Chapter 210: Hypocrite, And a Piggyback
"Child Killer!" His emotional disturbance spiked, the sound resounding in his ears becoming louder. As every second passed, the sound decreased in magnitude, thanks to his false persona taking effect. His breathing was laboured, the shouts of Haesha falling on deaf ears.
A pale blue psychic arm seeped into him, quickly clearing his mind. Madam Rizenne's voice resounded in his ears, "Face your trauma and overcome your fears. What you faced back then, your current self can easily survive something like that."
"Yes," Jyorta nodded, his mind now calm. He then gazed at Haesha, "Thank you. Sorry to make you see such an embarrassing scene."
"Are you feeling okay now?" Haesha inquired with concern, watching the pale blue psychic arm exit his body. She then noticed Madam Rizenne nod once at her, indicating that things were under control.
"Yeah.." Jyorta nodded, his line of sight trailing to the figure of a boy who had haphazardly jumped into the stage, hollering in anger. A psychic arm caught hold of him and dropped him back on his seat. A pale blue psychic arm entered his body and calmed his emotional outburst.
"George.." Jyorta murmured, swerving his head to find Laila heaving ragged breaths on her seat; a pale blue psychic arm seeped into her and normalised her state. Haesha helped him get back on his feet; Jyorta took in a deep breath and released it, "Thank you, Haesha. I'm grateful."
"Don't mention it," Haesha shook her head, following his gaze, and focusing on the One-horned Rhino. "Anyone in my place would have done the same."
"Still, thank you." Jyorta stared at the One-horned Rhino, no longer experiencing any hallucinations. The blue soul in him removed the false persona; his emotions were now calm, unaffected by anything.
Trauma!
Despite being the instigator and the perpetrator of the incident, the disaster 6 years ago, the actual incident traumatised him. At that time, he was desperate, pressurised into enacting such a vicious scheme, his absence of attachments also attributing to the factor.
In order to obtain the body he was parasitizing, he claimed the lives of 28 people, 27 of whom were kids, young and innocent. He eradicated the future of 28 individuals solely to achieve his goal. The immorality of the action haunted him to this day.
Even the very first memory fragment he had siphoned out the subsoul of his Wisdom Parasite conformed to this incident. He didn't want to do something like that, but the situation forced his hand.
Whether he was forced or not, it was a fact that he killed 28 people. It weighed on his conscience, becoming more and more pronounced as he comprehended the memories of his past life, firming his character.
The One-horned Rhino's killing intent induced his suppressed memories, causing them to flare up and make him hallucinate. Thanks to his enhanced powers as an Area Controller, even the hallucinations were realistic.
Jyorta took in another deep breath and heaved a sigh, 'When push comes to shove, there isn't a limit to the method I would employ to save myself. I act righteous but, I am naught but a hypocrite bastard.'
"Sorry for that," Jyorta bowed towards Madam Rizenne. A voice resounded in his ears, "You were traumatised by that incident; it is only natural. But, don't worry; we had negated most of the trauma when you were in a coma. This is just the remnants we purposely left behind; take your time to overcome it."
Jyorta nodded, wondering about how they were able to achieve the effect. 'Can they control the hormonal disturbances affected by mental states? Every emotion, state of mind, etc. have an impact on the body. Are they using the effects of the Unranked Skill Regen to control the body state, thereby controlling the mental state? But, how can they achieve a long-term effect? It seems this Unranked Skill is not that simple.'
Jyorta watched the One-horned Rhino move about within the stage, springing for 10-15 steps each time before coming to a pause. It seemed to be getting a hang of the situation by probing the students. Despite its killing intent increasing without pause and its state of frenzy making it seem brainless, it still showed a level of balance.
"How do you propose we try to deal with it?" Jyorta turned towards Haesha, his clear eyes and his usually expressed demeanour calming her. Haesha looked at his eyes, not breaking contact until more than five seconds had passed.
She then expressed her thoughts, "It is an Observer, adding on to its naturally powerful body. So, it is a strong foe. We can't estimate its strength based on the other Frenzy Beasts. On our side, we Espers are lacking in our reach to affect it. So, only the Warriors can take the lead."
