Those were big words, many would even call them boastful. But to Atticus, those words were a fact. A fact that he was going to prove today.
Not even 3 seconds had passed since Dell was sent crashing against the wall. Dust had already covered the area of impact, but Atticus didn't seem to care as he raised his leg and slowly took a step towards Dell.
It was as though a sensitive speaker was placed right beside Atticus' feet as it resounded throughout the classroom, a gust of wind instantly materializing and clearing out the dust, revealing the result of the attack.
Dell's form, which was supposed to be lodged inside the wall, had been stopped by a mingled bunch of green glowing vines behind and around him.
The vines had already stretched outwards as each of their forms covered a 10 meter space around Dell, slowly snaking around and increasing their reach.
Although it wasn't their forte, the Alverian family bloodline being plant based allowed them to have incredible regeneration capabilities, and it completely showed as Dell's shattered jaw and mouth healed at a visible pace.
Dell was currently gazing at Atticus, his expression shifting from shock to disbelief, and eventually settling on anger.
Dell had been utterly shocked. How had Atticus found out? He had covered his tracks so well that he found it hard to accept that he had been caught.
He felt disbelief because of what Atticus had just done. Throughout the whole time, he hadn't even seen Atticus's afterimage.
If not for his shattered ribs, jaw, and broken cheekbones, he wouldn't even know that he had received three attacks, each one more brutal than the last.
And then finally, anger. 'It's happening again,' Dell thought with complete rage. It had been the same the last time too, 7 years ago.
This same piercing blue eyes that were currently looking down at him.
It had been this same feeling of helplessness.
'I hate this,' Dell hated this feeling to the core.
His vines immediately responded to his intense anger as each one of them started growing in mass and size, and instantaneously, piercing sharp thorns started sprouting from each of their forms.
Greenish tattoos snaked their way upwards towards Dell's neck as his once red eyes turned greenish, glowing with intensity.
In the next instant, each of the vines became as big as enormous obstacle legs, whipping about wildly and making the room tremble.
Just as their forms were about to shoot towards Atticus, the sound of Atticus's second footstep filled the space as a wave of scorching fire materialized, spreading out in every direction and enveloping each one of the vines.
Dell immediately controlled the vines to wrap around him and protect him, but it was a wasted effort as the flames didn't go after him in the first place.
It took only seconds for each of the massive vines to become nothing more than ash that scattered across the air.
In the next instant, Dell landed on the floor, his shocked gaze fixed on Atticus. His glowing green eyes had turned back to normal, and his tattoos turned into motes of light scattering in the air.
The fire had enveloped everything, but he hadn't felt a single thing. If he hadn't seen it, he wouldn't have even known that fire had enveloped his form.
The level of precision needed to achieve that was as profound as it was scary. Dell didn't even need to think about it; it was very obvious that Atticus didn't want to kill him and make him disappear; he wanted to torture him.
As Dell came to this conclusion, his hand moved to tap his chest, but then the sound of Atticus taking his third step sounded, followed by the sickening thud of knuckles meeting flesh, driving the breath from Dell's lungs with a violent gust of air.
Dell's form shot back once more, his body hitting the wall in a devastating impact.
Before he could even formulate his next move, Atticus appeared in front of him, unleashing a torrent of punches with the speed of a bullet.
Each punch hit Dell's form with brutal intensity, breaking bones and turning his body into a battered, bloody mess.
Atticus wasn't here to test anyone; he had no time to trade powers despite how intriguing the Alverian family bloodline was. He was only here for one thing: beating the crap out of Dell.
With each strike, the sound of Atticus's fists colliding with Dell's body reverberated through the room like a series of explosive blasts, the sheer force of the impact shaking the very air itself.
Every single one of the second years gazed at Atticus brutally beating Dell with darkened expressions.
They each turned towards their instructor to see him simply standing in one corner of the class, watching the scene with intrigue, not intending on interfering.
It goes without saying that this would be a humongous disgrace should they allow this to happen.
Atticus had barged into the second year building without any care in the world and had started beating one of their rankers?
It was a huge disrespect, and with how every single one of them was looking at Atticus with narrowed gazes, it was clear care in the world and had started beating one of their rankers?
It was a huge disrespect, and with how every single one of that this sentiment was shared within them.
They couldn't allow it to happen.
Each of their gazes suddenly turned to the side to see the massive form of a youth approaching Atticus with a serious look on his face.
"I'd advise you not to do that, Arlo," the youth turned his gaze and saw that it was Hogan Ravenstein who had just spoken, his gaze immediately narrowed threatening.
"Will you stop me?" His voice sounded hoarse, as though he was forcing his throat to speak. This youth was none other than Arlo Frostvale, the first ranker of the second year.
Just like the other Frostvale family members, he was massive, standing at a height of 6'6 feet, with his entire form covered in black tattoos and clothed in beast skin.
His glowing bright orange eyes fixed themselves dangerously on Hogan. The rest of the second years who were dissatisfied with Atticus's actions also looked at Hogan threateningly, each one subtly releasing their aura.
If both Ravensteins were going to stand together, they would simply have to take care of both of them.
But Hogan, who was the focus of all of this, suddenly burst into laughter, his mirth resounding across the room.
"Stop you?" Those words seemed to make him laugh even more, leaving the second years watching completely baffled. Did he hit his head or something?
Hogan stopped laughing after a few seconds and continued, a dangerous glint in his eye, "It was simply advice. If you want to head into the lion's den, then be my guest."
Arlo's gaze darkened. Was he implying that he should let Atticus do as he pleased? This thought seemed to anger him as his form slightly grew and his muscles tensed.
His gaze snapped back towards Atticus as he continued approaching having no intention of listening to Hogan.
