章 19: Proliferation

"...Alright, this confirms it, I definitely lack attacking power..." Jay said after dragging the long-haired man's body into a dark alley.

Although he had managed to defeat this guy, it was largely because he attacked him by surprise, which together with the precise strikes of the metal bat as well as the Phantom Trace and the distraction of the parasites, had allowed him to win.

He was also lucky that the man did not have a long-range skill, for example, if instead of a short-range skill, the long-haired man had Fire, Wind Control or something like that, things would have turned out differently.

As for his special skill, it turns out that Jay's suspicions were true, he had the active skill "Superhuman Strength (D-)", it was a decent skill that would suit Jay very well indeed, considering his lack of power.

But since he only had 10 parasites available, he had to choose one, and in this case, Jay preferred the passive skill "Regeneration (D)", it was too good an opportunity to pass up after all.

And while "Superhuman Strenght" wasn't a bad skill, it was too common between espers, so Jay was sure that he would be able to find something similar in the future.

As for infecting them both, he could do it if he divided up the parasites he had but...the process would take twice as long and he didn't have a lot of time left until the entrance exam.

'Although, after this I will not be able to infect more people...'. he thought as he recalled the ways he had obtained the parasites.

Until now, the way he had gotten parasites was because the system had given them to him, the first 10 were a gift from the system, and the 10 he now had were a reward for completing a hidden task.

'I wonder if there's a way to get them on my own...'

Just when he was thinking that, a system alarm appeared before him.

_____________________

[New Mission: Getting more little ones!]

Description: Since the system is really kind, it has decided to help the helpless carrier, thus the [Proliferation] function has been temporarily unlocked.

Requirements: Find a suitable host to produce parasites and convert parasites (original) to parasites (esper).

First Reward: (10) parasites.

Second Reward: (1) free use of [Proliferation]

Remark: 1 becomes 2!

_____________________

'...Well damn...' Jay thought, impressed by the message that had just appeared in front of him, 'I really need to investigate how to unlock all the functions of the system...'

Although this announcement had reaffirmed the fact that Jay did not know the system well, Jay decided to leave that issue for when he returned home, now was not the time to investigate the functions of the system after all.

According to the announcement of the system, Jay had to find a suitable host in order to exchange the parasites, the first option that came to his mind was obviously Taylor, the man with long hair.

'I wonder if he's suitable...'

After returning to the alley where Jay had left him, he again infected him with all the available parasites he had before opening the interface.

_____________________

[Taylor Harbin]

Skill: Superhuman Strenght (D-)

Condition: Fatigue, Unconscious, Injured

Parasites: 10

Assimilation status: 0% (1% per day per parasite)

(Requirements to use [Proliferation])

(Host's condition must be: Unconscious, Injured...)

Verifying Host's condition...

Requirements...met!

(Do you want to use [Proliferation]?)

(Y/N)

_____________________

'Oh, nice~'

Jay quickly selected the "Y" option and a new window appeared.

_____________________

[Proliferation] (Incomplete)

Using the host body as a medium, parasites (original) can multiply and change their affinity based on the host. (The amount of parasites changing varies acording to the host.) (Only available once per person.)

[Host body type: Esper)

Change Available:

[1 parasite (original) = 2 parasites (esper)]

[You currently have 10 parasites (original) and 0 parasites (esper)]

(Warning: The host will experience great pressure and loss of vitality in the process of [Proliferation].)

_____________________

'...I REALLY have to figure out how to unlock the system functions...' thought Jay even more determined than before.

If [Proliferation] was such a good function despite being incomplete, then what would the full version look like?

The next moment, he activated the [Proliferation] function.

After the function was activated, Taylor's body began to tremble while his complexion became visibly paler and thinner than it already was.

'No doubt the system was not lying when it said great pressure and loss of vitality...'

After waiting for about 5 minutes, the system window indicating that the [Proliferation] process was over, along with the completion of the mission popped up in front of him.

_____________________

[Proliferation] has been used on [Taylor Harbin] successfully!

You have obtained...20 parasites (esper type)!

[Mission: "Getting more little ones!" has been completed.]

[First Reward: (10) parasites (original) had been awarded to the carrier.]

[Second Reward: (1) free use of [Proliferation] has been awarded to the carrier.]

