Chapter 258: A Millilitre of Blood

Jyorta gave a light recount of his exploration, repeating the same stuff he had already said to Haesha. Ashten and Esina listened with rapt attention, exclaiming from time to time at his vivid descriptions.

In the end, Esina spoke, "Show me that barrier thingy. I want to see the extent of its invisibility."

"Sure," Jyorta nodded, steadily beginning to fade out from their view. A couple of seconds later, there wasn't even a hint of his presence in the region. But, upon closer look, a depression existed on the grass in the place he sat upon. There wasn't much he could do about it.

Esina closed her eyes, activating her Tier 1 Skill, nodding in praise after being unable to locate him through it. She then unleashed her aura, noticing the spot before her negate her aura, acting as an impregnable barrier of sorts.

"I am still able to detect your presence thanks to my aura," Esina commented, glancing at Ashten to see his opinion on the matter. Ashten Coorg didn't speak anything, silently trying his methods.

Jyorta's voice echoed around, "I didn't use this in the Labyrinth but, I'll activate its effect after a second."

No sooner had he said his piece did Esina notice a change in the aura she had emitted. The wall her aura encountered seemed to have been breached, or at least, based on what she could sense. She directed her gaze to the ground, noticing the depression still existed in the same place, meaning, Jyorta hadn't moved at all.

She glanced at Ashten, motioning for him to probe. Ashten nodded, gently unleashing his aura. His aura mixed with Esina's, the change in quality confronting a minor wall before them. A second later, the wall disappeared.

Ashten smiled, looking at the place where Jyorta sat, spiking the aura he unleashed. Immediately, he noticed the wall before him, watching the wall disappear after a second, wondering in surprise, 'How can he adapt so quickly?'

His gaze turned serious, causing the spike in aura to become stronger. He finally activated his Tier 2 Skill, focusing the produced aura around him, forming an environment similar to a domain.

Tier 2 Skill—Aura Burst!

Using the Skill, Ashten caused his aura to fluctuate, alternating between a crest and a trough, the amplitude being different every time. The wall clearly existed before him now, no longer able to hide itself.

10 seconds later, Ashten retracted his aura, deactivating his Tier 2 Skill, watching Jyorta's figure flash into existence. Jyorta wiped off the sweat covering his forehead as he exclaimed in surprise, "I never knew you finished Nurturing your Tier 2 Skill."

"It is only an Elite Skill, so it just took me 4 days," Ashten Coorg sighed, "Honestly speaking, I never wanted an aura based Skill. I was hoping for an agility based Skill like Rakh Veera."

"The Skills we Nurture are based on our abilities, our desires, and our battle accumulations. All our life experiences are conceptualised by the Wisdom Parasite's Nurturing into a Skill." Esina looked at Ashten, "Besides, Rakh Veera's Tier 2 Skill, Leap Burst is a Peak Skill. Only those with a Sync Rate above 80 percent have a possibility of Nurturing one."

She then pointed at him, speaking with an admonishing tone, "Also, you just heard Jyorta talk about his experience. You must understand how much of an advantage your aura can give you."

Jyorta stood up, dusting his pants once, speaking with a tone of calm, "I'll head to the armoury now; I have to change my equipment. I think Haesha has already arrived there. If you are finding any difficulties in picking your equipment, you can consult me. I am a genius, if I have to say so myself."

Jyorta flexed his muscles, implying his stance of possessing both brawn and brain. Esina chuckled, lifting her arm and lightly exerting strength in them. Her muscles exploded with power, the nerves in them bulging faintly. She then relaxed her arms, shooting a provocative glance at Jyorta, "Hehe."

Ashten smiled, "I initially thought of only carrying a weapon and minimal armour. It seems I had been careless. I'll change my equipment and dive in tonight."

"All the best," Jyorta flashed him a thumbs up, "Warriors have more of an advantage in the Labyrinth than Espers. I'm sure you'll have an easier time than me."

Ashten let out awkward laughs, "I just wish the lead between me and my sister doesn't decrease further."

Esina nodded in praise, "Ashray is currently ranked first in the November Batch. She is pretty amazing."

Esina and Ashten entered the armoury for Warriors while Jyorta entered the one for Espers, soon spotting Haesha looking through a shelf filled with spindles. Held in her hand were tiny cubes, attached to threads forming a net.

