49 Thorough
Without hesitation, Atticus chose to take the initiative and launched his attack. He moved with incredible speed, closing the distance to the boy who had asked for the contract.
With a swift and powerful kick, Atticus struck the boy's face. It landed with a crunching sound, sending him flying through the air.
The other first years, realizing the danger, quickly responded "Attack him! Surround him, he's just one person!" They attempted to surround Atticus, relying on their numbers to overpower him.
As they attempted to close in on Atticus, one of them aimed a punch at him from behind. Atticus simply moved his head to the side, dodging it. With a quick and fluid motion, he seized the attacking fist, using his superior strength to lift the boy off his feet and slam him to the ground in front of him.
The impact knocked the wind out of the boy, leaving him momentarily incapacitated. Atticus directed a powerful kick towards the boy's shoulder blade, causing painful deformation and eliciting a piercing, mind-numbing scream from his lips.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The sight of Atticus brutality sent a wave of fear through the remaining boys. Atticus's cold words sounded "It's too late to back down now. I gave you your chance"
Atticus swiftly moved towards them, his strikes were precise and devastating. He effortlessly punched one boy's chest, causing it to cave in with a sickening crunch. Another fell victim to a powerful blow to the head, sending him crashing face-first into the ground.
Thanks to Atticus superior perception and stats, each movements the first years makes appears slow as a snail in Atticus's eyes. His movements bordered on the supernatural compared to theirs.
With the last of the group defeated and sprawled on the ground, Atticus turned to face the instigator, his gaze cold.
The boy started moving back, shivering. Although he might not want to admit it, the beating Atticus had given him before was traumatic. He, a second year, wasn't even able to react.
Chillingly, Atticus asked, "What is your name?" as he walked slowly towards him.
"Get away!" The boy stammered, falling to the floor while trying to back away. The once defiant expression on his face had crumbled, replaced by a haunting mixture of fear and regret that danced in his eyes
"I won't repeat myself," Atticus said, getting closer to him. Atticus's deliberate steps were like the steady advance of a predator, each footfall echoing the inexorable approach of consequence.
"Evan!" the boy quickly replied as Atticus was getting closer, his voice shaking.
"Well, Evan, do you want to know what I told Ember to do with pests?" Atticus asked.
Evan shook his head furiously, "N-o. Please I'm so-rry. I won't do it again" he begged.
"I told her to crush them so they'll never do stupid things like this again. It looks like the beating I gave you before wasn't enough. I'll have to be more thorough this time around," Atticus's words were followed by a crunching sound. He had stepped on Evan's right leg, brutally breaking it.
"Aaaaaaarrrg!!! Ple-aseee, mo-ommyyy!"
Evan's desperate cries reverberated through the tense atmosphere, his pleas for help falling on deaf ears.
Atticus, unmoved by the boy's distress, delivered another brutal blow, shattering Evan's other leg with a sickening crunch.
"Don't worry, Evan, the potions here are very good. You'll be back to normal by tomorrow."
Amidst the chaos of pain and torment, Atticus's cold voice cut through like a blade.
The cafeteria seemed to hold its breath, gripped by a harrowing silence, broken only by the heart-wrenching sobs that echoed off the walls.
After a few minutes of torture, Atticus got some food and left the scene.
He decided to retreat to his room, his steps carrying him through the camp.
'That wasn't as hard as i thought. I actually kind of... enjoyed it. Damn, I hope I'm not going crazy'.
Atticus was not at all new to brutality, but despite that, this was the first time he had ever gone this far.
Ever since Arya had killed that guard in front of him, he had always been trying to get himself ready for when he'd have to do the deed later.
Even though he constantly told himself that he shouldn't hesitate, he knew it might be different in person.
He thought it was weird that he didn't even feel a thing when torturing Evan.
'It could be because i didn't kill anyone. Or maybe because i don't care about them?' he pondered.
As he was heading back, his eyes caught a glimpse of Aurora struggling to walk.
Her once vibrant energy seemed to have drained away, leaving her looking frail and weary. Her legs wavered beneath her, her steps faltering as she pushed forward.
As Atticus approached her, "Need a hand?" he asked.
Startled, Aurora's tired eyes widened, her body tensing as she turned around. Her legs were unable to bear her weight and she lost her balance. Atticus quickly reached out to support her, preventing her from falling.
"Thanks," Aurora managed to utter weakly, her voice barely above a whisper. Atticus nodded and led her to a nearby bench.
He helped her sit down and raised his eyebrows in a questioning gesture. Aurora averted her gaze, "I just trained too hard today. I'm fine." she softly stated.
'What is wrong with this girl?' he thought.
Atticus gave her a long look, prompting Aurora to hastily speak,
"I said I'm fine! You don't have to worry about me!"
He let out a sigh and relented, "Okay. Do you need help getting to your room?"
Aurora responded with a shake of her head, insisting, "No. I'm okay!"
Atticus scrutinized her briefly before nodding and saying, "Okay." He turned and walked away.
Once he was out of sight, Aurora pulled her knees close to her chest, bowed her head, and covered her face with her hands, tears streaming down as she quietly cried.
Atticus entered his room and couldn't help but mull over Aurora's situation.
'Something's definitely going on with her, but it's not exactly my concern,' he thought.
Atticus was focused primarily on himself and his family. He considered trustworthy friends as part of his family.
Although he had always maintained an indifference personality towards others, it doesn't mean he'll blatantly treat them coldly without any reason.
But his relationship with Aurora was non-existent, far from enough to warrant involvement in her affairs. While one might argue all the Ravensteins were technically his family, Atticus sees them all as strangers. He had never met any of them before, simply sharing the same blood wasn't enough to warrant being called his family.
He settled onto his bed, determined to gather comprehensive information about the camp from his device so he wouldn't be caught off guard again.
The rules and guidelines weren't particularly extensive, allowing him to absorb a lot of information quickly.
In just 10 minutes, Atticus had managed to gather a substantial amount of knowledge.
'The training facilities here aren't as good as the ones back at the estate. The highest rank it can replicate is just intermediate+. I should definitely join the beast division tomorrow.'
Atticus chose to get some rest and join the beast division the following day.
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