Chapter 73: CHANGE
[Good morning, Princess Azraela.]
The system said with a mocking smile emoji.
Azrael furrowed his brows.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked.
[Oh, and before I forget, I took your advice and decided to record greatness.]
As the system spoke, it displayed its new background to Azrael.
’Delete that,’ Azrael said groggily.
[It seems you are finally lucid and have remembered where you are.]
The system noted, observing how Azrael had shifted from speaking aloud to communicating through his mind.
Azrael nodded slowly.
’What happened yesterday?’ He asked.
But the question answered itself the moment he caught the mirror like surface of the system’s screen.
Not the screen itself. The reflection it showed.
"What happened to me?" Azrael muttered, running his fingers through his hair.
It was a mix of gold and white.
Everything about him had changed.
And he looked significantly more refined, as though something essential about his nature had been rewritten overnight.
Before he could continue, a voice came from no particular direction.
One he had not heard before.
"Your training begins in fifteen minutes. Get ready and meet outside."
Azrael looked around.
He could tell from the tone that it was Jasmine’s instruction. But this was not her voice.
Then he thought about it.
The house had been built using a tier seventeen soul core.
If its only function was shelter, that would be an extraordinary waste.
That was when it clicked. The house itself was sentient.
Which also explained how Clara’s arm had been severed, and why the blood had vanished before it could touch the floor.
At least, that was his working theory.
"I will look into this more once I get outside," he muttered, pushing himself up from the bed.
That was when it hit him.
"When did I activate aura?" He muttered, looking around.
Blue motes of essence drifted visibly through the air around him.
His mind immediately connected it to the changes his body had undergone overnight.
He sighed and turned to the left.
Through the window, the outside world was already blazing like the heart of an inferno.
The house remained exactly as cool as the night before.
Right on cue, Rion leapt from the top of the wardrobe and landed on his head.
"Papa," it said in his mind.
Azrael rubbed its fur gently.
"How are you? Did you sleep well up there?" He asked.
He would have preferred Rion to sleep somewhere more comfortable, but the top of the wardrobe seemed to be its chosen spot and it showed no interest in alternatives.
Azrael set Rion on the bed and stood, moving toward the bathroom.
"House," Azrael said calmly, testing the suspicion.
"What do you need?" The house replied, its tone flat and cold.
Azrael nodded to himself.
"Nothing. Do not worry about it."
He pulled his clothes off, dropped them into the basket beside the wardrobe, and stepped into the bathroom.
As the water ran, a thought crept in.
’If she can see and hear everything in this house, does that mean she is watching me right now?’ He thought, eyes narrowing under the shower.
He finished as quickly as possible, dried off, and dressed.
He came out in a black shirt that clung to his frame tightly enough to show his build but loosely enough to move in freely, paired with flared blue pants that looked made for him specifically.
A knock came from the door.
Azrael recognized the pattern immediately. Clara had her own way of knocking that had become impossible to mistake.
"Come in," he said.
The door swung open with a soft creak.
Clara looked into the room, mouth already open to speak.
The words did not come.
The person standing before her pulled every thought she had prepared clean out of her mind.
Her cheeks warmed. Her eyes dropped. She searched for something to say.
"What did you need?" Azrael asked.
He understood her reaction.
Even he had been briefly caught off guard when he first saw his own reflection.
"I wanted to ask if you would eat before training," she said, words coming out faster than she intended, face still angled slightly downward.
Azrael shook his head.
"I am already late. Maybe afterward."
He paused.
"Also, you do not need to worry about preparing things here. The house provides everything. Just ask it."
Clara lifted her head, confused.
If that was the case, why had she been brought along at all?
"Just focus on cultivating while I am out. I would not want to leave you behind once I get stronger."
As he said it, he walked past her.
The height difference was now noticeable enough that he was looking down at the center of her head simply by standing beside her.
Rion hopped from the bed and landed on his shoulder.
Clara stood still for a moment before nodding.
But Azrael was already gone.
Clara closed the door behind her and went into her room.
She sat, legs folded beneath her.
In the next instant, essence surged toward her in a torrent of pure blue, gathering just in front of her chest before drifting inward like soft wisps of smoke.
Outside, Azrael found Jasmine waiting.
"Today you will meet one of the calamities I have sealed in this realm," she said, her tone as casual as if she were discussing the weather.
She did not so much as glance at his new appearance.
Not even a second look.
It was as though nothing about him had changed in her eyes at all.
’Is she blind?’ Azrael wondered.
He caught himself quickly, remembering the uncanny ability most powerhouses had to read minds.
But Jasmine said nothing about it.
"Huh?"
[Huh?]
Azrael and the system said at the same time.
The complete absence of reaction from her was more unsettling than any comment would have been.
’Maybe she plans to feed me to whatever calamity she is talking about,’ Azrael said inwardly.
[Run.]
Before Azrael could process that suggestion, Jasmine turned back with a smile.
"Let us go."
The color drained from Azrael’s face.