Chapter 16: Entry to the Mind
Chapter 16: Entry to the Mind
Astrid and the others scrambled behind the front line as a wall of undead formed around them.
“Do nothing reckless.” Kaylan said. "This is not the time."
It’s calculated chaos.
Astrid placed down the bag from her back, onto the ground. She rummaged through it. They’re all broken. Her hands carefully sifted through the broken glass and wetness from the potions she had once had. Ah, two left. She pulled out two crystal clear deep-blue potions. She tied one to her waist and swallowed the contents of the other.
Feeling the mana swirl back inside her body, she let out a relieved sigh. Her shoulders jumped as the skeletons began their attack.
“Astrid, focus on this side with us!” Daniel shouted, his curved blade slicing past the bones of a Spawn Skeleton. “Support us like you did before and deviate their weapons. Don’t bother wasting your mana on that attack skill of yours.”
Astrid nodded. Her mind latched onto the oncoming undead’s sword, controlling it to veer off to the side. Too late. Astrid noticed that if she timed it perfectly, the mana strain was lessened. She tried again, waiting for the perfect moment, then at the last second, she grabbed hold of another Spawn’s sword, controlling it to the side. Losef thrusted his sword as the enemy's weapon missed his body. Losef nodded at Astrid.
Feeling the eased mana usage, she smiled.
Rachelle and the others crumbled tens of undead to dust by the second. Astrid watched helplessly as more were just created. She glanced over at the woman sitting on the ice throne. She still hadn’t made her move. A wall of far stronger undead protected her. Because of the number, even Kaylan was being hampered by the swarm of powerful bones.
Kaylan’s long sword flashed with a bright light as he separated the line of undead in halves. Dashing forward, the woman’s dead eyes still didn’t change.
Just as Kaylan was about to connect his sword with her body, an eight-feet tall armoured knight, holding a hulking greataxe, slammed into him. Causing Kaylan to take a few steps back.
It’s that knight again. Astrid grumbled. She took a glance at the entrance to the place; it was covered in a thick layer of ice. Presumably that was the reason they hadn’t escaped. Her vision fell on Jonathan. His entire body was trembling as his head moved erratically.
Without looking, she blasted an axe out of the skeleton's hands. It hurtled through the air and cleaved into another bony monster. Ah, oops.
One of the skeleton archers loosed an arrow that rotated through the air like a bullet as it threatened to strike Rachelle. Despite his enormous frame, Rob’s body flashed in front at high speed. The arrow created a loud clang as the entire shaft snapped and splintered into wood fragments.
Another arrow tore towards them. Astrid placed her hand in front of her as she halted the spiralling arrow in mid air, blasting it back onto another skeleton.
An hour had passed, the fight still raged on. I can’t keep going on like this. I have one mana potion and I need to save it just in case something happens.
“Rob, Losef, I’m going to enter my system for a second. I need the extra power and mana.” Astrid felt a spike of mana form in her mind as she crushed an approaching Spawn.
“I’ll protect you instead, girly. Don’t take forever like last time, I mean it. Anything can happen.” Brett flashed his yellowed teeth as she nodded.
You defeated a - Spawn Undead Knight - level 21
…
Ah ignore that, skip to the points I can distribute!
You defeated a - Spawn Undead Knight - level 21
…
Psychokinetic level 15 -> Psychokinetic level 17
Illusionist level 10 -> Illusionist level 13
Gained 25 stat points.
Skill level up!
Psychokinesis level 8 -> Psychokinesis level 9
Crash level 7 -> Crash level 8
Psychic’s Power level 5 -> Psychic’s Power level 6
You now have 100 intelligence.
You now have 49 constitution.
Astrid was about to look at the other messages when a streak of matter tore towards her. Rapidly exiting her system, Brett’s daggers flourished with a trail of shadows as the bolt swerved to the side. With her mind now in the battle, Brett flashed forwards, focusing on reducing their numbers.
Level 21 - Undead Spawn Axeman
Let’s test this. Astrid’s mind exploded toward the Spawn. It was impossible for the monster to react against an attack it couldn’t see. Before it could even swing its weapon towards the humans, an intense crash devoured its body whole. The undead’s body was turned to scrap bones.
Holy crap. Astrid felt the sudden boost of intelligence. Like a wave, she split the undead. Her eyes flashed and their bones crashed into each other like an off-white ocean.
There were a few that resisted her Psychokinesis. It just meant that she ignored them and focused on the others. The stronger undead rushed forward as their “friends” levitated into the air and crashed into them like a tornado.
“Guys, have you ever seen flying skeletons?” Astrid laughed as she treated the poor undead like a bunch of rag-dolls. “Fly you bastards!”
Rob broke out in a stupid laughter as his gigantic shield pummeled into the incoming undead.
She felt her mind spasm as she rapidly formed her mind barrier. A storm of pure unfiltered mana raged towards the group. Jonathan and the other weaklings stumbled to the floor. Astrid glanced over. The woman finally stood up as Kaylan sliced past the knight with the hulking axe.
