Chapter 1315: Resemblance

"School?"

Atticus’ voice reflected the utter confusion he felt at this moment. The Great Verge had just said something he would never have expected, after all.

"Yes, child god. School."

Atticus waited for the Great Verge to explain. He imagined there had to be a good reason why he would ask a god to attend school.

"There is a good reason," he said, pausing for a moment. "I’ve only mentioned the important rules of the middle planes, not all of them. You’ll best learn the rest there."

He could see Atticus’ reluctance and added,

"An advice... It’ll be a valuable experience. It’s important you attend before your first game."

There was a moment of silence where Atticus pondered the matter carefully. He eventually nodded when he felt like there was no use thinking about it here.

From the Great Verge’s words, there was no set time to attend, at least not anytime soon.

"Well, I hope this meeting eased the tension between us, child god. Or should I call you the Marked?"

He could tell from Atticus’ narrowed eyes that he was confused.

"That’s what your kind is referred to in the middle planes."

"I thought it was Kin of the Fallen Star."

"Too long." The Great Verge shrugged. "I’m glad they brought an end to that accursed long name."

Atticus exhaled heavily. He was starting to see some resemblance between this star and a particular wild man back on Eldoralth.

"Pick whichever you want."

"The Marked, it is."

A silence descended upon the dark world as both of them simply stared at one another. The meeting was over.

Atticus could see the star’s unwillingness to let him go. It seemed like he was enjoying his presence. That made Atticus want to leave even faster. But he knew, this wouldn’t be the last time he would meet this weird star.

A wave of the Verge’s arm, and Atticus vanished from the dark world, leaving a wide smile and glowing eyes on the Great Verge’s face.

"Please bring excitement to this boring plane," he said, vanishing into the darkness.

...

Atticus appeared back on Eldoralth in the same position, as though he’d never left.

"Bond!" Ozeroth was upon him in an instant, gaze furious.

"Why did you leave without me?"

"Why didn’t you follow me?" he retorted.

Ozeroth glared at Atticus. "How can I follow you when you didn’t tell me where you were going!?"

Atticus calmly returned his gaze.

"To see the star. I told you," he said, suddenly shaking his head. "You were the one that abandoned your bond. You let me walk into enemy territory alone. How cruel."

"Y-You!" Ozeroth was flustered in an instant. He couldn’t imagine Atticus would turn everything on him like this.

He had been ready to give Atticus an earful when he returned. Atticus had left without the protection of the great Ozeroth, how dare he?

Regardless, his golden eyes stared at Atticus, whose expression seemed pained, as though he had somehow been betrayed.

Ozeroth gritted his teeth. Everything Atticus said made sense.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue and spoke in a barely audible voice, "Won’t happen again."

Ozeroth vanished before anyone could realize, leaving the Eldorians staring with startled expressions at where he’d been. Had they heard him apologize?

The proud man actually admitted it. Turning towards Atticus, many of them felt the urge to salute. He had achieved the impossible.

"Welcome back, merciful god."

Atticus turned to find Whisker descending from the sky. He hadn’t been there when they first saw the view, but considering who he was, Atticus was sure it was a view he was all too used to.

"I take it you met that bitching old man, huh?"

"The Verge," Atticus said.

"Yep, that’s the one. Insane, wasn’t he?"

"He was. For a second there, I thought I was talking with you."

"Ouch." Whisker raised a brow. "You’re getting meaner by the day. To think you’d compare that lunatic to me is insulting."

"I meant every insult."

"Damn." He placed a palm on his chest, seemingly hurt. "To think I came here bearing important information."

Atticus frowned. "No offense," was all he said. After a moment, when Whisker didn’t receive any more words, he burst into laughter.

"You’re even worse than Ozeroth. At least he blushes when he apologizes."

"You got Ozeroth to apologize?" That was the first time Atticus would ever lose his calm expression.

Whisker grinned, relishing the memory. "Told him to apologize for being a pain in the ass before I’d teach him how to build a harem. I’ve never seen a man stammer so hard. He turned red as a tomato."

Atticus found himself laughing as he imagined the scene. He somehow wished he was there.

’I’ll go through his memories when I get the time,’ he resolved.

"You said you have information..."

Whisker stopped laughing after a moment but still chuckled randomly as he remembered the scene.

"Oh right, yeah. But tell me about your meeting first. What happened?"

Atticus left out a lot of details he didn’t think Whisker or the Eldorians had any business knowing. At least not yet.

He only told them about the rules, the game, the rent, and then ended it with the fact that he had to go to some kind of school.

"Oh!" Whisker raised an eyebrow. "I see they’re still doing that school thing."

"What do you mean?" Atticus asked.

"They started it recently. Less than a millennia ago, I think. Honestly, I believe it’s more for the Great Verge’s entertainment than the gods’ benefit."

"So he’s a star who looks for things that interest him."

"Yeah. A crazy star. It’s surprising how he became a star in the first place."

"Reminds you of someone?"

"Hmm." Whisker brushed his chin and pondered. "No, no one comes to mind."

"No one?"

Whisker finally turned to Atticus and saw his pointed look. His eyes widened.

"Me?" He pointed at himself.

"Yes."

"What... no no! That’s nothing like me!"

The Eldorians exchanged glances. He absolutely was like that.