TF Chapter 92 Cold

The coldness on my skin didn't simply originate from the native's intent. It was also because of the danger the female alien was giving off. She was as muscular as the males, except with one simple differentiating feature, her black short hair. Learning her gender had surprised me at first because Alistair had spoken about how the tribe was a partriachy before. But now, it seems that there had been some changes to the authority within the tribe, probably having to do with that genius native.

The woman was wielding a long spear, constructed from solid ice, yet I felt that it most definitely wasn't brittle.

And the other thing about her that triggered my caution was the way she had coated her body with her spiritual intent domain, which was akin to the method I had discovered on my own. She twirled the spear in her hands, playing with it as if the five of us weren't a threat to her. It seemed that she was most probably high on self-confidence.

"We can't afford to slow down! Many other aliens are making their way towards us!" Alistair barked.

"Yeah. Let's attack together!"

Carol, the one who had agreed with Alistair moved first, one of her daggers causing some of the ice to turn into sand, before the alien's powerful strength forced her away.

I formed a miniature sun in my palm, and smashed it into the shaft of the spear when I reached close, causing the alien's eyes to widen imperceptibly before, it parried my attack to the side and proceeded to thrust towards my mid section.

I dodged the attack by moving to the left, before changing the properties of the orange ball within my palm...adding a gravitational pull that caused the alien to falter for an instant, opening up a window which allowed Alistair to get close.

But before he could even make contact with the alien, ice gathered on the finger tips of her other hand, transforming them into claws which slashed at Alistair. And despite her lack of balance, the claws were sure to connect.

Even though, Alistair couldn't see the attack, rich combat experience caused the man to trust his instincts, allowing him to retreat safely.

After that tussle, we had surrounded the female alien, whose cold air was even leaking out of her intent domain and affecting the surroundings.

With a small exchange of glances, I activated my intent domain, causing an orange glow that resembled dusk to cover my body before hurling myself towards the female alien, where I proceeded to exchange moves with her while trying to pass by her, causing her to continously retreat towards the inside of the village as she tried her best to impede us.

For a moment, I became envious of her intent as her ice couldn't easily disappear even when it made it out of her intent domain, making it so that even though she was concentrated on me, she still managed to fire projectiles towards the others, slowing them down enough that they failed to pull ahead. Of course, it wasn't entirely because of her efforts as we had already decided that we wouldn't split up. So, before we defeated her, there was absolutely no way the others would leave me here.

I became elated when a palm of mine managed to break through her guard, slamming into her broad chest, only for it to make contact with a hastily conjured ward of ice, bringing a grimace onto my face.

Her ice was too cold! Even with I having raised the temperature of the orange domain around me to the level of plasma, her ice was managing to keep up with it in sheer cold!

"Beware of her ice! Its cold enough to even affect plasma!" I warned my companions who were looking for any window of opportunity, through which they could help me.

Bora's voice entered my ears, causing me to retreat before bullets of air caused the female alien to retreat, making sure to dodge many, though some were also thwarted by her spear. Though, chunks of ice fell off because the bullets were simply too powerful.

The alien woman was forced to hide behind a thick wooden wall that had once been part of a house. The tip of a rock jutting out signified that a siege weapon had caused its destruction.

Carol took the opportunity to appear by the wall, directly opposite where the female alien was hiding and stabbed her daggers into it, where it vanished before my very eyes. An explosion of air spread out in a cone in front of her, hurling the alien woman away as if she had just been slammed with a car. 

I didn't know whether to admire Carol for using her brain to turn the wood into air, or be terrified of her ruthlessness! I had managed to capture a glimpse before the woman had vanished into over a dozen houses, leaving destruction in her wake. Her entire body had been covered in what passed as blood for the natives. She had most probably been grievously injured! 

The natives had great combat experience...but lacked the ingenuity of us humans...well, I will hold off on that thought before meeting their so-called genius.

Our intents allowed us to forcibly take control of reality and shape it into the image we wanted, for example, me. The particles that entered my intent domain were made to act like miniature stars, causing them to gain gravity and heat. But Carol's intent was ever changing. Whatever entered her domain was capable of either becoming a drop of water, a leaf or even sand itself. It was chaotic in nature.

She was the one person among all the others that could probably go toe to toe with me. Actually, I didn't want to fight the woman if I could help it.

Without a moment to waste, we proceeded to continue towards the cave system after the alien woman's defeat, taking inconspicuous paths that made it so that the chances of being discovered by the angered aliens from the camp were small.

The houses weren't too shabby for a primitive race. They were the standard multiple room ensemble comprised of a bedroom, a living room, and an outhouse. My intuition was telling me that most of the wood from the logging activities had been used for these houses. These natives in the fortress appeared to be more civilised than those ones outside, who were more like savage barbarians.

And it looked like the experiments to gain visual and smell and auditory senses had gone well because all the natives we had encountered appeared to have been given the three senses.

"That was exhilarating! I finally managed to get the chance to beat up a native with an intent!" Exclaimed Carol.

"That was very clever and ruthless of you." Bora said while eyeing the woman with some measure of caution. Her intent was simply too unpredictable, just like her mind.

"This is a battle, honey. There is no reason to pity your opponent. If I didn't kill her, she would have probably already killed one of us."

"Her ice was super cold, far surpassing normal ice. If she had had our knowledge, then there is no way we would have won that easily. One, or some of us would have gotten seriously injured or dead."

Alistair was right. An intent capable of going against the heat of a star was a dangerous weapon in the hands of an enemy. If I hadn't been part of the team, the only one who would have stood a chance against the alien woman might have been Carol...and the one who would have managed to survive the encounter would have been Danny.

This was a battle that was pitting our very lives against those of the natives. We couldn't afford to pull our punches.

"I know what you are talking about. I am just saying that your battle lust is too much!"

"I am a prodigy. Thinking on the fly is my thing. Changing wood into air had been the most optimal solution that had come to me."

The woman bragged. Bora was getting visibly more unhappy with the woman, but in the end she chose silence over bickering with her.

"I don't see any hills in the distance, is the cave system somewhere beneath this ground?" Danny asked as we raced towards the direction Alistair had indicated.

"Yes, its beneath the ground. But its ancient, probably dating back to before the Natives even evolved to this point. Those are just my conjectures based on instincts, but I have a feeling that they are right."

"I have to agree with Ali here. I too think that the natives aren't the ones who crafted the tunnels, as they are simply too ancient." Carol added.

"So, you are saying that the natives only settled here for the caves?"

"We should be careful of them...they regard the cave and the statue like deity."

"You should all be prepared. We are going to have to make sure that we kill any native in the tunnels and the cave itself, as they are fanatics who will even be willing to sacrifice their lives!" Carol's face took on a measure of seriousness.

 

This was going to be very troublesome. Religious fanatics were the kind of creature that couldn't be reasoned with! They will use any means necessary to kill us. And I doubt there are no intent awakeners among them.

"We will get through this! Maybe their genius has already converted them away from the path of worship to the mysteries of science." Danny jested.