Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 77: Sadness

How is that possible? I was the first to discover it. Astrid frowned and with a check of identity, her face turned savage.

Level ?? - Voidling Human - Class: Augmented Brawler.

Shit, that’s at least an epic class combination. A noble? Astrid grit her teeth. She didn’t want to give the man any room to move. Brawlers relied on their inhumanly strong body to destroy anything in their path, and an augmented being relied on magic to power themselves even further.

It was often a hindrance to stray away from your main class’ attributes, but in some cases, it worked. The Augmented Brawler was one such case. She was familiar with the class, because that’s exactly the fighting style Tennyson displayed.

The man blasted forward, leaving a hole in the ground from where he once stood. His body shot towards her like a cannonball being released.

Astrid didn’t hesitate to gather a large cluster of matter in front of her and [Crash] it when he approached it. She didn’t have the luxury to test whether her Mind Domain would work, or if her Psychokinesis control could stop his body.

The explosion rocked his body to the side as his massive frame slammed against the dense metal rock at the side of the mountain.

He regained his balance and cracked his knuckles. He gazed at Astrid with the desire to devour. He screamed and displayed his blackened teeth. Long rotted away for who knows how long. He looked crazed, but Astrid saw something deep within his eyes.

She wasn’t sure if it was because of her experience within the Mind Domain, but things like emotions were becoming easier to read. Even for a mindless beast.

Something told her that somewhere deep down, he was still human.

Astrid gnawed at her lips. If she was in that state, the least she hoped was for someone to at least try to help. She decided to risk it. Her psychic mana flared and entered the man’s mind.

She struggled for a moment. She was fighting against his strong desire. One second, she was close, only for him to battle against it.

He wanted to move. His arms and legs trembled and black-purple veins bulged from his tree trunk like neck.

Astrid took a step forward, and it was like a built-up damn breaking away. The enormous brick walls shattered and a new world took its place. An expanse of nothing but white.

The corrupted man barreled towards her, but she halted his body. The extra stat bonuses from within the Mind Domain made her Psychokinesis powers double of what they were in the real world. This was Astrid’s kingdom.

Let’s find out if I can remove the corruption. Astrid strained her mind as she sunk into the depths of the man’s madness.

It was as if she was swimming within the depths of the ocean. The pressure bore down on her mind but she grit her teeth and persisted. Sifting through countless memories from when he was in the void. Like breaking out into a brightly lit cavern, images of Rebirth emerged from the darkness.

The enormous ship, HMS Rebirth. The guiding light of humanity loomed on the great neverending ocean.

He stepped out of his excursion boat as someone finally winched it up onto the edge of the ship. Past the Wayfarers Headquarters lay verdant green and bright beige fields that sprawled across the land for miles.

Then it cut to him opening a door. A young woman with long, flowing brown hair and light freckles stood up from the table in surprise, before her face turned to one of relief and love. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes. She tugged at the hem of her dress to stop them, but they raged forth, trailing down the side of her face.

She threw the chair to the side and rushed into the massive man’s arms. His coarse, thick fingers sifted through her fine hair until finally they landed on her soft, moist skin. He brushed away the wetness from her face and, despite his unmatched strength; he was so careful not to hurt her. His caress was so soft, like he wasn’t touching skin, but the most brittle of porcelain, and then planted a kiss on her sweet lips.

The man, unlike his bear-like appearance, sniffled back tears. His eyes were red and puffy.

Another door opened, three little children bolted into a group hug. Two of the youngest children broke out into tears, their wails filled the modern and clean room. The oldest, not even sixteen, nibbled on his lips as they quivered.

The man broke out into a wide grin as his large hand patted the young man’s head and ruffled up his hair. It wasn’t long before light tears struggled through his bright-blue eyes.

The man gazed at his family with a deep, raw longing.

“Thank you…”

Astrid broke out of his mind. Tears streamed from her eyes and down past her rosy cheeks until they dripped onto her clothes.

The demonoid man had blackened liquid dripping from both eyes.

“I’m s–sorry,” Astrid mumbled. It felt like a stone was stuck within her throat. “I don’t know how to break it.”

The man didn’t respond. Only a never-ending void was lost in his eyes.

