Chapter 238: Awakening the Past 'Him'

Many things happen while in a breakthrough. It involved both the biological process and a contest of willpower. Unless one had the experience, it was almost impossible to even survive a breakthrough into Tier 2.

"Psychic Ancestor Marble had once stated: In the early days, we didn't know such a concept existed. We called it the expiry date, the time until when a person loses control. Back then, there existed only Tier 1. One day, a person lost control, but he managed to defeat the Wisdom Parasite in him. It was then he pointed at the changes. Eventually down the line, we found the method to initiate a breakthrough. Though, we paid a heavy price to get that data."

Madam Rizenne then continued, "The Mental Realm is risky. Your strength, in reality, will not be available there. It is a repository of experiences that you can make yours. But, the longer you stay in the Mental Realm, the more you will be assimilated into it. The existence of the Cogent Phrenics is to accelerate that. Your willpower at Tier 1 will be lacking to gain anything from the Mental Realm. So, try to return as quickly as you can."

Dalna Doppler recalled one of the classes related to breakthrough. The military academy placed great emphasis on the subject, giving them training from the beginning. The training methods had been conceived after numerous trials and errors, the fruits of the past generations. So, their effect was guaranteed.

Therefore, Dalna Doppler didn't want to take any risks due to greed. Her fist slammed into the body of the serpent, watching its hazy body splash around the contact surface. Some fragments from her body also flew out from the impact, their inertia unchanged. They continued forth in the vector of their ejection, like objects travelling in space, unaffected by gravity.

The serpent was many times weaker than her. Most of the fragments in its body splashed out from her punch, laying the marble within its head bare. Dalna Doppler pulled out the marble object, watching the serpent's body destabilise, becoming floating fragments.

She gently seeped her hand into their midst, watching the fragments stick to it. Seeing the approaching Cogent Phrenics, she hastened her action, soon absorbing all the fragments of the serpent.

She placed the serpent's marble into her body. It moved past the fragments comprising her body, soon approaching her marble.

Suddenly, she shuddered. Her surroundings had become mildly corrosive. The outermost layer of her body began to faintly corrode. Even though the effect wasn't apparent or threatening, it was still fear-inducing. After all, there was no terrain or climatic characteristics in the Mental Realm.

As the two marbles began to fuse, she 'heard' a bark. It was loud and clear. Her eyes widened in surprise, scared that she 'heard' something in the Mental Realm. Before she could process the fact or glance around, her body disappeared from the Mental Realm.

Dalna Doppler opened her eyes in reality, noticing the sweat that had formed on her body. Her hands faintly trembled, lacking any strength in them; when she tried to get up, her limbs didn't cooperate.

Her facial expression morphed into one of fear, terror-stricken. Tears welled up from her eyes. She knew one thing for sure; it wasn't due to the joy of a successful breakthrough.

"So, you've seen it." The voice of the overseer resounded, "The ones who had seen it behaved the same as you."

"I…heard a bar…" Her statement was cut short by the voice, "Don't speak about it. It is dangerous. There are still many things about the Mental Realm that we are unaware of. Also, pay heed to never mention this to anyone else. Our principal will call you soon, both to congratulate you and talk about what you had witnessed."

"Don't reveal it to anyone else, not even your father after you graduate. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand." Dalna Doppler nodded, staying on the floor as she felt some strength return.

"Good, your body will soon begin to push out the remains of the Wisdom Parasite's body that had failed to evolve. Once your Heart Crystal heals, the body of the Wisdom Parasite will slowly fuse into your spinal cord. We will be able to determine your Sync Rate after that. Until the process concludes, try not to activate your Skills. I also advise you to not move much until then, lest you suffer another drop in Sync Rate. We had seen such cases before." The voice disappeared after a final statement, "Congratulations on becoming an Amplifier!"

…

Switching off the lights to the room, Jyorta slept on his bed. But, unlike before, he didn't have the blue soul to instantly make him fall asleep. Even though he had closed his eyes, he was wide awake, despite feeling tired due to the day's events.

