Psychic Parasite

Chapter 253: Quantifying the Nurturing Effect

11th September, the year 334 of the Dawn era; it was Madam Rizenne's class in the morning hours. As usual, Jyorta and Haesha arrived only a couple of minutes before classes started.

8:30 AM, like clockwork, Madam Rizenne arrived on the dais, not a second early or late. Upon her entry, the six double doors leading into the auditorium closed. A couple of students barely made it in as they heaved a sigh of relief, patting their thumping hearts. Without making any noise, they occupied the empty seats in the back, anticipating the contents of the class.

Madam Rizenne gazed at the faces of everyone, noticing their looks of anticipation. "Since I received many requests from you, I decided to tell you in detail about the Nurturing process."

"Yes!" A couple of students shouted in joy, almost jumping up from their seats. A moment later, they turned as silent as stones, admonishing at their behaviour due to excitement. Madam Rizenne didn't seem bothered about the matter, placing the remote on the dais. It seemed she didn't require one for the day's classes.

"Everyone after the Induction Ceremony experiences the Nurturing effect. That is how we grow in strength, obtain Skills, etc. This is also the only method through which the Wisdom Parasite in us grows." Madam Rizenne started with the contents she had already stated a couple of times.

"The food we consume is digested by our digestive system, with the nutrients transported to all parts of our body through our blood. The blood is the prime carrier. The Wisdom Parasite absorbs the nutrients within the blood, digesting it before excreting some waste. This waste though, is beneficial to us. The excreta of the Wisdom Parasite is carried by the blood, reacting with any body-cell it comes across." She raised her hand, summoning a psychic arm.

The images of ten cells formed, lined one after another. A single particle flowed parallel to them, colliding into the first cell after being pulled by some force of attraction. The particle settled within the cell, beginning to breakdown into simpler compounds.

Another particle arrived, passing the first cell. The force of attraction seemed to have disappeared in the first cell. As the particle moved beside the second cell, it was attracted into it. The particle eventually settled within the second cell, beginning to breakdown like the first. The process seemed to take a lot of time.

Particles began to appear one after another, being attracted by the cells in order. Eventually, all ten cells had a particle in them. After that, the incoming particles continued to move past the cells without any change.

Madam Rizenne created small changes, making it obvious that she had accelerated the passage of time in the example. The particles in the cells began to breakdown at a faster rate. Eventually, the particle in the first cell disappeared, leaving behind a cell that seemed slightly superior to before.

After some buffer time, the cell pulled in another particle, continuing the same process as before. After showing the cycle for a couple of minutes, Madam Rizenne retracted her psychic arm. "The Wisdom Parasite's excreta are the particles while the cells are our body cells. What I showed you is how the Nurturing effect takes place. Since the blood reaches all corners of our body, the Nurturing effect is also transmitted to everywhere, creating a unified effect."

Her psychic arm appeared once again, forming the number '7' in large font, enough for everyone to see clearly, "For a Tier 1 being, with a Sync Rate of 100 percent, the time for the particle to fuse with the cell takes about 7 days. There are many types of cells in our body, with each taking its own time. Now, I think you have heard us, faculty, stress enough times about the importance of Sync Rate? The Sync Rate affects us in all aspects, including Nurturing efficiency."

Her psychic arm morphed into the shape of a Wisdom Parasite, "A Sync Rate of less than a 100 percent implies that your Wisdom Parasite is injured; the lower the Sync Rate, the greater its injury."

Suddenly, a large chunk disappeared from the Wisdom Parasite. But, within a couple of seconds, the injured body wriggled, turning into a smaller Wisdom Parasite; the injury had disappeared. "This is a mystical effect that only the Wisdom and the Frenzy Parasites can perform. Even if they lose a part of their bodies, they can change the structure of the remaining cells to fill in the gaps. This way, they will retain all of their biological functions; but, their efficacy is reduced."

