Psychic Parasite

Chapter 93: Symphony

8:30 AM, seated in the same class as before, situated in the Yellow Building, Haesha looked around, making a mental count, finding the presence of 129 Espers.

Madam Mila entered, looking at the Espers seated on their floor mats, "Jyorta Bone and Laila will be absent today. They have managed to surprise many faculty members."

She displayed a rare smile, expressing her satisfaction over the news, "Also, the two of them have already experienced the practical part that I will be teaching you today. So, we will proceed without them."

Her body turned rigid, looking no different from a statue, "Madam Rizenne must have talked to you about the Heart and Brain Crystals in the previous week. I will give you a brief introduction of them and link it to today's content."

Madam Mila floated in the air, hovering 3 metres above ground, "There is a certain amount of energy stored in our body, in the form of carbohydrates and fats. While Nurturing, the Wisdom Parasite accumulates the concentrated energy extracted from our bodies towards one spot. To the Warriors, this occurs in their hearts, hence the name Heart Crystal. Similarly, the energy is concentrated in the brain for Espers, hence the name Brain Crystal."

"The building blocks of the Brain Crystal are the remnant outgrowth of the Wisdom Parasite as it adapts to our body. They fuse into a singular part and create a crystal capable of storing the extracted energy." Traces of yellow flashed before her, forming into a spherical object. It had numerous outgrowths, its surface rugged, forming numerous cavities.

The object spanned the size of a rice grain, looking minuscule. Madam Mila then magnified it until it dwarfed her body, allowing the Espers to observe each nook and cranny of it.

"The Brain Crystal doesn't have any definite shape. It varies from person to person. Moreover, unlike the Heart Crystal which is present in the same part for all Warriors, the Brain Crystal can form anywhere in the brain. Also, since the Wisdom Parasite is fused with the brain, it can function unhindered despite the presence of the Brain Crystal. If not for that, it would be akin to a tumour and would lead us to death." The yellow crystal hovering before her disappeared.

"The amount of energy that can be stored in a Heart/Brain crystal is limited and is dependent on the Nurturing effect of the Wisdom Parasite which is affected by Your Sync Rate. Also, at higher Tiers, the Heart/Brain Crystal changes, getting further compressed. At every Tier, the quality and quantity of energy it can contain will experience an increase by a multitude." Madam Mila pressed a button on a remote, flashing the screen behind her to life.

The title read, 'Heart Crystal', and was divided into two columns: Tier, and Colour.

[Tier 1] [Reddish-Black]

[Tier 2] [Dark-Red]

[Tier 3] [Light-Red]

[Tier 4] [Orange]

[Tier 5] [Yellow]

[Tier 6] [White]

"There are Warrior Skills that are energy-based. In such cases, you would be able to notice the colour of their energy which corresponds to their Heart Crystal. This colour code is the same for the Frenzy Beasts, so keep it in mind." Madam Mila continued, her tone filled with caution, "There are Frenzy Beasts that can perfectly rein in their aura, even in battle. In such times, judging their strength based on the colour of their energy will help you."

"Now, coming to the Espers," Madam Mila clicked a button on the remote, changing the contents of the screen. "The Brain Crystals of Espers are uniformly of the Pink Colour. The only difference is the number of stripes on them, with Line Controllers having 1 stripe and a Psychic Ancestor having 6 stripes."

The screen showcased the stripes formed on the Brain Crystal, presenting a variety, "The stripes follow a pattern as it increases in number. But, no two Brain Crystals have been found to have stripes of the same design. We have yet to figure out the cause behind them; the subject is still being researched on."

"I will talk about Nurturing in the next class. Our focus today will be on something else." Madam Mila continued, "After killing a Frenzy Beast, we will fish out its Heart/Brain Crystal. They are crystals holding a dense amount of energy. But, they are also full of the Essence of Frenzy which will be explained in Madam Rizenne's class."

"We have a method to extract the Essence of Frenzy from them, leaving behind pure Heart/Brain Crystals. Only then are they fit for consumption. Espers can only consume Brain Crystals while Warriors can only consume Heart Crystals. Now, we can't directly chew them and try to absorb their energy; our cells would wither away at the massive influx in energy."

A flash of yellow appeared before her, forming into two organisms: a Centipede, and a Caterpillar.

Madam Mila enlarged them, allowing everyone to see, "You can call them the manifestation of the psyche of our Wisdom Parasite. For Warriors, it is a Centipede, while for Espers, it is a Caterpillar. We don't know why they are formed as such but, we have managed to unearth countless uses for them."

