The oppressive heatwave painted the sky in a vivid orange hue, impossible to ignore. Atticus pivoted swiftly in the air, his eyes locking onto a multitude of colossal fireballs hurtling towards him.
Atticus's gaze swept around the area, his mind oddly clear. Despite the fact that a tsunami of fireballs was about to burn him to a crisp, he didn't seem to care.
There was only one thing on his mind currently: finding Aurora.
Luck was on his side as he didn't have to search for long. He found Aurora just about 60 meters away from him, her expression a mix of shock and bewilderment as she stared at her hands.
Atticus didn't bother to think about why she was staring at her hands in shock; this clearly wasn't the time to do something so foolish.
Ironically, he didn't have to ponder on it because just as Atticus focused on the air element, an element he was used to using as easy as breathing, he felt his heart beat wildly as he felt no connection to it.
It was as though this action broke the dam as a flood of realization struck Atticus.
The mana in his body had reduced drastically; he couldn't feel any connection to the elements. Any attempts at deploying his arts were unsuccessful. The stupid parasite that was always searching for a chance to take over his body was gone.
'Parasite… wait!' Atticus's hand gravitated towards his left waist, his heart pounding as he saw that his katana was nowhere to be found.
It was as though the whole world was crumbling. Everything he had worked hard for was gone. Countless hours spent training, the tears and blood shed—all gone to waste.
Something was wrong. Something had to be.
Everything he had worked hard for was gone just like that?
Atticus shook his head.
He could feel his intelligence had reduced a great deal, but his mind still worked fast.
In under a second, Atticus got himself back together. He didn't let all this hold him back.
Now wasn't the time to think about why. There was only one thing needed in this situation: action.
'There are no objects or surfaces that I can use to push off from, and no matter how much I tense my muscles, it's not enough to cover the distance. Which leaves… aerodynamics and air currents.'
Atticus had been truly overpowered in the past, and it was this very fact that made his intellectual prowess so hidden.
Until now, many didn't even know that Atticus had as much intelligence as he had. But the truth was, from his childhood when he had been allowed to take lessons, he had learned and understood every basic subject he had access to, and amongst those was physics.
Aerodynamics was simply the study of how objects move in the air, while air currents are streams of air flowing through the atmosphere.
Atticus might not have his fire elements again, but he still had his intelligence and perception to a certain degree. Atticus's sense of feel was still functional.
With everything that had happened so far, only two seconds had passed in reality. As soon as Atticus had seen the scorching fireballs approaching, he had already calculated the time it would take to reach them: 5 seconds.
Only 3 seconds remained.
Atticus cleared his mind, tuning every single thing out, his form entering a state of absolute focus.
As Atticus's form kept on descending from the air, he focused on the subtle changes in the air in a 20-meter radius from him, feeling the alterations in the airflow.
One of the easiest ways of achieving this was temperature.
There was one certain combination of sensations that would indicate an incoming air current, and in under a second, Atticus felt it.
A drop in temperature followed by a subtle warmth had just happened at exactly 11 meters away from him.
Atticus's reaction was instantaneous.
He immediately utilized the principles of aerodynamics and streamlined his body to minimize drag, allowing him to move through the air towards the updraft.
'2 seconds left,'
Atticus positioned himself at an angle relative to the direction of the updraft.
Tensing his muscles and adjusting his body position, Atticus angled himself to catch the current.
He adjusted his body position and movements to maintain balance and stability while utilizing the updraft as a foothold.
And then, with a burst of momentum, Atticus shot forward at supersonic speed, crossing the distance and reaching the baffled Aurora in a second.
'One second left,'
As Atticus had been trying his best to get to Aurora, he had also been thinking about how the both of them could escape this predicament.
Despite how anger inducing it was, all his abilities were gone. He couldn't use anything. Well, not anything.
Atticus was sure that if it were possible, they would've also blocked it. But it was a good thing his will wasn't completely influenced by his rank and mana.
Atticus could also feel his will reduced, but it wasn't significant. This had been exactly why he hadn't utilized aerokinesis to get to Aurora; he needed to use his will sparingly.
Looking at the approaching fire, Atticus was sure he couldn't survive it if it hit him directly, not in his present state.
Atticus's plan was simple: engrave a grade 2 shield rune.
Unfortunately, he didn't have an engraver nor a slate, and every attempt at reaching into his space ring had been futile. Because of this fact, Atticus had chosen an alternative.
As swift as lightning, Atticus grabbed the hem of his trench coat, ripping apart a significant amount of it.
Atticus bit into his finger in the next instant, crimson blood spilling out from it.
Long before slates and engravers were invented, many had used and were still using beast skin and their blood for rune engraving. Atticus' clothes had always been made of the finest materials, magical beasts.
A light blue glow suddenly radiated from Atticus' hand, coalescing at the tip of his bloodied finger.
Atticus focused on his will, the blue glow immediately taking on a crimson hue.
With swift movements, Atticus engraved the words "impenetrable shield" on the piece of cloth, channeling his mana into it.
A crimson shield materialized in front of him instantly.
