I look around from the gate before actually going out, since the barrier is somehow concealing this place. I can look to see if there's anyone or really anything looking at this direction, or at least I can figure out if there's anything that might risk me getting noticed, considering that, I decide to go to another gate and pretty much repeat the process of doing my best to detect anything that can notice me while I gather supplies, and... in the end, I'm going to have to risk it by going through at least one person. I'm not sure if I just happen to notice them, but nobody else in the village thinks there's anything there when I point at them. I really don't think they're that professional though...
Either way, at the eastern gate, I can see only 1 shadow, the other gates have at least 3, so maybe they haven't gotten enough to deal with the east gate? Actually, I'm more surprised none of them ended up finding the town, there isn't really a path going around the town and even if there was, it would make little logical sense to have a random round path in the middle of a forest... Maybe this barrier's more precise in concealing than I thought? No... There's wall's around, they would have bumped into them regardless. I don't get how this barrier even works... If it's so effective that assuming they do somehow pass through without noticing the town, why isn't it used to gather resources?
While I was distracting my mind with realistic logic, at some point the shadow disappeared. I don't know why, but it's a better opportunity to gather supplies now and wait until nighttime to re-enter so that I won't be seen as easily. As long as I don't "disappear" or "suddenly appear" in front of someone, the time for me to gather everything should be more than enough to prepare... probably.
I give a final glance to the general areas and after confirming that there isn't anything supposedly there, I walk out and look for a gathering spot. Although I guess there isn't going to be any obvious trails if the village was going to be hiding from a group. With that said though... there's no reason to intentionally expose themselves by gathering around the area either. So... instead of trying to find a gathering spot, an area that isn't right next to the village would be great. With that in mind, I walk away from the village down the path, and after about an hour or so I take a turn into the forest area. I also scratch a little mark into one of the trees using my blade to make sure I can find my direction back to the village once I finish gathering resources, should be fairly concealed... Although me seeing these particles says the opposite, but I'll... worry about it later.
I walk a fair bit of distance in the forest, occasionally marking a few trees before deciding it's good enough to obtain resources... hopefully undisturbed. Actually... I'm not sure how exactly the chief planned for me to get anything when he didn't give me an axe... but... I guess my dagger will do? I can cut through bark pretty easily after all. I test a single precise slice across one of the trees nearby causing a majority of the wood below to... essentially disappear, when it slowly tips over to me, I step to the side to avoid being crushed from it.
'This... is much sharper than I expected. I guess an axe wasn't needed then... Where do I put the log...?' After thinking that, the entire log, somehow just disappears and I receive a notification... or at least something like that about it being put in my inventory. 'That certainly makes things... easier.' I then proceed to cut down a couple more trees, continuously using my mind to somehow store the eventual logs in the inventory space, after a bit of time... which I lost track of, a notice popped up signaling me of the weight limit. I look at the few logs in front of me and the surroundings... which got very... messy, a lot of stumps in the middle of nowhere.
'Might as well cause a scene to lure them or something, probably doesn't give me more time but it should help question their decision of staying without knowing what causes something catastrophic'
I take a look at the opposite direction which I should have started from and start cutting tree to tree making it look like a monster passed through charging something or someone before I got to the path... I do see some shadow coming towards my direction from the front, so I look to hide behind one of the few logs next to trees, slowly crawling away until a... considerably safe distance, although I did hear some urgent shouting from the place I was going away from and somehow, I managed to get by a few people I saw jumping branch to branch... Maybe they don't focus on the ground as much as I thought... at least not while moving. Well, not my problem... yet.
Once I'm confident there isn't any more passing by I get up and lightly jog along the path within the forest to avoid being in direct view of the path. Not sure how fast I actually went but by the time I got back to the village it was a lot less time spent over walking. When I approached an entrance, I saw some people look at it, so in order to avoid them I kind of just hug the wall outside the village, as the barrier covers a very slim portion past that. Before I got inside, I overheard one of the supposed scouts... much... younger than I expected but that isn't important.
"I felt something pass through my barrier... that's definitely an outsider, we need to do something. If they get control and start barricading as if it's their village... We can't do anything, I'm powerless once that happens. Order the citizens to try their best and find this person. We already have an idea what they did from the eastern area, they gathered wood and is carrying all of it. Keep an eye out for a stack of logs at any point. We can use that as a chance to persuade the outsider then."
Hm? His barrier...? You can't be telling me I'm helping the group who raided already... right? I keep those words in mind while I pass through the village, and after a more thorough check... I do see, an unusual amount of weapons. Ones that I was not met with from the gate before... Is it possible? I haven't actually started helping them... but it's just as risky to think the ones sneaking around are actually the original inhabitants.
I go back to the eastern gate and start constructing a general structure after making the 'villagers' go to a different area to see the scout's reaction... just to make sure. They lower their head and once looking at the general structure, informs the other scout beside them to seize the order. I immediately put the logs I half-assembled together back in my inventory and snuck out, not that I needed to, but extra precautions are welcome. I don't know how if it was their barrier they couldn't see me or the people inside, but maybe there's a second barrier making entities invisible while inside... Likely the Chief's barrier that's supposedly weakening. I don't know every detail as of right now, but as far as I can tell, I can likely deal with anybody I encounter as long as I'm fighting with them one by one, so I should be fine to approach the person who's still hiding nearby.
I climb up the tree, which... kind of scares the person away, or well... they kind of got scared when I got out of one of the barriers. I didn't really notice before but the film I pass through is a slight bit thicker, and unless this barrier wards off attacks. I don't think it's going to be that thick normally. Even then there's a very little gap that you can barely feel in between so I think that confirms what I'm theorizing of. I could also just be overthinking but... mmm... I'll leave that problem to a future me. Once I got on a stable branch I looked up to ask them something but before I could...
"What are you doing with that group? If you have no business with me then I suggest you go." I hear a hint of anger to presumably try and scare me and I don't know if it's just my race but I definitely didn't buy into the intimidation act. Not that I was going to attack him but uh... I can't really get any closer without implying that. So I speak up
"I'm not really doing anything, they want me to help them fortify for when your group eventually raids, I'm not sure if one of them can see through whatever barriers are there... but it sure wasn't very unnoticeable from where I was standing."
"Of course it wouldn't... you're a demi-human, people like you can easily notice us because of how easily flawed we are... Just like how the group you're helping plans to wipe us out. Mmm... I may have said a bit much. Nevertheless, I don't expect to see you soon." After they said that, they jumped away in the trees, not really allowing me to do much afterwards... I don't really have the skills to jump branch to branch... How do I even begin to do anything regarding this situation though? Either I deal with the town group... or the group in the forest... What a troublesome decision...
