Isabella closed the distance between her and Atticus, her tight fitted blue colored suit straining a little bit as she bent down to support Atticus.
There was only one thing currently in her head, and she truly hoped to the heavens that she was wrong.
This time around, Atticus didn't resist. He allowed himself to be carried upwards gently by Isabella.
'Why is she helping me this much?' Atticus thought it weird that an instructor, a female at that, was currently supporting him and giving him so much attention.
Atticus had learned to question everything he saw, no matter how subtle. He might not have put much emphasis on it, but with his incredible perception, it was impossible for him not to notice the subtle looks and glances Isabella had always thrown at him.
At first, he thought nothing of it after having come to the conclusion that she might have watched his battles on the screen. But as time passed, it became too obvious and more frequent.
At one point, he had been thoroughly convinced that she had a crush on him or something.
But regardless, and most importantly, he felt no threat from her.
Atticus still felt completely drained of mana and energy. He had long since mastered the trick of absorbing mana into his mana core even when he was not stationary.
But no matter how much mana Atticus absorbed, it never seemed to reach his mana core.
It was as though it was being siphoned away or sucked by something, as all the mana always ended up in the middle of his chest.
'Fucking bastard hasn't learned its lesson yet,'
Atticus made a mental note to teach the suit a lesson when he goes back to his division.
Because all the mana was basically getting sucked away, it made Atticus' recovery slow down considerably, but it was still significant considering he was an Expert+ rank.
Just as Isabella helped Atticus up, the excited voice of Zarathustra suddenly sounded, interrupting the quiet space.
"Atticus Ravenstein, great job! You have just accomplished what hundreds of people over the course of years had failed to accomplish. The specimen X is a—" Before Zarathustra could finish speaking, Atticus suddenly interrupted him in an icy tone,
"So I was right. You used me to perform one of your experiments," Atticus seethed.
Zarathustra frowned, narrowing his gaze slightly. He really hated being interrupted, especially by a kid nonetheless.
'Plus, what is that rudeness?' He was one of the head scientists in the academy, well above 60 years of age. Although he didn't look old and worn out, he was still four times older than Atticus.
Hearing him talk that way to him was irksome.
Zarathustra calmed himself down; he still had to keep Atticus in a good mood so he'll be able to convince him.
"Well, yes. But you se—" But once again, before he could finish speaking, Atticus suddenly interrupted again,
"And why wasn't I informed?" Atticus left Isabella's hold, who was looking at him with a worried gaze.
'Shit, he's angry.' Despite the fact that the kid was just 16, she had seen just how crazy he could get when he got angry.
And she, of all people, knew just how powerful Atticus really was.
The current Advanced+ rank aura that he was emitting had to be the biggest bullshit of the century.
If Zarathustra kept being Zarathustra, Atticus wouldn't hesitate to attack.
'What the hell?' Zarathustra's frown became even deeper as he spoke coldly, "You're one rude kid."
"Rude?" Atticus asked as he started walking towards Zarathustra's form, closing the distance in a few seconds.
Atticus reached Zarathustra, whose face had already become ice cold as he stared up at Atticus.
Atticus had always been taller, way beyond his age group and even beyond. Not everyone could reach 6 feet 4, and Zarathustra was among this group of people.
Despite being more than four times older, Atticus was still taller than him, and what was worse was that he seemed to have grown even taller after his assimilation with Specimen X.
Atticus continued, "Today I was supposed to receive my exosuit just like every other first year in the academy, but instead, I was given a separate pod and experimented on without even knowing it. And yet, you dared to call me rude?"
Atticus' gaze suddenly turned crimson, a staggering amount of killing intent filling the room, making the people present shiver as his icy words sounded,
"I dare you to call me that again."
At this point, the anger bubbling up in Zarathustra had long since passed the point of eruption.
Did this boy just threaten him?
Many would think he was prideful, and truthfully, Zarathustra was a prideful person, but this current situation was just so baffling.
It was clear as day: Atticus was in the Advanced+ rank and Zarathustra was a Master+, and yet the kid still dared?
He completely forgot about the experiment he wanted to perform, and even the implications of an Advanced+ rank killing intent making a Master+ rank shiver.
His expression was a visage of anger. "How dare y—" Just as he was about to erupt in anger,
"Wait!" The voice of Isabella sounded, cutting him off from making probably the worst mistake in his life.
Isabella suddenly stepped in between both of them, locking eyes with Atticus as she tried to mediate the situation.
"Student Atticus, I understand your grievances, but I must suggest you calm down. The order to perform this experiment was given from the vice principal himself; we had no choice but to follow orders," Isabella explained.
It was then Atticus' gaze shifted from Zarathustra to look at Isabella. He muttered under his breath, "The vice principal?"
It didn't take long for the image of a grey haired man to appear in his head.
It was the same man that had addressed them after the academy entrance test, the same man who spoke about the prestige of the academy, Harrison Blake.
Atticus clenched his fist hard.
