Ten minutes passed with no progress made on gathering meat from the beast. I was curious to see if the bird was a one-off thing, or if all creatures on Altus carried residual will. The latter was likely true, as the two men couldn’t cut the flesh of this beast as well as the first. It wasn’t long before they noticed as well, one of them looking up to me, frustrated.
“Damn, it’s the same with this one.” He looked me up and down then said, “Are you going to do your thing again, or what?”
I snickered slightly at his frustration, but still knelt down to get a closer look at the animal. I once again rubbed my hands along the beast’s flank to give the illusion that I was searching for weak points or vital areas that weren’t as protected. It wasn’t the best explanation for my uncanny abilities, but it was all I could think of. The beast’s matted fur was course and dense, and the skin underneath was firmer than the bird’s.
As I was going through the motions, I slipped into the vibrant world of spirit and searched the beast’s internal structure. In just two days, I had become much more proficient in identifying the energies in my own body, and I hoped it would allow me to better influence those outside of me.
Unlike before, where there we faint wisps of spirit floating within the bird’s body, I noticed that this creature had a much livelier inner structure. Instead of trickles, spirit flowed like rivers throughout the body. It reminded me of my own body, and watching the spirit course through the body with speed and power made me pause to think if the beast were somehow still alive.
“It can’t be, I wouldn’t be able to see inside the body if it were still alive.” From the few encounters I’ve had with wildlife, it seems as though everything here is inherently talented at manipulating their will. The two dead animals had residual will left, and the water beast was able to attack me directly with its will. It was also apparent that I was not nearly skilled enough with my own will to contend with the will of the native creatures.
While I was slightly disappointed at being so weak, I understood that humanity’s ability to adapt and learn would give me the edge I need to survive. “The only way to improve is to learn, and this dead creature will help me achieve that goal.” I gave a silent thanks for the creature before I began to go to work.
As I did before, I touched my hand to the side of the motionless body. I extended my willpower outside of my body and began to infiltrate the body of the beast. I felt a bit of resistance as a thin layer of energy coated the skin. With a push, though, I was able to pierce the layer and enter inside.
Instead of trying to wrench control from the residual will, I decided to try a different approach. Using my will as a conduit, I guided the spirit within my body to flow into the animal. Like food dye entering a cup of clear water, my energy spread throughout the body, joining the streams of spirit still coursing through the dead animal’s body. My idea was to use the spirit already under my control to guide the uncontrolled spirit as I wanted.
As planned, my energy flowed throughout the creature’s body. I felt a wave of weakness as I lost a portion of my spirit, but I thought it would be worth it if it meant developing my skills further. Once approximately fifty percent of the spirit was my own, I flexed my will and tried to take control everything. Surprisingly enough, only the spirit I injected moved at my command, leaving the rest to move about its natural course.
Momentarily stumped, I thought about a solution. “So, spirit isn’t interchangeable with one another. Is that because it comes from two different sources? Does that mean that no one could take control of my spirit?” While it may have been plausible, I didn’t think it was that simple. There was no way that someone as strong as Scalisth couldn’t easily take control of all of the spirit I could control, right?
That made sense, so I thought about it some more. Why did I feel like Scalisth could control my spirit? It was simple: he was much, much stronger than I was. I could tell from his presence and the way the ambient spirit flowed around him that his will was exponentially more powerful than mine. That likely meant that, when trying to control a body of spirit, it is the stronger will that can take control.
Testing out my theory, I pulled my spirit back into my body. I felt a wave of revitalization hit me as the energy returned back to me. Focusing back on the beast, I tried to grab a chunk of the spirit with my will. As if on reflex, the residual will kicked in and immediately fought me for control. I felt a powerful pull as I wrestled the foreign will for control. Like a muscle, I tensed up, and slowly pushed harder in an attempt to manipulate the energy.
Little by little, I knew I was winning. Just before I was about to take total control, I pulled back from the beast and gave up. I didn’t realize it, but sweat was forming on my forehead as I strained in the invisible battle. It was a difficult fight, but I knew that I would’ve won a moment later if I didn’t pull out prematurely. The reason? I didn’t want to give up such a valuable training partner.
Sure, training with Amaya was helpful, but it could never replicate the wild and untamed will of an Altus beast. When would I ever get another chance to practice like this? I thought back to the river beast and how it easily overpowered me physically and spiritually. “Well, let’s hope I don’t get too many opportunities for practice.”
I had been ignoring the two men behind me, who were getting ignored at the silent treatment I was giving them. One of them spoke up, saying, “Hey, are you just gonna keep massaging it like that or are you gonna cut it open?” Remembering that they were there, I let some hostility show in my gaze.
“Do you want my help or not? If so, please shut up and be quiet.” After a moment I added, “And if you can’t do that then go away.” The two looked to each other before shrugging and walking away. “That didn’t take much, must be eager to get away from the crazy lady who touches dead animals, huh?” The thought gave me a chuckle, and I took some time to reassess my strategy.
