Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 115: Tropical Heat With A Dose Of Eyeball-Pulling

The trip took an extra few days after that. Astrid had spent the extra time to test the weaknesses of her new bones. Namely, the heat.

She had Rachelle throw a few fireballs in her direction, but with her Mind Barrier, the fire didn’t really affect her very much. The only thing that happened was a spike in her body heat which didn’t have a negative effect. Although it did make it easier for her to sweat, which she supposed was a weakness as she felt the damp on her clothes.

Astrid made it a point to focus on the matter of fire. It had a unique characteristic within her vision. It was destructive in nature and the individual matter specs had a hazy element to them. Although it did require closer inspection, it made it easier to detect if a fire Skill was being activated.

It would allow her to pick out the attack as it was being formed.

Other than that, she had experienced the Pirate Sunset Express for the first time in her young life. It had a hint of fruit extract that tickled the taste buds, just on its own–it was already her favourite alcoholic beverage that she had tasted.

Charlotte’s high quality booze was good–great even, but the fruity, sweet taste of the pirate alcohol suited her taste buds more.

“We’re approaching the anchor point!” Daniel shouted from the window.

Astrid’s heart immediately started like a high powered engine as she sprinted toward the bow of the ship with her matter strengthened body. It was immediately made apparent that they weren’t the only ones on this mission.

Is that it? Astrid thought as she gazed at an area that was being swarmed by various species of birds. To the side of it was a large ship that was even larger than her own. But it wasn’t the size that surprised her, rather, it was the flag that billowed in the wind. An anchor with wings. It was the Seafarers flag.

A plop right next to her made her jump and immediately erect her Mind Barrier. It was a white splat. She glared at the birds that spiralled up above. Her psychic mana flared, but she was held back by a bandaged hand.

Glancing back, Bellona shook her head. “Do you have to kill such innocent creatures?”

“Innocent?” Astrid asked. “It almost shit on me!”

“Yes, and if it hit you, that would be considered good luck.”

“Good luck my ass,” Astrid said. “If it’s such good luck then why don’t you–”

Astrid was interrupted as a blob of white splat against Bellona’s shoulder. It was bigger than average and had splattered against her face. The remains slid down Astrid’s barrier as she was in close proximity.

Astrid’s face turned bright red as she watched the muscles in Bellona’s face spasm and twitch.

“It’s considered good luck.” Astrid belted out a laugh, not trying to force it back in the slightest.

“Hey look, Bellona got shit on!” Brett held his stomach as he looked at the scene.

“Oh my goddess!” Rachelle slapped her thighs. “It’s such a big one too!”

Bellona’s brows twitched further.

Lisa placed her hand on her face and shook her head. She walked over and took out a handkerchief.

As Bellona was wiping the excrement off her shoulder, Astrid gazed at the boat again. It obviously wasn’t a huge team of Seafarers as they didn’t have anyone keeping an eye on the boat. That meant that they were banking on the good nature of anyone that stopped by to not plunder their ship–like Astrid.

To be fair to them, it didn’t happen too often. The ocean was simply too large to run into others, and they were fourteen days away from Rebirth. From all accounts, it was a rare sight running into another group.

But what are Seafarers doing so far out? No way they received a mission from the Seafaring headquarters. Astrid thought, but there was no point in guessing since she had more experienced people here.

She glanced at Daniel as he was approaching with his backpack full of supplies.

“Seafarers so far out?” Astrid asked. “Are they on the same mission as us?”

“Unless they have the same information source as us.” Daniel tightened the strap to his leather shoulder pad. “Which I highly doubt, so that leaves it to pure chance.”

“They’re most likely out in search of a payday.” Losef held his spear in one hand, and his shield in the other.

Astrid scratched her head. “Won’t they get in trouble from the Seafarer division?”

“Nah, don’t be silly,” Brett said. “They most likely have a noble on-board to bypass that little rule.”

“I see.” Astrid nodded. It made sense.

With her curiosity satiated, she got to preparing herself and completed the usual checks of supplies. Astrid counted the number of potions she had on hand, while Leena carried everything else they needed for the exploration.

She shook her head and placed her hand on the backpack and activated Void Storage. Instantly, it disappeared within her palm as Leena looked back and nodded.

“Hey,” Rachelle said as she poked her side. “Can you do that for me?”

“Sorry, there’s not enough room.”

