Chapter 161: Robes of Zephyrion
Chapter 161: Robes of Zephyrion
Chapter 161: Robes of Zephyrion
“Passed–inheritance–attack…” His voice was like a broken record, even the illusion of his body was fading at every second that passed.
So that’s Zephyrion. Astrid pinched her chin. He reminded her of her father. The countless tribulations and experiences he had gone through during his life demanded respect. It was something one couldn’t fake no matter how talented one was in illusions, it was born from the self confidence of being able to fight anyone–and survive.
His eyes brimmed with intelligence. Not from the Stat, but from mastery. It made sense. His ability to teach her different techniques with his guiding hand, even when he was long dead, was extraordinary.
Zephyrion’s mouth continued to move, but there was no sound being made. The great psychokinetic was standing on a mat with the same crystals she had damaged before, and just like them, they were damaged.
Astrid didn’t know if they were linked together, or if time had simply run out, but she worried for her Inheritance.
The room, unlike the others, was actually decorated. A large white rug was sprawled past the quickly fading Zephyrion. On the rug, a black robed skeleton was sitting cross legged.
Zephyrion. Astrid walked past the illusion and stopped in front of the skeleton. On his crossed legs was a letter titled - Inheritance.
Curious took over Astrid as she levitated the letter into her hands and opened it up. The words were written with powerful, forceful strokes. They also seemed somewhat robotic, as if he had written them with the use of magic.
Unlike the fading illusion, the words were clear as day. “If you are reading this, you have passed my Inheritance Trial. Telekinesis, or rather, Psychokinesis, has the blessing of walking numerous paths. It is a power that is only limited by the talent and imagination of the user, it is a limitless path that not many are able to ever reach the peak.
I spend my entire life working toward the path of assault. To deal damage with my spells, to take life–but in the end… was it all for nothing?”
Astrid tilted her head at the unexpected turn of tone the letter took. She didn’t know why, but she expected the man to gush over his accomplishments. From the way the No-Eyed One told his story, it was something to be prideful over. He reached the peak of the world.
The letter continued. “I was too focused on one side of the path that I failed to realise there was a lake that led to the wide ocean. Many believe I reached the peak of the world, but that is false. This world is such a small insignificant piece, like that of a grain of sand on a neverending beach. It was only until I met the ‘Sovereign’ did I realise my mistake, but it was already too late for me.”
Sovereign. Astrid’s eyes widened in surprise at the recurring word. Did it have something to do with the Eye-Queen? Although Astrid didn’t know about the timeline of when she first arrived in this world, maybe it was the same person?
If there was one person that could be said to be a Sovereign, then it had to be the Eye-Queen.
“So what was the point in the trials if it wasn’t to teach you how to attack? The real purpose was to widen your knowledge in its uses. Psychokinesis isn’t limited like other Skills are. It isn’t for attacking, nor is it for defending. It’s not about life, or death. No, the ‘Sovereign’ made it clear to me. In my dying days, the epiphany will haunt me until my Inheritor can achieve what I failed to do.
The real apex of Psychokinesis is Creation and Destruction. You can create attacks–can create defence. You can create life–and can create death. You can warp reality to your whim. Feel its power, study it closely, for you are not limited by common sense.
If you are reading this, then you must walk the path where I… and others have not–cannot.
Psychokinesis is a limitless path. It is a path to the almighty. It is a path to an omnipotent Sovereign.”
Astrid’s blood boiled at his words. But she was conflicted. Sure creation was great, but so was attacking
She knew where Zephyrion was coming from. It was dangerous to merely just walk on one path. Especially with a Skill like Psychokinesis. She could attack, yes, but the whole trial she had been altering her matter control, and creating attacks on the fly. It truly was a limitless Skill.
Flipping the letter over, she expected more, but it was left blank. She looked around the room, but there wasn’t anything that looked Inheritance-like. The only thing that even remotely looked like it was worth anything was the robes he was wearing.
Astrid didn’t hesitate for a second. She bent over and pinched the material in her fingers.
“Astrid, are you seriously stealing his clothes?” The voice of Pupil emerged in her thoughts.
“What? He won’t mind, this is all to improve my strength. Besides, I need to kill that stupid moth.” Astrid kicked the ground.
Despite Pupil’s complaining, Astrid stripped Zephyrion’s robes off his skeleton. Once she removed the main robe, Astrid was surprised to find out that it wasn’t just one piece. There was also a pair of boots and a belt that she had to take off along with the robe.
Taking the boots off as well, she Identified them.