"The production of the particles by the Wisdom Parasite is almost instantaneous, aligned with the digestion of your food. From the first influx of nutrients to the last, it will absorb and excrete in order, like an assembly line. But, the excreted product's effect decreases the greater the damage to the Wisdom Parasite. After all, despite it having all functions, the output quantity is reduced from the loss in the body." She dissipated the image of the Wisdom Parasite.

"The quality of the particles is decreased, reducing the Nurturing effect. So, despite the speed at which the cell absorbs the particle remains the same, the end product greatly varies. This is why the higher your Sync Rate, the faster your growth. Though, this also implies a faster growth of the Wisdom Parasite in you. After all, the more complete its body, the better it can absorb the nutrients and process it." Madam Rizenne walked a couple of steps, standing beside the podium.

She glanced at the students, "Here comes the question you all have asked me over the past few days. How can you quantify the Nurturing effect? And, how much does it vary along with the Sync Rates?"

"I'll start with the first question," She smiled once; "It is harder to quantify the growth for Warriors, since the variables for measurement are affected by your health habits. But, in the case of Espers, it is absolute, easy to observe, and conclude."

She unleashed her psychic arm, making it hover on her left, forming a horizontal line in the perspective of the students. "Three variables change in a psychic arm, length, weight, and speed. But, one thing to note is that they all grow in unison. So, we can consider it as a single variable for observation."

She pointed at the students with her hand, "The only exception are the Line controllers."

She pointed at Jyorta, "After Cadet Jyorta Bone became an Area Controller, his second psychic arm began to grow. It started from nothing, growing little by little every day. The third psychic arm of Wave Controllers too begins from zero, growing little by little every day. The case is the same for all Espers, at all Tiers. A point to note here: the speed of growth for all psychic arms of a person is the same, whether they are old or new. If, for example, an Area Controller's psychic arm grows a centimetre every day, then both his psychic arms grow a centimetre every day."

Madam Rizenne folded her hands, "But, in the case of Line Controllers, their psychic arm first materialises with a significant length, depending on the Sync Rate. A Line Controller with a Sync Rate of 60 percent starts with a psychic arm around 40-45 centimetres long. For a Line Controller with a Sync Rate of 80 percent, he starts with a 60-65 centimetre long psychic arm. It varies from person to person."

"But, this psychic arm is weak, unable to lift any weight, and moves really slow. The Nurturing effect after this only focuses on adding speed and weight to it. Eventually, when all three variables are aligned, the psychic arm begins to grow once again. There is a complicated reason behind this but unless you join the department that researches this field, you won't have access to the related knowledge." She glanced around, seeing if anyone among the students expressed interest. On seeing a student's eyes express interest in the subject at hand, she made a mental note of him.

Madam Rizenne turned silent for a minute, giving students some time to understand everything she had said. She then spoke, "For a Line Controller with a Sync Rate of 100 percent, his psychic arm grows by 0.5 centimetres per day. This is after the three variables are aligned. The weight limit and speed too grows accordingly."

On hearing the number, most of the students sighed. It meant they needed a lot of time to grow before they could breakthrough into Tier 2. On seeing their reactions, Madam Rizenne advised them, "As to how the Nurturing effect varies due to the Sync Rate, I'll come to it eventually."

She then continued, "For an Area Controller with a Sync Rate of 100 percent, his psychic arm grows by 1 centimetre per day. For a Wave Controller, it is 2 centimetres."

She sighed once, "The length limit of a Wave Controller's psychic arm is 100 metres. Considering the Nurturing speed at a 100 percent Sync Rate, they need at least 13 years to reach peak Tier 3. Since their actual Sync Rates is a lot lower, the time they need is even more."

"That is why, any Tier 3 being that attempts a breakthrough to Tier 4 will be obese. It is because they usually don't have enough time to finish the Nurturing effect. The Wisdom Parasite would have developed to an alarming extent by then. So, they compensate the energy for the breakthrough through the flesh in their bodies. After all, in times of need, body mass can be combusted to produce energy."

Madam Rizenne shook her head, letting out another sigh, "To most of the populace, Tier 3 is their limit."