[Pyschokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 201 (Patreon)

Astrid couldn’t help but marvel at her opponent's stealth abilities. To constantly live between a fabric of reality, within the shadows, seemingly without even having to come out, was incredible. If she was able to do that, then unless one had a specific scouting ability like Brett had, they would be undetected.

Although her current mission needed speed, she bolted to the side of the monster. Astrid wanted to experiment a little as the ability the Shadow Dimensioner had could be a game changer.

She yanked out its eyes, and awaited for the good news.

Dominating Sovereigns Eye has extracted the Active Skill - Shadow Claws - From the Shadow Dimensioner.

Shadow Claws: Channel the unique power of the Shadows, and send out a claw of darkness. Scales with Dexterity.

Would you like to merge with - Shadow Claws Y/N?

Astrid shook her head. It wasn’t something she needed. She wanted the camouflage the monster had, not the attack as any attack it could create, Astrid already had better.

Pouting, she quickly followed behind the others, and fell back into her position in the centre.

The building they entered was massive, the ceiling was high, and up above there was a walkway that spanned the entire floor. It looked like it led to an assortment of luxury shops. In the centre of the room, high above on the ceiling was a glimmering crystal chandelier.

Just from the ornament alone, it was easy to see the wealth that Apocrypha had at its disposal.

“I can’t sense anything,” Brett said as he scanned the area.

Noah also shook her head. “They must be above.”

“That’s a lot of floors to get through,” Daniel said.

“We’ll need to split up, It’ll take too long clearing the floors one-by-one,” Noah turned to address her soldiers. “Havel, take Brett, Astrid, and her team, and a few others, and start with the lower floors. I’ll start with the latter floors.”

“Right away,” Havel accepted his orders, then turned to the group he was given. “Everyone follow me.”

Just like they had before, they walked in the same formation, only it was smaller in number this time. Astrid didn’t really like the notion of splitting up, but it seemed there was nothing she could do about it.

Noah was right; they were in a race for time. If they spent too long away from the bubble wall, they lost any sort of information network to relay vital details of their mission back to Rebirth. But that wasn’t all. They also had to be there as backup in case the vanguard called them.

It was a gamble, and one that Astrid intended to win.

Travelling into the staircase, while Noah took the other, Brett spotted two shadow dimensioners.

Naming her new detection skill: Matter Field, she sent it out, scattering in the surroundings, and after notifying the others of her newly formed ability, it allowed the other warriors in the party to get in on the action.

Along with Brett being able to accurately tell where the shadow monsters were located, it allowed them to deal with them without much problem thanks to their low constitution. Once a spotlight illuminated them, they were like wet paper towels, even Astrid’s pinky could tear it.

Once they were killed, Astrid plucked their eyeballs once more in hopes for its camouflage ability.

You defeated a Shadow Dimensioner - Level 283!
…
| Extra experience is granted for defeating an enemy many levels above!

You have Levelled up!
| Oculus Witch Level 190-> Oculus Witch Level 195
| Voidmare Level 190 -> Voidmare Level 195

You have gained 50 stat points.
| You now have 1716 Intelligence.

Dominating Sovereigns Eye has extracted the Active Skill - Vision of Shadows - From the Shadow Dimensioner.

Vision of Shadows: Your eyes are imbued with the power of the shadows. Pierce the veil of darkness, and witness true sight.

Would you like to merge with - Vision of Shadows Y/N?

One of the monsters gave her that ability, and the other didn’t give her anything. It seemed that whatever the camouflage ability it had, was a certain rarity.

Astrid lumped it in with the rarity tiers that the system used, if she went by that logic, then the camouflage skill was most likely Legendary. So it would take a lot of eyeball pulling to find it, it seemed.

They travelled up the stairs, and onto the walkway Astrid had spotted from below. Many shops lined the wall, travelling inside the large building further.

Filled with an assortment of different relics, like toys, clothes, bags, but what made Astrid pause was the electronic devices in a certain shop. The others also looked at them, picking some up, but when Havel barked at them to hurry up, they quickly stored whatever they could within their space rings, or bags if they weren’t lucky enough to have one.

Rachelle, of course, looked at Astrid as if waiting for something. Smirking, Astrid swiped up most of the devices, and placed them in her Void Storage.

Although they were fighters, and not one of them had a science class, electronic devices usually sold for a high price. Especially ones from city-grade bubbles. It wouldn’t be the first time that a science user discovered a wealth of information within. Whether it was used for unique class skills, or simply to bolster the tech on Rebirth.

