Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 1748

Chapter 1748: Stupid

After his mother, father, and the Arbiter left, Atticus spent most of the day combing through his memories.

In his first life, he had lived a good fifteen years. He had achieved much. Lived a fulfilling life. Yet it was his relationship with his parents that occupied most of his thoughts.

They had loved him dearly. And he had loved them. Memory after memory surfaced, each one carrying a warmth that lingered long after it passed. The more he remembered, the deeper his affection grew. Eventually, a faint guilt began to settle in his chest.

How easy it would be to drop everything and stay. He had suffered, but they had suffered too. He could see it in his mother’s eyes. Even in the cold, seemingly emotionless Attimax. Now they finally had their son back, they were happen.

Yet he was already preparing to throw himself into another storm. Did he have that right? Was he being selfish? Ungrateful?

Atticus rubbed a hand across his face. His thoughts were a mess. Yet whenever he tried to convince himself otherwise, the faces of his family surfaced in his mind like a beacon.

Anastasia, Magnus, Avalon... the others. The promise he had made. The goal he had chosen.

Atticus rose from the bed and began pacing the room.

The more he thought about it, the more it felt as though he was being forced to choose between one family and another. It was difficult. Far more difficult than any battle he had fought.

A knock sounded from the door.

Atticus frowned and pulled it open.

"Honey..."

His mother stood there waiting for him. There was a determination in her eyes that immediately caught his attention.

"Mom?"

"Follow me."

Without waiting for a response, she reached for his hand. The world folded around them, then they vanished.

A moment later, the sound of rushing water filled his ears. Water crashed against stone somewhere below. Cool mist brushed against his skin, carrying with it a familiar chill.

Atticus found himself standing atop a waterfall.

The drop below was vast, swallowed by drifting mist. The sight alone stirred a flood of memories.

"You remember this place?" Ilyshkara asked, a gentle smile on her lips.

"Yes."

The evenings spent sitting beside his mother, talking about nothing in particular while watching the sunset paint the horizon.

How could he forget?

"Come, sit."

Ilyshkara patted the stone beside her. Atticus took a seat. His mother looked at him. Then she kept looking. A few moments passed. Soon, Atticus found himself shifting slightly beneath her gaze.

Why was she staring at him like that?

And why did her eyes seem so vast? Like an endless sea stretching beyond sight. The longer he looked, the smaller he felt. Like a single drop suspended within an ocean.

"Wha—"

"I want you to surrender your fragments."

Atticus’ gaze darkened.

"What are you—"

"It’s exactly what I said." Ilyshkara reached over and took his arm. He resisted the urge to pull away. "I want you to give up Solvath’s fragments."

Solvath’s power was the reason he had overwhelmed the Crown. The reason he had stood against the desert creature. It was his path toward absolute strength. To surrender it would be to abandon everything he was working toward.

"...Why?"

Atticus fixed his mother with a cold stare. Sadness flickered through Ilyshkara’s eyes, then it hardened into resolve.

"Because I don’t trust it."

Her expression grew serious.

"The Primordial Stars. Solvath. All of them. They’re too far above us, Atticus. We don’t understand how they think. We aren’t meant to understand how they think." Her gaze hardened.

"We’re talking about bringing back the strongest primordial to ever exist. A being so dangerous that five others joined hands just to bring him down. I don’t know what we’re bringing back." Her voice softened slightly. "And I don’t want my son caught in the middle of it."

So he had been right. His mother truly didn’t support it.

"...But Dad wants it, doesn’t he?"

Ilyshkara sighed, rubbing her forehead

"Your father means well. Unfortunately, he also sees danger the way normal people see a slightly interesting road." She scoffed. "If something looks suicidal, his first instinct is to walk toward it and see what happens. I’ve spent eons trying to fix that. I’ve made absolutely no progress."

"Regardless, this isn’t any different. I genuinely think this entire thing is a terrible idea."

"What about your primordial star?" Atticus asked. "You don’t trust him?"

"Trust?" Ilyshkara let out a short laugh. "Atticus, I don’t even understand him."

She fell silent, then suddenly snapped her fingers.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify