Maeralith's eyes widened in horror. More than being forced to take a knee, the first sentence Alex muttered once he opened his eyes shocked her.
There was no way Alex could read her thoughts. They were Veilwalkers, and even they couldn't read Alexander's thoughts.
'How…?' The woman shuddered in dread, breaking a sweat for the first time in ages.
"Don't think too much about it." Alex added, briefly closing his eyes and retracting his presence. The glow in his eyes died down, assuming the natural brown iris he was born with.
That brief burst of power from him was unintentional, but it also revealed many things to the three visitors.
'We can't win.' Nulrex thought in dread, rising to his feet with the others. 'What the hell has he become?' Despite his fear, his curiosity was growing.
Alex ignored their raging thoughts, studying the changes to himself.
'I wouldn't exactly call it changes since my real body is the universe.' He mused with a slight smile. 'This is more like a shell. Also, existing within myself… A strange feeling.'
Everything was within his reach. In here, he was all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. He could sense the worry within his mother, see the curious and confused students and the shady dealings within the empire.
He saw the good, the bad and the ugly.
'Let's turn this off.' A thought from him shut down everything. 'Also, my students…' He looked in the direction of the empire and at the academy.
A new clone just like the previous one reappeared before the students, the bright smile on his face affecting the students. They were left in a stupor.
"Shall we continue…?" Alex said to the students, his gaze shifting to Aaron for a moment. A subtle nod from him told Aaron everything he needed to know, bringing a smile to his face.
"You feel different?" One of the students narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Alex. "I don't know how to explain it… It's like feeling at home?" The feeling was elusive to the students, but it was there.
"Yeah... And it somehow makes perfect sense." Another echoed with a tilted head.
"That's because I am the universe." He gave a straightforward reply.
"Huh?" Of course, the students couldn't understand what he meant. "The universe…?"
"Don't think too much about it. Let's get back to lessons." Alex calmly changed the topic. "As I was saying earlier…"
While the lesson went on, Alexander turned his focus to the Veilwalkers, the smile on his face instilling fear rather than calm.
A wave of his hand removed their cloaks, revealing their appearance. As one would expect, the Veilwalkers had unsightly expressions of fear on their faces.
The woman among the three was an absolute stunner. Alex had to admit, the woman was incredibly beautiful.
With golden hair cascading over her shoulders, a stunning and fit body revealing curves in all the right places, and long pointy ears, Maeraltih could easily be the end of worlds.
"You're an elf." Alex stated rather than asking. "Interesting…" Maeralith lowered her gaze, feeling nervous under Alex's calm eyes.
Turning to Aurion, Alex observed his features. Unlike the fairer-skinned elven beauty, Aurion didn't have any human qualities besides his humanoid form.
The huge mass of a man was made entirely of stone--greyish stone. While streamlined to enhance flexibility and movements, the bumps couldn't be hidden.
He was hairless, and in place of eyes were two brightly lit emeralds that glowed with some kind of soul light. There was no ear, but in place of that was a small opening that was almost invisible.
He was bare-chested with the only garment being his cloak and cummerbund tied to his pteruges. They were known for their incredible strength and powerful mental abilities.
"You're a Myrmidon." Alex could see everything there was to know about his race. It was literally engraved in Aurion's body.
"And you're a dwarf." He turned to the last member of the three. "My name is Alexander Gray."
Nulrex was two-thirds the height of an average human with stocky thick limbs that gave him a powerful and compact build.
With chestnut hair and a beard tied firmly, the dwarf looked menacing and grumpy at the same time. He was the most paranoid among the three.
"Aurion." The Myrmidon sighed. "This is Maeralith and Nulrex." He gestured to the elf and the dwarf, respectively.
"Come with me." Alex said, reappearing within the bounds of the empire with the walkers behind.
The shift executed didn't surprise them more than the fact that they couldn't sense any changes in spatial laws. They didn't even realize their POV had changed until they spread their senses around.
"What do you intend to do to us?" Nulrex questioned, his tone sounding respectful. His companions ignored his tone as they felt the same way.
They were scared and at the same time in awe of how different Alexander was. He was nothing like them. Sure, they hadn't gone all out, but there was no need to.
Still, they kept their guards up.
"No one else will be dying today." Alex replied calmly, his hand behind him. "Tell me… what do you see?" He asked.
The three walkers were relieved that their lives would be spared, and at the same time ashamed of themselves. His question, however, confused them.
"Your people living their lives?" Maeralith answered. She wasn't sure if this was what Alex meant. "Is there something in particular you wish for us to know?"
"Not exactly." Alex replied with an enigmatic air around him. "When the veil tears appeared in your universe, was the chaos to the extent you see here?"
The three exchanged glances before turning back to Alex to respond.
"Before this madness began, our universes already had the means to defend themselves." Aurion answered on the beheld of his colleagues. "The influx of magical energy only made things easier."
"It's only natural…" Alex turned around to face them. "After all, you guys are from middle-level universes."
The three remained silent as they could tell Alex wasn't done with what he was saying.
"What you see now isn't how things were a few years ago…" Saying that, his eyes took on their celestial hues. "It's best to see for yourselves…" A similar glow took over the eyes of the Veilwalkers, once again overriding their defences.