Parasyte System

Having recovered from the shock of having slept for over a week, Jay decided to spend his time checking the remaining details of his condition.

For example, he found it odd that the recovery from the fragile state of his body only had 10 minutes remaining, but now that he knew he had been recovering for several days, it was understandable.

The following was something that had been bothering him for a while now, but due to lack of time and not knowing what exactly to do, he had left it as it was.

The rank of his wind control ability.

Several days had passed since the "Ready to advance" message had appeared right next to it, which confirmed that the percentage next to it truly was a progress bar where the goal was to advance its rank.

The progress bar reaching its limit was something Jay already knew was only a matter of time, as unlike the rest of his skills, this one had a living engine that increased his progress daily.

That way, with Jay using the ability at almost all times, plus the progress of the living engine, it had already reached its limit.

Now, it would have been a good thing if the ability went up in rank as well as his regeneration, but unfortunately, his race change hadn't affected this particular part of his status.

Though in a way, Jay had already expected that this was going to be the case, as he didn't really consider wind control as a primary skill of his.  For compared to the other aspects that added to his strength, his wind control had lagged behind.

This was something that was not supposed to happen according to Jay, who was someone with relatively superior knowledge of famous supers and skills.

'...After all, wind control is an ability that is normally strong on its own.' Jay thought, memories of famous espers with 'common' control abilities coming to his mind.

Even leaving aside the founder of the esper class, who was said to be able to even wipe the clouds from the sky if she so desired, various heroes and hunters were capable of incredible feats.

From creating great whirlwinds of cutting wind, keeping hundreds of enemies at bay without even touching them or outright being able to soar through the skies freely, wind control was an ability that was normally a primary skill.

Instead, Jay had been using it as a supplementary skill for all his other moves, never using it as his main attack weapon.

And while this could be said to be because of the obvious lack of power compared to even the person he had got this ability from, it was also partly his fault.

Fault because he hadn't really even tried to identify the cause of this, simply continuing to use the ability as it was.

However, the encounter with the aberration had done something that began a certain chimera, awaken Jay's sense of urgency to become even stronger than he was.

After all, while he had truly made the attempt to increase his strength on his own by using a cutting wind in his attacks, this had been nothing short of insufficient.

Insufficient not only to hurt the aberration, but also insufficient when it came to utilizing the full potential of the wind control.

Again, one could argue that this time the confrontation had been nothing more than a mixture of bad luck and unfairness due to the difference in ranks, but Jay didn't want and would not accept this excuse.

From the moment he obtained the [Parasyte System], he had decided to use that opportunity to dive right into the world he had so admired and idolized since he was a child, the world of supers.

A world whose most notable characters were at the top of society, possessing fame, power and riches by the bucketload, and most importantly, the power to change the world.

This, of course, also brought with it its own share of risks.

Whether it was meeting their end at the hands of a stronger super, a terrifying monster, or being used as a pawn by an organization, these were just a few of the more common fates a super could face.

Still, being aware of these risks, Jay pressed on and even entered one of the organizations whose former foundations were built on supers, the Eitsirc Academy.

A place where either by the teachers themselves or by his encounters with monsters, he had been reminded, verbally and physically, that there were no such things as unfair confrontations.

There were only confrontations between two parties, and whether one came out of it well or not was entirely their own responsibility.

And in this respect, Jay had been horribly careless.

Even though he had been moving around the academy to increase his strength and training, he was still completely crushed by the aberration, only managing to get out of that situation thanks to a certain 'person'.

It was an outcome in which he had arguably come out on top if one took into account the increase in strength that his change of race had brought him.

However, it was also an outcome that had left Jay Sacrest, feeling helpless for not being able to, by his own means, protect his own life.

Therefore, deciding to take the first step of making himself stronger without yet resorting to what the other 'person' left him with, Jay was determined to strengthen what he already had.

'...Ah, right, there was that too...'

Still looking at his status window, a certain part caught his attention, specifically, the plus signs next to his stats.

The doubt stemmed mainly from the fact that even Jay, a rather interested and knowledgeable person about supers and now a super himself, didn't remember reading about this rank.

Regardless of class, the classification for super ranks was always the same, having three key points.

Indicating that the super had just entered this rank, a minus sign was used after the letter, (D-).

Next, demonstrating that the super now had firm control over their new strength, the minus sign, (D), was removed.

Finally, being a statement that the super was preparing to take the next step, the plus sign, (D+), was added.

This was how the ranking went, with no intermediate points between the three, something Jay himself had experienced.

However, what directly contradicted this ranking system was none other than his own physical statistics, which proudly displayed his double plus signs.

