Atticus approached Joana and stood in front of her without saying anything. He remembered her demeanor well.

He expected complete silence, but surprisingly, the opposite happened. Joana inched closer to Atticus and asked what had been on everyone's mind,

"How did you reach here so quickly?"

The others perked up their ears, attempting to listen in.

"I passed the tests," he replied.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

It wasn't only Joana and the rest; even the instructors were flabbergasted.

Of course you passed the test!!!

Joana regained her composure after a few seconds. "I see. You must think I'm a fool," she said without a change in expression.

Atticus shook his head. "No. What I said was the truth. Like the instructor said, there was no foul play. I did what I did because I could do it, that's all."

A loud scoff sounded from behind him.

"So you expect us to believe you reached the fourth summit in just a week? You should try harder," Cerron said, staring at him with an icy gaze.

Atticus paused slightly, a baffled expression appearing on his face as he saw the unsure gazes of everyone staring at him.

"I think you're all mistaken," he said, his voice dropping to a chilling calm. "I'm here to master my fire element and become stronger. Your acceptance means nothing to me. If you believe I don't deserve to be here, that's your problem, not mine."

Cerron's eyes narrowed dangerously, his anger flaring. "You're just so full of yourself, aren't you?" he snarled. "We all worked hard to get to where we are now, and you think you can just waltz in here without putting in the work?"

Duran abruptly chimed in, "Damn, man, chill. Why didn't you say all this when Master Dekai was here? The man literally asked if there were any objections."

The others couldn't help but agree with Duran. Everyone knew Cerron's personality. While he was known to flare up easily, it was never to this extent, especially when Atticus hadn't directly done anything to him.

Cerron shot Duran a death stare. "You stay out of this," he snapped.

He turned his gaze back towards Atticus only to see that the latter had already turned away from him as though he were insignificant.

Cerron threatened to burst in anger, his temperature rising. "That's all you know how to do, isn't it?" he paused, watching as Atticus halted, clearly affected. "Run away and hide, just like your mother did. Must be a family trait."

Duran raised an eyebrow, slightly shocked. It was obvious Cerron was trying to taunt Atticus and make him angry. Unlike the others, he knew about the relationship between the duo.

'It wasn't directly an insult, but he's talking about the wife of the family head! He's going through such lengths… The boy might be a genius in the elements, but he wouldn't be able to defeat an actual master+ rank. Would he fall for it?'

Truly, Cerron's first words had affected Atticus, but not in the one we way the former thought. Those words made him aware of something he suspected but didn't know for sure: Cerron knew him and had some kind of personal beef with him.

Thin eyes and a long sword—it wasn't hard for Atticus to narrow it down and eventually reach a conclusion. He was somehow related to the boy he had slapped the living daylights out of during the award ceremony at the Raven estate.

Atticus immediately got a sense of déjà vu about the current situation; the man was going to be a problem. But unlike the others at the academy and that he had been dealing with until now, this man was actually a master+ rank.

Atticus thought about what he should do, but this only lasted until Cerron said something he should never have said.

Atticus had had his fair share of bullies back on Earth. Although they had all learned to steer clear of him, it wasn't until an incident happened that they had. An incident where one of them called his mother a whore.

He never joked about his family, ever.

Atticus stopped in his tracks, his aura changing.

Slowly, he turned to face Cerron, his eyes blazing with a fury that matched the fire sanctum's heat.

Cerron's gaze narrowed, a feeling of danger enveloping him.

The surrounding temperature, despite being insanely high already, increased to staggering levels.

Atticus spoke no word.

In one instance, Cerron saw Atticus standing 20 meters away from him; in the next, the ground where Atticus stood buckled, the flames around it getting snuffed out for a second.

Cerron's gaze widened in shock; Atticus wasn't there!

He immediately acted, his perception ramping up to full throttle.

Then, he felt it as the world slowed. A slight wetness on his neck. 'W-what?'

Cerron's heart trembled, his eyes instinctively shooting downward to witness two things that made his scalp go numb.

A gleaming katana was about to cut his neck, already inches in. And then, a gaze.

Two piercing blue eyes with a hint of crimson in their irises stared at him with a coldness that could freeze a planet.

Cerron involuntarily shivered. Atticus was currently staring at him as though he were nothing more than a useless thing.

'H-how can a 16-year-old have such eyes?'

Cerron felt his life flash before his eyes. However, before the katana could continue its path, Atticus suddenly burst into flames, instantly reappearing at a distance away from Cerron.

The eyes of the other fourth summit members watching shot up in shock. They had been late to catch the start of his movement, but they had most definitely seen the last parts of it!

An aged and authoritative voice boomed:

"Any battles occurring in the fire sanctum must be done with fire and fire alone. The sanctum rules are absolute; there will be no exceptions."

Atticus's cold gaze darkened as he heard Dekai speak. The man wasn't physically present, but everyone could hear him clearly.

He didn't say anything and simply sheathed his katana.

"Good choice. You are allowed to battle only with your fire element. Considering the current situation, I will have you postpone it until after three days. This is non-negotiable."