Psychic Parasite

Chapter 176: Stadium
”I’ll be there in a minute!” A voice replied from inside in response to his knocks. Since he always followed the same pattern to knock, it seemed Haesha had gotten accustomed to it.

”Okay,” Jyorta said, leaning on the wall beside. He played around with the glass jar in his hands, watching the yellow dust move around, looking no different to regular coarse grains. But, based on his experience, he knew. Each particle was equivalent to a Tier 5 Artifact; the resistance offered was probably around the same level too.

The only difference when compared to a legit Tier 5 Artifact was the amount of psychic energy needed to finish the refining process. Jyorta tossed and turned it, catching it each time without fail. Not once did he try to use his psychic arm to try to refine the yellow dust inside.

The war with the red mass continued in him, with his Soul Cornea assisting his planted ego in the subsoul belonging to his Wisdom Parasite. Therefore, he didn’t have the leeway to consume his psychic energy for any other activities.

He could only hope to frequent the cafeteria to consume more food and spur the Nurturing speed through the use of the Tier 5 Artifact—the one inside the rectangular box—working in conjunction with his Trait of Efficiency.

This way, the production of psychic energy in him would increase to the extent he could cope up with the expenditure and begin to solve the root cause of the problem. Now that his Wisdom Parasite and Brain Crystal had made a complete recovery, he planned to begin the operation.

The door opened as Haesha walked out, slightly in a hurry, ”Sorry, I didn’t wake up at the first alarm.”

”It is fine,” Jyorta waved his hand, taking a glance at the time displayed in his watch, ”We have almost 85 minutes before it starts. We can eat some food before occupying a seat with a good spot.”

”I heard someone from the April Batch mention about how only the first row among the seats has the best view. The rest are relatively not up to the mark.” Haesha shook her head, pocketing her room key as she urged Jyorta to come along.

”What is that in your hand?” Along the way, Jyorta noticed Haesha holding a thin cardboard-like object; its top surface looked soft, as if covered with cloth.

”It is a cloth bag to carry the food. They were giving them out in the store and some senior students recommended me to get one. We don’t want to miss the show while eating in the cafeteria.” Haesha said, slightly pulling two ends of the cardboard-like object, unravelling it into a bag, one that was enclosed on all sides, sporting a zip at the top.

”I didn’t know that,” Jyorta let out a wry smile, sizing up the cloth bag, heaving a mental sigh of relief considering its size and the volume it offered.

’It has enough room for two people’s worth of food. I can head to the cafeteria and refill them whenever I want later.’ Jyorta thought, running beside Haesha who had broken into a sprint. Only while keeping pace with her did he realise that she was more agile than him, instilling in him a slight sense of shame, one that withdrew a moment later.

He thought about Haesha’s performance in their first training exercise, comparing it with his own. ’It is not possible for a person to excel in every field. Only when I acknowledge my deficiencies can I grow beyond.’

The two arrived in the cafeteria, quickly joining the queue that had less than 10 people standing. As they waited in the queue, watching it proceed at a fairly fast pace, Haesha turned around and took his ID card, holding it with hers.

”What will you eat?” She asked, keeping sight of the queue ahead, lest someone cut in. Though, judging by the almost vacant atmosphere, such an action would be obvious. Therefore, the chances of it happening were almost nil but Haesha didn’t dare relax.

”Your choice, since they all taste more or less the same. I’ll prefer something handy,” Jyorta replied, watching Haesha nod once and glance at his ID card. Without saying anything else, she handed the two ID cards to the man seated behind the counter, stating her preference.

The man pressed some buttons on the machine in front of him, printed a slip, and handed it over to Haesha. Accompanied by Jyorta, Haesha arrived at the self-service section, handing over the slip to a chef, also giving the cloth bag in her hand, ”Sir, please pack it.”

”Sure, child.” The chef smiled and instructed some chefs about the order, beginning to prepare his quota. He packed each item in neat wrappings and placed them inside the cloth bag, ensuring none were squashed.

”Just remember to not drop the wrappings there. You can dispose them here when you return.” The chef lifted the cloth bag, filled to the brim with food. He flashed a curt smile at Jyorta, extending the cloth bag to him.

