Psychic Parasite

Chapter 335: Mental Frenzy: Common, But Terrifying
”I am Jyorta Bone, Area Controller from the October Batch,” Jyorta handed his ID card to the staff behind the counter, ”I wish to check the availability of Tier 3 Relics to exchange for my Batch.”

The staff took his ID card and swiped it in a machine, pulling up his information on the monitor. She went through them, noticing the Credits he had accumulated, spent, and still retained. On seeing that he had more than enough Credits to exchange for a Tier 3 Relic, she nodded at him, returning his ID card.

”There are still four Tier 3 Relics remaining to be exchanged for the October Batch. Based on our procedures, we don’t set aside any Relics per each Batch. All the Relics we receive are stored in our storage. You can exchange for any Relic from them, as long as your Batch hasn’t hit the limit.”

’So, there are still 4 left.’ Jyorta heaved a sigh of relief, deciding after a couple of seconds, ”Ma’am, I wish to exchange for one. Can I see the list of the Relics?”

”Wait in a corner. I’ll call you when the related staff arrives. You’ll have to visit the storage to make your decision.” The staff replied, motioning him towards an empty space in the room. Jyorta stood in the designated place, watching three other students present in the room.

On noticing his stare, they gave a customary nod with a formal smile. Jyorta returned the greeting and looked around the room, observing the floor design. He came to this place at least 9 times every month to receive his Tier 4 Frenzy Fruits, so he was already familiar with the area.

Now, he was bored, failing to find anything interesting to garner his attention. Even the students that were present stood quite far from each other, preventing any conversations from taking form.

It seemed the staff didn’t want any noise early in the morning, hence the arrangement. Jyorta waited for more than 30 minutes, perfectly bored. There was nothing else for him to do except stand in his spot. The other students that had been waiting at the start had long since obtained what they sought and had left, leaving him as the sole student in the room.

’Maybe I’ll sit?’ Jyorta lightly moved, intending to crouch when the staff smiled his way. ’Ugh, guess I’ll continue to stand.’

Jyorta looked at the nail on his index finger, tracing the pattern on it with his eye, his boredom making him lazy. He didn’t have much to think about, for the time being, the moment of peace making him wish to sleep.

It was still early in the morning after all.

7:15 AM, the staff from before beckoned him, saying, ”Proceed through lift number 6. The staff had just arrived.”

”Thank you,” Jyorta made a light bow before turning around, glancing around for the designated lift. He entered it, watching the doors close as the lift moved up, soon stopping after a dozen seconds. The lift doors opened to reveal a tiny room, 4 metres in breadth and 2 metres in length.

To his right was a doorway, hidden by a curtain. Jyorta walked forward and lightly pushed the curtain, peaking through.

”Come in,” A voice resounded in his ears, gruff and tired. Jyorta pushed the curtain aside and stepped foot in a long corridor, with both sides covered by a row of shelves. Each shelf was a metre long and 50 centimetres high, covered by glass panels.

Contained within were Relics of all shapes and sizes. A label was attached on the glass panel of each shelf, underneath it was a list of bullet points pertaining to the Relic inside.

A bulky middle-aged man walked out from the other end of the corridor that spanned almost a hundred metres in length, ”At any given time, we have at least 80 Tier 3 Relics here. The ones at the farther end are Tier 4 Relics, numbering around 10. I was informed that the October Batch can still claim four Tier 3 Relics. If you wish, you can select anywhere between one and four Tier 3 Relics, given you have enough Credits.”

”Can I stroll here and look through the details of every Relic?” Jyorta inquired, looking at the label of the first shelf.

”Yes, you can.” The middle-aged man nodded, ”But you must never touch anything. When you have decided, point at it with your finger, I’ll take it out for you.”

Saying his piece, the middle-aged man disappeared. Jyorta looked at the label on the first shelf, reading its title, ”Relic C071204.”

Listed below were the three Skills that had fused to result in the Skill within the Tier 3 Relic, ”Tier 1: Zoom, Tier 2: Fist Burst, Tier 3: Flight.”

