Psychic Parasite

Chapter 248: Memories of the Crust-Mantle
The nurse lady, Vaika spoke, ”The duty falls on me to explain the intricacies of aura to Cadets after their first exploration. Most of them get injured like you, without even noticing anything amiss. There are many forms of aura in the Labyrinth mixed with each other. That’s why, their effects can’t be guarded against during your first time.”

”Then, how can I proceed with my exploration? When I unleash my aura, I can immobilise my foes. That makes it easier for me to kill them. The strength of an Area Controller is lacking for a full-on assault.” Jyorta sat straight, feeling his head spin a little. The nurse had imparted a lot of information in a short duration. It had a lot of complexities that he couldn’t wrap his head around in such a short duration.

”Your aura is your prime means of attack. It can be used to deter your enemies, suppress them, make them lose their fighting spirit, etc. So, it is better to use them.” The nurse nodded, ”But, don’t maintain your aura for long durations as you did back there. Unleash your aura in short intervals, in rhythmic bursts. That prevents the foreign aura from invading your body when your resistance to it weakens.”

She raised her index finger, making a point, ”Anything that lasts long can be probed and countered easily; change is the only lasting factor. As something that one could accumulate resistance against, aura should not be abused. Use it to complete your objective, as quickly as you can. Unleash it when you need, at the right time, and clench victory.”

She then sighed, ”The Wilds are fully seeped with the personified aura of innumerous Frenzy Beasts. That is one of its dangers. Thankfully, Ancestor Marble’s barrier completely shields us from it. But, the further south you proceed from Marble City, the personification of a certain existence’s aura increases.”

Her tone became solemn, ”The sole effect of this aura is to gain dominance over our parasites.”

Seeing his reaction, she sighed, ”It seems you have an idea. Yes, it is the aura of Rhachis Ancestor Parasite. The range of its aura is vast and seems to be increasing upon the passing of each day. Based on the records, almost a century ago, the limit of his aura was 5000 kilometres to the south of Marble City. Now, the distance has reduced. Once you proceed 4000 kilometres to the south of our city, you will come in the range of its aura.”

She then let out a sigh of relief, ”Thankfully, it seems Rhachis Ancestor Parasite only left behind the personification of its aura, without its base form. If not for it, no life could exist alive in the range. Also, the base form of the aura has a limited range of effect. From what I learned, it seems Rhachis Ancestor Parasite used its Tier 6 Skill to amplify the effect of its personified aura to such a frightening range.”

She then clapped once, ”Alright; that is all I wanted to teach you. Always check the status of your body and mind when you explore the Labyrinth of Frenzy. This advice of mine also extends to the Wilds. Only by doing so can you ensure your survival and well-being. After all, your battle doesn’t end with just the erasure of your external foes. Growing within you is something even scarier.”

Vaika pointed at a door, ”Your equipment is stored there. Beware; the aura of the Labyrinth has seeped into them. It is like radiation. Shield yourself with your psychic energy barrier to prevent being affected again. You would later have to negate the aura in them. As for the method to do it, the Tier 3 Artifact, Wave Formation has it.”

”Thank you, for saving me.” Jyorta made a light bow as he began to walk towards the door the nurse pointed at. Just when he was about to open it, a voice resounded in his ear.

”Jyorta…”

”Yes, ma’am?” Jyorta turned around, finding the nurse seated in the same spot as before. He noticed a shadow before him, finding a pale blue fist, the size of his head hover above him. Before he could react, it smacked on his head, the force behind it making him bend, almost making him fall. Before he could register the pain from the smack, a warm feeling seeped into him, adding a bit more mass into his body, also recovering his psychic energy a little.

”Don’t be reckless, alright?” Hearing her voice, Jyorta bowed, grateful at her consideration. Thanks to her, he had enough psychic energy to unleash his psychic arm and maintain it for a considerable duration. He erected a barrier around him and turned around, entering the room where his equipment was stored.

Vaika sighed, her expression tinged with sadness, murmuring as she slumped on the bed before her, ”Such bright children; most of them end up dying in the Wilds. Such is the cruelty of this era.”

