I woke up to the early morning light filtering through my eyelids. The light was gentle, and I felt a comforting warmth soaking into my skin as the sun rose in the sky. My thoughts were slowed, as I was still groggy from a long night’s sleep.

Closing my eyes, I stretched out my arms and legs. My left leg accidentally hit someone’s shoulder, which was a common issue for tall people sleeping in tight spaces. I opened my eyes and looked down past my leg to see who I had hit. It was Olivia, the weird woman who hung out around Quentin a lot. Her long blonde hair was laid across the dirt, the gentle curls in her hair dispersing the sunlight above. She looked as rough as anyone here, but I found myself mesmerized by the peaceful feeling I got when I looked at her sleeping form.

As I was looking at her, Olivia turned her head up to me, her face contorted into a snarl. “Hey, watsh it. I’m trying to shweep here.” Here words were slurring as she was clearly half asleep. Nevertheless, I waved my hand and offered a quick apology. Her head hit the floor before I even began speaking, but I continued anyways.

I sat up and took stock of the situation. Looking around, it seemed everyone was feeling as rested as I was. Despite our week in captivity, I felt very relaxed and wasn’t worried much about the trip ahead of us. We had yet to travel the alien terrain, but things here had seemed peaceful enough, so I had little need to worry.

My brows furrowed as a slight headache pulsed through the back of my head. A feeling of dread replaced the serenity throughout my body, causing me to tense up. I tried to push away the feelings, but the memory of an oppressive presence was seared into my mind, forcing itself into the forefront of my thoughts. I groaned as I felt my mind compress under the sheer force of the power, feeling like my head was going to split like a watermelon.

I grabbed at my head and began massaging my temples. Just as the fear and anxiety had hit a fever pitch, I felt the thoughts disappear back into my subconscious. A wave of relief struck me as I felt my muscles relax and my face loosen. I let out a slow breath as I once again noticed the warmth of the sun on my skin.

Just then, a voice rang out from a few meters away, “Hey Carlos, sleep well?” I turned and saw one of my new friends, Jeri, leaning on a tree with a toothy grin slathered across his face.

I returned his smile. “Yeah, actually, better than I have in a while. I had a killer headache, but I’m sure it’s just some mild dehydration. “ We both chuckled lightly and shared a few neighborly pleasantries before he decided to give the others the same treatment. I waved him goodbye as he made his way to another person. They were less happy, but I chalked that up to them being a bit tired.

Despite knowing I needed to get going, I basked for another second in the sun. Something about everyone’s demeanor was strange, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I knew I was forgetting something but didn’t care too much about what it was. “If it were important, I’d remember it,” I thought as I stood up and stretched. There was so much to do, and I couldn’t waste my first vacation day on an alien planet, could I?

///

I woke up with my face rubbing against the ebony bark of a tree. It was a bit dark, but I could tell it was morning due to the light filtering through the canopy above me. A bit groggy, I pulled my face from the tree and felt the tingling sensation pulse on my cheek.

Turning my head to the side, I noticed that the stiffness I had building up in my neck was gone, and I was able to turn my head with no pain. That was an incredible blessing, as I had been experiencing the discomfort ever since my first day in the holding cell nearly a week ago. It was weird how different the scenery had shifted from concrete walls to dense forests, but I wasn’t going to complain.

Sure, the cells had a consistent food and water supply, but they were so plain when compared to the wild fields and forests we were sure to discover when we set off later today. I had decided to step up and take charge, and that was exactly what I was planning to do. Thankfully, the others let me sleep for a few extra minutes before putting me to work.

Leaning away from the tree, I stood up and stretched high into the air. A supreme relaxation spread throughout my body, and I even felt a bit lightheaded once all was said and done. I absentmindedly looked around the clearing and was glad to see that only a few people were still sleeping. “I was worried going in that the group would be lazy, but I’m glad to see that we’ll start off this voyage strong.” If there was anything I couldn’t stand, it was laziness.

Yawning, I scratched my chin as I continued to survey the group. As I ran my fingernails across my chin, I noticed a layer of stubble catching my fingertips as I moved, creating a thin crackling sound. Stopping my scratching, I ran my fingers along the curvature of my face to see if I had felt correctly. Sure enough, a light beard had formed along my face, staying along my chin.

