Psychic Parasite

Chapter 205: Meditative Calmness

There was no sound, no smell, and no light, blocking their sight and enriching their fright. As time passed, the feeling Haesha said became increasingly obvious. It was obvious to the extent Jyorta could detect it without the help of his false persona.

They were being guided somewhere, against their will, their bodies working beyond their control. Jyorta felt a slight strain in his legs, his brimming fear seeking to collapse his sanity. He felt his senses getting dull, a sense of drowsiness gently seeping into him.

"Haesha, what about" He paused, shocked, sensing his voice muffled into non-existence. He then uttered another set of words, watching the muffling sensation creep closer and closer. Soon, he couldn't even hear his voice.

He knew for a fact that his vocal cords were working fine, based on the feedback his muscles in the region transmitted to his head. But, he could no longer hear anything, even the sounds of his breathing and his heartbeats. It made him suspect if he had become deaf or something even worse, unable to even sense the pulsing of the blood that was pumped through his arteries.

His right hand had lingering warmth, thanks to the presence of Haesha's hand that was held firm in his. But, the fear he experienced soon increased in magnitude, feeling his right hand turn cold, soon becoming numb to the changes in temperature.

"Haesha!" Startled into a fright, his right hand pulled with force; he felt a sensation press on his body, thanks to his pull. Jyorta took in the view of his blue soul, watching a murky soul come into his view, positioned right before his blue soul.

Due to the contact established by the vision of his blue soul, a wave of murkiness washed over his soul, trying to seem into it.

Fear!

The blue soul detected an increasing magnitude of fear within the murkiness, the amplitude rising to alarming levels. Jyorta felt his sense of touch disappearing, no longer able to sense the presence of Haesha in his embrace.

Though, thanks to the vision of his blue soul, he knew that she was still in his embrace, just that he could no longer feel it. He failed to understand where he was anymore, his spatial perception having been suppressed into oblivion.

He even felt his consciousness fading to the back, the process gradual, creeping into his mind's defences without facing any resistance. He felt his thoughts coming to a halt, placing him in a state of void, unfeeling, and unceasing.

He woke up with a start, finding himself lying on the floor, having regained all his senses. Lying over him was Haesha, still unconscious. Jyorta hurriedly checked her wrist, heaving a sigh of relief upon sensing her vigorous pulse.

Haesha's body unconsciously trembled, the shivers faint, detectable thanks to her lying on him. His right hand shot up, gently massaging the back of her head while his left patted her back, the action gentle, lacking any force.

Her trembling showed a noticeable reduction, soon abating like the tide. Jyorta calmed down, turning around to scan his surroundings, looking at a small yellow dome encasing the two of them. The yellow dome was opaque, blocking his vision.

He trailed from the surface of the dome to his position, feeling a shock. The distance between them was just a centimetre greater than the maximum length of his psychic arm. So, even if he were to unleash his domain, it would fall perfectly within the dome, unable to move out.

Just when he planned to move a little before using his psychic arm to scout the outside, a voice resounded in his ear, gentle and filled with praise, "You did well; you are one of the first to wake up. Rest for the time being; when Haesha wakes up, I'll retract this dome."

Unable to be sensed when it arrived and unable to be sensed when it left, Jyorta sighed. Thankfully, the voice was Madam Mila's, instilling in him some relief. Also, he felt his body was perfectly healthy, his mind fresh, not affected by the horrifying memory he just experienced.

'Does the Unranked Skill, Regen also have the ability to calm the mind? But, this doesn't feel as if I have just calmed. It feels as ifmy mind has become tougher?' Jyorta shook his head, unable to put a finger on his current state.

He neither felt his body tremble nor experienced any trauma when he recalled the memory of the events, confusing him.

With a slight jerk, Haesha woke up, blinking in confusion as she felt a foreign sensation, soon noticing his presence. Haesha sprang up, her face red. She blushed, turning her head away, unwilling to make eye contact with Jyorta.

"How do you feel now? What do you remember from what we had experienced just now?" Jyorta's question startled her awake, her blush dissipating as her mind whirred in thought. She recalled the previous experience, displaying startling calm.

