"Hm, I see, so that's what happened~" Said Sarah, who was currently sitting cross-legged on top of Jay's abdomen, who was still lying on the bed.
Unlike other days where she was wearing sportswear, this time she was wearing a black skinny jean along with a white blouse that covered her arms but exposed both her shoulders and a bit of her abdomen.
Although it was undoubtedly an outfit that fit her quite well, the appearance of the room contrasted greatly with her own.
There were drawers out of the closet, clothes everywhere, even the bed had been moved a bit, it was definitely a mess.
But without a doubt, what was most striking about the room were the 2 people in front of her, a young man with brown hair and glasses who was currently sitting on the floor with his head down, next to him was a girl completely gagged with the same bandages that had previously bound the man.
Obviously, these people were Noah and Jenny respectively, as for the light blue-haired girl and also the one responsible for the chaos in the room, she was none other than Sarah.
"...Could you get off now?" Jay said, a slight pained expression on his face.
"No, let this be your punishment for not telling me about all this sooner~"
Although she didn't show it in her expression, she was actually somewhat annoyed, at first it was because of the scene she saw as soon as she poked her head out of the window, but after hearing Jay's explanation, her anger shifted to focus on him.
To explain why both Jenny and Noah were here, he also had to tell her all about what had happened since she left, keeping her up to date on everything.
"Seriously, I knew you were going to do something risky but I really didn't imagine something like this at all!" She said, purposely putting more weight on Jay.
Jay didn't have much to say, simply smiling awkwardly as he was scolded by her.
At that moment, Noah's voice echoed in the room.
"Um... excuse me... is Jenny alright...?"
Even though he had been previously manhandled by her, seeing that said person now looked like a mummy due to the bandages covering every inch of her body except her nose, he couldn't help but worry.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine, I just need her to go to sleep first, we can't have someone in her condition walking freely around the house." She replied kindly.
"Condition...?" Noah asked, somewhat confused by what Sarah had said.
"Oh, didn't you notice? This girl is suffering from weakening because she used her ability for too long. It's a common thing that happens to novice espers, even though her body is in normal condition, take it as if she was under the effect of alcohol."
As she finished saying that, her gaze again moved to Jay, who averted his gaze to avoid making eye contact with her. He also knew about the consequences of a weakening, but he had forgotten to warn Jenny about this because of everything that happened.
"Haa... now then, take her into the other room please, I have things to talk to Jay about."
"Y-yes, right away..." Noah said, quickly taking Jenny in his arms and leaving the room, wanting to escape as quickly as possible from this situation.
Now that they were both alone, a silence reigned in the room for a short time, specifically until they could hear the sound of Noah coming down the stairs after he left Jenny in the next room.
After making sure that he was in the first floor, Sarah raised both arms before ruthlessly jabbing her thumbs into Jay's sides.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!"
"HOW THE HELL DO YOU MANAGE TO GET YOURSELF INTO SUCH BIG TROUBLE?!!!!"
The screams from both of them echoed loudly throughout the house, causing Noah and Jenny to unconsciously tremble.
Right now, the problem of having found Jenny about to do something to Jay was the least of it for Sarah.
Of course, this was understandable, after all Jay had just told her about the risky situation he had found himself in last night.
Her aunt had given her a week off from her rigorous training starting today, so she decided to come see him and spend some time doing something fun, but now, her mind was only filled with the worry that Jay could very well have lost his life if he had made a single misstep.
Thus began a torture session that lasted about 10 minutes or so before the mage in question calmed down.
"So you won't be able to move until your ability has finished evolving...?" Sarah asked, who was still on top of Jay.
"Ouch... and that's right, which is why I wanted to ask if your aunt had another regeneration pill lying around...?"
Because he knew Sarah was just worrying about him, he really wasn't upset, he was even somewhat happy about it, despite the clear fact that his ribs were currently in extreme pain.
"I'll ask her but I doubt she has any, they're quite rare after all. In fact, I'm even surprised she would have given you that pill specifically, on the market it costs something like 70 or 80 thousand credits."
"!"
Upon hearing the price of the pill, Jay couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He had assumed it would be quite expensive, but he hadn't expected it to cost even more than some cars.
Immediately, his urge to ask Sarah's aunt for help disappeared completely.
"...Better not ask her then, I just have to wait for a while until I can use my ability again anyway."
"If you say so, that's fine. Hm, you know, your condition is quite strange, it normally only takes about 1 or 2 hours at most to advance in rank, so a simple skill evolution shouldn't take that long. Also, the state of your body... even though I feel almost no energy at all, there's no doubt that you have advanced... how fast."
As Sarah spoke, her eyes carefully inspected Jay's body, as if wanting to decipher exactly what was wrong.
"I'm going to take a look at the energy inside you, ok?" She said, more warning Jay than asking for his permission.
For this, Sarah didn't hold back at all and even activated her aura, her eyes giving off a noticeable glow that indicated she was trying her best, and not content with that, even a small magic circle appeared in her irises.
As a rank (C-) mage, her ability to sense any kind of energy was incredibly high, this was especially true after using a spell to enhance her eyesight, so it didn't take her long to find something strange inside of him.
"...W-why the hell is there qi in your body...?!" She asked as a shocked expression formed on her face.
