[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 172: Occupied Arc

“What has happened to the noble families?” Astrid asked, making sure not to oust herself as a Sinwen.

Jak shrugged his shoulders. “I’m afraid no-one knows. Since people can’t get in or out, that goes for information as well. The only reason we know of it is because we were personally there.”

“And you managed to receive information?” Astrid tilted her head, confused. If there was no information going in or out, then how did they uncover it?

“A lot of adventurers managed to get out before the lockdown took effect. We got there a few days later. That was when a family dropped down from the upper decks. One of the infected people followed. It survived the fall, so we had to kill it. Then there was a never ending fire from up above; the screams.” Jak shook his head. As if remembering every detail.

Astrid could feel her blood boil at his words. If that was the case, then how hadn’t her father dealt with it yet?

“I don’t have the information of how, or why it occurred,” Jak said.

“Of course, there’s always rumours.” George said through a mouthful of food. “Some were saying the infected were corrupted.”

“Corrupted–” Astrid furrowed her brows. She remembered the fight she had with Prince. The evolution that he went through wasn’t normal. It was like when she transformed because of Overload, only Astrid felt it was different compared to that of a Skill.

That only left one explanation. He was corrupted. Or others often called it Spawn Infected. It would add up with George and Jak’s story about the infected. But it had been so many years since the corrupted were wiped out by the nobles.

Then– Astrid thought it through. If there were more Spawn coming, that meant more corrupted. The dangers were growing by the day.

“Yeah, most likely made up by you.” Jak joked. “The fact is–don’t go there. If you have family at Rebirth, then you have my condolences.”

“Serves them right anyway.” George almost spat out the food from his stuffed face. “The nobles should face some setbacks.”

Astrid clamped her hand into a fist. She was about to act when a stray voice appeared from the Vip doors.

“If not from the sacrifice of the nobles hundreds of years ago, we wouldn’t be here today.” A woman walked towards them. She was wearing a common leather jacket with pieces of armour around her vital areas. Coupled with a tight pair of cargo trousers, it was obvious she was an adventurer.

The most striking thing about her was her vivid red hair. Each strand had a shiny gleam to it that seemed to come alive when struck with the nearby flickering torches.

Astrid cared not for her appearance, but she was attracted to the underlying mana within her body. She was powerful. Attempting to use Identify; only question marks met her gaze.

Then there was the horrible looking creature held in her embrace. It looked like a long haired rat that had drowned, then resurrected after it had decayed after a while.

“How many years ago was that?” George spat and turned around at the speaker, only after he realised who it was did his shoulders tense. “Yursa.”

“Not all nobles are the same, just like not all commoners are the same.” Yursa looked down at George as she approached. “Everyone is capable of good or evil, it just depends on who wields the power. Noble, commoner, adventurer, god–it makes no difference.”

Astrid agreed. So this is Yursa? For some reason, she expected the woman to have a more fiery temper. To Astrid, she seemed calm.

Her gaze landed on the animal within her arms. So that’s the way to awaken the Pyre Mages fury?

“Thank you for the information.” Astrid said before turning back to the table with the others. She had always wanted to meet the infamous Pyre Mage. But now her mind was muddled with the thought of home, and the dangers her family faced.

The fact that her father hadn’t wiped them out yet was troubling her. It meant that he wasn’t home, or something had happened to him.

If politics is getting in the way– Astrid’s thoughts turned to venom. If he didn’t act because the other nobles were interrupting, then she would act on his behalf.

Had her father turned weak? Astrid shook the thought from her head. There was no way he would stand around and do nothing as his people were suffering. She wouldn’t stand for it.

Rachelle and the others’ faces were serious upon her return. They had heard every word.

“What do we do?” Calum tapped his finger against the table, anxious about home.

The table turned silent.

“Can you fly back on your own?” Losef said. Although he remained calm, it was clear from the emotion within his mind that he was affected by the news.

Astrid had already thought about it during the entire conversation. However, it was too far. Although she was confident in her strength, it was two, maybe even three weeks away. If she was caught out on the ocean with no mana, she would just be fish food for the Spawn.

She shook her head. There was no other way but to wait for their ship to be repaired.

“The Sinwens are strong, trust in them.” Leena placed her hand on top of Astrids. Her meaning was obvious. The Sinwen’s wouldn’t fall.

