Psychic Parasite

Chapter 165: Fading Away of Skills
”All Tier 1 Skills are related to the perception of some kind. That is why; they can also be easily guarded against.” Madam Rizenne unleashed her psychic arm, hovering it next to her body. ”Now, everyone activate your Skills and try to sense my position.”

Upon her command, all the Warriors activated their skills, including ones whose Skills were ones like Faster Thoughts, only capable of affecting their own selves. Many students nodded, upon being able to lock onto her position, especially the ones who possessed vision-based Skills.

”Now, see if you can…” Her words were cut short; her image disappeared, leaving the students baffled. Irrespective of the methods they used, they could no longer sense the presence of Madam Rizenne in the auditorium.

Time passed in such a fashion, soon crossing the 30 minutes mark. Not once were the doors of the auditorium opened, meaning, Madam Rizenne was still inside, hiding through some means.

Some of the students climbed above the dais, searching for any clues. One student crouched low, positioning his nose on the ground, trying to sniff for any lingering scents. A moment later, he lifted his head, conversing with the students on the dais, pointing at Dalna Doppler with a shake of his head.

In the back row of the auditorium, a student’s eyes turned green, raising sounds of exclaim from the surrounding students. He walked through the path, arriving at the front, glancing at the podium. He stared in silence, pressuring himself, trying to find any traces.

With a shake of his head, he walked towards one corner, tracing the boundaries of the auditorium along the edges. Similar scenes occurred everywhere in the auditorium, with the students forming teams as they searched for Madam Rizenne, using their Skills in conjunction.

Dalna Doppler and her friends too followed suit, starting from the dais as they proceeded towards the rest of the auditorium. As the Espers stood up, trying to help the others, a voice whispered in their ears prompting them to be seated.

”This test only focuses on the Warriors. Espers are ought to stay in their seats and observe everything.” Jyorta nodded his head, hearing the voice of Madam Rizenne whisper in his ear. He then watched everything transpire, trying to memorise the various Skills displayed, gaining insight based on the actions the individual executed.

’The ones who have Skills related to smell bring their faces towards the ground and try to sniff the traces. The ones with hearing-related Skills often distance themselves from others before using their Skill. They would then relay the information to the others. It is easy to identify the ones with vision-based Skills based on the change in their eye colour. The ones standing idly probably possess Skills that help them in battles, like Dalna Doppler’s or other miscellaneous abilities.’ Jyorta summarised, watching everything happen without any intervention.

No student tried to instigate a scene, trying their best to locate Madam Rizenne. Everyone sported an expression of focus, determined to find their target. After all, based on her nature, students that achieved the tasks she handed out were always rewarded with Credits.

In such a manner, an hour passed without any success, with many of the students having given up by now. Some of them still persisted, thinking of all possibilities, tapping all places in their reach with their hands. Even if they couldn’t sense Madam Rizenne, as long as she hadn’t disappeared, she was bound to exist somewhere.

They tried to bank on the fact that any matter ought to exist and could be touched. Once they had scoured through the entire floor, they raised their heads in unison, heaving sighs as they looked at the empty space above them, with the ceiling separated by a staggering height. They didn’t have the ability to fly and reach up, leaving them at an impasse.

Some glanced at the chairs, intending to break them and throw things around until they made contact. But, they eventually controlled themselves, unwilling to damage the academy property, and suffer any punishments as a result.

”Let us stop here for now,” A voice reverberated around the auditorium as Madam Rizenne appeared, floating 4 metres above the podium. Only her head was displayed, the rest of her body staying invisible.

”All I did was mask my scent, sound, heat, and other forms of radiation, finally refracting the light around myself using my psychic arm.” Madam Rizenne explained the situation, ”Remember that your Tier 1 Skills only detect the various factors that originate from a source. The moment the source individual blocks themselves, you won’t be able to detect them.”

”You are not transmitting a signal and receiving feedback. Tier 1 Skills cannot transmit any forms of energy, make sure you remember that. Also, with ample expertise, even Line Controllers will be able to achieve what I enacted just now.” Madam Rizenne retracted her psychic arm, allowing the entirety of her figure to be revealed as she descended.

