For as long as he’d known her, Inanna had always referred to him as mortal. Sometimes, the word was used in a derogatory fashion. In other instances, it drew attention to the fact that his existence was simply a lesser being. It didn’t matter whether he was a human or an earthworm— he was a mortal.

And she wasn’t.

Naturally, the name of a mortal being was irrelevant to someone of her stature, and thus she had stuck to addressing him with the epithet rather than his given name.

“Lukas Aguilar.”

So when the same goddess chose to call him by name, he’d practically jumped out of his skin in surprise.

“…Yes?”

“I’m not about to kill you. Be at ease.”

“For some reason, that doesn’t make me feel any better,” he quipped. “For all I know you’re going to stop just shy of making things horribly difficult for me.”

A familiar sliver of amusement coursed through him. “Bad things happen to those who do not heed my word. They push themselves into a world of pain.”

“But I haven’t done anything like that,” Lukas slowly replied. “Not since…” he trailed off.

“No you haven’t,” she agreed. “But your deed led to a chain of events that pushed you into the art of mind manipulation.”

“You know, I never asked this. But what exactly did you do to me?”

“I fixed your problem.”

“I know that, but I’m wondering how,” he pressed. “The effects of severe insomnia can’t just, you know, vanish like that.”

“It most certainly can, provided you know what you are doing.”

“Which is what, exactly?”

He felt a blanket of her exasperation smother him.

“Unless… you don’t want to tell me. Which is also perfectly fine.”

No point in looking a gift horse in the mouth, after all.

“Are you calling me a mare that bestows gifts?”

“N— no, no!” he quickly backtracked. “It’s just a figure of speech. You say something, but it actually means something else.”

“A lie, then?”

“No, it’s—” he paused, wondering how to best rephrase it in a way she’d understand. “It’s a mortal expression that means to not question the events that bring you good luck, but rather accept the outcomes and move along.”

Inanna frowned. “That is a terribly unsound idea. If something brings you good luck, then get more of it. And then use it to conquer surrounding kingdoms, then keep getting more and more.”

Lukas decided it was best to keep his mouth shut. His thoughts, too, for that matter.

“What I did,” the goddess elaborated, “was activate your Third Eye.”

Lukas did a double take. “My what-now?”

“Your Third Eye.”

“That’s just a myth.”

“Like gods and goddesses?”

He had nothing to answer her with, because truth be told, she wasn’t wrong. If gods and goddesses were real, then why not some esoteric concept?

“The Third Eye manifests between your eyebrows. It grants clarity of thought, increase in perception, and seat of the Higher Mind.”

Lukas ran his fingers over his forehead, scanning for any random orifices that might have opened up while he wasn’t paying attention.

“Nope. No eye.”

The goddess simply looked amused by his antics.

“The Third Eye is a metaphysical organ, like your Essence.”

“The thing that grants me lifeforce.”

“The organ that synthesizes lifeforce. Activation of the Third Eye opens your mind to a higher consciousness, allowing for mastery of greater powers.”

“Like the memory manipulation thing you told me earlier?”

“One of many, yes.”

“Great!” he chirped. “When do we start?”

“We already have, with this conversation. The mind arts, or psionics, are an intricate and dangerous field of study. I myself still have a ways to go.”

Which meant it was a subject that he’d have to pursue on his own, sooner or later. Not even the Supreme Queen of An and Ki would be able to light the path before him.

That certainly wasn’t comforting.

But on the other hand, this was something that could solve all his problems. As great as gaining strength had been thus far, the lawyer in him felt exhilarated at the mere idea of elevating his mind to greater heights. Even Level 1 skills like Burst had him throwing around raw kinetic energy. Just what could he accomplish with Level 1 in some sort of mental skill?

Easy, tiger, he reminded himself. Rushing into things was what got you into this mess.

“What kind of dangers are we talking about?”

“The mortal mind is body-bound. That in itself limits what you can think, feel, and act. But the moment you delve into psionics, those limitations are irrevocably shattered.”

“And… that’s a bad thing?”

“Imagine waking up in your five-year-old self. Would that be comfortable for you?”

