"I was about to detail the Trait of Efficiency," Madam Rizenne waved her hand, motioning for him to sit. She looked at the crowd, "As you all might know and even come to possess, the Trait of Efficiency increases your Nurturing rate."

"Now, I'll tell you how it works," Madam Rizenne pointed at Jyorta, "We will use him as an example. Jyorta Bone has a Sync Rate of 71 percent, with a Nurturing rate of 0.44 centimetres per day. He's an Area Controller, having a Tier 2 Nurturing effect."

"Since he possesses the Trait of Efficiency, his Nurturing rate is a lot higher." The scale with the distance changed, with its limits changing to '0 centimetres' and '2 centimetres'. "For a Tier 2 being, the Trait gives them the Nurturing effect of Tier 3, as simple as that. As for its effect, it is the same as everything, related to the Sync Rate."

She glanced around, her voice turning louder, "What is the Nurturing rate for a Wave Controller with a 71 percent Sync Rate?"

Taking a glance at the two scales, the students shouted with a collective echo, "0.84 percent!"

"Yes," Madam Rizenne nodded, "That is Cadet Jyorta Bone's current Nurturing rate. The Nurturing rates of the Trait and the Wisdom Parasite doesn't stack. After all, the effect of the Trait too is carried through the Wisdom Parasite."

"The limit of this Trait's effect is Tier 3," She continued without pause, "When you become a Wave Controller, the Nurturing effect of the Trait and your Wisdom Parasite is one and the same. That is why the Trait of Efficiency is deemed useless from Tier 3 onwards. Sadly, we haven't managed to upgrade this Trait."

Madam Rizenne sighed once, "The Wisdom Parasite experiences a drastic evolution at Tier 4, making it impossible for Traits like the Trait of Efficiency to work at such Tiers. Also, another aspect to consider is the fact that your life is practically at risk every day. You are vulnerable; your chances of losing control are very high."

"Suppose its effect can be extended until Tier 5, what do you think will happen?" She glanced at everyone, emitting a formless pressure, toning it down to tolerable levels. "The Nurturing rate you experience at Tier 4 will be equal to Tier 5. But, this means that the speed of the Wisdom Parasite's development will be on par with Tier 5. After all, the Nurturing effect is established only through the Wisdom Parasite."

She glared at everyone, "Do you realise how frightening this is? It would make your Wisdom Parasite experience exponential growth as compared to you. In Tier 4 and above, that is tantamount to suicide. Even at Tier 3, the Wisdom Parasite becomes intelligent enough to converse with you. So only at Tier 1 and Tier 2 can we afford to use these shortcuts."

"Converse?" Jyorta involuntarily blurted out, feeling mild fear. Even though his Wisdom Parasite was under his control, the very notion that something within him can converse was fear-inducing.

The pen is mightier than the sword. Words can both induce and cull wars. A person's mental state can be easily affected through words, and depending on the choice of the words, the effect may be positive, negative, or indifferent.

But, considering the source—the Wisdom Parasite in them—of the actions, it would definitely know the exact words that would damage their mental state. Every human would have secrets, stuff he/she never wished for others to know, even subconsciously choosing to forget it.

And, in their superhuman society, the number of secrets each individual possessed would be a lot more.

A precariously laid out maze, built into a tower of straws; all it needs was for a single, anchor straw to be pulled out for the entire building to crumble.

Madam Rizenne glanced at him, not bothered about his action, "Depending on its development, the Wisdom Parasite would be able to converse with you around mid-peak Tier 3. There are two ways in which it can converse with you."

She lifted her index finger, "First, making you hallucinate a voice. Usually, this voice will be either yours or of someone that will affect you the most. We term this as Ravings of the Wisdom Parasite. It would gradually erode your mind and sanity. At peak Tier 3, it would even be able to make you dream of strange scenes the moment you aren't lucid. The frequencies at which you get nightmares will also increase. When they increase, it is a sign that you are on the verge of losing control."

She shook her head, sadness etched in her voice, "We will be giving you the training to combat this until you graduate. It is not much, but at least, you will be able to buy some time using this."

