The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan had prepared himself for another wave of whispers but the moment he stepped through to the other side all of them stopped, all at once.

A deafening silence washed over him that brought with it both a feeling of calmness and an unknown dread that prickled at his subconscious. He couldn't see anything around him other than the handful of torches in the near distance but all the other senses became a lot more sensitive.

For some reason he could hear his own heartbeats much more clearly now. They felt bulkier in his chest, bigger somehow. He could feel the skin around his muscles becoming tighter as if it was not his own but a suit that he had outgrown. He placed his hand over his chest and felt the heavy thumping.

*Thump*

*Thump*

It sounded identical to a jackhammer being slammed against a mountain of meat.

All this was due to the sudden spike in the previously slumbering Lycan bloodline within Hao Xuan's bloodstream. It was forced awake by an outside force as soon as Hao Xuan entered the second section of the pyramid. Either a friend or a foe had urged a reaction from it, in a much more significant way than what the vampiric blood in his own heart could.

Baracus, who normally would have picked up the changes instantly, wasn't able to do so due to the interference from the Chaos Qi which was merrily mixing in with the few drops of Lycan blood, seeking them out in jubilation.

Thick droplets of sweat ran down the side of Hao Xuan's face, colder than his own skin. He didn't have a torch in hand but could still feel the other Barbarians around him in the dark just from the changes in the air pressure created by the light movements of their clothes.

He could hear the air brushing past their skins and the blood pumping through their veins.

Although he wasn't able to see the changes himself, he could feel their resulting effects. Hao Xuan's ears became a little longer, his fingernails just a tad bit sharper.

He turned around to look behind him. Burak was walking towards him in utter silence but Hao Xuan was still able to feel his presence.

He stopped a couple of feet behind him and gently patted Hao Xuan on the shoulder, "Let us go."

Hao Xuan could feel a faint energy just underneath Burak's skin, something he was never able to before. He could even taste his skin, although he did not understand how that was possible.

Still a little out of sorts he straightened his back, standing straight up. Burak had just taken a step forward when he paused and peered towards Hao Xuan with furrowed brows.

"Were you always this tall?" he mumbled to himself extending his hand towards his head once again which Hao Xuan swiftly swatted away.

"No...touch..." he said somberly. For just an instant his voice sounded huskier before quickly returning back to normal.

Burak's pupils narrowed with a hint of mistrust but he complied.

The barbarians gathered once more to get into formation. Five rows of three each, standing shoulder to shoulder with Hao Xuan and Burak in the second last row.

There were a total of 6 torches between them, five of which were lit while the sixth one was tied to Burak's belt in case of an emergency.

No one else noticed but Hao Xuan's posture had changed. Before it was how any normal individual would walk with their hands moving back and forth and chest wide open but now, without even realizing it he had become a lot more concise.

His muscles contracted and his body lowered just a tiny bit. His every step was precise, measured to the last inch. The floor was littered with various debris, even a few bones and other decomposing organic matter but Hao Xuan's shoes never touched any of them.

He naturally sidestepped all the mess and moved without making a single sound. Even his breathing became lighter. He breathed slower, less often than the others who were already trained soldiers in their own right and knew how to keep a low profile.

But for Hao Xuan, it was something natural. He didn't need to learn it, his blood was teaching him subconsciously.

Whenever he did something incorrectly, he would start to feel uncomfortable in that position and would try to readjust again and again until he got it right.

***

Authors Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter, WN messing up as usual.