Chapter 306: Pity

Saltwater seeped out through some pores, touching a gelatinous surface as they spread out, gaining in mass. Soon, they were unable to be confined, causing a thin stream to break out from the mass. The head of the stream resembled a drop as it moved past a region of bristles before flowing down a vertical leathery surface.

Faint hair covered it, hindering the flow of the stream. But soon after, the volume of the stream increased, its momentum gaining the upper hand to the extent it could ignore the resistance of the faint hair.

The surface turned warmer, suffused with a mild shade of underlying pink. The stream absorbed the heat, turning warmer than the surface. A while later, a pair of fingers brushed past, breaking the stream.

Jyorta regained consciousness, realising he was crying. Before he realised it, his emotions were affected. He started to mourn for the Tier 5 Crust-Mantle's injury while feeling a sense of helplessness. Hatred started to churn, brewing in his heart. The moment the blue soul noticed the situation turning amiss, it stopped sending memory fragments to the brain, forcing the body to wake up.

Even watching a movie on a screen would affect a person's emotions. Some emotions will quickly die after either the scene or the movie finishes. But, there was a chance for an emotion to linger long after, if the scene was something that resonated with the individual.

This was considering it was just a movie, something the viewer knew beforehand of it not being real and also watching it on a screen. He/she wasn't actually living in it.

But, in Jyorta's case, he was actually living the Tier 1 Crust-Mantle's memory. It won't be the truth to say he wasn't affected, as he was actually experiencing each scene with all the related stimuli and emotions.

And, even though he was using his false persona, the filter wasn't able to protect him for long as he started to invest his emotions, immersing himself in the scenes. Because of this involvement, he was slowly affected, getting pulled further and further into the memory.

Thankfully, the blue soul quickly severed the source, stopping the transmission of memory fragments to the brain. Instantaneously, the false persona began to affect him, calming his emotions, allowing Jyorta to inspect his state from a calmer perspective.

'I was easily affected.' He sighed, wiping his tears. The blue soul was an emotionless existence but the body it was connected to was an emotional being, possessing all emotional faculties. Without the brain's involvement, the blue soul was incapable of self-thought, only able to function the bare necessities instinctively.

Thanks to his previous life's memories, his perspective was broad. But, his emotional development conformed to his body's age. There wasn't much he could do in this aspect. The teenage was a dangerous period where people were prone to emotional fluctuations. It was a period where they were hormonal driven, having as little control over their emotions as possible.

Jyorta continued to take deep breaths, the aroma inhaled serving to cool all the emotional fluctuations his body was experiencing. This was another reason he comprehended the memories in the meditation room. It was beneficial to his body, lowering the chances he would be emotionally influenced by the memory fragments.

Once he calmed down, he would be able to deal with them. Ten minutes later, his body was in a state of normalcy, all the effects of the memory had died down.

After noticing this, the blue soul extracted the related memory fragments from his brain. A white layer existed over them, having grown a tad thicker than before. A Soul Cornea arrived, turning jet black before it corroded the white layer.

The blue soul did the same to all the memory fragments Jyorta had currently comprehended. When it was done, Jyorta looked at his psychic energy reserves, 'I have around 38 percent remaining. The expenditure is greater than expected. The more I am affected by them, the more energy I need to expend by corroding the white layer on the related memory fragments.'

'Even the false persona is not that effective in this case. I don't have a method better than this.' He thought hard, unable to think up any other measures for the time being. His only choice was to take it slow and steady.

Jyorta sighed, reminding himself, "One step at a time."

The blue soul fed his brain pieces of information that went against the influence brought by the Crust-Mantle's memory fragments. It unearthed his fight with the Crust-Mantles in the labyrinth, using other memories, facts, logic, etc. to override what he felt at present.

The two logic and emotional states collided with each other. Thanks to the face mask, Jyorta was calm all the time. The blue soul continued to send memory fragments, one after other, repeating them as many times as necessary, flooding the influence of the Crust-Mantle's memories.

