Chapter 235: A Setback

Jyorta had always been careful around Laila. Ever since he became aware of her existence, he always pondered about ways to protect himself, should she try to attack him. Though, he never had the option to be arrogant in thinking that he would be able to fend her off.

His powers in the domain of the soul wouldn't work against Laila, someone who had spent a century researching its secrets. Therefore, all he could do was to try and hide his identity.

Ever since it arrived in this era, the blue soul had always been devoid of murkiness. After the blue face had devoured the soul core of the previous Jyorta's soul, faint murkiness began to form within it. But, it had methods to easily vaporise the murkiness.

Whether the verse imparted by the creepy-haired man or the influence exerted by its Soul Corneas, the blue soul had methods to rid itself of murkiness. Therefore, it had always been 'clean'. But, this cleanliness was a clear indicator of its identity, that of a Psychic Parasite.

All souls, irrespective of the individual's strength possessed murkiness. So, suppose Laila probed through the souls of everyone, for whatever reasons, she would easily identify Jyorta as the second Psychic Parasite.

Being the second in anything had its consequences. First, you weren't the pinnacle of this path. Second, your existence ensured that the 'First' was no longer unique. In the current era, the abilities of the soul couldn't be guarded.

Until Jyorta came, Gajara Rahi was unhindered in this path, facing zero rivalry. But, his existence meant that, as long as he grew in strength, he would eventually be able to contest against Gajara Rahi's plans. Anyone in power wouldn't wish to see such a day.

Thanks to the wit of Rhachis Ancestor Light, Gajara Rahi—the current Laila—assumed George to be the second Psychic Parasite. But, it was only a stop-gap measure. All she needs is a little probing to see through the lies.

Also, he was apprehensive about a different aspect. Even if she was uncaring about the second Psychic Parasite, she possessed the ability to make subsouls. Meaning, she would try to convert useful people into her subsouls, to create a secret organisation that worked for her behind the scenes.

And, if she thought in such a manner, then Jyorta would be a fair target. After all, he was the scion of the Bone Family, an upcoming Aristocratic Family whose rise was unstoppable. Not to mention the talent he had been displaying, just his status alone made him a worthy target. So, Jyorta had always been apprehensive.

Therefore, he saved the murkiness produced in his soul and sealed it, planning to use it to mask his soul into a regular person's when needed. Also, he had seen how the ego birthed from Ehara Gobi's memory fragments destroyed his ego in the subsoul—belonging to his Wisdom Parasite. It broke the connection he shared with his subsoul.

So, that was one of Jyorta's plans. Even if he were to become a subsoul, he would protect himself and lay low, accumulating strength by learning from Gajara Rahi's memory fragments. That is why he had infused his ego into each of his memory fragments, hiding them within everything. Also, he wondered, if he became the subsoul of Gajara Rahi, would he gain the ability to teleport?

There were also the creepy-haired man's arrangements; he wondered if they would be triggered in such a situation.

As he expected, Laila made a move. But, unlike what he had expected, she neither tried to convert him into a subsoul nor did she siphon his memory fragments. Her soul tendril only swallowed some memory fragments that it later spat out.

He couldn't guess her thoughts, feeling vexed. After all, when the soul tendril exerted its influence, Jyorta didn't know what he had done. Even his blue soul was unable to find out what had happened.

It was like that memory had been erased from his brain, muscle memory, etc. When he came to, he noticed the figure of Laila within his glass jar. Without his knowing, his psychic arm had acted. Also, when walking in the corridor, thanks to his blue soul, he noticed the memory lapse.

Without the blue soul, he wouldn't have even known that he had lost consciousness for a second. Also, it seemed his brain had naturally glossed over this fact. It was terrifying. As helpless as he felt, he was unwilling to always be on the receiving end of things.

Also, in order to camouflage his soul, he had unleashed the sealed murkiness. Now, he couldn't even use the abilities of the blue soul. Just activating the Soul Cornea seemed to take forever.

'This is a setback.' Jyorta could only sigh. The opponent was strong, too strong. He was weak, too weak to even retaliate. He remembered the time when he gazed at Laila's soul once. As a result of that, his false persona had shattered, and he made a mess after he had returned to his room.

