Chapter 150: Tension

In the soul core of the Wisdom Parasite, a humanoid projection had formed, sporting traces of his figure from the previous life. The projection's face was moulded into a woman's, sporting chubby facial features, small eyes, and a thin set of lips.

The body of the projection was slender, slightly serpentine, giving it some feminine curves that were beyond realistic. It was a shade of red, its transparent form clung to the soul core, looking beyond the boundaries of its soul, directing its gaze at a massive blue soul hovering next, positioned like the planet and the sun respectively.

Forming the core of the blue soul was a humanoid figure, sporting a face, a neck, and a body, lacking any limbs. It was a shade of blue, condensed to the extent looking opaque. It watched the gaze directed at it, sporting a solemn expression.

The blue face glanced at the six subsouls hovering in the blue soul, commanding them to stay at the sides and not interfere unless the situation turned dire. It watched the red projection inspect itself, lifting its palm to condense a black liquid over it.

The red projection looked at the memory fragments in its soul, mentally calculating something. It then let out a cackle, the sound echoing off the surroundings, audible only to the blue soul and the six subsouls.

The blue soul experienced a rush in soul energy, supplied by the two Soul Corneas it had sent out, having made contact with the souls of the remaining two Line Controller Floating Spiders. Through the multitude of soul tendrils connecting it to the Brain Crystal, the influx in soul energy was converted into psychic energy, replenishing its reserves.

'My Nurturing hasn't even reached the limit of my Sync Rate at Tier 1. Attempting a breakthrough now is tantamount to suicide but, the Wisdom Parasite has initiated a breakthrough process. It shouldn't even have developed to such an extent to warrant this; it seems the new influx in memories rapidly altered its pace of maturity.' Jyorta sighed, elevating his mental state.

He took in deep breaths, calming both his body and mind. Standing before him, Atika Light took out a brooch, shaped into a set of three concentric circles, with the shaft of a quill attached to each ring, proceeding in opposite directions.

It made its appearance similar to the three rings having gained a pair of wings, one blue, and one white. Atika Light inserted her energy into it, creating a pale blue sphere of light before her, one that resembled water.

She controlled the water, allowing it to gently seep into Jyorta's body, alleviating his exhaustion, revitalising his body cells. They also healed the injuries he had recently sustained, also imbuing in him some mass, rebuilding his muscles.

Atika Light provided him external help, filling up his body with energy. Considering his lean stature, one that further thinned in the past couple of days due to the tasks he had executed, Jyorta didn't have much energy reserves stored in his body in the form of carbohydrates, fats, etc.

'The fact that the Wisdom Parasite has initiated this breakthrough, despite knowing the poor state of my body can only mean that it is aware of my surroundings. It has realised Atika Light's intention to help me, and also the two Line Controller Floating Spiders that are available to provide a steady energy flow. This means it has enough confidence to destroy me; now I am curious as to what memories are present there, one that would lead to such a phenomenon.' Jyorta inspected himself, feeling his heart beat faster.

The blood circulating in his body sped up, causing it to heat up, turning the skin a light shade of red. The rate of his heart thumping further increased in intensity, the sounds resounding in his ears, clearly audible.

A faint smell, akin to his body odour mixed with the tang of a grassy scent emanated from him, the presence converging around him, forming a cocoon. It was fragile to the extent dissipating at the slightest wind.

A mystical change erupted inside him, imbuing in him startling clarity, allowing him to sense his brain from both a first-person perspective and an omniscient perspective. His body began to exude its presence, causing the emitted smell to revolve around him.

It condensed into a cocoon, completely enveloping his body, causing his limbs to automatically move, the actions beyond his will.

"Your body will automatically assume the most optimal position to aid your breakthrough." He recalled the first sentence from the memories Atika Light had imparted him, not trying to control his body's movements, allowing it to adjust its posture.

Atika Light snapped her fingers, disengaging all the comfort equipments in the room, except for the vent that supplied fresh air inside. The environment in the room turned harsh, but there was no abrupt change, everything controlled by Atika Light to prevent the formed cocoon from being damaged.