Madam Mila glanced at everyone, moving her head, "Their first use is to devour the Heart/Brain Crystals. It is only through them that we can consume Frenzy Fruits to increase our Sync Rate, consume Trait Fruits to get Traits, and also be implanted with Unranked Skills. When we are on the verge of losing control, we use it to consume a Cleansement Fruit to get rid of it once and for all."

She then made the Caterpillar float forward, "We can also check its development through this. Moreover, when it gets damaged, our Sync Rate takes a dip. So, this is the most guarded secret of an Esper/Warrior. Now, we will learn to manifest it."

Madam Mila made the Centipede disappear and flew forward, hovering next to the Caterpillar. "For ease of use, we just address it as Caterpillar. And for the Warriors, we call theirs the Centipede. It is simple and easy to comprehend."

"Now, look at me," Countless blood tendrils seeped out through the pores on her faceeach tendril thinner than her hairand converged before her, forming a large lump of blood. Numerous tendrils squirmed along its surface as two parallel lines grew along it, dividing it into equal parts.

The two parts rotated in the opposite directions to unravel a long cylindrical body. Circular gorges formed on it and segmented the cylindrical body into 6 parts. Three pairs of stumps appeared along the fifth segment, similar to the second segment.

A face appeared on the first segment, the features partly resembling Madam Mila. The tendrils formed hair on its head, braided along its length that traversed two segments. The Caterpillar wriggled its body, enacting a dance, its demeanour one of laziness, discontent etched in its expression.

It turned its head, glancing at Madam Mila with an expression of disgust. It swerved its head, looking at the Espers. The moment they met its gaze, they shuddered in fright for reasons unknown, the feeling stemming from deep within them. It was an instinctual reaction.

The dancing Caterpillar dissolved into thousands of tendrils and retracted into her face through her pores. Madam Mila said, "That is how it looks. It absorbs our recessive traits and shapes them into its own. Though, you must never underestimate it, despite its appearance. Even though it was dancing, its actual intention was to assess the surroundings and check my mental health. If it determined my condition to be less than optimal, it would have launched a strike."

"Now, I will instruct you one by one. It will take a lot of time for each person to grasp the technique. The Espers on the first row can stay behind while the rest can do whatever you want. Go to the White Building, the Indigo Building, or the Blue Building; the Espers from the second row can return at 10:00 AM, with the subsequent rows arriving in the intervals of an hour."

Seated on the third row, Haesha looked into her watch, making a mental note of the time of her return. She then stood up and exited the room, planning to head to the White Building to study. The Espers that exited the room chatted about the Caterpillar, their expressions a mixture of disgust, fear, and excitement.

"I think my caterpillar would look handsome." An Esper said, rubbing his jaw where 3 strands of facial hair grew.

"It if it handsome, then you must be ugly." His friend retorted, continuing with a boastful tone, "My Caterpillar would be ugly, stupid, selfish, naive, weak, ignorant, and never popular with the opposite gender."

"Then it probably absorbed your dominant traits." Another Esper retorted, laughing hard at his own timing.

Haesha chuckled at the scene, walking away from the crowd as she exited the Yellow Building. To the opposite side of the ground, separated by 400 metres, she saw another crowd emerge from the Yellow Building, situated in the Rhachis Block.

Planning to meet up with her friends for group study, Haesha walked on the ground, her gait hurried. She soon met up with Esina and Ashten, noticing their bored faces.

"Our turn will not be before 11:00 PM." Esina smacked her lips, kicking a stalk of grass that was twice the height of others. They were seated quite behind in the lecture; hence, their turn was well into the middle of the night.

"That means we have a lot of free time. Maybe we can head to the Blue Building for some entertainment?" Ashten pointed out a possibility, wanting to take some moments of leisure.

"And do what? Play games?" Esina slapped his back, the force inserted in her action akin to a light tap. "This one year is really important. We won't get this chance for the rest of our lives. Even Jyorta is working so hard despite being born in the Bone Family."

"What you said is true," Ashten sighed, "Moreover, at 10:30 AM, our scores will be displayed. I haven't even appeared for a single test. Also, the Credits I got in the training exercises were just a paltry sum."

The trio engaged in hushed discussions, planning to study in the White Building. Their topic of conversation soon diverted to Jyorta, speaking about his condition the couple of times they had met in the past week.

10:30 AM, a small crowd had formed before the White Building, composed of more than 100 people. They were just curious to see the credits the students in their Batch had accumulated. Haesha and co. exited the building, taking up a spot in a region with a better view of the soon-to-be-displayed rankings.

The pristine white wall flashed, the image of the ranking appeared on it. Immediately, the sounds of bells echoed in the region, their intensity increasing with every second. Faint winds were stirred up, accompanying the sounds to paint a symphony.