Chapter 279: Aether Gardens [1]

"Psychedelic Region…." Varian muttered as he passed through the white barrier and stepped into the grassland.

Unlike Thunder Region, this place appeared to be full of vitality.

With his enhanced eyesight, Varian's field of view spanned several miles and he could take in the the breathtaking view of this region.

Lush green plains, dense forests, frolicking beasts and colorful levels that twirled on the soft rivers that flowed down the mountains and stretched into the horizon.

With the chirping of birds, and the sweet fragrance of the flowers, this place looked like utopia.

"Heh. What a good illusion." Varian sneered and channeled his mental sense.

Ka!

Cobweb like cracks appeared on the utopian world and it burst like a bubble, revealing its shallow and true self.

Varian's stiffened for a moment and muttered. "…this sucks."

The utopia-like world was gone. No. It never existed in the first place.

The Psychedelic Region, to be precise, the Aether Gardens Area laid bare in front of his eyes.

It was still lush green, but it was no longer vibrant. The plants had a sense of gloom around them, as if they were cursed.

The birds' chirps were no longer melodious, instead, they were filled with mental attacks that tried to enslave the listeners.

The flowers emitted a fragrance filled with mental power that hypnotized the beasts and drew them closer.

When they did, their mental power attacked the unguarded beasts and killed them off. The flowers then digested the beasts and grew further.

Then, there were beasts that stood rooted in their spot, their pupils dilated and their mouth foaming.

Slowly, they would roll on the ground, kick their limbs to free themselves. But as in a few minutes, their movements stopped and their breathing stopped.

'Mental Power.' Varian thought as he looked at the world in front of him.

Just by smelling the fragrance of the flowers, he could feel small bubbles of mental power trying to incite him to commit suicide.

If one already had such thoughts, this mental power bubbles would exploit and expand them further, pushing the individual to do the deed.

Varian channeled his chi and his senses cleared up. As a peak level 5 Body Awakener, he was resistant to these metal attacks.

'Boo, check if there are any messengers nearby.' He ordered. His ring went off his finger and returned after a few seconds.

'One three miles from here. Others are too far away. She is near the route to Aether Gardens.' Boo reported.

"Good."

Varian's body blurred and he silently reached the location of the messenger.

'She's a messenger of Ashtarh team.'

"If I take her down, they might get suspicious." Varian pondered for a moment and decided against it.

The reason he knocked out Priscilla was because Charles Xander was not in a position to suspect anything even if she silently disappeared.

But if it was others?

Since the teams were all focused on getting the flags, the only ones who could knock them out would be fellow messengers.

Since their strengths were in similar range, any messenger should be able to send a message to their reporting team that they were being attacked and would be eliminated.

"If Ashtarh team asks her for information and she doesn't respond, they'll realize she's eliminated. That too, without any prior warning. They'll be alerted. I don't want that to happen." Varian said and teleported away from her.

Aether garden was the best garden here and hence, the whole region took its name.

However, there were many other gardens with their own characteristics.

Despite trying to avoid them, Varian passed by three gardens in the last four minutes.

The Gardens of Lust. It is filled with plants that specialize in mental illusions of lust. They pull one into an endless illusion of their deepest sexual fantasies.

The ones trapped in the illusion would be constantly weakened and finally die in their illusion.

Varian saw a messenger sneaking into this garden and coming out after a few moments with an exhausted, but satisfied smile.

"…are you for real?" He wanted to eliminate that guy, but held himself back.

Gardens of Pride—pulls one into unending cycle of prideful moments.

Varian saw a few demon rabbits patting their chests and trying to imitate a lion when he passed by this garden.

…these rabbits quickly overexerted themselves and became food for the plants.

Garden of Fear—pushes one into their deepest fear and break their mind.

Garden of Happiness—gives one their deepest happiness.

…To be honest, Varian wanted to see his happiness.

What did he really want?

But he shook his head and stopped himself.

'I don't have much time.'

Soon, he reached the Garden of Wrath.

It was a big garden, almost five miles mile. There were thousands of plants growing in it, and each plant had its own 'territory'.

Varian sensed mental power exchange between some plants in the garden.

"They're fighting for territory…" He muttered and slowly entered the garden premises.

The moment he did, he clenched his fists.

His breath turned uneven and his eyes reddened.

"Damn it! Why should I spare Charles? I just want to kill that bastard! He's injured now, if I can use Boo, then…"

Indeed. Why must he wait till Charles grew to avenge Sia?

Wouldn't it be better if he kidnapped that bastard and tortured him?

However, he also found a problem. "But if Charles goes missing in the trial, everyone will be suspect. What if they go for the extreme and use a Psychic to our memories?"

Then he shook his head again, veins popping on his forehead as he waved his hand in anger. "I can just escape with Boo. The Sovereigns come only in virtual form and level 9s can't catch me. If worst comes to worst, I can also use the one teleportation Boo has."

He decided and tapped on the ring. "Boo, track Charles, we'll kill…wait, what the—"

Varian's pupils dilated and he opened his mouth in shock. He couldn't even breathe as he felt a suffocating feeling in his chest.

It was a depressing feeling of rage. It wanted him to wreck havoc. Destroy everyone that wronged him.

Varian sighed deeply and muttered. "So…this is the power of wrath."

The moment he stepped in, small, and almost unnoticeable globules of mental power assaulted him.

He was just one step away from asking Boo to hunt down Charles.

Thankfully, his body powers and mind powers started working in tandem as they slowly built his resistance towards the external interference.

Varian extended his mental sense and checked the plants once again.

This time, they no longer appeared as harmless greenies as they shone with intense red hues.

The red hue split into small pieces and floated in the air as they slowly reached him.

…At least twenty plants were targeting him.

"…Fuck!" Was all he could say.

Sarah didn't mention specifically as her notes went in detail about the places he could visit as level 5.

So he didn't understand why only level 6s were advised to enter this garden.

Now he did.

Facing the offensive of twenty peak level 5 Telepath Plants, any peak Level 5 would suffer.

Thankfully, Varian was a special case.

On top of his peak level 5 Body Path resistance, he also awakened in two mind paths.

Every mind path awakener had a degree of resistance to mental power.

Thus, he didn't lose himself in rage.

Of course, if he was a level 5 telepath, then coupled with his body path resistance, this wouldn't have happened.

"I should be careful."

His expression turned serious, but it instantly collapsed when he a blue screen popped in front of him.

[+30 Xp]

[Telepath Path Level 4: 140/1000 (+30)]

He felt a slight but noticeable improvement in his mental resistance.

His eyes brightened as he looked at the garden.

If these plants can increase his mind path, then…

He threw caution of the window and grinned. "Come on!"

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