TF Chapter 94 A Warm Night

                ***Nathaniel***

"Let's forget about the difference in our races for a moment and discuss something that is binding us together at the moment, intent."

After a few minutes of silence, Geni decided to broach a new topic that piqued my interest. Though I had been experimenting with the limits of my intent, I hadn't had the chance to discuss my discoveries with a peer. Since he was the prodigy, the genius that had managed to rise out of this race of aliens, then his mind had to be of a high enough caliber that it could compare to those scientists back on Earth.

"Have you discovered something new?" Danny's question had a sarcastic ring to it. The man was basically looking down upon this being of the alien race. I directed a withering glare his way, causing him to wipe the smirk off his face.

"...so many discoveries. Did you know that the range of your intent domain can be expanded upon sacrificing pure spiritual cores?"

My eyes bugged out at that question, my gaze moving towards the others, who also sported the same constipated look. We had wasted a lot of spiritual cores, shattering and destroying the things like noveu riche. Yet now, someone was telling us that we might have been capable of using the damn things to increase the domains of our intents, though probably temporarily.

"Dang it! I should have kept all of them! Danny! You destroyed many of my marbles! I will get vengeance for them!" Carol's vicious glare caused Danny to shiver and cower within his seat.

"...well, it looks like you are the dumb ones of your species..." Geni's mumble caused my face to heat up but I couldn't come up with any clever rhetoric.

"I believe that they can only be be used to enhance the domain temporarily. But, what about those with special intents, those which don't require an intent domain to function?" I decided to move on such that I could spare all of us the embarrassment.

"There are far too many variances with the enhancement they can provide to those special intents. If I were to try and get into it, it would take us the whole night...so, I will list out some and maybe, you can provide valuable input."

"The second thing I have discovered is that experiences can affect the awakened intent. Let me put it this way, the younger you would have awakened a different or a variation of your current intent if you had chosen to awaken it at that time."

"I beg to differ on that. My intent would have still been the same." Danny outright refused that theory.

"Now now, don't be hasty. I don't mean that such a thing happens to everybody, besides, I don't think that even you believe your words, right? Maybe it would have been the same but with a few small variances." Geni appeared to hold a wellspring of happiness the more he spoke. It was like he had been lit on fire.

"I managed to capture a glimpse of some parts of the battle with that resistor of change...and I must say, you have some pretty interesting intents. Would you allow me to research them?"

For some reason, I connected the alien to me with those five year olds that would get excited at the prospect of having candy. Though, I had to say that the alien's genuineness was slowly winning us over.

"Hold it there buddy! We still haven't established some modicum of trust." Alistair was the one who held the reigns. I was grateful that he had managed to stop me in time as I would have surely engaged in a delightful conversation with the alien. I have always wanted to meet two kinds of people within my lifetime, a genius and someone capable of divining the future. Even I sometimes wonder why, but I have come one conclusion, I am way too curious about many things...and they seem to be the only kinds of people capable of answering my questions.

"Too bad! I haven't been able to find peers like you among my race. Anyway, you can casually choose one of the houses to rest in. Tomorrow morning, you will be taken to the cave system." Geni stood up after those words, vanishing with the troop of intent warriors. Judging by the direction, I had a feeling that he was finally going to deal with the invaders camped outside.

"That guy is interesting. I would love to keep him with us." 

The light from the orange ball floating above my shoulder illuminated the space as Carol broke the silence left in the alien's wake.

"We can't afford to be dragged into his pace. And before you frown at me, I know that he's genuine with his words... But all of you have to keep in mind that geniuses are always a thin line away from derangement."

We all shivered at his words. He was right. Geni hadn't acted out of character when chatting with us...but should he get impatient and resort to more extreme means...

"And here I had been thinking that we were finally going to fight to our hearts' content!" Carol sprawled upon the table, appearing to have lost energy.

"...it would be better we don't. The chances of us dying are 100%. Did you see that army? Those intent awakened aliens are enough to take over this entire planet!" Bora's voice was trembling.

I held her hand to try and reassure her. But I was sure that her nerves were never going to settle that easily. We were in a lion's den. Being safe for the moment didn't mean that the lions wouldn't try to eat us sometime in the near future.

"He wants to go back with us. He wants an alliance with us. Those two things can be fulfilled if we ignore the figures above us...but the consequences aren't ones we can bare." Danny loved the stubble that had developed below his chin. Rubbing it made a smile appear on his face...and the first time I had seen it, I had been shocked by its genuineness.

"I want to go rest. Being tense for such a long time isn't good for health." I said before standing up and moving towards a house behind me.

"Why are you following us?" Bora's question caused me to turn back. For a moment, I was befuddled, but then everything clicked and fell into place.

"It looks like we will be enjoying one house. Don't worry you two love birds. You can use the bedroom. I promise not to eavesdrop." Danny chuckled, a shit eating grin on his face.

"We ought to stay together at this time...Danny! Stop teasing them!" Alistair berated the guy.

"They outnumber us by many times. Separating would only easily lead to our doom." A yawn escaped Carol's mouth.

              ***Danny***

Sometimes, seeing stars frustrated the hell out of me. It sometimes made me question the universe as to why I hadn't become one of those protagonists, the people who were going to become legends. Following them in a sycophantic manner wasn't always glorious. I had plenty of relatives that had been dragged through the mud because of the choices made by those they followed.

I had thought Senior Nat was the only one who had been chosen by the universe, the favored one... Yet, his galaxy of stars was rivalled by another, Geni. The moment I had laid eyes upon the guy I had known that should we get into an altercation, he and Nathaniel were the only two who would have certainly survived while the rest of us would probblably have gone to hell.

A panic attack had almost taken my life even before we had crossed swords... A sigh escaped my lips as a breeze caressed my face from the outside on my perch on the window. The fireplace was releasing light and heat, making the newly minted house seem homely in a way that made me just want to let go of every thought and simply sleep.

"...I have a feeling that should that alien get a chance, legends will be left in his wake." 

Another sigh escaped my lips at Carol's words. This woman didn't have the same power as me, yet she was very intuitive. She was practically someone who knew how to hedge her bets. Honestly, she was a puzzle all on her own. Sometimes, her stars even temporarily surpassed those of Nathaniel...always fluctuating with no set limit. Basically, I hadn't been surprised by the intent she had awakened because she was simply the embodiment of chaos itself!

"The universe is a wide pool. Many dragons are hidden within it. If you underestimate any, you might not even understand how you died." Alistair was most definitely referring to me with those words, but I didn't have the energy to argue with him.

"Yeah...we too are still frogs at the bottom of a well. I believe the statue will enlighten us of that." Senior Nat's words were true.

Even with humanity achieving space travel, we were still frogs at the bottom of the well. I couldn't even begin to fathom the powers of beings capable of leaving an entire continent within a star!

"There is no need to be intimidated. Even the greatest races took one step at a time to reach the pinnacle of the universe. Humanity will eventually reach that level too. We just have to have faith." Bora spoke out even as she knead Senior Nat's shoulders. I still hadn't gotten around to liking the woman. Besides, she was leading senior Nat astray with romance...all the more reason for me to hate her deeply! A part of me even fantasized strangling her once.