Psychic Parasite

Chapter 169: Traits and Trait Room
”Now that everyone has witnessed the Skills in the six Relics here, I hope you got a basic idea about the working of Tier 1 Skills.” Madam Rizenne said, letting out a sigh, ”It is not possible to activate most Relics as they are. That is why they are fused into Artifacts. Sometimes, more than one Relic is fused into an Artifact to bring out the potential of the stored Skills.”

”Now, if you have talked with your friends and inquired about their Skills, you would have noticed a strange relation. I don’t know how many of you have figured it out but I’ll say it anyway.” Madam Rizenne paused, glancing around at the crowd, ”10 Credits for the right answer.”

Dalna Doppler raised her hand, being the first. Gaining a nod of approval from Madam Rizenne, she stood up, and grabbed hold of the mike that flew her way, ”The Nurtured Skills vary with the Sync Rate. Select Skills only appear in the students within a certain range of Sync Rate.”

”You have correctly guessed half the answer; five Credits for you,” Madam Rizenne motioned for her to sit as she continued, ”Remember my previous statement where I said the Skills are divided into three, Regular, Elite, and Peak?”

Seeing everyone nod, she continued, ”There is a sharp division in the Sync Rate for the three segments. Regular Skills are Nurtured in individuals with Sync Rate between 51 and 65 percent. Elite Skills are Nurtured in individuals with Sync Rate between 66 and 80 percent. Finally, Peak Skills are Nurtured in individuals with Sync Rate between 81 and 95 percent.”

Jyorta raised his hand, immediately wishing to satiate his doubts. Madam Rizenne waved at him, motioning for him to remain seated. ”I know what you wish to ask.”

She shook her head, ”There has never been a precedent of someone achieving a Sync Rate of 96 percent and above during the Induction Ceremony in all humanity. The highest recorded has been 95 percent and it was achieved by a single person in Marble City. She is now a legendary character. There hasn’t been anyone else who has achieved 95 percent, including the other cities.”

”The current record holder in the 7th Ring is by Ravis Macht, having claimed a Sync Rate of 94 percent. Even though Sync Rate can be easily increased through the Frenzy Fruits, the Sync Rate achieved by an individual during the Induction Ceremony determines their mental fortitude. For warriors, it vastly determines the level of the Skills they would Nurture in the future.”

”There are also the Children of Wisdom who boast a Sync Rate of 100 percent. But they are an entirely different matter. You will learn about them in later classes.” She concluded, looking intent to shift to the next topic. She then noticed the gazes directed at her by the students, filled with interest and earnest curiosity.

She sighed once, ”The legendary character I mentioned is Madam Atika Light. She is also the mother of Rhachis Ancestor Strongest. She is the head of Grapple Force, an organisation where the elites of Marble City gather. I would have told you about this at the end of your term here; but anyway, no harm in learning early.”

”You’ll learn about the various organisations in Marble City and their joining requirements during your final three months here. After all, once you graduate, you would be required to join one of them. There are also other intricacies to this subject which would be detailed at the time of need.” She waved her hand, signalling the end of the topic.

”Finally, you must learn about Traits,” Picking up the final topic at hand, Madam Rizenne pressed a button, flashing an image on the screen behind her. The image consisted of a variety of fruits, some familiar but mostly unfamiliar.

”Your powers as a Warrior or an Esper mostly depend on your Sync Rate. This is an irrefutable fact. During battles in the Wilds, many accidents and injuries occur, resulting in a decreased Sync Rate, causing our battle strength to plummet. Even Unranked Skills are no exception to this matter.”

”Unranked Skills are under our full control but their effects are actuated by using the Wisdom Parasite as a medium. Hence, a loss in Sync Rate also affects the power of the Unranked Skill. So, the only solution to this problem is with the Traits.”

Madam Rizenne pointed at the screen, ”Traits look no different from the commonly seen fruits. They are produced from the Wisdom Plants, with their greatest number present in our 7th Ring. While travelling within the 7th Ring, you must have seen large walls that aren’t part of the walls that make up the boundaries of each Sector or Ring.”

Seeing some of the students nod, Madam Rizenne continued, ”They are specially designated locations where the Wisdom Plants are cultivated, with the majority located in our 7th Ring. This is why the 7th Ring is the least populated when compared to all the Rings in Marble City.”

”Frenzy Fruits and Trait Fruits are produced from a certain variety of Wisdom Plants. I won’t go into details about the Wisdom Plants which are considered as classified secrets. If you join the relevant department in the future, you will be able to learn more about them.”