Astrid and the others also passed by a food shop, and most of the contents still remained. Being a city, only a fraction of it was scavenged. And because of that, Astrid brought it all to herself with psychokinesis, and funnelled it into her Void Domain.

Snacks to try later, Astrid thought with excitement.

It wasn’t longer before they left the shops behind, and climbed up onto the first floor. Brett warned them of multiple shadow dimensioners appearing in the surrounding area. Two, four, six of them he counted in total, and they were all approaching Astrid, and her team.

Astrid already had her Matter Field up. The shadow monsters tripped on her mine field, and Astrid fully intended to make use of the chance to level fast.

She didn’t give the others time to react before she [Crashed] her mind into the dimensioners. The only thing Astrid had to be careful of was not blowing up their skulls. It would be a disappointment if she lost the chance at obtaining their eyes, after all.

After she killed the fourth, she no longer felt bad about taking the experience from others. The stronger she was, the more she could be useful to her family. However, others were still gaining at least some experience; whether it was from contributing with strengthening skills, or other methods.

For strength, Astrid had to be selfish.

And thankfully for her, there were more of the shadow creatures as they travelled up more, and more floors.

Astrid had lost count of what floor she was on, but if she had to make a vague guess; then it had to be around sixteen. And each level meant that not only their levels further increased, but also their skills alongside it.

Blackened claws shot out of the shadows, and as they smashed into Rob’s shield, sending him skirting back down the hall, it was apparent that their strength was increasing.

There may be some evolveds. Astrid thought, caution sent alarm bells ringing inside her head.

Right now they were easy to kill, but what if one had the defence to back it up? The shadow dimensioners would transform from a mere shadow assassin with poor mobility, to a monster that was capable of haunting their dreams.

Astrid wasn’t the only one to notice the problem. Their formation became tighter, and everyone focused more on their defence, rather than purely attacking to gain levels.

Lisa’s arrow shot through the darkness, impaling the shadow dimensioner that fired the spectral claws. Astrid followed it up by taking its eyes, but once again, the result was nothing.

Astrid had killed dozens of them now, and now she wasn’t even gaining any skills to speak of. It probably meant that she had exhausted their natural skills, and only one of them was left.

Defeating the rest of the monsters, Havel ordered Astrid, and the others to check on their system. As a leader, he had to make sure that he provided time to those that had levelled up. If one was to gain a new skill, or hit a milestone, then it was important to take the time, and select it, or at the very least look at it; understand it.

Astrid herself had levelled up a few more times, and that wasn’t all.

You defeated a Shadow Dimensioner - Level 283!
You defeated a Shadow Dimensioner - Level 289!
…
| Extra experience is granted for defeating an enemy many levels above!

You have Levelled up!
| Oculus Witch Level 195-> Oculus Witch Level 202
| Voidmare Level 195 -> Voidmare Level 202

You have gained 70 stat points.
| You now have 1786 Intelligence.

Title obtained - Mage Adept: Congratulations Astrid, you reached Level two-hundred! That’s a big achievement… how many levels to go, I wonder?
| Intelligence +100
| Wisdom +50
| Constitution +50
| Gain Experience 5% faster.

Astrid looked at the title for a couple seconds before waving it away. The stat bonus was nice, but it couldn’t scratch what her other titles were at. After all, for those, she had to go through a lot to obtain them.

The others were taking a few more minutes sifting through their system, and it seemed like Losef especially was taking his time.

Oh, he got something nice? Astrid was happy for him, but being impatient, she decided to keep herself busy. By eating. Apocrypha snacks, to be accurate.

She took out a yellow package and read the contents: Fried potato crisps, cheese and onion flavoured. Astrid tilted her head, opened the bag, pinched a few inbetween her fingers, then shoved them in her mouth.

Her first thoughts were that they were a little stale, but thanks to the magical properties of the bubble, some freshness remained. The crisps were a strange combination, but they worked perfectly well with each-other. Almost like a harmony against her taste-buds.

A few seconds later, and they were all gone.

Astrid was wanting to try another snack, but Havel ordered them to continue moving. Losef shrugged his shoulders, feeling his body, getting used to whatever skill he had just learned.

Astrid and the others opened the door from the staircase, and walked into the seventeenth floor. Unlike the others, this one was different. Something… powerful, was looking straight at them.

A massive explosion rocked the building. It came from where Noah was located.