Noticing his approach, Haesha turned around, playing with the cubes as she smiled, "I think I have decided for now. I'll adapt based on what I experience in the Labyrinth."

"Sounds fair enough," Jyorta respected her decision, accompanying her as they browsed through the various items present in the armoury. They discussed and ruled out the possibilities of their use, trying to see if they could find something that would help them better than the recommended spindles and chakrams.

Arriving at the armour section, they debated with each other of the aspects to take note of, using Jyorta's first dive into consideration. Finally, Haesha picked armour similar to Jyorta's. She also picked hand and leg guards, including a bracer with an attached blade for her left hand.

"I think it would be better to attack while defending," Haesha equipped the bracer, waving her hand a couple of times to see the extent of its functionality, nodding in satisfaction. Jyorta too picked the same, concluding that Haesha's choice better suited his preferences.

Two hours later, they were done with all necessities, turning around to walk towards the exit. The voice of the staff echoed in his ears, "I have noted down the items you have exchanged. If they are damaged or if you want to return them, give them to the staff seated at the entrance."

Jyorta nodded, glancing at Haesha to see that she too was listening to the staff's voice. Haesha nodded obediently, remembering everything the voice imparted to her. Jyorta glanced around, facing the exit as he spoke, "Sir, I need a bowl for testing the personification of my aura."

"Sure," Followed by the staff's reply, a bowl appeared before him. Jyorta caught hold of it, glancing at the reflection of his face within it. Due to the curvature of the mirror, his face ended up looking comical. Jyorta burst out into a laugh, startling Haesha at the suddenness.

"Sorry," Jyorta placed his hand on his stomach, feeling some pain after having laughed all of a sudden. Haesha glanced at the bowl with curiosity, wondering its use when the staff explained the contents to her.

Similarly, the staff gave him a word of advice, placing a small packet into the bowl, "Don't turn this bowl into your Refined Object. The process will lose its effect if you do so."

"I'll keep it in mind, sir." Jyorta nodded, accompanying Haesha as he exited the armoury.

8:00 PM; having finished his dinner, Jyorta and Haesha returned to the Indigo Building, heading into their respective rooms. Closing the door behind him, Jyorta locked the door, placing the key in its respective socket.

He glanced at the table, looking at the bowl for a couple of seconds. Placed within it was a packet—made from paper—the size of his fist. Jyorta opened it, noticing two syringes and a moist piece of cotton. Markings were inside the syringe, forming subdivisions, with the upper limit being one millilitre. Jyorta pulled the end of a syringe, noticing that the maximum it could hold was one millilitre, no more and no less.

Placing the two syringes on the table, Jyorta picked up the bowl and a water bottle, heading towards the restroom. He returned with a half-filled bowl, placing it on the table. He then began to gently pour the water inside the water bottle into it, watching the water level steadily increase.

Soon, the bowl was filled to the brim with water. Jyorta poured some water into the bottle's cap, using a syringe to suck water from it and gently add it to the bowl. The water level increased, peaking above the confines of the bowl, forming a thin layer above.

After a couple of uses, the water level had become the same level the nurse lady—Vaika—had said. Jyorta then used the syringe to remove a millilitre of water from the bowl, pouring it into the bottle cap.

He then rolled up the sleeves on his left arm, noticing a small black mark. It had been marked by the staff; it was where he had to insert the syringe. Thankfully, Jyorta wasn't foreign to the action. The military academy had given him ample training for such situations during the first aid classes.

'Before that, I should prepare the nail and hair.' Jyorta smacked his head once, setting off to execute the task. Using the nail clipper he had, he clipped the nail on his left thumb. He then pulled out 12 strands of his hair, wincing in pain each time.

Each strand was around 4-5 centimetres in length; he hadn't cut his hair for more than a month, allowing it to grow to this extent. There was a barbershop in the military academy, a place where all the boys visited to get a haircut. Jyorta had planned to visit there but had been putting it off due to a lack of time.

Thankfully, it proved to be of help to him now. Otherwise, it would have been difficult and he might even have to delay the process. Without any further dues, Jyorta tied them on the clipped nail—shaped like a crescent moon—one over the other, heaving a sigh filled with exhaustion at the end upon executing the delicate task.

It would have been easy if he had used his psychic arms to do it. But, since the staff had advised otherwise, Jyorta had to use his hands. Finally, after taking a deep breath, Jyorta extracted a millilitre of his blood using the syringe and gently added it into the bowl.