The catastrophic - in consequences - duel, marked the beginning of my hunt for the bigger fish. And by fish I mean ghosts.
I'm not gonna focus here on every undead I had to put properly to the grave, because, let's be honest, that's now what everybody wants to read or hear about.
I'm just gonna mention a few things, because they might be bugging you, and for sure were a discovery for me. The first thing was my ability to fly. Yes, I did forget that. Some stuff would be much easier if I didn't, but I did...
At some point, as I was running like a madman from the chasing me apocalypse of the worst ever ice storm, I got this thought.
"If only I could fly..." And then came a follow-up. "You idiot! You can fly!" So I flew...
I also got reminded of how unusually resilient my mind was when some of my enemies tried to break into my mind by force. I was able to repel the attacks. Too bad it wasn't so easy when the follow-up, in form of the undead with a massive hammer, came...
Anyway...
It was a tight squeeze, but in the span of three weeks, I somehow made it, enduring a few life-threatening battles, and a couple of much easier ones. Eventually, though, I ended up in Loistavadvaar, getting the final upgrades. I simply couldn't push it any longer, because not only myself but also the others were growing more and more restless about what the High Queen's answer to our escape was.
Overall my haul got me 2 853 252 149 213 215 000 regular points and 256 240 class points. The first things I spent that amount on were all the skills from 'Wrath of the void' and 'Shadow emperor' for 1 776 000 000 000 000 000. I bought them one by one, as soon as my funds were allowing me to. It was a significant upgrade, which did something to the 'Unknown Void skill' both of those classes possessed, but I was unable to tell exactly what.
I just felt that something changed. Maybe one of the locks fell off, or something like that. Nevertheless, the skill remained in its 'unknown' form. It was slightly frustrating, but I didn't have time to think about it too much.
The shopping left me with 1 077 252 149 213 215 200 points, just from what I recently earned.
There was an obvious choice of where to spend it. The battle could easily be ruined if the High Queen was to meddle with our minds, so every skill that was strengthening my resilience to such attacks was priceless. On top of that, I would be able to help The Great One by countering her abilities to some extent. It was, basically, a no-brainer.
I finished 'Experienced psionic' by buying off 'Mind influence II' for 111 111 000 points, and unlocked 'Master Psionic' which I immediately bought too. This little shopping made me sick to the stomach. I never was ok about meddling with people's minds, but after what happened to me, and to Earth, the mere thought of something like that, was making me want to puke.
Unfortunately, there was no other choice. I needed the skill, to evolve the class further.
'Master Psionic' gave me access to the following skills: 'Focus III', 'Power of mind III', 'Telekinesis III', 'Mind influence III', 'Gravity manipulation II', 'Citadel of mind II', 'Memory manipulation', 'Mind-seed'.
'Memory manipulation' was allowing me, as the name clearly suggests, to influence people's memories. Change them, erase them or even add new ones, completely made up.
It was a terrible skill, that also left an unpleasant taste in my mouth, but I felt like there was no other way but to gain access to it, and simply never, ever, use it.
'Mind-seed' was on the other hand very interesting one. I immediately connected this skill to what The Great One told me a long time ago about being able to locate, or communicate with, some people. Those were people with his mind seed.
It was basically a form of connection to others, allowing for long-distance communication and the localization of those linked to, as you simply had a feeling where they were.
I fully upgraded all of those skills for 88 888 888 000 points. This unlocked me access to 'Archmind' which I immediately bought too.
It gave me access to the following skills: 'Focus IV', 'Power of mind IV', 'Telekinesis IV', 'Mind influence IV', 'Gravity manipulation III', 'Citadel of mind III', 'Memory manipulation II', 'Mind-seed II', 'Mass-influence', 'Veil of mind', 'Shift of presence'.
I believe that 'Mass-influence' is quite a self-explanatory skill, so I'll drop it, but just add that it was the next of the disgusting ones.
'Veil of mind' was a defensive skill. It was similar to the 'Barrier maker' repertoire, but the force field had its roots in psychic powers, instead of magic. A solid addition to what I could make, as it was faster, and allowed me to not use my mana to protect myself. The disadvantage was that I had to remain focused on this, which in battle, which was not that easy. I definitely needed some experience to use it properly.
'Shift of presence' was a teleportation skill, which The Great One was using to move from spot to spot. Another solid addition.
I upgraded them all to the maximum. The price tag on that was 122 222 222 221 000 points.
The next evolution was a 'Beyonder' which I, not thinking even once, also bought.
It gave me access to the following skills: 'Focus V', 'Power of mind V', 'Telekinesis V', 'Mind influence V', 'Gravity manipulation IV', 'Citadel of mind IV', 'Memory manipulation III', 'Mind-seed III', 'Mass-influence II', 'Veil of mind II', 'Shift of presence II', 'Sharp mind sense', 'Seal mind', 'Unseal mind'.
'Sharp mind sense' allowed me to sense any psychic activity not only in my vicinity but further beyond that. With enough upgrades, I could reach beyond the world I was in, just like the High Queen.
The two others are quite self-explanatory too, so I'm gonna omit them.
I fully upgraded 'Focus V', 'Power of mind V', 'Telekinesis V', 'Gravity manipulation IV', 'Citadel of mind IV', 'Veil of mind II', 'Shift of presence II', 'Sharp mind sense', 'Unseal mind' and ignored the rest. The price tag on that was 999 999 999 999 999 000 points.
It left me with 77 444 648 146 415 260 regular points on my account and I still had 152 893 class points left.
I decided to put the rest of the upgrades on hold, after speaking with everybody and deciding on our strategy to fight The High Queen.