Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1424  Ungrateful

As the group nodded eagerly, Atticus snapped his finger and they all vanished from the training room, appearing high above the hill.

"This is… the elemental sanctums?" Caldor said, looking at the floating elemental fortresses.

If this had been the past, Ravensteins who made it to master+ rank would spend most of their time in the elemental sanctum for the sake of forming a domain and advancing to the grandmaster rank.

But with the advent of the new world, they had been able to mimic the effects of the sanctums in their personal training rooms, hence barring the need to visit the sanctums. But…

"You'll each train in your respective sanctums. Don't worry, I'll guide you all in exactly what to do. Are you ready?"

As they nodded seriously, Atticus waved his arm and teleported them each to their respective sanctums.

"Do you plan on simply watching?" Atticus turned towards Kael in the sky. Since he'd already teleported the boy, he didn't want to leave him behind and had brought him here.

Kael stared at Atticus blankly then nodded. "I'll train."

As Kael left, Atticus turned his focus on the others.

Unlike what he'd done with Anastasia, this was different. She had been able to advance into grandmaster rank due to decades spent at the master+ rank perfecting her powers.

But they had only recently reached the master+ rank, which made their situation more complicated, especially considering the Ravenstein elemental bloodline.

Deepening mastery over the element required forming a connection with the molecules. This was best done by mimicking the emotions that resonate with each element.

This was the process Atticus planned on manipulating and optimizing. And he had done just that.

First, he fed them each lifelike hallucinations to make them experience the emotions that resonate with their elements.

Then he increased the concentration of element molecules around each of them, then manipulated the molecules to form a connection.

As a result, at the end of the day, multiple pillars of light pierced the skies, then unfurled into a dome.

Atticus hovered calmly in the skies, gazing at his work with a composed smile.

'Finally.'

Now, Aurora, Ember, Nate, and even Caldor had successfully entered into the grandmaster rank. A monumental achievement, given their young ages.

As the lights began to dim, and the domains deactivated, Atticus felt a strong energy slam onto his mind.

"W-what?"

He staggered slightly before regaining himself. His guard rose.

'What just happened?'

It felt as though something had just collided with his will.

'An attack?' he thought, then shook his head. 'Not without my consent.'

In the next moment, he spread his will around the world to assess and check for any threats, but came up with nothing.

'What happened?' His mind worked quickly. 'Something attacked me.'

This, he was sure of. And it wasn't just anything. The force had been such that his will had shaken.

'The only thing with such power is another god or…'

Atticus turned his eyes to the sky.

"The plane will," he muttered.

"Atticus!" Aurora screamed. She wrapped herself in flames as she surged towards him.

"I'm a grandmaster!"

She embraced him in a deep hug, not caring about the flames around her. To Atticus, they were barely warm.

"Em, yes. Congratulations."

Calming himself down, he hugged her back and smiled as Aurora pulled back.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" She blasted away in a blaze, filling the skies with a sea of flames.

With the new domain came access to more mana and power, and she was clearly intent on trying it out.

"Thank you."

Atticus also hugged Ember, who was calmer than Aurora, but clearly excited.

Caldor was, well, Caldor. He also hugged Atticus, then joined Aurora in unleashing his power.

Nate instead bowed deeply to him and thanked him.

After some moments, they calmed down a bit. Caldor released a tired sigh.

"Damn, that domain took a lot out of me. I'm so tired. By the way, Cuz, is this how all grandmasters feel? My mind feels heavy."

"What do you mean?"

"Em… It feels like there's something literally compressing my mind. I'm not sure how to explain it."

"What about the rest of you? Do you feel the same thing?"

"Yes." Ember nodded.

"He's right. I feel heavier than usual," Nate also added.

As he turned towards Aurora, she confirmed his fears by also nodding.

"I'll be back."

Atticus vanished before any of them could speak. He appeared in a large room where Whisker sat on a couch eating popcorn and laughing as he watched Ozeroth attempting to speak with the Amazonian women and failing.

"I think there's a problem," Atticus abruptly said, but Whisker didn't act surprised.

"Yeah, and that's you completely missing out on this!"

He began laughing out loud while gesturing towards Ozeroth, who had failed in his task and was currently encouraging himself through a mirror.

"That's not what I'm talking about. I think the plane will just attacked Eldoralth."

Whisker's playfulness vanished. He fell his popcorn and turned to Atticus.

"What?"

"Yes. I'm sure of it. I'd just finished powering up Aurora and the others when I felt a heavy force hit my will. I think—"

"Wait." Whisker stood up from his seat. "Repeat what you just said."

"A heavy force hit my will—"

"No, no. Before that."

"…I powered up Aurora and the others?"

"Yes, exactly. That's what caused it," Whisker said, but that only made Atticus frown.

"Mind explaining?"

Whisker let out a sigh.

"Oh, alright. There's a boring thing called balance. And it's one of the things the plane will protects."

"Balance…? How does increasing my people's power affect that?"

"Beats me." Whisker shrugged. "But it's unfortunately one of the rules of the middleplanes. There's a limit on the number of people a god can power up. I think it's a smart rule though, or else some people might end up turning their entire population into perfect soldiers."

"Sounds like an annoying rule to me. So what does this attack mean?"

"It's a warning. You've reached the limits, so it's basically asking you to stop nicely."

"Nicely has nothing to do with what I just felt. But what if I don't stop? What would happen then?"

"Hmm. From what I've heard over the centuries, it will actively try to restore the balance. It's different for each world, I guess, but expect trials and tribulations. Oh, and lots of deaths and chaos."

A deep frown found its way to Atticus' face.

"They complained that a heavy force is acting on their minds, is this the punishment?"

"Could be. Or, like I said, might be a warning and everything would return back to normal."

"There's always something…" Atticus sighed, "Is there no way around it?"

"None that I've heard of."

"Thanks for nothing."

"Ungrateful much?" Whisker clicked his tongue and settled back down on his chair. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to."

As he began laughing at Ozeroth on the screen, Atticus shook his head and vanished from the room.