Chapter 00273: Psionic Crystal Detector
# Psionic Crystal Detector
Chapter 273
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 273: Psionic Crystal Detector
The sturdy magic staff groaned under the pressure.
The pure black, viscous liquid-like octopus head was less than ten centimeters from her face, its tentacles had even brushed against Audel's cheek.
Perhaps a lingering habit from when it was alive, the mind flayer's liquefied consciousness had already opened its worm-like circular maw, preparing to bite off Audel's skull and slurp out the brains inside.
But faced with such a carnival for one's sanity, Audel's face remained as tranquil as still water.
Even with her teammates' screams filling her ears, it didn't make her eyelids twitch in the slightest.
A mere liquefied consciousness was not a problem for Audel.
The trouble was figuring out how to deal with them without harming herself or her teammates.
That required some thought.
Besides, there were likely many items of research value in this room.
If a big fireball were to explode here, the losses would be immense.
Audel needed a method with a very small area of effect, but one that could decisively resolve the situation at hand.
It had to be said, a mage's mind truly worked fast.
"Nimia, draw this liquefied consciousness away from me. Just control it for a moment."
The Tiefling Nimia had been slammed against the wall by a psychic blast from another mind flayer's liquefied consciousness.
She felt as if several of her bones had broken.
Hearing the command, she gritted her teeth and jumped up, taking a large sack from her waist.
She had thought this would surely be a lucrative job, so she had specifically brought a burlap sack that could fit half a person when unfolded.
It was originally intended for hauling treasure, but now it would have to be used to contain the liquefied consciousness.
The liquefied consciousness was a liquid; swords and blades were completely useless against it.
Pulling a burlap sack over the liquefied consciousness's head could, to some extent, serve as a distraction.
Nimia threw the burlap sack over it and rode on top of it herself, attempting to suppress the mind flayer's liquefied consciousness.
But the thing could still use its psychic abilities.
Nimia, riding on top, immediately became dizzy and disoriented, as if she had just been spun in a centrifuge for a few rounds.
Her hands quickly lost their strength, and she was thrown off by the liquefied consciousness.
Audel seized this opportunity, reached into her magic bag, and pulled out a white, sheet-like object, slamming it onto the liquefied consciousness.
"Enhance Effect!"
Under the effect of this spell, an item's original function would be enhanced.
For instance, a torch would burn more fiercely, a sword would become sharper, and armor would become sturdier, and so on.
However, this spell could only be used on ordinary, unenchanted items.
The liquefied consciousness pressing down on Audel had not yet realized the severity of the problem.
But soon, its liquid body began to collapse inward.
The dark, inky liquefied consciousness of the mind flayer roared as it was sucked away, shrinking into a small section before finally disappearing.
All that was left was the white, sheet-like object on the ground, now thoroughly soaked and turned a dark, murky color.
"Oh, oh, oh, no wonder the TV commercials say it has super absorbency. They really weren't lying."
It was even hard to tell now that it was, in fact, a sanitary pad...
––––––
The style of dealing with a liquefied consciousness using a sanitary pad was indeed a bit off, but it was certainly effective.
Audel quickly repeated the process, and the three mind flayer liquefied consciousnesses were absorbed into sanitary pads.
Perhaps they also felt it was not a good situation.
From time to time, a layer of black water stains would appear on the surface of the sanitary pads as they struggled to escape, but as liquids, they ultimately could not defy the super-absorbent material of the sanitary pads.
Speaking of which, if they knew what sanitary pads were actually used for, the feeling would probably be even more sour and thrilling...
Magic is wondrous, but how to use magic is a question mages should consider more deeply.
Blindly pursuing powerful spells ultimately results in nothing more than an empty framework.
From this perspective, Audel was truly worthy of her title as a high-ranking mage.
—It was just that her style was a bit hard to accept.
Another benefit of choosing to use sanitary pads was that it served as a form of temporary seal.
Audel picked up the three sanitary pads, then took out a large glass jar and stuffed all three liquefied consciousnesses inside.