This surprised me, as I shaved quite recently, and my hair grew quite slowly on my face. Feeling the small hairs, I thought back to a week prior. My job in law enforcement required a clean face, so I had naturally shaved the morning before going into city hall. “I guess it’s possible it grew so long in a week without shaving?” It made sense, but I was a slow grower, and this was a surprising amount of hair even with everything kept in mind.

Thinking for only a second longer, I shrugged it off. I heard hair growth changes with age, and I was still in my early twenties, so maybe I was still growing in some ways? The thought caused my hands to run along the top of my head. “Nope, still no hair here,” I thought with a sly smile. Still, bald or not, I wasn’t going to let this group down before we had even gotten anything done.

Looking around one more time, I looked for a familiar face. Although nearly everyone was from the same holding cell, I had grown closer with some than others. Finding Levi’s signature braided hair, I decided to make my way over to her.

The woman’s face lit up in a bright smile as I approached. “Quentin! Good to see you’re awake.” I returned her smile with one of my own. I didn’t know why, but I was in a great mood this morning, and felt that I could make a lot of things go right today if I put my nose to the grindstone for a while.

“I just hope I don’t mess things up,” I thought as we began talking about the day’s plans.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

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I woke up feeling like shit. The sun had woken me up earlier, so I rolled around onto my stomach to avoid the bright light. I was then kicked in the shoulder by the jolly green giant, who swore up and down it was an accident. When I woke up for the second time, the sun was baking my back, and I had a mouthful of dirt.

Rolling slightly on my side, I began to spit out the grainy soil. It wasn’t clumpy like dirt, but soft and smooth, like clay. That didn’t mean it tasted any better, as it still had that characteristic earthy texture to it. Or would it be an “Altus” texture? I mentally shrugged as I decided on the former.

I sat up on my stomach and let out a huge sigh. I felt incredibly uncomfortable, and I had rolled through quite a lot of dirt in the past few days and was covered head to toe in dirt and natural debris. I tried my best to wash off in the rivers we had passed by, but it was hard to get out animal blood, dirt, and buckets of sweat from cheap cotton wear. I took a deep sniff of my shirt and gagged inwardly at the smell, resolving to deep clean my clothes at the next water source.

I stretched lightly and made my way to my feet, patting the dirt from my rear. Most of the group was awake, and everyone seemed… different. Not in a bad way, mind you, but it would’ve been just as unsettling. Everyone had huddled into small groups as per usual, but every single person had a smile on their face.

Even Quentin, who was famous for his stoicism, was grinning from ear to ear while talking with Levi. I even noticed a few people already working on cleaning up part of the camp, all of them seemingly very eager to get a move on before the sun was high in the sky.

I frowned slightly at the sight. It was incredibly odd to see anyone in such a good mood, let alone everybody. “Maybe we found out some good news while I was asleep,” I thought as I surveyed the small crowd.

I had lost track at some point but was pretty sure there were twenty people remaining in the group. At that rate, our numbers would hit zero before we even got to our destination. I briefly remembered the terrible presence of the transcendent beast, and shivered as I thought about encountering another one in the future. “If anything like that comes around again, we’re all done for, no doubts about it.”

I lingered for a moment on the thought of facing something so powerful. Wasn’t it unfair to put so many powerless humans in a place overrun by overpowered alien life that was adapted to survive in a hostile environment like Altus? I thought for a moment before I shook my head. Yes, it was unfair, but life wasn’t fair, and complaining about the situation wouldn’t do anything to improve it.

Still, the feeling of powerlessness made me clench my fists hard. I was beyond frustrated at my weakness, and even more so at myself for perpetuating that weakness. Once again, I felt the desire to improve. This time, however, I wouldn’t go slowly and carefully. “No, I’m going to push to the highest heights so that none were above to look down upon me. I won’t be like the monkey king dancing in the palm of Buddha.”

I knew that no matter how hard I tried, my efforts would have little to no effect in the short run, but what about the long run? I couldn’t continue to blindly follow Scalisth like a puppy following its owner. No, I had to pave the path to my future myself, and unlike the others, I had been given a glimpse of what kind of power was needed to do so.