”A stands for Tier 1 Skill, B stands for Tier 2 Skill, and C stands for Tier 3 Skill. The alphabet denoted at the start means the base Skill that formed the fused Skill. In this Relic, the Tier 1 and Tier 2 Skills have fused into the Tier 3 Skill, altering it. Every two digits are the numbering of the respective Skills in our database, from Tier 3 to Tier 1.” The middle-aged man’s gruff voice resounded in his ears.

Jyorta nodded and looked further, reading the bullet points listed below, ”The fused Skill is named Flight Burst. It condenses the ability of flight into it and releases it at once, allowing the user to accelerate from zero to maximum in an instant. The flight pattern is uneven, the Relic cannot be controlled to manoeuvre in the air. It can only give bursts for flight in one direction. Recommended: Hand.”

Jyorta noticed that the Relic was shaped into a glove. ’So, if I strap it on my hand, I can alter my direction in the air through moving my hand. But, I would need another similar glove to balance them out. Using one for flight is difficult. But, can I really use them? Aren’t Relics incredibly fragile?’

The middle-aged man’s voice resounded again, as if sensing his doubts, ”All the Relics here have been fused with Tier 3 Artifacts. We made them based on their effects into the most optimal form. So, they can be used without worry.”

Jyorta nodded, gazing at the Tier 3 Skill, Flight listed for the Relic. The Tier 3 Skill, Flight, and the Unranked Skill Flight were more or less the same at Tier 3.

’If both were pitted against the Floating Spider’s Trait, considering all three were at the same level, I wonder who would win?’ Jyorta then proceeded to the next shelf, looking at the Relic in it.

”Relic C010901. Tier 3: Mental Frenzy, Tier 2: Amplified Aura, Tier 1: Aura Sense. Base Skill: Tier 3.” Jyorta looked at the name of the fused Skill, ”Amplified Mental Frenzy. The effect is an amplified version of the Tier 3 Skill, Mental Frenzy. In response, the energy consumed is accordingly higher.”

Mental Frenzy, the most common Tier 3 Skill Nurtured by human Developers. It caused the mind of the foe to become chaotic, its thoughts failing to form coherently. The user can also manipulate the Skill to direct the actions of the foe, making it one of the strongest Tier 3 Skills. Its prime advantage was the fact that it could be stacked.

When two Developers activated the Skill, the resulting effect was more potent and widespread. 10, 20, 100... there was no limit to the quantity it could be stacked, becoming one of the prime reasons the Skill was heavily valued by humans and equally feared by Frenzy Beasts. As it was one of the most common Tier 3 Skills in humanity, it was further feared.

There were precedents where one hundred Developers used the Skill in unison and killed four Transformer Frenzy Beasts.

The Relic was shaped into a hemisphere, with a handle attached to the flat surface. Based on the details, the effect of the Skill was unleashed from the curved surface, with its effective range being 30 metres.

’I suppose the Skills in Relics cannot be as versatile as the Skills in a Warrior.’ Jyorta shook his head. The difference between a Skill in a Warrior and a Relic was that the Skills in Relics were fixed with their effect. Only their output quantity can be varied based on the energy input. Everything else apart from that couldn’t be controlled.

It was a different concept when the Skill was in a Warrior. The same Skill, when used by a human or a Frenzy Beast would be at least 10 times more potent, the difference arrising from their control, varying the Skill’s effect according to the situation.

Moreover, the Skills in the Relics only possessed base strength, i.e. the potency they possessed the moment they were Nurtured. The Skills in humans or Frenzy Beasts would grow based on their comprehension of it, the effect apparent especially from Tier 3.

It was the same as how a Relic with the Skill Flight would only allow a person to move unidirectionally, like they had attached a thruster to them. They would have to vary the direction the Relic faced to change directions in air, which had a lot of difficulties in high speed and sharp manoeuvring. If they were even an instant late in their actions, they would lose balance and fall.

The Skill, Flight when in a human, allowed them to dance freely in the air without any difficulties. Such was the degree of freedom available to a Skill when it was within a Warrior.

’I have to select a Relic with an emission-based Skill that doesn’t require any control.’ Jyorta made his decision, proceeding to the next shelf.

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