Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 159: Soul Attack

Chapter 159: Soul Attack

Astrid’s brows perked up at the sudden illusion. Thanks to Illusion Detection, she could make out what was fake from real. Passing the illusionary field of hills and fields, there was a broken tower in the distance. She raised the mana in her eye and was about to break it open--she stopped herself.

Thinking about Zehpyrion’s inheritance, surely it would be a better method to see how the illusion worked? With the thought in mind, Astrid continued her walk forward–through the illusionary land–and beyond the hills.

Around thirty minutes had passed and Astrid could tell that it wasn’t an ordinary illusion. Most illusions were just a skewed perception, or more powerful ones could make the person believe they were true. But this one had another effect. Time. Astrid realised that she was still in the same spot that she was in before. She hadn’t moved a single step.

It made her believe that she was walking. Of course, Astrid was a powerful psychic in her own right, and she was able to figure it out with her Illusion Detection.

Thankfully the illusion isn’t that strong. Astrid closed her eyes, and swept her Psych Domain outward in a wide arc. Then, her fingers twitched as four pillars blinked against her radar like Skill. Grinning, she walked straight toward them. But the illusion warped once more. She returned back to the beginning.

So annoying. Astrid humphed. With a twitch of her mind, she latched onto the pillar within her sight–and pulled. She was hoping it would break, but Astrid was pulled toward it instead.

She could feel the mana in her surroundings flicker, but she was no longer walking. Brought forward by Psychokinesis, she approached the pillar. As she neared it, the pillar seemed to be imbued with strange inscriptions. Mana surged within them, and it looked as if it was powering the illusion in the surrounding area.

With a simple [Crash], Astrid obliterated the magical pillar. Even though only one was destroyed, the others joined it in quick succession. Three explosions occurred from where the other pillars were located.

Destroying one short circuits the others? Astrid mused. At first she thought the so-called Zephyrion was still alive from the illusion, but it looked like they were just powered by the pillars.

The moment the illusionary field was destroyed, the hazy tower that she had witnessed before sizzled into view. It wasn’t big, maybe the fact that half of it was laying scattered around the floor had to do with it. But something was telling her that it wasn’t like a tower from her mothers fantasy stories.

Her mother had always told her that one day a charming prince would visit the Sinwen manor and present his hand in marriage, taking her away from home. Yuck. Astrid spat at the thought. Being tied down in a stupid relationship didn’t sound like fun. How would she pull out eyes, or fight in a gaudy white dress?

She hated the image.

Moving on, she levitated around the ruins. The stone the original builder had used was of an old red stone. Rough in places, chipped in others, it was obvious it wasn’t built by a mage–which was strange.

A mage at the level of Zephyrion couldn’t gain the help of an earth mage to help protect his Inheritance? Or did the old deceased man think that his illusions were more than enough?

Stupid. Did he not expect an eyeball-pulling girl of Sinwen to arrive at his doorstep?

Oh right, someone was meant to get the Inheritance. That will be me. Astrid chuckled. Well, it did make sense to share the fun of power with others.

She supposed it was just like the noble families and their relics. Inheritance, relics–it was all the same one way or another.

Astrid flew into the top floor. It was a circular room and papers were littered on the floor. Picking up some from the dust ladened floor most of them were mad scribbles, ineligible even for her, which was quite the accomplishment.

Dumping them to the floor, she was more interested in the bed. Although a layer of dust covered it, the fabric still remained. Unusual. Fabric, unless it was high tier, would always be eaten away from the passage of time. Astrid trailed her fingers across it. It was smooth. It was glossy like a glass mirror, just more pliable.

She couldn’t resist. Astrid blew the layer of dust out of the tower, then plopped herself onto the bed. Her body sunk into the fine materials of the bed, it was almost like a layer of clouds that hugged the curves of her body.

This is great. Astrid smiled.

Mattress of Supple Comfort: A mattress made from unique materials only the creator knows. It has self repairing qualities.

No, this is amazing. Correcting herself, she sent the mattress along with the pillows into her storage. It took up quite a large potion of it–but it was worth it. She needed a good mattress and this one was the most comfortable one she had ever experienced. Even Florries family who spared no expense could only dream of such comfort. Suck it, Florrie.

Snarling at the image of the brunette brat, Astrid was about to head back down onto the surface of the ruins when she heard a crack. The entire floor disintegrated, jolting Astrid’s body down.

