Gazing at the flickering shield, 'Looks like it can barely withstand intermediate-attacks,' Atticus noted.

He had never really tested out how sturdy his grade one shields were. This was mostly because he had never needed to use it in battle.

But despite the fact that Atticus had never really used his runes that much since he started learning, ever since he had seen the battle of Lucas and Aria, ever since he had learned how to engrave runes from Grimestone, Atticus had seen the immense potential rune engraving had.

What Atticus was most excited for was becoming a grade 3 rune engraver. That was where the real aspect of rune engraving would start to unfold.

Then, Atticus wouldn't even need slates anymore; he would be able to engrave on any surface, even the air. It was a possibility that excited Atticus to his core.

Atticus focused on the newly engraved grade 2 rune in his hand, instantly channeling mana into it, and tossing it away from him.

Like the first, it let out a blinding red glow before crumbling and turning into a shield. As Atticus gazed at this new shield, he could notice the difference between this one and the one he had formed earlier.

Unlike the first, the ethereal red lights of this shield were a deeper red in color, and it was clear with one look that this shield had more weight than the first.

It would be able to withstand way more powerful attacks than the grade one rune.

Atticus once again focused on the fire element, but this time reducing its power to intermediate+ rank output.

The intensity of the fire was more than the first, then he shot it, the attack blazing through the air, striking the shield with a powerful force.

Atticus cleared the dust that gathered with a thought by controlling the air, turning his attention toward the dark red transparent shield that maintained its luminosity despite the powerful attack, not a single ripple.

Atticus smirked.

Increasing the intensity of the fire to advance-rank, Atticus fired another shot toward the shield.

It landed swiftly with a more intense,

BOOM!!

The area becoming covered with dust.

Clearing the dust, Atticus could only see small ripples around the shield, but regardless, it held strong.

Atticus increased the intensity to Advanced+ rank.

The air seemed to crackle with power as the flames gathered around Atticus's palm, creating an ominous glow

It was clear that this attack dwarfed all the attacks he had released so far.

With a focused thought, the flames shot forth from his palm. The force of the attack was so potent that it immediately shattered the air, creating multiple concentric circles as it cut through the atmosphere.

The ground within a 5-meter radius from Atticus remained intact, but anything beyond that bore the destructive impact.

Upon impact, a deafening BOOM echoed through the surroundings, and a shockwave radiated outward, carrying a cloud of dust and debris.

However, amidst the devastation, Atticus and the immediate 5-meter radius around him remained completely unaffected, as if the dust and debris dared not come close to him.

With another mental command, the dust gradually cleared, revealing the shield.

Similar to the grade one rune, the once bright dark light emanating from the shield had dimmed, and visible cracks adorned its surface.

But despite all of this, it was still holding on.

"Looks like Advanced+ rank is the limit," Atticus noted.

Although the shield was still holding on, Atticus was sure that it could not withstand another attack of that magnitude again. He even doubted it could withstand something lower.

Despite this, Atticus was very elated at this discovery. It was significant progress!

Atticus's thoughts churned as he tried to think of different ways he could effectively utilize it to his benefit.

If he tried hard, he could make one grade-2 shield for each of the units.

That way, they could all have a trump card in case of anything that might happen.

Although it currently took his all to make just one grade-2 rune, requiring basically all his will to engrave, Atticus would still give it a shot and make one for each unit.

After pondering on the effects for a few seconds, Atticus turned back and started heading towards the campgrounds.

As Atticus sprinted through the terrain, he suddenly sensed a presence.

He stopped his movement and looking ahead, he observed someone hurtling towards him through the sky.

Squinting, he identified Aurora using fire to propel herself rapidly in his direction.

Atticus accelerated his pace, closing the gap and meeting her in a matter of seconds.

"Were you the one? That explosion," inquired Aurora as she gracefully landed in front of Atticus.

"Yeah, I was just trying out something," Atticus responded with a wry chuckle. He hadn't expected that they would have felt the vibrations of the explosion all the way from the camp.

"Something" Aurora muttered, shaking her head at the absurdity of his words. Something!? She had felt the vibrations miles away!

Aurora turned her gaze to get a good look at Atticus, scrutinizing he. Concern etched her features as she questioned, "Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

"Hm?" Atticus raised his eyebrows in confusion, but then he suddenly realized something.

During the past 3 weeks, he had constantly been engraving runes, only pausing for a few hours of sleep and some necessary hygiene.

He really hadn't been taking care of his appearance. 'Damn, I must look really terrible right now,' Atticus thought.

He quickly materialized a sheet of water in front of his face, and he was immediately met with his terrible appearance.

Disheveled hair, eyes from lack of rest, and an overall unkempt appearance.

"Damn," he muttered, releasing control over the water, allowing it to fall to the ground. Turning to Aurora, he declared, "I need a long bath."

Aurora concurred, "Yeah, you really do," subtly chuckling at his state.

Atticus turned and saw some of the Ravenstein youths approaching them, but he didn't even wait for them to reach.

Atticus figure swiftly zoomed through the air, zipping past the figures of Nate and the others.

His destination: a much-needed bath.