Chapter 63 I Am Legend (final) The snakes hovered in the sky, giving out mighty roars of exaltation. They must not have been cold-blooded, for he could see faint steam emanating from their mouth, and he could sense the fire in their blood. "F*ck me. When do snakes roar? Seriously, though, should that be the primary thought in my mind now?" Rowan rubbed his healing chest and began to stand up, he unleashed all his senses first to analyze his surroundings. The link between him and the flying giant snakes was becoming more intimate, as he could almost sense himself inside them, flying through the sparse clouds under the Red moon. The sensation almost felt like a fever dream, his mind was split into three extra sections, and even though he could not control his motion, he felt like he was in the driver seat of a roller coaster. Using his Energy sight, which had surprisingly gotten more powerful, he saw a thick stream of energy linking him and the three snakes, now and then a pulse of power flowed down the snakes and entered his body and he felt himself noticeably becoming stronger. In his Energy sight the snakes burned like a furnace, as they resembled an endless source of energy, there seemed to be a certain energy reaction occurring inside their bodies which released a burst of energy that flowed down the link and into his body. Rowan closed his eyes for a few seconds and allowed himself to breathe calmly, knowing he was alive because of sheer luck and a little practical reasoning. He had no time to fully experiment with his abilities and knew he was lucky that his conjectures were correct. The only reason he was alive, was not just because of the graces of his people who gave up their soul light to illuminate his own, it was because even in the heat of battle and numerous problems, he was still thinking about the uses of his abilities. The last time he was awake, he was at the edge of death, his soul at the boundary of dissipation, and he was furious at the powers playing with his life. He had made a gamble, hoping his intense desires would fuel his actions, even if he were to fall, he had poured his intent into his soul, conveying out all his longings to live, to ascend beyond the Mortal Coil, to surpass all those who would do him harm, and to protect all that he was coming to love and cherish. Rowan had made it. He survived against the odds, and he knew that the best chance to kill him was gone. He was not necessarily bragging because he knew that the board had shifted. Not only that, but he had escaped his most trying moments. After all, how much threat could he have been before, he had held on with his last breath for longer than was possible, and he was a man at the end of his ropes, and even though he saw many suspicious events, he tried not to ruffle feathers. But no more! Now he had awakened, beneath that Red moon, with the three flying snakes overhead that appeared closer to him with every passing moment, he spread his arms wide, letting the winds of this world blow over his naked form. His blond hair was now shoulder-length, and on his face was a slight growth of beard, his eyes were now more enigmatic, as it seemed to give out light. I Am Legend! His three companions suddenly roared, their voice had a penetrating quality that made the surroundings vibrate, they were expressing their excitement. He could feel the power coursing through his veins like magma, and unlike previously when he was feeling a faint sense of lethargy in his soul, currently he has never felt so alive! He could not help himself and gave a loud roar too, the three snakes joined him, and for a while only their cries of excitement were heard. Can you see me? His roar seemed to communicate with the souls that gave him a second chance. He did not fail their expectations. He reviewed himself with his sight, his body standing at seven feet tall, with muscles to put a Greek statue to shame, accompanied by a streamlined beauty that only a body at perfection could bring. Beneath the surface of his body, was an engine of power that thrummed with endless vitality and potential. His body felt present. As if his body had become more real. The alacrity in his Soul made him aware that the curse of his fading lifespan was gone. He bent to pick up the Axe which was now very still, it had sucked all its energy inside, and if not for the growing veins of golden energy on the weapon which were now closer to the Axe head, he would have taken it for dead metal. With his Energy sight, he could see that the green color of the Axe was not its true color, instead it acted as a sort of seal that bounded the true form of the Axe. Rowan was not too surprised, for he knew the history of this weapon must be quite deep, and even though thanks to the Axe he was granted the Berserker Aspect, he was still wary of the weapon. The growing vein of gold was his Vitality, that had been eating away at the seal covering the weapon, even when he was a mortal, the Essence he had funneled into the Axe was not so easily digested. The weapon had been greedy in consuming his vitality, the desire to consume an Essence such as this must have been very overwhelming, but it would seem that the opposite was happening, as his Essence was slowly digesting the Axe. He idly wondered what would occur if he finished stripping away the seals from the Axe. It was part of his upcoming agenda, but it was not at the top of the list, and he did not need to put much thought behind it because his Vitality was slowly consuming the seal on the weapon anyway. Even if he never got to use the Axe anymore, it was not much of a bother because he now had weapons, three of them, and alongside the power he was feeling burning inside him, his body could be the most potent of all his weapons. He began folding the discarded snake skin, from their first shedding. It had a faint golden glow around it, and as he folded it, it felt like he was molding metal, he was not used to walking around naked, so he began wrapping the last snake skin around his waist, and with a few tucks here and there, it stayed right around his waist. With his ever-growing powers, he would need a material that he could safely wear. His body was extremely powerful and tearing through his clothes and armor was effortless. If he could craft a set of clothes using these scales, he would have solved an essential need of his, although his body was beautiful in every aesthetic sense, he was not a shallow individual, and he would find it extremely off-putting to constantly change his clothes every hour. His body felt like an endless abyss filled with uncountable mysteries, that would take him an eternity to search through. But he had the Primordial Record, and he would soon receive his answers. Although he almost did not want to use the Record and slowly delve into his abilities' bit by bit, that was a luxury he could not afford, he expected that he would need to kill lots of people soon, and he needed to thoroughly understand all the weapons in his arsenal. He was about to open the Primordial Record, when he heard a frightening crack, and his surroundings shook. The blood sea ahead of him began to bubble, and a massive skull rose from the ocean.