A massive I’thekik trundled through the brush, pushing the undergrowth out of its way with its impressive bulk. It contained the same muted red and brown carapace as its smaller counterparts, but was far more heavily armoured, sharp overlapping plates of chitin creating an intimidating – if not slow – hulk of an insect.

Two sets of mandibles sharply snapped against each other, the strength behind them obvious by the resounding *clacks* that rolled over the basin. As the I’thekik panned its head over the swarm of its companions, Nameless and his siblings – frozen from its arrival… and the countless dead scorpion-ants they had left in their wake.

There was no outward sign of fury or hate, the insect’s compound eyes incapable of displaying such emotions. However, as its sight seemed to land on Nameless, he could not prevent the shudder that ran through his body as a presence of sheer… wrath rolled over him.

Nameless could see the same fearful reaction run through the siblings around him, its occurrence instinctual; their bodies tensing, breaths shaking, and eyes widening with terror. He couldn’t tell if Fang and the Twins were also under the same dreadful geis, his attention so entirely locked to the creature in front of him.

It approached ponderously, its sizeable claws – appearing more like spires of stone than pincers – snapping against each other, every *snap* making him flinch. At the ridge of the bank, its weight proved too much for the clay and soil embankment; the slope collapsing, forcing the massive I’thekik to slide down in a burst of sand and dust, its bulk sending a tremor through the ground as it landed within the basin.

Blood pounded in Nameless’s ears as the impact of the enlarged scorpion-ant traveled up his limbs, the cloud of debris obscuring the insect, “An I’thekik of the True Warrior Caste. Why is it here? Is their Hive so desperate for food that they would send a Stage 3 for just two corpses? Or is it here for us?”

His mind raced as he tried to think of a way to escape the insect, the intrinsic fear of a creature a whole two Stages above him making his head spin, keeping himself and his siblings paralyzed in place.

With the appearance of the Stage 3 the I’thekik swarm completely disregarded he and his sibling’s presence. Flowing instead in the direction of the Granite Horns’ corpses, their skuttling and hisses sounding almost… mocking as they passed.

“We cannot confront a Stage Three, even with the benefits of our [Mythical Constitutions].” Nameless evaluated the True Warrior as its movement parted both the cloud of dust and the scorpion-ants in its path, “Which means fleeing… but how? Even if I focus on trying to break The Gap’s sway on me and succeed, I do not believe there are many amongst my siblings that could do the same…”

Quiet and Shade could probably manage to break free in time, but the rest… they were far more physically focused – not that that was a bad choice – making it considerably less likely that any of his other siblings would manage to shrug off the effects of The Gap.

“Which just leaves us in the exact same position as we are now!” He lamented, the scorpion-ant closing, its bulbous stinger slowly raising behind it in preparation, the tip glistening under the Brothers’ light.

Nameless struggled against the weight of the I’thekik’s presence, throwing his mind at it in an effort to regain control over his body, his panic clouding his mind and lacing his thoughts with hysteria.

He could only see those emotionless eyes shimmering in the light, its presence stretching and choking him with a pure and insurmountable malevolence.

“What do I do?” His sight began to fade as the I’thekik made its final steps, its stinger poised to kill…

When Nameless’s world was suddenly consumed by a violent whirlwind of chaos.

A deafening *boom* sounded as he was sent spinning away from where he had stood in a vicious wave of force and debris; stone, soil and more pelting him hard enough to wound. He tumbled end over end through the air; disoriented, deaf, and nearly blind, forcing him to desperately try and gain some semblance of control over his flight before he inevitably hit the ground.

He only just managed to right himself as he impacted the clay soil, his adjusted posture saving him from being injured too greatly… but not completely. He tumbled and rolled over the ground, his momentum carrying him far further than the crater he had created with his landing, bones breaking and muscles snapping under the awkward and harsh fall.

But Nameless barely noticed under the sheer amount of shock the sudden mayhem had caused.

With a couple more rolls his momentum halted, leaving him painfully splayed out on the ground dazed and confused. His world was diluted down to nothing but pain, every fibre of his being – from mind to meat – screaming in agony.

But Nameless couldn’t stay idle and wallow in his pain.

He forced himself to his paws with a miserable yowl, his limbs shaking under him and his mind nearly blacking out completely as sharp flash of pain struck at his psyche.

Carefully looking about himself, trying to avoid irritating any of the injuries he had suffered further, Nameless searched for any signs of his siblings… or the Stage 3.