Looking down at the beast, I knew it would be simple, but not easy, to disperse the energy from the body. “There has to be a better way, though,” I thought as I once again entered into a focused state. Sure, I could brute force it, but I knew from experience I was lacking in terms of raw power. Both Scalisth and the river beast were able to completely override my will control, which left me defenseless in front of a superior opponent. It also spoke volumes that a dead creature was able to make me sweat, making me wonder how powerful the beast was alive.
This time, instead of fighting for the spirit as a whole, I decided to go for a more subtle approach. I didn’t grab an enormous amount of spirit, only grabbing a tiny portion. With barely any effort, I claimed the spirit as my own. I repeated this, grabbing small portions of spirit and converting them with my will. After a few repetitions, I had a small portion of the beast’s spirit under my control. I then shifted them around, changing the currents of energy in the body.
I smiled as I saw the path forward. If I could grab small portions of the total energy, I could use those as leverage to gain control over larger and larger portions of the total energy reservoir. With my new plan in motion, I set to work, grabbing small pieces of spirit, and adding them to my ever-growing stockpile.
When I had converted approximately 30% of the spirit, I noticed the residual will react to my assault. It began to fight to reclaim the spirit I had captured, vying for control. I lost the ability to gather more energy as I had to focus all of my attention on maintaining what I already had. Since I had a stronger will, I was able to keep hold of my earnings, but I was too tied up with that to gather anymore.
Frustrated, I tried once again to use my spirit to control the whole, but like last time, it didn’t work. I was irritated, but it was mainly at myself. I knew if I were more skilled, I could gain more ground while not losing what I had already fought for. All I needed to do was multitask, but that wasn’t possible for me yet. I tinkered with different approaches for the better part of an hour, but none of them bore fruit. I even lost a good bit of my gathered spirit due to my focus lapsing during my experimentation.
My job, first and foremost, was to collect food so that everyone could survive, not to practice with my will. As much as I wanted to spend hours practicing, I knew this method wouldn’t be viable any time soon. With a bit of reluctance, I decided to take the brute force approach. As with before, it wasn’t easy. It was definitely much harder than fighting the bird, even if you factored in my improved skill.
Stolen story; please report.
Eventually, though, I overpowered the will and gained control over the remaining spirit residing within the dead beast. As I had done with the bird, I dispersed the energy into the air. A stream of blue mist sprayed into the atmosphere as the energy was absorbed by the world. Relaxed, I fell back to the ground, tired from my prolonged bout with the dead animal.
Just to make sure everything was fine, I grabbed a sharp rock and probed the skin. Since the beast was likely physically powerful in life, its skin was taught and thick, so I had to push hard. My success was confirmed, though, when I was able to gouge a small hole in the creature’s skin. I went a little deeper than I wanted to, but I was still happy I was able to cut it at all. My happiness faded slightly when I thought about my methods.
“I’m disappointed I couldn’t do this another way, but hey, at least I’ll get some food later.” I tried to cheer myself up, but I knew I had been defeated by the residual will, at least when it came to skill. I was just about to call the two guys over when I saw something flash brightly in the corner of my eye.
I whipped my head to look back at the beast, trying to see if anything was wrong. After a few seconds of nothing happening, I let my guard down and relaxed. That was when I saw it, except I was facing the carcass this time. It was a bright flash of blue that popped into existence for only a moment before vanishing. I wondered if it had ever existed, or if I was just hallucinating things.
“It would make sense that I’m seeing things, considering my dehydration and the amount of-“ My train of thought was interrupted when I saw it again, clear as day. I got to my knees and shuffled closer to the body, cautious of whatever was going on. I got within a few centimeters when the flash happened again. I hovered my head over the body, trying to get a closer look. An idea struck me, so I rerouted the spirit from my eyes, causing everything to become normal again.
I looked again to see if there was any physical sign of what was happening. Sure enough, I saw a slight bulge appear under the skin where I had cut a hole before it disappeared back inside. I furrowed my brow as I reactivated the flow of spirit to my eyes. The flashes were located at the hole I punched into the side, just under where the ribs should be.
I hesitated for a moment, but decided I would only know what was happening if I could see inside. I touched my hand to the beast again, and my will sprang forward, allowing me to see the internal of the beast.
Instead of the emptiness I expected to see, I saw a brilliant ball of light surging within the center of the beast’s body. A massive amount of spirit surged within the sphere, barely contained within the confines of the surface of the shape. The spirit flowed in a violent path that traced the outline of the sphere it was contained within. I watched as the energy sped up, accelerating faster and faster before it suddenly changed course and converged at the center of the sphere.
The second the energy condensed in the middle, it glowed nearly white with energy before humming with violent potential. “Oh, this can’t be good,” I thought to myself as I began to pull away from the beast. I pulled back, and everything but the very tips of my fingers had separated from the animal’s hide. Unfortunately for me, that much contact was enough.
Still connected to the beast, I could see the moment when that immense pool of spirit exploded with intense fury, illuminating the empty space in the body with brilliant bright blue light. I could see the wave of energy hit the physical bounds of the body, travelling along the walls, and focusing at the exit point: my fingers. Like sticking my hand in a fire, I felt the uncontrollable spirit spark to my fingers, sending me flying back like I was hit with a wrecking ball.
