Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 214: Overload: Courage 4/7

Jabari gazed out of the window, to the vast twinkling stars of the multiverse. They spread far and wide, seemingly never ending, but for them, they were so reachable.

Which star would they absorb next?

Which planet would they destroy next?

Licking his lips, his vision moved from the stars, to the rest of the arc. It was a vast vessel, one that the star system had rarely seen before. Of course, it had undergone tremendous upgrades since its inception.

From teleporting arrays, to railguns capable of long range annihilation, to the… Siphon Nexus.

“Meow.”

A white cat with gorgeous plush fur brushed up against his legs. With ice blue eyes, and a cute expression, everyone would think that it was a friendly cat.

But Jabari knew better.

After all, it was not a cat, but a Horror.

“Oh, Mittens, are you hungry?” Jabari smiled, revealing sharpened teeth hidden behind his lips.

Walking over to a table filled with bony meat, Jabari picked one up by a massive bone, and threw it straight at Mittens.

Face splitting in four parts, displaying rows of savage teeth, and a long, coiling sharp tongue in the middle, it latched onto the meat chop, and swallowed it whole.

Its face returned to normal, purring as if it was actually a purebred cat.

“That’s my good pet.” Jabari bent down, patting the soft fur. Once he started, he couldn’t stop. It was like his hand was disappearing into a luxurious rug, swallowed, the flesh of his hand was disappearing by the second.

Ripping his hand back, Jabari tutted. “That’s not nice, Mittens.”

Standing up, the young man stood in front of the window once more. “I wonder where our next stop will be, Mittens? What will the Great Seven decide, I wonder?”

However, despite his questions, Mittens didn’t answer him. It couldn’t talk, after all.

Something did answer him, though.

Mission received: Battle of Sovereign Candidates.

| Travel through the Dungeon opening, and kill the Eye Sovereign’s Candidate.

Jabari grinned at the sudden windfall of information. At long last. The moment he had been waiting for the past two years since he had received notice of becoming a Sovereigns candidate.

Now it was his turn to carve out a piece of history for himself. No longer would it just be the Great Seven.

He would murder the Eye Sovereign’s candidate, whoever it was, and take his rightful spot as a Lord of the multiverse.

Crouching back down to scratch Mittens behind the ears, a savage grin plastered his face.

“Mittens, it seems like you will get to play after all,” Jabari said in glee as Mittens released a cute meow.

Then, in the middle of his quarters, a void of black ripped open the space. At first it was just a dot, but it rapidly expanded both upwards, and downwards. Until the form of a rectangular door miraculously was created.

It happened instantly, and a glaring red light flash followed, chased right after by the piercing noise of the arc’s warning system.

It was warning them of an invader. However, there was no such being. Jabari was leaving.

But first… Jabari turned over his hand, palm facing the ceiling. A grey marble with tiny black lines scored throughout suddenly appeared within the middle of his palm, and then it got bigger, just like the dungeon entrance had done.

From the grey marble, an armoured spider took form. Then it grew larger, until it dwarfed him in size. It had golden horns, and a carapace to match it. Unlike most spiders, this one only had three eyes, and each leg was finished with a devastating spike of bone.

“Kura,” Jabari said gently as the massive gilded spider lowered its head in his direction. “Find and kill the Sovereign.”

Without hesitation, the massive spider scuttled toward the abyss-like entrance, and vanished from the world.

Jabari turned his palm once more, and hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of spiders left his hand, and sprinted into the dungeon.

“I hope I don’t need to personally make an appearance,” Jabar said, looking at the dungeon with a grim countenance. “That would be such a drag.”

***

Astrid spat. If she wanted to reap her rewards from the disgusting spider, she had to be quick.

Concentrating on the use of Matter Absorption, she was surprised to find a connection being made. It was unlike the first time she used it like with Voibent metal. This time, it was seamless.

Skills.

Although she had experienced them so many times now, it was still a miraculous experience. She didn’t have to think, all she had to do was ‘do’. The skill was like a guiding system that enabled her to achieve feats that would have originally made her take her time.

Of course, she had to do quite a bit of experimentation the first time, but still, without the skill, it would have taken her a lot longer to extract the material.

Within Astrid's mind, a figure emerged from nothing. It was her, but this time she wasn’t wearing armour made of metal ore. There wasn’t a streamlined appearance like that of Voidbent, rather now, a thickened carapace hugged her scarred, toned, and strong body.

It had two vicious spikes at the shoulder, curving upward, ready to deal damage to whoever attacked. They belonged to the fangs of the Vanguard Arachnid she had slain.

