895 T.D.o.N.B: Mind-bending upgrades
It required a lot of analysis and literally hours spent by the device to just stare at the list of classes so I could figure out what I should pick. I didn’t have any good options at first glance, which meant I had to combine some classes to get what I wanted.
Eventually, I came to the conclusion that psionics is the way to go. It didn’t need gravity, and all I had to do to increase my speed, was to increase my psychic potential. I had a decent idea of how to do that.
I combined ‘Psion’ and ‘Mana weaver’.
This got me a class called ‘Mind prodigy’, which I immediately purchased. This gave me access to the following skills: ‘Telekinetic potential’, ‘Telepathic potential’, and ‘Expanded mind’.
‘Telekinetic potential’ just overall increased my telekinetic abilities.
‘Telepathic potential’ did the same, but for telepathy.
‘Expanded mind’ was more interesting. It literally allowed me to forget about the physical organs granting me the ability to receive external stimuli of any kind. Now my brain itself had this ability. I didn’t need eyes to see, nor ears to hear, and on top of that, I had full-blown 360° vision. I could taste things without putting them in my mouth or licking them. All I needed to do was focus on them.
A very interesting ability? Too bad, it gave me a terrible headache when I upgraded it alongside other skills. For the next two days, I couldn’t do shit. I couldn’t walk, or move properly. I would fall over my own feet because of that.
I ended up trying to get used to this new thing, which mostly meant roaming the immediate vicinity of the device in Loistavadvaar. I would eat there, and sleep there too, but after that adjustment period, I started to get a good grasp of this new power and was able to move more properly. Still nowhere near what I would like to be, but it was at least the first step.
The next evolution of the class was ‘Persles mind’. I bought it too, unlocking myself access to the following skills: ‘Telekinetic potential II’, ‘Telepathic potential II’, ‘Expanded mind II’, ‘Telekinetic outreach’, and ‘Telepathic outreach’.
‘Telekinetic outreach’ only increased the range I could use my telekinetic abilities. They already had quite the reach, but now I could move things around further than a few hundred meters away. Easily over thousand feet.
‘Telepathic outreach’ did the same, just for telepathic skills. For example, I was able to speak to anybody with them being miles away from me, without any pre-requirements like ‘Mind seed’.
I fully upgraded those skills, unlocking myself a third evolution, the ‘Master-mind’. This gave me access to the following skills: ‘Telekinetic potential III’, ‘Telepathic potential III’, ‘Expanded mind III’, ‘Telekinetic outreach II’, ‘Telepathic outreach II’, ‘Pressure of mind’, ‘Psi-awareness’.
‘Pressure of mind’ was a very interesting skill. It worked like bloodthirsty or other stuff in comics. You could basically feel the pressure I was making by just standing next to you. Although it didn’t really work on the body, just the mind. It could make you dizzy, and unable to concentrate.
‘Psi-awareness’ was an addition to ‘Expanded mind’. You could call it a sixth sense of sorts. It allowed me to catch the subtle changes to psionic energy around me, allowing me to detect incoming attacks. A good pick, since before that I was heavily relying on my instincts, as the senses were unable to keep up with the speed my fights were paced at.
Stuff was just happening too quickly for the eyes to keep track.
I upgraded all of those to the max, unlocking the next evolution – the Mind weaver. Which I bought too. This gave me the access to following skills: ‘Telekinetic potential IV’, ‘Telepathic potential IV’, ‘Expanded mind IV’, ‘Telekinetic outreach III’, ‘Telepathic outreach III’, ‘Pressure of mind II’, ‘Psi-awareness II’, ‘Psi-scream’, ‘Mind takeover’, ‘Outer fortress’.
‘Psi-scream’ was the first direct attack skill I got from the class itself. It allowed me to fill the mind of another person with a cacophony of noises causing disorientation, dizziness, pain, and even complete paralysis.
‘Mind takeover’ was also interesting. It basically made it possible for me to bypass the connection one had with their own body through the nervous system, making them a prisoner of their own flesh, while I took over, and was able to steer the puppet.
‘Outer fortress’ allowed me to create a thin layer of psionic energy around my skin. It wasn’t only very tough, but also had the ability to filter things. For example, chemicals that could reach me through the air.
I upgraded those skills fully too, unlocking the fifth evolution, the ‘Brainiac’. This gave me access to the following skills: ‘Telekinetic potential V’, ‘Telepathic potential V’, ‘Expanded mind V’, ‘Telekinetic outreach IV’, ‘Telepathic outreach IV’, ‘Pressure of mind III’, ‘Psi-awareness III’, ‘Psi-scream II’, ‘Mind takeover II’, ‘Outer fortress II’, ‘Inner fortress’, ‘Mind potential’.
‘Inner fortress’ – a skill similar to the outer fortress. A form of barrier protecting my mind, which allowed me to filter things that had access to my brain. For example other psionics.
‘Mind potential’ – a very simple skill. You could call it a multiplayer of my other telekinetic powers.
I fully upgraded all the skills, then decided to pause further shopping. First of all, I needed to test if thanks to this telekinesis I would be able to travel as fast as I wished in space. The second reason was that I needed to fight a little bit to get used to my new vision.
Assimilating this skill seemed very useful, so I really wanted to do it properly, and that reacquired some time spent on practice. With the imperial army still assembling, and others looking for crystals around and inside Aaraam’soturi, I had plenty of time to work with.
I only needed a couple of days to get myself to a decent level, so I decided to focus on that, before returning to Loistavadvaar for further upgrades.