Rudimentary

"This should be useful to you."

Atticus stared silently at the core Elderish had handed him, his gaze narrowing. His mind raced. The core radiated an overwhelming amount of power, so intense that Atticus found it difficult to comprehend.

"Wha—"

"It's one of the 19 cores," Elderish cut him off before he could ask.

Atticus froze, his eyes widening in shock. He was beyond stunned. Just moments ago, he'd been plotting how to acquire each of the 19 cores. If his assumption was correct and the apexes held the cores, then his mission was bound to be grueling, filled with relentless challenges.

And now, here he was, being handed one of the cores, just like that? Atticus wasn't buying it.

"What do you want?"

'Good. You're learning,' Ozeroth praised, his earlier rambling about the future suddenly stopping.

'Good to see you back in reality,' Atticus remarked.

But Ozeroth clicked his tongue.