Scrawled on the wall of Ganerth the Undying’s cell, eternally imprisoned in the Prison of the Judicators

We think we are the masters but we are just rats, scurrying after scraps that fall from its table. It thinks itself God but I know the truth oh yes I do. This is just another cell, another cell, another cell, my prison in a prison in a prison in a prison. The first are waiting, the first are sleeping, the first are dreaming. We are naught but their dreams, we are nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing. More come more come more come. More rats join the endless dance

My prediction for how long it would take me to get to the center of Shssiss’s Zone was wrong.

I ended up reaching it at the end of the first week. The Zone is much smaller than Albasalas’s, something I am too nervous to go back and ask her about. Despite our Ceasefire, I have a feeling she won’t view my return and questions kindly.

Time flew by as I followed the pattern that I started on the first day. Working in concentric and ever shrinking circles, I spiraled closer and closer each day as I left the Zone looking as if it had suffered a natural disaster. The beautiful plains of wild grass were replaced with fields of nothing but ash and smoke.

I managed to kill another 18 Assassins during the week that, when combined with the experience from the ones on the first day, put me over into Lvl 41. The little ambushers don’t seem to give as much experience as the Butchers but that is most likely due to the fact that this is the first time I have out leveled my opponents. I also gained 12 levels in Wall of Flame, 8 in Mana Bullet, 4 in Effortless Presence, and 3 in Mana Manipulation, Elemental Mana, and Stone Armor, a decent haul for such a short period of time.

My nights were spent on the completion of my mental image, with the exception being the first night where I determined the effects of the liquid. Using the fang on the trees in the novice Zone, I figured out the liquid is an acidic poison, breaking down the outer layer and causing some very disconcerting reactions. I know that they aren’t the same reactions that would occur with a human but the experience is enough to convince me that I don’t ever want it touching my skin.

The most important part, however, is that I feel close to the completion of my image. The final piece is avoiding me but I know that with a little more time I’ll be able to unlock my first of the Higher Energies.

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I stare up at the tree in the center of the zone and can barely believe my eyes. The trunk is enormous, tens of feet in diameter, and it stretches nearly two hundred feet upwards without any branches. Branches and leaves finally appear at the tip, only a few but stretching wide in each direction, giving it an almost umbrella-like appearance. It reminds me of a giant version of the Madagascan Baobabs that I’d read about, except of course for its natural Helldarvin aspects such as the purple bark. It grows out of a small hill in the ground, wild grass raising up and covering the area around it.

I look up at the sun, seeing it only halfway across the sky, and realize now is as good a time as any. Conjuring up and letting loose a Wall of Flame, I watch as it burns through the grass around the hill, exposing three Assassins that begin to slither towards me with their hiss. Despite their now superior numbers, I’m not worried.

I activate Mana Infusion and jump backwards to gain some distance, raising up my hand and firing a Mana Bullet. It rips through the head of the closest beast and it falls to the ground, unable to survive the debilitating wound. The other two spread out in opposite directions, displaying a surprising understanding of strategy. All the others had seemed to be mindless beasts, almost useless without their ability to ambush, but these two are a step above.

It still won’t be enough.

From within my slowed perception of time, I decide to try Screaming Mind. I hadn’t experimented with it yet, spending all my extra time on my image, but this seems like an opportune time. Even if it doesn’t do anything I’m confident that I’ll be able to kill the two Assassins before they reach me.

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Reaching out to a part of my mind that is completely new, the understanding of how to do so provided to me by Genesis and Albasalas, I activate the Skill. I feel the new part of my brain begin to pulse and a light feeling of pain washes over me, making me grit my teeth. It isn’t the sharp pain of a cut, or the nauseas pain of getting kicked in the genitals, or even the overwhelming pain of stubbing your toe at night. It is a phantom pain, attacking the mind with a vicious scream that mimics the feeling of your body being subjected to unimaginable damage.

No matter what it feels like to me, the Assassins have it much worse. Just a second after I feel the phantom pain, they both stop hissing and collapse to the ground, foaming slightly at the mouth as their bodies spasm. I’m able to push past my own pain and stumble forward slightly as I regain control, feeling a headache forming but ignoring it.

I raise my hand and quickly fire off another Mana Bullet, hitting one of the beasts right in the head and killing it instantly. I’m about to fire off the second Bullet when I stumble forward and nearly fall, the pain in my mind flaring one last time before it begins to dissipate. The Assassin also seem to be getting over the effects, slithering towards me in an almost drunken pattern. Taking a deep breath, I raise my hand and conjure the Bullet as it gets closer and closer, my hand wavering slightly. The beast begins slithering in a more organized pattern as it gets closer, opening its mouth and exposing the four fangs that drip with the poison.

What the Assassin doesn’t notice is that while it settles back into a regular movement so too does my hand stop shaking, becoming perfectly still. Twenty feet away from me, body coiled and ready to strike, I fire the Bullet and hit it cleanly on the head, killing the creature. I then fall to the ground in a heap, mentally exhausted. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Screaming Mind would have such painful feedback. The cost had only mentioned about 13% of my Health pool and a bit of Stamina, nothing about the feeling of being mentally tortured by my own mind. Its then that I notice a blinking notification in the corner of my eye, waiting for me to acknowledge it.

Warning! Screaming Mind (R-1) requires a more advanced form of Psionic Mind than currently possessed. 20% of Mental Effects will be suffered until a more advanced form is acquired.

Of course it does and of course Albasalas had decided that wasn’t necessary information for me to have. That crazy plant is probably laughing in her cave at the thought of me dying the first time I use the Skill. Brushing aside the annoyance, I sit down in a Lotus Pose and gather my thoughts.

A deep hiss from far up above brings me out of this calm state. I look up and see the Zone Leader for the first time. Six feet wide and god knows how long, a face as large as my entire body curls its way down the trunk of the large tree. Unlike its children, it has only three eyes that stare down at me in a primal hatred, enraged from my destruction of its domain and the killing of all of its children. Foot long spikes make their way down the spine of the creature, each one long and sharp enough to completely impale me. Above its head appear the words Shsiss the Mother Assassin [Lvl 51].

I get to my feet and stare at her, unsure of how to handle a creature this large. Just as I settle on peppering her with Bullets, she rears her head back and spits something forward. I instantly conjure a Chilling Wind at a 45 degree angle, the strong winds making contact with the projectile and pushing it to the side where it lands among the fields of ash. A small stream of smoke arises from where it landed and I realize that a single hit of that acid would eat through me.

She does this two more times as she makes her way down the tree, forcing me to counter each one with a Chilling Wind. A quick check of my Mana Well lets me know that I’m sitting around 74%, ticking up slightly due to the increased regeneration effect of Effortless Presence. Despite that, I can’t let this become a battle of attrition. My success in combat relies on hitting hard and hitting fast and battles that stretch past that point are the ones where I am in the most danger.

I conjure up a Mana Bullet and prepare to bring the fight to her.