In her eyes, inside Jay's body, which was almost completely devoid of energy, there were two extremely thin streams of energy of a green and gold color running through all the veins in his body.
The green colored stream was simply Jay's natural energy, which nurtured his esper ability and also served as a way to gauge what range he was in, there were no problems in this part except that the stream was incredibly weak.
The real "problem" was in the golden line of energy, better known as qi.
The reason she was so surprised was because it was a known fact worldwide that the energy of the three classes were extremely incompatible with each other, automatically refusing each other on contact or simply resulting in an explosion if one tried to force it.
There has been no lack of ambitious and talented people in history who tried to combine the best points of the three classes or directly merge the three because of the obvious advantages this would bring.
However, whether they were initially an esper, pugilist or a mage, they all met the same end, a failure that destroyed their lives, even harming others in the worst case.
That was what had been proven and what was considered common knowledge, but in spite of that, right now, in Jay's body, these two types of energy were peacefully coexisting as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
*BAM!*
"OUCH!"
Jenny couldn't help but punch Jay's chest again due to the excitement she was feeling right now.
"Forget that you can't move, it's already a miracle you hadn't exploded!" She shouted as she saw Jay with a smile of excitement on her face.
'...There's qi inside me?' Jay thought, he was also aware of how dangerous it was, so he was just as surprised as Sarah, 'No wonder the system is taking so long!'
Now he understood why the system was taking so long, it wasn't like the usual assimilation of skills he had experienced in the past, this was on a completely different level!
"...Your ability without a doubt is the first of its kind in this world." Sarah said again as she calmed down and rested her face in her hand, looking fascinated at the two streams of energy in Jay's body, "Although, for that very reason I think you should be much more careful from now on."
She knew very well how important and groundbreaking what was happening inside Jay was, so she worried about this too. After all, if some ill-intentioned person or organization got wind of this... she couldn't even imagine what consequences this would bring.
Fortunately it wasn't something that could be noticed by the naked eye, even she, a rank (C-) mage had to activate a special spell to be able to notice it, so it was safe to say that as long as he didn't receive an in-depth inspection, it wouldn't be noticed.
"I wasn't planning on telling anyone either, but I'll be careful anyway." Jay replied, understanding Sarah's concerns.
Hearing his response, Sarah only let out a sigh before speaking again, "Now then, with that out of the way, even if it's not the same as a regeneration pill, I think I have something that might help you..."
Being a mage who practiced heterodox magic, she had access to a wide repertoire of spells which served for a myriad of different situations, among them were even healing spells, although of course, at her current level, the effect would be no different from a simple comforting massage.
But luckily for both of them, recently her aunt had taught her how to use a spell called "Revitalization", its effect was similar to that of the energizing pill she had taken a while ago, with the only difference being that this spell had to be used for a considerable time before it started to take effect.
'Hm... this spell is especially for treating lack of energy, could it be that aunty knew about this...?' Sarah thought, finding the convenience of this situation a bit suspicious.
In fact, thinking back a little further, her aunt had just given her a whole week off, which was precisely the time she estimated it would take for Jay to fully recover using that spell.
That increased her suspicions that perhaps her aunt already knew of the state Jay was in, which created some questions within her.
"If you have a method, then I have no choice but to ask for your help."
Jay's words brought her back to reality, causing her to lower her gaze to the still half naked Jay.
'...Oh well, I guess that can wait~'
With those thoughts as her last, she placed her hands on Jay's chest and began to use the spell.
That's how Jay's recovery treatment began, which continued for several days.
Not only did he have the help of Sarah, but also Noah, who always used his ability on Jay to make sure he was recovering physically.
Seeing his ability, Sarah was also amazed at how useful and unusual it was, internally praising Jay for getting such a person as a tenant.
As for Jenny, she quickly returned home after recovering from her weakening, but not before apologizing to both Noah and Jay for her behavior, although she also visited from time to time to help out.
Finally, Sarah's week off ended, and with it the recovery of Jay, who could now move his body.
But the most important thing for him without a doubt was that the system message he had been waiting so long for finally arrived!
_____________
Update completed!
The system thanks the [Carrier] for being so patient!
The authority of the [Carrier] has been upgraded.
Current Authority: 1
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After reading the message, Jay got happy before quickly opening the interface.
The system interface had changed, now it no longer displayed three different options every time he opened the system, instead everything seemed to have merged into one big information window with three options that could be collapsed or expanded at any time.
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[Parasyte System] (New)
Carrier: Jay Sacrest
[Status]
Strength: (D+)
Agility: (D+)
Resistance: (D+)
[Hosts]
Parasites Available: 20 (Type not yet decided)
Two types of host have been identified:
[Esper] (+1% improvement in the assimilation process)
[Pugilist] (+1% improvement in the assimilation process)
[Skills]
Wind Control (D-): (70%)
Core (Incomplete): +5% to the total energy of the [Carrier].
Overload (System Ability): The parasites inside the carrier's body temporarily become a part of the carrier's body, allowing the carrier to double his statistics for 8 seconds in exchange for all the energy available in it's body. (Only available if there are at least 10 parasites in the carrier's body.)
Available Skills:
Currently there are no skills available to assimilate.
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