You have gained an Epic set of Intelligence armour - Level 150 - Robes of Zephyrion: The Inheritance of the great psychokinetic Zephyrion. The robes are steeped in history and he used them all the way to the peak of his own world.
| Piece 1 [ Obtained ]: +50 Intelligence. +5% increased psychic damage.
| Piece 2 [ Obtained ]: +100 Intelligence. +15% Increased psychic damage.
| Piece 3 [ Obtained ]: +150 Intelligence. +25% Increased psychic damage.
Astrid marvelled at the items. It wasn’t as creative as her Psychokinetic ring, but the raw damage was something she desperately needed to deal with the lava moth.
She couldn’t help but admire the man. Zephyrion was truly dedicated to reaching the apex of attacking Psychokinesis, even his robes didn’t have a single stat point dedicated to Constitution.
Slipping the robes over her current armour, Astrid took another look at the room, but there was nothing worth taking. Then, she gazed at the skeleton of Zephyrion. A strange feeling tugged at her heart. The man had worked tirelessly all his life, just to die of old age. His life's work amounted to only the knowledge within his head, and the robes around his dead corpse. There was no family to speak of, or any land to call his own.
Even if he had Omni-Kinesis like she did, it wasn’t a true Constitution Stat. She would age the exact same way. It was why all mages yearned for any item to increase their life.
With the robes acquired, and the new fine matter control strengthening her attacks even further–she was ready to face Avemoth once more.
Astrid wasted no time and blasted out of the man-made tunnels. Her new black robes tousled violently from the chaotic wind. She could have used Mind Barrier, but there was something so freeing about the feeling of wind bashing her face.
Maybe it was the fact that she once thought she was only going to be a magic warrior. The thought of flying through the sky had never occurred to her. She shook the thoughts from her head as she approached the mountainous region once more.
It had undergone a great change as the smell of sulphur assaulted her senses, then, a chalky fleck smeared her cheek. More followed until it was like a rain that dotted out the sky. Mentioning the sky, the once tropical blue had transformed into a murky grey.
As Astrid approached, the grey turned into a dim black. Behind it was a faint orange-red glow that flickered behind it like a veiled light show.
The volcano had been activated.
Astrid wasn’t sure if Avemoth had left or not, or what it meant for that matter, but she was forced to go in and look.
She reached the side of the mountain, then simply blasted the earth into smithereens to make her way down. Astrid held no interest in going the long way when she knew exactly where her enemy was. Besides, the volcano had already started–she doubted she could make it worse than it already was.
I wonder if it is still in its weakened state, if it’s somehow still gathering power to then emerge? Astrid thought.
She tunnelled straight down to where Avemoth’s lair was, then she stopped. Avemoth had its wings spread open wide. The beast was sitting in a puddle of molten lava, but that wasn’t all. The monster was sucking in into its stomach like a child trying to get the last dribble of juice.
It looked at her. The large, lantern-like fluorescent eyes that had almost killed her from their first fight looked like they were taunting her to attack.
It feels stronger than before. Astrid could feel the familiar primal mana radiating from the beast. But I am also stronger.
Just like before and all the times before it, Astrid was the first one to attack. She wasn’t afraid. This time, the monster would die.
With a wealth of techniques in her mind, she summoned the clone, and ordered it to fire dark matter bullets. They approached at a sizzling speed, but Avemoth wouldn’t let them get close.
Lava spit up like pillars of molten light, blocking them from getting closer. The dark matter combated against the raging fire, but it wasn’t enough.
Then, Astrid’s brows rose as she noticed pointed lava rocks emerging from its wings. She remembered how fast they were, but her bullets were now the same.
Astrid flew to the side, a lot faster than she had been before as she dodged the incoming missiles. But although she had undergone an awakening, so did Avemoth.
Grinning at the challenge, Astrid summoned a lance of earth from the ground with Psychokinesis. As it was made from her Skill, it had the same damage modifiers as her other Skills. Then, she summoned more clones, dozens of them. She ignored the steep mana cost and took out a blue syringe from her Void Storage.
Without a second to spare, she blinked, repositioning herself from an incoming missile, and injected the syringe into her leg. Her mana surged thanks to the psycho created consumable.
Dodging another spike, she took a breath, then blinked in quick succession. She dodged numerous spikes all at once as she appeared all over the cave.
The last one was behind Avemoth. Her eye surged with mana like an ocean, then she forcefully pushed the matter toward the monster. The lava pillars were blown back, along with Avemoth–toward the earth lance she had created.
Astrid didn’t stop there. As Avemoths attacks were interrupted, she bombarded it with [Crashes] that only increased the speed it travelled backwards.
Avemoth thrashed its wings, but Astrid pushed down the air as if to control gravity itself. With a wet thud, the earth lance penetrated the primal beast.
Astrid hoped it would be dead, but the life-force of the monster surprised her.
The mana in the surrounding area turned into a blaze. Avemoth was preparing a big attack.