”Coming back to the Traits; Traits are artificially manufactured through a variety of production methods. But, upon completion, a new species of Wisdom Plant is created to mass produce the respective Trait. This reduces cost and raises the rate of production.”

”We can consider Traits as Skills that have passive effects. The Skills nurtured by Warriors are always active in nature, requiring energy to be actuated. But, Traits are in effect 24x7, working in sync with the Wisdom Parasite’s Nurturing effect. Unless the Wisdom Parasite dies and has its body removed from our body, the passive effect of the Traits persists.”

”In the Pamphlet we had provided you on your first day here, a total of eight Traits had been listed.” Madam Rizenne opened her palm, revealing the familiar pamphlet. It had appeared on her hand without anyone’s notice.

”The Trait of Temperance helps in your breakthrough. It conceals your life experiences to a certain extent from your Wisdom Parasite, hindering its growth. Its effect is equivalent to a Tier 3 Skill. Starting from the 1st of next month, you will have an hour of class every day to train you for your eventual breakthrough.” Madam Rizenne pointed at a certain fruit on the screen.

She then pointed at another fruit, ”The Trait of Dominance has an effect similar to our aura. The only difference is this adds a suppression effect into your aura, capable of affecting enemies below your Tier. Its effect is equivalent to a Tier 2 Skill and is only used at Tier 1 and 2.”

”The Trait of Nullity temporarily erases your emotions. This Trait is useful for people who cannot control their fear while in the Wilds. Despite possessing effect equivalent to only a Tier 2 Skill, it is used by even higher Tiered Warriors and Espers.”

”The Trait of Efficiency helps speed up the body’s metabolism and also hastens the Wisdom Parasite’s Nurturing effect. This is by far the most preferred Trait apart from the Trait of Temperance. It has an effect equivalent to a Tier 3 Skill.”

”The Trait of Recovery improves the body’s ability to recover from shock, injury, emotional disturbance, etc. It also increases the body’s natural healing factor and decreases fatigue formation while on missions that span long durations. Its effect is equivalent to a Tier 2 Skill.”

”The Trait of Resistance improves the body’s ability to resist poison, disease, ailment, etc. Its effect is equivalent to a Tier 2 Skill. There are microorganisms in the air, water, etc. that affect us. They will be detailed in another class. Due to the presence of aura, they die upon the moment of contact. But, they still grow in places without any aura emission.”

”Finally, we have the Trait of Severability. Its only effect is to consume massive amounts of energy stored in the Heart or Brain Crystal to increase the Sync Rate. This will save the lives of soldiers in the Wilds who have sustained unrepairable damage to their Sync Rates. Its effect is equivalent to a Tier 4 Skill. This was recently created by the Hero of the Flying Throne Raid, the current Head of the Bone Family, Jyovic Bone.”

”Last but not least, we have the Trait of Growth. This Trait is only effective on the Warriors and Espers who have consumed a Cleansement Fruit. The topic of Cleansement Fruits has been discussed a little before. It is used to destroy the ego, consciousness, and vitality of the Wisdom Parasite to prevent the individual from losing control.”

Madam Rizenne looked at everyone, ”Upon consumption of the Cleansement Fruit, a Warrior loses all his Skills while an Esper only retains a psychic arm and loses the remaining. This Trait allows them to slowly regain their lost abilities by consuming energy on a daily basis. It is a slow but definite process.”

Madam Rizenne sighed once, feeling exhaustion after talking for such great lengths, ”Traits give us an edge against the Frenzy Beasts since this is a concept exclusive to humans. For some reason, Frenzy Beasts are unable to gain any Traits even though we administered some during our experiments. This is probably due to an incompatibility with the Frenzy Parasite but we have yet to conclude a definite reason.”

”There is a limit to how many Traits our body can handle. It varies from person to person, with the maximum recorded individual possessing 12 Traits. But, that is because the Traits implanted in the said individual only had Tier 2 strength. The number decreases when the Tier of the Trait increases.”

”So, we thought about an arbitrary concept, Trait Room. A person’s Trait Room possesses a certain volume and each Trait occupies some definite volume. So, the number and Tier of the Traits they can possess could be calculated. But, it is only a concept to date since we don’t have the means to infer the quantity of a person’s Trait Room.”

”Since it is difficult to determine it, I advise you all to only choose the Traits that you need the most. Base it upon the future path you wish to tread upon. That is all, class dismissed.”