Psychic Parasite

"I'm Bilena, Cadet number 772." The crying girl introduced herself, having wiped her tears now as she sat on a chair.

"I'm Sreshta, Cadet number 771." The girl seated next to her said. She was the one who had helped Bilena before.

"I'm Duvic, Cadet number 683." The boy said, letting out a sigh with his sombre mood.

"I'm Rishana, Cadet number 641." The girl that had kicked Duvic in the stomach before said with a smile. She seemed the type to not linger on a matter for long, quickly cheering up as she gazed at Jyorta with interest.

"Nice to meet you all," Jyorta said, seated at the leftmost position in the room, "I'm Jyorta Bone, Cadet number 6."

It was a regular room within the White Building meant for group study. Their room had a seating capacity of 6, having a rectangular table, six chairs, and a monitor attached on the other end. The students sat on either side of the table's breadth. The room too was similarly rectangle.

One side of the room's breadth had the monitor while the other side had the room's entrance. It was small but compact enough for them to study. Any bigger, and it might hinder them from focusing. If it was smaller, then the compactness of the room might imbue a narrowmindedness in the students.

A lot had been put into consideration by the military academy, even in the minor details. The minor details weren't helpful if it was in a single field, but when added in every field, they accumulated to produce a qualitative effect.

Everything was done to nurture the students into better personnel that would become the city's future. Not everyone was talented or had the means to become strong. If one's Sync Rate was in the 50s, then their future was pretty dim, unless they proved themselves repeatedly and survived dangerous missions to obtain enough Frenzy Fruits to raise their Sync Rates.

But, such characters were far and few between. The academy tested a student's ability in various fields, scoring them accordingly. So, in every field Marble City required to function as a whole, the military academy tested the student accordingly.

Therefore, they knew which student was suited to which field the best. In that way, the functioning of their society would be efficient and improve as a whole. That was why job offers weren't something the students searched for but were given by the authorities from the organisations.

And, there wasn't a concept of a person being jobless. Marble City didn't have such compassion to feed an individual who couldn't contribute to it. Therefore, a person either worked in a job or rested within the Memoir Brook.

So, the students were tested in every field and rewarded accordingly. Therefore, the higher a person's rank in the Dedicated Credit Ranking System, the greater the value attached to them. The value here didn't conform to the combat abilities of the person, rather the contribution he/she can give to Marble City.

So, the higher one was ranked, the favourable their treatment conditions would be. So, their secondary jobs would be more profitable to work at. It would also give them better connections and land them in a better unit within the army.

Though, danger accompanied a soldier everywhere in the Wilds, irrespective of their unit. But at least, depending on the unit, their survivability increased. After all, a unit of elites was a force to be reckoned with in comparison with a unit filled with less impressive soldiers.

Moreover, irrespective of a person's strength, they were always given dangerous missions. Only in such a way the quality of their experiences would be higher. Everything worked from a relative perspective. Marble City never left a person idle, unless they retired.

People who had retired lived free from worries. They assumed management positions according to their contribution to Marble City. Thereby, they made use of their plethora of experiences and wisdom gained from such experiences to give better orders.

The one that dictated everything was their rank. That was why it was titled, 'Dedicated Credit Ranking System.'

Generally, based on their rank, the battle strength a Cadet would achieve at his/her peak can be estimated. Even a Cadet having a Sync Rate of 51 percent would reach Tier 2 by the end of their lives.

'The longest a person stayed at Tier 1 was around 40 years.' Jyorta recalled a rather surprising fact. People broke through to higher Tiers not just to gain more strength, but also because a breakthrough significantly weakened their Wisdom Parasite for a considerable duration.

In this time, they could increase their life experiences and further the lead between them and their Wisdom Parasite, thereby getting a greater duration of stay in their Tier without having to consume a Cleansement Fruit. Moreover, as the Nurturing effect was a passive, continuous process, most would reach the peak of their Tier sooner or later.

But, the fact that a person remained at Tier 1 for 40 years was shocking. And, the fact that he broke through to Tier 2 after that was even more surprising. He had to consume a Cleansement fruit a couple of years later though. It was all because his Sync Rate was 50.1 percent, so his Nurturing Rate was almost negligible.

