Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1356: Unsure

Was Atticus simply stupid and overconfident? Or was he simply stating the truth? That despite the fact that the beings standing at the peak of this universe could snuff out the entire middle plane with a sneeze, he simply didn’t care?

’Time would tell.’

It didn’t matter, at least not now. The Archive was entertained, and when he was, there was no stopping him.

"Alright. A fair bargain I must say. Head to the Gilded Debt. I hear they’re about to let go of some interesting things later today. The code, I’d like to settle my debt in gold."

Whisker smiled. "Thank you, old man."

"No. Thank you." The Archive said, then glanced back at Atticus. "If you’re ever in need of information, don’t hesitate to find me. I’m sure we can work out a deal."

Atticus only nodded. The Archive vanished and the screen went blank.

"Who the hell was that?" Atticus asked, more disgusted than curious.

"He’s called The Archive." Whisker laughed, patting his shoulder. "Don’t worry, he’s like that to everyone he finds interesting."

"That doesn’t make me feel better."

"Pfft. It wasn’t supposed to."

Atticus sighed. "You didn’t have another information source? We had to rely on a pedophile."

"He’s the best information source in the entire middle planes."

Atticus was taken aback by that. The man didn’t seem like much. ’Could be because I’m seeing him through a screen?’

"Besides, we do what we must to survive." Whisker suddenly sounded profound. Atticus narrowed his eyes.

"Don’t tell me..."

Whisker burst into laughter. "Of course not! I’m all for the puss, never stick, Urg."

Atticus gave him a deadpan stare. Shaking his head, he said.

"Do you know where he told us to go to?"

"Of course." Whisker thumped his chest. "I’m the greatest tour guide on the planet. There isn’t a place I don’t know."

"I’m sure of that." Atticus didn’t look impressed. "Come on, we’ve wasted too much time as it is."

As they left the pod, they were both assaulted by Ozeroth’s barrage of questions. Since Atticus had blocked his mind from being read, Ozeroth had no idea what had occurred in the pod.

"It’s grown up stuff." Whisker said for the umpteenth time, sighing. "You won’t understand."

That only made Ozeroth flare even more.

During their banter, a thought suddenly struck Atticus and he released the block, allowing Ozeroth to read his thoughts, especially the one where he spoke about Ozeroth.

’Punishment.’ Atticus said with a smile. He caught himself, shocked by the sudden feeling of happiness at Whisker’s plight. He shrugged. ’He deserves it.’

Throughout their movements, Whisker went through hell. Atticus had known Ozeroth to be a petty man, but even he hadn’t expected it to be to such extent.

There was nothing he didn’t do to annoy Whisker. From shouting in his ears, to tripping him as they wandered the paved streets. It went without saying that Whisker had been thoroughly annoyed.

A much thorough punishment, Atticus would say.

Eventually, they reached their location. The Gilded Debt was located on the center part of the mid parts.

The building was larger compared to that of the Archive’s. It stood alone from all other buildings on the street, with multiple floors.

The building was bustling with people. From the number of people Atticus saw entering and leaving, he could guess at the crowd within.

Atticus turned towards the frowning Whisker. "Will you keep us in the dark again, or are you actually going to explain this time?"

Whisker glared at Atticus. His eyes seemed to say, you did this to me. He didn’t buy Atticus’ excuse of ’mistakenly’ releasing the block on his mind.

"As much as I would love to keep you in the dark, it’s better you know."

He glanced at the building.

"I want you to consider this a pawn shop, except way bigger than any you’ve probably known. It’s run by some pretty creepy people too. House Aureline."

"What makes them creepy?"

Whisker cringed. "Every single one of their lineage awakened the same concept."

Atticus was taken aback. "Is that possible?"

He couldn’t help but ask. No two people can ever be the same. They may look identical, but the inside was another thing entirely.

A concept was just that, a representation of someone’s beliefs. Following the same will path wouldn’t affect this. Who you are was who you are.

To awaken the same concept with another is to have the same mindset, thought, vision and goal. It should be impossible. But...

"Apparently, it is." Whisker shrugged. "Their concept is called debtbinding. They can record debts or promises with or between people. An unpaid price transforms into a weight on your will that increases every second until death."

"So don’t promise anything." Atticus said, catching on.

"Don’t promise anything." Whisker smiled. Then, as though in unison, they turned towards Ozeroth at the same time and silently stared.

Ozeroth narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"...."

"...."

Ozeroth glanced and saw Kancilot also looking at him, silently.

He cleared his throat. "Alright, alright!" Ozeroth thundered.

Atticus and Whisker carried their eyes away like nothing happened and faced the building.

They began making their way towards it. Entering, Atticus was met with an enormous hall, filled with numerous glittering items on display. People littered the hall.

Whisker motioned them over to the counter, where a pretty pale woman was stationed.

"I’d like to settle my debt in gold."

The woman’s eyes flashed the moment she heard the words, shooting the group an appraising gaze. Ozeroth was irritated, Atticus unmoved, and Whisker, smiling.

"Follow me." She said at last, leading them across the hall and into a smaller hall. People were scarcely present.

"Please wait here."

The woman entered through a door Atticus assumed was an office and emerged with a man clad in a silk yellow robe.

His body was filled with numerous jewelry and his yellow eyes were even more piercing.

He blatantly sized them up as he reached them, voice hard.

"This auction is invite only. Who are you and how did you find out about it."