He found nothing but a thick cloud of clay dust surrounding him, red and brown in colour, the haze shadowing the basin in a hue similar to dried blood. Bodies of I’thekik were scattered around him; most broken and dead, leaking their ichorous innards onto the dried clay soil, others grievously wounded, twitching in their final throes of death or crawling aimlessly, dragging trails of their blood behind them.

Under the reddish pall, the scenes of death were even more stark to Nameless, the devastation on a scale unlike any he – or his siblings for that matter – had ever seen.

And even more sharply did it display a poignant fact he had forgotten in his earlier panic.

A massive gust of wind tore through the basin, clearing the dusty fog away, and forcing Nameless to hunch down and brace himself against the blast of air.

The wind revealed not only his siblings – all in varying states of injury as himself – but also the full aftermath of whatever attack had sent them all careening across the basin.

Where the True Warrior had once stood had now been replaced by a gaping crater; filled with soil and stone, large shards of chitin and chunks of yellowed insect meat. The I’thekik’s demise made obvious by more than just the remnants of its flesh that lay scattered about, within and without the newly formed depression.

Nameless’s eyes locked onto an object at the center of the crater, where stuck a single long feather, its copper metallic colour glittering under the light.

In his fear he had forgotten it was not just him and his siblings present.

“Mother.” The large scarlet Sphinx, with a ridge of fur the colour of dried blood down her back, touched down gracefully behind the crater of her own creation. Her copper feathers rustling as she adjusted her wings against her body, the soft tinkle of metal against metal filling the basin in an odd dichotomy to the hisses, growls, clacks, and eventual *boom* that had once filled it.

Her appearance was more of a reminder than any other within the basin of how great the difference in power became the more you grew… “After all, what is a Stage Three to a Stage Four on the cusp of ascending beyond?”

She slowly panned her head across the basin, seemingly evaluating the scene, dragging her attention across the aftermath of her attack… and Nameless and his siblings as well.

Unguarded as they were, Nameless felt the subtle touch of his mother’s emotions flicker in the back of his mind. Her emotionless face and cold, analytical, eyes only hiding the swirl of varying emotions beneath their surface.

Curiosity, pride, relief, and satisfaction caused Nameless to straighten his posture, his mind wandering under the positive affirmations as he visualized his mother praises over his successes of the day.

Before his daydream was shattered by a potent flash of disgust and disappointment.

His attention snapped to his mother, the feelings he had caught from her causing him to anxiously search her face for any indication as to what caused her to feel those horrible emotions.

[Remember this moment well my children,] Nameless barely gave attention to her words as they echoed in his head – still trying to ascertain the reason behind his mother’s exuding of such a terrifying amount of negativity – as she raised a paw to dismissively motion towards the crater, obviously alluding to the Stage 3 that had once stood in its place, [That this is what you may have to face without me, come the next pass of the Sister… and I will not step in to save you then.]

[Now, collect yourselves.] His mother ordered, the shuffle and snarls of his siblings rising to their feet reaching Nameless’s ears at their mother’s command, [We will be returning to the den, and I hope that some of you will take that time to think over how you conducted yourselves today… and whether or not it is a performance becoming of your survival and existence as a Sphinx.]

His mother’s last sentence made Nameless’s fur stand on end, that foreign awareness – provided through [Preternatural Wisdom] – awakening, whispering within the recesses of his mind a warning, embroiling his thoughts in conflicting opinions.

“Mother would have no reason to feel disgusted or disappointed in me, nor can I consider any of my decisions today unsuitable for survival… or my “existence” as a Sphinx.” However, Nameless could not shake off the same insidious fear that had come to inhabit his mind since his Trait’s awakening of it, “But for what reason would my Trait have to lie or mislead me?”

―――――――――

The whole uncomfortable trudge back to their den was spent within his own head, thoughts echoing with anxiety and frustration.

Evaluating the situation from every direction, Nameless was unable to find a single reason for his feelings of fear and discomfort towards his mother; The past instances of negativity towards him understandable, given his temporary impairment, and today’s… he had no inclination to believe they were directed at him specifically.

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“And yet…” Nameless thought – lying within his family’s den – still struggling with his broodings even after the Brothers’ had taken their rest, and the Sister had risen to take her watch, “I cannot dismiss that [Preternatural Wisdom] may see something that I am unable to… or maybe it would be better to say I might be unwilling to.”

It was yet another terrifying consequence of this new Trait of his, and while he was still uninclined to trust in it completely, he would have been remiss to not air on the side of caution.

Upon returning to the den, his mother had begun to critique his and his siblings conduct during their conflict with the I’thekik; first, addressing them as a group, breaking down each of the roles they had played while fighting together, before moving on to each of them individually.

