285 Real Men

Atticus turned to find Kael gazing at him, expression unchanged. “Ahem,” Atticus audibly cleared his throat. ‘Was I staring?’ he wondered.

Straightening his trench coat, he began walking through the hall, Kael in tow. Kael had been right; their class would start soon, and wasting time meant risking being late.

As expected, the walk remained eerily quiet, with neither of them exchanging words

They both saw some other first year leaders’ students in the hallway as they walked, and both Atticus and Kael walking in tandem with each other immediately drew stares from the other students.

Many of them had been too out of it yesterday to notice the closeness between Atticus and Kael. Both of them getting close was the last thing any one of them expected.

But they both completely ignored the stares and kept moving forward.

They reached the end of the hall with both of them seeing the map of the academy once again.

They continued to their left and got to the elevator after a few seconds. With a slight chime, they both entered the elevator, and it immediately started descending.

Atticus’s thoughts were swirling, and just as he believed the entire interaction with Kael would remain quiet, Kael suddenly turned towards Atticus and spoke,

“You like her, don’t you?” Kael’s words made Atticus’s train of thought freeze.

‘What the hell,’

Turning to see Kael staring at him expressionlessly, Atticus was caught off guard. That was the last thing he had expected from Kael.

He didn’t strike Atticus as the type to discuss romantic interests.

Atticus was curious to see where this conversation would lead. “I guess you can say that. Why are you asking?” Atticus responded with a small smile.

“I see,” Kael muttered, taking a moment to think.

“Do you like her?” Atticus pressed on, gazing at Kael intently, trying to discern any signs of deceit.

Atticus didn’t even need to see anything, as Kael immediately shook his head, refusing the question. “No, she’s too… beautiful,” Kael said.

“Huh?” Atticus was confused. Wasn’t a girl being incredibly beautiful a good thing? Or did they practice something different in Eldoralth, and he was just finding out?

‘No, mom is fine as hell. He must be the weird one,’ Atticus concluded. Anastasia was incredibly beautiful, as was Lila’s mother whom Atticus had seen when they visited their estate.

“Too beautiful?” Atticus decided to ask.

Kael took a moment before he continued speaking, “Grandfather said beautiful women are a recipe for trouble,” Kael said, turning towards Atticus, “And I don’t like trouble,” he added.

“Pfft,” a burst of laughter escaped Atticus’s lips as he heard what Kael had said. It struck him as funny that his grandfather would give such advice.

Taking a moment to regain his composure, marked by the elevator reaching its destination on the second floor, Atticus said, “I guess you’re right. Beautiful women do bring you a lot of trouble.”

They both stepped out of the elevator, which slid to a close behind them.

They started making their way toward the door where their class would be held.

“You should ask her out,” Kael’s voice sounded once more, making Atticus raise an eyebrow in slight confusion.

“I thought you said your grandfather warned you that very beautiful women are nothing but trouble?” Atticus asked.

“He did,” Kael responded. They both reached the door of their assigned class, and as the door parted after a quick scan,

“But he also said this; real men will always go after something they want regardless of the troubles that would arise,” Kael added as he walked through the door.

Atticus stared at his back for a moment, and with a small smile, he also entered the classroom.

Entering the classroom together attracted stares from the students already inside. Many, especially the females, couldn’t help but completely focus on Atticus’s breathtaking form, their eyebrows raised in slight surprise.

His trench coat billowed in the air as he and Kael walked confidently, creating a magnetic presence that seemed to capture the attention of everyone in the room.

Amongst all of the students watching, some of the tier one youths couldn’t help but narrow their eyes as they saw them both together.

Two major competitors banding together wasn’t good news at all.

For now, they all simply decided to keep watching without making any move.

Atticus turned, his gaze meeting Lila’s as he passed by. She swiftly turned her gaze away immediately they met.

Atticus completely ignored her as he continued to his seat, sitting down beside the breathtaking form of Zoey, who had her eyes forward, facing the large screen at the front, seemingly not registering his presence.

Kael was also seated directly beside him, and after a few minutes of waiting with some students entering the classroom and taking their seats, the door parted open and Isabella with her characteristic smoothie and well-fitted suit walked into the classroom.

It was as though a switch was turned off; the entirety of the students all turned dead silent. No one making a sound. .

All the drama from yesterday was still fresh in their memories.

Even the fool who had threatened Isabella the last time kept his back straight and eyes faced forward, showing complete obedience.

Unlike the last time, Isabella didn’t waste any time. As soon as she got to the obsidian table, she dropped down her smoothie and turned to face the students.

“Good day, students,” Isabella’s voice resonated around the hall.

She continued,

“Today we’ll officially start the Leadership and strategic planning class. We’ll be starting with the first aspect on the list.”

Isabella’s words were followed by her tapping the obsidian surface of the table a few times, and the large screen lit up, suddenly displaying a picture of a zorvan.

Despite seeing it yesterday, many of the students still flinched as they saw its hideous form appear in front of them once again.

It didn’t help that the screen was incredibly large, making it appear as though a giant was being displayed.

“Understanding the threat,”

𝑖𝘦.𝑐𝘰𝘮