Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground - Chapter 1491 Pet
Chapter 1491 Pet
Atticus felt lost in the softness of Anorah’s lips.
It felt like placing your lips inside a warm, velvety sweetness, soft, divine, almost unreal.
After basically bullying him into inviting her over to Eldoralth after the games, Anorah had suddenly kissed him. Not that Atticus was complaining. If it were up to him, he’d gladly forget the impending clash entirely and remain trapped inside this kiss forever.
But Atticus knew better. He wasn’t allowed the luxury of such foolish thoughts, not now.
After a few long, emotional seconds, Anorah slowly pulled back. He stared into her golden eyes. The silver moon shimmered across them, swallowing half of her beautiful pupils. A shame.
“Why’d you stop?” he asked.
“Ouuh, seems like someone’s forgetting we have a war to fight.”
“I’m sure that can wait.”
Anorah shook her head and pulled back from him completely, straightening her clothes.
“We both know it can’t.” Her countenance suddenly turned serious. Atticus was beginning to notice the sudden mood shifts.
‘Is she bipolar?’
“So…” Anorah blinked at him, drawing him back. “What were you thinking about?”
‘Damn. She didn’t forget?’
“Of course I didn’t,” she said almost immediately. Atticus slightly squinted his eyes, and Anorah giggled softly.
“No, I can’t read your mind,” she said lightly. “You’re simply easy to read. You basically wear your emotions on your face.”
Atticus cleared his throat. It was the first time he’d ever heard that. Growing up, people had mostly told him to emotion. It was to the extent that Anastasia took him to get checked, worrying if her son actually felt any emotions.
“It was nothing much, really.”
“Spill.”
Atticus used the brief pause to gather his thoughts before he spoke.
“I almost lost him. Twice.”
“Grandpa Magnus?”
He nodded.
“Hmm. I know the second, but tell me about the first.”
It was when Atticus started to narrate his battle with Raziel Voss that he remembered he was supposed to brief Anorah on the subject. Another fragment bearer appearing was important information that should not be kept. The day had been long, and he’d been stretched far more than he’d liked.
“During my childhood, I owned a pet snake,” she said suddenly.
Atticus was taken aback by the shift but held his tongue and let her speak.
“My father was what you’d call a… difficult man. The type who thinks throwing a child into a pack of wolves is ‘proper training.’ I always had the feeling that old fart wanted a boy, but he unfortunately ended up with me.”
Despite her faint smile, Atticus felt the sadness buried beneath it. He held her hand, and she squeezed tightly.
“But the world fucking him over didn’t stop him from enforcing his ideals on me. His trainings were brutal. I could be dumped in the middle of an endless forest full of beasts and told to find my way back. During one of those trips, I found a snake. Tiny, old, missing an eye… dying. So I saved it.”
She exhaled softly.
“When I returned, my father gave me a long stare. I thought he’d take it away, but he didn’t. I was thrilled. After that, I went everywhere with her, even baths. I didn’t care. She was my friend.”
“Then came the wilderness training again. I begged him to let her come with me. He gave me a look but said yes. I was so excited I didn’t think twice about it. I just wanted her with me.”
She smiled slightly. “I tried. I really did. But I could barely survive on my own, talk less of protecting another. One of the beasts tore her apart right in front of me. When I got home, half dead, he took one look at me. He knew exactly what happened. He’d expected it.”
“That night, he sat me down and brushed my hair. And you know what he told me?”
She looked at Atticus.
“…what?”
“A blade cannot guard its own hilt.”
Atticus didn’t hide his confusion. Luckily, she wasn’t relying on him to figure it out.
“You’re the blade, Atticus,” she said, poking his chest lightly.
“Your whole path is cutting through gods, wars… everything in your way to the top. That’s what you set yourself to be. And even the perfect blade can’t protect the sheath that holds it. It’s not a flaw. It’s just how things are.”
“You couldn’t shield Magnus because that’s not what you are. Blades kill. Shields protect. You can’t be both at once.”
“So…”
“Yes.” Anorah poked him once more. “Decide what you want to do. A blade can’t strike and shield at the same time. If I’d chosen to protect her, I would’ve made her my priority over training. If your true goal is to protect him and your loved ones, then you stop being a blade. You become a shield.”
‘A shield…’
Anorah’s words had gotten to him deeply, and he understood what she meant.
‘I can’t reach for the peak and at the same time perfectly protect them.’
The two goals contradicted each other. Reaching for the peak meant endless training. Endless enemies. Enemies who would do anything in their power to bring him down.
How could he claim to want to protect his loved ones when he was the one bringing them harm in the first place? If he had been a shield from the outset, this situation wouldn’t have even occurred.
‘I’m a blade.’
As Atticus realized, he finally understood the meaning in Raziel’s actions. Family would drag you down if the goal was the peak.
‘I can’t be both.’
Atticus clenched his fist. His family was far too important to abandon. Did that mean he would have to abandon his goal of reaching the peak instead?
‘I’m doing this all for them anyway.’
A peak without his family was useless. His mind began to spin with numerous possibilities, but Anorah gripped him tightly.
“It’s definitely something to think about, but not now.”
Atticus released a breath.
“…you’re right.”
