61 Chapter 59: Rescue Mission Part 2.
This is where things start heating up. Like literally.
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(Billy's P.O.V)
I'm in this warmth.
It's pulsing with energy I'm familiar with.
A blue web of fleeting awareness and endless imagination.
Psionic Energy. Like a heart in my mind if that makes sense. It pumps and extends out feelers of energy.
The feelers ran throughout and within my body, then combine into a shroud around my figure. More Psionic energy pours into the shroud.
With an inaudible pop, the shroud inflates into a spherical bubble. Mental energy washes out and I get a mental picture of the surroundings.
It's cold. We're nestled high in a range of snowy mountains.
I pull my awareness back, creating an echo as another pulse ripples out. They clash and merge.
And now I have a clear picture of where I am.
A building in the center of a complex, surrounded on all sides by white peaks. The light of the sun above is dim, dimmer than it should be.
Separate from that gloominess,
Immense magic and tranquility resonate through every stone and beam making up the buildings.
The mountain winds scatter as they blow against the stone and mortal foundations.
On the courtyard and paths in between each building, are pots of exotic plants and statues of mythical beings, each radiating its own unique energy.
Now unbelievably, this is all just on a broader scale.
While my telepathy has been getting stronger, this increase in power feels like too much.
For starters, my range has increased dramatically. I am able to tell from the global positioning of the sun and the region around that we're in the Himalayas.
Secondly, my ability to sense minds can penetrate through mind shields. At least the ones maintained by a spell.
Something the sorcerers training and learning magic in these secluded grounds seem to favor.
I can easily pierce through those pesky barriers now. Even go as far as control people if I want to. How curious.
That's also how I learn where in the Himalayas we are, Kamar Taj.
Lastly, my other senses are magnified. Enhanced to incredible degrees.
The air on my skin stands up as they sense a shift in the air from dozens of meters away. A group, led by someone familiar, approaches the building I'm in.
My nose instinctively tracks their scents and where they've been all this while. A trail of burning red and flared yellow.
An underlying smell of brimstone and sulphur clings to the Sorcerer in lead, the Ancient One.
Even after leaving the infernal realm...she is marked.
I wonder if I have it clinging to my aura like that as well? My soul was there for sometime after all.
Then there's another scent.
This one is much the same, carrying a little brimstone and sulphur, only fainter and much staler. It clings to the Sorcerers behind her.
But that is nothing compared to the overpowering stench of medical and sanitation rooms, that is stuck to their robes.
They must have come from a hospital or lab.
Surprisingly, I carry the smell as well.
How curious.
My ears are even more apparent in their change.
Each of the group's steps upon the brick-layered path is akin to the sound of multiple explosions happening simultaneously.
The blood rushing through their veins is a Tsunami of sound. The crash and spray of waves upon a rocky cliff.
The electric current sparking across their neural pathways hums and so does the twitch produced by the flexing of muscles.
The less said about what's happening in the innards and organs the better.
It's clear what's happened.
My Psionic Abilities have grown much more powerful.
This thought coincides with their arrival.
"Ancient One."
The Sorcerer tasked with guarding me bows as the procession enters.
"You're just in time. He is awake."
The deeply accented voice of the Sorcerer states.
"Thank you Master Razake. If you would excuse us please."
I hear the Ancient One reply.
There's a brief shuffle and then the Sorcerer exists.
Now there's only 3 people in this chamber. Me, The Ancient One and...Baron Mordo, a brief dive into the last Occupant's kind supplies the answer.
That brief mind touch also allows me to know everything that has happened. From the moment the world ended up until now.
I see. So I died and went to hell. Then the Ancient One devised a plan to rescue me. One that was layered.
She made a pact with Mephisto, then betrayed him by having Gaea use her much superior power to annul the pact.
Meanwhile Baron Mordo on the other hand, coordinated with her to ensure I had a body waiting for me in the real world.
That is it. I don't remember much but...it feels as if there should be more.
I dive inwards.
And appear in my mind scape.
Roiling green hills lead to a beautiful city built along the cliff side. A gleaming castle, complete with a mote, spires, a high fortress and towers juts out of the city.
It's the highest point, pulsing with a magnet-like pull. Layered with a subtle mental suggestion to any intruders.
And within rows of books containing my memories.
But it's a trap.
Upon coming within vicinity of the castle, a mental bomb is set to go off and stun the minds of everyone in the mind scape.
I look out into the endless ocean past the city, appearing above the crystalline blue waters.
This is where my memories actually are.
