Psychic Parasite

Chapter 370: Foresight, Planning, and Ambition
Rhachis Ancestor Dawn kept watch on Laila’s state, ready to act at a moment’s notice. Suddenly, he noticed the reality around Laila warp before the humanoid-serpent entered her body, struggling itself to condense within the small ’frame.’

”Aah!” Laila screamed in pain, rolling on the floor as numerous soul tendrils exited her, thrashing around. They attacked in all sorts of ingenious ways, methods unthinkable by one person. Each action contained tremendous insight, creating new means even during the course of a motion.

Rhachis Ancestor Dawn readily activated the Tier 5 Relic, unleashing blinding light, first creating a dome to contain all the damage. The thrashing of the soul tendrils tried to destroy the house but were repelled by the light coating the walls.

Rhachis Ancestor Dawn maintained its activation, solely maintaining an effect to suppress the mind. It was similar to the Tier 3 Skill, Mental Calm but was more focused on suppressing the creation of thoughts.

Laila’s mind relaxed, no longer thinking of complex stuff, allowing all the experiences she had gained from the Mental Realm to settle within her. The moment she tried to think or act according to them, they would be riled up, shattering her mind instantly.

Even though the experiences gained from the Mental Realm became one with the individual the moment they returned to reality, there existed a limit for that. A runner will have the experience of running, something he had accumulated over years.

They would be his insight into his running form, the actuation of his muscles for the process, the thought process generated while on the run, and the muscle memory that he had trained to run, they were all part of his experiences. It took time to obtain that muscle memory and coordinate both the mind and the body to the experience.

If the experience fragments they obtained in the Mental Realm exceeded the limit their mind and body could withstand, the overload would just shatter their vessel. Laila possessed a powerful soul, an amalgamation of countless souls.

So, the experience she possessed was already at a tremendous level. To prevent her body from shattering because of them, she kept most of them hidden, only pulling them forth when necessary, slowly planning to digest them while she grew.

Now, her actions in the Mental Realm netted her way too many experience fragments, a quantity beyond what she could store in her vessel.

Blue radiance erupted from her body, using the experience fragments as the fuel. Laila’s soul form appeared in reality, a blurry figure that spanned beyond what the eyes could see. Rhachis Ancestor Dawn wasn’t versed in the domain of the Soul, his perception only witnessing a blue, flat wall.

There were faint spots all across the wall, condensed into specks devoid of light. The blue radiance used the experience fragments to bombard the spots, destroying them. Black smoke wafted out from her body as Laila sat cross-legged, continuing with the process.

An hour later, when she could divert enough attention to speak, she opened her eyes, ”Prevent anyone in Dawn City from trying to attempt a breakthrough now. The Mind Hound is still here. Based on my guess, it would leave after two days. So, after two days, try to send the geniuses from your city into the Mental Realm. Most of the Cogent Phrenics in the area had been destroyed from my fight. They are just a sea of experience fragments now. And, a significant quantity of them are Tier 5 experience fragments, of exceptional beings who were only inferior to the Ancestors.”

She gazed in all seriousness for a moment before closing her eyes, ”This is my payment for your help. Use this opportunity to train your successors. Also, protect me from harm when I am stabilising myself.”

”For how long?” Rhachis Ancestor Dawn inquired.

”No idea; it might take me a decade or two at the very least.” Laila sighed, ”I have to digest everything I have now. Only then would I be able to contend against our enemies in the future.”

”You don’t have that much time,” Rhachis Ancestor Dawn frowned, ”The Mental Realm would hit its saturation point in four decades, it was you who predicted this number. If you lose a decade or two now, you won’t have enough time to attain Tier 6. Even for you, that far into the future after the saturation point would be a death sentence.”

”I will no longer attempt a breakthrough on earth,” Laila turned silent, focusing on her task, fully immersed in it. She no longer had the attention span to speak.

”I see, so that is your plan.” Rhachis Ancestor Dawn nodded, finding it only natural that the entity before her dared to utter this matter. After all, she was once known as Rhachis Ancestor Space.

Colonising other planets!

They would be lying if they said they never considered this possibility. Humanity had already built spacecrafts capable of travelling to other planets during the silicon era. Now, with their improved technology, not to mention the countless abilities they possessed, it was easy to travel to other planets.