Intricate lines crossed the armour, glowing an almost purplish-black hue, giving Astrid a more beastly appearance than usual.

Her eyes were no longer child-like, always wanting to cause trouble out of boredom. They were now marred with bloody experience. Wild, untamed, and ready to lash out at any moment in attack; they were the eyes of a brutal combatant.

Those are my eyes?

Astrid had seen her clone many times, but this time it was different. What she was seeing now was a true reflection of herself. A one to one replica of herself.

The feeling of the new armour was also different. No longer did she feel even the slightest heat in the surroundings, especially within a jungle, it was a godsend.

She was cool, calm, and collected. Like that of a patient predator waiting for its prey to walk into its trap.

Inspired, Astrid broke out of her reverie, and took out glass fragments from her Void Storage. She had tried to use them during her travels on the ship back home to Rebirth, but she never knew what to do with them.

Now she was aware.

Gazing at the approaching army of hairy, demonic spiders, Astrid acted with the inspiration coursing through her thoughts.

Zephyiron had taught her to be flexible, to not just walk one path. But Astrid didn’t believe those words. Deep down, there was a hint of disdain within her respect for the elder.

He only thought that way because he couldn’t reach the peak. In the end, Astrid intended on walking on her own path. However, that just meant that she just had to use everything she could to bolster her own strength.

Overwhelming attack and defence. Astrid would master them both to destroy all of her enemies, and reach the pinnacle.

Grinning, she willed the newly formed armour to disappear, and directly absorbed the qualities of the Steilgam Glass she had received on Mount Hullbeck.

The sight of the glass windows resisting the harsh impact of forging, along with the same absorbing qualities of the Arachnids armour… What would happen if she combined both of them into one entity?

Astrid erected only one layer of Mind Barrier closely in front of her. The army was fast approaching, and despite the knight's wounds, he stood like a stalwart mountain.

“We need to retreat to the castle,” the knight said, his voice echoing against the dense metal of his helmet.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Astrid replied.

The knight nodded, turned, and sprinted back to the army. Astrid heard his commands through the trees, but Astrid didn’t spare them any attention.

She had to focus.

Astrid didn’t even know if it was possible. She may fail. But not trying was the greatest mistake anyone could ever make.

Doing her best to ignore the quick approaching pitter patter of spider legs, Astrid zoned out everything in her surroundings, and entered her own thoughts.

Courage 67/100%

Just like with the carapace, she placed her fingers against her Mind Barrier. The image of the dome shield transmitted into her mind, along with its thickness, its durability… and the mana it was composed of.

The scuttling of the arachnids were encroaching on her position, but Astrid could feel it. Like a wall that was ready to be built; she placed one brick onto it.

Astrid formed nothing, into the Assault Arachnids carapace. Then, she let it seep through her flesh like a liquid, and pushed it into the barrier.

Instantly, the once transparent barrier of mana was now replaced by a bluish-black armour. Astrid couldn’t see out of it, but the moment it was formed, an intense feedback rushed into Astrid’s internal organs.

The spiders had arrived.

Each hit against the carapace enhanced Mind Barrier sent a shocking jolt of pain through her insides. Like she was being torn apart. Quickly checking her condition, it wasn’t as bad as she thought.

There was no damage, or if there was, it was very light. But the shield wasn’t something she could hold up for very long. Not only did it use more mana, but it was evident the absorbing qualities of the carapace was a double edged sword.

It absorbed damage, but the damage was brought to the user's insides. That meant that the Assault Arachnids main strength wasn’t its poison, nor was it the shooting spike, but the power of its internal organs.

However, despite being surrounded on all sides, Astrid wasn’t finished.

Next up was the Steilgam Glass.

Astrid repeated the process, and pushed the glass into the shield. This time it was a lot more tricky. It was acting like an unstable brick. One moment it would crumble, and then the next it just wouldn’t fit.

As if the brick was the wrong shape.

It took Astrid ten agonising minutes before finally the brick slotted into its place. Finally, the light shone back onto her figure.

The glass had replaced the sight function of the glass, and what Astrid saw was incredible.

The spiders she had trouble with were quite literally killing themselves. Each strike, each drop of poison that touched her Mind Barrier, was completely returned back to the attacker thanks to the magical properties of the Assault Arachnids carapace.

Not only that, the Steilgam glass had reduced the impact taken on Astrid’s internal organs, and let her see the outside world on top of it. Although the damage inflicted was only reduced somewhat, it was better than nothing.

But that all changed when a golden light flashed in the distance.

It was then that Astrid discovered true pain…