Psychic Parasite

Chapter 105: Path Number 98
”A Child of Frenzy.” Her expression turned solemn as she marked the presence of every Frenzy Beast in the Labyrinth of Frenzy, planning to search each one of them. Seeing the body of the Tier 1 Frenzy Beast in her hold turn yellow, Madam Rizenne whispered, ”I can handle them, Mila.”

”Better to be safe than sorry,” A voice echoed back, the yellowing Frenzy Beast becoming a rigid marble statue. ”Besides, we cannot be sure if he hasn’t directed his gaze here through it.”

A Child of Frenzy was a Frenzy Beast born with a Frenzy Parasite. It was a result when its parents had some of the Wisdom Parasite in them shed during the copulation process, fusing with the foetus that later formed.

The Frenzy Parasites were a product of Rhachis Ancestor Parasite, leading to him gaining absolute control over every Child of Frenzy the moment they are born. Should he chose to deepen his control over them, they would become no different than his puppet.

Since the Frenzy Parasite was present in the Frenzy Beast’s body since birth, its growth would be equivalent to the Frenzy beast, eventually resulting in it failing to breakthrough to Tier 2 unless something unexpected happens.

Moreover, the Frenzy Parasite would have its body fused with both the brain and the spinal cord, dispersed between them. Also, they would have a perfect Sync Rate since birth, totalling to a hundred; meaning, their Sync Rates could never be raised, and their composition never altered.

”The spine has a Sync Rate of 73 percent while the brain has a Sync Rate of 27 percent.” Madam Rizenne murmured, ”Even then, it is only at Tier 1. It shouldn’t have been the one to injure Rakh.”

There was no reply to her statement, the surrounding air still, the marble statue of the Tier 1 Frenzy Beast returning to her control. Madam Rizenne brushed past all the Tier 2 Frenzy Beasts that had climbed up from below, ignoring them after finding out that they were just regular Frenzy Beasts.

Once she reached level 5, her surroundings changed, no longer being narrow. The ceiling was 30 metres high, the same as the other levels but, the width was no longer limited to 50 metres.

It was a sprawling maze now, with sections of walls appearing around each corner. There were Tier 2 Frenzy Beasts strewn everywhere, fighting with each other, wrestling for territory.

Relics were embedded into the walls of the Labyrinth, ensuring the Frenzy Beasts became progressively stronger the lower they lived. This was installed in place to nurture the students that explored it. After all, the existence of the Labyrinth of Frenzy was meant to help the students get accustomed to battles.

Moreover, it also helped them gain an understanding of the unpredictability that occurred in the Wild Zones, instilling the thought that Frenzy Beasts never cared about their strength. As long as they were fit to be a prey, the Frenzy Beasts would strive to kill them, irrespective of how strong or intelligent they were.

Madam Rizenne paused, closing her eyes, encompassing her domain through the entirety of the Labyrinth of Frenzy. Next, five psychic arms flew out of her, entering the bodies of each Frenzy Beast, inspecting their brains and spines.

If she wanted, she could easily inspect each Frenzy Beast while she stood before the White Building, thanks to the range of her domain. At 100 percent Sync Rate, a Sky Controller had a domain range of 10 kilometres.

But, only when viewed from the scene would she be able to grasp it better. After all, this involved the Children of Frenzy.

Soon, Madam Rizenne discovered another Child of Frenzy, a Tier 1 Frenzy Beast hiding away from a stronger foe, trying its best to prevent itself from being eaten. Suddenly, before it could mount any semblance of resistance, its body turned into a marble statue, carried over by a psychic arm, approaching Madam Rizenne.

As she walked on the floor, her feet hovering a millimetre from the ground, she came across a huge pile of Frenzy Beast Carcasses. They numbered more than one hundred, surrounded by Frenzy Beasts that had approached the area, lured by the scent of the blood.

They dug into the pile of flesh, satiating their hunger. After all, they weren’t fed by the staff, leaving them to their own devices. This was to better prepare the students that explored the Labyrinth, raising their vigilance in order to cope with the hungry foes that tried to desperately kill them.

Madam Rizenne released a tinge of her aura, scaring all the Frenzy Beasts into submission. She then inserted her psychic arm into the pile, lifting out the carcass of a Tier 1 Frenzy Beast, noticing the Wisdom Parasite fused into both its brain and spine.

”So, this was the Frenzy Beast that infused the Essence of Frenzy in Rakh’s body.” Followed by her voice, a trace of yellow appeared, turning the carcass into a marble statue. After that, she continued with her inspection.

In a matter of minutes, Madam Rizenne finished inspecting every Frenzy Beast in level 5, proceeding towards the other paths in levels 1 to 4 she had neglected till now. As she inspected the numerous paths one after another, the number of marble statues next to her increased in number, entering the double digits.

”How did so many of them appear?” Madam Rizenne frowned, expressing her worry. A flash of yellow appeared next to her, condensing into the figure of Madam Mila—in her teens.