Lukas shook his head, immediately understanding her point. When he had first leveled up, he’d suffered from a lack of coordination with his body. It took him quite some time to get used to his improved anatomy and not fall flat on his face with every step he took.

For something as complex as the mind, the problem would be exponentially greater.

And to think, those X-men guys made this kind of stuff look easy.

I blame television.

“Psionics is dangerous, mortal. A heartbroken man can deny feelings of regret and attachment using psionics, but doing so would leave him unable to feel affection for anyone in the future. Turn off your fear, and you may become reckless. Remove your inhibitions, and you may end up little more than a wild animal that needs to be put down.”

Although he didn’t want to admit it out loud, her words frightened him. It was almost enough to make him stand down and ignore the very idea, continuing to build physical strength so he could get out of this dungeon.

“A year and a day,” Inanna reminded him.

“Right, that,” he sighed, remembering what little choice he had.

“It is merely my duty to warn you. Seeing someone who abhors monsters become one by mistake would be a… disappointment.”

“Only if it was an accident. I’m sure you’d have approved if I took you up on your earlier offer.”

She ignored him. “So be it. It may very well be possible you have aptitude in this field, but equally possible you end up lobotomizing yourself, with the former being far less likely—”

He rolled his eyes.

“But make no mistake. Becoming a psionicist can gain you powers beyond comprehension.”

“Will I need to bathe in the blood of holy virgins or anything like that?”

“Not the most terrible idea. Such a sacrifice in my name would be rewarded appropriately.”

Lukas scowled. “Forget I said anything.”

Inanna, 19. Lukas, 0.

Not that he was keeping count or anything.

He ignored the smugness rolling off his mental tenant in waves.

“When you are quite finished contemplating your pitiful existence, come find me in your mindscape and we can begin. Becoming a psionicist is a long and arduous process, and you have shown resourcefulness at making things even more difficult for yourself.”

As Inanna’s presence faded from his mind, Lukas began looking around a perfect place to lie down and relax. Noticing a nice, comfy position along the walls, he walked over after scoping the area for any possible predators.

“Bit off more than you can chew, buddy,” he told himself. “More than you can chew.”

Entering his mindscape was no longer the strange, uncomfortable experience it used to be. Now, it was just three simple steps. The first was to ensure his body was in a safe, relaxed position— preferably sitting or sleeping. The second was taking long, deep breaths, allowing the increased oxygen to stimulate his brain.

But the third step was still tricky.

The moment you stepped in, the outer world was shed like a second skin. All physical sensations were left at the door, completely at the mercy of the anomaly outside. If a monster came sniffing around and tore him to pieces, chances were he wouldn’t even realize it until it was too late.

Luckily for him, he had just the thing to help prevent such a thing.

The Screen.

Every time he stepped into his mind, Scan and Analyze activated by themselves, remaining in play until he was back to his senses. The moment something came into his proximity, the Screen triggered a message and Inanna would send him rushing ‘back’ to deal with the problem.

So far, it had happened a grand total of four times. And rapidly being flung out of his mind felt like a rollercoaster ride.

Absolutely nauseating.

Though, Inanna had explained to him that with training, he’d be able to open up mental pathways to serve as windows to the outside world. At least he had that to look forward to.

“Welcome to your first class on how to become a monster.”

“Ha ha,” Lukas retorted in a mock sing-song tone, looking towards where the voice came from and—

Stared.

Inanna wore white like a second skin. The silken robe flowed from just above her bountiful breasts all the way to her knees, emphasizing her generous assets quite beautifully. She was mere inches shorter than him, but with her semi-transparent heels and her figure, she looked a tad taller. Her golden skin and glossy black hair, falling down to her waist, only added to her beauty, unmarred by the arrogant expression on her face.

This was no person.

This was a walking, talking poster for wet dreams.

It was at this point that Lukas realized he was openly staring, and tried to look away.

…

He couldn’t.

“There is no sin in appreciating beauty, mortal. Especially if it is far beyond one’s reach.”

No wisecracks came out of his mouth this time around.

Inanna’s lips twisted into a beaming smile.