It was the truth. She still had most of the Voidbent metal left to continue her merging with the metal stored within. Plus the oversized bag that she had just placed, there was no more room left within.

With everyone ready, they descended into the depths of the ocean.

Emerging from the bubble, an intense heat blasted her skin. The sun that loomed high above seemed to be amplified many times over by the mysterious properties of the bubble as she shielded her eyes from the rays of the golden sphere.

But that wasn’t the only unusual thing within this town bubble. All the tree’s were no longer the regular ones that she was used to, rather they were tall and slender. Hardened–what she guessed to be fruit, hung high up above.

The heat also created a humid air that made it a struggle to breath as they were located in dense foliage. Bugs of all kinds scampered into the soil at the sight of the new humans, each with far too many legs to be counted.

They were in the tropics, but that didn’t make any sense.

Rachelle smiled and instead of wearing her usual battle-dress, she wore a tank-top with simple three-quarter length trousers. Then, she finished it off with a lightweight armour.

Astrid wiped the sweat that was already beading at her forehead. She understood why the sun was acting as it was as she had heard about it from the countless books she had read. The high density mana within the bubble had altered the landscape of the land around them. Whether it was the sun from above, or the trees that reached high up in the sky. But it was typically a phenomenon from being close to a city.

“Don’t tell me–” Astrid said. “Are we close to a city?”

“Relatively.” Daniel smiled. “Acrophia is around a week away in…” Daniel looked around, then pointed to the east. “In that direction, I think?”

“Acrophia…”

Each city was given a name. Some of them still had the names from before the apocalypse happened, while others had lost them through time.

Acrophia belonged to the former. It was a sprawling metropolis with a theme of nature. Parks, trees, and greenery hung from each building that made it look like an enormous tree city. Centuries ago, it was named one of the man-made wonders of the world. The architecture was something straight out of a fantasy book. It brought millions of tourists to its bustling streets every month.

Astrid had always wanted to see it, to witness the Old World’s grandeur. But she still had to cross a huge gulf if she wanted to walk its streets.

With the exploration of Acrophia remaining a distant thought, she removed it from her mind and focused on what was in front of her.

She still remembered when they were ambushed and betrayed by humans. Although the Seafarers could be innocent, Astrid had experienced too much in such a short period of time to remain naive. To her, everyone had the capability of displaying the worst side of human nature.

The characters of Daniel and everyone else were concrete, but Bellona was a new face to her. Although she was extensively vetted and raised by Freya, and she had no doubt her cousin would never attempt something like betrayal. Astrid herself knew nothing of Bellona, or anything about her wants and desires.

She would keep one eye on her at all times.

The group of nine began their trek through the treacherous jungle. It wasn’t long before their first enemy, or in this case, enemies were staring at them with bloodthirst in their eyes.

Astrid already had her defences at the ready as she stared back at the oversized monkey that hung off the tree.

Its hands were almost double the size of her head. She had no doubt that the beast was capable of crushing her head with a mere light squeeze of its grip. Unlike most other monsters she had seen, this one had a clear intelligence that brimmed within its eyes as it sized them up.

There was no need for Astrid to step forward as it was just within range of her matter control. She instantly connected to the ape’s eyeballs and yanked them from its skull with a strained effort. Then, a miniature explosion rocked the eye sockets as its brain exploded into a bloody mist.

Its enormous body crashed to the floor.

You defeated a - Primal Ape - level 96

Extra experience is awarded for defeating an enemy levels above!

Suddenly, an ear shattering pounding was heard all around. The apes smashed their fists against their chests as they collectively screamed. Spittle left their mouths as their muscles resembled coiled steel wire.

If it was before the Voidmare dungeon, she may have been filled with apprehension as the triple digit monsters surrounded them all over–but it was different now.

Astrid grinned as her unique eyes shone. She felt the increased power from her voidling eye and connected to the eyeballs of four different primal apes all at once. With a pull, they were removed from their skulls and their heads exploded.

Astrid clapped in excitement. The long wait on the ship had almost turned her crazy, now, she could finally be free and do what she was best at. Fighting. Killing.

The apes swung from the tree’s and leapt at them from above.

Astrid didn’t rely on [Crash], instead, she was having too much fun pulling out their eyeballs. With each psychic yank, blood would spray and cover the ape’s brethren like a scarlet shower.

Before they reached them, the heat in the surrounding area surged. Rachelle was readying her attack.