The Dawn of the New World

"Well, that's a difficult question to answer."

Hao Xuan let out a deep breath and continued walking down the hallway.

"Why, is it difficult? No more bullshit, give me as straight an answer as you can."

"Alright. To put it simply, the Lycan bloodline is extremely reactive to outside agents. This makes almost every Lycan have different abilities. No two Lycans are the same other than in one aspect."

"And that is?"

"Physical attunement. When the bloodline is activated, there will be physical changes to some degree. From what I can deduce, some are as minor as growing some extra body hair while others include partial or complete beast transformation. The Lycan master met, he was able to completely transform his right hand into that of a beast. It also gave him increased physical strength, agility etc."

"So it's controlled at will? That's not bad," Hao Xuan nodded.

"Also you should probably know this but Lycans are extremely...concupiscent. That's another thing in common in between them. I think its the reason their bloodline still survives to this day."

Hao Xuan's eyes turned into small slits as he awkwardly asked, "Hmm. What...what does concupiscent mean exactly?"

"Lustful, easily excitable, aroused etc. I'm guessing these are some of the beastly instincts or traits in this case that carry over from the transformation. Something to note, this is another way they are similar to werewolves. Both Lycans and Werewolves release extremely potent pheromones to attract potential mates. Like a signal that they are ready and 'available'. To the weakwilled, it can have almost the same effect as mind control, making them lose self-control and diminish decision-making abilities."

Hao Xuan couldn't help but giggle at the idea.

"Come on, that can't be real...right?"

"No, it definitely is. Just try not to get emotional and you will be fine. This is how animals mate in nature. Exuding pheromones is probably the most natural thing about this endeavor."

*Sigh*

"Great, another thing I have to watch out for, are you serious? This shit just keeps getting worse and worse. Haven't even taken care of one problem and another pops up. I swear it's like the universe hates me or something," Hao Xuan grumbled.

*Beep*

Baracus's slightly amused voice rang in his ears.

"Your blood pressure, it's rising again. Please relax."

"Shut up. You relax. Don't tell me to relax," Hao Xuan retorted angrily as he looked back and forth, getting even more annoyed.

"What the hell is going on?! How long is this god damn hallway? It didn't take this long coming over!" he muttered out loud, obviously talking to himself.

It looked identical to the one he had used to get to the garden with red carpet on the floor and various plants placed every few steps.

"Baracus, how long have I been in this hallway?"

*Beep*

"Approximately eight minutes."

"Tch."

Hao Xuan looked around but couldn't see anything strange. The hallway seemed to go on endlessly and neither the exit nor the entrance was in sight anymore.

"Is this an illusion?" he murmured while closing his eyes, appearing in the Mind Palace. He quickly walked up to Gavril who looked like he was sleeping.

"Hey, do your thing, activate your ability and come outside. See if I'm in an illusion or something."

Gavril opened his eyes. They were completely white without any pupils whatsoever. Without saying a word he appeared in the outside world next to Hao Xuan's body.

Hao Xuan also opened his eyes, returning to the outer world. He looked over his shoulder but couldn't see anything there, yet he could feel his soul connection with Gavrils. He was right next to him.

This was one of Gavril's new abilities. As long as he had an anchor, he could appear anywhere and at any time and no one would be able to see him.

In this case, Hao Xuan was his anchor.

"So? Can you sense anything?" Hao Xuan asked through spiritual sense. A couple of minutes passed but there was no response. Hao Xuan was starting to get worried when he heard back from him.

"It's not really an illusion. The reality itself is changing around you. You're still in the normal world, it's just that the world is being changed. I have never seen anything like this. It's some kind of extremely powerful magic."

"Magic?!" Hao Xuan instantly became alert.

'I don't remember meeting any magicians or wizards, who is behind this?'

But Gavril spoke up not soon after, answering his question.

"You don't seem to be the target of this... "attack" if you can call it that. There is no killing intent at all and with something this powerful, you wouldn't even know how you died if he or she meant to do you any real harm."

Hao Xuan was even more confused now.

"Then what? Am I just an accidental casualty or something in an attack aimed at another person?"

"No, that's what I mean. There is no killing intent at all. This isn't meant to harm anyone. It's really weird, I can't put my finger on it, let me poke around a bit."

"P-Poke around? Bitch no! Turn off your invisibility and take me with you, you're not leaving me here!" Hao Xuan accidentally yelled out loud.