Psychic Parasite

Chapter 252: Limitations of Superhuman Powers
The Caterpillar paused in its actions, entranced by a scent it alone could smell. The cigar and wine glass in its hands dissolved into tendrils of blood, seeping into its body. It made sniffing actions similar to a dog, turning its body to gaze at the orange plum in Jyorta’s hand.

Jyorta gently placed it before the Caterpillar, watching it grab the plum in a hurry, afraid he would take it back. It took a deep sniff, expressing an emotion akin to a disabled man coming across an elixir that could regrow his limbs.

It opened its mouth, expanding it until the plum could fit easily, gently closing after pushing it deeper with its hands. It then swallowed the plum, watching the bulge on its body settle at its fourth segment. As seconds ticked forth in such a manner, the bulge became smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing.

A surge of energy seeped into him through the tendrils of blood, circulating through the veins, arriving at his heart before being pumped into the arteries.

During its flow, the blood carrying the energy arrived at his brain, seeping into the fused region. Jyorta experienced an intense headache; his eyes burned, his ears became hot, the pressure within turning unstable. The scents he smelled spiked without reason while his vision turned blank.

A second later, everything returned to normal; his flushed face gradually recovered to normalcy. Seeing the Caterpillar pat its tummy with satisfaction, Jyorta willed, watching the Caterpillar dissolve into tendrils of blood and retract into his face.

”Thank you, sir.” Jyorta made a bow and entered the lift, watching the man wave at him once, yawning as he picked up a newspaper from out of nowhere. The lift doors closed as it began its descent, soon opening again to reveal the circular hall from before.

The moment he exited, he noticed Haesha standing before him. Seeing his appearance, she smiled once, fist-bumping as she entered the lift, ”See you during dinner.”

”Sure,” Jyorta smiled, glancing at the staff lady wave at him, motioning for him to exit with a shout, ”Check the Portal for details and receipt.”

Followed by a curt bow at the staff lady, Jyorta exited the Head Office Building, thinking of what he wanted to do next. He recalled his fight in the Labyrinth, thinking of everything the nurse, Vaika had taught him.

”The Personification of my aura… I wonder what suits me the best and how I should obtain it.” He shook his head, lacking the clues to proceed with the topic at present, intending to consult with the nurse later.

He decided to surf the Portal and learn the relevant knowledge, beginning to walk towards the White Building. Seated inside the library, one that was digital, Jyorta surfed through the topics he wished to learn.

Every subject had a vast volume of information. Learning even a single subject took time, time that he didn’t have at present. The topics to study seemed infinite, it was what Jyorta felt. Unwilling to see his thoughts run wild, he searched for aura, beginning to read from the basics.

”So, aura can also help reduce a person’s body weight?” Jyorta was surprised to find an interesting piece of information. The more he read it, the more thrilled he became.

Unlike Espers, Warriors Nurtured their bodies. As they broke through into higher Tiers, their body continued to develop overall. They became stronger, their reflex and movements turned faster, their flesh became sturdier, etc. But, it wasn’t as if their explosive power came out of nowhere.

The laws of motion state that the force exerted by an object is equal to a product of its mass and acceleration. In layman’s terms, to punch with a stronger force, one’s fist should be heavy and be able to move faster.

The explosive force the bodies of Warriors could erupt with wasn’t solely the product of their enhanced muscular structure. The density of their muscles increases through Nurturing, adding weight to their bodies.

As their body sizes remain the same, the density of their flesh, blood, organs, bones, etc. increases, compressed further and further. So, even a normal-speed punch from them possesses tremendous force. And due to the enhanced cell structure, the muscles are able to withstand the weight and even actuate faster movements. This is how their strength increases on a comprehensive whole.

As he read through the topic, he marvelled at how heavy the bodies of Warriors became. Even an Amplifier at the peak of Tier 2 weighed between 120-140 kilograms. Developers at peak Tier 3 weighed between 350-400 kilograms. As for Shifters, they surpassed a tonne.

