Psychic Parasite

Chapter 204: Darkness
1:50 PM, standing before the Red Building were the students of the October Batch, assembled into a file. Standing along the third row was Jyorta, to his right was Haesha.

”I am scared, Jyorta. The appearances of the Frenzy Beasts from all the Graduation Ceremonies are playing in my mind now.” Haesha’s voice trembled, her nervousness increasing in magnitude with each passing second.

”It is nothing, Haesha. We won’t be directly fighting them today.” Jyorta tried to be calm, failing at it due to his nervousness. It was something that was carried over from his previous life. Before any event of significance, he would begin to feel nervous.

There were many times he lost a good opportunity due to being held back by his nervousness. He wished to curb his nervousness many times but, one’s being wouldn’t change so easily.

’If I use my false persona for each and everything, then I won’t have any personal growth. I can only try to improve over time.’ He thought, trying to prevent his shaking voice from being obvious, ”We will only be facing Tier 1 Frenzy Beasts…I think.”

”I hope so,” Haesha wrapped her arms around her shoulder, rubbing them in an effort to ease her tension. Her shivering stagnated at a certain pitch, thankfully not becoming worse. But even then, it wasn’t wise to stay in a tensed and nervous state for a prolonged duration.

Jyorta raised his right hand, inching it towards Haesha, hesitating for a moment before retracting it. ”We have to learn to control our emotional state. Being on the edge only helps the Wisdom Parasite in us.”

”I will try.” Haesha nodded, taking in deep breaths. Many students were in similar situations, nervous about having to face the Frenzy Beasts for the first time. Until then, they had only gazed at the Frenzy Beasts from afar, from the stands as audience during the Induction Ceremonies, conducted on the 20th of every month.

Jyorta glanced around, searching for familiar faces among the crowd, soon spotting Ashten Coorg and Esina Hawker. Ashten had a nervous smile plastered on his face while Esina wiped off the sweat trailing from her forehead from time to time.

Noticing his gaze, they swerved their heads, waving at him once. Jyorta waved back and turned, inspecting the condition of others.

He noticed Dalna Doppler standing on the first row, unflinching at the atmosphere, looking ready to fight with the Frenzy Beasts should the need arise. Standing a row behind her, positioned to her right was George Eagle, motivating himself further as he looked at the individual standing straight.

His eyes brimmed with fighting spirit, exhibiting the sense of rivalry self-established ever since the beginning. Jyorta felt a sense of relaxation, conversing with Haesha as he made fun of others. It wasn’t a good habit but it served to calm them to a certain extent.

”I am surprised; even Laila is tense.” Haesha gazed in surprise, waving back at the hesitant wave from Laila who noticed her gaze.

’And why do you have to act afraid? There is a limit to how much one should act.’ Jyorta mentally cursed, feeling exasperated at Laila’s behaviour. The blue soul in him overlaid the false persona for the duration he saw Laila and thought about her, which spanned around two seconds.

Retracting the false persona, he directed his gaze towards the entrance to Red Building. Until today, many facilities in the military academy were off-limits to the students in his Batch. First of all, it was ordained that they be given access to only the necessities.

The first 9 months in the military academy was the training period where one focused on the basics. Since their powers were new, this was the period where they got accustomed to their growing powers.

The students learned many techniques, focusing on better manipulating their abilities, also training their wit, decision-making skills, battle tactics, power exhibition, etc. Everything was in preparation for their survival out in the Wilds and their future development as adults in society.

The most important of them all was the training of their mindset, one that shaped them to prioritise the benefits of Marble City above else. The next was the importance one attached to their families, nurturing their feelings of concern, connection, etc. The final was their benefit, their wellbeing, and their development.

One ought to possess a complex mentality in order to prevent the Wisdom Parasite in them from grasping their being’s character, personality, habits, etc. The more complex one was, the greater the difficulty posed to the Wisdom Parasite’s dominance.

They were also trained to think, plan, and act accordingly. Though, their age factor played a role in decreasing the value of such teachings. Students at their age had a sense of innocence and naivety attached to them. Only when tempered by the harsh reality in the society would their innocence be shaved off and they unearth the true potential of the teachings grasped in the military academy.

