Chapter 408 - Lycans
Hao Xuan walked through the seemingly endless hallway with a deep frown on his face and tightly clenched fists. He felt it this time as well, only much stronger than what he had felt before.
His body was on fire whenever Ceni was nearby. He felt hot, irritated and annoyed the nearer she got. It was like his body was telling him to just reach out and strangle her, snap her neck and tear it to pieces. It was an urge that kept getting stronger the more he stayed near her.
It was a type of rage he had never felt before. There was no rhyme nor reason for this feeling which stumped Hao Xuan.
"Baracus."
*Beep*
"Yes?"
"Run a full-body scan on me. Anything out of the ordinary, anything at all."
"....alright."
A dim green light appeared on the spirit band that blinked several times before he heard Baracus's voice again.
"Scan complete. Nothing out of ordinary, only..."
Hao Xuan stopped mid-stride.
"What?! Spit it out!"
"A bloodline is showing signs of awakening. The blood purity level has increased from .072% to 3.46% and increasing since the last scan."
Hao Xuan was stunned to say the least. This was the first time he had heard about him having a bloodline and now it had not only shown itself but was also increasing?
"Can you identify it? Where did a bloodline suddenly appear from?"
"I don't know where or how it appeared, but I can identify it. A similar DNA sequence is stored in my Database. Yours is a 67.03% match."
"What...is it?" Hao Xuan asked hesitantly, knowing full well that this was going to be a whole new headache for him.
"Lycanthrope."
"Lyca what now?"
"Lycanthrope. An extremely old bloodline that usually not much is known about. Progenitor came upon one of them about eight thousand years ago so he had the chance to collect some data."
Hao Xuan froze for a second before shouting at his wrist with wide eyes.
"Wait, that's a werewolf, isn't it? Are you shitting me? You telling me I'm going to turn into a god damn wolf whenever there's a full moon?!"
"No, werewolf's and Lycan's are completely different beings. Werewolves are the shapeshifters you're referring to. They don't actually exist in nature but are a curse that turns humans into half human and half wolf-like creatures. Yes, they are affected by the moon but not to such a large extent, just a few behavioral issues come and go with the tide."
"If the data I have is correct, werewolves were created by a cult of dark wizards that worshipped one of the demented gods about half a million years ago in one of the other worlds. Werewolves were these wizard's bodyguards, making up for their lack of physical abilities. Although from what I can tell, the insipiration for them did come from Lycanthropes but there aren't a lot of similarities.."
"Now, Lycanthropes, on the other hand, are an actual bonafide bloodline that can be traced back to the early days of dark ages."
At this point, a vague image was projected from the spirit band in the dark, empty hallway. It showed several strange figures sitting on massive thrones, overlooking numerous galaxies.
"Back when the reign of the Old Gods was at its strongest, it was then that a clan of powerful warriors arose from a planet no one had ever heard of. Back then every sentient being had to serve one god or another and borrow their power to survive, but these warriors refused to do so."
"Most of the things related to Lycan's have been buried so I can't be sure how accurate all this is," Baracus warned before continuing.
The image changed.
This time it showed several human-like figures standing in a line, like well-trained soldiers. They stood in front of an army of monsters lead by one of the gods. Their heads held up high and chests puffed, they alone faced tides of thousands of monsters.
"They refused to serve them. I believe they tried to gather other races and warriors to side with them but were mocked and laughed at. But it made no difference to them it seems. That was the first time the name of Lycanthropes reached the edges of the explored universe."
The image changed again. The Lycans clashed with the God's army and fought until there was nothing left. Only one lycan survived. He faced the god alone.
"They were labeled as Heathens , as sinners by the old gods. That lone warrior escaped and vowed revenge. Since then no other Lycan clan has appeared, or rather they weren't allowed to exist. They were actively hunted and killed by the agents of the old gods, but..."
"But what?"
"But it doesn't make any sense. Why would the old gods go after them with such fervour?"
Hao Xuan pondered on the point as well. It really didn't make sense. Gods are powerful beings, there should be no reason for them to get infatuated with a few 'sinners' like this.
He put the thought at the back of his mind as now wasn't the time for this.
"Forget about history. What's so special about the Lycan bloodline?"