Thanks to the false persona, his emotions were one of normalcy. Jyorta looked at the Tier 3 Artifact before him. He unleashed his psychic arm, seeping it into the Artifact, watching it encounter a filament.

The filament layered the surface, only noticeable through its interaction with his psychic arm. His psychic arm passed through it easily. Only then he realised that the filament was made to not show any resistance to psychic arms.

The moment his psychic arm entered the Artifact, it felt the aura condensed within. The aura was strong, strong enough to snuff his psychic arm. It wasn't at the level of a Tier 3 Artifact.

'Is a Relic fused into it?' He thought, watching the filament move. It soon formed a layer over his psychic arm, shielding it from the aura. Now, his psychic arm could freely move inside the Artifact.

'There is more than one Relic fused into it. The military academy has invested a lot of resources in developing us.' Jyorta was amazed at the discovery.

The filament guided his psychic arm. If he desired, he could move his psychic arm and overpower the filament's guidance, proceeding as he wished. But, Jyorta didn't want to do that. He wondered what the filament would do and lead him towards.

He was also inclined into learning the method to create this filament. It seemed a notch higher in quality than the one he had learned the previous day. His psychic arm came into contact with a contraption.

It was a sphere, possessing rigged lines all over. At the moment of contact, a gentle wave of psychic energy washed over him. The sphere exerted a mild pulling force; his psychic arm entered it, soon covering its surface, also filling within.

The sphere began to expand, like a balloon. But, unlike a balloon, the expansion at various points stopped along the way. Within a couple of seconds, the sphere had expanded to become a figure of him, from head to toe.

"Impressive!" Jyorta remarked. The technique used was just radial expansion, making ample use of his psychic arm's abilities. First, his psychic arm was shaped into a sphere, becoming its base structure. Then, it expanded radially.

When it expanded, based on the structure, the expansion stopped at various points. Also, at an instant, only one point stopped. The expansion and the path of stop for each figure made shaping his figure look easy.

'The path will be different for each person due to our different body shapes.' Jyorta felt a wave of psychic energy seep into him, helping him control his psychic arm. After that, Jyorta continued to practice.

The contraption become his figure from a sphere and reverted to its original form soon. As the process repeated numerous times, Jyorta grasped the method.

It would take him some more time to master the method but, it was still many times faster than if he were to practice it on his own. Jyorta glanced around, counting to a total of 108 contraptions. The contraptions were in three colours: red, white, and blue.

The Artifact was blue, so he determined it was made from the Unranked Skill, Marble Sonata. The first contraption he was guided towards was red. The method within was suitable for Line Controllers.

There were a total of 12 contraptions in red, 24 contraptions in white, and 72 contraptions in blue.

'If I base it on the colour scheme, blue is for Wave Controllers. That makes white suitable for Area Controllers. I see, that is why it is named Wave Formation. Also, it means I can learn 24 techniques for my current Tier.' Jyorta nodded, continuing to practice the first red contraption.

He wanted to first finish the red contraptions and then proceed to the white ones. Getting accustomed to the basics would help him learn complex techniques faster. Also, he was an Area Controller. So, he had sizeable psychic energy and could practice for a longer duration.

Two hours later, Jyorta sat on the floor, feeling exhausted. He had finished training with the first contraption. With a thought, a barrier covered his body. It was faster than before; its structure was sturdier. Jyorta felt less mental strain in maintaining the current barrier.

"Impressive, this Artifact is impressive." Jyorta was genuinely impressed. The contraption guided him through everything, even shaping his psychic arm accordingly. All he had to do was feel the changes and grasp them.

It was simple but the effect was many times better. Before, he had to concentrate on creating the structure. Every time he managed to create one, it would be riddled with problems. He could only accumulate experience through trial and error.

But now, the Artifact gave him a template that perfectly suited him and all he had to do was follow it blindly.

It was similar to a person practicing the method to swing a sword. But, instead of manually swinging it, an Esper controlled his body and performed the perfect motions over and over, allowing his body to become accustomed to it.

After his body became used to the motions and the forms become muscle memory, the person would be able to replicate it easily. This is what Jyorta currently experienced.