Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 210: Seed of War Awakens

Or pulsating. The Seed of War craved for the seed within the construct’s chest. But to Astrid, the plant seed was dead. Astrid had destroyed it, so much so that there wasn’t even a trace amount of energy left within.

But to the seed in her storage, it didn’t matter.

Bewildered at the sentient-like behaviour her heirloom exuded, Astrid plucked it out of her storage. It lurched forward, but Astrid was faster. Halting it in the air with her mind, it was clear the strange item she had received back within the Sinwen’s Armoury didn’t have a mind of its own.

No, it was like a beast. It had a desire, and that’s what fueled it. It had awakened once it received a whiff of another seed.

Luckily, Astrid had no qualms with letting the Seed of War experiment.

Curiosity got the best of her. What was the worst that could happen? She let the mental grasp go, and like a high powered magnet attracted to metal, the seed slammed against the jungle pip.

All Astrid could hear was the crackling of static electricity. And then, the kernel belonging to the construct dimmed in colour. Even more than when its energy had dissipated. From a vibrant wood, to a hollow grey. From a grey, to a shadowed black. Then, with a crack, the seed belonging to the giant machine crumbled into dust.

A System message followed.

Your bound - Seed of War - has consumed another seed.

| It is now activated.

| The multiverse stirs.

“Well shit, that can’t be good.” Astrid nervously chuckled as her seed was undergoing a great change.

After devouring the jungle seed kept within the construct’s chest, the Seed of War was suspended in the air.

Astrid attempted to call it over to her, to move it, but it refused to listen. All one-thousands points of Intelligence acted like they were only for display as no amount of mental strain brought the black bead to her.

Worse, a dreadful energy was emitting from its core. It reminded her of the time when she had detected Darcy’s space magic. Only this was a number of magnitude worse. The pressure radiating from the seed caused Astrid to take a few steps back in anticipation.

Of course, she anticipated the worst.

Not only that, Astrid sent an eyeball floating out of the room, and far down the tunnel to the range where Blinking Reposition still worked. If space collapsed, then she would be ready for it.

She just hoped that it was far enough.

The room swirled as the seed kicked up the dust and sand within the room. Astrid had to form a barrier as she focused on her family heirloom. Then, a piercing light shone. Like an overcharged lighthouse battling a storm, Astrid was forced to close her eyes.

Even with them shut, Astrid was still blinded by the sudden light. But when she opened them again, the seed had vanished.

The dust fell back to the floor, and the atmosphere within the room turned to normal. The intense space magic that was forming was severed. Or it moved somewhere else.

Astrid didn’t know which was worse.

She stood still for a moment. Reeling in surprise, or shock. It wasn’t until two minutes or so had passed when she clicked her tongue.

I hope it wasn’t important to father. Shaking her head, Astrid decided to ignore what had just happened. After all, if she erased it from her mind, it would cease to be a problem. Right?

Spending the better part of ten minutes scouring the room that she was in, Astrid had actually found a few pieces worthy of note. They weren’t some amazing treasure capable of boosting her strength. Instead, they were just plaques, or statue ornaments of cats, and dogs with the same scribbles from the walls, and the construct’s armour.

Again, Astrid didn’t know what the words meant, but maybe some of the science users back home knew how to decipher it. Or maybe some artefacts will be discovered in the various dungeons opening that may lead them to a scientific discovery?

As to why she picked up the statues of cats and dogs? They were cute.

After stuffing them into her Void Storage. A thought crept up that made her feel a little stupid. This world wasn’t real… right? So that meant that whatever she picked up would be erased.

But if the world wasn’t real, how come it was interacting with objects that she had brought into this trial? Like the jungle core and the Seed of War.

Astrid realised that this place wasn’t as easy as just describing it as an illusionary world. Perhaps the trial was another reality interwoven to her own?

Shaking her head, that was way above her realm of understanding.

So she settled on one line of thinking. If she could take objects out of this place, then it was real. Or as real as real could get. If she couldn’t, then it was indeed some sort of illusionary place within her mind.

Either of them only cemented one thought in Astrid’s mind. The Eye-Queen was all powerful.

The attached room was much smaller than the one Astrid had just come from. A miniature pyramid rose up in the middle of the room, and on top of it, was an ornate golden chest.