She unleashed her aura, limiting its effect, forming a cocoon around herself. She activated its personification, focusing the effect on her, noticing it begin to steadily affect her senses after some time. Eventually, her expression became one of nostalgia. Tears streamed out her eyes as she gazed around her with part happiness and part sadness.

She laughed, engaged in chatter, sometimes admonishing, sometimes cheering, oftentimes engrossed in the company, losing track of time. Followed by a knock, a man entered the room, accompanied by an unconscious student he brought on a stretcher.

Prompted by the disturbance, her body reacted, retracting her aura, breaking out of her hallucination. In accustomed reflex, her psychic arm wiped her tears, mending her appearance. It turned pale blue and healed her, placing her in an optimal state.

She stood up, ”Another first-time explorer?”

”No,” The man shook his head, ”This Cadet is part of the September Batch. He pushed himself too hard for Credits. We had to pull him out when his life was in danger.”

After a sigh, Vaika took charge of the student, taking note of his injuries. Her expression morphed, turning grave as she hurriedly placed him on a berth and stripped all his equipment. She looked at the man, ”Store his equipment and summon doctor Vatrika. His spine needs to be operated on. The essence of Frenzy has seeped into it, quite an amount at that. Why did you delay until it reached this point?”

The man unleashed three psychic arms, doing as was told, ”After hearing the news of the death of his beloved, a staff almost lost control. He was administered a Cleansement Fruit. But, in the meantime, we were understaffed in monitoring the Labyrinth. To make matters worse, Madam Mila had to leave due to urgent summons from Central Command. By the time we managed to react, the situation had already progressed to this extent for the Cadet.”

As another doctor arrived in a hurry, the man took his leave, his expression tired. Seeing the doctor, Vaika transmitted the details through her psychic arm. Soon, the two of them began to operate on the student, using a variety of medical tools in addition to their psychic arms.

In the adjacent room, Jyorta soon spotted his equipment placed in a shelf. As they had dumped everything into a bag, it was easy for him to carry. He noticed another door in the room, with the plaque overhead reading ’Exit’.

As he walked towards it, he noticed a psychic arm carry some equipment, fish out a bag from a draw nearby, dump everything into it, and store the bag in one of the shelves. After its work was done, the psychic arm disappeared.

’So, a Wave Controller is this powerful.’ He thought, exiting the room and finding a flight of stairs that led below. After a minute, Jyorta arrived before the counter, finding a staff seated behind it. It was an unfamiliar face.

From within the bag, Jyorta fished out the pouch and placed it on the counter. The person grabbed hold of it with his hands, spilled out the contents, and counted it one by one. After putting them back into the pouch, he looked at Jyorta, staring at his face for about 10 seconds.

It was an awkward situation; Jyorta averted his line of sight, glancing at a notepad. Even though the distance prevented him from reading its contents, it was better than staring at the weird staff.

Finally, the staff spoke, ”Jyorta Bone, Area Controller from October Batch. The Credits earned from your first exploration is 136 Credits. It will be updated into your total automatically. You can check it in the Portal.”

On seeing that there was nothing else for him to do, Jyorta exited the Red Building, heading towards his dorm.

3:00 PM, after taking a refreshing bath, Jyorta headed to the cafeteria and ate snacks until his belly felt like it would burst. He then sat there, watching the passerby, sensing the thin trickle of psychic energy fill his Brain Crystal.

The blue soul overlaid the face mask, the false persona of calm, optimism, and filled with focus. On seeing its influence take effect, the blue soul grabbed the memory fragments siphoned from the Crust-Mantle’s soul, sending them to the brain one after another.

Slowly, memories began to play in his mind, accompanied by their respective emotions, feelings, senses, thoughts, etc. painting a vivid experience. It was as if Jyorta had turned into a Crust-Mantle and was living its life.

The contents that he faced though were frightening, to say the least. Currently, he had become a baby Crust-Mantle, squirming with hundreds of similar-looking creatures, situated within a damp, hot cavern.