'I can hardly control my Soul Cornea. My only option is to vaporise the murkiness. But, what will I do if Laila invades my soul again?' His face scrunched, feeling troubled. He still had an option but, he didn't want to go through that path.

5:30 AM; having not slept till now, he pondered on the issue, finally coming to a compromise. He would waste some days because of this but, it was still better. He didn't want to do something that would plague him for the rest of his life. He already had enough of that.

'I will first isolate the blue face from the murkiness using the Soul Cornea and then vaporise everything inside. After that, I will steadily collect the remaining murkiness and store it into the soul husks once again. This will hinder my growth a bit, but it is the only plan I can take without regrets.'

He had easy alternatives. After vaporising all murkiness in his blue soul, all he had to do was to head into the Labyrinth of Frenzy and take in the murkiness from the souls of the Frenzy Beasts. He could then easily store them.

But, this had a flaw. The Murkiness didn't conform to a human, not to mention being Jyorta's. Therefore, even if Laila were to invade once again, all she would need is a single glance to figure out his identity. After all, the emotions, feelings, desires, etc. that Frenzy Beasts felt were skewed differently from humans.

They also varied from one Frenzy Beast race to another, not to mention between each Frenzy Beast. Possessing the murkiness of a Frenzy Beast as a human was a clear giveaway of his identity. It would only be useful if he wanted to put up a front of being a normal person. Since it could be seen through with a single probing, Jyorta dropped the plan.

The second alternative was to absorb the memory fragments from humans, i.e. the students. Here, he had the option to selectively filter the murkiness to make it similar to his own. Also, if he took it from his friends he spent time with, it would be closer to his own.

But, Jyorta didn't want to do that. His nature was a little hypocritical but, even he didn't wish to siphon the memory fragments of his friends. Only when he had been cornered would he be willing to take a drastic measure.

But, since he still had feasible alternatives, Jyorta didn't want to affect his friends. Even though he knew that taking the murkiness from their souls wouldn't affect them, since he couldn't guarantee the fact, he refrained from doing so.

There were some more alternatives that he had dropped after careful consideration. After all, he had to plan based on the person he needed to take preventive measures against. Finally, Jyorta decided on his current plan.

Even though the murkiness would be reduced, the remaining would still be his. He could still barely manage to pull off a cover, based on the estimates of his plan. He neither knew Laila's motives nor her intentions. But, since she hadn't done anything during the first time, Jyorta was inclined to believe that what she had done was just a casual probe, without much intent behind it.

Even if he didn't wish to believe such naive reasoning, he had no other choice but to do so to protect his mental health. After all, if Laila so wished, she could easily make him her subsoul. Nothing was preventing her from doing that.

In the domain of the soul, the only one apart from her was Jyorta. And, he was just a Tier 2 Psychic Parasite. He had a hunch that Laila was a Tier 6 Psychic Parasite, leagues beyond the current him. In her eyes, he was inferior like an ant.

Therefore, he could only achieve his objectives through the means at his disposal. If he failed even after all that, then he would just embrace death. After all, the current him wasn't devoid of attachments. His ego was also getting enriched day by day.

Enacting a vicious feat—the one from when he was 10 years old—was impossible. He had his pride and would rather die than do something like that. It was what the him from his previous life would choose.

'Alright, it is finalised. Come what may, I will face it in my own terms.' Jyorta closed his eyes, now able to sleep after firming his mindset. He planned to study harder and sit for exams during the week his psychic energy recovered.

He still had a few subjects that he could score Credits from. Even though they were subjects he wasn't well-versed in, something was better than nothing. Every Credit would matter from this point forth.

'I may not have the foundation to do so, but I will still challenge you, Laila.' His eyes shined, his lips curled up. For some reason, he felt something within him change. He felt he had grasped the essence of his character from his previous life.

Jyorta brimmed with fighting spirit, 'One who ventures into the abyss and challenges the unknown; isn't that what a scientist does.'