Starting from Fang and moving down through Shiver, Greye, Shade, and Quiet, Mother held private conversations with each, before reaching Nameless himself.

Upon reaching out to his mind for their own personal dialogue, Nameless headed that wariness swirling around in his head, doing as he had since his “awakening” and projecting a telepathic capability more akin to his siblings’; using impressions, senses, and basic feelings to indicate his intent, rather than the sentences he knew he was capable of.

With the assistance of his [Preternatural Wisdom] Trait actively safeguarding his mind from his mother’s inspections, and a Skill that he had acquired over the months passed – in his efforts to appear as similar to his siblings as possible – providing a… structure for his thoughts to follow, Nameless shared the basic purpose behind his actions against the I’thekik.

He had carefully crafted his thoughts, watching closely for even the slightest signs of his mother’s realizing his misdirection, however – as had been the case many times over now – she seemed completely unaware of his changes or manipulations.

While they had been connected, he had paid even greater attention to her emotions, hoping to refute his [Wisdom]’s insights, and kill the fear that still coloured so many of his decisions surrounding his mother… however, he gained no such thing.

“Mother had treated me as she has all of us, always, sternly and patiently.” There was not even a hint of malice from his mother as he had “shown” her his time in the basin, his reasonings and actions, in as great of detail as he could, “I’thekik. Enemy. Curious. Challenge. Surprise. Fear. Protect. Survive. Relief. Assist. Terror.”

Each word associated with a specific moment, working in unison with his memories to display the full breadth of his experience in full… though with some omissions, “A Skill acquisition and a failed Epiphany are not exactly… normal occurrences, especially at my Stage.”

Worries and his own exclusions notwithstanding; Nameless’s mother had provided him with valuable feedback and insights, methodically breaking down every part of his actions and thinkings and unveiling a plethora of avenues he could explore for improvement.

“She showed me a great deal of motions I should think on practicing for the next time I will be forced to fight.” He mused, his tail swishing against the cool cavern floor, “And from what emotions did come through our connection while we conversed; the only times I felt anything resembling negativity were when she chastised me for losing composure in pain, and when she tacitly disagreed with my decision to stop fighting the swarm and rely on my siblings to take up the fight, giving myself time to recuperate…”

Nameless looked over to where his mother slept, most of his siblings curled up by her side, the only thing differentiating her from a boulder being the rise and fall of her chest as she took breath, “Both instances of disapproval were understandable from her point of view, and everything else she projected was either slightly positive – like her approval of my felling the three false-warriors without being struck – or just… neutral.”

He continued to stare at her sleeping hulk, the soft and steady sound of her breathing filling the den, what little light reflecting off the pond being just enough to make her metallic feathers subtly shimmer.

His siblings slept peacefully under her shadow, spread between where he rested against one of the cavern’s walls and where Shiver rest just against their mother, nestled deep in her fur.

They were tranquil and safe.

“And yet…” Nameless nearly snarled as those words appeared once more in his thoughts, frustrated that even in a place of safety and comfort, fear and doubt still plagued his mind, “And yet I cannot seem to find the same sort of peace in her wake as they do – my thoughts and feelings so divided – her shadow only feeling like some monster looming over me, waiting to strike at the slightest signs of weakness.”

He quietly huffed in defeat, slumping down onto the floor, “I doubt any amount of thinking will reconcile my conflicted feelings towards Mother any time soon. So, I will just have to struggle through until such a moment as Mother proves the fears afflicting me moot, and ends this conflict within my mind…”

“Or, until [Wisdom] is proven corre-” Nameless closed his eyes and let out a harsh breath, unwilling to entertain that line of thought, forcefully dragging his attention elsewhere, “Better to just focus on the things I can effect for the time being, rather than continuing to torture myself…”

Nameless opened his eyes and reached into his soul; with a flex of his intent, he pulled strands of his identity up from his soul itself – the glowing strings visible only to him alone – a shimmering structure coalescing before him at the speed of thought. Each fibre dissolved into a growing vertical sheet of glistening liquid, its face dancing with rich blue and green colours, the structure growing until it nearly eclipsed Nameless’s sight in its entirety.