Soon, it won, overwhelming the opponent. Ten minutes later, the blue soul lifted the face mask. Jyorta rechecked his emotional state by recalling the memory of the Crust-Mantles, comparing his view to them at present and what he had originally at the scene.

'There are some minute differences. I am feeling slight pity to the Crust-Mantles. It seems I have to wait a bit longer and continue to firm my mental state and inclinations.'

Jyorta exited the meditation room, deciding to take a walk on the ground for a change of pace. Along the way, near the entrance of the Green Building—the building with the meditation rooms—was a mirror.

Jyorta stared at his reflection, firming his reasoning. 'I am a human. Humans and Frenzy Beasts are irreconcilable enemies. Don't show pity to your enemies.'

He stared at his reflection for more than 10 seconds, his expression focused, mentally chanting his views over and over again, as a form of brainwashing. He returned to his room, securely locked the door, and placed the key in its respective socket.

He took out a bag from the rack above his bed and fished out a box from it. Contained within was a book, a Tier 5 Artifact his grandfather, Jyovic Bone had made for him. Information related to Espers, a compilation of the Bone Family's total accumulations was in it.

It was a pity that he was unable to peek into it, despite all efforts. He tried using his Soul Corneas but was unable to find any information in the book. The Soul Corneas were freely able to sense and affect things only related to the soul.

They were capable of affecting reality, but that was only when he activated his corrosion. So, he was unable to use them in witnessing the secrets contained within the Tier 5 Artifact. At present, Jyorta only used the Artifact to train his aura.

He used his psychic arm to slightly open the lid after drawing a pattern over it by infusing his psychic energy. The moment the lid opened, an overbearing aura wafted out, instantly paralysing him. His thoughts came to a halt while the air in his lungs gushed out.

Jyorta could no longer sit still, losing control of his limbs. Even his psychic arm shuddered until it broke down into psychic energy. When the psychic arm collapsed, the lid fell, blocking out the aura. Jyorta lay paralysed on the bed for a good ten minutes before he got up, feeling weak.

'It took me 15 minutes to recover before. Now, it only requires 10 minutes but…' He frowned, 'The aura it unleashes feels a tad weaker. Is it because it is a Tier 5 Artifact and is unable to recover the expended aura?'

He still wasn't completely knowledgeable about the Artifacts to think up a definite answer. Jyorta stood up and arrived before the table, pulling up its drawer. Within it were a glass jar and a marble slab.

Jyorta picked up the marble slab, pulling out a pen attached within. He sat on the chair, immersed in thought for a couple of seconds before writing on the slab. "A Tier 5 Artifact is in a sealed state. When the seal is lifted, its aura is unleashed. The seal is lifted for a second at least twice daily. After 9 months of use, the aura feels a tad weaker. How does the aura in objects, Artifacts, and Relics behave?"

He read it twice, seeing that he had expressed everything he wished to inquire in it. He put the pen in its holder in the marble slab and placed it inside the drawer.

Feeling some hunger, he went to the cafeteria and consumed snacks until his belly felt like it would burst. After that, he went to the White Building, brushing up some books about human and Frenzy Beast psychology.

While he was at it, he appeared for a test, in a subject he only had partial knowledge of. Every Credit mattered at this point, and there were a lot of topics he hadn't appeared in the tests for, a simple reason being he knew next to nothing about them.

By inquiring his seniors, he ruled out tough topics with concepts that were difficult to understand in a short time. He decided on easy topics among the subjects he hadn't studied earlier. This way, he could amass Credits efficiently.

'In my next exploration of the labyrinth, I will proceed to the fifth layer and use my abilities to trigger a war.' The screen flashed and displayed the first question. Jyorta started answering it, all the while observing his psychic energy replenish slowly.

'It would take some time to go through the Crust-Mantle memories. I will obtain more memory fragments of the Crust-Mantles from my future explorations. But, once I am done, how will I relay the information to Ancestor Marble? A Tier 2 fledgling, and a student at that asking for a method to contact the highest authority of Marble City; no sane person will help me.'

He massaged his temples, feeling tired.