Psychic Parasite

Chapter 221: Psychic Armoury
On his way to the exit, Jyorta noticed the getup of the two approaching students. Leather armour covered their entire body, tough, but flexible. Armguards made of steel, attached to the leather. Leg guards that stopped before the ankle, also made of steel.

Chest armour made from attached steel strips, riveted for ease of movement. Finally, a helmet that enclosed their head; the pores for the nose stuffed with certain herbs, and the visor possessing a transparent membrane, selectively outlining the eyes. Chainmail covered their neck region while an armoured skirt—chainmail overlaid with metal strips—hung from their hips, reaching their knees.

They didn’t wear any gauntlets, only sporting leather gloves that gave a better grip. Strapped to their belt was a tiny bag. Hung next to it were a knife and a tong, the ends sharp.

The first of the duo was a boy, holding an unsheathed sword. Hung on his back was a one-handed axe. The other one was a girl, holding a spear that spanned her height. Hung on her back was a gada, a blunt mace with a spherical head, the shaft arm length.

They conversed in hushed tones, their gait alert, despite only being in the Red Building. They passed by Jyorta, ignoring after a glance, busy with their plans. Jyorta heard their conversation in the short duration they were in range and their voices were audible enough to be understood.

”…better to have one blunt weapon as safety…”

”…spear too long to use in narrow paths…”

Jyorta shook his head, walking after a pause. Just after a slight probe, he determined their states as Amplifiers, a notch stronger than the rest. When he exited the Red Building, he noticed three more students walking in, wearing armours of different styles based on their battle preference. He also witnessed weapons the names of which he was ignorant.

Even on a conservative estimate, they were stronger than him. Jyorta wasn’t disheartened, taking a turn to the left. There were two buildings of the same colours, one in the Rhachis Block, for Warriors while the other was in the Psychic Block, for Espers.

Their earlier session had been conducted in the Red Building in the Rhachis Block. After turning left, he walked in the direction of the Head Office Building. The Red Building was one of the longest buildings, second only to the dorm, i.e. Indigo Building.

After walking for a minute, he arrived before the Orange Building. It was situated next to the Red Building, their walls attached. The floor of the Orange Building was raised high. A trail of steps was present on the front, numbering around 20, wide. At the top was a large double door, four metres wide and ten metres high.

It was partially opened, spanning wide enough for a person to enter. The moment Jyorta took a step, he felt a gust of air, flowing from the top to the bottom. It acted as a screen, separating the interior and the exterior environment of the building. He crossed the screen of air, stepping into a tiny hall, five metres in length and 20 metres in breadth.

The air was pungent, mixed with the smell of rust. It was dry, the humidity non-existent in comparison to the humid air outside. A pile of scrap formed a mound before him, reaching twice his height.

It was filled with pieces of metal, iron filings, machined iron dust, rusted screws, steep plates, cracked sheet metal, semi-soldered iron bars, etc. It was like he had walked into a scrap yard. Jyorta treaded aside the mound of scrap, noticing a counter at the end.

Hung on the wall behind the counter was a spear, the likes of which he had never seen. It was made of bones, overlaid with lines of magenta. The tip suffused with hints of black, causing faint smoke to billow out. But, it was even fainter than the smoke from incense, almost unable to be detected. But, its size was monstrous, spanning diagonally along the wall, from the lower right corner to the upper left corner where the blade of the spear ended.

A pathway existed next to the counter, the contents behind it hidden by a curtain. Seated behind the counter was a middle-aged lady, her expression one of boredom. The moment she detected Jyorta, she expressed her annoyance.

”Ma’am,” Jyorta stood before the counter, ”I came to look for…”

”Weapons and armours right?” The lady grunted, lazily waving her hands, ”That is what everyone comes here for. Head inside and look through the guide. Someone will help you complete the formality there.”

’Then what are you seated here for?’ Jyorta controlled his urge to retort, nodding in return before entering the pathway beside the counter. The moment he left, the lady took out a register, lazily scribbling some words, slamming it close before gently hitting her head on the table.

