Chapter 1036: Unexpected Changes These three figures who stepped forward to battle the charging Shiik were Glorious Ranked Explorer, which was the next step after the Heroic Rank. At the Heroic Rank, the Explorer would have their center of power created linking them to their Ascendant Aura and their Mental Space could be accessed, and at the Glorious Rank, they could begin utilizing their Natal Treasure. Natal Treasures were quite special, it was a weird result of the merger between a Mental Space and the mutated Auric energy of this realm. The Explorers in this world had no Mental Space but their souls contained Natal Treasures. It could either be a weapon or a tool that was closely related to the nature of the Explorer. The Natal Treasurw would be born inside their Mental Space before the treasure absorbs the Mental Space creating a Glorious Ranked Explorer in the process, and their Ascension to the higher ranks depended on conquering new Natal Treasures and binding them to their mental Space. These three Glorious Ranked Explorers had studied similar Aura techniques at the Heroic Rank, and it made them able to manifest the same weapons at the Glorious Rank. It was important to the sort of Natal Treasure to be gained at the Glorious Rank that an effective technique be used at the Heroic level. A weaker technique would bring about the birth of a weaker Natal Treasure, stumping the growth of the Explorer. The method the most powerful Ascendant powers kept their position at the top of the hierarchy was their ability to collect and control all the potent techniques needed to awaken and control powerful Natal Treasures. The halberds in the hands of the three Glorious Ranked Explorer sliced the air, and three short silver bolts erupted from it that merged in the air expanding to a hundred feet long bolts whose speed and destructive ability multiplied and slammed into the Shiik, this shot was still heading unerringly at the forehead of the Calamity, a spot that was supposed to be the weak point of this Calamity. Batting the silver bolt out of the air, the Shiik charged forward but was met by a dozen similar bolts, and this time it was not able to deflect all of them, a bolt pierced its left eye, and two entered its forehead and the last through its nose. The left side of the Shiik head suddenly swelled and exploded revealing a bright silver glow within its skull, the explosion flinging gore for hundreds of feet. An unearthly wail erupted from the Shiik as it collapsed, its momentum dragging its massive body and stopping a few feet away from the three Glorious Ranked Explorers. The pale white blood of the Shiik slowly seeped out of the fatal wounds on its head and for all intent it was dead. The Three Explorers looked at each other and they removed their helmets displaying similar features. They were all male and they should be related. Sounds began to emerge from the broken ship as the survivors began to troop out, their eyes fearfully accessing the gigantic body of the Shiik, there were barely forty of them left, and in a few seconds the Shiik had killed almost half of the crew before it was taken down. The last person that emerged from the ship was an old man whose red hair had faded towards black and his shoulders were a bit hunched. Apart from everyone here, he was the only one who looked at the Shiik without any fear but fascination. Walking up to the beast, the three Glorious Ranked Explorers bowed and made way for him, this old man appeared to be the captain of this ship and thereby the strongest, making him a Legend Ranked Explorer which meant he controlled three Natal Treasures. The old man touched a single strand of the Shiik's hair and looked at the beast with clear eyes before dipping his fingers into the blood and bringing it to his eyes, before sighing in disappointment, "I was a bit annoyed when you quickly killed the beast, but it is just a Heroic Ranked Calamity, although something has definitely happened to it to enhance portions of its abilities, it has not much use for us." Turning away he addressed the rest of the crew, pointing towards the Glorious Ranked Explorers first, "This is a resource point for Shiiks, enter the crater and gather any of them that are left before my brother reaches this place, I want to be far gone, and for the rest of you, begin restoration of the ship, there are stores of Hunor Metals to fix the damages and..." The voice of the old man slowed as he noticed that the crew was no longer listening to him and were starting with fear and fascination in their eyes at something behind him, with anger blazing in his eyes he turned around and noticed that nothing had changed. He did not need to turn around because his sense was so powerful, it encapsulated hundreds of feet around his body and he noticed nothing out of the ordinary, the motion he made was just to show how displeased he was, "I will flay all of you to an inch of your lives if I am not given a proper reason for your misdemeanors at such a critical time." It was one of the Glorious Ranked Explorers that pointed with shaking hands directly above the old man, "There... there is a child on standing on your left shoulder." The old man paused and slowed down his breathing, still furious he looked towards his shoulders, but as he expected there was no one and nothing there, he looked back at his officers planning to make one of them an example and a chill flashed across his spine when he noticed that he was alone. In the moments before he looked towards his shoulder and looked down it was barely a second and yet everyone around him was gone... without even a sound. It was then that he heard a slight rustle, as if metal was being pushed out of flesh, a cold breeze blew past him and he slowly turned around and went face to face with the massive open eyes of the Shiik. The fatal wounds were gone, evidenced by the large silver bolts lying on the ground and the supposedly dead Shiik had arisen. The shocking face of a beautiful woman who had no visible flaws on her face was terrifying. Shiiks were deformed Calamities, they were never meant to be this... complete. "She is beautiful... my child, don't you think?" That was when he felt a weight on his left shoulders and a calm voice like that of a child but still carrying a note of incredible age. His eyes slowly looked up to a pair of small feet standing on his shoulder, and tracing the slender feet he was met with the sight of a naked boy of maybe ten years old with his birth cord still hanging from his navel and wrapped around his waist. The mouth of the old Explorer went dry, but the instinct of nearly two centuries of war made him move even before his conscious thought had come to terms with what he was seeing. His Aura exploded from his body but he felt a chill around his throat and something wet pouring down to his chest.