Atika Light fished out a ring from her pocket, sliding it on the ring finger of her right, seeping her energy into it. A flash of energy symbolised, entering the bed Jyorta was positioned over, turning it hard like a rock. Its elevation was also reduced, barely peaking the ground by 10 centimetres.

Jyorta's body assumed a sleeping posture, with each of his limbs spread apart, the muscles in them assuming relaxing states. His palms were faced up, while the soles of his feet facing the direction of his bodyline, the toes becoming straight.

A mystical change was actuated in his body, originating from his brain. The cells that had fused with the Wisdom Parasite began to pulse, each conforming to its own individuality. Soon, they began to group up, synchronising with one another.

Like a chain reaction, each fused cell began to pulse, their actions fully synchronised, emitting a flux of psychic energy with each pulse. The psychic energy flux emitted by the fused cells formed a wave, spreading radially, hitting the insides of his skull before bouncing back.

The returning wave collided from the successively emitted wave, fusing into a unity in a certain region. Before they could disperse under the effects, new waves joined the area, raising a unison; the spot converged upon the location of the Brain Crystal.

The Brain Crystal absorbed the fused psychic energy flux, its pale pink surface suffused with a white glow. The sole pattern on it, depicting its state as a Tier 1 Brain Crystal turned dull, almost vanishing into the pink surface.

The Brain Crystal emitted the absorbed flux, stronger than before. Also, the cells surrounding it siphoned the psychic energy from it, dispersing it into the surrounding tissues, creating a circulation, forming a cycle of discharge and influx.

The pulsing of the Brain Crystal gradually synchronised with the fused cells, emitting a psychic energy pulse that exited the head, impacting the formed cocoon.

'It is starting.' Jyorta shot his eyes open, his heightened senses watching a thin green filament, almost transparent to the extent being invisible mix with the emitted pulse, forming a psychic energy wave that was different than usual. It converged upon him, seeping into every cell in his body.

The blue soul retracted the false persona, the face mask from the blue face, reverting to his actual mental state, preparing for the impact.

The moment the filament entered his body, his head turned hot, flushed a deep shade of red, forming a whirlpool of psychic energy.

"Aargh!" Jyorta hollered in pain, desperately resisting the sense of vertigo and low blood pressure, striving his best to stay conscious amid the numbing pain. His Wisdom Parasite, the one fused into his brain also helped him share the burden, faintly shuddering with pain despite lacking any pain receptors.

The fused cells began to breakdown, dissipating into psychic energy, leaving behind white fragments, a hundred times smaller than the cell. The white fragments, affected by the pulsing Brain Crystal, were drawn towards it.

They flowed through the blood vessels, taking winding paths before arriving at the Brain Crystal, getting compressed as they attached to its surface. The Brain Crystal ballooned up, absorbing the white fragments en masse, despite compressing them to great extents.

The fused cells reverted to regular cells, soon dying, replaced by new cells that were simultaneously birthed. In order to actuate such a process, the energy consumed originated from the Brain Crystal.

If not for the stream of psychic energy gushing into it through the soul tendrils numbering more than 100, Jyorta would have failed the very first process in his breakthrough. Thankfully, his supplementary measures saved him.

Soon, all the white fragments had converged upon the Brain Crystal, devouring all the psychic energy present in it, turning unstable. At the same time, both Jyorta and the Wisdom Parasite felt the same emotion, one of tension, akin to a gambler who had bet his entire life's savings.

The psychic energy had proved to be lacking, despite the influx from the two sources. After all, it had only been 45 days since his Induction Ceremony. The Nurturing process he experienced proved to be insufficient. The recent decrease in Sync Rate from 71 percent to 65 percent had further worsened his condition.

Even among the students in the military academy, of the ones boasting a Sync Rate in the 80s, even they attempted a breakthrough only after undergoing a nurturing process of 10 months.

Even though he had boosted the Nurturing process by three layers: the Trait of Efficiency, the suppression brought about by the blue soul that urged the Wisdom Parasite through fear, and finally, the occasional boost under the aura emitted by the Tier 5 Artifact presented to him by Jyovic Bone; the time spent in these was really short, impossible to achieve a qualitative effect.