Finally, on the jar's wooden cork, she carved a few runes with her fingernail.
Whenever the liquefied consciousnesses in the jar tried to struggle, they would be thrown back as if electrocuted the moment they touched the wall of the jar.
In Audel's view, such valuable research material could not, of course, be casually destroyed.
Although for the liquefied consciousnesses, being destroyed outright might have been a more pleasant fate.
After all, once inside a mage's laboratory, even a demon would have to kneel and sing 'Conquer'.
"How are you all?"
"Alright, just feeling a bit dizzy in the head."
"I took a psychic blast head-on. I feel like my consciousness and my body are still separate."
"Blegh...!"
The Tiefling Nimia didn't say anything, but knelt on the ground and threw up her dinner.
Among the three, only the priest Perrin had the highest mental fortitude.
Apart from feeling a bit dizzy, he had no other issues.
But Delge and Nimia were in a miserable state, especially Nimia, who was not only dizzy but also battered and bruised.
Perrin quickly raised the sun-shaped wooden holy emblem around his neck, casting a mass healing spell for minor injuries to give everyone a group heal, then followed up with a healing spell for moderate injuries for Nimia.
Most priests typically stayed in temples.
Only priests of a few deities preferred to go out on adventures.
Therefore, the number of healers among adventurers was as scarce as the number of mages, and they were highly sought after.
While Perrin was healing Nimia, Audel walked around the captain's quarters.
She even opened the lid of a life support pod without a care in the world and began patting down the corpse of the dead mind flayer, making Delge grimace.
"Does that seriously not disgust you? Look, its tentacles are still twitching."
"Not at all. It's just a corpse. Besides, mind flayers are hermaphrodites, so it's not like I'll touch anything exclusively male."
"... That's not the point."
On a workbench in the corner of the room, there were some half-finished items that looked like magical artifacts.
They were worth a bit of money, but Audel had little interest.
However, there were good things on the mind flayer's body.
In addition to finding another laser pistol and three psionic batteries, Audel also retrieved a small gray pouch and a soap-sized box-like object that looked like some kind of instrument from the mind flayer.
Shaking the pouch, she heard the sound of gemstones clinking inside.
Audel untied it, glanced inside, and then tossed the pouch to Delge.
"Your reward. Divide it amongst yourselves."
Although the common currency was gold coins, due to their weight, equivalent-value gemstones were also used for trade.
And for Audel, mere money was the last thing she needed.
The three immediately cheered and began to divide the spoils.
Even Nimia, who had been too sick to stand straight just moments ago, propped herself up to claim her share of the gems.
Audel, on the other hand, held the small box up to the magic light and examined it carefully.
On its matte black surface, she could see a small window pieced together from translucent hexagonal glass, but looking through the small window, the box was empty.
The thing couldn't be opened either; she couldn't find a lock or a mechanism to open the box.
Audel thought carefully for a moment before remembering that she had read about this thing in a book about mind flayers a long time ago.
This was a Psionic Crystal Detector.
Psionic crystals were the power source for the Nautiloid, and the psionic crystal of this Nautiloid had long since been depleted.
Perhaps the injured mind flayer had preserved its dying companions as liquefied consciousnesses and was planning to go out and find psionic crystals to repair the Nautiloid.
But its own injuries were too severe, forcing it to lie down in the life support pod with the detector, awaiting rescue.
This thing also had a certain research value, so she would definitely take it with her.
But Audel didn't quite understand why the 'Aurora' had led her into the Nautiloid.
Was there something important related to finding the Ring of the Demon King?
Even the nimble mind of a mage could not piece together a reasonable explanation without sufficient clues.
Audel pondered for a moment, then reached for the holy emblem hidden under her clothes, intending to ask the Demon God for his thoughts through prayer.
But just at that moment, the entire captain's quarters suddenly shook.
It felt as if something large and heavy had suddenly crashed into the Nautiloid...
(End of this chapter)