”Thank you.” Jyorta grabbed hold of the bag, noticing the implication behind the chef’s actions, mentally thanking him once again. He then walked alongside Haesha, exiting the cafeteria. They stopped beside the yellow wall, lacking the directions to proceed forward.

After inquiring a couple of students standing nearby, one whose shirts were marked with numbers other than ’10’, they came to know of the reason. There wasn’t a path that had yet been established for them to climb.

”They call this arrangement a Stadium. One hour before the Graduation Ceremony starts, a path will open up for us.” A student shouted, noticing the number on their uniforms. Only the students from the October Batch were unaware of the events that transpired in the ceremony. As for the rest, they were bound to have witnessed at least one.

5:00 AM, a siren went off around the military academy, the sounds deafening. But, it wasn’t ear-piercing, the amplitude well within tolerable levels. Also, it seemed to have been dispersed through psychic energy, preventing any place from experiencing greater sounds.

Jyorta sensed the presence of psychic energy converging around a place near him; his vision spotted a mass of yellow, forming a flight of stairs that trailed to the ground. It was like a staircase that descended from heaven.

”Move 2 metres to the back, Cadets.” A stoic voice resounded in the area. Figuring out the identity behind the voice, Jyorta and Haesha hurriedly stepped back, watching the flight of stairs form in the place they stood before.

The flight of stairs spanned along the sides of the yellow wall, forming a straight inclined path that proceeded from the ground to the top of the wall. A handrail appeared, designed like a solid wall, spanning a metre high while sporting a width of 20 centimetres. A dome formed over it, encasing the staircase in a net of safety, preventing any accidents from happening while the students climbed in a hurry.

Another handrail formed in the centre, dividing the 2-metre wide path into two, with each spanning a metre wide. Arrow marks were formed along the inner sides of the dome covering the staircase, indicating the direction of travel for the two paths respectively.

Coincidently, the entrance to the staircase was situated just near them, allowing them to be one of the first few students to tread upon. A sizeable crowd had already formed at the entrance while many students rushed out from the two Indigo Buildings in droves.

The crowd pushed and pulled, congregated around the entrances that spanned the side of the yellow wall, numbering 10 in total. A staircase had been created for every hundred metres, numbering 10 along the two longer sides and numbering 4 along the remaining two shorter sides.

”Don’t push!” Jyorta shouted, glaring at the students who followed behind them. The situation wouldn’t bode well for the both of them, Espers with weak bodies if they were to trip in this scenario, accompanied my Warriors in droves.

He glanced at the top, watching the ground staff flying to and fro, unconcerned about the students that climbed the stairs, showing no intention to moderate the traffic. The path was a metre wide; the other side after the handrails was empty. But since it was meant for people to descend, not a single student tried to climb up using it, even though there wasn’t anyone at the top to descend through the path.

Rules existed in the military academy, ones established officially, and the ones circulated unofficially. But, irrespective of them, it wasn’t wise to commit actions in places or situations that weren’t intended for use, something all students knew by heart. This was why they all crowded in the narrow path, trying to push each other up.

Even though they were pushing the people at the front, they didn’t cause any scene, preventing the ground staff from casting their gazes towards them. As they were pushed around, Jyorta and Haesha held hands, helping each other maintain balance.

Jyorta held Haesha’s right hand with his left, using his right to hold the handrail for support. Hung around his right arm was the cloth bag, the hold sturdy enough to not come off. Thankfully, it seemed as if the chef had anticipated such a situation, packaging the food firmly to prevent any spill.

Feeling the softness in his left hand, Jyorta’s heart raced uncontrollably, adding a flush to his cheeks, heating them up a little. Thanks to the situation at hand, he was saved from the embarrassment. Everyone was busy climbing up, including the person who was the cause that induced his accelerated heart rate.

Eventually, they made their way to the top after a minute had passed, noticing a foggy scene come into the picture. Except for three rows of seats—situated along the ends of the ground layout-wise—that spanned beyond what his eyes could see, everything else was white, shrouded by mist.

Even though they couldn’t make sense of the surroundings, they mechanically followed the lead of the other students and soon occupied a spot in the first row. Their position was situated approximately in the centre along the longer side, the one beside the Psychic Block.