Chapter 166: Secrets of the Aristocratic Families

'I wonder what else has been lost during the dark ages.' Jyorta wondered, watching Madam Rizenne unleash a psychic arm and open the door next to the stage, allowing a staff to push a trolley inside.

The trolley was shaped into a prism, with rollers attached to its base, providing motion. A thin, inconspicuous line separated the prism into two segments, situated at a spot one-fourth of its height from the top.

Once the staff pushed the trolley inside the auditorium, he slightly bowed towards Madam Rizenne and exited. A psychic arm flashed and lifted the trolley, placing it on the dais, next to the podium.

The psychic arm seeped into it, causing it to emit a gentle illumination, lasting for a second before vanishing. The top segment unravelled into four triangles, creating a tiny platform while sporting a square-shaped hole in the centre.

The base of the prism trolley spanned a side of 2 metres, shaped into a square. It covered quite the space on the dais, but thanks to its height only spanning 1 metre, it didn't seem hulking. But, it was still eye-catchy enough to capture the interests of the students.

"We will go through the Skills of Tier 2 and above at later sessions. Now, we will be familiarising ourselves with the Tier 1 skills, using these Relics." Madam Rizenne pointed at the prism trolley, inserting her psychic arm through the gap formed at the top.

The psychic arm lifted a tiny cube, spanning the sides of 10 centimetres, "This is a Mould Relic, extracted from an Observer after death."

Her psychic arm held the cube atop the prism trolley, creating a filament before it, refracting the incident light, and magnifying the image presented to the students. "It is generally difficult to make use of Relics because most of the Relics contain Skills that affect the body. So, since it is an external object, your body will reject the changes it tries to induce."

"Therefore, most Relics can never be used. We have five more Mould Relics inside this prism; they have Skills that could be used for observation. Now, one by one, come to the dais and use this Relic. Experience the effects of this Skill for yourself and enrich your knowledge." Madam Rizenne said, pointing at the student from the first row.

The student hesitated for a second, feeling shy about having to stand in front of everyone. Urged by his friends and unwilling to waste Madam Rizenne's time, the student climbed up the dais and arrived before the cube.

"Even though Warriors cannot control their energy like Espers, they can at least emit it from their palms. Its sole practical use is to activate the Relics." Madam Rizenne created another psychic arm, seeping it into the student and guiding him about the process.

The student closed his eyes and concentrated on his Heart Crystal, guiding the energy based on the lead of the psychic arm. If he had tried it on his own, it would have proven to be impossible.

But, thanks to the psychic arm that tugged at the energy and guided it through the bloodstream, the student was able to memorise the pathways that he had to concentrate on to guide the energy to his palms in the most efficient manner.

It wasn't as if he was creating a channel to direct the energy flow. His heart pumped blood through the arteries in his body, the same as always. Since his Heart Crystal was lodged in his heart, a trace of energy from it seeped into the blood, carried by the blood vessels, and transported to the rest of the body.

The energy nourished the bones, muscles, and internal organs, with the remainder still travelling through the blood vessels, carried by the veins to the heart. This created a cycle, one that had been established in the human body since its inception. The energy was just an add-on that had attached itself to the blood vessels and used it as a means of transport.

"Your Tier 1 Skill is vision-based. So, upon activation, it will draw the energy from your Heart Crystal towards your eyes. Follow my guidance and prevent yourself from wholly activating your Skill, directing the drawn energy towards your palm. This is how most Warriors unleash their energy to activate Relics." Madam Rizenne's voice guided the student, helping him get used to the process, shaping his muscle memory.

She beckoned the next four students, instructing them to form a line beside the boy. She then grabbed hold of the cube and swept her psychic arm into the body of the second student. She then unleashed three more psychic arms, seeping them into the bodies of the remaining students, guiding them under the same process.

Madam Rizenne glanced at the students seated in the auditorium, hearing the groans from the ones seated at the back. They had figured out the next segment in the session.

