WARNING: The following scenes may not be appropriate for people with a faint heart. Reader discretion advised!
Hearing the stoic voice of the nurse that was in sharp contrast to her previous animated self, Jyorta's heart lurched. He then heard the sound of a motor pumping a fluid, followed by the sound of water flowing through a pipe.
Jyorta noticed the pipe connected to his mouth vibrating, a pale blue liquid flowed through it, rushing towards his mouth. In the meantime, the nurse attached a tiny tube to the main tube connected to his mouth, fitted with a lever tap mechanism.
Just when the pale blue liquid neared his mouth, the dress of the nurse fluttered as she used her psychic energy, stopping the fluid from flowing into his mouth. As she opened the tap, she directed the fluid through the tiny tube, allowing the fluid to collect within a tank.
The process continued for a good one minute before Jyorta noticed a shadow cast over his face. The sounds of the machine reverberated through the air but a certain disgusting sound slowly neared him, filled with the sluggish sloshing of gelatinous fluids.
It looked white, sporting a suction pod-like mouth at the front and a sea cucumber-like tail to the back. It had two bulging eyes, seemingly regressed in development due to a lack of sunlight while hair-like projections existed all over its body, squirming as they propelled its sluggish body forward.
The creature was almost as big as his arm and had similar dimensions, its grotesque features vividly displayed. The moment he noticed its appearance, Jyorta's body wriggled in resistance as he tried to break free of his restrains.
The nurse waved her hands, using her psychic energy to hold his body in place, suppressing his struggles. There was despair evident in his expression, his eyes drooping to the back, showing signs of losing consciousness.
The nurse pressed a button on the machine, making a certain drug enter his nerves, keeping him awake. His mind suddenly experienced exceptional clarity, his eyes widening, focusing on the approaching creature in full detail.
The creature slouched, wriggling forward by a centimetre each second, making him want to scream and break free, ensuring to never step foot in the place ever again. His muffled screams rang out, echoing across the room. The nurse paid attention to his body condition, a part of her attention on the monitor as the creature approached his mouth.
Humanity's product to gain power, Wisdom Parasite!
The presence of the braces prevented him from closing his mouth, leaving his tongue as his sole defender. The moment the Wisdom Parasite entered his oral cavity, his tongue shot out like a whip, landing on it, trying to push it out.
The nurse closed the tap that was directing the pale blue fluid away, making its only path of movement being forward. The pressure pumped by the motor pushed the pale blue fluid, which in turn impacted against the Wisdom Parasite, pushing it forward at high speeds.
Like a slippery eel, the Wisdom Parasite entered his mouth, wriggling through his throat, and finally making headway into his stomach. The moment it reached his stomach, it began to wriggle its top half, its bottom half had become stuck midway.
Jyorta began to wheeze, gasping for air, his face turning blue. The pressure of the pale blue fluid acted from the front, suffocating him. The nurse hurriedly infused her psychic energy into his throat, inspecting the region that led to the problem.
Her forehead was soaked with sweat as her mind whirred with thoughts. She delicately controlled her force application, directing the force from three different angles on the sea cucumber-like tail that had secreted some acid, corroding the walls and sticking to it.
She immediately tore off the section of its tail, allowing the force of the pale blue fluid to flush the rest of its body into the stomach first. The presence of the flowing pale blue fluid dissolved the secreted acid, washing the stuck tail into the stomach.
The nurse hurriedly used her psychic energy, corking the flow in the tube and pressed a switch on the machine, switching off the motor that pumped the fluid. She then massaged the constricting muscles in Jyorta, making him gasp for air, his complexion improving.
The nurse then began to unfasten the ring on the tube, holding the white ring and twisting the orange ring anti-clockwise. As she pushed the ring behind, she applied some force on the tube, removing the impression lock.
She adjusted the braces, making him close his mouth, giving his jaws some rest. Though, she didn't remove the braces, lest Jyorta bit his tongue due to pain. She then switched off another switch in the machine, stopping the drug that continued to rush into his bloodstream.
The moment the drug sopped, Jyorta's eyes drooped, he had fainted. His expression was filled with disgust, despair, and fear, an amalgamation of all negative feelings. Looking at his sleeping face, the nurse heaved a breath of relief, "Phase 1: Parasite Ingestion—completed successfully!"
She then removed the tube from the machine, packing it into a designated box. All the excess materials were packed into neat boxes, and stuffed inside a trash can.
9:15 AM, done with all her tasks, she sat on the berth, occupying the space near his legs, gazing at the time.
She then monitored his vitals, keeping an eye on the situation in his stomach through her psychic energy and also paying attention to the data continuously flashing on the monitor.
10:20 AM, Jyorta woke up, feeling hungry. A feeling of hunger pervaded his entire being, making him suspect staying in a state of hunger for more than a week. He felt his stomach secrete acid in excess, burning up his insides, painting him the feeling that he had an ulcer.
"It will be painful but, think about your family. Imagine the look on your sister's face if you fail to overcome this pain. I've seen even weak-willed people get through this with ease, not to mention a strong lad like you." The nurse said, holding his hands, giving him a protective feeling.