Nodding, she tried eating the meal placed on the table, but the food that should have tasted heavenly, was now bland.

Once they had finished their food, they quickly left to find the others. It wasn’t long before they managed to hunt them down with the help of Rachelle and Losef.

They told the others of the news as they stood rooted on the spot. They might not have cared for the other noble families, but to them, the Sinwen manor was their lifeblood.

Lord Sinwen had taken them in after their parents passed away, and had put them through the Wayfarer division. If it wasn’t for the Sinwen’s, then they would have been stranded within the Lower District without a direct path to follow.

The supplies Daniel and the others had obtained were already loaded onto the ship. Since the repairs were mainly the engine, it allowed them to still use their ship as storage.

With no other method available, all they had to do was wait. Thankfully, it seemed Jock, and the others mechanics were hard at work. The sounds of hammers ringing out throughout the docks rang within her ears.

Astrid dangled her legs off a rock as they all simply watched the repair process. It had only been five minutes before Astrid exhaled a sharp breath.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Astrid said. “Is there anything fun to do?”

“The Rosary!” Brett perked up.

“Been there, done that. It’s boring.” Astrid shook her head. Gossip, talking, and drinking wasn’t her idea of fun. “What else is there to do around here?”

“Bowling?” Lisa continued. “Or we could go antique hunting?”

Astrid lowered her head. It all sounded so boring.

“How about we infiltrate the arc?” Daniel smirked.

Astrid’s lowered head snapped onto Daniel. “Really? That sounds like fun.”

“Daniel, don’t fill her head with mischief.” Lisa glowered at their leader.

“As if she needs someone to do that for her.” Brett tutted. “She’s practically a walking disaster waiting to happen.”

“That’s not nice.” Astrid grumbled, but it was as Brett had said. Her eyes drifted toward the gigantic arc. They needed time to kill, and worrying about what was happening back home filled her with a restlessness she couldn’t shake. She needed a distraction.

“Is it guarded?” She asked.

Daniel chuckled at her words and joined her gaze. “By a pirate gang belonging to the pirate king Umair Byrd.”

“Pirate king?” Calum perked up his shoulders.

“That’s right.”

“Wouldn’t we get in trouble? I don’t like the thought of having a pirate king breathing down our necks because of our curiosity–” Leena said, but then glanced at Astrid’s thoughtful expression before correcting herself with a sighing smile. “Okay, but we better not reveal ourselves.”

“Then we wait until nightfall and infiltrate the arc!” Astrid shot to her feet with clenched fists. “Who’s betting on what’s going to be in there? Will it be a ghost, or a smuggling operation by none other than the pirate King Umair?”

“Smuggling.”

“Ghosts.”

“Mmm!”

Brett, Rachelle, and Rob all said at the same time before glaring at each-other. Well, Rob mumbled.

Everyone else also joined the bet, in total five were for ghosts, including Astrid, and four were for smuggling.

With the bets settled, they waited until the orange in the sky was swallowed by an engulfing darkness. It was then that they moved.

Having Astrid change all their appearances with powerful illusions, they crept toward the arc. By now, the streets had emptied, but there were still a lot of adventurers sitting outside of shops; they were drinking, and chattering.

As Astrid and the others passed them, they sent a glance toward them–but that was it.

Confident in her Skills, they climbed the mountain until they reached the flattened top of the summit. The arc was surrounded by different buildings, but it was clear they weren’t for the population’s daily shopping.

Most of them had open tops where guards peered out from, there weren’t any lights that indicated that they were protecting it however. Astrid assumed they were all Wisdom classes. Whether they had keen eyes to see in the dark, or certain Skills to make out intruders–she didn’t know. Nor did it matter.

She doubted any of them could detect her current illusions. Unless the pirate king was personally here, that was.

Astrid grinned. She would find out if that was the case soon enough. To think that she had the potential of facing a pirate king within her first year of awakening. The thought sent a tingle up her spine.

She was forced to forget about home for the moment. So it was better to fill her mind with something. It was better than going mad from anxiety.

Your Loneliness has reached 92/100.

Gulping at the sudden message, Daniel pointed to a hole in their defence. It wasn’t a location that she fancied entering, but it was better than being caught.

It was a sewer.