287 Puss
Although he tried to minimize the number of friends he made, the same couldn't be said about getting a partner.
Atticus believed that your partner should be your other half, someone who complements you, someone who encourages you to be the best you can be.
When you get your partner, there should be no thoughts like you being afraid he/she would be a distraction; at the very least, that person should push you to work even harder.
Atticus wasn't naive; he, of course, knew that as much as there could be good, there were also bad partners out there.
Especially fools who only think to go for looks and forget what was inside.
Although he had been completely fooled and used by Kira back on Earth, he wasn't one to let that shape his whole life.
Without a doubt, Atticus had been thoroughly captivated by Zoey's appearance, but if both of their personalities weren't compatible, if she was one of those so called terrible partners, he would leave without a doubt.
Atticus had been thoroughly convinced by what Kael had said before. He had been right, 'You should go for what you want regardless of the consequences.'
Zoey Starhaven was a tier one, the next in line to become the matriarch of the Starhaven family.
Atticus was also an important member of the Ravenstein family, the only child and current family head, the most likely to become the heir.
They were both very important members of their respective families; a union between them would face scrutiny from both families.
In the human domain, while it wasn't rare for two tier ones to be together, this was usually for individuals without much standing in the family.
For important members like Atticus and Zoey, it was very rare.
But regardless, Atticus had never given a fuck about what people would think about his actions.
He wasn't trying hard to become overwhelmingly strong just for the sake of it; it was precisely because he wanted to be strong to protect his loved ones and be free to do whatever he wanted.
In this world, power was everything.
After what Kael had said, Atticus had already decided to try his luck with her and ask her out. The worst that could happen was her refusing.
And if that happened,
'Life must go on.' Atticus had no time to waste.
But with the current mood of all the students, it was the worst time to ask a girl out.
They had just been taught about the alien race currently attacking their planet, each one of them going through a different milestone of emotions.
It truly wasn't a good time to ask a girl out.
'And besides, how do I even approach her!' Atticus thought with a little frustration. The girl always wore an ice-cold expression on her face.
To others, it might seem like a normal look, with most not even caring about her expression, being too focused on admiring her beauty.
But to Atticus, who found it easy to capture even nuances of any individual, he knew well enough that it was a cold look.
It was a "do not approach me" look, somewhat akin to a lady reading a book in a public space.
"Hmm," Kael muttered, seemingly thinking about something. Then he turned to look at Atticus and spoke, "You're afraid."
His words made Atticus almost choke on his spit. "What the hell… why would I be afraid?"
Kael locked eyes with Atticus, tilting his head slightly to the side, his expressionless face unchanged. He gave Atticus a look, a look that screamed, 'you know what I'm talking about, don't pretend.'
"I don't know what you're talking about," Atticus awkwardly cleared his throat, and quickly added,
"Let's go, Ember must be waiting," he said, and without waiting for a response, he started walking away towards the elevator at the end of the hall.
Kael stood in his position for a few moments, looking at the retreating figure of Atticus, "Pussy," he muttered, and with a slight shake of his head, he started walking towards the elevator too.
Unlike yesterday, where Kael had left prematurely, this time he hung out with Atticus and Ember.
Given the lack of recreational activities in their location, the trio simply walked around the expansive garden while making small talk.
By now, they were all too used to the stares they got from other students, and as usual, they completely ignored it.
After spending about 20 minutes talking, they each decided to call it a day.
Atticus was a bit happy that there was no drama today. He got to the room and was instantly teleported back to his division.
"Hey," Atticus greeted with a smile as he saw Aurora standing at the same spot as yesterday, seemingly waiting for him.
"You're late, again."
Atticus chuckled in response and approached. Unlike the last time, the camp was filled up with other students who had already returned from their classes.
Atticus and Aurora both spoke briefly about their experiences in class, and after a meal at the mess hall, Atticus left the camp and headed straight towards the caves to train.
Just like yesterday, Atticus used the opportunity to complete his daily objective, running for 10 km with the mana block feature.
And after that, he unleashed another massacre in the forest once again, intending to gather as many academy points as possible.
He reached the cave after a few moments and immediately started his training.
The Shadow Seraphon's healing capabilities were truly impressive. After the intense training in the morning, it had already healed, as though it didn't even receive any beating in the first place.
While it wasn't used to the whole setup, it had already accepted its fate. There was nothing it could do but continuously get beat up and heal constantly.
Atticus made sure to utilize all the teleportation runes he had engraved, plus the ones he had purchased with the academy points he had gained from unleashing the massacre in the forest yesterday and today.
After a few hours of intense training and absorbing mana, he headed back to camp.