When compared to his peers, Jyorta was a lot better off, already possessing a somewhat complex thought process. But, he still had many preconceived notions attached to his being as he comprehended the experiences stored in his blue soul’s memory fragments.

He had to constantly pay attention to his development, analysing his changing character every day to prevent him from becoming someone that went against his wishes.

2:00 PM, Madam Rizenne appeared before them in an instant, her approach unable to be detected. She produced neither a sound nor stir up a wind, arriving in silence like a mirage. She floated to the air, hovering three metres from the ground, allowing everyone to see her without trouble.

She neither uttered a word nor symbolised any action, hovering like a statue. In the next second, the figure of Madam Mila appeared next to her, silent, without any disturbance.

Like usual, Madam Mila looked rigid, unwilling to move her body, only using her psychic arms to speak and motion for the rest, ”Your task today is simple. We have created a platform in the middle, over which you must stay. You can stand, you can sit, you can jump around, do anything you wish. The only condition is for you to stay within the boundaries of the platform.”

The door to the Red Building opened, its insides dark, preventing them from seeing the inner workings. There wasn’t any aura or smell of the sort accompanying the opening of the door, allowing the students to heave a collective sigh.

”Your task is to stay within it until 7:00 PM. Now, enter.” Prompted by her words, the students from the first row began to move, entering the Red Building through a file of ten. Standing in the third row, it was soon Jyorta’s turn. He and Haesha made eye contact for a second, taking in a deep breath before walking along.

It was dark, even the sunlight that seeped in through the door seemed to be suppressed, its radiance dimming with every metre, becoming pitch black after Jyorta had walked 10 metres in. His heart began to thump in increasing frequencies, the amplitude high to the extent audible in his ear.

This rhythmic beat, accompanied by the sounds of his breathing—rough and haggard—unnerved him, causing his mental state to plummet. Haesha fared worse than him; her body was drenched with sweat, her body shivering in fright with each step she took, treading further and further into the darkness.

The only solace at first was the sounds of their peers echoing in the air but, as they proceeded deeper and deeper, the sounds grew farther and farther away, distant, and muffled. Three steps into the darkness prompted him to extend his hand and grab hold of Haesha’s.

She was startled for a second, soon recognising the familiarity before calming down. As they proceeded deeper into the darkness, their hold tightened as they unconsciously walked closer, feeling solace in each other’s company. It was the last thread that held their sanity together.

’This must be a form of training.’ For a moment, he wanted to escape from everything by using his false persona. With its use, his fears and other plaguing emotions would be suppressed, not felt by him. Even though his body would still experience the emotions, it would be suppressed on both the mental and the biological level in the source.

This would allow him free reign of his emotions, his mental state no longer affected. But, he didn’t want to rely on his false persona. He wanted his base self to become tougher, intending to use the false persona only in situations of absolute necessity. He wished to temper himself.

Soon, only the sounds of their footsteps echoed in the surroundings, accompanied by their rough breathing. Jyorta unleashed his psychic arm, 65 centimetres in length, probing around his range.

Not once did he use his actual power, only restricting himself to the current length. It was to avoid suspicion from his fellow peers. Unable to detect any other presence in the range of his psychic arm, Jyorta commented, ”I don’t sense anyone else around us.”

”Me too,” Haesha’s shivering voice echoed back, startling her for a moment. She then pulled Jyorta’s hand, pausing for a couple of seconds before walking. There was fear in her voice as she muttered, ”Jyorta, I feel like we are guided by some formless force. The moment we release our hold, we would be swept away. That is what I feel.”

Jyorta tried to link the phenomenon to the morning’s class when Madam Rizenne affected their emotions, quickly sharing the detail with Haesha. Even though his development was superior, his sensitivity wasn’t to Haesha’s extent, capable of grasping the subtle influences without any external aid.

In Jyorta’s case, only if he used his false persona would he be able to notice the difference, which he found out after a momentary use.

Jyorta cursed, ”This isn’t what they told us. I thought we would see some Frenzy Beasts and get used to their appearance.”

Haesha’s voice resounded, clearly shaken, the presence of fear enriching in her, ”We can neither make an accurate guess of their plans nor take their word as the truth.”