664 Precursor's Aura (1)
After another round of pain surging and guts puking, Ashton finally left the meeting room, where he had stayed unconscious for over two days.
As if that wasn't enough, he struggled to get out of the room, but not because of any reason an average person could guess. He was way too fast, and just taking a step felt like teleporting all over the place.
It was as if he had been granted the power of instantaneous movement, and the simplest actions had become absurdly complicated.
Soon, he realised that walking had become an impossibility. He needed assistance navigating this newfound power and knew exactly where to turn. Ashton attempted to summon one of his loyal undead minions to serve as a carrier.
"Atlas would be perfect for the job."
But to his shock, nothing happened. There was no response. Only to realise they were undergoing evolutions of their own, and for the love of god, Ashton couldn't even summon a single skeleton to help him by being his walking stick or carrying him.
"Great, just great," Ashton muttered, struggling to suppress a chuckle despite his frustration. "I'm stuck in a room with super-speed, and I can't even walk. Can this day get any weirder?"
His next brilliant idea was to transform into his werewolf form and crawl his way out of the room. Surely, he thought, he could manage that without causing too much of a mess.
But it turned out his newfound strength was a tad bit excessive, and his claws tore through the floor as if it were made of paper.
With a resigned sigh, Ashton decided there was only one option left—flight. He propelled himself upward with all the force he could muster, bursting through the ceiling and shooting into the sky at a velocity that defied reason.
Breaking the sound barrier? That was child's play. Ashton had just given birth to the "what the fuck" barrier and broke through that.
While he was slowly getting used to his new body, the citizens of New Lycania were bewildered, thinking they were under attack.
Panic spread like wildfire as people rushed to their designated positions, arming themselves and aiming their cannons at the perceived threat.
Even Flintmace and Vulcan sensed the disturbance and joined the chaos. They appeared at the scene, ready for a battle if need be, but they then realised something was off.
The building Ashton had trapped himself in was in shambles. Both masters looked at each other and realised what was happening. They had known Ashton long enough to understand that when something bizarre occurred, Ashton was often the cause behind it.
"Wait, is that-" Anna mumbled as she rushed to the scene along with Ava and the twins.
"Yup, that's him. Looks like his evolution gave him too much of everything," Flintmace replied as he smiled. "I won't be surprised if he surpassed his masters here."
"Hmph, talk about yourself, Xyran," Vulcan retorted. "There's no human who would be surpassing me!"
"We'll see about that," Flintmace retorted. "Won't we?"
While the masters were engaged in their debate, Ava was happy and wanted to smack the heck out of her son at the same time. He had been unresponsive for two entire days, and when he woke up, the first thing he did was cause commotion.
As much as she wanted to teach Ashton a lesson, she would have to wait because it didn't feel like Ashton was going to land there any time soon.
The people of New Lycania gazed up at the sky, their expressions shifting from fear to confusion as they witnessed their city's 'protector' rocketing upward at unthinkable speeds.
After all, it wasn't every day that one saw someone shatter the laws of physics while trying to exit a building. However, only some were aware of Ashton's shenanigans.
Vimur and Ricochet, who were practising in Tarik's new quick-response jets, heard the sonic boom and immediately rushed to the scene.
They were worried that the Cult or maybe even the Xyrans had attacked them. But they didn't know whether to laugh or cry when they saw Ashton floating in the sky.
"Hey, Ashton, you okay up there?" Ricochet called out through the radio as they approached their airborne captain.
Ashton, still getting accustomed to the mind-boggling agility of his new form, executed a rather wobbly mid-air somersault before positioning himself in front of them.
"I think so," he replied, his voice filled with awe and amusement of the situation. "I just... need to figure out how to land without obliterating the ground. I wouldn't be much of a protector if I ended up destroying my city..."
Vimur couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. "Well, I don't know what's happening, but you've certainly outdone yourself this time."
"Stop laughing and get back," Ashton retorted. "I don't want to injure either of you accidentally."
"Right..." Ricochet mumbled. "We'll be around here, though, in case you need help."
Soon, with some trial and error, Ashton gradually managed to control his newfound abilities. He descended back to the city with a degree of finesse that indicated he was getting the hang of his hyper-speed.
Everyone observed the entire spectacle with a combination of relief and amusement. As Ashton touched down on solid ground, he couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief.
"Well, that was... interesting," he remarked, flashing a sheepish grin at his friends and the concerned citizens who had gathered around. "I would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused-"
"How did you do it..." Flintmace's soft voice echoed through the crowd, and Ashton was immediately focused on him.
But Vulcan's reaction was much more vivid as he went down on his knees as if he were offering his respects to Ashton. Flintmace shortly followed the cue, and so did the confused people around them.
"Um... what's going on here? Please, don't do this!" Ashton asked his masters, urging them to get back on their feet.
"I-I'm sorry..." Vulcan mumbled as he got back to his feet. "It would be disrespectful of someone like me not to pay respect to the Precursor's aura."
"Precursor's aura? What are you talking about?"