The first step to actualizing this new declaration was to constantly seek improvement in what made me special: my ability to control my will to manipulate spirit. That power would give me the edge I needed, but I needed to practice.

There were a few ways I could practice, but after thinking for a while, I knew I needed to improve my spirit control. The only way to improve that would be to improve my ability to perceive the currents of spirit and influence their motion with my will. The best way to do this, as far as I could tell, would be to train my eyes to better see the energy currents in myself and in my immediate environment. My training method would be simple: never turn off my spirit sight.

Taking a deep breath, I focused. As I had done many times before, I pushed my will to direct my internal spirit toward my eyes. Although the process was now much easier, it still took nearly twenty seconds of prolonged concentration to achieve. Within moments, the familiar waves of blue energy swirled around me, their brilliance striking me with renewed awe and respect for the world around me.

I decided my first step would be to focus on perpetuating the flow of spirit to my eyes. Although it was simple, it was easier said than done. After a few minutes of sustained vision, the colors faded from my eyes, and everything became normal again. I shut my eyes as a searing pain shot through them. It felt like I tried to take out contacts with hot sauce all over my fingers, and the pain felt like it was going through the back of my head.

Little by little, the pain disappeared until it was only a dull ache. Once the pain was mostly gone, I slowly opened my eyes. The sunlight was harsh on my eyes, but I pushed through the discomfort to look around. Little had changed, but the bright color of the sky hurt my eyes to look at, so I closed them again. “I don’t have any way to accurately measure the time, but that felt like around four- or five-minutes tops. That’s nowhere near an hour, let alone a whole day!”

The realization of how difficult this would be dawned upon me as I saw how far I had to go. “It doesn’t matter, I’m not giving up until I can do it all the time. Instead of seeing it as a barrier to entry, I need to see this as a goal to meet, not an obstacle to avoid.” I needed a fundamental change in mindset so that I didn’t naturally take the easy way out, as I was prone to do.

“I took the easy way out with the exploding beast, and I won’t make that mistake a second time.” Reinvigorated by my resolve, I pushed past the pain to continue training my eyes. Power flooded through my eyes as the world once again regained that vibrant sheen of cerulean. I focused as hard as I could on analyzing the internal flow of spirit to my eyes while my spirit sight was active.

Despite my newfound motivation, however, my body wasn’t capable of matching my will. I only lasted another two minutes before the pain forced me to stop. I wasn’t going to be discouraged, though, and knew that the pain was a sign that I had a long way to go. Still, it was rather tedious to sit and watch the spirit currents rush by, so I decided to explore other subjects for observation.

My first thought was to look at Scalisth, but he was nowhere to be found within the clearing. While it was hard to avoid his attention, his masterful will control made him the best option to refine my personal abilities. The second-best option would be Amaya, but she was still sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake her just to bother her with incessant questions. Plus, we still had our nighttime training agreement, and I didn’t want to overstep our boundaries.

That left one last option: stare at the other nineteen people in the group. Obviously, I wasn’t going to sit and stare at people for minutes at a time, but it was sort of unavoidable if I wanted to get any meaningful practice done. I decided that my target would be Carlos, as he was easy to spot from a distance and usually surrounded by a few people at a time. I quickly scanned the crowd and found him but was surprised to see he was only with one other person.

Tightening my grip on my focus, I started observing his will. As observed before, someone with little to no control over their will has a small source with great fluctuations in its structure. I expected a moderately sized source with mild fluctuations that move with the change in a person’s emotional state. I watched him for about two more minutes before my vision gave out again and I learned… nothing.

Carlos’s source showed no signs of activity. There were no flare ups in the two minutes I was watching. This was incredibly unlikely, as everyone experiences mild mood swings during a conversation, and Carlos spent the entire time talking to someone. Stumped by this, I nonchalantly moved closer to get a better look. I knew I was getting tired, so I would only be able to see for half a minute before I needed to break for a while.

I got into position ten meters away and focused one last time. I didn’t worry about looking conspicuous, as I wanted to focus solely on gleaning as much information as I could from the man. The thirty or so seconds felt like hours as I watched for any changes in his internal spirit. After my eyes gave out to the pain and the ambient spirit fell from my vision, I came to the conclusion that something was wrong… very wrong.

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