The blue inscriptions in his blue soul were trembling, experiencing a change. They converged towards one another, joining and fusing into a larger entity. It induced a chain reaction, spreading towards the rest of the knowledge stored in it, assimilating them into the cluster.

Jyorta hurriedly took in the view of his blue soul, watching his surroundings go dark. He first noticed the subsoul belonging to his Wisdom Parasite trembling like a scared kitten, caught in a storm. It felt a fear similar to what the blue soul felt from Laila, the only difference being the magnitude.

He also noticed the speed of Nurturing subtly increasing, stacking atop the Trait of Efficiency. His blue soul dwarfed the murky trembling wisp, its blue hue denser than before. The blue inscriptions in it combined and joined with each other, changing their inherent makeup, forging a new structure, raising its complexity.

Numerous soul tendrils emerged from the blue soul, trying to wrestle with the fusing blue inscriptions, failing to overcome it in a contest of strength. On one side, he was afraid and wanted to stop whatever was currently happening in him. On the other side, he didn't want to interfere in something he had zero knowledge of.

Caught between two conflictions choices, the actions taken by the blue soul slowed down. Taking the chance, a dense cluster of blue inscriptions converged into a ball, shrinking in size, settling within the gaps of one another, fusing in other places.

The information that was acting up belonged to his previous life, the ones he had accumulated as Kaushik. It was like they were selectively absorbed from the clusters of memories he had accumulated in two lifetimes.

A moment later, after absorbing all the memories belonging to his previous life, it fused into a sphere, emitting a gentle radiance of blue. Soon, numerous indentations covered its surface, creating gorges in certain places while raising other regions high up.

A couple of layers formed in a certain area while a raised region caverned, forming two tunnels. Two holes appeared on opposite sides; gorges formed, raised into adjoining patterns, elevated into a layer, anchored around each hole.

Many other shapes formed all across the condensed blue ball, its complexity greater than what the blue soul could sense.

When the changes on the surface concluded, the blue soul was shocked, looking at the finished structure, resembling a face.

A face with wide facial features, sporting a rectangular frame but circled around the cheeks; the eyes were big, the eyelashes long. The eyelids flapped in a synchronised rate, each blink showcasing the eyes hidden within—murky black.

It sported the expression of one with calm, a delicate individual possessing great zeal and drive, associating with the intellectual society. Except for the changes in the part of the eyes, everything else belonged to his previous face, the face of Kaushik who was 20 years in age.

The blue soul immediately felt a connection form with the blue face, looking like they had become a single entity. On closer inspection, it could no longer notice its soul core in its soul. At some point in time, it had fused into the blue face, merging into one.

It had now become the core of its individual self; the blue soul could infer it based on its senses. The blue face was its essence, its core. Moreover, it also noticed a fused soul core segregated at one corner of its soul—belonging to the previous Jyorta and the subsoul of the late language teacher's Wisdom Parasite.

The moment the soul core of the previous Jyorta separated from his soul core, an instinctive rejection stemmed from his body; the organs looked on the verge of failing, the involuntary muscles began to slow their actions, showing signs of stopping.

Suddenly the blue face opened its eyes, swerving its gaze towards the soul cores of the previous Jyorta and the late language teacher's Wisdom Parasite.

The moment it opened its mouth, two blue orbs pierced through the two soul cores, one big, and one small. They swam through the blue soul's body, arriving before the blue face. The blue face widened its mouth and swallowed them.

No sooner had it done so did the rejection reaction stemming from his body abated, reverting to the previous state of being.

A voice immediately resounded through the blue soul, originating from the blue face, communicated through the soul.

"I have modified your soul to some extent. It is something that stems from my power, one that I haven't managed to get a complete grasp of. I have brought an individual similar to you in this world before; if fate permits, you can try to learn more about yourself from her. She goes by the name of Gajara Rahi. I have done everything in my power; now, it is up to the two of you to defeat Mother Parasite and rid humanity of its sorry fate."

