Elsewhere within Project Cadmus, taking a leisurely walk, a dark-haired teenager let out a long yawn out of boredom, yet his black eyes remained alert, surveying the area around him. This place felt quite peculiar, but nonetheless, dismantling it should be straightforward.
Wasn't he supposed to be doing something else? What had Diana instructed him to do?
Not pondering it for long, he continued down the hallway.
His heightened senses picked up on several large figures moving nearby. Thragg paused and followed the direction from which he heard and detected their presence. The scent was strong, indicating that they had likely been in close proximity to one another.
Nodding to himself, Thragg began to accelerate his steps, prepared to confront anyone who approached him.
He had only begun to heed Diana's advice a few months prior: 'Engaging with peers your age would be advantageous,' 'You could accomplish much good,' 'Do not squander your potential as a fighter.'
Thragg had dismissed her remarks on numerous occasions but eventually acquiesced after growing irritated with the persistent insistence to align himself with the hero culture.
He had ventured beyond the bounds of the Amazon territory, as per Diana's request, and refrained from taking lives. During his sojourn in the realm of man, he had incapacitated several bank robbers, deprived a couple of murderers of their sight, and effortlessly dealt with a few cases of theft.
"The journey to conquest will undoubtedly be more challenging than I ever anticipated.
Conquest, a notion that lingered in his thoughts for days at a time, puzzled him. He couldn't quite grasp why, but it felt justified—to conquer, to seize what was his. Yet, it appeared almost unattainable. With men powerful enough to encircle the globe in mere moments and entities of magic and deities, his so-called calling to conquest felt like a distant and elusive aspiration.
Thragg halted briefly, his gaze sharpening as he noticed the silhouettes of approaching beings on the corridor walls. Their scent clearly indicated they were not human, and the shadows reinforced that notion. After all, humans didn't possess bodies shaped in that manner, nor did they bear horns and claws.
Although it appeared that one had a humanoid form, maybe a hybrid?
As he rounded the corner, Thragg sprang into action without hesitation, swinging his arm in a wide arc and slicing through one of the beasts effortlessly, their blood splattering everywhere.
Four other creatures in question perked up as they spotted him, their crimson eyes glowing ominously in the dim light of the corridor. With primal ferocity, they extended their claws, ready to slash at him with unrestrained aggression.
Their claws connected with his flesh, ripping away at his clothes, but they shattered like brittle glass upon impact, leaving a shower of jagged shards and a pool of crimson that stained the floor beneath them.
They hissed in frustration, their alien sounds echoing off the walls, but Thragg wasted no time. He rushed forward in a blur, his speed generating a powerful gust of wind that propelled each creature momentarily backward, startling them with its force.
With a swift, decisive movement, he raised his hand and gripped one of the creatures firmly by the neck, his fingers digging into its flesh.
Without hesitation, he squeezed with brutal strength, and the creature's head was severed cleanly from its body, falling to the ground with a sickening thud. The lifeless form crumpled beside him.
"I had anticipated more," Thragg declared, then pivoted swiftly and halted before releasing a gust of wind that cut through the remaining creature.
It was an easy victory, but a victory nonetheless. Before Thragg could clean the gruesome evidence of his triumph from his form, the warm blood of the creatures still glistened on his skin, and a sudden roar erupted from directly in front of him.
Emerging from the shadows was a teenage boy, strikingly youthful yet surprisingly formidable. He had dark black hair, a bulky physique that suggested strength and resilience, and piercing blue eyes that shone with intensity. Adorning his body was a sleek white suit, fitted snugly and accentuating his athletic build, emblazoned with an intriguing symbol on his chest.