Since it was dark, Astrid used the primal fire ability of her Dominating Sovereigns Eye, and attached flickering flames to the wall. Thanks to her ability and high control, they stuck to the walls.

Shimmering under the light shone from the flames, the golden chest held an air of ancient superiority. From a time where Astrid couldn’t understand.

Ignoring its grandeur that repulsed common hands, Astrid approached it with care. After all, this place seemed like some sort of ancient burial sight. For all she knew, it could be booby trapped to high heavens.

First, she checked the room with Psych Domain, both surrounding the chest, and underneath it. Once she was confident that there were no danger surprises, Astrid placed her focus on the chest directly.

Once she laid eyes on it from up close, a familiar energy pulsed at her mind. Trying to enter it, perhaps trying to make her turn away, or worse, kill her. But it met the wrong grave robber.

No, that's wrong. I’m not a grave robber. I’m a treasure finder!

Overcoming her dubious reasons, Astrid shattered the mental connection the treasure chest was trying to attach. Like fallen glass, the psychic energy fell like glitter in her vision.

The chest had a lock, but after transferring all of her Intelligence to Strength, and smashing the lock with a voidbent sword, it clattered to the floor.

Swinging the chest’s lid back, she was met with a suspended dagger.

Astrid looked underneath it, but it truly was suspended in mid air. There was no invisible string, nor was it propped up by a pillar of any kind. It was floating from raw, pure magic.

At first she was hesitant in picking it up. If the chest had some sort of mental abilities, then what did the blade have? Maybe it was possessed by a devil, or a radioactive spawn of some sorts.

Hey, it was better to be careful.

With that line of thinking, she checked it once more, making sure that she transferred her strength back into Intelligence to ward off any further mental attacks. But it was just a regular old dagger. Sharp beyond belief judging by the blade, but an old dagger nonetheless.

Throwing caution to the wind, Astrid trusted in her safety measures, and picked up the blade. A pulse of pure mana surged through her body, but it seemed to only be an ancient remnant. In a blink of an eye, the feeling dispersed, and Astrid found herself gazing at the dagger.

It didn’t have a sheath. Instead, the same scribbles she had seen on the walls were inscribed onto the white metal of the blade. The handle was made of gold, and further down to the pommel, it was furnished with a blood red jewel.

Looking closer, the gem pulsated from within. It was rhythmic. Alive. Astrid held out the blade as far as her arms could hold it. Which with her little arms, wasn’t very far.

Inside, was a heart. A real, beating heart.

And with it, mission success.

But it wasn’t a System notification.

The Eye-Queen appeared in all her glory just behind the golden chest. Her figure was so large, she had to scrunch up her body so that she could fit within the small chamber.

“My other half, you have completed the trial!”

Yes! Astrid thought in excitement.

“Partly!” The Eye-Queen said with a devilish smile

No! Astrid cried from within.

“This was just the first part of the second trial. Now that you have succeeded with the first part–” The Eye-Queen leaned in, hand to mouth as her voice turned into a shouting whisper. “Well, the little jungle seed was the actual mission, not that little stupid blade in your hand. But now that you have succeeded, it is now time for the fun part!”

“Then why couldn’t you just state my mission was to obtain the seed?” Astrid shouted in exasperation at the lumbering barely humanoid figure.

Of course, the supernatural witch ignored her woes entirely.

“Quickly, go back to the surface. The people of this jungle need your help. Oh, and don’t forget the little blade. You will need it! Go forth, my minion!”

The Eye-Queen broke out into an evil laughter. The air around her turned dark, abyss-like clouds formed as they crackled with thundering booms.

Rain spat, clearly real as it splattered against Astrid’s face.

Turning, Astrid sprinted away from the crazed figure.

What was her problem? She’s insane. That was the only word Astrid could possibly describe her as she returned back to the surface.

What she saw, caused her mind to turn into mush. Hovering in the air with her jaw hanging open, she gazed into the horizon as an army blotted the skies.

They were all filing out of an enormous chasm torn from the sky. Like a portal, an army of beings that she couldn’t recognize descended toward the jungle.

It was war, and it was all because of Astrid.

Again...