Parasyte System

'...I knew it, this wimp couldn't be the one who beat the three from Metal Body.' Thought the man who was holding Noah after seeing Jay.

This man's name was Nozar, he was a veteran member of Wolf's Fang, although he hadn't yet reached rank (C-), thanks to his combat experience and his rank (D+) esper skill, he could face most of Metal Body guards directly.

He had arrived with the other members of Wolf's Fang who had come to take over this district, however, that was not his goal.

The story that an unknown pugilist had defeated a guardian and the promising Metal Body rookie had obviously reached Wolf's Fang's ears.

But of course, because neither member of Metal Body was really strong or important, that man didn't attract the attention of almost anyone...except for Nozar.

He, seeing an opportunity to recruit a new member, also came to District 30, hoping that perhaps he could find him.

Fortunately, thanks to a bit of luck and the information of the other members of Wolf's Fang, he was able to meet this mysterious attacker.

However, at the time he struck up a conversation with him, he couldn't help but think that this mystery guy...was too weak to be a pugilist.

So much so that he had even doubted that he was a pugilist at all or that maybe he had the wrong person.

That's why he decided to test him just in case, if he managed to resist one punch, then it was worth recruiting him, and if not... too bad for him.

However, with the appearance of this new subject, Nozar knew immediately, he was the real hooded man he was looking for!

'Hoho, he has a threatening air around him...maybe because I captured his partner....' He thought, analyzing the person at the door, 'Well, never mind, I'll consider this a 2-for-1~'.

Although the person Nozar had captured was quite weak, it would serve as a guarantee that the hooded man would not attempt to attack or escape.

"Hey, I've got your friend here, so don't-"

*Woosh!*

"Woah, alright~!"

At that moment, without letting Nozar finish, Jay launched himself towards Nozar at an incredible speed.

To move, Jay had not only used his new grade (D) muscles, but he had even used Phantom Trace to increase his speed even more!

'Fast and decisive, nice!' thought Nozar, quickly tossing Noah aside as he increased the size of his other arm to attack Jay with a punch, 'But even if you're fast, you can't match my strength!'

Since his plan to use his partner didn't work, he had no choice but to physically subdue him.

"Come then, and see if you can resist one of my punches!"

Even though Jay was quite fast, Nozar's esper ability allowed him to enlarge any part of his body, giving that part a strength and resistance far beyond normal, in fact, one of his punches was enough to make pugilists of the same rank wary of him.

Then, a clash between the two, even if Jay were a rank (D+) pugilist, was going to end with Nozar's victory.

But what Nozar didn't know...was that Jay's goal had never been to face that blow directly.

Just as the fist was about to collide with Jay's body, he dodged it by a hair without stopping his march towards Nozar.

"Shit...!" Yelled Nozar, quickly withdrawing his arm to defend himself against Jay.

Unfortunately, it was too late, in his unbridled rush, Jay had gotten too close to him.

The next moment, he jumped, with every intention of lashing out at Nozar.

*BAM!*

However, when he was in the air, Nozar turned quickly, enlarging his left arm again and using the momentum to whip Jay, sending him flying against a part of the small concrete wall.

"Uf, thank goodness I have two arms, eh~" Said Nozar, preparing again to attack Jay, who was now sitting, leaning against the concrete rubble which had been the small wall before, "Remember...you forced me into this~!

He then began to gather strength in his huge right arm, the already visible muscles bulging even more, demonstrating that he was putting a considerable amount of power into this blow.

Finally, he ran to get closer and hit Jay.

*BAM!*

"...Heh..."

The sound of an impact was heard, however, it wasn't the sound of concrete or bones being destroyed, but that of a heavy object being stopped in its path.

"Wow...you are much more resilient than you look~" Nozar said, seeing what had stopped his attack.

Jay had stood up, and was clutching Nozar's large right fist with both arms, just a few inches from his chest, which was now covered only in scraps of cloth, revealing his torso wrapped in bandages, matching the bandages on his face and arms.

"This is wonderful, rookie~! Let me tell you that you certainly passed the test, I myself will convince the guardians to give you a position of an elite member!" added Nozar, visibly cheerful and excited.

He had expected a pugilist who relied on pure brute force, but the man in front of him was much more than that, not to mention the fact that he didn't seem to have any combat training, which meant that he could become much stronger!

Thinking that he would definitely be an exceptional member of Wolf's Fang in the future, Nozar could not help but feel happy about the reward he would get for this contribution.

Then, since he had already proven Jay's strength, his willingness to fight disappeared.

"Come on, you can let go of me now, and don't worry, I didn't hurt your friend or anyt-OUCH!"

