As with all other tis, the night went by swiftly.
Though sleeping felt foreign to Atticus, he had to admit that he actually enjoyed doing it.
The next morning, he woke up feeling as light as a feather. Freshening up with a thought, he stepped out of his room to witness a weird scene.
Arya stood in front of his door with her head bowed low. She was clad in her battle suit and stood with a rigid pose.
"Y-young master! I hope you had a peaceful night…"
'She sure is eager…'
Though she hid her face with the bow, Atticus could feel her excitent from where he stood.
"I did, Arya, thank you." He turned towards the figure also bowing next to her.
"What are you doing?"
"M-master… I-I ca here to pay my respects to you."
It was a person Atticus hadn't seen in a while, and quite frankly, had never expected to even see again.
'Yotad.'
Yotad was his Ravenblade, though no one could claim he had fulfilled any duty of protecting him. If anything, Atticus did the protecting.
"Let guess, you also want to improve your talent."
"I-I wouldn't dare ask, master!" Yotad bowed lower, "B-but… em. I-if master wishes to, I wouldn't object…"
Atticus watched as the full-blown assassin in front of him began to nervously fidget with his fingers. He sighed.
'Why not?'
Yotad was bound to him. And though he hadn't actually felt his need, having an extra power loyal to him didn't sound terrible.
"Alright. Let's go to my training room."
They vanished before they could react, and appeared in the middle of his forr training room.
Atticus snapped his fingers, and two beds materialized in front of them.
"Lie on it and close your eyes."
"Y-young master?"
"Yes, master."
Though Yotad dutifully responded and lay on the bed, Arya hesitated.
'She's afraid.'
There was no position more vulnerable than what Atticus had just ordered.
As an assassin, whose first instinct was to always be alert, it seed ludicrous that she would subject herself to such vulnerability. Atticus chose four simple words to solve the problem.
"You don't trust ?"
Arya's eyes widened.
"Ah! No no. Of course I do, young master."
Though, slowly, she eventually lay on the bed. It took another minute for her to shut her eyes.
"I'm about to rewrite your whole internal structure," Atticus said, "I can't say it will be painless, but I'll try to make you feel as little of it as possible. Nod if you understand."
They both nodded.
"Alright, I'll start now."
Atticus repeated the sa process he used for the others and increased their talents.
After doing it multiple tis, he'd gained experience. This ti around, it didn't take nearly as much ti as it took the others.
After so ti, he placed both of them in one corner of the training room, where they slept and snored softly.
"To think they're assassins. They look so peaceful."
He was done with his task. All that remained was their bodies accepting and adapting to the change. After so ti, he expected them to break into the grandmaster rank.
'At least she'll stop feeling needless guilt now.'
Atticus stared at Arya with a smile. Because he'd increased Anastasia's talent, she had grown past Arya in strength.
While she was still her Ravenblade, how could she protect a master who was leagues above her in power?
'All of this definitely added to her guilt.'
Arya was without a doubt a good person. It wasn't every day one got to witness such dedication.
'They should be done in a few days.'
As Atticus made his way out of the training room, he paused.
'Hmm… I should kill two birds with one stone…'
With a thought, multiple figures suddenly appeared before him.
"Hm, what the hell? Ark!"
Aurora, who had clearly been asleep, materialized mid air and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
"Hmm… give a few more minutes. I'll wake up…"
Despite experiencing the sa thing, Caldor rely stirred, yawned, and pulled his blanket over himself.
Of them all, only Ember, Nate, and Kael were awake, each in training attire, weapons still in hand.
"Atticus."
"Hello."
"Hey."
"Hey, guys, I—"
The sound of Caldor snoring sliced him off. With a sigh, Atticus ford a small orb of water above him, which burst on impact.
"Huh? What—!?"
Caldor jolted up, glancing around. When he saw Atticus and the others watching, he relaxed.
"What the hell are you doing in my room, bro? Were you watching sleep or sothing? That's creepy…"
Another orb of water splashed onto him, this ti icy cold.
"Shit! What the hell, Atticus!"
Now fully awake, Caldor scrambled to his feet, shivering. "Why is it so cold…?"
Caldor was a water elentalist. In a fair world, water, cold or not, shouldn't affect him this way. What he didn't know was that Atticus had simply adjusted it so he could feel the chill, just enough to wake him.
"Now that you're awake," Atticus said, "can I get on with why I brought you all here?"
"You couldn't wait until we were actually awake?" Aurora shot back, glaring as she stood. Her fright had caused her to ignite her powers, and her favorite blanket now smoldered in ashes.
Atticus cleared his throat, looking slightly guilty.
"Aren't you the one who always complains about your power level? Well, I'm about to transformation that."
He paused, looking across the group.
"I'll help you all beco grandmasters."
Aurora's irritation vanished instantly, her eyes lighting up with interest. Even Caldor stopped grumbling, staring wide eyed. Ember remained calm, though there was a hint of excitent in her gaze. Nate crossed his arms, his deanor shifting to focus.
Of them all, only Kael remained unmoved.
"Not ."
Atticus turned toward him.
"Yes, you're correct."
It was only now, standing close, that Atticus had noticed the unmistakable aura surrounding the boy.
"You're already a grandmaster."
He glanced around and saw none of them looked surprised.
'They already knew.'
Well, though he was god, Atticus couldn't exactly be blad. It was precisely that that made him miss it.
Though for so, the advancent of master to grandmaster was a monuntal achievent, for Atticus, it was a blip, a small shift in power, one he had scarcely felt.
'I wonder what his domain is.'
As Atticus wondered, he turned to address the others.
"Well, except for Kael, I'll assist you all in creating your domains."
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