“Shall we continue?”

The goddess lifted her right hand and snapped her fingers.

Immediately, Lukas felt like he was being sucked through some giant hole downwards, before he found himself standing in the middle of a dimly lit room— a stack of rummaged books strewn across a pair of tables, with a revolving chair in front of a brightly lit laptop. The entire room was shabby and plain, with the exception of a single ornate wardrobe that looked older than the owner of the room.

He knew this place. And he knew it well.

“Thi— this is my room,” he breathed.

Inanna’s face soured, and she snapped her fingers again.

Sunlight flooded the room as the ceiling disintegrated, forcing Lukas to squint his eyes. Living inside a cave system for so long had him used to dim lighting, aside from the occasional campfire he had going from time to time.

Compared to that, the radiance of the sunlight was practically blinding.

Lukas paused. If sending lifeforce through his lungs could impact the efficiency of breathing, then could his eyes benefit from that too? He instantly thought back to his cat Tabitha, who ran around this very room in the dark. A cute, fluffy little thing she’d been for the past several years, before succumbing to disease.

Could lifeforce allow him to see in the dark like Tabitha did?

“Your mental tangents are as amusing as your attempts at humor.”

Lukas scowled. “You were talking about psionics?” he grumbled

Her thin smile only widened, likely at his piss-poor attempt at trying to change the subject.

“I did. However, talking about advanced psionic skills is irrelevant given your lack of proficiency. I may as well talk about ascending to higher beings to a vermin.”

He had a slight suspicion that he had annoyed her recently. She seemed to take more potshots at him than usual. And that was saying something.

“—start from the basics, or the basics of the basics. Shouldn’t be harder than teaching a rodent.”

Lukas snorted. He could almost picture her holding a book with a title like that— The Many Similarities in Training Rats and Mortals.

A moment later, said book sat inconspicuously on the chair beside him, its bright orange cover too glaring to be missed by human eyes.

“Perhaps you will show promise after a month, but that requires an unrealistic level of optimism.”

“Alright, alright, too many low blows at once,” he coughed. “What will I be learning first?”

“I can’t say for certain what you will learn, but I will be teaching you how to decrease stress in your brain. A study in psionics will put a lot of stress on pea-sized minds, and yours is already close to cracking. We will need to correct that flaw first.”

Never again. Whatever he had done to annoy her, he would never do it again.

“Alright, so how do I do that?”

“How else?”

“Through lifeforce?” Lukas gawked. Was it really so simple?

Inanna laughed. It was a beautiful sound, one that sent his spirits soaring.

“Lifeforce doesn’t do anything. That’s what the manipulator is for.”

“Right. Formless, limitless energy of creation and all that.”

“Precisely.” The goddess paused for a moment. “Back in my time, it was tradition to learn how to dilute one’s subjective awareness to the flow of time. It allowed you to study your surroundings more thoroughly and make better decisions.”

Lukas could almost visualize it as the goddess continued to describe it to him.

“With little effort, one could perceive a speeding arrow as if it were dragging through the air. A sword’s trajectory could be calculated mid-swing. And luckily for you, it’d allow you greater time to fall into your many mental tangents.”

That got a laugh out of him. And yet, at the same time, something about the description bugged him. There was something strangely familiar about the whole time-slowing aspect of it, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Seemingly pleased with herself, Inanna continued. “This skill is called Shensivueh. But take heed, mortal, it bears its own share of troubles. Your heart shall beat faster and faster the longer you use it, causing the breakdown of your brain functions. I believe the human word for it is… aneurysm.”

And just like that, the spell broke.

“Wait a second,” Lukas blurted out. “I know what that is.”

A sudden increase in one’s perception of time, marked by an increasing heart rate and sometimes followed by cardiac arrest or brain aneurysm. He’d heard of this phenomenon. He’d studied about it. This wasn’t some fancy skill— it was a psychological condition.

“It’s not ‘sensivu’ or whatever you called it.”

An image of a drug-addicted athlete capable of supernatural feats came to mind. He had first come across the concept back in college. It was—

“Tachypsychia!”

“...”