Without even having finished speaking, Nozar let out a cry of pain, although it was to be expected, after all...Jay had stuck his "claws" deep into Nozar's fist.

"You idiot, I'm telling you you've already passed the test!" He shouted as he moved his other arm to attack Jay.

But Jay, seeing Nozar's other arm approaching, instead of dodging or blocking, did something totally unexpected.

Using the good grip he had on Nozar's fist, he pulled him towards him, causing Nozar to let out another grunt of pain, but that was nothing Jay had planned for later.

Quickly pulling out the claws of his right hand which were embedded in Nozar's fist, Jay used his claws to vertically cut off Nozar's face as soon as he came within range.

*SHASH!*

"!"

However, instead of letting out a grunt of pain as before, he just started laughing.

"HAHAHA, GOOD, DAMN IT!" shouted Nozar, quickly retreating and ignoring the cut on his face before smiling wildly and answering, "IF YOU WANTED ME TO CRUSH YOU JUST HAD TO ASK!"

Jay didn't miss that opportunity and continued to cut with his claws, making a bloody mess of Nozar's arm.

As for Nozar, as if he didn't feel the pain, he continued to keep his right arm close to Jay in order to keep him from getting close to him.

"NOW THEN...!"

Suddenly, Nozar's whole body began to tremble as veins appeared all over his body along with several drops of sweat, which mixed with the fresh blood on his face, made it obvious that his body was under great pressure.

Clearly, this had nothing to do with Jay, but with Nozar, who was focusing all the power of his ability on one part of his body, using it to the limit, which put a very heavy burden on his body.

"COME ON!!"

Slowly, his right arm, which was really damaged, began to grow even larger, from 6 feet...9...13...until finally, it reached 26 feet!

At this point, he opened his fist, revealing his long fingers.

*BAM!*

Nozar's now almost deformed arm lunged at Jay, quickly catching him.

His five fingers wrapped around Jay's body, preventing any movement.

"ARRGGHH!" Jay shouted, resisting with all he had, releasing several small but sharp wind currents from his body, creating dozens of wounds in Nozar's hand.

"Hey, stop that, it f*cking hurts!" Said Nozar, feeling the small cuts on his hand, "You are really troublesome, but it's no use, once I've caught you, you won't be able to escape, even if you are a rank (D+) pugilist!"

What Nozar had just used was not a special technique or anything like that, but simply concentrating all of his skill on a certain part of his body, that part being maximized.

It was quite similar to how Jay used his skill, with the difference that because Nozar's skill was more physical and he didn't have as much energy as Jay, he could only use it for short periods of time, and his mobility was greatly diminished by the heavy weight of the affected part.

However, even though he had these limitations, it did not detract from the fact that it definitely was a powerful movement if used at the right time, just like now.

"AAARGHH!"

"Yes, yes, you're angry, I know, but it doesn't matter, you'll calm down after I've broken a few bones, after that we'll go to the base and we'll get you some..."

*CLANG!*

"OUCH!"

Unexpectedly, before he could finish speaking, he felt a strong hit on the back of his head that made his head spin, since he was concentrating all his energy and skill on his right arm, that left the rest of his body helpless, so he felt the hit even more.

Nozar quickly turned and saw...the other hooded man with a metal bat in his hand.

"...right...right...there was still the other!" He shouted before enlarging his left arm for a second and throwing it at Noah, who hurriedly used the bat to defend himself.

*PAM!*

"UHK!"

Even though Noah defended himself with the bat, he ended up being thrown a few yards for the hit anyway, but that was normal, considering that Nozar had used his ability to attack him.

Of course, that had its consequences...the grip he had on Jay loosened up a little.

"ARGH!!"

This time the scream came from Jay, who unlike before, when his entire torso was being held by Nozar's hand, had now managed to free his forearms, holding tightly to one of Nozar's fingers, digging his claws and pulling even harder than before to free himself.

"Ahh, fuck, look what you did, you idiot!" Nozar yelled at Noah, who was still lying on the ground.

While his attitude remained relaxed and confident, this situation was proving to be much more complicated than he initially thought.

He could easily kill him at this point, but he didn't want that as it would be a huge waste, why would he want to kill a potential member with so much talent?

However, for that very reason, the bandaged man had managed to hurt him and force him to use a great deal of power, thereby already trapping him, but just as he was about to leave him unable to move, he received an attack from this man's partner, causing his concentration to wane and loosening his grip on him.

'I've got to finish this quickly...ouch, that guy really knows how to use that bat...' Nozar thought, feeling a little dizzy from the constant blood loss and the metal bat hit.

Then, his eyes began to glow a faint gray, signaling that he had entered his strongest state!

His left arm, which was of normal size, began to enlarge, reaching 10 feet.

