[That was no ordinary eagle.] Kronos informed Nathan as he teleported back to Ajuka's lab.

Nathan froze in surprise, before asking in wariness, 'Then why didn't you say anything? It could've been watching us.'

[Correction; it was watching us. Regardless, I didn't say anything because in the case that you did something rash, it'd kill you. Well, more like us.]

Nathan closed his eyes in frustration as he listened to Kronos' reasoning, yet he couldn't find any fault in it. After all, he could've made a mistake in his panic. Finally, after a few seconds of silence, he asked, 'Do you have any clue who, or what that eagle was?'

Kronos didn't say anything for 3 seconds, before saying, [I have an inkling of who it was.]

Nathan instantly asked, 'Who?'

Kronos scoffed at Nathan, [Do you think you're qualified to know that?] Without letting Nathan reply, he added, [Get stronger, and I'll tell you. It wouldn't help you at all if you knew now.]

Nathan inwardly complained as he restricted his thoughts about the eagle matter and continued walking towards his section within Ajuka's lab, dubbed by Ajuka as the 'Defective Zone'.

Nathan didn't understand how he got that nickname until an experiment blew up straight in his face. Still, due to that unfortunate explosion, Ajuka learned to reinforce his section of the lab.

That was indeed a wise decision, as Nathan's little experiments blew up more often than not.

Regardless of his failures, Nathan continued to push on and on, moving forward until his experiments would succeed.

A perfect example of Nathan's resilience was now.

Nathan narrowed his eyes as he heard his experiments made a strange clunking noise, before he wisely decided to back off and abandon the experiment.

Seconds after he walked away, the experiment exploded and Nathan sighed as he walked back to his section after the explosion was over.

He looked at the remains of his experiment with regret, before scooping them up to salvage them.

As he worked on saving what he could, he noticed Ajuka's presence in the lab— something that wasn't too strange. The strange thing was that he was heading towards Nathan's section. Normally, if Ajuka wanted to call Nathan, he would just shout his name. Rarely, he would visit Nathan's section on his own.

"What's up?" Nathan casually asked Ajuka as he tinkered with the remains of his experiment.

Ajuka replied, "I'm done making your treatment. For the suspected parasite in your body, I mean."

Nathan raised an eyebrow as he asked, "When do we use it?"

"Now. Follow me." Ajuka beckoned Nathan to follow him back to the medical area within the lab as he led the way, explaining the method of treatment to Nathan.

"This," Ajuka gestured at a syringe filled with a blue-purple liquid, "Is the thing that would rid you of your parasite."

"How does it work?" Nathan asked with concerns in his mind as he was reluctant to put something that he didn't understand in his body.

Ajuka explained patiently, "As you can see, the liquid in the syringe is… unique to say the least. It's not very appealing visually, but it's effective. Once this thing enters your system, it would empower your cell and help you fight off the parasite, and finally, after approximately 12 doses, it should eject the parasite completely. After that, we can burn it, or if I feel like it, experiment with it."

Nathan nodded as he listened to Ajuka, before considering if he should take it.

It was nice having someone to advise and look out for him, Nathan would admit it. Kronos has been an extremely helpful parasite, almost making him unbefitting of the term, in Nathan's opinion.

Of course, although having Kronos in his body came with many benefits, such as having his Power of Time and demonic energy in general amplified— he was reluctant to do so. At the rate that he was using magic, Kronos could take over his body within two months or so.

Nathan hesitated to make a decision for a while, before deciding on taking the vaccine. He decided that the risks weren't worth the benefits, even if they were very nearly equal in his opinion.

"Alright, come here." Ajuka beckoned for Nathan before grabbing the syringe, and injecting Nathan with it.

Nathan could practically feel the fluids from the vaccine running through his veins, latching onto his cells and empowering them to fight the parasite. This had the side effect of making him physically stronger as well.

Nathan then asked Ajuka, "Why can't I just take all the 12 doses now?"

"You want to die from overdosing? Be my guest."

"Nevermind. When's the next treatment?"

"Two weeks from now. One if you want to continue training with your magic."

Nathan nodded and said, "I might come back in a week."

"No problem. I'll likely be holed up in the lab for the next month anyways."

'Was that good enough for you?'

The moment Nathan returned to the Agares mansion, he instantly asked Kronos a question.

Kronos 'nodded' in satisfaction, [Not bad. Your acting skill is improving.]

'Not all of that was acting, you know?' Nathan said as he handed his coat to a maid.

[The best actor always mixes in real emotions.]

'Shouldn't you be offended that I took the vaccine?'

[Your true color has finally shown. Did you take it just to annoy me?]

'... Perhaps. Answer the question, first.'

Kronos scoffed at Nathan, who was currently walking to his room, [I'd feel the same in your situation, but yes, admittedly, I was slightly offended. Have I not provided enough advantages for you?]

'You have.' Nathan admitted, 'But I'm still scared that you'd take over my body.

[Why would I do that? I'd rather rebuild my own body than use one of a Devil's. It has too many weaknesses to count.]

'... Fair enough. That's why you made me go to the gardening store, right?'

[Exactly. Anyhow, on the topic of the gardening store, I recall that you wanted the method to get adamantium, no?]

Nathan nodded. That was part of the reason why he brought up the gardening store.

[Haaa…] Kronos sighed, [Well, I suppose you did hand it over to me. To find the adamantium, you must…]

Kronos dragged his words out for minutes in Nathan's head, before Nathan finally said, 'You dragged it out and didn't even answer my question the last time I asked. Might as well answer me now, right?'

[I was messing around with you. Anyways, to find the adamantium, you must… first gather the materials that I tell you.]

'What materials?'

Kronos paused in thought, before Nathan had a bad premonition of what was about to come.