Madam Rizenne glanced at her wristwatch, noting the time, "That will be all for this class. In the afternoon, another faculty will arrive and conduct a test. Many tests will be conducted. They will span this entire week, at the end of which we will determine the fields you are suited to."

She began to slowly walk towards the door at the back of the dais, "In our Marble City, the primary job of everyone is being a soldier. But, as for the secondary job, that will be your choice…or more like, based on the qualifications you exhibit in these tests, you will be given the options to choose from. That's all, class dismissed."

Followed by a groan, Jyorta closed his notebook and stood up, stretching his body. He looked at Haesha, noticing her stand up after a mild sigh. She looked at him, making eye contact, causing his heart to involuntarily speed up, "What are your plans after this?"

Jyorta replied after a moment of thought, "I plan to learn more about aura and was thinking of asking nurse Vaika more about it."

Haesha's eyes widened, "So, have you already explored the Labyrinth once?"

"Yes," Jyorta nodded, "Yesterday was my first. And honestly speaking, it was difficult."

"Tell me more," Haesha inquired, her expression replaced by one of curiosity. She stared at him, her gaze boring into him, causing him to give in after a matter of seconds.

"Let's go to the White Building as we talk," Jyorta accompanied her, giving her a light recount. Though, he had to add some falsity into the mix, having no choice but to keep it in line with his official abilities.

Jyorta ensured that the things he said would prove helpful to her, unwilling to see his lie implicate her in the future. Haesha was an earnest individual; moreover, he liked her, a lot. That's why, Jyorta didn't wish to hide anything from her.

'But, I can't do that either. My feelings are currently one-sided.' Jyorta mentally sighed, trying his best to make the lies as grounded to reality as possible. Thankfully, during most of the situations he had experienced in the Labyrinth, the length of his psychic arms didn't come into play much.

"We are weak, even at Tier 2. Most of the time, I used my psychic arms to shield myself, masking my presence, and defending against any attacks. I fought using my body and had a hard time. Thankfully, they were only the weakest bunch of Observers. But even then, I suffered a lot of injuries." He then pointed at his left hand, speaking about his fight with a Spiked Lizard and how he had to defend against its bite while evading two Ring Worms that aimed his feet from underground.

Haesha exclaimed in fright from time to time, listening to his descriptions. Soon, they arrived at a study room in the White Building. Jyorta pulled up the article he read the previous night and showed it to Haesha.

"Amazing, I never knew aura was such a versatile and vast subject," Haesha exclaimed. Though, she didn't seem bothered about the fact that Espers were unable to fly in space beyond the range of Earth's gravity. It was as if she wasn't fascinated by the concept of exploring the vastness of space.

'Yes, I haven't seen any programs related to space. No wonder.' Jyorta thought, feeling her reaction was normal after considering her point of view. From what he had observed in his time with her over the past eight months, Haesha had a lot on her mind. So, she never entertained thoughts similar to a traveller's mindset. She was pretty much grounded to reality.

"When do you plan to head into the Labyrinth?" Jyorta asked.

"After a day or two," Haesha replied, "I have yet to finish my preparations. I haven't chosen any armour or weapon yet. I explored through the armoury yesterday but, there were too many things to choose from that I was conflicted."

"I'll help you make a choice then," Jyorta nodded, "I wanted to change my armour anyway. The one I picked before was pretty much useless during the fight. At least, it wasn't suited against the Spiked Lizards."

He let out a self-deprecating laugh, "My armour felt as if it was a bubble that was on the verge of bursting…"

'Bubble…' Jyorta's eyes widened, grabbing hold of a train of thought that clicked in his mind. His fingers began to unconsciously tap on the table, making rhythmic sounds. Thoughts clashed in his mind, making a certain scene surface, giving him a direction for the personification of his aura.

It was when he transmigrated, carried by the creepy-haired man as they travelled through the space-time continuum. Despite being a peak existence, the bubble the creepy-haired man had created was on the verge of being destroyed by the ravaging forces of nature.

There, a certain concept had been vividly established: in the palm of Mother Nature, even the strongest expert was insignificant.