As soon as the AI voice resounded, almost instantaneously, each of the terminals the youths were guarding stopped emitting their bright lights, their forms dimming.
Then, the whole camp descended into a brief silence, only to be broken in the next second by each of the youths cheering loudly.
"WOAH!!!!!"
Many of the youths instantly started jumping up and hugging themselves in celebrations.
Unlike the Ravenstein youths who remained unfazed, having expected their win, each of the youths was exhilarated and happy that they won!
And the fact that all of them had participated in the battle had left them feeling proud and happy at how far they had come.
Some of the youths were away from the terminal inside the forest. After Atticus had defeated the whole army, he had commanded each of the groups to enter the forest and get rid of the last batch of youths.
The battle hadn't lasted, with the combined efforts of the armored, dealers, and rangers; they were able to dispatch them in a matter of minutes.
And now, the battle was over, and they had won it.
…
Back in the academy's first year control room, Harrison and each of the instructors felt their blood pound when they witnessed what Atticus had just shown.
The number of spectacles he had displayed was too much to count.
Many of the instructors had no idea how the Psyquillian bloodline was activated or the steps needed to initiate a connection.
Although they all had general knowledge about the bloodline, they knew nothing about how it worked.
This just goes to show how much importance the Psyquillian family put on keeping a tight lid about the steps required to utilize their bloodline.
And one of the things that each of them knew, what they had all never seen before and were quite shocked to see, was the back lash that Emeric had experienced.
Every time a Psyquillian member should start their transformation, it had always more or less ended up with the other person getting controlled or, at the very least, incapacitated.
None of them had understood how Atticus had done it.
The overwhelming power he had just displayed. He moved so fast their cameras weren't able to capture his movement.
And the fact that they had all known him for his overwhelming power with the elements with many of them present who still haven't come to terms with the fact that he could control multiple elements.
And yet, he hadn't used even a single element during this battle.
Plus the fact that, unlike the thousands of mindless beasts he had killed, he had done the same to a thousand youths, all in one second, effortlessly.
Their blood was pumping!
Unlike what one might think, many of the instructors that were employed in the academy, although calling them selfless was a stretch, they all had the best interest of the human domain as a whole in their minds.
Only individuals like them would agree to sign a mana contract as strict as what the academy made them sign.
They were excited, excited to finally have an Apex amongst them!
The feats Atticus had been showing since his arrival at the academy had already long since surpassed what anyone in the human domain had ever shown at that age.
During their time, even incredible geniuses like Magnus and Avalon fell short.
An Apex was the term used to refer to the youth among the millions with the most potential to be the strongest and represent the whole race.
All across Eldoralth, each race, in every generation had always birthed an Apex, but over the years, the geniuses the human domain had been able to produce were not able to hold the title, Apex.
It wasn't only about being the strongest and having the most potential in your race; said genius also had to be able to hold his/ her own against the Apexes of the other races, and this was exactly where the geniuses of the human domain had always fallen short.
The geniuses from the other races had always overwhelmed those from the human domain; not even Magnus and Avalon had been able to change this fact.
But gazing at this white haired boy with piercing blue eyes who had this much strength at just 15 years old, they might have just found their Apex!
Harrison's lips curled up into a huge grin, this time not bothering to hide his excitement.
He suddenly burst into laughter, an action that astonished every single person in the control room.
The all so serious Harrison was… laughing?
In all the years they had all been in the academy, in all the years they had spent together in the academy, this was the first time they had ever seen him laugh.
Many of them were all so used to his serious demeanor that they had even assumed he was incapable of laughing.
But amongst those individuals who were shocked, no one in the control room was as shocked as Isabella.
With her mouth wide open, Isabella gazed at Harrison's laughing form in absolute shock, 'what the hell…'
In the 34 years of her life, this was the first time she had ever seen her father laughing. Many might find that hard to believe, but this was the truth.
She might have remembered him smiling a few times while she was growing up, but laughing? Never.
Harrison remained unfazed by the stunned expressions on every one's faces in the control room, his laughter persisting without any indication of stopping.
After a startling pause for most observers, Harrison eventually ceased, his finger delicately tracing the contours of his left eye as he wiped away a single tear.
A few lingering chuckles escaped him before he abruptly turned, and he started walking toward the exit.
Each step echoed with the resonance of his fading laughter.
In a surreal silence, every one in the control room watched as the door smoothly slid open, and Harrison walked out of the room.
