Chapter 67: Changes

It's now night, the full moon hanging in the pitch black sky speckled with spectacular stars.

Few jeeps sped in a remote district, a very old fashioned Chinese courtyard painted in bright red with four gigantic living quarters entering the horizon right beneath to moon.

Atlas is in the one ahead, sleeping soundly while Nova is in another vehicle, cleaning his Sniper as usual, a little stiffer though. Petal is also napping from the exhaustion of fighting, resting her head against Nova's shoulders unintentionally.

Hugh, Blackbear and Louis were the drivers of the other vehicles, the rest of the crew resting, except for Percy, who is happily playing a game called Fortnite, and Blade, who's staring blankly at the moon, hugging his Blade tightly.

Serpent is driving the Jeep Atlas is in.

Observing Atlas's face through the mirror in the front seat, the faint moonlight trickled down, gently emphasizing Atlas's youth.

With one hand on the wheel and the other slightly trembling, Serpent revealed a potion bottle from his pocket after prolonged hesitation.

The hesitation was real and painful. Every gesture of raising and lowering his arm took nearly every ounce of brain capacity to plan and activate.

Atlas hasn't fully recovered, a clean bandage swathed over his waist. The restoration speed and ability of an Axonn enables serious wounds to be healed at a superhuman pace, especially when he has stacks of Tier 1 Healing Pills ready to be consumed after he wakes up from his deep slumber.

Stammering, Serpent almost dropped the serum a few times due to occasional bumps on the rocky road, and the lightness and uncertainty he carried while holding it.

Flashbacks of him doing missions with Atlas constantly replayed in his mind. From just an Tier 6 Aura Master, to a Tier 3 Axonn who's capable of competing against Tier 6 Elite Axonn.

Serpent always knew that Atlas is a genius at cultivating, at becoming an incredible Warrior. They were all individual mercenaries, banded together through destiny. The tiny squad that spend many years of fighting together, living off anything useful and honing their combat skills and battle instincts twenty four seven, has gradually expanded into one whole successful and enormous Class 1 mercenary camp, claiming their exclusive massive territory and advanced armory.

They've encountered Warriors, mostly Aura Users, as they walked down their path, and they are able to fend or defeat them in their goal to achieve greatness.

Atlas shined the most, destroying enemies that are bigger and higher ranked than him. But because of Atlas's personal preferences, as well as time and effort spent on articulating and honing his melee and long ranged weapon handling skills in this modern technological world, his attention on cultivation died down, not extensively practicing anymore.

Atlas could already challenge normal Tier 1 Axonns, when he was still a Tier 8 Elite Aura Master.

And it was somewhere around that time, when he received a threat from an organization, called "Crown Rose".

Forced to join them in order to rescue his family, he met a pale skinned creature like human, who led him to a beautiful woman whose looks are out of this planet, and whose capabilities are out of his imagination.

The woman welcomed him for being a new member, informing his mission— to eliminate his good, young friend, Atlas, once he grows to at least an Axonn.

She treated him well, other than the fact of never mentioning his family. Instead, it was that creature like human abductor who rarely sent him recordings of his family's voice, to assure their safety, and to 'motivate' him to complete his task when the time comes.

He never received any other messages or change in plans from his leader.

Despite the long period of time Atlas took, the time has eventually come.

He has to kill Atlas, the young boy he watched grow a lot, to see his loving family members, whom he has been missing with the equal amount of time.

Family? Or friend?

He has to make a chose.

What he didn't know is that while he's making a difficult choice, an old spirit in a pendant, hanging by Atlas's neck with a brand new lace, is making his too.

{This Serpent guy is doing some weird gestures. And what's that in his hand? I don't care how much Atlas trusts him. Should I wake him up?} Nam concluded from his observations.

He witnessed Serpent's mouth twitching silently, as if being possessed by two spirits at the same time, two personalities fighting for justice and evil.

After a long drive, the Chinese courtyard is already well within sight.

The faint moonlight still continued veiling the vehicles, adding a pale mist to the tranquil atmosphere.

As the vehicles neared the courtyard, Nova woke up as the flute music he found back in Atlas's mansion ended its loop in his high quality earphones, the same manufacturers but different styles of the earphones that Atlas got all weird and sexual about back in the Coiling Dragon Arena.

Rubbing his droopy eyes to dispel his myopic eyesight, Nova glanced out the window to gander at the moon.

His two ink black pupils that usually complements the half left of his colored hair shifted laterally. More specifically, the left one.

The left pupil's ink black shade faded in the motion of a soothing wind. And as if breezed passed by a gust smeared with gold, his pupil gently transformed in a fade away motion, adapting into an identical tune to the half right of his naturally born hair color.

Golden. Pure bright golden. A rather auspicious tone.

Oblivious, Nova massaged the sore muscles around his shoulders and neck. Petal moaned weakly in her sleep, fixing her resting position and unawarely leaning against Nova again.

Pressing his cheeks against the window to count the glistening stars and to give Petal more space to sleep, his evolved, golden pupil caught an abrupt bright gleaming arc.

In his gorgeous pupil, reflected detailedly a glass serum container with liquid within, flying out the vehicle's window ahead in a determined curve.

"What's that?" Nova murmured, using his Third Eye to see the object.

By the time he activated his Third Eye, his vehicle had already driven too far ahead, over the proximity achievable by his current Spiritual Energy Level, which is of 4 meter radius.

[So close. Judging from that, I need to become a Tier 3 Axonn to see that thing.] Nova thought, paying no further interest.

"Oh well, might be thrash or an expired carbon-based drink." Nova murmured. "Told him not to buy too many at a time."

With so many changes going on without the acknowledgment of Atlas, it's impossible for him to not participate.

While the outside, the physical world of people is undergoing difficult times or evolutions, some ruckus is happening inside, in the mind of Atlas.

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Inside of Atlas's mind.

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The ginormous ball of vibrant energy nestled atop a magnificent lotus, emitting an atmosphere that could switch into welcoming mode or killing mode anytime it wants.

The lotus is as snow white as it was before, but larger in size. The ball has also grown into an even more impressive size, circulating a larger volume of violet Spiritual Energy.

All seemed fine, equally tranquil and majestic as how it was left before. But under every vast sea, it can contain the most spectacular or vicious beings.

A lone cage rattled in the dark depths of the sea, millions of runes and symbols inscribed in the rough surface of it. They flickered blindingly and weakly in an irregular sequence, matching the strength of impact of the thing in the cage as it clattered the cage with unbelievable force.

Although the cage seems capable of preventing the monster within from escaping, it apparently couldn't stop the leakage of an unknown semi-gaseous substance.

It was emitting a nefarious stench, almost similar to the abhorrent pungency of Sinister Dragon Claws.