Chapter 396: Don't Waste My Time

Jyorta closed his eyes, panting as he felt a mild headache. The blue soul was on the verge of bursting, having expanded to the limits beyond which the memory fragments in it could sustain.

In the domain of the soul, a soul could only grow based on the number of memory fragments in it. After all, the memory fragments acted as the foundation to sustain the soul's energy, creating a functioning soul.

In Jyorta's soul, all the memory fragments of his previous life had condensed into a figure looking similar to his previous life's self—possessing the face and body but lacking the limbs. When the blue soul was a Tier 1 Psychic Parasite, it only had the face. When the blue soul became a Tier 2 Psychic Parasite, it grew a body. Based on his guesses, it would next grow a limb every time he broke through to a higher Tier.

Other than that, the memory fragments in the blue soul contained the previous Jyorta's memories, his current memories, the memories of Floating Spiders and Crust-Mantles. They totalled to a worth surpassing a century.

As he had yet to fully comprehend the memories of the Floating Spiders, the foundation they gave his blue soul was unstable. Thankfully, he had already comprehended the memories of the Crust-Mantle, allowing his blue soul to grow more.

Thanks to this, the number of memory fragments he could house in the blue soul had increased. The Frenzy Beasts under him had completely annihilated all the Frenzy Beasts in layer 1, save for five Two-Faced Fireflies that were at Tier 2.

Jyorta just left them alive, for they were always helpful to him in layer 1. He had obtained enough for the time being. His tattoo world was almost full, filled with the Frenzy Beast presences. He could still stuff in some more presences, but refrained from doing so.

For, his soul could no longer contain any more Frenzy Beast souls. He had been storing them in soul husks as is, having not even vaporised their murkiness. So, they occupied a lot of volume. In the current vision of his blue soul, his soul was littered with soul husks used as sacks to store other souls.

It had bulged to the extent it covered his body; the size had ballooned, with many places sporting cracks, showing signs of instability. Still, Jyorta had an inkling that the moment he comprehended a part of them, his breakthrough to Tier 3 would begin. He would become a Tier 3 Psychic Parasite.

Moreover, he knew that if he comprehended all the memory fragments he had accumulated, even achieving Tier 4 Psychic Parasite wouldn't be a dream. 'But, that is in the case I have enough energy to sustain the breakthrough.'

His soul domain was a little less than 5 metres. He still had half the distance to reach the peak of Tier 2 after which his blue soul would automatically attempt a breakthrough to Tier 3. To achieve that, all he needed was to make the memory fragments his by comprehending them. Once the blue soul siphoned enough psychic energy to increase its size accordingly to the increased foundation, all preparations for a breakthrough would be complete.

Jyorta commanded the Frenzy Beasts under him to pile up all the Frenzy Beast carcasses in one pile. The Bundle Flea gave him all the harvested Heart/Brain Crystals. Jyorta commanded them to rest and eat at regular intervals as he sent one Soul Cornea into the River Whale's soul.

His other Soul Cornea coiled around soul husks one after another, using the entirety of its length to its advantage. As the energy was supplied to the blue soul, the Soul Cornea exerted its influence, vaporising all the murkiness within the soul husks; the efficiency had increased as compared to before.

The blue soul created one hundred soul tendrils, activating its corrosion, turning them all jet black. Another two hundred soul tendrils were created; they opened a soul husk—after the murkiness within had been vaporised. They began to work on the memory fragments, corroding the white layer on each. It was the ego of the individual coated on its respective memory fragments.

As the jet-black soul tendrils corroded the white layer, the other soul tendrils worked in arranging them in order within the blue soul, creating a foundation for when he finished comprehending them. The process continued with unprecedented speed thanks to the unending supply of psychic energy.

It took him almost half a day before Jyorta finished vaporising all the murkiness and corroded the ego attached to the memory fragments. His psychic arm had been healing him all along, ensuring his mind wasn't overtaxed. If he didn't possess Regen, he would have had to stop within the first hour.

After all, the amount of attention he had invested in controlling 300 soul tendrils was strenuous. It would have ripped his mind apart if he attempted something like that three months ago. Jyorta looked at the massive structure created in his blue soul; the blue soul now possessed a radius of 30 centimetres.