Kaylan’s body disappeared from the spot as he reappeared in front of the undead woman. His sword slashed, aiming for a spot around her ankle where a rusted chain lay. Magic soared around his sword as a raging inferno took over. The knight reappeared and swung its great axe. Kaylan wasn’t able to react in time, only pulling up his sword slightly. Sparks flew and an ear-splitting clash filled the chasm ice field of a room.
Kaylan’s body rocketed back, tumbling across the floor. He spun, regaining his balance and stability as his feet raked across the ground.
The woman looked down at the wound in her chest from the stray blade of Kaylan and screamed like a banshee. Astrid held her ears at the screeching sound. Astrid could feel the mana within the room swirl as she looked at the woman's frigid eyes.
Well, that’s definitely not a good sign. Astrid thought as she watched the vanguard team dash forward to stop the woman from casting her skill. However, with the knight, and the wall of evolved undead, they could not reach her. The woman suddenly placed her hand on the floor. The ground trembled and rocked. Astrid was worried the floor was going to split. She didn’t know if this was the lowest floor or not. If that was the case, they would swim with the fishes very soon.
Thankfully, or not, the floor remained the same. Just like the other skeletons, a hulking set of claws appeared from the floor. Like it was a gateway from another dimension.
Astrid glanced at the woman.
Level ?? - Spawn Lich
She's only in the double digits? How does that make sense! She shook her head as the claws turned into another set. Soon, a boundless reptilian head emerged from the floor. Its monstrous maw opened and a draconic roar followed. Astrid felt her eardrums pop. A faint, wet trickle fell down her nape on either side. The woman rushed off the platform and ran to a hallway; her back disappearing into the darkness.
Then, someone tugged at her arm, twitching her eyes. Daniel said something, but she couldn't hear him. He turned his back and bolted. Astrid followed as fast as her current strength could take her in the lich's direction.
A light warmth filled her head as her hearing swiftly recovered. She could feel the specs coming from the vanguard. A gentle smile was held from someone in Kaylan’s party as he nodded at her. It was a familiar face, but with being surrounded by undead skeletons, a gigantic bone dragon, and a fleeing lich with her breasts exposed, she couldn’t recall.
Astrid pursued Daniel. She realised that Jonathan and his friends were nowhere to be seen. Did they refuse, or did Daniel not bother bringing them with us?
The lich wasn’t quick. The fact that Astrid could catch up with her abysmal dexterity and strength told her everything she needed to know.
“Stop!” Astrid shouted at the fleeing lich. It turned around as a blast of mana left her palm. Rob stood in front as he tanked the blast. His body was sent hurtling backwards as Astrid quickly dodged.
Losef was quick to take Rob’s place as Brett and Daniel bolted towards the lich like a bullet. Daniel was the first to approach when a rogue hand appeared from the wall, clutching at his ankle. It stopped him for only half a second as he cleaved it in half with his sword. In that time, Brett vanished, then reappeared from the wall. His dagger flashed across the throat of the lich.
The lich cast a spell. Astrid sniffed a garlic, acrid scent as it wafted through the narrow hallway. Then her vision turned white. A heat blast brushed up against her face as her mind barrier formed. It sucked the air out of her lungs, followed by a rumbling boom. Debris and dust surrounded the room like a thick fog.
Astrid had her mind barrier cranked to the maximum. It resisted the explosion. Glancing back at Lisa and Rachelle, it looked like she had acted as a human shield from the projectile debris.
Lisa’s arrows fired forward without vision. The powerful thrum of her bow twanged in Astrid’s ears. She could tell they were powerful, as even the surrounding air swirled with every arrow that was let loose.
They broke past the smoke as Astrid witnessed Daniel fighting head on with the lich. The lich loosed a powerful frigid blast from her palm as it struck Daniels’s chest. The ice splashed over him and crawled down to his legs. She used the time to scramble into another room. As they entered, she summoned a large knight. It had a horse’s body while the upper torso was human. It was heavily armoured with a lance tucked in between its arms.
Astrid looked forward with her mind as her eyes widened. A strange mass of matter was gathered around the woman’s ankle, where a rusted chain was hugging gently. Could it be what Kaylan was aiming for?
“Daniel, the chain around its ankle!”
Daniel nodded. He broke free from the ice and flashed forward, but the Humanoid-horse was like a solid iron-wall that refused to let Daniel go around. With a clang, they both recoiled back.
Oh, let me try! Astrid’s competitiveness was aroused as her mind connected to the anklet. As soon as she did so, the woman’s glare pierced into her eyes.
Astrid’s vision froze. A tremble rattled at her spine as the frigid sensation scrambled all the way up and into her brain. Astrid blinked, but there was nothing but an endless white. Her limbs and skin had lost any form of feeling. Despite standing, she felt like she was floating within an endless white abyss.
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