Parasyte System

In the silver city, specifically in the hospital, Carol and her group stood in a white hallway, waiting visibly worried for the doctor to come out and inform them about the condition of their companion.

Because the instructor had brought Tessa directly to the hospital, they didn’t had a chance to see her, only being able to wait outside.

However, just by the fact that they had to wait, they knew that her condition was anything but healthy.

At this moment, Iza was having a conflict within herself, as the leader of the group, her task, while most of the time it was to guide her companions, that also included the duty of not putting them in unnecessary danger and looking out for their safety.

Various thoughts like, ‘If only I had been more careful…’ or similar went through her head, but the bitter feeling of guilt inside her would not go away no matter how much she regretted it, something that was only made worse knowing that she was the leader.

The same was true for her companions, who thought that their own selfishness caused Tessa to now find herself in this situation.

Because of this, the atmosphere was heavy and silent, leaving only their breaths as the only sound that could be heard in the hallway.

Unfortunately, they would have to stay a long time waiting, thanks to the fact that Tessa’s condition was not as simple as it seemed, though of course, they did not know this.

***

At the same time, the person who had taken Tessa to the hospital, Elaina, was back in the “Limit” field, looking closely at her wooden talisman as streams of energy coursed through the acres of the forest, creating and closing cracks over and over again.

Quickly, her expression turned to one of annoyance, “I don’t understand, even though I’m scanning the whole damn forest, it’s not detecting anything…!”

Her frustration was quite evident, but it was something understandable, after all, it was the first time since she started working at the academy that her talisman didn’t give her the results she wanted.

The talisman she held in her hands was a magical tool used by the academy’s teachers that allowed them to control the different types of magical circuits inscribed on certain grounds regardless of their class._.

Of course, the “Limit”, being such a vast and dangerous area, also had magic circuits inscribed everywhere, covering the entire forest.

Among the many circuits, at least a dozen of them were dedicated to the recognition and localization of living beings and specific objects, something that had been implemented since the beginning of the Academy in order to avoid accidents with students.

However, although the instructor, who was a rank (B) pugilist, was currently injecting a huge amount of energy into the talisman, she could not find the creature she saw a few minutes ago.

“I’ll have to enter the forest personally, then…” Said the instructor, putting the wooden talisman in her pocket before activating several martial techniques to increase her speed and perception.

*Tap tap*

But just then, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, indicating that someone else had arrived to the field.

Without waiting for the instructor to turn around, the person who arrived spoke, “I hope you weren’t thinking of entering the forest without first submitting a report, Elaina?”

“Now that you’re here, save your breath and connect to the forest, this is a serious problem!” Elaina replied, moving to the side to clear the way.

The person who arrived was a white-skinned mage with long grey hair which was tied in a ponytail, her features were graceful and her expression was incredibly cold.

Not wanting to argue more than necessary, the mage, Kenya, approached the entrance of the field, closed her eyes and sat down with her legs crossed before touching the ground with both hands.

*BOOOM!!!*

Immediately, the ground began to tremble as huge cracks filled with blue energy opened up throughout the forest, creating a mystical scene of a forest full of mana trees.

The reason for such a different reaction was because Kenya was a mage who specialized in magic circuits, making her someone who could connect directly to them without the use of external devices.

As a result, not only could she use the circuits at full power, but their power was amplified by her.

An enormous amount of information flowed into Kenya’s mind, but proving that she was not a rank (B) magician in name only, she assimilated the information almost instantly.

Quickly, the entire “Limit” field was analyzed, leaving not even a single stone unchecked.

Noticing that the level of mana activity was decreasing, indicating that Kenya had finished her review, Elaine couldn’t help but ask, “Did you find the bastard? If I don’t kill it at least a couple of times, my conscience won’t be at ease.”

However, disregarding her words, Kenya continued with her task, though something had changed about her, and that was her expression.

While she had come in with a completely serious and cold expression, she now had a frown on her face, as if something had her frustrated, quite similar to the expression Elaine had only moments ago.

Seeing this, Elaine had a bad feeling, so she reminded Kenya, “I had to activate the omniscient mode in order to find Tessa, and even then I could only identify the scent of her blood, not her or the thing that had her, so you might want to try that too.”