She took a spot behind the podium, adjusting the mike a little, and grabbing hold of the remote.

She then motioned for the students on the dais to take their seats as she pointed at the screen, ”We have some Regular Skills displayed here. They typically consist of boosting one of our five senses by focusing on a single aspect. For example, the Skill, Focus Vision allows one’s sight to be concentrated on the desired object, blurring everything else. This reduces the information the brain needs to process, raising your reaction and information processing speed.”

She went on about the rest of the Skills, giving a short one-liner about each, changing the image displayed at the end, ”Among the Elite Skills, the most renowned example is Faster Thoughts. Upon the activation of this Skill, your blood flow increases while various hormones are secreted. These help in raising your ability to think, giving you greater clarity of thoughts. It is probably one of the most useful Skills for Warriors.”

Madam Rizenne changed the image, ”As for the Peak Skills, you have just witnessed Dynamic Acuity at play. Such Skills have greater variety but limited focus. For example, using Dynamic Acuity, Dalna Doppler could think and plan faster. Also adding to the improvement in her visual and auditory prowess, she managed to defend against some of my attacks.”

”But, if we are just comparing the ability to think faster, then Dynamic Acuity is slightly inferior to Faster Thoughts.” She raised her hand, pointing at the ceiling with her finger, ”We divided the Skills into three segments but there isn’t much of a difference between them. Tier 1 Skills are too weak for a difference to form between each. Such difference is only pronounced from Skills at Tier 3 and above.”

She pressed a button on the remote, showcasing a list of greyed out Skills, ”Humanity has witnessed 87 Tier 1 Skills in total but, this was over the span of three centuries. As times passed, some Skills faded into existence while new Skills emerged.”

She pointed at the Skills, explaining about their capabilities based on the records, ”This list consists of Skills that haven’t been witnessed for more than three decades. This means that our genetic material is experiencing changes due to the Wisdom Parasites, causing the century-old Skills to no longer appear.”

Jyorta gazed at the Skills on the list, trying to broaden his knowledge. If he took in the words of Psychic Ancestor Marble as the truth, then it meant he had been reincarnated into the future.

This also implied that some of the Skills displayed might be something he had read in stories, ones that fell along the lines of an Observer.

Jyorta’s pupils dilated while the thumping of his heart slightly accelerated. The blue soul overlaid the false persona, bringing everything under control.

’Stethoscope…there is one familiar term. There is also Microscope and…Precognition? This is something that would prove super useful, despite being a Tier 1 Skill.’ Jyorta remembered about one of the previous classes he had attended, lifting his right hand, and expressing his intent to raise a question.

Madam Rizenne gazed at him and gave a nod of approval, prompting Jyorta to stand. Jyorta grabbed hold of the mike that flew his way, speaking in a calm but collected tone, ”Ma’am, I wish to know if we possess a Relic with the Tier 1 Skill, Precognition.”

”Unfortunately, we don’t,” Madam Rizenne motioned for him to sit, continuing on the topic, ”The process to create Relics had been created only about 200 years ago. Even then, it was largely primitive, lacking the means of the present. Despite great efforts, the number of Relics that were successfully made back then number in the double digits.”

She sighed, ”In those times, the population of humanity continued to dwindle day by day under the onslaught of the Frenzy Beasts. On our side, forced by desperation, humanity conducted innumerous forbidden experiments, all in an effort to find a way to salvation.”

Madam Rizenne prevented herself from straying away from the topic, shifting her tone with a cough, ”Precognition was last seen in year 7 of the Dawn Era. It hasn’t appeared ever since, in neither humans nor Frenzy Beasts.”

She switched off the screen behind her, concluding the theory session with a statement, ”Moreover, Precognition is one of the few Skills that have been documented during those turbulent times. There are vague reports of incredible Skills flashing to existence like shooting stars among humanity, possessing superior power as compared to the rest.”

”Even Precognition has been documented only based on the words of Rhachis Ancestor Light.”