"What do you guys think?" Atticus asked, glancing toward them.
"Sounds like him," Magnus was the one who responded. Aric also nodded, agreeing with him. The others either didn’t care or didn’t want to risk offending someone powerful.
"Ah! Grandpa Magnus. The betrayal stings."
Magnus’ eyes twitched, and Avalon, who hovered beside him, chuckled.
A smile couldn’t help but form on Atticus’ face. Seeing Whisker, who was clearly many times older than Magnus, call him grandpa was hilarious.
"So do you know anything about the school?" Atticus finally asked, interrupting the moment.
Whisker shook his head. "Nothing much. I’ve never attended. But from what I hear, you should expect to meet other new gods."
Atticus furrowed his eyebrows. It was odd.
"I should be the only ascending god for a millennia, right? I should be the only new god."
"You’d be absolutely correct, if only you weren’t absolutely wrong," Whisker said, shaking his head.
"New gods might ascend only every millennia, but in the middle planes, new gods are made far earlier. There are numerous ways to become a god, and the easiest is killing one. In the Verge Wide Game, that kind of case is commonplace."
"So there’ll be other new gods at the school."
"Yeah." Whisker nodded. "But killing a god isn’t easy, of course. You should expect brats of the major factions attending alongside you."
"That makes sense," Atticus muttered. Killing a god didn’t seem like something a normal person could do alone. It made sense that factions would target one just to elevate a chosen candidate.
"It screams politics," Atticus said after a moment.
"Yeah well, welcome to the middle planes."
Atticus sighed. He was already dreading this... school. He could remember his time at the academy on Eldoralth.
Back then, it had been filled with so much nonsense that he was glad it all ended in a year.
Whisker could read Atticus’ mind and only chuckled, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
"They’re all centuries old, right?" Atticus asked, and when Whisker nodded, he continued. "Then they should at least have some sense."
Whisker burst into laughter. He wiped the tear at the corner of his eye.
"The Verge is a being who jumps like a little kid at the sight of excitement, and you’re expecting common sense from ordinary gods? Forget it."
Atticus shook his head, sighing.
"I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’d think, son," Avalon chimed in. "No kid likes the thought of going to school. But once they’re there, it’s not as bad as they thought."
He seemed to be talking from experience, and Atticus could only nod. Unfortunately, he had already expected the worst. It was a school for gods. There could only be disaster brewing.
"What information did you bring?" he turned to Whisker and asked.
"It’s actually more of a lesson than anything," Whisker said. "Remember what I said I’d teach you? Well, that’s what I’m here for."
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