My back hit the ground and I grunted in pain, not from the fall but from feeling the foreign energy invade my body. Out of instinct, I immediately powered my will to barricade my body from the explosive power. I stopped a large portion of it before it could travel to my source, but a small portion got past my control and headed towards the center of my will.
The blocked energy evaporated into the environment while the unblocked energy surged forward and punched into my source. I recoiled as I felt another hit to my will, like I had when the river beast retaliated against me. It was like swallowing red hot nails, as I felt a searing pain burning throughout my chest. I couldn’t think straight, and my vision was spotting as I felt myself losing consciousness.
I writhed on the ground for a second, releasing a silent wail of pain. Out of desperation, I tried using my will to push outward to remove the intruder from my source. The pain sharpened my thoughts, and I gritted my teeth as I strained as hard as I could to maintain focus. The pain was blinding, literally and figuratively, as my vision became dark. Still, I fought against the pain and pushed as hard as I could with my will. As the pain was in my source, I only needed to blindly push outwards to get results, which lessened the need for precision.
I felt some resistance as I pushed, and the pain became greater as my will directly interacted with the hostile energy. I pushed harder, and felt the burning pain move away from my source and up toward my neck. It felt like I was vomiting up razor blades, and the pain made me grab at my skin to try and remove the spirit coursing through my veins. Once I felt it was close enough, I craned my neck backwards and pushed as hard as I could. The spirit bent to my will as I felt it scorch a path out from my neck to join the ambient spirit.
Once the pain was gone, I collapsed onto the ground, rolling around while groaning in pain. I felt a wave of weakness overcome me, as my maximum effort had drained my body and will of all their strength. I let the sleep overtake me as I tried to forget the mind-numbing pain.
///
Amaya was sat under a tree with two other people. Having just finished hard labor, she and the others were exhausted both physically and mentally. She was dripping sweat, and was sitting down with her back to the tree trunk and her head leaned for support against the solid wood.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the people she was with, a young woman, unzip her generic grey jacket and let it fall down her arms to the floor. Everyone was wearing the same grey jacket and pants, but they had all gotten to be worn down over the past three days. Amaya thought about unzipping her jacket as well, as it was stifling inside, but she restrained herself.
“There’s no way in hell I’m exposing myself like that with these people,” she thought internally. She thought that the woman should’ve kept herself covered, but she didn’t really care what happened to her, or most of the people here for that matter. She moved her gaze over and saw that a few of the men had started staring at the woman’s exposed skin. She had a tight wrapping covering her chest, but everything else was exposed for the world to see.
Amaya watched as the three men looked at her and then laughed amongst each other. She scowled as she imagined the depraved thoughts the men had as they looked at the woman. She looked at each one of them, their faces ingrained in her memory.
“Look at them, animals, all three. They haven’t changed one fucking bit.” She continued to stare at them until one of them looked in her direction. Amaya instinctively averted her gaze away, acting as if she were staring at the sky. She had made a point of covering herself from head to toe while around others, especially around those three. Still, she knew that he was looking at her grey uniform and imagining what was underneath. “No, not imagining, remembering.”
She pulled her legs into her body as she wrapped her arms around them. She just wanted this too be over, yet they were still so far away from their destination. “Can I last another week like this?” She looked down at her hands. They were small and weak but were bruised and battered from her rough experiences from the past week and a half. She clenched her fists as she lamented her weakness.
With a thought, she entered the world of energy. It had become so foreign to her over the past couple of days, but she knew it was the same reliable companion it had been for her all of her life. She looked down at her fingertips and counted all of the invisible strings dancing along her skin. “I’ve really racked up quite a large number, now haven’t I?” A smile crept across her face. “Should I just go ahead and do it now?”
Her thoughts were interrupted by movement to her left. She whipped her head to the side and saw a dark figure towering above her. She craned her head upwards and saw that it was Scalisth, the overseer of their group of unwanted toys. She expected to see the usual smug expression on his face, but instead saw a concerning level of emotion written across it.
Before she could even react, Scalisth waved his hand in the air. Along with the gesture, only Amaya could hear him whisper, “Stop,” with a trembling voice. All of the movement in the clearing stopped as a silent wave of energy moved throughout the clearing. A person talking became mute as the words caught in their throat, their mouth hanging ajar in the air. A duo walking stopped mid stride, one leg hovering just above the ground.
The air caught in her throat as she tried to breathe but couldn’t. An intense pressure surrounded her entire body as she struggled to stay calm. Her eyes, which were still looking up at the Altum, wanted to widen in fear as she saw the man stay perfectly still, his body frozen like a statue. “What… what is going on?” she thought as realization dawned on her. Scalisth had been protecting the group from predators so far, but what would happen if something truly powerful came?
With growing horror, Amaya realized that the sky had become dark. In Altus local time, it was around three to four in the afternoon, so the sun should still be high in the sky. With great effort, the woman turned her eyes upwards and saw that a dark figure had appeared high in the sky. Its great body was covering the sun in the entire clearing. She didn’t look, but I knew if she delved into the world of blue energy, that the being above would be like the star it had hidden in its shadow.
It was then that she understood what Scalisth had done. He was hiding.
///