Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1250: Hidden Rules

’Dronvet used hand signs... the women used words... then...’

Atticus tried to guess what the last group’s method was. The last one belonged to the god who had awakened a concept, that group was the one he was most wary of. He had to tread carefully.

Unfortunately, it seemed they only had intel on the military women for now.

Atticus was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Magnus and Aric settling into one of the couches with a loud bam.

They had reverted to their normal forms, but considering their broad frames, they filled the seats completely, sitting shoulder to shoulder.

It was almost comical, especially with both of them wearing stoic expressions, arms crossed across their chests.

Atticus shook his head and smiled.

"Well, I guess we should be glad they’re giving us time to recover," he said. "We should rest and get ready for the next scenario."

"Haaa, why is it taking so long to start!?" Ozeroth complained, drawing a baffled look from Atticus.

"It’s literally been seconds."

"Exactly! That’s far too long."

Atticus shook his head and ignored him. He moved to one of the couches and was just about to slip into meditation when one more light ignited in the center of the room.

Everyone tensed.

They glanced at each other, thinking the same thing. They were all here, who the hell was coming now?

Hands found weapons. Was the next scenario starting already?

But as the light dimmed and they saw the miniature figure of a man cloaked in darkness, everyone relaxed.

"Quiet Flame?" Atticus called out.

Quiet Flame gave him a curt nod. He scanned the room. "I see you’re all in good condition," he said. "You performed splendidly in the last scenario. Good job."

Aside from Atticus and Ozeroth, the others only knew of Quiet Flame by name, their star. This was their first time seeing him in person.

Magnus and Aric gave a simple nod of acknowledgment, not bothering to stand. Zenon, on the other hand, stood and bowed deeply in respect.

Ozeroth clicked his tongue. "Splendidly, my ass," he muttered.

Quiet Flame blinked. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked.

"You didn’t. It’s just that time of the month for him," Atticus said, ignoring Ozeroth’s glare and focusing on their star.

"To what do we owe the visit?" he asked.

Quiet Flame’s expression turned serious, and the others followed suit. The air had shifted, they could all feel it.

"The power of negation you used against the god of Surnix Hold will probably not work anymore."

Atticus’s gaze sharpened. Quiet Flame had gone straight to business.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because of this." Quiet Flame gestured around the room. "They’ve granted a resting period for the gods after each scenario. As I am here with you, so are the others with theirs."

"Are you allowed to share information?" Atticus caught on quickly.

Quiet Flame nodded. "Yes. We’ve all been observing the Virelenna since it began. We all watched your battle with that god. If I figured out what happened, then most likely the others did too."

A deep frown formed on Atticus’s face. That revelation changed everything.

"Is there a reason you didn’t tell me this before?" he asked, tone sharp. He didn’t like being caught off guard like this. If he’d known, he would’ve held back more and kept his trump cards hidden.

"I don’t know," Quiet Flame replied with a sigh. "It was a rule that was kept from me."

"They can do that?"

Atticus couldn’t help but wonder what else they were keeping from Quiet Flame. Did that mean he should expect more surprises?

"A meeting is held before each Virelenna to decide the rules of the game. The stars are forbidden from discussing the rules with anyone, even other stars. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at that meeting."

"That sounds like something super important. What, did you have something better to do?" Ozeroth asked dryly.

Quiet Flame smiled wryly. "The meeting happened decades ago. You hadn’t even been born then. It wasn’t certain how things would turn out, or whether Eldoralth would even participate."

Atticus was subtly relieved that Quiet Flame hadn’t used the word reincarnation. Still, he focused back on him.

"So... it’s possible there are more rules you don’t know about?"

Quiet Flame nodded.

"Then why didn’t you say anything before?" Atticus pressed. This wouldn’t be the first time Quiet Flame had kept something from him, and he was starting to reach his limit.

"Believe me, if I thought it’d be a problem, I would’ve said something," Quiet Flame said. "The rules were made to be fair to all. Every rule had to be agreed upon by the stars who attended. I believed it to be fair, so I didn’t see it as a threat."

Atticus exhaled heavily. To be fair, Quiet Flame had a point. The rules were fair. He just didn’t like that he’d been blindsided.

’I’ll have to be careful about what’s revealed from now on,’ he thought, mentally replaying the last scenario, every technique, every display of power.

’They’ll expect all of that...’

It was a good thing he still had more cards to play. He made sure to mentally sort through everything his enemies would anticipate, and what they wouldn’t.

’I’ll be able to catch them off guard more easily,’ he reasoned. If they thought they had him figured out, and he showed something unexpected, the edge would be his. Still, he’d only reveal more if absolutely necessary.

Atticus turned back to Quiet Flame. "Tell me about the other groups, then."

He was going to take full advantage of this rule. If the others could learn about him through their stars, then he could do the same.

Quiet Flame nodded with a small smile. He liked the way Atticus was thinking.

"The groups remaining are Vortharion, Ashveil Dominion, Somnera, and Gharnyx," Quiet Flame began.

"The first two are from the star of Torrvenos. Somnera comes from the star of Vaelthrys, and Gharnyx from Dranzmael."

"Tell me about the ones with concepts," Atticus asked.

"The gods of Vortharion, Somnera, and Gharnyx," Quiet Flame answered.

’They’re still alive,’ Atticus thought. He’d identified three groups with gods that had awakened their concepts, and it seemed none of them had fallen.

"Tell me about their concepts," he said after a second.