The omniscient detection mode was an action in which all the magical circuits of a terrain were combined to give a complete real-time map of said terrain, with the only flaw being that it consumed a great deal of energy of the person using it.

In fact, if Elaine wasn’t a rank (B) pugilist, she wouldn’t even be standing right now due to the exhaustion of having lost over 60% of her energy in just a few seconds.

“I’m using omniscient mode… but, it’s not that I can’t find the monster you’re telling me about… it’s that the forest is completely empty.”

“What?!”

Just as Kenya had said, from the smallest monsters, to the predators at the top of the food chain, the forest had none of them.

It was as if overnight, all the animal life in the forest had vanished…to make way for something far more terrifying.

***

Back in the bronze city, specifically deep in the training center, Jay was still sitting on the couch in the living room, a tired expression on his face.

After Syvis had discovered Jay’s “true” identity, she began a questioning session that without knowing exactly how, ended up turning into Jay taking a class on fashion.

In the process, the clothes Jay was wearing were also harshly criticized, under the premise that if he was a model, he should take better care of his appearance, or else his class level would go down.

Apparently, Syvis was a bit overzealous about these kinds of issues, even more so than she was with talented people.

Finally, after what seemed like several hours for him, Jay got a break, thanks to the fact that Syvis went to the city to get some clothes for him to try on.

Letting out a long sigh, even though the fashion lesson had been a bit intense, Jay was relieved that his little ones hadn’t been discovered, ‘Hm, now that she’s gone, I can take the opportunity to check her status…’

At once, Syvis’ status window appeared before Jay.

_____________________

[Syvis Genna]

Active Skill: Force Field (C-)

Trait – Gravity Enhancer (Active) : At the moment the main skill is used, this feature will be activated simultaneously. Thanks to an advanced understanding of her ability, the user has gained the ability to borrow power from a greater force! +40% attack power, +20% control of the main skill.

Condition: Healthy.

Parasites: 1

Assimilation Status: 0% (0.5% per day per parasite)

(Warning: As the difference in energy between the [Carrier] and the [Host] is too big, the assimilation process has a high probability of failure).

_____________________

‘An control ability coupled with an active trait that complements just the aspect that it lacks…. No wonder I couldn’t even get close…’ Jay thought, again feeling relieved that he hadn’t been discovered.

Although Jay had seen other decent traits before, he definitely thought this one was the strongest so far.

Normally, skills that had to do with force fields, while incredibly good for support, lacked the power to be used on their own.

An example of this was the case with Jenny, whose ability was good enough to do tasks that required quite a bit of control, such as tying up her hair, but wasn’t strong enough to be able to lift a person into the air.

However, Syvis’ ability had not only been exceptionally strong from the start, but this aspect had been further enhanced by receiving her trait.

Taking this into account, it was not unusual for said girl’s confidence to be so high, as she had the qualifications to behave in such a manner.

Turning on his smartwatch, Jay realized that it had been a while and neither Syvis nor the instructor had returned, and the time to meet Sarah was approaching.

‘Hmm…’

In this situation, Jay considered his options, he could stay and wait until the girl known as Syvis returned with clothes for him to try on, or he could escape and attend the meeting with Sarah.

No matter what he chose, it would piss off one of the two girls, but considering the pros and cons of both options, Jay came to a conclusion.

***

About 15 minutes later, a girl with long black hair entered the training center, several bags of clothes adorned her arms, giving her a slightly funny appearance.

In a matter of a couple of minutes, she made it to the deepest part of the training center, to the same small building that was to be the place where she would live from now on.

Opening the door with a big smile on her face, Syvis quickly made her way towards the living room, “I had to go a bit far due to the fact that the stores nearby didn’t have what I wanted, but never mind, I’m here now!”

Unfortunately, no matter how enthusiastic her attempt of an apology for being late was, it was all in vain, after all, the living room was empty.

Seeing this, Syvis stood completely still for a few seconds and blinked a few times, as if she didn’t understand what had just happened.

“Ha…haha…hahaha!”

Suddenly, still not letting go of the bags with clothes in her hands, the esper started laughing.

“It’s been a while since something like this happened… but… this just makes it more entertaining!”

With those words as her last, Syvis sat down on the couch, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her co-worker, or rather, her future living fashion mannequin.