Every single drop of ocean is a record of my life. Everything I have ever seen, said, done, thought, experienced...it's all here.
And there is a powerful spell over it.
Someone messed with my memories. How... Curious.
It takes the barest of efforts with my new psionic levels to shatter the spell, the energy dispersing into golden motes of air.
Most of it dissolves into the Ether but the rest combines into the figure of Solomon.
"Billy."
He raises his hand, an almost scared expression on his face.
"I can tell that you're not happy-"
I will him away into nowhere.
I feel him disappear, expelled from my Mind scape. Solomon...could he be the one to lay a spell upon my mind?
I thought he was an ally. How curious.
With the spell shattered, my full memories return. And it's a lot. I remember meeting Hercules after dying.
I remember his destructive punch. And now that I had his legacy, all I could wonder was if I could do that.
But that's not important. I now know how it all went down. I fought for my soul and won.
Then like a reckless child, too naive to understand the situation I was in, I entrusted the core of my being in the hands of a cosmic entity.
And they messed with it.
Should I kill them all now?
They should pay right?
I feel so blase' about it. Shouldn't I be heroic?
How curious.
No time has passed at all. The Ancient One and Baron Mordo have only been standing there fir approximately 2.3832553336667894544597432576655 seconds. There's more but it's a big number.
Too big for me to fully encapsulate.
But, this processing speed is phenomenal.
Oh, she's talking. I wonder what she is going to say. I already know not to trust her anymore.
Not to trust anyone, as a matter of fact.
"Glad to see you could join us in the real world, Mr.Batson."
The Ancient One begins in that neutral tone meant to convey calm and acceptance.
I open my eyes.
A wash of color, radiance and structure assaults me.
"How are you feeling?"
The Ancient One inquires but receives no reply.
I am too engrossed in something else.
So many faults. The corner beam of the building is slightly slanted. And the roof is heavier on one side than the other, putting stress on the walls of the room.
"Answer her. She went to so much trouble just to save you."
Mordo speaks up, only for the Ancient One to raise a hand and silence him.
I ignore them.
The room itself has a simple bed, a small brown desk with a chair and a lantern with a flickering light on top of the desk.
On the bed is where I lie, staring up at the ceiling although I can somehow see everything around me.
Multiple texts boxes immediately jump out at me.
I immediately go through all of them.
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[Mission Complete]
(Create An Original Skill using the Wisdom of Solomon)
(Reward:- The Ring of Solomon)
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(Ability Created)
Quantum Prognosis:- It's not about knowing the future, it's about using immense psionic energy to calculate the likelihood of different outcomes.
(Quantum Prognosis has Merged with Divine Foresight to give birth to:- Dream Body.)
(Dream Body:- Send out your Astral Self into the Stream of Space and Time, an invisible dimension connected to the Nexus of Reality that runs through all existence.
-Dream Divination:- Bear witness to all possible futures by way of a deep sleep.
-Dream Mold:- access to all your abilities and soul bonded artefacts in your dream body.
(Mission Rewards)
-Ring of Solomon:- An artefact that contains the souls of the 72 Demon pillars. Beings on par with Satan himself. These are not just your run of the mill Demons. One of them can destroy the entire universe. Together? You don't want to find out. Or you do, because you're now the owner.
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(Mission Complete.)
(Stall for time until help arrives.)
(Reward: Removal of one Weakness from yourself.)
~~~~~~~
I will have to think on what weakness I should remove.
That particular reward could be useful if used correctly.
The Ring of Solomon is also safe in my inventory. I can feel it right next to the Trident and a single drop of glowing blue water.
The water feels...opposing to me somehow. As if I cannot touch it.
How curious.
The final Text box to appear before my eyes changes everything.
I immediately call up the text box displaying the reward for defeating Mephisto and accept it.
Then I make the choice.
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(Weakness Removed:- Fatigue)
-You will never be exhausted again. Your energy levels will never drop and you can fight at your best for an incalculable amount of time. Beware, debilitating injuries will impact this ability.
~~~~~~
Then without a single second of thought, I pulse my TK aura and promptly burst through the roof of the room I'm in.
Why did I choose Fatigue right now when I could have waited for Atlas' Legacy which is Stamina?
The short answers is, I need to fly from the Himalayas to New York City at the fastest and shortest time possible.
Pete's life is in danger.
And I can't get exhausted on the way to save it.
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(New Mission)
(Rescue Spiderman and his Team from a painful death in the Hands of The Sentinels.)
(Reward:- Full Control Over The Ring of Solomon.)
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That reward ain't half bad as well.
