Chapter 484: Mindblender City

We eventually arrange ourselves to sit in a half circle with Sophie standing in front of us underneath the half-dead tree.

She looks at the chairs I made for everyone for a moment. "Is it just me or have you made some improvements to your monobloc chair design?"

"Yes," I confirm. "I modified the structure to make them more comfortable with minimal alterations to the overall design, and the mana used for the base is… enhanced."

“You should try it, they’re surprisingly comfy,” Min-Jae calls.

"Maybe later," Sophie replies, waving him off. "It’s about time we were heading over to the city, so I wanted to give you a few warnings before we do. First, it doesn’t have a name—most people just call it the mind mages’ city if not something more derogatory and they avoid the place as much as possible. Typically, when someone does visit, they’re either staying a few days at most or they end up being press-ganged into one of the local factions. If they’re particularly useful, one of the mind mages might even try to pacify them with mind-control."

“Nothing against you, Sophie, but if this had happened on Earth, I’m sure people would’ve nuked the city already.”

“It’s fine, Maya, no offense taken, and I agree with you. Believe it or not, they tried; just in the past ten years, there’ve been three large-scale attacks on the city, but as you can see, it still stands. Unfortunately. Before we even get close, I’ll make sure your minds are protected and leave marks on you so everyone here knows that you belong with me.”

“You make it sound like you’re some kind of big shot in there, Soph,” Maya states, lazily crossing her legs while the others look at Sophie, eagerly awaiting her answer.

Sophie doesn’t even seem shy about it as she responds. “You could say I’m around the top 5 of the city. Given a bit more time, possibly number two and the next Archon.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh. There really aren’t as many mind mages as one might expect. Over the past few hundred years, most of the ones who’ve appeared here on the Astral Prison headed to the city and either made their own group or got themselves controlled by a more powerful mind mage. As weird as it sounds, it seems to be fairly normal. As for all of you, each of you would be considered a great asset in your own right, it’s highly likely that everyone would be scrambling to make you submit to them before another mind mage could beat them to it.”

“How many are there in the city?” I ask.

"Fewer than 50, and most are being controlled by someone else, forming three powerful groups: Archon, he’s the oldest of all of them; Beatrice, then there’s his daughter with her own faction; and Namior, who got lucky and managed to seize control of a few powerful prisoners and monsters. My group is the fourth. There was a strong, independent mind mage who noticed me the moment we arrived in the city and tried to take over, but it didn’t go well for him, so I replaced him as the head of his group."

“No complaints from the others?”

“None at all. It’s the kind of place that only cares about individual ability, and no one weeps for the losers.”

Sophie then gestures for me and the twins to stand. “I’ll need your help with my web and getting everyone connected. And while we’re at it we may as well use the process to make it that much more difficult for all of you to fall victim to mind control, marking, tracking, and other forms of manipulation. Doing things this way will also tie you to me so that I’ll know if someone tries to take control of you, and provide me with a means of defending you. I did the same for Izzy.”

“I’ll just sit here and look pretty. Maya quips”

“Please, do Maya.” Sophie retorts, shaking her head in exasperation, much to Maya’s amusement, but in the end, she can’t help but smile a bit. “Before we start, there’s this thing called The Framework. It’s a mental construct centered around the palace at the heart of the city, it allows the mind mages and the people under their control to focus their calculative abilities on a single common goal.”

She looks a bit more serious now. “they’re trying to decipher the spatial locks over the Astral Prison and destroy them.”

The lesson about Mindblender City continues over the course of our approach to the place in question.

(You might be wondering why all the mind mages come here when there’s such a high chance of being taken over by someone more powerful. But it’s pretty simple when you think about it: mind mages tend to be killed on sight everywhere else. The moment you make the ability known or show even a hint, the clock starts ticking, and rumors begin to spread. Sooner or later, people form a mob to kill you off. So here, at least, you’re treated moderately well. Like a tool to be used and thrown away, but in the meantime you have a nice palace to stay, food to eat, and the only thing you have to worry about is the other mind mages and they usually defend their own kind.)

(How does Framework work?)

(I told you already, Nat, I’m not sure. I’ll know more in a few days after I join the maintenance team, and yes, I’ll tell you as much as I can.)

(This city is weird.)

(So you’ve already noticed?)

(Yup.)

(It’s exactly what you’re thinking, the entire city functions as a colossal inscription array. Each building represents a meticulously placed node within the greater structure, crafted from materials tailored to the array’s needs—some are more highly conductive to channel mana flow efficiently, while others are there to act as dampeners. The streets are lined with specialized alloys that interact with the entire mana network, creating pathways that facilitate the controlled flow of energy across districts. Throughout the city, there are many battery stations strategically positioned to provide sustained power and ensure the array’s stability, even under strain. Additionally, frequency amplification stations have been placed at key intersections to regulate resonance frequencies while enhancing mana output and refining flow to prevent disruptions.)

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

(Don’t do that, Sophie; he gets annoyed when people talk smartly like that, using all these fancy words,)

Dennis warns.

(Yeah, he’s always hated it,)

Min-Jae confirms, giggling as he does, but quickly shuts up when he notices me looking at him.

Aaron speaks up next, nodding seriously as he explains,

(Most of the time he understands all that mana science blabber; he just gets annoyed and grumbles about how: If you truly understand something, you can explain it simply enough that a 5-year-old could understand.)

