Chapter 620 - Glyphs
*Beep*Beep*Beep*
Alarms started going off in Hao Xuan's ears, confusing and disorienting him even more than he already was.
"Immediate trajectory re-alignment recommended!"
"Immediate trajectory re-alignment recommended!"
"Immediate trajectory re-alignment recommended!"
His entire vision was covered by bright red letters and his ears with the harsh beeping.
"AHHHH-SHUT THE HELL UP-AHHH!"
He managed to roar at Baracus angrily in the middle of screaming before continuing with it right after. Hao Xuan's heart was in his throat as he hurled down at breakneck speed, flailing about much like a chicken dancing in hot oil.
He tried to regain control and position himself correctly but with so much going on and the ground getting bigger by the second, panic overtook him and all he managed to do was rip a large chunk off of the wingsuit's left-wing.
"NOO!" Hao Xuan cried seeing the piece of fabric floating away.
A gust of wind came in from the front, pushing him to the side and towards the plumes of toxic clouds nearby.
Hao Xuan's eyes widened upon seeing the incoming danger.
"BARACUS! HELP!" he shouted in fear.
*Beep*
Baracus who was ready and waiting jumped at the opportunity, for better or for worse.
"Arch your back. Move left hand to the front at an angle of 70 degrees and the right at..."
He gave Hao Xuan exact instructions and within a couple of seconds managed to stabilize him.
"Move left hand forward and down by 20 degrees..." and then even more instructions to avoid the incoming clouds.
Before Hao Xuan realized he was already gliding through the air expertly, no thanks to himself.
His gaze shifted to the scenery below and he couldn't help but exclaim in wonderment.
From where Hao Xuan was standing before, it looked like he was looking at a painting from afar. Some key landmarks and the overall general landscape were all he could see but now that he was getting closer to it, he got a better grasp over its true beauty and more importantly the size and scope.
It looked like the ground was physically expanding the closer Hao Xuan got to it.
"Hmm?" Hao Xuan suddenly looked to his right. A dim light flashed past him.
"What was tha-" he looked up mumbling and another light quickly flashed behind him.
"Warning! Spatial irregularity detected!" Baracus warned.
Hao Xuan looked around warily, "What?! What is it? Where?"
"Calculating...."
Another invisible pulse emanated from the nanites gathered within Hao Xuan's chest.
A small three-dimensional map appeared in front of his eyes showing his position relative to the ground. The map started with an area of 10 meters around him before quickly expanding outwards.
A green dot represented him and blue dots that represented the 'irregularities'. At first there were about three blue dots near Hao Xuan but the more the map expanded, the bigger their numbers got.
Within a hundred meters of him were close to thirty blue dots in every direction. Hao Xuan examined his surroundings but couldn't see anything.
"Are you sure? I don't see anything..."
"Calibrating..."
"Adjusting retinal wavelength..."
Rows upon rows of nanites gathered around Hao Xuan's eyes, filling them to the brim. They covered his retinas creating a thin film in front of them that acted as a lens.
Hao Xuan's vision suddenly started to change as if someone was flicking through different filters on a smartphone before it suddenly stopped at a light blue one.
Hao Xuan could only see shades of blue and when he re-examined the surrounding space with this new modification, strange symbols started to show themselves. They were words, various characters, and shapes in strange languages and accents that weren't altogether unfamiliar to him.
"Glyphs!"
Hao Xuan shouted in amazement. He had seen varients of these glyphs many times before but those were always etched onto hard surfaces, just basic 2-dimensional characters. This was the first time he had seen actual glyphs.
As Poriverse's so-called successor, Hao Xuan had a basic knowledge of a great number of things which of course included 'Glyphs' that were in use since time immemorial.
Glyphs were ancient methods of transporting, inscribing, and recording various types of knowledge that could not be done so otherwise. Only a select few extremely powerful beings could bring their writings to life, creating glyphs like this, especially those that were able to exist by themselves.
The glyphs moved around the space of their own accord, changing directions mid-air and flying all over the place like birds.
"They are alive!" Hao Xuan murmured in total awe.
A glyph that resembled two crescent moons pierced by a spear heard him talking and moved closer. It hovered around him, keeping up with his speed all the while inquisitively inspecting every part of his body.
Hao Xuan could "feel" it looking at him somehow.