The murky black stemming from the eyes of the blue face seeped out, passed through the blue soul, and exited the body. Momentarily, they turned ethereal and vanished, as if erased by the laws that governed the world.

The blue soul looked at the two husks settled in a corner of it, looking deprived of their essence. It experienced an influx of information, transmitted from the murky blackness before it had vanished.

Immediately, a feeling washed over itself, one of sovereignty, gaining a perfect understanding of its state of being. It then began to comprehend the information delivered by the creepy-haired man.

'Can I hopefully assume that there are no other arrangements of the creepy-haired man remaining within me?' The blue soul thought, unhappy at the situation. Every night, before the body slept, the blue soul inspected itself, trying to find any remnant traces of the creepy-haired man's arrangements.

After getting modified by him first, it had gained many abilities in the domain of soul but, no matter how many times it had tried, it could never find anything suspicious. Now, something really appeared, hidden within the memories it carried over through transmigration.

'Even though I have gained some newfound abilities, this situation makes me want to avoid it all. Now, I even suspect if the memories of my previous life are my own and not someone else's. After all, I don't feel anything when I look at them. Moreover, the cause of this situation was hidden within them.'

The blue soul created some soul tendrils, wrapping them around the two husks lingering within it, securing them in safety.

In fear of such a situation, it had wanted to modify the previous Jyorta's soul to possess abilities similar to it and transfer it to another body, eventually escaping the potential threats hidden inside it—stemming from the creepy-haired man.

Now, it was all for naught. It lost the initiative before it could even enact its plan. The two soul cores were stripped of their essence and absorbed into the blue face, leaving behind dry husks.

The potential threat was just a possibility before, stemming from the blue soul's cautious and suspicious nature. But now, it had become definite.

'At least, I can now easily create a false persona using them.' Jyorta thought, opening his eyes. Once the murky substance evaporated away from the blue soul, he obtained full control over the blue face. It was now his core, his being, his essence. That is what he felt; that is what he hoped to believe.

'I hope that any other arrangements he had left behind will not act up as long as I strive to defeat the Mother Parasite. Maybe, he feared that I would shy away from my designated task after hearing about the unrivalled strength of the Mother Parasite; and hence, he made some arrangements that would force me down this path?' Jyorta let out a self-deprecating smile, his tone helpless.

His so-called powers stemmed from the creepy-haired man. Before even comprehending them in full, he had zero confidence in sniffing out the other arrangements, not to mention extricating himself from the creepy-haired man's control.

Neither was a slave collar wound around his neck nor was he a puppet but, he felt like his situation was worse than the two. "One step at a time; I will proceed towards my freedom. Knowledge is power, and I will strive to accumulate them and destroy this passive situation."

Jyorta sported a vicious gaze; for a moment, he considered approaching Laila. He then controlled his urges, admonishing himself for the reckless thought. At least, he could console himself that the creepy-haired man's sole purpose in bringing him was to defeat the Mother Parasite.

But, he knew next to nothing about Laila. Moreover, he couldn't trust any Tier 6 being. After all, they stood at the peak of the world for centuries, having to face numerous situations, witnessing all sorts of negativity, schemes, and brutality. If they didn't possess a cunning nature, they wouldn't have reached Tier 6 in the first place.

"One step at a time," Jyorta iterated it, trying to ease his emotions. He then closed his eyes, taking the vision of his blue soul. The surroundings were slightly different at present, showing some differences as he observed the murky wisp belonging to his Wisdom Parasite.

Its body was composed of blue fragments that were covered by a layer of white, looking so transparent that he hadn't been able to notice it before. As the blue soul comprehended the newly obtained memories, it came to differentiate them.

'The blue fragments are the memories while the white layer is the persona. Yes, after all, a person's persona is shaped by his life experiences. So, each piece of his memory will carry a part of his persona.'