Its previous size was due to the murkiness that occupied a lot of space and exerted pressure due to its constant movement. Now, if he needed, Jyorta could store some more souls; it was precisely what he wished to do.

Jyorta planned to store all the resources he needed in his plans for the next two years, except energy. The moment it was done, he noticed that there was still a pile of Frenzy Beast carcasses left in layer 1. After all, it had the greatest number of Frenzy beasts. Moreover, only the River Whale had been eating them to replenish its energy reserves.

As the Lava Turtle and the Hunter Clam under his control hadn't had their souls purified of the murkiness, Jyorta swiftly focused on that, commanding the others to begin eating. Even though they were feeling satiated, they still began to eat the Frenzy Beast carcasses.

The moment he was done, Jyorta connected the souls—of the Lava Turtle and the Hunter Clam—to their respective Heart Crystals, siphoning energy immediately. The two Frenzy Beasts were stirred up, feeling an intense sense of hunger as their body burned their muscle mass to replenish the exhausted reserves.

The two Frenzy Beast jumped onto the pile of carcasses and began gorging without any restraints. Jyorta then siphoned all the energy from the Bundle Flea next, followed by the Rigordile, and finally focused on the River Whale.

The energy reserves in the River Whale were tremendous. And thanks to its size and the quantity of Essence of Frenzy it possessed, its replenishment rate was the highest of the lot. The rate of replenishment was one-tenth of the maximum rate his two Soul Corneas combined could siphon.

Trait of Severability!

Jyorta poured all the energy into the Trait, steadily increasing his Sync Rate. He had to expend as much energy as in a Transformer's Heart Crystal to raise his Sync Rate by one percent. So, the growth was tremendously slow.

Still, Jyorta continued with it, after all, the steady influx of energy—adding everything contributed by the five Tier 2 Frenzy Beasts—conformed to a quantity equivalent to a Tier 3 being every hour. It was a tremendous supply, with more than 65 percent supplied by the River Whale, and with the Rigordile supplying the other 34 percent. The remaining fraction was contributed by the other three Frenzy Beasts.

As he was constantly making use of it as a battery, faint changes occurred within it. Jyorta noticed that the rate at which it generated energy had become twice as compared to the start. And, it continued to rise, surprising him at the evolutionary aspects the Frenzy Parasites imbued in the Frenzy Beasts.

"No wonder a new race emerges every Decade." Jyorta nodded, feeling that the changes in the River Whale were beneficial to him. He needed to spend all the energy resources in the labyrinth to increase his Sync Rate as much as possible.

Once all the Frenzy Beast carcasses on layer 1 had been consumed, the River Whale unleashed its Caterpillar, grabbing the Heart Crystals Jyorta gave it one by one. The Caterpillar consumed the Heart Crystals, starting with those at Tier 1.

Generally speaking, the efficiency was greater when an Esper consumed a Brain Crystal and a Warrior consumed a Heart Crystal. But, after making use of the Rigordile once, Jyorta decided to stick with the River Whale.

The Rigordile was slow, a lot slowed as compared to the River Whale. Moreover, thanks to the changes in it, the River Whale generated energy at greater levels than the Rigordile after consuming a Heart Crystal.

Somehow, the essence of Frenzy in its body was even digesting the substance that made up the Heart Crystals. Once it was done, Jyorta made a mental note of the time left, "There's not much time left. I have to hurry."

The party proceeded towards layer 3, intending to finish the Frenzy Beast carcasses there. Though, the moment they arrived, they noticed the temperature had increased to a tremendous extent.

The River Whale immediately increased the strength of the water film around it, entering a battle-ready state. Jyorta gazed at the Lava Turtles before him, frowning as he glanced at the pile of carcasses. A significant portion of them had been consumed.

The dense smell emanating from the carcasses lured in the Lava Turtles from layer 4. By resisting the mental cue to proceed—depending on their strength—downward, the Lava Turtles used the time they gained to make a trip to layer 3 and gorge on the abundant flesh and blood, using it to heal their injuries at a steady pace.

The moment Jyorta's party arrived at the scene, they all glared his way, remembering the damage they suffered because of him. His two Soul Corneas siphoned energy from the River Whale while his two psychic arms activated Regen, healing him continuously. All were functioning at their maximum capacity.

Jyorta raised his arms towards the Lava Turtles, "Don't waste my time, damn turtles."

Aura Beam!