abcnovels
Chapter 198: A Bad Feeling
Chapter 198: A Bad Feeling
Chapter 198: A Bad Feeling
“So, what now?” Astrid asked the pirate king of kings.
“For now, could you help out with camp?” Noah said through the gaps in her helmet. “I hear you have some… unique abilities. There’s walls to be rebuilt, beds to make, firewood to obtain. You can choose.”
“People have nothing better to do than to poke their nose into others' business, huh?”
“Understanding your opponents is an important part of this life.”
“Am I an opponent?” Astrid smiled.
Noah stood silent for a moment. “No. But when you live your life on the open seas, you don’t know when there’s going to be a mutiny. It can happen in a flash, and before you know it, you have a knife stuck into your flesh. Regardless of who it is, if they hold power, they will want to understand anyone that may threaten them in the future.”
Nodding, Astrid said, “That makes sense. But where’s the fun in that? Battle those who are weaker than you, and fight those who you know you will win against. That’s the mind of the weak.”
“I agree with you there, Astrid.” Noah chuckled, a stray cough left her mouth. Hand to her mouth, blood was splattered in her palm.
“The Order really did a number on you,” Astrid said. “Do you think my father can accomplish their mission within three days?”
“With Lord Sinwen, probably.”
“That 'probably', doesn’t fill me with much confidence.”
“Astrid.” Noah placed her hand on Astrid’s shoulder. “Your father is the strongest man I’ve ever met. Even stronger than the old elders. If he can’t, then no-one can.”
“You’re not good at consoling others, are you?”
“No, not at all.”
They both laughed together until monsters emerged from the distance. This time it wasn’t just oversized monkeys that punched through green air, but extremely tall… humans. Naked, with wide jaws, and ferocious expressions, they charged straight for them.
Astrid frowned. If anything the corruption had taught her, she wondered if they were something once human. If that was the case, then–
However, Noah had already acted.
Stomping on the ground, a torrent of water shot out like a geyser. Astrid had already witnessed it before, but now, the powerful surge of liquid hung above her like a giant orb. It began pulsating, as if it was alive. Bubbling, spiked appeared that shot toward the oncoming monsters. The air blasted backward at their strength, and like a repeated cannon, they tore through the fleshy giants with ease.
Most fell, but those who didn’t suffer a grievous injury kept on charging.
Strange. Astrid thought as she joined in the attack. She attempted to sink her mind into their bodies to investigate them, but it was clear they were simply just monsters. They weren’t infected by a virus despite their human-like features, nor were they corrupted by a mind eating power. They were simply monsters.
It was strange because even monsters wouldn't randomly attack them in force. Alongside another species, at that. Astrid deduced something was controlling them, and when she used Mind Domain against one, although it was only for a second, she could tell there was some form of psychic magic going on behind the scenes.
As Noah was the commander of the rearguard, Astrid had to report her findings.
“They are being controlled by a psychic class,” Astrid shouted as she [Crashed] her mind into another one of the titan’s. They were a lot tougher than she thought, and it took multiple attempts to blow its neck off in a splatter of red and mangled flesh.
Noah nodded, as if she already had an inclination, but she made no move. She was the defender of the wall, and the pirate king of kings wouldn’t move. Not for the titans, or the one pulling the strings.
The fight raged on for most of the day and everyone was becoming increasingly tired. Astrid herself was having to burn through a lot of her mana supplies given by the psycho’s, but it was an excellent chance to level up.
If she spared her mana here, then she would be neglecting her chance of levelling up before the big fight. A dark shadow was cast over everyone within the city, and time was running out. Right now, Astrid couldn’t care about her dwindling supplies. She had to get stronger, and fast.
Soon, the apes, and whatever was left of the raging titans retreated.
Astrid would have loved to chase after them, but that would be a death sentence. She doubted the monsters she had faced at the wall were the last of them. No, it was probably just the beginning.
It was difficult to tell when night time fell since they were so deep into the ocean. Within the Abyssopelagic Zone, it was a never-ending darkness. Even with her dark-vision, in certain areas, it was unable to penetrate the veil of black.
Light was provided by magi infused flare guns, but given that a lot of the strong warriors were finding it difficult to keep their eyes open told her that it must be late.
What would happen if they ran out of flares? Astrid grimaced at the thought. No flares meant no light, and no light made life in the city fatal. Death was guaranteed at that point.
“You should get some rest,” Noah said, still gazing out at the battlefield rid with corpses of apes, and titans.
Astrid wanted to say something regarding her worsening wounds, but Noah was a warrior. Besides, if she didn’t man the walls, they would be left in a precarious position.
Instead, she took her up on the offer, and headed into camp. Because most were focused on defence, their base of operations couldn’t really be described as such. It was in disarray; there wasn’t even a single tent pitched up despite them being in their bags, ready to be deployed.
