AR1/C15 - Refuge

Sam was elated, flying over the swarming mass of mobs that had allowed him to find out that his new ability [Energy Drain] was an AOE skill. Though he was puzzled as to how exactly it and his [Opinokinesis] skill worked. Or, for that matter, how any of his abilities worked. When he had used his abilities before, he had been able to see tendrils of Psionic energy radiating from him to whatever he was trying to effect. But with these abilities, he could see nothing, maybe if he increased his perception.

That wasn’t to say they weren’t great and all. It was just that without fully understanding his skill set, it was difficult to enhance or fully use them. Still, he had some time left before they were due to leave.

[New Merger with the Seracian Kingdom will commence in 2 days 21 hours 37 mins]

As soon as the counter hit zero, he would be off. The Seracians were no joke, and he had to get away from their scrutiny as quickly as possible. Surely he could find a backwater somewhere he could prepare safely for the future fights he knew would surely come. Whether that was with the Therulians, he was not sure.

“Mind out!” shouted Maria, spraying the front ranks of mobs with an icy blast that stopped half a dozen in their tracks.

These mobs were so little threat to Sam that he had drifted off in his thoughts for a while there. He looked down to see that the mobs he had hit with his AOE blast of [Energy Drain] were no longer in the battle, allowing the others to mop them up easily. So he continued on using [Energy Drain] to incapacitate as many as he could, flying low over the hoard like a crop sprayer.

Sam continued to pummel the mobs unmercifully, seeing his strength reach ridiculous levels. This was just crazy, as he had no use for the stat whatsoever. Though he imagined if it were a real fight, having so much strength could be useful if he was cornered and had actually to fight in melee range.

***

During the next two days, Sam spent most of his time, alternating between training with the others and heading off to the mirror realm to try and level up his abilities as much as possible. He found the lack of sleep didn’t seem to bother him that much, strangely, as he could kind of doze while still using his skills. He hadn’t managed to work out how to level [Energy Drain] without any mobs in the mirror realm, but [Opinokinesis] was another matter.

He found he could use the skill on himself to varying effects. He could produce gigantic illusions, cars, buildings, and just about anything he could think of. The larger and more complex, the faster the skill leveled.

They had split all the monster cores they had managed to collect, and his leveling had begun to slow noticeably as he got higher. It still gave them all a few stat points to play with.

Name: Sam Slait Level 16

Health Points: 259/259 Skill Points: 316/316 Stamina: 184/184

Vitality: 22 Strength: 11 Endurance: 6 Agility: 10 Intellect: 100 Perception: 20

Free stat points: 42

Acquired Path: PSI Tier-F Strand: null

Abilities:

Tier-G

[Telekinesis Level 112] [Psionic Drain Level 107] [Telepathic Illusions Level 106] [Tough Level 8]

[Pyrokinesis Level 73] [Cryokinesis Level 73][PSI FLOW Level 27]

Tier-F

[Kinetic Flight Level 53][Opinokinesis Level 45][Energy Drain Level 19]

Sam saw that his offensive power was clearly a glaring weakness but still lamented having to put any points into Endurance; instead, he dumped 30 into Perception, bringing it up to 50 and the remaining points into Agility, as he had been impressed by Maria’s speed in combat.

His lack of ability made the transition to another world seem even more ominous. To keep his cover, he had been told he would need to decide on one of his abilities to focus on, to the exclusion of all else, as his type of Psionic did not exist.

Sam was perplexed by this revelation. How could he be so much different from the norm?

He knew his abilities or use of them were different from his friends, but after he had met the Therulians, who used their illusions all the time. He was sure it was normal.

But this was not the case; they were veterans who had been training for almost two years. For him to be able to replicate, any of their abilities was just not normal at all. This was why it was essential for him to hide his varied skills as much as possible.

If someone decided to concentrate on more than one skill, that might allow for more versatility in combat but also would generally mean you would be outclassed in your chosen skill. It just did not happen as SP was finite, meaning leveling one skill would come at the expense of another.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As a result of this, people looking to join a faction or tout for trade as a mercenary would specify their branch of Psionics. These were seen as professions in the psionic world.

Sam also found that the multi-verse had its own police force – Seers whose job it was to check undesirables, those who had an unstable mental condition. They could also detect if someone were a Psionic and even those with the potential to awaken as one.

If Sam were to set up an identity within the multiverse, he would have to choose to be recognized as specializing in one of the nine main branches of Psionics:

Bleacher – able to erase all or part of someone’s memories, professional practitioners are expected to be able to erase memories within a specific timeframe or relating to a particular event.