She smiled, "We will be doing this in batches. Every three rows will be counted as a batch."

The door next to the dais opened as the staff from before walked in, holding a tiny box in his hand. Contained in it were stamps, affixed over them were serial numbers, and a designated time. The staff distributed the stamps in a matter of minutes, giving one each.

He started from the fourth row and proceeded towards the last. Once he was done, he exited the auditorium.

Madam Rizenne spoke aloud, "Return here 15 minutes prior to your designated time. Until then, you are free to do as you please."

The students pocketed their stamps and began to exit the auditorium, grumbling about their allotted time and how it would affect their sleep schedule. The students that had been instructed to stand looked at the stamps they had received, noticing that they formed the last batch.

Madam Rizenne commanded them, "Finish your punishment, get some rest and then return here. Sir Rishen Veera will be the one to monitor you; he has already been informed of your arrival. Get going now."

The students bowed once and exited with sulking backs, lamenting at their fate. They grumbled and exchanged smack talk with their friends who took pleasure in their predicament.

Jyorta stretched his arms a little, preventing a yawn from leaking out. He took in the view of his blue soul, watching the surroundings turn dark, assaulted by grating sounds and a nauseous stench. They battered his blue soul, the murkiness, as a result, coating its surface, striving to seep in.

Even though they failed to break past the blue soul's natural defences, it was only a matter of time before they broke through. After all, the blue soul didn't possess any resistance against the murkiness. It only had the capabilities to purify itself of the murkiness through the verse imparted by the creepy-haired man or by using its Soul Cornea.

Mixed amid the sounds were wails, originating from its proximity. Turning around, the blue soul derived the source to be from a soul on the right, the soul of Dalna Doppler. It was regular sized like others her age but its murkiness was on another level.

There were bangles pierced all across the surface of her soul, almost forming a layer. There were a couple of spikes lodged through the soul, piercing from one side to the other, forming a 'V' shape on both ends.

Mixed amid the wails were shouts of rage, the hatred suffused deep into each connotation. There was also maniacal laughter that went off from time to time and the sounds of rigorous meditation, the accompanying chants striving to soothe the atmosphere.

Though, all these sounds and smell seemed superficial, like something that had been formed only recently. Hidden beneath them was normal murkiness, the sewage kind that polluted the souls of everyone, originating from the thoughts, feelings, lingering attachments, emotions, memories, desires, etc.

'So, she came to experience numerous horrors the moment she survived her Induction Ceremony and got accustomed to the Wisdom Parasite in her. As expected, successors of the Aristocratic Families who had achieved a Sync Rate greater than 85 percent are treated differently. I should ask sister about it when I graduate; after all, she had attained 89 percent.'

'I wonder what horrors she was subjected to for her soul to be polluted to this extent.' Jyorta sighed, controlling himself from helping the other party.

First, he didn't have enough psychic energy to use externally. The amount produced was being used by a Soul Cornea in destroying the ego that was being birthed from the memory fragments in his subsoul. It was a continuous process, requiring a steady stream of energy expenditure.

Second, he had no idea if the murkiness polluting the soul had any effect on them in reality. Even if he destroyed the murkiness, he had yet to see any positive outcomes emerge from it. He didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing so, he didn't want to disturb the status quo unless he obtained some form of assurance.

Actions taken under half-baked knowledge was the principality of foolishness.

"I did it!" On the dais, the first student exclaimed in happiness, sensing a stream of energy gush out from his palm. Though, it dissipated into the air within a second, lacking the binding agent to hover around.

Next, Madam Rizenne placed the Relic in his hands, advising him to hold it before his eyes. As the student did as told, he emitted energy from his palms, noticing the Relic absorb everything in its vicinity, lighting up with a red hue.

It then emitted a gentle light on two opposite sides, with one of them incident on the student's eyes. Through this, the sight witnessed by the student changed, causing him to exclaim once again.