'...Why did they appear? Are they something special because I'm the [Carrier] of the system? Or perhaps... it is the true rank of a person who is about to rank up?'

Several possibilities as to the origin of these signs filled Jay's head.

Unfortunately, for this case, he couldn't rely on his own experience because of all the peculiarities surrounding it, which were definitely not something the other supers of the world had experienced.

Therefore, all Jay could do was search for an answer using the information he had from the supers he had infected so far.

After a few minutes of being lost in thought, Jay then came up with an answer that seemed the most feasible.

Although the rank classification of supers always considered only three major stages, this couldn't be that simple.

After all, it was a widely known truth that even if several rank (D+) supers were pitted against a rank (C-) one, it was doubtful to know which side would win, with the odds being in the latter's favor.

If both ranks were raised, even with more than a dozen rank (C+) supers against a rank (B-) super, this matchup would be nothing but a massacre.

So why was there this abysmal difference between ranks that apparently, with the normal ranking, seemed to be only one step away from each other?

Because in reality, they were not just one step apart.

Moving up the ranks was a process of sublimation in which the super advanced in the hierarchy of life, a process which became more difficult and important the further one ranked up.

For that reason, to Jay, it made sense that there were really not just three stages, but four, with the fourth being the true last stage of moving up the ranks!

'Following that logic, my stats then should be ready for me to move up to (C-) rank...' Jay thought.

Although normally this kind of realization would be something to celebrate for any super, the esper's expression was unusual, as if he was quizzical.

As for why, it was because an unpleasant feeling filled his body, a feeling that his little ones also felt and were sharing in his [Mental Network].

"Haa..."

Letting out a sigh, Jay decided that having gotten an answer to his initial question was enough to leave the subject there, so he stopped thinking about it and focused on another matter.

While moving up in rank was something he had to do sooner or later and would undoubtedly bring him an increase only equal to or greater than his race change, it wasn't the only way he had to get stronger.

'...Alright, enough of that, back to the wind control thing...' Thinking that, Jay then decided to visit a certain part of the system that he had left on his own since a couple of months ago already.

Within the [Hosts] section, there was the status of one of his little guys that differed from the others because not a parasite, but another kind of little guy.

_____________________

[Symbiont (Lowest Rank)]

Host: Carl Gaffner (Esper)

Skill: [Wind Control (D+) (Ready to advance.)]

Relationship with the Host: Normal.

Current Bonus (Host): Growth Improvement (+10%), Emotional Strengthening (+10%).

Current Bonus (Carrier): 2% Daily increase in [Wind Control ( D-)] (Limit: D+)

_____________________

Seeing how his little one was doing, Jay was quick to find something that surprised him, that Carl was also ready to move up in rank.

He knew that the esper in question was talented and that with the symbiont with him, his progress would be even faster, but Jay didn't expect it to be so fast that he would already knocking on the door of rank (C-).

Still, it was a good thing that he was getting stronger, since as long as his little one was connected to Carl, his progress would become progress for Jay as well.

The reason Jay had decided to start his research on how to advance his wind control was because, again, he had a hunch that it had something to do with Carl.

And what better way to check this out than by communicating directly with his little one, something Jay had also wanted to do for some time.

He hadn't done it with his [Mental Network] before due to the distance, but now he was brimming with confidence that he could do it, no doubt an effect of being a [Parasitic Spawn.]

Then, closing his eyes to concentrate as much as possible, Jay decided to make connection with his one symbiont.

***

At the same time Jay decided to put his new Trait to use, a certain student was sleeping peacefully in one of the silver city's apartment complexes.

The student in question, despite being in a deep sleep, still looked quite pleasing to the eye, possessing attractive facial features and striking white hair.

The sheets that were supposed to cover his body were only half-doing their job, leaving much of the student's toned pajama-clad body uncovered, but even with these, the student did not appear to be cold.

"...Uh...ughh..."

Suddenly, the student let out a few guttural sounds at the same time as his body began to move erratically and slowly.

Slowly, the student completely threw off the sheets, tossing them to the floor and moving closer and closer to the edge of the bed.

If he kept this up, it was clear that he would fall to the floor, but suddenly, in a clumsy but effective movement, the white-haired young man sat down in the middle of the bed, his legs crossed.

However, it had to be noted that even at this point, with his body leaning forward and visibly struggling not to fall, the student was still asleep.

"...Got...to...help..."

Muttering those words, the student, better known as Carl Gaffner, slowly opened his eyes, revealing pupils that clearly did not belong to him.

*Swoosh!*

Without another word, strong currents of wind began to swirl around Carl, eventually increasing in strength and speed.

In a matter of seconds, a wind whirlpool of over two meters had formed in the room, with Carl looking at the seeming nothingness.