Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground Chapter 1604 Levels

Atticus released a small sigh.

'Alone… again.'

He sat cross legged atop the bed. A few minutes after the earlier incident, he had regrouped with the others, listened to their brief report on what they had uncovered, and followed them back to the inn where they planned to spend the night. Whisker had insisted they use the remaining ti to gather information before the competition began tomorrow. And because Atticus was already sothing of a known figure, they had decided it was better to leave him alone upstairs while they headed down to the bar.

'They better not be drinking.'

Tricking people into talking was sothing Ozeroth would openly disdain. Ozerra too. As for Whisker… Atticus exhaled again. The man had always been a slacker. It was, frankly, a hopeless case.

'I'll focus on the elent instead.'

'Finally. Sothing worth your attention.'

Atticus sighed at the Arbiter's voice. There was a note of relief in it, as though she were pleased he had finally decided to think about sothing that mattered.

'It's the only thing you ever care about. There are things that matter more than the elents.'

'That's nonsense. Nothing matters more than them.'

'My family does.'

'Then why did you leave them behind?'

'…'

'People slow you down. They disappoint you. They die, often for stupid reasons. The elents won't. They're eternal.'

'Maybe. But can the elents love you? The way only family can?'

'You rule them. They can be whatever you want them to be.'

Once again, he found himself without a response. After a mont, he simply let the thought go. Just because he couldn't win the argunt didn't an his family would ever stop being the most important thing to him.

'The elents… the elent.'

The past few months had marked a significant growth in his control. What had once been limited to a radius of roughly one and a half kiloters, along with only the simplest commands, now felt far less restrictive than before.

It was during one of his training sessions with the Arbiter that he had learned about the distinctions between levels of elental control. Those simple commands he had started with were more accurately described as physical law. At that level, every instruction he issued could only influence physical properties, motion, heat, pressure, and the like, and even then, each command was usually restricted to a single molecule.

A command ant to kill soone would simply use that molecule to forcefully neutralize them. Putting soone to sleep followed the sa principle. They were powerful, undeniably so, but they were also limited.

The next stage, the one he was actively working toward, was known as field law. At that level, his authority over the elent would expand dramatically, covering a far wider area and allowing him to sustain multiple molecules at once.

Atticus greatly anticipated reaching that level, knowing it would mark an astronomical increase in his power.

'I just have to focus on strengthening my will.'

Expanding his will capacity was the only way to endure the strain required to step into that stage.

It was exactly what he had been doing for months now, steadily pushing himself forward, and he could feel that he was close to grasping field law.

'Three more territories… I should be able to reach it during the competition.'

Other Archdukes would no doubt take part as well. And killing them would accelerate his growth far beyond anything simple training could accomplish.

Letting the thought settle, Atticus cleared his mind and returned his focus to refining his control.

Ti slipped by quickly. Then, suddenly, his eyes opened.

'Hm?'

His gaze transford toward the door as he narrowed his eyes slightly. He could sense soone moving past it. Given that it was an inn, it could easily have been another guest heading to their room, but this figure had already passed his door twice.

'Again.'

He rose from the bed without a sound, his hand closing around the hilt of his blade as he moved closer. The mont he felt the figure pass by his room once more, he pulled the door open.

"Ah—! That was sudden!"

A familiar silver haired girl stumbled back, freezing as Atticus' detached gaze locked onto her. It was the sa girl he had t in the alleyway earlier.

"You followed ?"

His voice carried no warmth. The girl stiffened and imdiately shook her head in panic, waving her hands frantically.

"No, no, no! I didn't follow you!"

"Then why are you standing outside my room?"

"I… I… It was a coincidence?"

She offered him an awkward smile.

"…"

"Ahem… yes. A coincidence. A very strange one. But let's not dwell on it. Let's just take it as fate."

She nodded to herself, as though that explanation made perfect sense.

'What is she?'

This encounter was anything but a coincidence. And if she truly had followed him, the fact that he hadn't sensed her until now was deeply unsettling.

Atticus' eyes swept over her. She stood around five foot five, her features soft, almost innocent, with a slightly chubby face that gave her a harmless appearance. Her faintly glistening silver hair flowed past her waist, catching the light as she moved.

At a glance, she looked like a girl who wouldn't know any better. But the unsettling smile on her face, coupled with the way her bright eyes stared at him, shattered that impression completely.

"So… uh, did you have ti to think about what we talked about earlier? Just na your price and I'll—"

"Who are you?"

"I—"

The mont his killing intent brushed against her, the girl shuddered violently. She lunged backward on instinct, staring at him with wide, trembling eyes.

"W-what are you—"

"I won't repeat myself."

A second, colder wave washed over her, and her body trembled uncontrollably, breathing hard as though the air itself had turned hostile, leaving her unable to draw in even a shallow breath.

"P-please…"

Despite the plea, Atticus' gaze remained cold. He didn't know who this girl was, but her sudden fixation on him was far from normal, and that alone was reason enough to dig deeper.