_____________________

'Successfully...it means that the process can fail...?' Jay thought as he saw the message, as for the reward, it wasn't that surprising because he had received parasites this way before, although he still felt grateful because this was just what he needed right now.

Another thing he noticed was that the appearance of these parasites (esper) was different from the original ones.

Even though the teeth and the shape of the parasites was the same, they had 4 little eyes of a phosphorescent green color, he also felt that their skin color had changed, but he could not see it very well because there was not much light in the alley where he was.

After leaving the alley with his 30 new parasites, Jay quickly headed to Noah, who was fortunately still unconscious.

For a moment, Jay considered using [Proliferation] on him, but in the end he didn't. The requirements for using [Proliferation] were that the host had to be unconscious and injured, but with the ability Noah possessed...it would be a difficult task.

Therefore, he decided to save the only use of [Proliferation] he had until he found another super with a suitable skill for him.

Then, after grabbing Noah's hand, he infected him with the 20 parasites (esper) he possessed, although he could also have infected Taylor with the amount of parasites he had, Jay had no way of finding him after the assimilation was over and he also didn't want to fight this guy again, at least not until he became stronger.

When Jay finished infecting Noah, he noticed that the parasites inside him were quite energetic, as if they were in their natural environment, which had not happened before with the (original) parasites.

"Hm... I feel bad leaving this guy like this, considering that he will also spend about 5 days feeling weak..." Said Jay as he watched Noah, thinking how to repay him, "Oh, I know!"

Jay didn't know the South Zone at all, so he didn't know exactly where he could get more hosts or which parts he should avoid, he certainly lacked information.

However, Noah was a local resident who definitely knew this place much better than Jay, he might even know more guys like Taylor, who would be perfect candidates to become hosts!

As to why Noah would help him, Jay was sure that they could come to an agreement, plus, this way he could also easily find him by the time the parasites had finished assimilating his ability.

Then, Jay started checking to see if Noah had a smart watch or something to communicate with him...

But even after carefully searching him, Noah only had his wallet on him, as for his backpack, it only had some books and notebooks inside, nothing that could be used to contact him.

"...Hm, I'll have to get him one."

After he said that, he went back to the alley where he had left Taylor and started to check him.

While doing so, Jay found that Taylor had a smart watch in his back pocket along with his wallet.

"Well, since I'm stealing from him anyway..." He said as he pulled the money out of the wallet and then returning the wallet to Taylor's pocket, having taken the smart watch of course.

Again with Noah, Jay formatted the smart watch and wrote down the watch's contact number so he could talk to Noah later.

As for the money he took from Taylor, Jay put it in Noah's wallet, as a small compensation for having kept Taylor busy.

"Then...all that's left is to wake him up~" Jay said before he started shaking Noah.

"...Ugh...who...?"

After being shaken for a while, Noah woke up somewhat confused, mainly because the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a man dressed in black with his face covered in bandages, the same man he had seen before he passed out.

"Oh, you're awake, nice, we'll talk later then, bye~!"

However, before Noah could think of anything else, the man ran out in the direction of the South Zone exit, leaving behind a very confused Noah.

"...What just happened...?" he asked himself while rubbing his head, it still hurt a bit.

Seeing his surroundings, he found his backpack and glasses placed next to him, a little farther was a bent metal bat, which was not there before he passed out.

He couldn't see Taylor either, but judging by the unharmed state of the man in black and the bent metal bat, he could already imagine what had happened, and he got a little happy.

Although he had never seen that man in the South Zone, it was not uncommon for new criminals to appear from time to time, and a dispute between them was also normal.

The next thing Noah did was check his wallet, to see how much money the man had stolen, if he hadn't taken everything already.

"What...?"

But to his surprise, when he opened his wallet, not only was his money intact, but he even had a few more bills!

Right then he also saw something on his right wrist, it was a smart watch!

"...This...isn't this the one that Taylor had...?!"

He was quite surprised by what had happened, apparently the man in black had not only left him money, but he had also given him Taylor's watch!

But just when he was deciding whether to throw away the watch or keep it, a message came.

[Hey, you better hurry home, Taylor might wake up.]

"!"

After reading the message, Noah packed up his things and hurried back to his apartment. He had a lot to think about, but this was definitely not the place to do it.