She then used her psychic energy, tapping on a couple of buttons. A certain drug entered flowed through the tube, arriving at the syringe. Passing through the needle inserted into his veins, the drug entered his bloodstream—its effects to keep him awake, mixed with pain killers.
"Phase 2: Parasite Digestion," The nurse said, "The Wisdom Parasite will try to struggle but, you can defeat it easily. Chant with me…in your mind."
"I am Brave; I am Strong; I can Win; chant it continuously, don't stop for even a second." The nurse said, noticing the time, hearing a faint rumble resound from within his stomach.
'I am Brave; I am Strong; I can Win,' Jyorta thought, mentally shouting to clear away all his stray thoughts. Suddenly, his thoughts scattered as his body experienced a violent jerk.
Intense pain originated from his stomach, forming a huge bump overhead, visible through the gown, moving up and down. The nurse held his hands, constantly chanting the same phrase over and over, using her psychic energy to reinforce the walls of the stomach.
Not once did she affect the Wisdom Parasite in any way. Precedents stated that when the nurses helped the students suppress the Wisdom Parasite in Phase 2, it led to the body failing to digest it, eventually resulting in the student's death. So, all nurses were strictly instructed in the actions they could undertake, leaving no room for voluntary choices.
The nurse reinforced his stomach, not going beyond the designated limit, helping him as much as was possible.
"Guh," Blood leaked out of his mouth, seeping through the gaps between the braces, his body flailing like a broken leaf, dancing in the wind, having naught but a single point anchor.
'I am Brave; I am Strong; I can Win!'
'I am Brave; I am Strong; I can Win!'
'I am Brave; I am Strong; I can Win!'
Jyorta chanted mentally, shouting to his limits, in an effort to forget the pain. He bit into his braces, the force exertion giving him mere moments of reprieve. The thrashing in his stomach intensified, further inflating his stomach.
Bile juices were secreted in increasing concentrations, improving their acidity, countering the Wisdom Parasite, seeking to nullify it. They continued to dissolve its body while the Wisdom Parasite struggled to ensure its survival, its thrashes following a disharmonious tempo.
It first thrashed wildly, hitting against the stomach walls. It then turned still, accumulating strength, its body getting dissolved by the stomach acids. Finally, it launched a powerful strike, trying to force its way up through the food pipe.
The nurse intervened promptly, preventing its escape by constricting the surrounding stomach muscles. Even though this action further intensified Jyorta's pain, she continued with her actions, not allowing the Wisdom Parasite to come into direct contact with her psychic energy.
Even in the previous case when she severed its tail, she had controlled the surrounding fluid to act.
When the Wisdom Parasite found that it could no longer escape through the blocked exit, it turned towards a certain section of the stomach, the part that had been damaged the most. It coiled its body, storing strength in its muscles, the hair-like projections surrounding its body intertwined with one another, pulling at each other, using the elastic properties of its musculature.
'Remember; never try to convert the Wisdom Parasite into your subsoul before the ceremony ends. Gajara Rahi had used a subsoul of hers as an experiment—a 17 years old human boy—making the Wisdom Parasite entering his body into a subsoul. During Phase 4 of the ceremony, the Wisdom Parasite fused with his entire nervous system, turning him into a Child of Wisdom. You should know the risks that a Child of Wisdom faces, right? So, never attempt it.'
Just when he was about to attack the soul of the Wisdom Parasite, the warnings of Heima flashed, making him drop the idea. His brows scrunched up, his eyes turning sharp, filling his entire being with rage—pure, unadulterated rage.
He used the entirety of his emotions, clubbing all the injustice faced in his life, his imprisonment, his prior death, etc. into his mentality, stabilising his sanity and willpower. He endured the pain; his stomach secreted the acids and withstood the blows of the Wisdom Parasite.
The nurse noticed a beep flashing on the monitor, her senses picking up its contents despite not viewing it directly. A smile emerged on her face as she infused her psychic energy into his stomach, riling up all the stomach acid.
Under the guidance of her psychic energy, the acid began to rotate, creating a miniature hurricane, its spirals turning into sharp blades that diced the body of the melting Wisdom Parasite. Once diced into pieces, she inspected its condition, noticing that it was on the verge of death.
Any later and the Wisdom Parasite would have launched its most powerful attack, the possibility of it drilling out of his stomach as a result was pretty high. Even otherwise, the damage to his internal organs would have been severe, leading to a failure in the ceremony.
Students that failed the ceremony weren't given the option to live. Either they die under the hands of the nurse or try their luck out in the Wilds which was tantamount to a gruesome death sentence, the possibility of which was a startling hundred percent.
She then left the rest to Jyorta, retracting her psychic energy, "Congratulations, you have endured the difficult part. Now, all we need is some time to finish the digestion process, concluding Phase 2."
No sooner had she stopped administering the drug, Jyorta fell unconscious. It looked like her words fell on deaf ears. She then sighed, "The hardest part has yet to come. Hope you can survive through that."