Intruder

Realizing what the warning truly meant, he immediately went into high alert—or at least the 21-year-old university boy version of high alert.

He ran behind his throne and manipulated the earth around him to form a cube around himself.

"Let's hope this thing keeps me safe," Kingsley thought, trying to calm himself, but to no avail. His heart was beating so fast he feared it might jump out of his chest.

Creating several tiny orbs of light reminiscent of fireflies, Kingsley finally saw his pathetic state. He wasn't even sure if the warning was triggered because a native had entered his territory or if it was simply a heads-up about his current situation.

"Is this really how you plan to save your family?" a voice deep inside him surfaced, mocking his reaction.

Hearing his inner voice, Kingsley immediately calmed down, as even he felt his behavior was excessive. One knows they're going over the top when even their inner self mocks them.

Still, Kingsley had no intention of leaving his makeshift safe house. With the ability to create and destroy at will, there was no need to cower like this.

"Okay, man up, my guy!" he shouted, slapping himself as though it would help him muster some courage.

After a few seconds of heavy breathing and mentally psyching himself up, Kingsley finally calmed down enough to think about his situation and what he could do to get out of it.

"What to use... what to use," Kingsley muttered as he considered the options at his disposal to guarantee his safety.

He could create life, but how exactly? Was it like designing a game character, or could he simply imagine someone into existence? What conditions needed to be met for that to happen?

If his ability came with a manual, he would have already created thousands of overpowered troops to sweep the forest. But without that knowledge, and given his current state of mind, creating a being felt impossible.

"Wait!" he thought as an idea suddenly came to him.

He was God within his territory, meaning everything was under his control. If his powers worked with thought, as they had with the shrubs, then surely he could survive.

Folding his legs into a lotus position, Kingsley willed the ground around him to rise a few centimeters above the floor.

As parts of the raised earth slowly sank back down, they left behind several small sculptures of various objects. Upon closer inspection, the sculptures resembled trees, though not of the same type.

Kingsley had created a miniature forest—but not just any forest. This was a live map of his territory in its entirety.

Kingsley didn't understand the specifics of how he achieved this, but one thing was clear: he had somehow commanded the earth to form a small-scale replica of his territory.

It didn't make sense, but if you considered the theory that the earth had memory or some form of sentience, it started to add up.

"Now, where is the intruder?" Kingsley said aloud, and immediately, a bright red spot appeared on the 3D map.

"So there really was someone here," he thought, feeling an odd sense of pride.

As he spoke, the earth map began zooming in on the red spot until Kingsley could see the intruder in full detail.

"What the fuck is that?!" Kingsley shouted in surprise as he stared at the creature.

It was grotesque, with ram-like horns, distorted facial features, and arms as long as its body. The creature was beyond ugly, yet somehow its appearance felt… fitting. No matter how he looked at it, the creature's hideousness seemed perfectly suited to it.