She then looked at Jyorta, "It feels like I had meditated for a day. My mind is as fresh as it can be."

"I feel the same too, surprising considering what we had experienced." Jyorta nodded, watching the dome around them disperse. He then noticed many other domes littered on the floor of an otherwise massive hall.

The ceiling was at least 10 metres high, while the length of the hall surpassed 100 metres, its breadth almost measuring 40 metres. The domes he spotted varied in size, some similar to the ones he and Haesha were inside, while the others were ten times the size.

One by one, the domes dissipated, revealing the students inside. They gazed at their surroundings in surprise, glancing around to find who had woken up before them. Most of them noticed Jyorta and Haesha, awake before them. They seemed occupied in thought, retracting their gazes before looking towards the end of the hall.

Jyorta stood up, about to extend his hand to help her up, retracting the thought as he saw her standing up no slower than him. Haesha soon pointed at a spot on the wall, "What is that?"

Jyorta followed her line of sight, noticing a slight oddity in the wall. It was a small protrusion, unable to be made out due to a lack of shadow cast around it, the almost perpendicular angle of it concerning their line of sight, and the greater distance between them.

It took him more than 10 seconds of observation to spot it, directed by Haesha who pointed at it. The protrusion was constantly moving around, making it harder for him to observe. A minute later, it disappeared.

Madam Mila's voice resounded, "A keen eye for observation is a must for survival; 200 Credits to Laila for spotting two, and 100 to Haesha for spotting one."

By this time, all the domes had dissipated. Madam Mila hovered in the air, almost approaching the ceiling, her appearance as sudden as always, unable to be detected. "It has only been ten minutes since you had entered here. Remember that fear, anger, hesitation, courage, etc. are a means for survival. They are emotions your body feels for a lot of reason, but the prime objective is for survival. So, your emotions are a part of your senses, don't be controlled by them. Rather, use them to guide your way forward."

"When you don't sense anything, your emotional state will begin to disappear, placing you in a state of emptiness. This is what the sages of the bygone era tried to achieve through decades of meditation. But, what you had experienced just now is a temporary result. The more you experience it, the less its effect on you."

"At your current states, your Wisdom Parasite is not developed. That's why we could make you experience this session without any side-effects. Later on, there is a chance of you losing control due to the turbulent emotions you experience in the first phase of this session. When you meditate in the future, try to achieve the state you experienced at the end. That will help you a lot in restricting the growth of the Wisdom Parasite in you."

Madam Rizenne appeared next to her, "Now, we will begin the session we scheduled here in the first place."

Madam Rizenne nodded once at Madam Mila. Four psychic armsyellow in colourgushed out from Madam Mila, their speed of appearance akin to light in the eyes of the students. In the blink of an eye, the psychic arms had appeared and touched the four walls around them.

In an instant, the four yellow walls dispersed into psychic energy, absorbed into the psychic arms before they affected the surroundings due to their density. Rows of cages became visible, with a small platform placed before each.

Present within each cage was a Frenzy Beast, roaring without rest. Their roars resounded within the hall, the sounds ear-piercing. Accompanying them was an intense stench, nauseating to the students.

Some directly threw up, while the rest resisted with pale faces. Finally, a massive aura impacted them in waves, directly sending almost half the students unconscious. Jyorta and Haesha covered their nose with their hands, shielding their bodies with a psychic arm.

Jyorta actively controlled himself, only displaying abilities that he ought to possess based on official records. The aura was really powerful, directly suppressing the tinge of aura his body releasedwithout control, a front he had to put up.

Haesha's body trembled under the aura, looking on the verge of fainting but persisting under sheer willpower. Having trained by experiencing the aura of the Tier 5 Artifacthis grandfather had prepared for himfor the past months, Jyorta fared better than the rest.

He wasn't unflinching under the aura, still affected to an extent, but his posture was erect. Feeling such a magnitude of aura for the first time, Haesha's legs gave under her, her willpower no longer sufficient.

"Welcome to the Red Building!" Madam Rizenne smiled; her figure disappeared from view. Madam Mila followed suit, leaving the students to fend for themselves.