He only increased his Sync Rate before his breakthrough to Tier 2 by accumulating all his contributions over the years. But, just his example alone proved that even the individual with the lowest Sync Rate could reach Tier 2 and even attain Tier 3 if he was patient and worked hard enough.

The ranking allowed one to picture the height they would reach, unless nothing drastic changes about them. Those ranked beyond 300 were able to reach Tier 2. But, unless they put some serious effort into bettering themselves, that would be the endpoint in their lives.

Anyone above rank 300 had a shot at Tier 3. And, if they worked a bit harder, then they could even reach the peak of Tier 3 before they had to consume a Cleansement Fruit. This was why the average population in Marble City was Tier 2 but their average fighting strength was Tier 3. A third of their population was at Tier 3.

The students ranked in the top 10 had a shot at Tier 4. The Wisdom Parasite would experience a major evolution in its breakthrough from Tier 3 to Tier 4, so that was the most difficult step. That was why everyone at Tier 4 was addressed as an Elite in their society.

Whether it was in the human society or Frenzy Beast society, Tier 3 formed their base fighting force while the number of Tier 4 they had indicated their dominance. The fact that there were 10 students in every Batch that had the potential to become Tier 4 indicated the effectiveness of Marble City's methods in nurturing the students.

Finally, the top scorer of every Batch had a non-zero chance at attaining Tier 5. But, it wasn't guaranteed. In most cases, even after breaking through to Tier 5, they would soon be unable to endure and consume a Cleansement Fruit.

The Tier 5 beings a race possessed dictated their rise and fall, for they represented the cream of the crop. It was why Tier 5 beings were hailed as pillars of their society. As for the chance to attain Tier 6, there was no guarantee. Even the strictest of assessment was unable to display that. For, attaining Tier 6 was the most difficult of them all. That was why the number of Ancestors could be counted on one hand.

Jyorta looked at everyone in his team, "Your Sync Rates are in the 50s and your battle strength is as little as possible. But, you all are Warriors. And as Warriors, you possess your Tier 1 Skills, right?"

Seeing them nod, Jyorta smiled, "Let's start with that. We have four sensory means. We can develop our team's fighting style accordingly. Let's start with Rishana."

Seeing him point at her all of a sudden, Rishana was caught off-guard for a moment before blushing a little, "My Tier 1 Skill is Altitude Perception."

"That's a good Skill," Jyorta said with a hint of praise, "Using it, we can check whether there are any pitfalls under us or not. It would prove useful for us."

"Wait, we can do that?" Rishana blurted out in shock.

"Indeed," Jyorta nodded, "Perceiving altitude is not limited to heights. The Skill works based on gravity, so you can perceive a numerical value for your height accordingly. But, if there is a hole under the ground, it would cause a disturbance in your perception. Normally, you wouldn't know it. Only through repeated training would you be able to sense any holes underground using the Skill."

"We should barely be able to do it within a week," Jyorta reassured her, thinking, 'I'll put her in enough hallucinations so that she keeps it activated even while asleep.'

He then looked at Duvic, "Tell us about your Tier 1 Skill."

"Mine is pretty useless," Duvic sighed, "It would be better to learn about the Skills of the other two."

"Duvic," Jyorta smiled, his eyes turning serious, "How long have you used your Tier 1 Skill for? How many times have you activated it?"

"I…" Duvic bowed his head, "I only used it during training exercises. It gave me zero help, so I stopped using it after that."

"Basically, you stopped practicing it, right?" Jyorta said with a hint of anger, "How dare you claim a Skill to be useless then? The Skills of humanity are the strongest as compared to every other Frenzy Beast race. If you feel your Skill is useless, it only means you haven't figured out a method to use it."

"And," His voice rose a pitch, "There isn't even much to research about Tier 1 Skills. Hundreds of methods to use every Tier 1 Skill is available in the portal. All you have to do is read them. What's your Tier 1 Skill, tell that first."

"It's…" Duvic trailed, bowing his head in shame further.

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If you wish to see this poor author get an Adaptation (Movie/serial/animation), please read my second novel, "Murim Recurve" and show it support. The greater the support it receives (Votes, Gifts, Coins, Reviews, Comments), the greater the chance for it to get an adaptation. If that book wins an Adaptation Reward, I promise I'll use my own funds to release the comic version of Psychic Parasite (Free to read, of course) for you, my beloved readers~

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