Nozar was feeling an incredible amount of pressure on his body right now, so much so that he felt that if he made any mistakes, his arms would be left in an irreparable state...but he persevered anyway, for him, this risk was necessary.

He slowly approached the bandaged man, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him with his left arm, he intensely resisted, leaving several deep cuts in Nozar's arm, but he ignored them instead concentrating on moving his right arm, still transformed, to restrain Jay again.

This process, though it seemed simple, actually required all of Nozar's concentration, to keep his balance, to keep his ability from deactivating, to keep Jay from being released, to control his huge arm.

Right now, no mistakes were allowed.

*CLANG!*

"Ouch...but I knew that you would hit me, so even if-"

*CLANG!*

"OUCH! HEY, AT LEAST LET ME FINISH TALK-!*

*CLANG!*

"YOU BASTARD!!"

Unable to do anything against him, Nozar could only take the beating, even if each blow left him more disoriented than before.

"Urgh, fuck!"

Finally, he made it, even though he was incredibly bloody and dizzy, he had managed to catch Jay, his fingers were holding firmly to his shoulders, armpits and legs, he felt he had grabbed him badly, but since he was very dizzy, he just had to compensate it with strength.

*BAM!*

"Ack!"

Without saying anything else, he used his left arm to lash out at Noah, who flew out until he hit the small concrete wall of the house.

"That's what you get...hahaha!" Nozar said, visibly tired. "Now then...I'll take you to the others...let them take care of the rest, I'm beat."

*CRACK!*

"!"

A sudden pain assaulted his hand, accompanied by the distinctive sound of bones breaking.

The pain woke Nozar instantly, who quickly turned to look at the bandaged man.

The bandaged man...using his two arms, had broken Nozar's fingers.

'Ah...so this is why it felt weird when I caught him...man, I'm an idiot...' He thought as he made a bitter smile, regretting not putting more attention to that.

He also wondered how his fingers could have been broken so easily, as they were reinforced by his ability, they had a considerable amount of strength...but the answer was clear.

The man with the bandages...also had a faint green glow radiating from his eyes.

"But...I WILL NOT FALL SO EASILY!!" shouted Nozar, abandoning his plan to capture the bandaged man and squeezing his body with all his strenght, trying to crush him.

"AARGGHH!"

Jay, on the other hand, also felt the strong pressure on his ribs and legs, so he quickly grabbed the fingers that were holding his ribs.

Then, the muscles throughout his body became even more bulged than they already were, increasing his strength exponentially.

*CRACK!*

"FUCK, STOP DOING THAT!!!" shouted Nozar, holding back the incredible pain he was feeling right now.

Hearing his loud scream, Jay looked him straight in the eye and grabbed the last finger that was gripping his legs.

However, this time he didn't immediately broke it, instead adjusting to get the best possible grip

"You...shit."

At that moment, Nozar knew, something very bad was going to happen to him.

"RAAAAGH!!" Shouted Jay.

A second later, in a single jerk, Nozar's body was lifted into the air.

It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened...the bandaged man, using his incredible strength, had lifted him up.

'This...isn't the strenght of a rank (D+) pugilist...' Thought Nozar, seeing that the bandaged man, who was on the ground still grabbing his finger, had not yet finished with him.

*BOOM!*

With that sound, Jay whipped Nozar against the small concrete wall surrounding the house, destroying a large part of the wall.

"U-urgh..."

Nozar let out a grunt of pain, he protected himself from the fall using his left arm, but still received a great deal of damage, adding to that the constant loss of blood and the fact that he exceeded his limits more than once in this fight...he was no longer in condition to fight.

*Tap tap*

Jay slowly walked over to the bloody mess that was Nozar's body.

Because Nozar was in a heavily injured state, all of his energy was focused on healing his body, causing his arms to quickly return to their normal size.

'He's coming to finish this...?' thought Nozar.

But unlike what he thought, Jay just grabbed one of his arms and started to look at it closely, as if inspecting it.

"...what are you doing?"

Suddenly, his claws appeared again, digging deep into Nozar's arm.

*CHAJK!*

"URGHH, YOU...!" Nozar couldn't help but scream in pain.

*BAM!*

"Ack!"

Jay kicked him in the head because the noise was bothering him, forcing Nozar to stop screaming.

Although it was just a simple kick for him, for Nozar it was the last straw. He was staying conscious with sheer willpower, but the kick made his body unable to take it anymore.

"...S-shit."

With those words as his last, Nozar felt his consciousness waver.

The bandaged man had already walked away in the direction of his companion.

On the way, he seemed to be...eating something.

But before Nozar could see anything else, his consciousness vanished.