With a muted flash his full Soul Reflection manifested – the strands connecting him and the structure disappearing in a glittering cloud – and the last details began to show themselves along its face. A border and text – a more browned version of the copper metallic hue of his mother’s feathers – rose from, and scrawled themselves across, the placid surface of his Soul Reflection –

Name: Nameless

Race: Sphinx [Cub]

Growth: [1st Stage] - Level 78

Body : [Recovering/Lightly-Wounded/Fatigued]

Stamina : [Recovering/Fatigued]

Mentality : [Conflicted/Contemplative]

Soul : [Healthy]

Mana : [Untouched]

Traits:

[Lesser Mythical Constitution]

[Lesser Soul Sight]

[Lesser Mana Conduits]

[Preternatural Wisdom]

[Adaptive Physique]

[Chimeric]

[Night-Vision]

[Clawed]

[Winged]

[Polyglot]

[Telepathic]

Skills:

[Claws] : (Untrained - Natural) - Level 45

[Flight] : (Untrained - Natural) - Level 22

[Language Comprehension] : (Untrained - Natural) - Level 60

- Eyemptic* - Proficiency 51/100

- Kishnalwi* - Proficiency 38/100

- Marabesh* - Proficiency 35/100

[Telepathy] : (Initiate - Natural/Abnormal) - Level 17

[Dodge] : (Untrained) - Level 94

[Sprint] : (Initiate) - Level 12

[Leap] : (Untrained) - Level 66

[Tracking] : (Untrained) - Level 27

[Stealth] : (Untrained) - Level 48

[Deception] : (Untrained) - Level 31

*New* [Tactics] : (Untrained) - Level 11

– The metallic border provided a solidity to his Reflection, giving it a tangible presence as “real” to him as the stone beneath his paws, while the softly shinning text was his Identity made manifest in excruciating detail; the state of his body, soul, and mind, his name, race and stage, even his skills, traits, and – eventually – magic, all described in full.

Nameless huffed a quiet laugh, always amused by the sight of his name, “It is better than not having one at all as before… but who would have thought I would become so attached with calling myself “Nameless” that it would become a proper name of its own.”

Following the text describing his soul downwards, his eyes traced over his stage and level, “I should be much closer to the hundredth level by the time Mother has us leave to earn our second stage… especially if all of our forays into the wild until that day are as fraught with danger and conflict as today’s.” His attention flicked down to the state of his body and mind after that thought, “But maybe it would be for the best that I hope events like today’s do not become an expectation…”

“Nevertheless.” Nameless continued on to read his Soul Reflection, eyes momentarily latching onto [Preternatural Wisdom] before moving away, down the bottom of the reflection where his skills resided, “What I need to do is plan out how I want to apply and grow my skills given what I experienced today, especially that new Tactics skill I acquired…”

He had spent a great deal of time already reviewing the contents of his Soul. However, under the watchful eyes of his mother and with a portion of his focus on the lessons she had provided him and his siblings, following their return to the den, Nameless had been unable to devote as much of his attention to planning as he had desired.

Which left him to prepare in the dark, his only company the errant beams of the Sister’s light and the muted rush of water he could hear behind the cavern’s wall.

Dodge, Claws, Sprint, Leap and even to a lesser extent Flight, would continue to develop by virtue of the combat and hunts he would be forced into, their progression benefiting the least from prior planning without the foreknowledge of what he would be facing. But what would need and, frankly, required advanced planning was how to progress in the less… directly action-oriented skills of his.

Tracking, Stealth, Deception, and the new addition of Tactics, would all benefit from some general preparations, “Stealth and Deception will be the most difficult for me to advance; Stealth having always been a problem, given my fur and size… however I have to wonder now if Deception and Tactics might help alleviate those difficulties in some manner.”

He had no doubt that the colour of his fur and his size would remain a hinderance to progressing Stealth however, as he mulled over what exactly Deception and Tactics encompassed, he could begin to see some paths to pushing the Skill in unique ways, “Taking time to create and enact a proper ambush might level Stealth in addition to Tactics and Deception for example, and is certainly a better route than merely watching my steps and trying to move more quietly. But,” Nameless’s attention quickly flicked from his Reflection to his mother and siblings, then back with a tired sigh, “I do not believe it to be something I can reasonably expect to perform while so many others are present.”

Choosing to delay pursuing any ambushes until he was alone, Nameless decided that the more basic manner of progressing Stealth would suffice for the time being. However, the idea of leveraging his skills in tandem still lingered in his head and, as his mind flooded with possibilities, he couldn’t help but smirk.

“It looks like I will not be getting any sleep in the near future.” He mused and settled himself in for what might be a very long night, thoughts burning with a dazzling array of ideas….

----------------------------------------

*Kishnalwi - (Keesh-nah-uhl-wee)

*Marabesh – (Mah-rah-beh-sh)

*Eyemptic – (Eh-yeh-m-puh-tick)