Modder – able to modify some physical abilities either temporarily or permanently, such as improved senses. This category also included healers. This branch made up the majority of the military police.

Tracker – able to trace an individual by using sensory or mental clues.

Constructor - able to produce mental constructs; this included illusions.

Mask – can block psionic scanning and detection. Higher-tier practitioners can protect from most psychic probing and attacks.

Seller – can implant false memories or engender emotional states in others.

Eye – able to see future events. Whether this be a form of precognition or events far in the future.

Mover – any Psionic that can use telekinesis. These are split into sensory categories. For instance, Scions who able to manipulate sound vibrations

Prime – able to use elemental energies.

Lopez and Bartholomew would have to be classed as Constructors. Whereas Sarah and Maria would both be Primes, Pyro, and Cryo, respectively.

[New Merger with the Seracian Kingdom commencing…]

Drake and the others were all posted near the mirror realm entry point. Sam had covered Maria and Sarah in illusion, making them invisible. If elite forces had decided to attack Earth directly, they would have been courting almost certain death. But they were hedging their bets on the Seracians being 100% predictable.

They were rewarded by the sight of the Seracian frontline garrisons as hundreds upon hundreds of androids exited the mirror realm in a silver line of metallic metal. The android troops came in all shapes and sizes; some were flying, some with heavy guns, all looking far advanced of anything the Earth had to offer.

***

After about two hours, they were able to slip into the mirror realm, following a troop of about twenty androids. All their awakened had gone to ground, awaiting further instructions, outside the City to try and give the appearance of a discarded base.

As Sam passed the androids still entering and exiting the mirror realm, he passed high above them all, now carrying Sarah, Maria, Lopez, and Bartholomew. Below was a barren wasteland with little or no distinguishable landmarks. The androids they were following eventually exited the mirror realm through an exit they would probably never have found otherwise.

What they saw next chilled Sam’s heart.

The landscape was undiffering, but the vastness of the Seracians’ defenses was staggering. For as far as Sam could see, in every direction were gun emplacements and droids. The sky was drowned them, like a swarm of electronic bees.

Now the plan was to try and cover their tracks by heading for another entry point to the mirror realm that was some way off. But with Sam’s lack of agility when it came to carrying others, their main problem was dodging the ever-moving sea of droids. Plus, which in the hell direction should they go?

Sam remembered the Therulian landscape, with recurring formations, and just hoped the Seracians were as predictably strategic.

They skimmed above the rocky terrain; though the suns beat down from above, his barrier thankfully protected them from nearly all the heat of this world.

With no other plan, they just kept going in as straight a line as they could until what seemed like days, but actually, only hours had passed, until finally, after quite a few wrong suppositions, they found yet another mirror. Now they just had to wait for droids to stop, exiting and entering. This gave Sam, as usual, way too much time to think. On the one hand, he was glad to be of use, but on the other, the responsibility frayed at his nerves. Thankfully he had changed his strategy and was able to move along at a fair lick – using [Kinetic Flight] while dragging the others along in bubbles of energy.

When the procession of droids finally seemed to have come to a halt, it was Lopez’s turn.

Before, they had just been able to follow the line of droids in and out, but this time, they wanted to go to somewhere of Lopez’s choosing – the hub world of Iktophos. A neutral-trading world where they hoped to find their resistance contact.

Lopez needed to simply imagine Iktophos, as he was the only one of them who had been there before. Then Sam would use his seemingly unique ability to follow him into the mirror realm. And thus get them all through to that world.

They were all a bundle of nerves. Sam was glad that both Lopez and Bartholomew were veterans, as his heart rate was ratcheting up into the hundreds, he was sure.

Bartholomew also needed to cast an illusion over the mirror, so nobody could see what they were doing.

They entered the mirror realm.

Now this was more like it; Lopez had described Iktophos to Sam, and it was no barren wasteland. A highly civilized City scape presented itself to them as they headed forwards.

Next was the wait. They had to hope that their contact’s security had not been breached. The contact organization, Feritos, on Iktophos, would be well aware of The Seracian Kingdom’s merger with our universe. But interference with a merger was naturally very risky, and Sam had been informed it was punishable by something worse than death.

This was something Sam really did not want to think about. Due to the fact that the hierarchy of the universe was based on Psi power, they had developed the means not just to wipe minds (Bleachers) or scour minds (eyes) but also to subject individuals to harm that would normally be impossible (Sellers).

From what Sam had heard, Psionic duels were also not pleasant affairs as many duelists not only enjoyed torturing their opponents before killing them, but it was apparently almost a required etiquette, in some circles.

Sam found himself quite literally sweating as the minutes ticked by.

Until there appeared several figures before them.