Psychic Parasite

"I'll be keeping an eye on their mental states. If you go overboard, I'll intervene." The staff's voice resounded, turning gender-neutral, almost robotic.

Jyorta used all his concentration to nod his head, feeling the difficulty in even doing that. Manipulating four different hallucinations was already breaking past his limits. He was straining himself too hard to control it.

It was like performing four tasks at the same time. But here, each task was creating a world and maintaining the elements in play affecting it. Also, he had to cause changes according to the actions they took within.

The information transfer was too much. Most of the time, he just used superficial hallucination. The target would experience a different world, but their aura would still be within their bodies. So, the signals wouldn't be cut off. That's why they were able to move in reality.

This was the method he used to control the Frenzy Beasts. It was tough, but he was mostly maintaining one or two hallucinations. Moreover, in both, he didn't change the terrain. He mostly used the terrain in reality while adding some extra elements in place to suit his agenda.

If he had used that against the four teammates, they would still be experiencing the hallucination world. But the immersion wouldn't be 100 percent. For, when they activate their Skills, it would activate in reality. And, they would only perceive the data from reality.

The error would cause their aura to rile up and further reduce the immersion. But, unless they were capable of disrupting Jyorta's aura, they wouldn't be able to break out of his hallucination. As the prime reason for his use of the hallucination was to train them, Jyorta had to deepen their immersion.

This way, their bodies wouldn't move in reality. So, when they activate their Skills, they weren't activating it in reality, but making use of that information in their presence. This was part of the essence he was making use of in the creation of his tattoo world.

A person's presence contained all information about them. So, when fully pulled into a hallucination, they would behave similarly to how they did in reality. That is how he planned to train them until they become capable Warriors who wouldn't hinder him in the graduation ceremony.

He inspected their progress, frowning, 'Bilena and Rishana are faring well since the threat on their lives is active. So, their bodies are forcing the activation of their Skills thanks to their instinct to survive. Now, if I improve that instinct to survive, they would grow faster. But, as the threat to Duvic and Sreshta are passive, they aren't faring as well.'

Jyorta wanted to change their situation more but was unable to think up a better answer in his state. If he tried to think, his hallucinations would be disrupted and the four students would return to reality. That would waste all his efforts.

He could only maintain four hallucinations thanks to the blue soul feeding him four different memory fragment streams. If it was on his own, a single, detailed hallucination was his limit. Maybe when he became a Wave Controller, the drastic improvement to his brain would allow him to multitask without any trouble.

But as an Area Controller, it was still above him. He could use three aura personifications without the help of his blue soul. But his aura personification of betrayal and insignificance were simple, and one-off abilities. He only had to emit them.

Most of his concentration would still be on the aura personification of hallucination.

And, when he used them, he wasn't changing the terrain. So, the amount of mental power required for the task was still within his capabilities as an Area Controller. If he was only a Line Controller, his hallucinations wouldn't be as defined or detailed.

Jyorta anticipated the extent of development his hallucinations would progress towards once he became a Wave Controller. At Tier 3, his Esper powers would finally bloom and he would be able to reap the harvest of everything he had trained.

A psychic arm slowly slithered out of his brain, crawling like an insect on the verge of death. His body turned rigid, lacking the brainpower to maintain any actions. His involuntary muscles functioned without any hiccups as the psychic arm slowly turned pale blue.

It released a trace of psychic energy into the air, slowly filling up the room. When they breathed, they inhaled the psychic energy. The psychic energy seeped into their bodies, alleviating the stress, tension, and other emotions they were facing. Jyorta's condition didn't improve though, for he had been using a psychic arm from the start to heal and recover his mental drain.

If not for that, he would have long been exhausted by maintaining the four hallucinations. 'My training speed increased tremendously ever since I obtained Regen. This is indeed the perfect Unranked Skill for me.'

He was more and more reinforced with his decision to choose Regen. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been able to train without any problems. His training using the Tier 5 Artifact—the book that Jyovic Bone had gifted him—continued at a faster pace.

His Trait of Efficiency, Resistance, and Recovery worked in conjunction with Regen and created a beneficial cycle that raised the rate his aura grew up. That was how his hallucinations were becoming more and more profound every time he used them.

At present, Jyorta had the confidence to trump any Tier 2 Frenzy Beast. He was also confident in going against the geniuses hailed in humanity, those that were the best of the best in their respective military academy.

'Once they graduate, they would receive the backing of their respective Aristocratic Families. Normal people can become strong, but their route would be longer and fraught with even greater difficulties. So, every person hailed as a genius is from an Aristocratic Family. As for me, I too will be supported by the Bone Family. Unless they are idiots, they would realise the strength I possess now and the potential for growth I harness within me. At least, grandfather knows it.'

On seeing that all four were arriving at a checkpoint of sorts, Jyorta slowly retracted his aura, feeling a blissful cooling sensation in his head. His psychic arm started to heal him, first healing his mental exhaustion before it started to recover his presence.

They were yet to get up, slow in escaping the effects of his hallucination. They were only in Tier 1, so they were unable to use their aura. As the blood circulated in their bodies, it would slowly circulate the aura carried in it, thereby disrupting the foreign aura belonging to him—like a hammer slamming repeatedly on a wall.

As time passes, it would fully break his aura before steadily expelling it. It was a passive process that would take some time—fully reliant on the blood circulation and the aura in it. And, only after it finished would they get up. Until then, Jyorta had some free time.

After all, his aura was in the realm of Tier 3 in both quantity and quality. The targets were at Tier 1, and the weakest of the bunch. So, even on a conservative estimate, they would take at least one more hour to break out from it.

Until then, they would be living within the hallucinated world that was slowly crumbling. It would be like a dream from that point onwards where they wouldn't feel pain from hitting objects, wouldn't bleed from getting injured, etc. Those elements had returned with his aura.

Jyorta woke up, stretching as he yawned, feeling tired. His head still ached as he left the study room to take in a breath of fresh air. The moment he exited, he saw George walk out from the nearby room. The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds before sighing at the same time.

"They are the worst," George sighed.

"You can say that again," Jyorta massaged his brows, "My teammates consist of those that would become free meals to the Frenzy Beasts once they head to the Wilds."

"Mine wouldn't even survive 10 metres from the city gates," George looked back at the study room, grunting as he relaxed his clenched fists, "I'm planning to take them to the training centre next and beat them into submission first. At least, that would make them obedient."

"Well," Jyorta laughed awkwardly, "I was already warned by a staff to not go overboard."

George's eyes widened as he looked at Jyorta in surprise, "What did you do to them in place of talking?"

"I put them under a hallucination where their lives are at constant risk," Jyorta scratched his cheek, watching Dalna Doppler exit from three rooms away. Upon seeing them, she gazed at their faces, understanding their situation based on their expression.

"How worse are they?" She smiled.

"Well," George pointed at her, "You say first. I think you would have the worst of the bunch."

"Well, they are lacking in ability, to be frank," She nodded, "But, they are also lacking the drive to put in the effort."

"What are you planning to do now?" Jyorta glanced at his watch once, noticing that it was almost 11:00 AM. He wished to eat and recover his expended energy first. He had stopped the hallucination because his psychic energy ran dry.

He used the remainder to heal his mind and left most of it in the room so that his teammates would recover from the traumatic experience. But this way, he was unable to recover his presence. Moreover, he was exhausted now.

"It feels like using the test as an excuse, the academy dumped its problems on us," Dalna doppler thought for a moment, "I am not exactly sure of the way to deal with them. Time is short, and I don't know how we can change them in a week when the academy couldn't do so in almost a year."