My skills improved with a few years of effort and with it, the quality of my cavern. After a while of them living with me, I started treating the wolves in my cavern as an impromptu family. We never interacted with each other, however I came to realize over time that the wolves knew of my existence. As their energy grew denser and their beast cores expanded, I noticed they discovered my gaze.
At first, it didn’t appear to bother them, though thinking about it, perhaps they thought it was normal since they were just too weak to notice it prior to growing stronger. However as my attention was directed elsewhere for experiments and improvements, they must have learned something was watching them. In total, the wolves only remained inside my cavern for about 5 years before leaving.
I watched them return to the mountains, losing sight of their visages as they left the range of my territory. Unexpectedly, I found my cavern rather large after they left. The once busy atmosphere was gone and there was somehow a feeling of loss I couldn’t rid myself of.
Rather than focus on the uncomfortable feeling, I distracted myself with further experiments and the creatures at the bottom of the hill. As I managed to expand my territory further, I found my control over the area they took as their home to be a trivial thing. I had full perspective and control of the land. During one of moments my attention was directed on them, I noticed a series of creatures encroach the edge of my territory.
The familiar sights provided by [Minor Energy Perception] was all I needed to see to know the next ‘event’ was about to happen. As the wolves left only recently, I felt the need to keep the creatures who made my territory their home. I wasn’t so eager to reveal myself, however I knew they could sense my sights somehow, so I did something I’d never done before. I interfered.
After years of observation, I learned to relate their actions and behaviors to their facial expressions. Not only that, I was able to discern their organization structure and even learn the very basics of how they communicate. Though I couldn’t actually hear them, with enough study, I noticed the correlation between their mouths moving and others reacting, even without being in sight of the one calling. A few vague [Lesser Identify] invocations later and I managed to link together the concepts well enough.
I scoured the territory looking for a particular individual. That man was the group leader and also held a sizable amount of energy. I rarely focused on him as he always seemed to notice my presence, something I’ve been more and more curious about as of late. Just how this man and others sensed me was rather worrying, however such things could be put off until later.
I managed to find the man at a new site. He and his spouse were tossing around each other in their home when I bared down with my full attention. The man jumped off his wife, his ears standing tall and his eyes wide. His tails were sprung straight, the fur rippling across it in waves while he glanced around in a frantic fashion. Did I feel bad about it? A little… He seemed to have been enjoying himself until I got involved, but pressing matters were pressing, after all.
As he collected himself, the man turned his gaze to the mountain as if questioning my actions. With this being the first time I ever reached out to the creatures, I could only think of using their sensitivity to me as a way of signaling them. [Lesser Energy Tendril] might have allowed me a finer degree of communication, however as they had never seen that before, I feared terrorizing them and driving them away as the wolves were.
I focused on my own presence and moved it to the side. It took multiple attempts, however after moving my perspective and energy through the territory to align with the direction, I watched the man’s gaze shift as well.
[ Criteria Met. Lesser Proprioception leveled up. ]
[ Criteria Met. Lesser Proprioception evolved into Minor Proprioception. ]
I suddenly felt myself with greater clarity. My territory control became something more than just a general pushing or pulling sensation and with it, I found myself capable of controlling my presence with greater finesse.
I collected myself up and pressed my attention down on the man once more while ensuring I was aligned with the invasive source. I saw the man shiver once more before shouting something to his spouse and running out of the house. I couldn’t be sure if he understood my meaning, in fact, I’m doubtful he did. However such an abrupt abnormality striking him out of nowhere with a presence directing him somewhere besides the familiar mountain should be a good enough hint for a smart person.
I watched as he gathered strong members of their group and kicked off to the direction of the invaders. I coalesced my presence and followed behind them. I never witnessed an ‘event’ with [Spiritual Sight] before. As dispersing energy was all I ever saw, I was rather excited to witness it with a new perception.
Though I kept my presence bundled up with the group heading towards the invaders, I still retained a sense of perception across my territory. The invaders pushed further in and were on a direct course to collide with my group. Once they reached a rather close distance, I slammed the leader with a diluted portion of my presence. Perhaps he took it as the warning it was, or maybe he became cautious of me. Regardless, the group was signaled to slow down and they took closer notice of their surroundings.
Their caution paid off as a group of individuals severed the limbs of trees further ahead. In order to proceed without blockage and leave a trail for those behind them, they didn’t hesitate to use their skills. While such tactics were effective in creating a trail, it also gave away their position to my group.
I noticed the expression of the leader in my group turn solemn. He exchanged a series of glances with the men he brought and they all moved in singular fashion. Their figures flashed into hiding without disturbing the surroundings while the leader moved into the open. He didn’t appear to have any intention to hide. My gaze on his figure lingered out of curiosity.
It didn’t take long for the advancing group to catch sight of him. They surrounded him and initiated communication. As far as I could tell, communications broke down quickly. The invaders only exchanged a few moments before the leader broke into a laugh. He waved his hand and from their hiding spots, the group rushed out. The fight didn’t last long and the men were subdued, their hands tied behind their back and a limiter of some sort applied on their energy.
During the engagement, I saw for the first time what the ‘energy dispersing’ really was. One of the invaders refused to back down and fought to the end. The group teamed up on him and a strike landed on its body. [Spiritual Sight] didn’t hide a thing as [Minor Energy Perception] overlaid on it. I saw energy spurt from the strike zone carrying with it the flesh, bones, muscle of the invader.
The sight was shocking to me. I always thought the energy dispersals were rather interesting to watch, however now that I understood what it was, I felt a sense of remorse thinking back to the dispersals of the sparks I dispersed early on. If what happened then is what happened now, then it was clear to me why the other creatures reacted in such a way. They must have thought I was a terrifying existence to just appear and destroy one of their members without warning.
Though I didn’t have a body per se, I felt a shudder run through me. Though I didn’t feel anything about it when I saw them as sparks of energy, [Spiritual Sight] seemed to alter more than just my sight as guilt struck me upon reflection. Despite those feelings slamming into me, I refocused onto the group escorting the invaders back to their camp.
It didn’t take long, however my group managed to communicate with the invaders in a rather… brutal fashion. I’m sure they succeeded though as the entire community went into action. I saw defenses prepared, men sent out for patrols, and other preparations kicked off. It was only days later when I felt a massive influx of invaders from the same direction as the original group. They funneled into the trail marked out by their scouts and followed through it without hesitation.
I applied pressure to the leader once more, ensuring to shift my direction for him. I saw his tail fluff up at my assault and his head jerked to the invaders. There was only a moment of wait before he started issuing orders. The community took off and started surrounding the trail, their visages hidden throughout.
Unlike the past ‘events’, this one lasted only a few hours rather than days or weeks. The invaders stood no chance. I watched them push in deeper and as if by signal, they were ambushed with all members leaping out at the same time. I saw energy dispersed with [Minor Energy Perception] and the blood and gore follow that dispersion with [Spiritual Sight]. I felt my role was over and couldn’t find the desire in me to watch the ‘event’ anymore.
