?The day before, Atticus had asked Zoey to spare him just 30 minutes of her time, but despite how strong and perceptive both of them were, neither of them knew when an hour passed.

The location they were currently in was still as quiet as ever, and during this one hour, no student had come to disturb them, much to Atticus’s delight.

Only the soft chuckles of a boy and girl kept sounding through the space. The once full containers had long since been emptied, and the beverages drunk.

After a few more minutes, they both stood up from their seated position, intending on ending their “meeting”.

The atmosphere became a bit awkward as both Atticus and Zoey had expressions filled with reluctance. It was plenty obvious that neither of them wanted this “meeting” to end.

But they had to get to their divisions.

“Would you mind me walking you to your teleportation room?” Atticus offered.

Zoey hesitated. Many people might believe that it was just something normal, and a man wanting to escort a lady to her destination was truly a gentlemanly thing to do.

But this was if said man and lady were normal people.

There was no one in the academy who didn’t know who the number one beauty in their generation, Zoey, was. And although recently, Atticus too was well known in the academy.

Which begged the question, if this man and lady were Atticus and Zoey, what will happen if they were both seen walking with each other? The answer was very obvious.

Just as Zoey was about to politely refuse, Lumindra’s voice suddenly sounded in her head once more.

‘Accept it! Accept it!’

‘Huh? Why Lumi?’ Zoey inquired without any change of expression.

But instead of a response, she was met with a firm rebuke, ‘Just do what I say and stop questioning me, you disrespectful child! I told you, you don’t…’

Zoey sighed softly, immediately tuning out the petite sound of Lumindra who just wouldn’t stop blabbering.

Turning her gaze back at Atticus, “Okay,” she said softly.

Atticus smiled. He had of course seen Zoey’s reluctance and had already assumed she’d refuse. He was glad to see she didn’t.

Atticus manipulated the air element intricately, the items on the cloth entering his space storage. He also neatly wrapped the cloth and sent it to his storage.

“Hmm, smooth,” Zoey commented while looking at Atticus with a smile, causing the latter to scratch his head softly in embarrassment.

And then, with a slight chuckle, they both started making their way out of the space.

The area where they had hung out was located at a point where the 2nd and 3rd year buildings conjoined, just behind the buildings.

The figures of Atticus and Zoey walked out of the space and reached the expansive garden in a few seconds.

It was already past 6 PM, and while the expansive garden wasn’t empty, the students present were very few compared to their massive numbers.

The garden was scanty, with only a few groups of students sprawled about.

Many of these groups of students were currently engaged in different discussions, the sounds of occasional laughs and mild arguments filling the garden.

But just as it seemed like this peaceful atmosphere would remain undisturbed, suddenly, .

“What the hell…” one random youth among a group of students muttered in slight disbelief, not wanting to believe what his eyes were seeing.

The student quickly nudged the youth beside him, gesturing with his chin towards the direction he was looking at.

The youth turned and shot an irritated stare at the student, clearly annoyed about being touched.

“What-” Just as he was about to berate the student, he saw him gesturing towards a direction, and as soon as his eyes landed on what the youth had been pointing to, he only had one thing to say, “What the hell…”

The other students in the group all seemed to notice the two students’ shocked looks, and as soon as they turned towards the direction they were facing, every single one of them simultaneously muttered, “What the hell…”

The other groups of students in the garden all started noticing the bunch of students staring in one direction.

And as soon as they followed their gazes, their mouths all simultaneously opened in shock as they all muttered, “What the hell…”

The evening sun shone through the massive buildings, bathing the garden in a golden light that illuminated the cause of the students’ shock.

Two figures strode side by side, their movements synchronized with effortless precision. Their expressions remained neutral, exuding a calm confidence that radiated from their very beings.

With each step forward, Atticus and Zoey exuded an air of cool assurance, their presence commanding attention without effort. Their strides were measured, their posture relaxed yet poised.

As each of the students’ gazes landed on Atticus and Zoey walking together, although all of them were completely baffled at the scene, even they had to admit that they both looked breathtaking.

Atticus maintained his neutral gaze forward, completely ignoring the murmurs of the students as he and Zoey walked through the garden.

He had already anticipated the fact that he and Zoey walking together would cause a lot of commotion among the other students. Both of them were like first-year superstars in the academy; this level of attention was very normal.

Atticus could hear every single one of the students’ comments:

“Why are they walking together? Are they together?” one male student asked.

“Oh my gosh, they look so good together!” one blonde-haired female student whispered to her friend beside her, who kept shaking her head in annoyance.

“Hey, isn’t he the one from the videos?”

Those last words made Atticus’s gaze narrow slightly. ‘Video?’ he wondered.

But despite his slight shock, Atticus’s expression didn’t once change, his advancing gait unchanged.

With a slight movement of his eyes, Atticus’s gaze instantly landed on the youth who had spoken. The youth held his hand up while showing the students beside him a holographic interface from his artifact. .

With Atticus’s keen senses, he only needed a second to see what the youth was showing the others: the video of him brutally burning the forms of the higher years who had attacked him the day before.

This content is taken from 𝘳.𝑐𝘰