”Then, how are they living like normal people?” Jyorta thought about his family. His sister was a Developer, around mid-Tier 3. She ought to have weighed around 250 kilograms at the very least. But, based on what he saw, every item in their house was made from normal materials.

Their bed was a wooden bed; but, 250 kilograms wasn’t enough to damage it, considering the quality of the wood it was made from. But, their sofas were just foam and sponge. Considering her weight, she should have flattened them or caused a large depression at the very least.

”But nothing like that ever happened,” Jyorta recalled many such incidents. Every incident pointed to the fact that Heima’s body weight conformed to a normal lady her age. It wasn’t anything monstrous.

”So…” He read through, seeing how the aura behaved.

”The aura present in humans has this trait. Some Frenzy Beasts that possess the ability of flight also has this trait in their aura. Since aura is produced by every cell in the body, it focuses solely on the cell it was generated from, negating its excess weight.” His eyes widened as he continued, thrilled, ”Despite how heavy a Warrior’s body is, thanks to the aura, he/she would normally only weigh as much as a normal adult. But, that is unless they don’t emit their aura.”

”Aha,” He involuntarily shouted, engrossed in the topic, ”When a Tier 2 or above Warrior unleashes his aura, its effect falls, making his body weigh close to his actual weight. The greater the flux of the aura he emits, the heavier his body becomes. But, since a person can’t realistically emit all the aura in their bodies, his body weight will always be less than his actual weight.”

Jyorta noticed a tinge of sweat form on his forehead as he read the next part, ”This method is used in fights. Keeping the aura in one’s body, the Warrior makes himself light. Now, using his enhanced physique, he can move at speeds faster than he was capable of before. And, the moment his attack makes contact with his foe, he unleashes his aura, adding the weight of his body behind it. This way, he erupts with a force stronger than what was theoretically possible.”

”This ability works wonders when used with the most common Shifter Skill—Mass Shifter.” Jyorta found a paragraph below, with a larger font and highlighted in blue, making it stand out from the rest of the article.

”How does the aura exhibit this effect? A similar example is the phenomenon of Buoyancy. But, the effect of aura is dissimilar to the buoyant force in certain areas. Unlike the buoyant force that comes into place thanks to gravity, the effect of the aura makes use of gravity to exhibit it. It uses the force of gravity as an anchor, turning it into a stable foothold that it uses to push the body against. This is how it decreases body weight. The demerit of this effect is that in places with weaker gravitational force, this effect of the aura is relatively affected. In the vacuum of space, beyond the range of Earth’s gravitational field, you will feel the entirety of your body’s mass.”

There was another statement beneath, highlighted in red, ”The psychic arms of Espers follow the same rule. A psychic arm of an Esper is capable of lifting weights. But, the point of anchor, i.e. the brain feels zero strain from the weight the psychic arms carry. That is because the psychic arms use the force of gravity as anchors and not the fleshly body. This is also why Wave Controllers and above can fly. But, this also leads to a frightening conclusion: at higher altitudes, the strength displayed by the psychic arm reduces, same for its speed and other abilities.”

Jyorta leaned on his seat, exhaling a long breath, massaging his brows. This article shattered some of his fantasies. He thought about exploring the space once he became stronger and could fly.

He also wondered why humans hadn’t thought about expanding into space and colonising other planets. All they needed was an Unranked Skill that would help them terraform and create habitable environments. This would prevent them from having to wage war against the Frenzy Beasts.

All they would need is to capture lower Tiered Frenzy Beasts that they had a use for, giving rise to an era of development and prosperity. It wasn’t that impossible of a plan considering the superhuman abilities they possessed. Jyorta finally read the statement that covered half the page in large fonts, highlighted in red with golden borders. It was what shattered his fantasies.

”Psychic arms become weaker as the gravitational force becomes weaker. In the vacuums of space, beyond the range of Earth’s gravity, Espers can no longer fly. There, the Law of Conservation of Momentum and Conservation of Inertia comes into complete effect. So, the brain experiences enough strain to make the Esper faint for even moving a one-metre long psychic arm. Even Psychic Ancestors aren’t exempted from this.”