

"I need you."

Her eyes burned with a new light.