Chapter 20: Cloud Eagle
"The armor is pinnacle-tier, and with its two elements, it is something never seen on Earth before!" Coin gave good news cheerfully.
"A pinnacle-tier armor. How lucky I am!" Miles jumped on and looked at the screen.
Coin was recording and streaming at the same time, so Miles was looking at himself. The armor was maroon in color and had dark blue lines. It covered from head to toe, and only Miles's eyes were visible.
"It is perfect for me to hide my identity." Miles said after he checked himself.
"Why do you want to hide your identity? Not many people know you anyway." Coin asked.
"You saw Porseila the other day. If she knows my identity, the rest of the stronghold will also know soon enough. I don't wanna be the star of it, so altering my identity is all I need at the moment." Miles explained his thoughts. He left his old life because he didn't want to be known. He didn't want people to treat him special because he was a Cross.
"That makes sense. But I am too distinguishable" Coin said. There were other wristwatches gold in color, but people would eventually connect the dots if both Miles and his alter identity wore the same wristwatch.
"It is no problem at all. Check this." Miles grabbed Coin and wrapped it around his arm. Then he willed it, and the armor opened and covered over Coin.
Only the necessary parts were left out. The rest was covered by the maroon armor.
"It is fine then. But you have to be careful not to give away anything about your identity." Coin said, and continued, "The orbs you use, the techniques you use should all be different than what your 'Alter' uses. I will help you keep track of them."
"Thanks buddy." Miles thanked Coin.
"Have you thought of a name?" Coin asked.
"Nah, not yet." Miles thought of a few names but wasn't sure yet. What would be the best alter name?
"How about Coin?" Coin asked.
"I will have to think further on that one. Yea, no. It would give away my cover immediately." Miles denied it brutally.
"I know, I was just joking." Coin shrugged it off.
"Have you downloaded all the information?" Miles then asked.
When the eagle realized that its prey wasn't a helpless monkey, and could escape from it, it started to be more aggressive. Its wings flapped stronger, and wind-currents started to gather in front of it. They were condensing and creating a whirlwind.
"Dodge it, or it will blow you away." Coin said.
"I know!" Miles shouted and dodged behind a tree.
The whirlwind hit the tree and uprooted it from the ground. The massive tree and the dirt attached to it flew in the air.
Miles's back went cold when he saw the scene. If the whirlwind had hit him instead, he would be shrouded to pieces by the sheer force of it.
He ran with everything he had, leaving the wolves behind. He couldn't do it a day before, but now he was much faster than the wolves. It wasn't because he got faster but because firstly, the wolves weren't restraining him. Secondly, the armor had more effect than protecting.
Miles felt like he was riding on lightning. If he could run 50 km/h before, now he was running at 90 to 100 km/h. Wolves couldn't catch up with him anymore, and even the insects were late to react as Miles ran.
In a short time, Miles ran back down to the outer zone of the Insect Kingdom.
Even though the Cloud Eagle was obstinate, it knew it shouldn't approach a stronghold. After crying behind Miles and cursing in bird language, it soared to the sky and left.
Miles collapsed to the ground and panted. The wolves came right behind him, and they all also collapsed. They looked at Miles like they were wronged, but they had no energy to attack.
"That eagle must be the danger in the mountain. All the humans that went there probably died in its claws." Coin said while Miles was panting.
"But there were humans at Form-Rank who went to check there. Can't they fight against the eagle?" Miles asked.
"You were lucky because you had the armor, but that Eagle was faster than a person who had a four Strengthening Serum. You know how hard it is to have stronger serums the higher it gets. Even though their superpowers reached the Form-Rank, their bodies were still weak." Coin explained to Miles.
"I will return for that damned eagle one day. Also, I want to see something there." Miles said with the last part to himself.
"Hey, Coin. Did you see the pyramids beyond the mist while we were at the top of the mountain?" Miles asked.
"No, all I could detect was the mist." Coin answered.
"Must be my imagination."