Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 94: Debrief 2/4

“Right,” Faris stumbled into his chair, he slung one leg over the arm-rest. “So why have you old leather bags all dragged away from my mug? Especially you, Milana, god you look awful in your old age. Like a wilted leather ball struggling to–”

“Faris!” Milana shouted, her voice trembled, and her face along with it.

Astrid barely managed to resist a laugh escaping from her mouth. But her face changed when Milana sent a glare in her direction.

Faris’ head recoiled and stuck his fingers into his ears. He jostled them around, as if he had suffered ear damage.

Milana was an older woman with deep silver hair that she had braided into a high bun. Time had long etched their markings into her face as wrinkles had warped her face to an unrecognisable state. She was wearing a long robe that was rarely seen within Rebirth as it was viewed as peculiar.

But it was one of the signifying traits of her family, Waters. It was one single piece of high quality cloth and it wrapped around her body like a noble blanket.

She held a crooked wooden cane that smacked against the floor. It was like a stick of emotions as she moved it along with her mental state, which just so happened to be angry and irritated.

“Bloody hell's woman,” Faris said, “Calm down would’ya, or maybe you want a fight after all?”

Faris languidly tilted his head towards her as he swayed side to side from intoxication.

Milana’s face turned scarlet red and her cane trembled on the floor. She emitted a purple haze from her shoulders, black outlines of some type of bird surged from within.

Faris tipped the side of his lips upwards and sneered at the woman.

“Enough,” Lord Sinwen said, he blasted a gust of air as the surrounding mood was washed away like the tide. “Set an example for the young, not show them the opposite.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Faris sneered. “It was the old wit–”

“Faris, I won’t say it again.” Lord Sinwen said with a side glance. “I’m losing my patience.”

“He’s not the only one,” Vihaan said as his knuckles tightened. The pressure caused his bones to shift, creating a popping that entered Astrid’s ears.

Faris sulked further into his chair.

“Wayfarers, I’m terribly sorry for the delay,” Heath said with an annoyed smile as he glanced at Faris. “Please, begin your debrief.”

It’s about damned time, why do we need to wait for them all to be present. Talk about inefficiency. Astrid tapped her foot on the ground. If the world was ending, would she have to go through the same damned process?

Calum took a pained breath and began his debrief. He started from the beginning, from the very moment that they entered the Town. He left nothing out, and his detail was impeccable. It was to the point that Astrid could vividly see herself down there once more. It was a talent in and of itself, a perfect debrief with no stone left unturned.

Then he reached the point where Astrid had taken the others into the mine and discovered the solo dungeon gateway.

Lord Sinwen’s brows raised as his eyes remained on his daughter.

Calum stopped his debrief and nodded to Astrid.

“The next part, only Astrid knows.” Calum said.

Astrid was about to fill in the gaps from where Calum had left, but she realised something. She doubted her debriefing skills were as good as Calum, and she wasn’t really good at explaining things either.

She didn’t have the patience for it. So she decided to bring her illusions to life, just like actors on a stage.

Astrid descended into her mind as the memories of her mission played behind her eyes like a projector. Then, she connected to her psychic mana and urged Major Image forward. Her mind strained as even the grass and forest was entirely recreated from nothing but her own power.

“Woah,” Froderick said in amazement.

“Damn, would you look at that.” Tony smirked as his fingers sifted through the image, only for it to be destroyed at the touch.

Astrid glared at him as he hastily took a step back in fear of retaliation.

“I miss having a powerful illusionist around here,” Faris sighed. “They are so rare nowadays, it’s the perfect form of entertainment.”

“You get by well enough,” Heath added.

Faris said, “speaking of entertainment, what the hell do you do nowadays, Heath?”

“Work, unlike some.”

“What do you mean?” Faris frowned. “I’m always working, can’t you see what’s in my hand?”

Faris revealed a crafty smile and with a wave of his sleeve, a bottle of pure alcohol was produced. There was no need for a glass as he drank straight from the bottle, it looked like he didn’t have the mind to share with anyone else.

He took a swig of the liquid and swirled it within his mouth. He savoured every little drop of it before swallowing it. His eyes turned a hazy gold, before they returned to just the haze of a drunkard.

“Oh the life of a Brewer,” Vihaan spat. “It’s already been more than thirty years since the last time the monsters down below felt the might of your drunken staff. Now all they can smell is your vile breath.”

“That sounds wrong,” Faris giggled. “Don’t put images into my head.”

“You’re disgusting,” Milana added.

“Yeah well atleast I don’t look like a hide wilted out in the sun for too long–”

“Astrid, continue,” Lord Sinwen said.

Is Faris hostile towards Milana? I wonder what happened between them. Astrid thought and nodded at her fathers words.