Astrid caught herself with Levitate. Her heart sank. I didn’t do that, right? Shaking her head, and trying her best to ignore the fact she just destroyed most of the Inheritance building, Astrid headed down below.

Through Psych Domain, she could tell that there was an underground passage. So she just blasted the rest of the building out of the way. Rubble, rocks, bricks, books… Everything was blasted away until all that remained was an inscribed hatch.

Thankfully she could actually read the words. “Brick-by-brick, Stone-by-stone, under the tower built from my own blood, here lays the trial of my Inheritance.”

Astrid awkwardly chuckled as she gazed out at the field of debris. Well shit.

“Great start Astrid!” Pupil’s sudden resurgence caused her to take a step back. She almost forgot there was a weird alien within her mind.

“Shut up, besides, maybe he will look favourably upon my ability to act without thinking.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Anyway, where were you? Feels like an eternity since the last time you talked.”

“I’ve been so tired.”

“It’s your own fault for messing with the System, stop altering the damned title messages will you?”

“But it’s fun. Voidmare enjoys it too! It’s the only way to stop its incessant chatter.”

“That’s a big word for you.” Astrid joked.

“I’m learning! Or trying to anyway–all you ever think about are eyes, it’s tough to increase my vocabulary being with such a brute.”

“Are you in your teenage years now?” Astrid sighed. “I remember when I was still a child.”

“Aren’t you still considered a child, Astrid?”

“Oh.” Astrid thought for a second before shaking her head. “Oh!” A sudden realisation hit her. “I’m almost sixteen!” Astrid paced back and forth on the spot as she counted the months on her fingers. It should be her birthday in just a couple weeks.

She was so busy fighting, exploring, and causing mayhem that she hadn’t realised it until now. But now she remembered, she was craving her mothers home-made cake. Strawberry cream–Astrid slobbered at the thought.

Simple minded, maybe, but the loss from before was now at the back of her mind. Only a fiery determination and a warmth made her open up the hatch.

Astrid was expecting something to happen, but she was disappointed to find that it was just a normal latch. Shrugging, she fell down into another illusionary array. More accurately, it was a tunnel filled with traps. The first ones were shooting a never ending stream of poisonous arrows. They disappeared into the wall, presumably, the illusion had shattered.

Unlike before, there were no pillars powering the illusion. Zephyrion must have been able to leave a remnant of his illusions down here. But I thought he focused more on attacking? Astrid thought, confused at the unforeseen strategies.

Wait, if he is known for his attacks, then that means he wants me to destroy them? Like a lightbulb going off in her head, Astrid was going to destroy it, but first, she was curious about something.

Within her Psych Domain, and Illusionary Detection, she could see anything that was fake, or not as it should be. But the arrows looked real. Not only looked, as she approached the first stream of arrows, she hesitantly put her hand forward to test it.

As the arrow passed through her hand, a searing pain entered her body. Not through her hand where the arrow had passed through, but within her mind. Feeling the pain closer, it wasn’t exactly true. It felt deeper, it was a pain that was hard to describe–or pinpoint.

It was strange considering how closely she was connected to her own body. Is it soul damage? Astrid had heard about a peculiar race of monsters that could cause soul damage through hitting things with their fists. But the soul was still something mostly unexplored by the science Classes on Rebirth.

The soul. Only those that had a Class revolving around it knew what it could do, and it was a sensitive subject. After all, why would they want to let people know how to counter it? And of course, only the nobles had access to it as it was considered high tier.

If Astrid’s memory served her well–which it usually didn’t–then the Flynn family were the ones that had the Class.

Putting all of that to the back of her mind, Astrid wondered if she could do some experimentation. She glanced around the walls that were covered in illusions. There didn’t seem to be any monsters, at the minute anyway.

So Astrid thought it was the opportune time to learn the intricacies of a soul attack. How could she defend against it, what to do when she encountered it, and above all–how to incorporate it into her own attacks.

Astrid placed her hand forward once more and felt the prickling pain deep within her very being. It was ethereal, and it was difficult to make out if something like a ‘soul’ even existed, but she persisted.

She sat on the floor as she took it all in. From the pain, to where it went. Astrid gazed at the deepest parts of her body. From the liquid mana within the eye, to her blood, to each cell that made up her flesh.

Then, as she sent her mind down further, she saw something. It was light.