Psychic Parasite

Chapter 199: Youth
1st September, the year 334 of Dawn Era; an alarm rang aloud, its sounds echoing off the walls. A figure slept peacefully amidst the sounds, his blissful slumber undisturbed. The sounds stopped after a minute, allowing a moment of peace to encase the room.

The figure turned around, shielding his face from the gentle rays of the morning sun. Fifteen minutes later, the alarm rang once again, this time accompanied by a second alarm. The two sounds intermixed with one another, creating a cacophony, magnifying the disturbance caused.

The eyelids of the figure twitched, slightly disturbed by the noise, but not to the extent of getting his sleep disturbed. Three seconds later, the sounds of a hand slamming on the door resounded, the thunderous vibrations felt all the way to his berth.

The knocking sounds were loud, almost dwarfing the alarms, disturbing the boy’s slumber. It was Jyorta, sitting up with a start, anger clouding his face. He sprang from the bed, making a couple of long strides, and reaching the door.

He cranked it open, finding a familiar tall figure standing at his doorstep like always, ”Why do you have to wake me up every single day?”

The tall figure’s face was flushed red, stemming from his built-up anger. His voice though, was restrained with difficulty, ”Brother, why do you have two alarms if you never wake up at their sound? They are really loud. I can’t even remember the last time I slept well in the morning.”

”The thing is…” Jyorta nodded in realisation, ”For some reason, I am able to ignore the alarm sounds while sleeping. It is good that you are here.”

The boy’s anger spiked up to a new zenith, watching Jyorta speak without pause, ”Anyway, as an Esper, you should be able to cover your ears with your psychic arm. Consider it training.”

Jyorta slammed the door shut and walked towards the bed, still feeling drowsy. He forgot time and had practiced late into the night before, so the amount of shut-eye he could manage was less than optimal.

”Bastard!” He just lifted his leg to slide underneath his bedsheet when he heard a shout from beyond, followed by a loud smack on the door.

”Strange, why is he the only one who could hear my alarms? The Esper in the other room attached to mine has not once complained.” He shook his head, deftly sliding underneath his bedsheet, pulling it upwards until right beneath the nose. He then placed his right arm over his eyes, shielding his sight from the light.

6:33 AM, two minutes later, Jyorta sat up, feeling his drowsiness abate like the tide, imbuing in him clear-headedness. Letting out a sigh, he picked up his room key and exited the room, locking it behind him.

Jyorta began a morning jog, keeping his fitness up to the standard. He intended to develop his body to the limit attainable by Espers—a well-trained body possessed by normal humans his age (Though there weren’t any in this era).

Running along the boundary of the ground, Jyorta felt his emotions getting refreshed. The rich air mixed with the scent of grass and the traces of moisture carried by the wind, they invigorated his senses.

He began to feel optimistic for the day, affected by the morning rays and the vibrant atmosphere. Another thing that led to his uplifted emotional state was him no longer having to mask his state as an Area Controller.

Even though he couldn’t display his current strength, only allowed to reveal based on the progress of an Area Controller’s development, it was still better. A tinge of aura leaked out of his body, something he voluntarily released.

Newly broken through Area Controllers in his case would just begin to form their aura, unable to control it until taught by the faculty.

Since he had just broken through on the night before, he wouldn’t have had the chance to be taught aura control by a faculty member. So, he had to put up a front of being unable to mask his aura.

One had to be careful regarding the details; even a single misstep would collapse any detailed plan. So, he had long since planned through everything worthy of consideration. Madam Mary’s threat was still fresh in his mind, something he dared not forget.

Even if whatever she said the previous day was the truth, he dared not take the risk. Why risk his life for something that could be easily achieved with little to no effort?

As an Area Controller, one who had been at the Tier for a bit more than eight months, something like controlling the seepage of his aura was easily achievable.

”Congratulations!” A Warrior raised his hand and shouted as he passed by. Seeing the aura Jyorta emitted without control, it was evident for everyone that he had broken through recently.