Everyone just rested against the created walls, or simply just lay in the grass, too exhausted to care about anything else.
Astrid was thankful she wasn’t a physical warrior. True, her mind was thrummed with pain, overexerted. Overtaxed, but she could still move around just as she could before. Especially when she reduced her pain tolerance with Omni-kinesis.
Altering the pain receptors was a dangerous task, after all, pain was there for a reason. But she didn’t remove it completely. Only a dull pain like that of pressing a stone against her flesh remained.
With a hop in her step, she sat down next to the others. Ignoring Brett’s complaining, and Rachelle’s disappointment at the lack of loot to be had, Astrid sunk her mind into her system.
Her full day of fighting high level monsters was worth it.
You defeated a Titan - Level 284!
You defeated a Titan - Level 298!
You defeated an Ape Tyrant - Level 279!
…
| Extra experience is granted for defeating an enemy many levels above!
You have Levelled up!
| Oculus Witch Level 175-> Oculus Witch Level 184
| Voidmare Level 175 -> Voidmare Level 184
You have gained 90 stat points.
| You now have 1606 Intelligence.
Name: Astrid Sinwen
Title: Corruption Destroyer
Title: King Slayer
Class 1:
Upper Class: Oculus Witch level 184
Peak Class: [ Level locked: ??? ]
Active: [ Stage 2 ] Omni-Kinesis level 18
Active: [ Stage 3 ] Crashlevel 12
Active: [ Stage 3 ] Mind Barrier level 14
Active: [ Stage 3 ] Blinking Reposition level 14
Active: [ Stage 3 ] Psych Warp Level 6
Passive: [ Stage 3 ] Psychic’s Power level 16
Passive: [ Stage 3 ] Psych Domain level 16
Passive: Overpower level 10 [ Max ]
Passive: Left Eye of Mana level 8
Passive: Dominating Sovereigns Eye level 6
| Eyes activated: Tree King, Avemoth
Class 2:
Upper Class: Voidmare level 184
Peak Class: [ Level locked: ??? ]
Active: [ Stage 3 ] Void Clone level 2
Active: [ Stage 3 ] Mind Armour level 4
Active: [ Stage 3 ] Mind Domination level 2
Active: [ Stage 2 ] Void Storage level 8
Active: [ Stage 2 ] Disintegration level 3
Passive:
Passive: [ Stage 2 ] Illusion Detection level 18
Passive: [ Stage 3 ] Anti-Disabling Field level 15
Passive: [ Stage 3 ] Void Graviton level 12
Passive: Eye of the Void level 10 [ Max ]
General Skills:
Etiquette - level 1
Clothes Making - level 3
Clothes Repair - level 2
Identify - level 5
Mana Conduit [ Stage 1 ]
Mental Resistance - level 1
Lung Capacity - level 2
Avatar of Mana [ Stage 3 ]
Enhanced Vision [ Stage 2 ]
Swordsmanship - level 5
Status:
Unallocated stat points: 0
Strength: 110
Dexterity: 110
Constitution: 215
Intelligence: 1606
Wisdom: 500
All of her skills had levelled up and Eye of the Void had finally bypassed the requirements for stage two. At first she was concerned that she wouldn’t meet the requirements of evolving it further for a while, but she was pleasantly surprised at the next message.
Eye of the Void has reached maxed level for [ Stage 1 ]
| Requirements met for Eye of the Void [ Stage 2 ]
| Evolving Eye of the Void to [ Stage 2 ]
Eye of the Void: An ancient eye of unknown origin slumbers within you. When inside the user's skull, it grants a large magical strength boost to your psychic skills. Activate it to send it outward. Focus on it, and you can see what it can see.
| Stage 2: Void Magic is now stronger, and control is increased. You now have the magical strength boost even when the eye is outside.
She wasted no time and attempted to spawn a ball of void energy in her hand, but even through her pain resistance, her mind throbbed.
Okay, I better take some time to relax. Astrid thought as she massaged her temples.
“Get something good?” Rachelle nudged her arm.
“It’s not shiny, but yeah, I guess you could say that.” Astrid flopped her back onto the long grass. “Judging by your happy face despite there being no new equipment; you levelled up a bunch?”
“I did.” Rachelle beamed an exhausted smile. “Got myself a new upgrade.”
“Me too,” Brett said as he juggled a flaming shadow in his hands.
It wasn’t just them, it was everyone. The rewards of fighting in a city were already proving fruitful. However, the pained sounds of groans that reverberated around camp dampened any excitement that she felt. They couldn’t go on like this.
What if the attacks occurred all through the night. With Noah injured, and most exhausted, it was a bad situation to be in.
And if Astrid thought about it in more detail, if she was controlling monsters to attack, then she would also attack through the night; if their mana could keep up, that was.
She had a bad feeling.