“At the very least, I can grant you a quick death.” Astrid gnawed her lips until blood oozed. “If only I was…”

Astrid controlled the matter surrounding his head and [Crashed] it. His head blew open with ease, only the lower half of his face remained. The corner of his lips had turned up ever so slightly.

Astrid destroyed the Mind Domain world and returned to the valley. She walked up to his corpse and crouched down. There was no heartbeat, she had made sure of it.

Her heart ached, and a storm of thoughts whirled in her mind.

The worms had already dug through the soil and began eating away at his flesh. Astrid grabbed onto his badge and ripped it from his skin. At the top was his first name and at the bottom, his last.

Hashim Kaufman… he’s from the Kaufman family. Astrid gripped the metal badge in her palm. She stopped herself as the metal dug into her skin.

“I’ll return it to your family,” Astrid said. “At least they will know of your death, rather than live in false hope of your return.”

Astrid gazed into the distance for ten minutes before heading forward once more. No matter what, she wouldn’t let herself turn into another Hashim. She refused to let her family experience the grief of her passing, or turning into a mindless demon.

An intense fire burned within her. Each step was more forceful than the last. She swore to make it out alive. She wanted to feel the warm embrace of her family. The warmth that Hashim desperately wanted.

Your Sadness has reached 68/100.

She hadn’t received a level from Hashim, although he was at a higher level. The experience she needed for each level was continuously growing higher and higher.

Walking further into the valley, there was an odd metallic ring that was repeatedly being rung. It sounded like mining. Pickaxes against hardened metal.

She got closer after creating a few more pitfall traps. Now knowing that there could be other Wayfarers filled her with trepidation. Dealing with classes was a lot more difficult than fighting beasts that usually only had one way of attacking.

Humans lacked overwhelming strength from genetics, but unlike monsters, they held flexibility. The human mind was still the most powerful gift the species were given. And with it, they could even turn the tables against the Leviathan of old.

The power of emotion and thought. The willingness to sacrifice themselves for blood. To fight to the bitter end for those they love. It was why the Sinwen family connection was so powerful, yet so cold. They were raised as soldiers to defend humanity, yet their blood raged for their family.

It wasn’t long before the sounds of metallic ringing were getting louder. She stopped at the corner and willed her Psych Domain to reach for the matter in the distance. She sifted through it like sand, and the image of a cave carved into the wall met her sight.

She tried to look through the walls, but something was blocking her vision. The walls were too thick, or the Voidbent metal was obstructing her matter sight. With no other way, she hovered above the ground with Levitate and silently approached.

It seemed the mine entrance was unguarded. But it was unusual. Unlike the kobolds that had a massive mining system in order. Whatever was mining was doing so without help.

There wasn’t a pile of the ore at the entrance, or a factory anywhere for the ore to be smelted, so it couldn’t be someone making armour or weapons.

What else could they be mining it for? Unless their smelter is deep within the cave? Astrid doubted whether that was true.

If they were smelting it, then smoke had to escape somewhere. Although it was dark, she could smell it.

She waited outside for a good while, but nothing wandered out. The striking of metal against metal was incessant and was quickly grating at her ears.

Astrid approached the entrance. Instead of entering right away, she created a large pit in front of the cave. Unlike the others, this one was far deeper than the rest, as the enemies could only come out one way. She finished it by creating a Major Image along the floor to mimic the regular dirt and rock that was once been there.

Astrid took the time while they were still mining to create a fire. It took a while for the literally alive branches to catch fire, but with enough perseverance, anything was possible. A moment after, smoke billowed into the air.

Using Psychokinesis she pushed the dense smoke into the mine. Astrid tapped her foot onto the floor as she matched the tempo of the metal striking.

Soon, the sounds within the mines stopped. It took a lot longer than she had expected. It seemed like whatever it was could hold their breath for a very long time. She was expecting shouting, but all she heard were muted footsteps. They were quick, like someone with tiny little legs moving as fast as they could.

Then more joined in, until the matter and vivid red hearts emerged from the depths. Astrid stood to the side. She was confident in the illusion she had placed, but it was always better to be careful.

Long, scuttling monsters made their appearance. Hundreds of legs pierced the ground at every step as they rampaged forward for fresh air.