章 88: Human Trial

"Sync Rate is the most important focus of both Warriors and Espers." Madam Mila said, using her mouth to speak this time, signifying the importance of the content. "The Sync Rate affects your speed of growth, the limit of your growth, and the power you can exhibit at each Tier."

"Let me take one of you as an example," Madam Mila pointed at Haesha, "Haesha has a Sync Rate of 82 percent. Now, you have just learnt the limits of Espers at Tier 1, right?"

Seeing everyone nod their heads, Madam Mila continued, "Haesha's Sync Rate affects her overall battle strength. Instead of a one metre domain radius, Haesha's domain will have a radius of 82 centimetres. The maximum weight she can lift with her psychic energy will be 820 grams and its speed of flight will be 82 centimetres per second. Do you get the picture now?"

There were exclamations of shock as Madam Mila continued, "Moreover, suppose an Esper with a Sync Rate of 100 takes 10 days to nurture a Brain Crystal, Haesha will consume a bit more than 12 days to do the same. Even the rate of Nurturing by the Wisdom Parasite is dependent on the Sync Rate. The higher the Sync Rate, the faster your development."

"The case is the same for Warriors. The Skill activated by a Warrior with a 100 percent Sync Rate is twice stronger than the same Skill activated by one with a 50 percent Sync Rate. That is the gist of things," Madam Mila said.

"But," She continued, her tone turning vicious, alarming all the Espers, "The growth of your Wisdom Parasite is also dependant on it. The higher your Sync Rate, the faster it develops. It develops by absorbing your memories, experiences, emotions, habits, etc. the moment when it feels its accumulations have reached your level, it initiates a strike."

"We have termed it Loss of control," She continued, "The Wisdom Parasite will try to wrestle control with you. But, you must know one thing. The moment it launches a strike, it means it is confident of gaining control of your body. Therefore, it has a 100 percent chance of success."

"The bodies of the humans who have lost control will undergo certain mutations, expressing the characteristics of the Wisdom Parasite in its external appearance. They usually differ from Tier to Tier and vary between each individual. There are also other reasons that cause one to lose control. This will be talked about on a later date."

She then sighed a little, "This is the reason we make you undergo the Induction Ceremony at the age of 16. This gives you an advantage in life experience. Moreover, the rate of the Wisdom Parasite's development drastically improves at each successive Tier. But, at Tier 1 and 2, it develops at a snail's pace. We will go into its evolution at a later date."

She finished it with a sentence, "But, there are exceptions to this. We call them a Child of Wisdom. They are human babies born with a Wisdom Parasite inside them. Based on statistics, one in every three children in our city is born a Child of Wisdom."

Madam Mila heaved a forlorn sigh, her face expressing sadness, "They would have been a boon if not for the existence of Rhachis Ancestor Parasite. But, due to his influence, the only one developing in the baby would be the parasite which would gain complete control of the body within a year since birth. This is why there is a large age gap between siblings."

…

After the class had dispersed, Madam Mila closed the door, reinforcing it with her psychic energy, preventing anyone from disturbing her. She relaxed her palm, revealing tiny crystal shards.

Her psychic energy made them float before her face, their sizes varying from the size of a rice grain to the size of a peanut. All of them had one thing in common, the existence of faint melting.

"This is strange. The crystal has melted but, I couldn't even detect the source for it." Madam Mila used her psychic energy, gazing into its molecular structure. A minute later, she sighed, unable to find the cause.

She then brought her hands forward, joining them before her chest, taking a praying position. The wavelength of the psychic energy she emitted experienced a minute change, a trace of yellow flashed around her before returning to normal.

Madam Mila landed on the floor, retracting her psychic energy. Suddenly, faint winds were stirred up in the room as a magenta colour flashed into existence. In the fraction of a second, it condensed into a figure, looking like a marble of magenta sculpted into a person.

The man looked old, sporting a lean frame. His figure was wizened, his frame thin, lacking musculature. His body then ballooned up to normalcy, looking no different from a man in his sixties.

"I am getting in on my age. Even though I am at Tier 6, my body is starting to become old, despite my brain being vibrant. Forcefully maintaining its functions using my psychic energy is strenuous to my body." The figure in magenta muttered, letting out a sigh.