”Thank you.” Jyorta waved back, continuing with his jog. Along the way, everyone he came across congratulated him.

Breaking through to a higher Tier was always a cause for celebration, something that had been drilled into the minds of all the students. The higher the strength of humanity, the greater their safety and well-being; so, everyone congratulated him without holding back.

7:30 AM, Jyorta returned to his room, picked up the basket housing his uniform and some toiletries, and exited, heading towards the restroom. 30 minutes later, he returned to his room, noticing Haesha’s door open up just as he unlocked his.

Haesha walked out of her room and habitually glanced his way, noticing him wave at her, ”Give me a second, I’ll fetch my book.”

”Okay,” Haesha nodded, adjusting the strap of her shoulder bag to her comfort. Jyorta exited his room, holding a notebook in his hand; a pen peaked out from his pocket. He locked the door and accompanied Haesha, making some small talk as they headed to the cafeteria.

Over the months, they had become quite close, oftentimes being able to understand the intentions of the other party through minimal gesture. Though, if he wanted to say their relationship was budding, he couldn’t.

Not once had Haesha ever expressed affection or intimacy to him beyond the level of friendship. He too didn’t try anything obvious, intending to first firm their friendship before trying to forge a romantic relationship.

It wasn’t that he was incapable of making the girl fall for him; he had plenty of methods for making any girl express love to him from the bottom of her heart. In the memories of his past life, he had received plenty of proposals. Though, most of them were due to them becoming attracted to him involuntarily.

He was never the sort of guy that played around with the feelings of women, he felt averse with the mere notion of that. Just because he didn’t want to didn’t mean he was incapable of. It was a stark difference he clearly understood.

Also, the more he comprehended the memories of his previous life, the faster he matured. But, he understood a certain point: if he made Haesha fall for him using tricks, then it might not be long-lasting.

When one used tricks to make a girl fall for him, it would make the girl develop an illusionary character of the guy, something the guy had staged to make him seem more charming. But, when two people spend time with one another, such illusions would slowly wear off, steadily returning to reality.

It would be the moment the girl begins to notice all the flaws of the guy, even sensing them as magnified defects in comparison to the previous perfect self. The girl might then take any measure, depending on her character, ranging from a breakup to something severe and vicious.

At least, in the previous Earth, the consequences wouldn’t be severe, with the damage mitigated to normalcy in most cases. There were reports of extreme cases that were a result of such schemes, but they were a minority.

In their current world, an era where people treaded between life and death more often, with the strength of an individual surpassing an organisation, solid relations were the most desired. Here, people desired their relationships with their other half to be indestructible, if possible.

Jyorta too felt the same. He liked Haesha, whether it was a crush developed at first sight, or his current emotions after grasping her character, personality, etc. The two of them thought in the same wavelength in many cases, the affinity between them something he came to appreciate.

He also considered the possibility of his hormones affecting his judgement; after all, he was at that age where people were vulnerable to the feelings of love, and also confuse normal emotions to that of love. In regards to that, he took some measures to confirm his feelings.

There were numerous times where he gazed at Haesha after overlaying the false persona over him, considering everything from a neutral perspective. He thought about what he saw, felt, and behaved while accompanying Haesha, able to consider everything calmly, unaffected by his emotions.

After everything, he concluded: his affinity towards Haesha was completely natural. It hadn’t been induced through any external means or wasn’t something he misunderstood. So, he wanted to take his time to develop a solid bond with her.

Even though he knew she didn’t see him as a love interest, he didn’t lose confidence. Haesha seemed unable to divert attention to such matters, as if she couldn’t even think about it.

After numerous observations, he concluded that she faced some issues that plagued her mind. If he possessed the means, he planned to resolve it in the future so that she would begin to look at him differently.

Until then, he planned to deepen their friendship, not planning to scheme anything. When a person’s life was at stake, one’s true character would be displayed. In such cases, only a bond established with true love would remain unshakable.

But, just because he didn’t scheme to make Haesha fall for him didn’t mean that he would give others the opportunity. That part he was ready to scheme when necessary.