”This is definitely strange,” The yellow figure nodded, looking life-like, ”I had inspected all the Frenzy Beasts just 10 days ago when I changed the mazes. I hadn’t discovered a single Child of Frenzy then.”

”They can’t appear out of nowhere,” Madam Rizenne shook her head, ”Besides, suppose they were given birth after that, it is still strange that they had grown so fast. Moreover, their species aren’t ones with a growth spurt.”

Finished with all the hundred paths of the Warrior section, Madam Rizenne transferred her focus to the paths in the Esper section, going through them in chronological order.

”Something is definitely strange,” She murmured, one of her psychic arms paused in the 98th path of the Esper section, hovering next to the entrance on level 1. ”When was the last time the 98th path was used?”

The yellow figure paused, turning silent.

Standing before the Head Office Building, Madam Mila noticed Rakh clenching and relaxing his arm, having regrown to its pristine condition. She sent a psychic arm into the Head Office Building, arriving before a certain bookshelf and pulling out a folder.

The folder was marked with the number 98, looking relatively thin as compared to the rest of the folders.

Each folder contained the data of the students that traversed one of the paths. After all, once they had chosen a path, they were bound to use it till their graduation. Hence, their information was recorded.

The folder had the word ’Esper’ written on it, situated below the number ’98’, written in large font, consuming half the front area.

The psychic arm placed the folder on the nearby table, flipping through it, pausing at the final page.

The page detailed the student that had last used the 98th path in the Esper section, the amount of time consumed, the number of Frenzy Beasts killed, their strength, etc. finally coming down to a set of remarks.

The yellow figure commented, ”It was last used 19 months ago. The Cadet was a Tier 1 Esper, having no exemplary achievements. Two minutes after entering the path, she retreated, having suffered from some mild injuries. After that, no one had used it.”

”Now, it seems something has been growing there, hidden beneath our notice.” Madam Rizenne murmured, flying through the 98th path from its entrance in level 5. She soon passed through all levels and arrived at level 1, stopping 30 metres from the entrance.

A Tier 2 Floating Spider—having a cross-section length of 2 metres, and spanning 4 metres high due to its long legs—had built its nest there, having laid 16 eggs, looking recent. The eggs were each 20 centimetres in length, oval in shape.

The walls were covered with webs, leaking out a pungent smell, covered with yellow-green pus. Hidden behind the Tier 2 Floating Spider was another Tier 2 Floating spider, having strength at the peak of Tier 2, in the process of laying another batch of eggs.

”I never thought I committed such a rookie mistake,” The yellow figure sighed, pointing at the stomach of the Floating Spider laying eggs, opening a gash on it, intending to research the cause. A flash of yellow appeared, turning all the eggs and the two Floating Spiders into marble.

Despite that, the gash formed on the Floating Spider continued to spew blood, the volume gushing out in excess. Even though its body had turned marble, blood continued to gush out as if it was still alive.

As they passed their psychic energy on it, they noticed Frenzy Parasites, numbering in the thousands, each the width of a hair, spanning a length of 10 centimetres. As the final droplet gushed out from the gash, the marble statue of the Floating Spider crumbled, breaking down into numerous pieces.

The Frenzy Parasites converged towards one spot, absorbing all the blood collected on the ground, turning into a ball. Five portions extended out from them, each forming a distinctly humanoid shape.

It condensed into a humanoid figure, 8 centimetres tall, looking like its body was formed from interwoven threads.

It lacked eyes, nose, or ears, its facial expression bland. It had a mouth, lacking teeth. Its hair was filled with a hundred Frenzy Parasites, twirling around with one another, swaying in the air.

Seeing its appearance, Madam Rizenne expressed killing intent, emitting a bloodthirsty aura, gushing out like a raging volcano. In the next instant, all the Frenzy Beasts in the Labyrinth of Frenzy died, burst into a pool of blood, facing the brunt of the aura.

Having reacted on time, Madam Mila erected a barrier around the students, shielding them from the aura. She also created another barrier, preventing the aura from gushing out beyond the academy, lest it killed the people living in Sector 1.

”Danger, Parasite.” She quickly communicated with Madam Mary, informing her of the location through her psychic energy, the transmission taking but a fraction of a second. Madam Mary disappeared from view, disregarding the vapour cones that followed her wake.

Thankfully, the students were unharmed, thanks to Madam Mila’s barrier that shielded them from the broiling shockwaves.

Jyorta felt a faint sense of danger, stemming from the blue face in his soul. Like guided by a compass, he swerved his head, glancing towards the left extreme of the Red Building—at a spot 30 metres below ground level—situated in the Psychic Block.

Madam Mila spiked her psychic energy, changing its inherent composition as it turned yellow. Suddenly, a streak of magenta flashed next to her ear, communicating with her. She transmitted the complete details, watching the streak of magenta shudder.

As it disappeared, she too followed suit, entering the Red Building in Psychic Block, heading towards the path numbered ’98’.