It then gazed at Madam Mila, "Why did you call me, Mila? The city is expanding day by day, stretching my attention thin. I can't focus on a particular area for too long."

"It is this," Madam Mila sent the shards flying towards him. "I found this at the end of the class. They were hidden in the pocket of a Cadet."

The magenta figure inspected it, showing a trace of surprise. It then released faint psychic energy, permeating it through each shard, nodding its head in delight. "This is interesting."

"Should I take any action?" Madam Mila said, her expression stoic.

"Ah, no need. Light has been experimenting with Traits these days. I heard he had collaborated with Jyovic Bone and created something. Though, at the end of it, they deemed it a failure." The magenta figure said, pushing back the shards.

"Light mentioned it to me in passing," The magenta figure continued, "The most they could achieve was equivalent to Tier 2. No matter how much they tried, despite the tremendous resources they poured, they couldn't improve it. Moreover, the success rate for gaining this Trait is 0.01 percent. The cost of production for this Trait is equivalent to 30 Trait of Severability."

"That much?" Madam Mila exclaimed in shock, unable to conceal her voice. She knew how much resources were consumed to create a Trait of Severability. One of the materials was a Tier 5 Frenzy Beast, not to mention the numerous Tier 4 Frenzy Beasts required as supplementary materials.

She couldn't imagine the resources poured to create a Trait whose effects only bordered around a Tier 2 Skill. "It is a Royal wastage of resources and manpower."

"Only with research can we progress humanity. But, you are right. They have wasted too many resources on this endeavour and produced results that aren't even qualified to be called subpar." The magenta figure sighed, "Jyorta Bone is the only candidate who had obtained it. So, please keep an eye on him and guide this Trait of his; make it into something he can use. Also, make sure no one else is privy of this matter."

Seeing Madam Mila nod, the magenta figure dissolved, disappearing from the room. There was not a single commotion, its arrival, and departure leaving behind no traces.

Madam Mila created a psychic arm, destroying the shards until nothing remained behind. It was created from her Unranked Skill, its structure composed of her psychic energy. As she retrieved the essence she had infused into it, the shards disappeared from existence.

…

Central Command, Mount Nilgiri, secluded within a cave sat an old man, displaying an exhausted expression. His body was weak and frail but, his eyes were sharp, shining with wisdom. He opened his mouth, producing a sentence, "Corrosion, interesting."

A gentle wave of psychic energy flashed from him, travelling towards Sector 1, 7th Ring, moving towards the military academy, undetected by anyone. The other two Tier 6 existences in the city were Warriors, incapable of discovering his traces should he choose to act discreetly.

Jyorta accompanied Haesha, heading towards the White Building. Since there was still a lot of time for lunch, they planned to make use of the time and study using the Portal.

His expression was heavy, recalling a statement Madam Mila had said.

"They would have been a boon if not for the existence of Rhachis Ancestor Parasite. But, due to his influence, the only one developing in the baby would be the parasite which would gain complete control of the body within a year since birth. This is why there is a large age gap between siblings."

'Sister was born on 4th April of the year 311 while I was born on 11th October of the year 317. There is a difference of 6 years and 6 months between our births. Was there someone born in the middle as a Child of Wisdom?'

As the two approached the White Building, Jyorta suddenly paused, his expression morphing.

"What happened?" Haesha noticed his abnormality, turning around.

The blue soul in him hurriedly transmitted a set of information to his brain. Jyorta flailed his hands, touching his pocket, his expression becoming a fluster. "I seem to have dropped my key in our classroom. Let me fetch it real quick. Find a good place to study."

Saying his piece, he hurriedly ran from the spot, sprinting along the way. Haesha looked at his running back, tilting her head to the side, feeling a bit confused, "Okay…?"

Jyorta hurried to his dorm, fishing out the key from his pocket. It was just his excuse; as a person who was cautious by nature, he wouldn't ever drop his keys.

He closed the door upon entry, hearing the thumping of his heart. He then noticed a spherical barrier forming around him, separating him from the surroundings. A streak of magenta appeared within it, forming into a humanoid figure in an instant. The magenta figure opened its mouth, emitting a gentle voice, displaying its intention.

"Hello, Jyorta."