TF Chapter 86 Acquaintances

"This is bad! Very very bad! If I am not mistaken that was something akin to a sonar! Shit! This ability wasn't mentioned before! We have to run!" Bora spoke in a flutter, her words spewing out like bullets from a machine gun.

"Where? We most definitely shouldn't go back to the forest as we might get trapped there forever. That was most definitely not a spiritual domain! Is there a spiritual domain that powerful?" I wondered even as I tried to regain control of my nerves, which were threatening to have me shouting at something or someone.

"Maybe there were others who triggered the natives. We need to find them!" Danny spoke, his eyes holding a gleam of calculation.

"Let's break into the path!" With a pulse of my spiritual powers in a linear direction, where the dusty path was situated, every single stalk of grass was charred by my intent instantly. I didn't even wait to see if the others were following me, only sprinting instantly. I wanted to see those outsiders who had managed to rile up a tribe of the natives. What had they done? Who they were? And most of all, did I know them?

The very wind caressed my face as I ran, sucking away the heat that would have clung to my body, making it hotter. It was almost akin to running in the rain.

Within mere moments, I was back on the path, staring as two humanoid forms were being chased by other similar but large forms baring torches burning with flame.

"They can use fire now?! Can they all see?!" Danny shouted incredulously.

"Shit! The information we have is outdated! These aliens have managed to evolve far faster than anticipated!" Bora cursed under her breath.

"And is that poor couple running towards us, Alistair and that girl who always follows him around?!" Danny shouted, this time genuinely surprised and shocked.

After those words, everything else became a blur to me, my focus shifting from everything else to the natives chasing the couple. Alistair and the girl sped up upon noticing us.

I felt the ground sink when I applied force to my foot, launching myself into a sprint towards Alistair and the girl, passing between them without so much as sparing them a sideways glance as I headed for the natives, flaring my domain and conjuring my plasma balls instantaneously with just a single thought.

At its edges, I set my domain aflame with the highest temperature I could handle, causing the aliens' spiritual powers to sizzle and withdraw. When I reached within a suitable range, where my spiritual powers could interact with their bodies directly, I commanded my plasma balls with a thought, turning the first two into a cheesecake in just a mere instant!

I didn't pause, passing the bodies before they could even hit the ground, I did the same to those in the back. There were about twenty natives that had been on Alistair's tail. I didn't have the luxury of stopping to admire my work, so I continued on, causing those that were faster in reaction speed to leap out of the range my domain covered while I was still taking care of the next two.

I stopped in place, my feet skidding upon the ground, causing me a dull pain, which I am sure I will feel later when the adrenaline wears off. The natives had surrounded me in a circle, their eyes less comical than the one from before. And for the first time since I attacked, I took a hard critical look at them and noticed how their necks appeared to be somehow bigger, not to mention the fact that they had two things at the aides of their heads that give me the faint feeling that they are sensory organs.

Was that native back in the forest lying? Or could it be that he had been out there in the forest for too long? Not to mention the fact that when we had been up in the trees, I had managed to make out the fact that those who had been logging hadn't had these advanced features.

So, what was up with these ones?

I didn't dwell too much on the thought now that I was surrounded. This impulsive move of mine hadn't been entirely uncalculated. I wanted to prove to these creatures, this planet, that I had gotten stronger, but most of all, I had to annihilate these ones. I didn't want to go back into the forest, but that was the only option considering the fact that we had been discovered.

And because of that pulse of spiritual energy that had washed over us, I was sure that there was bound to be another hunting party headed where we had been previously, not to mention the fact that maybe these native aliens could release another pulse of the same nature.

Everything became quiet in this moment, except for a few embers flying around and the gentle breeze that was swaying the grass tall enough to reach my chest at the sides of the path. It wasn't wide enough to accommodate all the native aliens, so some of them were within it.

Their veins bulged, a sign that they were about to move. These ones were different from that lone one in the forest. I could see it in their eyes. There was caution, but no fear. They must have been fighting against intent awakened alien forgers for a while now. My heart pounded in my chest for a moment, with fear almost overtaking me, yet I forcefully pushed my concerns down. There was no way they had ever managed to face someone like me, a person who had awakened an intent meant for pure destruction. 

Every sense of mine was heightened at this moment, yet I was very certain that my spiritual senses were going to be the most useful...and not even a moment too late, I felt a limb tearing through my domain, heading for my stomach with such speed, my spirit managed to capture every particle in its path being carried forward, compressed to the point that they almost developed the properties of a liquid!

For a split second, I was flustered, only for a calm to clamp down on me such that I moved my plasma balls to counter the alien's attack, which burnt through the entire part that was inside my domain, leaving behind ashes, which before they could even settle, my plasma balls were redirected to handle another attack. 

This must have been a meticulously trained unit that had been created for the sole purpose of going after the intent awakeners, yet they were failing to stop me, why? Because the speed of my plasma balls was almost equal to that of my thoughts!

Directing a sliver of my thoughts into stopping the air particles that could have blasted me flying, or injured me severely was a piece of cake.

They once again stopped with those probing attacks, none of them even showing some sort of response to their charred stumps. These were highly trained operatives that must have been tempered through even worse situations. I had the faintest thought that maybe their limbs could be regrown...maybe that's why they appeared to be at ease.

As I was vigilantly staring at them, they too were doing the same...before something that threw me for a loop happened. They started conversing in a language I didn't know!

It looks like we had been looking down on the natives for too long! They had become civilised. And I bet that not too far from now, humanity would have to treat them very seriously! Even the forgers will have to stop dropping recruits like us onto this planet.

Their conversation wasn't important to me so I started scrutinizing those that were in my field of vision, trying to spot one that appeared relaxed, but was disappointed. These aliens were like soldiers in a military, or special forces. Even when conversing and making gestures with their arms, I didn't manage to pick up any weak points to exploit.

It looks like I had still been impulsive, but that didn't matter right now. I needed to gain the upper hand! So, with a backward leap, I brought some three creatures that had been behind me within my domain, only for my spheres to miss as they had leaped away, still maintaining the circle.

But I didn't relent, turning around by pivoting on my foot, I broke into a sprint, causing those that were circling me to let me out after a what I took to be a command from their leader, allowing me to make it back to the group in one swift move.

I turned back, only to see the special native task force vanishing, probably heading back to the village.

"We need to go. Those aliens are like a dog with a bone to pick. They won't give up!" The petit woman beside Alistair spoke, giving me a once over with a gaze that contained some surprise, which caused me to wonder why it wasn't shock.