Inferior in Stealth

The dream finished after 20 cycles and I woke up in my new shelter. I ate my breakfast and then carried on with my training. The part of the forest I lived in currently, was very quiet. I always thought why people feared north so much. It seemed to me that the further north I went, the quieter it became. 'This doesn't make sense. The guy who told me about north was a coward but didn't lie to me, I would be able to guess that much. He really feared the northern parts and even said that there are more amazing or dangerous creatures and animals living there. Even stronger than the Flaming Silver Wolf or the Flaming Grey Bear' I thought.

But something didn't seem to add up. If my destination was so dangerous, why the hell was it so quiet here? Barely being able to find variants was something I never encountered outside of the scopes of villages. Something was fishy about this region. 'It's either the guy who told me all of this was lying and was the best actor I could ever find or he told the truth and something is not right' I thought.

'I never noticed any presence of strong animals or even people. The only people I encountered were the group that chased me up to here. They were already dead so why do I feel like something is not right here?' I thought.

This was my current problem. Trying to figure out why this region was so peaceful? There were barely any strong animals, if calling the Black Bears or Black Wolves counted as strong. 'I lived in this place for so long and there is nothing here' I thought. Those thoughts started shortly after my senses awoke and improved. I was paranoid about it at first. I checked if anyone or anything was watching me but I felt no presence, saw no shadow and smelled no smell. Yet my mind never gave up about it. Always staying alert as if telling me "Look out, there is something here!".

I dispersed those thoughts. 'Maybe I'm lacking human interactions and my mind is starting to play tricks on me. When Shelly was here, I always had someone to talk to. Maybe I'm just tired' I thought. With that in mind, I took a day off instead of continuing my training. It was possible that I was stressing myself too much and placed too much pressure on myself. I decided that some rest would probably fix that.

A week later, I still had those thoughts. I couldn't relax at all. I was able to sleep but doing nothing for a whole day, was something I found quite difficult to do. When I trained, those thoughts were at least kept at bay. My focus was on the exercises, it was easier to supress the other thoughts. I decided to get back to training. If resting didn't help then there was no point doing it.

I trained that day and tried to forget about everything. My skills improved with every passing day by a small margin but my strength stayed at a pretty much the same level. One day, I was training my Natural Path skill when I noticed something odd.

'Hmm? What is this supposed to be?' I thought as I looked at a strange object on the ground. It looked like an arrow but it was completely green and didn't seem like wood or metal. When I picked it up, I noticed it weighed almost nothing. 'Even a small child would be able to pick this arrow up, it's as if it weighs nothing at all!' I thought.

'Where did this arrow come from? Who or what left it here? I ran these routes many times, it would be impossible for me to overlook this. With my senses, it was simply impossible. Someone or something must've left it here' I thought. Then I remembered the feeling I had all that time, as if my instincts were telling me that something was here.

I called out loud "Whoever is here, come out!" but there was no answer. I tried again using different approach "I found your arrow! I know you are here!". I waited for a while but still heard nothing. 'I'm sure this time it's not my imagination. Someone or something is watching me, this arrow is the proof' I thought as I started to head back to my camp.

When I arrived back at my camp, I heard some noises behind me. I didn't react instantly. I wanted to know what it was that tried to observe me. When I turned around, there was nothing. I called out again "Why are you playing this game? Just come out and talk if you want to talk or leave if you have nothing to say". I sat down next to the extinguished campfire and retrieved some sticks and leaves from my bag. I lit some dry leaves that I placed on top of the sticks and waited for the fire to burn well.

I was now 100% sure that there was something or someone observing me. I had one problem with that "This thing or person is much more skilled at stealth than me. I'm not able to spot any movements until they are deliberate. That bush movement was a deliberate action. That thing or person wants to either irritate me or attack me.

The fire started to burn well, I placed some raw meat onto some sticks in order to cook it. When it was cooked, I enjoyed my meal and relaxed a bit. I now knew that my senses were not lying and I didn't have to be paranoid again. I was on guard but knowing and not knowing are two different states a mind can be in.

'Not knowing is a much more stressful state because we are scared of the unknown. Knowing on the other hand, is not stressful as much, we know about something therefore we can prepare for loads of possibilities' I thought. I was on guard at all times now, I knew that whoever or whatever was doing this, it was much more skilled than me in the Art of Stealth. This alone gave them advantage over me. 'Not being able to locate my enemy is almost the same as being dead whenever they so wish, of course if they have the abilities to harm me' I thought.

I took out the arrow from my bag and started playing with it. Suddenly, I came up with a great idea. 'It might not work but it is worth a try' I thought. I said out loud "Hey! do you want this arrow back? Show yourself or I will destroy it". I heard no response but something that sounded like a laughter?

After a while of silence, I heard "You can keep the arrow human, I have more of them". I instantly turned around but found no one. 'This was a voice of a female. What does she want with me?' but before I could ask that question, I realised something 'Wait! She said "You can keep the arrow human". She specifically said a word "human" in her sentence. Just what is that thing? If it calls me human' I thought.

I looked at the place where the voice came from and said "What are you?". There was no response for a while but then I heard her speak "How do you know I'm not human?". I laughed at this and said "You said it yourself. Why would you say "You can keep the arrow human" if you were a human as well? What are you?".

Silence again, I was getting used to those long awaited replies. Although I was irritated, I was also intrigued. If that really was another species capable of human speech then that would be mind blowing. The answer came as a question as well "Why do you want to know?". It was a good question. I was curious and it seemed that the thing hiding somewhere, was watching me for a long time now. 'It must know my skill set and strength' I thought.

I responded "I was curious. You must've watched me for a very long time. So you know what I'm capable of. Although I say that, I must bow to you when it comes to stealth. My Art of Stealth is nothing compared to yours. If you don't want to kill me, why are you here?".

I waited for her to respond for a while until she finally said "Yes, I watch what you were doing for a long time. You would've never noticed me if I didn't leave that arrow for you on purpose. By the way, I don't call that ability an "Art of Stealth" as you put it. It is a trait I was born with, so naturally, you will be inferior". I was a bit pissed but at the same time even more intrigued.

I thought 'What type of creature can learn human language and also be born with a trait that naturally allowed it to be stealthy'. I said "Why don't you show yourself? If you already decided to leave that arrow, why play those games?" but this time, I heard no response. Even after 30 minutes, there was no response. I stood up from my place and thought 'This thing probably left, I now know something is watching me and that something is very intelligent. I have to be careful'. I went back to my training and my mind was more at peace. Known enemies are less scary than those we don't know about.