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Chapter 76: Upgrades
Chapter 76: Upgrades
Chapter 76: Upgrades
Astrid gazed at the voidling corpses. They lay on top of each other almost in the hundreds as their bodies piled up and out of her trap pit.
Their strong stomach acid spilled out and into the soil. It took only a moment before a wriggling mass breached the dirt and consumed the blood. Even the acid wasn’t spared.
The worm’s tiny mouths nibbled small amounts of flesh every half second. They refused to let even a morsel of flesh go to waste.
Voidmare… Astrid clenched her hand tight until the whites of her knuckles were displayed.
She didn’t know how long she had been here, but it already felt like an eternity. It was a land void of emotion, only an eternal hunger. There were only monsters that wanted nothing but to consume her flesh.
However, she was used to that. It was the same with the spawn, or the other monsters lurking within the Bubbles, but this was different. Even the world itself seemed to have the desire for consumption.
The tree’s that had hanging branches actually had razor-sharp teeth at the end of them. The inconsistent air blew through the tree’s and the branches detached from their main hub. If they smelled flesh, they would desperately launch themselves when the opportunity arose.
She had witnessed it once before during her long day of slaughter. It flew through the chaotic air and latched onto a voidling. The monster attempted everything to pry the worm-like jaws from its hardened flesh. But in the end, its drained body fell to the ground. Only bones and a thin layer of skin remained. Even that didn’t last when the grass squirmed to life.
Astrid was breathing one moment, then suddenly, it just stopped without warning. She created an air bubbled around her head with her Mind Barrier and took in a breath.
Shit, what would happen if the air stopped for longer than a couple of minutes? Astrid dreaded the thought. Although she could create air bubbles, it would only last when she still had mana. She was confident in the amount of mana potions in her backpack and the ones she stored within her fortress. But who knew if the air would stop, not just for a few minutes, but hours? Days? Weeks?
It wasn’t something she could control. Instead, she made it back to her Pyschokinetically made fortress and gazed at her System screen.
The message she had been fighting for all day flashed in front of her.
You have defeated a Voidling Devourer - level 63
You have defeated a Voidling Insect - level 56
…
You have levelled up!
Psychokinetic level 70 -> Psychokinetic level 72
Illusionist level 70 -> Illusionist level 72
Gained 20 stat points.
You now have 430 intelligence.
Skill level up!
[ Stage 2 ] Major Image level 4 -> [ Stage 2 ] Major Image level 7
Mind Domain level 8 -> Mind Domain level 10 [ Max ]
Mental Warfare level 9 -> Mental Warfare level 10 [ Max ]
Levitation level 9 -> Levitation level 10 [ Max ]
[ Stage 2 ] Illusionary Armour level 5 -> [ Stage 2 ] Illusionary Armour level 9
[ Stage 2 ] Mind Barrier level 9 -> [ Stage 2 ] Mind Barrier level 11
Experience gained!
Mind Domain has reached max level!
Conditions met for evolution of [ Mind Domain ] to Stage 2 [ Mind Domination ] .
Mind Domain level 10 [ Max ] ->[ Stage 2 ] Mind Domination level 1
Mind Domain: From undergoing mind domain attacks, you have learnt to form your own. Enter your opponent’s mind and battle them within the mind domain. Only works on lifeforms with intelligence. Those with higher intelligence, Mind Domain will not work and you will receive mental backlash.
| 25% increased Psychic power within a Mind Domain.
| Psychokinesis, and Psych Warp are 50% stronger within Mind Domain.
[ Stage 2 ] - Mind Domination:
| 25% -> 50% increased Psychic power within a Mind Domain.
| Psychokinesis, and Psych Warp are 50% -> 100% stronger within Mind Domain.
| Has a higher chance of success against higher intelligence beings.
Mental Warfare has reached max level!
Conditions met for evolution of [ Mental Warfare ] to Stage 2 [ Mental Redirection ] .
Mental Warfare level 10 [ Max ] -> [ Stage 2 ] Mental Redirection level 1
Mental Warfare: You have learnt to detect the matter that consists of mental images and illusions of the mind. Increases resistance against all mind abilities. Makes your psychic abilities 25% stronger while in a mind attack. [ Stage 1 ]
| [ Stage 2 ] - Mental Redirection: Depending on the level, you can now counterattack mental abilities and redirect them using their own mana instead of your own.
Levitation has reached max level!
Conditions met for evolution of [ Levitation ] to Stage 2 [ Weightless Levitation ] .
Levitation level 10 [ Max ] -> Weightless Levitation level 1
Levitation: From your practice and use of Psychokinesis you can now control the matter within your own body to levitate, instead of your clothes. [ Stage 1 ]
| [ Stage 2 ] - Weightless Levitation: Levitating now uses less mana.
