Chapter 250: Mental Warfare (1/2)

After about an hour of prep, Torix set up the research event for Lehesion's tail. It stunned me just how involved the process was. The right researchers, equipment, and safety precautions required organizing from scientists and engineers alike. Torix knew the individuals involved with each operation, however, simplifying the process quite a bit.

With all that done, he and I readied ourselves for some good old mind magic shenanigans. Torix pepped up as he ran himself through a few mind magic drills of his own creation. Once finished mumbling to himself, he turned towards me,

”The first, most cardinal of all mind magic is the art of establishing a telepathic link. You've had it done to you with any gialgathen you've ever spoken with, and it's child's play to learn. Simply release your established mental defenses. It's a feeling similar to opening your mind to new possibilities.”

I frowned, ”Huh. That might take a while. I'm used to closing everything off, not opening myself up for the attacks.”

”While perhaps true your defense suffers, your strategy is similar to only learning to wield a shield when others are fighting with swords and shields. The mere act of owning an offensive measure dissuades a total offense, and that is a valuable defensive utility all its own. Otherwise, your enemy shall ignore any defensive measures of their own.”

That made a lot of sense, so I gave it my best shot. It took about fifteen minutes before I established a mental connection to Torix. It came with a nifty notification.

New Skill Learned! Telepathic Link(Lvl 10 - Others build walls of thought to ignore those around them. You go into the unknown, unafraid of the minds of others. +10% to telepathic link's efficiency.

It was a nice bonus to get, but I failed to notice it at all. When I linked to Torix's mind, it was like drifting into space. Mysterious, ancient, and boundless, Torix's consciousness differed from the mind mages I fought against. Unlike the Adair Family's troops, he was a vast, alien entity. This lich dwarfed them hundreds of times over.

I never noticed it before, but only two entities I linked with ever mirrored my mind's stats. Etorhma and Eonoth overshadowed me in all honesty, but they were Old Ones, not people. It made sense that they felt endless, like staring into eternity. For an actual, living person to stand beside me with such mental prowess, it wasn't just humbling.

It was actually kind of scary. Damn. It had been a while.

A shiver ran through my spine as Torix lifted his hand, ”Ah, that was quick of you. Perhaps you own a few trees that assist with the creation of skills?”

I blinked a few times, finding myself in awe at the lich's mind. I shook off my reverie before turning to the guy, ”Uh, yeah.”

Torix shook his head, ”It is odd to find such a vast mind matched against my own. You still carry the single largest source of mental will I've seen in all the years I lived. It is like staring into an ocean.”

I murmured, ”Yeah. Same.”

Torix's eyes hued purple, the flames carrying vibrant frenzies of fire. The lich leaned his chin down, as if ready for a hit. I did the same, mentally preparing for his mind to clash with my own. Before we began, I remembered a few of our mental fights from before. I stood up straight,

”Hey, before we start, I was wondering about the other kind of training we had before.”

Torix stood up, ”Ah, perhaps you mean the aura training we conducted?”

I raised an eyebrow, ”So it wasn't mind magic?”

Torix shook his head, ”In a manner of speaking, it was yet wasn't. Your auras are unique. They contain palpable, physical effects on reality. Training that did test my mental fortitude at the time, but it wasn't true mind magic. You didn't link your mind with mine. We simply clashed with our inherent auras.”

I frowned, ”Auras, eh? Sounds vague.”

”That's simply because it is. I don't fully understand how your auras operate. I did my best to work around those limitations in understanding and in our stats. It allowed me to give you reasonable training sessions. This is much more so my forte, and I've trained myself extensively within this particular domain.”

I leaned back down, ”That's why this feels so different then.”

”Precisely so.” Torix leaned down his chin, interlocking his umbral hands behind him, ”And with that out of the way, we have a few hours to practice. Are you ready?”

”Yup.”

”Then let us begin.”

With the link established between us, Torix attacked first. I expected a probing jab of sorts, something to test my defenses. This was nothing of the sort. Like a rampaging rhino, Torix sprinted into my mind with a titanic clash. It took everything I had just to stay standing in the fight.

Not pausing for a moment, mental probes sprinted around me, searching for weak points. Torix managed each of these while maintaining a constant, unrelenting pressure. I held my breath as I shoved back with all my might.

Mentally stronger than Torix, I shoved him. Like an experienced wrestler, he sidestepped the force, pushing me sideways. Experiencing a bit of vertigo, I struggled to maintain my defenses. From a different angle, Torix applied a precise, devasting pressure. It tore into my mind like a hot knife into butter.

A headache roared into my head as silver blood dripped down my nose. The taste of it cleared my head, a bit of bloodlust pouring over me. Wielding it, I made several wild charges against him. Torix evaded each of them, parrying my psionic onslaughts.

He did so by plating the portions of his mind that I attacked. It was similar to facing someone in a suit of armor with a sword. Except, in this case, the armor bent on the knight's skin like a liquid. With a deft hand, Torix intercepted the blows of my mental sword, collapsing all of his mind's might at one point.

This meant that despite my superior mental strength, he shoved my attacks aside without much difficulty. He did so all while attacking me from every angle, exposing all the weak points he found. In a way, it wasn't that different from the mind mages. The difference came from the size of Torix's mind and the ferocity of his execution.

In his new body, he wasn't wielding a mind one-tenth the size of my own. His willpower was much closer than before, and his intelligence mirrored my own. These attributes gave his mental skills a bite I wasn't expecting.

Torix didn't seem to notice. He stayed still, appearing totally unaffected by me. After several minutes of the attack, I shivered from the strained effort. After an hour of surviving the torment, Torix forced me to fall onto my knees. Once my mind's defenses fell apart, Torix ceased his attack.

He walked over, offering me a hand,

”That was far better than I expected. Well done.”