Atticus and Dell walked onto the stage, each holding a wooden sword in their hands. The training ground was packed with onlookers, all eyes fixed on them. Some guards and maids had chosen to watch the spar.

This was the first time they would see their young master fight. Avalon and Anastasia hadn't had the opportunity to witness Atticus's prowess. Following Ariel's passing, Avalon became consumed by his responsibilities, and Anastasia had to assume control over estate affairs.

Eleanor's stern expression directed at Dell made beads of sweat form on his forehead. He shifted his gaze towards Atticus, 'I awakened a year before him, this should be a piece of cake. I'll teach him a lesson for disregarding me like that!' he thought, gripping his sword tightly and assuming a stance.

'Would you look at that,' Atticus thought as he observed Dell. 'He must think this will be an easy win.'

Atticus also assumed a stance, 'Let's see what his level is first,' he decided.

"Remember, you can use mana to empower only your bodies and not your weapons," the judge reminded Atticus and Dell, both of whom nodded in understanding. With their readiness evident, the judge declared, "Begin!"

Dell empowered his legs with mana and dashed at Atticus, while Atticus stood there seemingly unfazed. 'He's too weak to even react,' Dell thought, smiling as he observed Atticus remaining still.

With confidence, Dell swung his sword in a slashing motion, fully expecting victory. However, to his surprise, Atticus swiftly raised his own sword and effectively blocked his strike.

Dell's eyes widened in surprise as Atticus deflected his strike with remarkable speed. 'It must be a fluke!' he thought, he quickly regained his composure and launched another attack.

He feigned a powerful overhead strike, hoping to catch Atticus off guard. However, Atticus saw through the feint and skillfully parried the attack.

Undeterred, Dell unleashed yet another strike at Atticus, but he sidestepped gracefully and countered with a swift kick to Dell's chest, sending him stumbling back.

"What?" Dell's surprise was palpable. He had trained every day after his awakening and was known as a genius in the Alverian family. He didn't think a boy one year younger than him, who had just awakened, could push him back.

'Shit!' he thought while shooting a quick glance to Eleanor, who had a frown on his face. He felt the weight of his father's stare and knew he had to get serious. 'No, I can't lose to him,' Dell resolved.

Dell knew he couldn't underestimate Atticus any longer. He decided to use the move he learned after months of training.

He tapped into his well of mana once more, this time channeling it not just into his legs, but into his entire body. His body began to emit a faint, ethereal glow as the mana infused his strikes with extra power.

Atticus sensed the shift in Dell's energy. 'He's starting to take this seriously, huh?' He focused on his own stance and positioning, ready to adapt to whatever Dell had planned next.

As Dell lunged forward again, his strikes were swifter and carried more force, but Atticus simply employed more mana in his hands and parried the strikes with precision.

Dell continued attacking, determine to win but Atticus remained unfazed and blocked each strike easily. Sweat dripped down Dell's forehead. He had been attacking relentlessly, yet he was unable to break through Atticus' defense.

'He's really weak. Or am I that strong?' Atticus thought. He knew he would be stronger compared to his peers, but he didn't think it would be this pronounced. He had expected more from the other Tier 1 families.

Each advance in rank brings about a significant change in the power an individual possesses. A novice-, someone who has just awakened, initially had passive speed and strength roughly equivalent to an athlete on Earth.

However, utilizing mana, they become much stronger. The power of an individual at an intermediate or higher rank can't even be compared to humans back on Earth.

Each of Atticus's stats reflects how powerful he was, with normal novice-ranked individuals having between 10 to 25 points, only in normal stats of course, intelligence, perception and charm being not included.

Atticus had of course believed that an intermediate would be more powerful than a novice, but he didn't think it would be so glaring.

'Good thing I decided not to use my bloodline,' he thought. He knew the stakes involved in this spar were high, and he was ready to use his bloodline if need be.

But he wanted to keep a low profile for now; hearing about a 7-year-old intermediate would attract too much attention to him in the human domain.

The training ground fell silent. The guards and maids watching were surprised that their young master was this strong at such a young age. He was fighting a person who had awakened one year before him!

None of them knew about Atticus awakening at 1; Anastasia made sure of that. Avalon was smiling sheepishly, proud of his son's prowess, while Anastasia was looking at Atticus worriedly. Although she saw that Atticus was winning, she was still alert and ready to step in if anything happened.

'Shit! Dad will kill me!' Dell knew the stakes. His father had been planning this spar for months, and he was about to lose.

'I guess it's time to end this,' Atticus thought. He noticed the change in Dell's attacks. 'He's panicking.' Swiftly, he deflected a strike aimed at his left side. Closing the distance with remarkable speed, Atticus left Dell unable to match his pace.

With a surge of mana, he delivered a forceful blow to Dell's stomach. The impact was so powerful that it sent Dell hurtling to the opposite edge of the stage, resulting in him spitting out saliva as he struggled to regain his composure.

"No, I can't lose!" Dell struggled to stand up, but then he felt something against his neck. He looked up and saw Atticus standing over him, a sword at his neck.

"Winner, young master Atticus!" The judge quickly declared.

"No, I can still fight!" Dell declared. He then looked at Eleanor, "Dad, I can st-"

But he was interrupted, "Don't besmirch our family name any more, Dell!" Eleanor's voice boomed, making Dell flinch.

Eleanor then turned to look at Avalon, "We lost. We'll honor the contract. If you'll excuse us, we have matters to attend to in our sector."

Avalon smirked, "Sure. Boman, see them out," he instructed.

"No need," Eleanor said, turning to leave without caring about his son on the floor. Luna frowned and gestured for one of their guards to help Dell up.

Then she followed Eleanor with Lila behind her, wearing a small smile. 'This wasn't too bad, hehe,' she thought. 'But I'll make sure to get back at you the next time we meet, humph!' she said to herself, shooting an intense stare at Atticus before leaving.

As soon as the spar was done, Anastasia quickly dashed onto the stage and started closely examining Atticus. "Are you okay, honey? Does it hurt anywhere?"

Atticus smiled. "I'm okay, Mom." Although he wouldn't admit it, he loved seeing Anastasia care for him like this. 'This isn't too bad.'

***

A/N: I need golden tickets!