Astrid smiled at the new skills and although they were all good, her eyes stuck to Mind Domain like glue. It would be her biggest help during this mission, as the increased psychic power would help her control the monsters and keep them at bay.
At first she wondered why her Mind Domain worked on them, as they only seemed to have basic carnal intelligence. But from entering their minds, she could tell that wasn’t exactly true. Although she couldn’t put her finger on it.
What justified intelligence? Thoughts and feelings?
She had also realised that whenever faced against her, they would go into a mad frenzy, unlike when they come against their own kind. It’s like they were after something on her body. Or maybe she just looked tasty?
As usual, Astrid put all her points into intelligence. The next milestone was five-hundred, and by her guess, she needed at least that much to begin her journey further in. The chaotic mana that surged in the distance was a grave reminder.
While she was gathering the voidlings, she also realised that the further in she went, the stronger the monsters were. The strongest was a beast that was level sixty-five. It had four legs, and it had the appearance of a rabid dog. If the dog was starved and had dark metal spiked growing from the spine on its back, that is.
She cast an illusion around it, confusing the beast until it ran in the other direction. She didn’t want it conflicting with the habitat she had accrued back within the pit.
Major Image even created realistic flesh, something that the hound couldn’t resist. Something she had found Minor Illusion lacking in. Minor Illusion only worked against low intelligence beasts, or the most hungry crazed that weren’t thinking straight and she noticed some of the voidlings before noticing it. So she had to show herself.
Astrid could tell the hound like voidling was more intelligent, but even it wasn’t enough to see through the adept Major Image. She couldn’t wait to test it on her friends’ back home. It was the perfect Skill for pranks. She rubbed her hand in anticipation.
With another piece of strength gathered, she wanted to explore more of the area around her fortress. She wanted to make sure that she stayed within a certain distance from her haven so that she could retreat if threatened.
The last thing she wanted was to be caught by something strong without having the proper precautions. Although she was confident in being able to defeat anything if the dungeon truly was limited to seventy-five… but she doubted that was the case.
It limited the dungeon to level seventy-five, but it said nothing about the monsters being limited to that level. After all, there were only ten more levels above that voidling hound she had seen. Compared to the other dungeon she was in, that was nothing.
If the worst happened, then she would just have to rely on Psychokinesis to kill. It was better being alive than receiving a class upgrade.
It was time to head back and continue her exploration of the area.
* * *
Astrid stood at the border of her illusion that covered the fortress. She was at the far end, the end that continued into the valley instead of the forested plain area where her trap was located.
She had headed deeper into the hills first, as she wouldn’t be caught out in the open with her meager speed. And that also meant more traps, so Astrid got to work. She created massive pits out of the earth, deleting entire pits of dirt and hardened mountain rock with little effort.
Each hole was at least four metres wide to appropriately fit any monster that dared trap her. She would simply just blast it into the hole with her Psychokinesis.
She continued that until there was a fork in the mountain range. One path leading left, and the other right. Astrid first had the idea to use levitate to lift herself above the mountain range to get a good look at the surrounding area, but she felt it was a bad idea.
She would never assume that there weren’t monsters that were above her level, or ones that could fly, for that matter. So she erred on the side of caution.
Astrid walked by an enormous block of the void bent metal that stuck out from the side of the mountain. The muted light from her tongue torch barely illuminated the glossy metal. Then she meandered to the other side of the hill and the shine of black sparkled once more.
Oh, my… the amount of metal here would be enough to create weapons and armour for the entire military on Rebirth! She vowed to somehow bring back chunks of it back home. Although there was already a lot just outside of the gateway, it couldn’t beat the source of it all.
She continued further down the valley. Her lungs emptied in a second as the wind or any air source just vanished. Astrid created a Mind Barrier around her head and took a breath.
The next second, an intense force lifted her from her feet, and her head snapped forward. Her Mind Barrier shattered into fragments as it sent her hurtling through the air.
Despite the sudden pain that throbbed from her left shoulder, she created another Mind Barrier within a second. She controlled the matter within her body and slowed it, but her body still contacted the mountain behind her. Her barrier screamed in protest as her body finally came to a stop.
Her arm lay limp at her side, and a sharp pain stung her insides at every attempt of a breath.
She glanced at the monster that stood menacingly at the other end of the valley. Or more accurately… human.
The man stood at a staggering eight feet tall and he was bound in rigid muscles. Black rock had emerged from his skin. His eyes shone a deep purple that seemed to gaze into her soul. The only clothes that covered him were a tattered pair of trousers that were a couple of movements away from total disintegration.
On his chest, a badge was implanted in his skin.
The badge of a Wayfarer.