But, doing so posed numerous risks. There didn’t exist a planet apart from earth capable of sustaining life. And, they didn’t dare risk a journey into space without a destination.

Moreover, suppose they wished to colonise a planet, they had to terraform it first to suit their needs. This was doable, considering the abilities each Ancestor among humanity possessed.

The energy needed to terraform a planet was tremendous, but as long as they planned accordingly, they could achieve it, even if it took decades to a century. After all, they had the resources on earth to help sustain their energy needs.

But, there existed just one reason for them to not focus on this plan. Because they couldn’t afford it.

Earth was the place where humanity was created and had lived for eons. There was that sentimental and emotional pillar in the hearts of all humans.

People tend to get sentimental and miss their homes, even when they just travel to a nearby city for a week. This was apparent even during the silicon era, a period where humanity faced no external threats, and most of the world was a safe place. And, humans possessed the means of transportation to travel to any part of the world within a day.

Even then, they missed their hometowns when they visited foreign lands. And, it wasn’t a surprise when it was the earth in question. It was where their entire species had been living since creation. To humans, or any other living being, the earth was an emotional pillar deeply entrenched in their minds, their hearts, and their very genetic material.

Leaving it behind to head to a foreign plant was a difficult thing to do, not impossible, but insanely difficult. But, such a flimsy reason wasn’t what stopped them during the threat humanity constantly faced.

They couldn’t afford to leave earth, not because of their emotional attachment, but because of the earth’s development itself. Earth was prosperous, not just in natural resources but in the development of numerous paths of power.

The Parasite path solely depended on the Wisdom and Frenzy Parasites. So, the Parasite path could be established anywhere they existed and had a host to survive. But, the other paths weren’t like that. They depended on the Parasite path for development.

On earth, the Mental Realm had already fully formed, now possessing a treasure trove of experiences. It allowed the conditions for the development of the Mind path. Also, through his comprehension of the various paths to significant levels, Dawn noticed a subtle relation.

’When the Mental Realm had developed to a certain extent, new Skills have emerged among both humanity and Frenzy Beasts that possess a hint of the Mind path’s essence. It is like the world is helping nurture and develop us along with the various paths.’

If they were to head to another planet, suppose mars, then they would have to terraform it first and then develop it, starting with numerous breakthroughs to produce Ancestors and create a nascent form of the Mental Realm.

Because of the aura, the presence of the earth itself was growing. It was a feat encompassing the entire world, the results furthering their development at skyrocketing speeds. New Skills related to aura emerged while the path became comprehensive in all aspects.

The presence of the land itself showed signs of sentience, something Rhachis Ancestor Dawn had sensed after reaching the peak of Aura path.

Every living being had a soul during birth that disappeared after death. Whether a system of reincarnation existed or not, even he had no clue. But, if an answer to it existed, it was only present in earth, the only planet he knew that contained life since millions of years ago.

If they went to a new planet, they would basically lose access to everything of value on earth. They would have to toil very hard to develop their new planet and face greater hardships for meagre results. But in the meantime, their foes on earth would digest all the new resources and gains the earth created and would become numerous times stronger than humans, both individually, and as a collective whole.

When that happened, they could just launch a campaign against the planet humanity had migrated to, swiftly annihilating them. It would be like humanity had wantonly made such a stupid decision and wished to be annihilated.

It was why they couldn’t afford to leave earth. Instead of leaving earth, they would rather fight for survival on it. After all, despite the threat they faced, they possessed the means to protect themselves and were the race that was developing the fastest out of all.

”But, you’re different. Anywhere you wish to go, be it in this world or to a different planet, you can head there in an instant.” He then nodded in realisation, ”I see, so that is why he imbued the ability of space in you, Gajara.”

”So, you were also thinking that far, huh.” Rhachis Ancestor Dawn muttered to himself, shaking his head with a chuckle before he gazed at Laila with hope; concern and affection soon became the most dominant emotions in his gaze.

He set up the table, took a seat, and poured himself some tea, watching Laila’s meditation, hoping for the day when she would open her eyes once again. Silence ensued in the area.