There wasn't uniformity in the strength of Frenzy Beasts, even among the same Tier. The Frenzy Parasites Nurtured their bodies, improving their strengths as a whole. But, the strength possessed by the Frenzy Beasts at the same Tier varied among the races.
For example, the bodies of the Floating Spiders were small, thereby possessing limited strength. Even though their bodies are Nurtured at Tier 1, it is still incomparable to the body of a Tier 1 One-horned Rhino, a beast that was born with a tremendously powerful physique.
The Nurturing effect and its outcome differed between different Frenzy Beast races. It wasn't like all Frenzy Beasts at the same Tier with the same Sync Rates possessed similar physiques; there were vast differences between each.
Each race had its gifts and advantages. The nurturing effect only further amplified it. If the Nurturing effect was quantised into a number, the amount attained by every Frenzy Beast, including humans was the same. The only difference was the distribution.
The Floating Spiders were more focused on agility, with other aspects lacking in comparison while being Nurtured. The One-horned Rhino was focused on strength and defence. Humans were the most balanced among all races, slightly leaning towards strength and agility.
At Tier 1, the nurturing effect was quite weak, only leading to little growth. So, the base physical prowess of each race was at greater play. In the case of the One-horned Rhino, it was even more pronounced.
An adult One-horned Rhino, even without a Frenzy Parasite, was capable of fighting against an Amplifier human on average, given he didn't use a weapon or Skill. This was thanks to its natural endowment.
As an Observer, the One-horned Rhino was even stronger. If they possessed weapons, humans had a lot of means to take down stronger foes with ease. But, since the students weren't allotted any weapons, they had to use tactics to bring their foe down.
"There are only two people at Tier 2 in our Batch," Haesha pointed at Jyorta, also glancing at Laila, "But, even the two of you had just made a breakthrough. Your prowess is no different to us Line Controllers."
"Our only option is for the Warriors to engage in a dog fight with the One-horned Rhino." Haesha was just about to continue when Jyorta interrupted her.
"Our psychic arms can seep through the defences of the One-horned Rhino with more ease than the attacks of the Warriors. After all, it possesses a tough defence. If we aim at its eyes with our psychic arms that it can't sense, our chances of taking it down are higher."
"But, we can't even reach it without getting impaled," Haesha retorted, showcasing their normal bodies. They might be able to dodge once or twice at most but, attacking the eyes of the rampaging One-horned Rhino whilst dodging was impossible. Also, thanks to the short-range of their psychic arms, they had to close in too much, placing their lives at a risk.
"A piggyback," Jyorta smiled, "The swiftest of the Warriors will carry the Espers with long enough ranges. While the Warriors dodge and attack, the Espers can calmly focus on its eyes."
"Fain enough," Haesha nodded, watching Jyorta signal Ashten Coorg with a wave. The other party brought Esina along as the two of them traversed the boundaries of the seats, soon arriving at their spots.
"What happened to you then? We were just about to come and see you." Esina asked in concern, placing the back of her hand on Jyorta's forehead, checking the temperature.
"I just recalled..that." Jyorta let out a wry smile.
"I see," Her eyes dimmed for a second when Ashten Coorg joined in on the conversation, "So, have you come up with a plan?"
"It's not much of a plan but," Jyorta detailed his plan, taking less than twenty seconds to get the point across. "We can try and see if this works."
"It is..feasible," After a moment of thought, Ashten nodded. "I can carry you while Esina can carry Haesha. We'll try to harass and keep its attention on us while you guys attack its eyes. Among the Espers, the two of you are the best right after Laila."
"Let me inform Dalna," Esina spoke, "Thanks to Dynamic Acuity, she can take the lead."
"Sure, let me see if I can rope in the others." Jyorta weaved through the crowd, all the while keeping an eye on the One-horned Rhino. The One-horned Rhino only beat its hooves, making threatening sounds but not taking any action.
He then gazed at its eyes, watching them be slightly glazed over. He then swerved his head, watching Madam Rizenne converse with Madam Mila as if unconcerned about the whole situation.
'Are they giving us some time to prepare?' Jyorta hurried along, intending to make use of the time. He didn't know how long they would retain their help, unwilling to waste it.
Jyorta made his way through the crowd, coming to face a boy standing erect, his eyes focused on the actions of the One-horned Rhino, his body ready to explode with power any second. Jyorta smiled, making a tap on his shoulder.