Astrid skipped to the part where she entered the gateway. Unlike Calum, she didn’t have the patience to start from the beginning. She decided to show the part that they wanted to see the most.

She recreated the void-land, and her fights with the monsters were added as if she was experiencing it all over again in vivid detail. The noises they made, the steps, the smell of their breath, and their raw desire for human flesh. It was all displayed to the Wayfarers, and some of the most powerful nobles that resided on rebirth.

The Wayfarer’s looked in shock and horror at the scenes of the hungry wasteland. Everything wanted to eat each other, and their skin crawled at the way they looked at Astrid.

They watched as she struggled to survive, but it seemed as if the top brass realised something.

Heath asked, “why didn’t you just kill them?”

Astrid was about to frown, but quickly turned her face to normal. It was the question she had asked herself, should she tell them about the solo mission? If there were other dungeons, which most likely was true, then they would find out eventually.

“It was the mission I received as part of the dungeon.”

“What was the reward?” Milana gripped the handles of her seat and peered forward as she skipped the contents of the mission entirely.

Astrid paused once more. Telling them about the solo mission, and the reward were two entirely different things all together.

She was extremely wary revealing any information regarding her classes. However, she thought about it further.Telling them about a class upgrade, although it was a huge deal, it told them nothing about her class.

The fact that she could use illusions was already common knowledge to anyone who decided to probe her files, or even from word of mouth.

If she told them about the class upgrade, then that just meant that it would make her illusions stronger. And even if it was something entirely different, they would have no way of knowing what it was anyway, until she showed them.

Which she wasn’t willing to do. From now on she would keep the new skills a secret. Like her void blast. But, she had another answer in mind, and that was to place doubt.

I need to think of the future, so that if I am betrayed, or hunted, I am prepared for anything that might come. I need an ace card up my sleeve to punish any who decide to attack me with lacking information. Astrid thought.

It had to be something with a high chance to cause death quickly. She would leave that to further research.

“The mission reward was a class upgrade,” she said.

“What?” Milana said in bewilderment. She could no longer sit down as she raised herself from her chair.

She wasn’t the only one that was surprised. All the top brass, and Wayfarers alike were stunned at the information.

“What was the class upgrade?” Heath said. He stood up as his eyes practically shone.

The question made Lord Sinwen’s expression finally change. From his ordinary steely gaze, to one twisted with ferocity. His aura charged forward and crashed into Heath and Milana.

They both frowned, but they managed to resist the force. Sweat formed from their foreheads and they finally gave in, sitting down in their seats.

“That was a warning,” Lord Sinwen said as he tapped his finger against his chair in agitation.

The wayfarers opened their mouths agape. They had never seen Lord Sinwen act in such a manner. To them, he was an immovable wall void of any emotion. Yet… They glanced at Astrid’s sweet smile.

No shit that was a warning, dad. Astrid wryly thought.

Heath cleared his throat with a cough. “I apologise for my hubris, Lord Sinwen.”

“I’m sorry too,” Milana said with a groan.

Astrid shook her head. “I didn’t get it anyway.”

“You didn’t get it?” Lord Sinwen said with slight disappointment.

“No,” Astrid continued. “The conditions were too difficult, I wasn’t able to do it all on my own. If–if I had only been stronger.”

Astrid turned her thoughts to the corrupted Haufman as her emotions swirled in chaos. Her psychic power raised her hair. It was the only way she knew to convince the high nobles, to turn her lie to a truth.

“It’s okay Astrid,” Heath consoled. “There will always be another chance. You stumbled upon the first, who’s to say that it won’t happen again?”

Astrid gnashed her teeth together and nodded.

“Then what happened little girl?” Faris said. It looked as if he was getting bored. The stench of high-powered alcohol wafted toward her as she quickly blocked it with her Mind Barrier.

Astrid took a breath of fresh air, then continued. She showed the entire scene with Haufman, although admitted how her mind abilities worked. She only showed what she wanted them to see.

At the scene, Vihaan smashed his fist down onto the seat. Despite his monstrous strength, the seat only trembled a little and a small crack was created into the metal like an image of crackled lightning.

“Haufman…” Vihaan said.

“You know him?” Astrid said.

“Know him?” Vihaan continued with a pained smile. “He was a part of my loyal warband. A good, stand-up man who cared deeply for his family. But, how is that possible?”

“Vihaan, if my memory serves me well, which it usually does,” Heath said. “Didn’t you lose Haufman while on a city expedition?”

“Lose?” Vihaan tightened his grip, and the arm rest shattered. “I didn’t lose anyone! One moment he was there, then the next he was gone.”

They all sunk into their thoughts.