”This is boring…”

It was a short passage, only spanning three metres in length. Upon exiting it, he came face to face with a large signboard. It only had two words, Warriors and Espers, with an arrow mark next to each.

It was a wide, but narrow corridor. There was an entry next to him, with the plaque overhead reading Warrior. He then walked along the corridor, soon arriving before the second entry, the plaque reading Esper.

It was a sprawling marketplace, with racks covering all walls, spanning from ground to the 15 –metre high ceiling. There were also placed into neat sections, from one end of the hall to the other. Perforated platforms spread around them, divided into floors, with helical staircases treading down from each. Each platform was wide enough for two people to move side by side. Items were arranged in each shelve, almost stacked to the brim.

Students went about on each platform, browsing the contents. Attached to each shelve was a tiny booklet, detailing the specifications of the contents inside.

A voice resounded in his ear, ”Welcome to the Psychic Armoury. Read through this guide before you proceed to look into weapons you desire.”

Jyorta witnessed a book hovering in the air before him, the pages in it automatically flipping, displaying the contents to him. It wasn’t much, only 10 pages. But since each page was almost three millimetres thick, the book looked thicker than it ought to.

Jyorta turned his head, glancing around, unable to discern the location of the speaker. He also couldn’t sense the existence of the psychic arm holding the book. When Jyorta took hold of the book, it failed to budge.

The pages flipped once, stopping at the first page. It began to turn to the second page, the actions slow. But it urged Jyorta to finish reading it before the page completely flipped over.

”Any weapon design you could think of or haven’t even though of are all here. Don’t be arrogant thinking that you can come up with a groundbreaking design. If you still feel your design is better than the rest here, head to the planning department and have a fight with them. Maybe they will improve…?”

’What the hell is this?’ Jyorta was surprised, continued to read the contents.

”But unless you have experienced the Wilds, you wouldn’t know whether a design would work or not. The Labyrinth of Frenzy is just an imitation; it doesn’t count as experience in the Wilds. After all, Madam Marble would save you before you die here…”

Jyorta read through the end of the first page, reading the final sentence, ”So, shut up and choose the specifics among either the Chakrams or the Spindles. The choice is yours.”

The moment he finished reading, the page flipped over, stopping at the seventh page. It only had a couple of lines, ”Among Spindles: Type 47 and Type 59. Among Chakrams: Type 24 and Type 30. Look at the guidelines on the floor for directions.”

The book slammed shut, disappearing from view. Jyorta blinked a couple of times, surprised, shocked even, remembering the contents displayed. Only then did he notice that the font had been in green. He gazed at the floor, noticing a row of words and numbers lining the middle.

Many arrow marks were carved on the floor, leading to each rack that spanned from floor to ceiling, housing rows and rows of shelves. The arrangement was similar to a library, the only difference being the number of columns and their sheer size.

Boards were hung from the ceiling, large, like banners, situated across various locations. The names of the weapons in the respective section were written in large; the same was on the floor, making it seem like a complicated maze, the directions confusing.

Jyorta felt a headache the moment he looked at them. There were also short paragraphs of descriptions beside each name and number, detailing them. Most were accompanied by line art, to further detail the concept. There also existed arrow marks, connecting one explanation over to another, the intention to help the student by pointing at the next specific should the preceding one not be up to his taste.

Thanks to the information engraved everywhere, Jyorta felt as if he had walked into a room where sorcery was being performed. With a shake of his head, he read an information block right next to his feet.

”Type 7 Two-point Sphere: Rigid spherical object on the ends of which strings can be wound. Control the sphere to make threaded nets easily in battle and trap your enemies. For a Three-point Sphere, follow this arrow… For a higher Type of Two-point Sphere, follow this… For classification of its Type, follow this arrow…”

Jyorta followed the arrow, soon arriving before a box that gave him a short explanation. ”Two-point Sphere: Type 1, 100 grams of weight, a spherical radius of 2 centimetres, and material iron. Type 2, 120 grams of weight, a spherical radius of 3 centimetres, and material iron…”