Ignoring them, I ask Sophie,

(With my passive, constructs and skill, how much of a threat do these mindblenders pose to me?)

(I think you’re probably safe, but at the start, you might want to weaken your defenses a bit—not enough for their manipulation to pierce, but just to make them think it’s possible. They have people probing newbies, and if you come off too strong, they might send their bodyguards after you.)

(Bodyguards being powerful non–mind mages they’ve managed to manipulate?)

(Yes.)

(I don’t think they could cause much trouble for me.)

(There are three that could,)

Sophie says seriously.

At that Dennis laughs under his breath.

To stop the conversation from moving in an unwanted direction, Tess interrupts the conversation with a reminder,

(As we said before. We’ll be entering the city and staying in Sophie’s tower with Izzy while we wait. Nat and occasionally Maya will act as her bodyguards, as the ones with the highest resistance to mind control, and Sophie will go ahead with her plan. We will do our own preparations, and then… we’ll go from there.)

Everyone sends their confirmations through the link, and now, as we make our final approach to the city, everyone stops talking, their mental defenses rising in sync as we get closer.

I, on the other hand, slightly weaken my Mantle and stop using

[Focus]

to counter their attempts. As I do, I decide to test

[Ley Line]

. A thread still leads off toward the secondary hideout, where I’ve stashed some of the golden chains and a good supply of extra materials.

As we pass over the small bridge and the wide white gate opens itself to us, I feel the defensive arrays running their checks, but there seems to be some special mark on Sophie, and once they detect it they stop.

[Ley Line]

seems to remain unnoticed by the automatic measures, but I’m sure someone skilled enough to notice will show up sooner or later. The question is whether or not they’ll be able to mess with it. Sophie noticed but wasn’t able to disrupt or otherwise manipulate it, to her annoyance and my pleasant surprise.

Inside, the Mindblender City looks unlike anything else we’ve seen on the 6th floor. It fits more with the style of the second, I would say. It’s almost enough to make it seem like we aren’t on a barren moon that serves as a prison. Well cobbled streets, clean buildings crowded with eye-catching architecture, and towers upon towers everywhere offering a stunning view of the varied styles even from the streets.

There aren’t as many people as I thought there’d be, but everyone seems busy, and there’s no one standing around in conversation. I guess there’s just not enough trust for that. How can you call anyone a friend if the mind mage controlling them could give the order at any time for them to turn against you, and they don’t have the free will to refuse?

Once again, I’m reminded just how disgusting that ability is, more so than invisibility or having "Phantom" in a class or item description.

With Sophie, I’ve had time to get used to it, and there is trust between us, but that hasn’t stopped me from constantly developing my mental defenses—her presence and skill serving as a constant reminder of what could happen.

As we walk through the streets, an assortment of probes touch us. Some sense Sophie’s mark and stop right away, while others only seem to grow more interested when they find it and they inevitably try to gauge our “power level,” checking over each member of our group.

The checks tend to linger a bit when they reach Lily, who is just terrible at hiding her abilities, and do the same for Min-Jae, who honestly isn’t much better.

Deploying a modified version of Sneaky Mode, the twins and I probably get the least amount of interest, the check passing over us without seeming to find us interesting enough for inspection. Even Fracture is well hidden by me.

The place Sophie is staying is a beautiful tall tower; even the yard is nice, filled with decorative columns, a small pond, and trees. It’s so unfitting for this floor, I check my status just to be sure we didn't wind up somewhere else.

There are checks upon checks. As we enter, as we walk by the trees, as we meet the guards. Every person seems to have some kind of proximity-based scan they run the moment they pass another human, looking for a mark—like the one Sophie gave us so that we could enter this place.

But I guess it all makes sense. Mind mages don’t generally seem to care much for direct combat; they’d rather resort to more underhanded methods. Like spying, controlling people, and overall trying to one-up each other. It all sounds so tiring.

A young woman greets Sophie, the second in command and was second in command before Sophie killed the original owner of this place. Mind mage Mila, now subject to Sophie’s control.

From their interactions though, it’s hard to say just how much that matters. Mila is smiling and seems very helpful to her new “master.”

[Will Breaker - lvl 255]

“Mila, everyone here is to be afforded the same level of access as me and should be treated with the same degree of respect. If they give an order, treat it as if it came directly from me.” Sophie commands, her demeanor shifting noticeably in mere moments. She’s colder now and far more confident, like someone accustomed to giving orders and having them followed.

“As you command. Should I have dinner prepared?”

“Yes, for all of us. While you’re at it, have rooms prepared for them on the same floor as my sister. Starting tomorrow, only I, my guests, and my sister are permitted on that floor.”

“I will personally see to the completion of these tasks. I should also inform you that Lady Beatrice left an invitation for dinner at her place in three days. I’ve learned that only a select few were invited, mostly members of the Circle and those with significant influence.”

“Confirm my attendance; I’ll be bringing one of my guests along as a bodyguard. Arrange for a tailor tomorrow, as they’ll need new clothes promptly.”

They exchange a few more sentences, and throughout the conversation, a subtle mind battle seems to play out between Sophie and Mila—perhaps an attempt by Mila to free herself from Sophie’s influence or even take control herself.

Sophie appears accustomed to the process, showing little difficulty and, eventually, finding herself unable to gain control, Mila departs with the same friendly smile as before, bidding us adieu with a slight bow.