Chapter 4: Parasites

Name:Parasyte System Author:
Since I had discovered their location, I tried to control one of them, the first thing I could think of was to make it go towards my hand...and fortunately, this time worked.

I felt a little tingling sensation in my arm when it moved to my hand, but it wasn't uncomfortable or anything like that, instead, it felt like it was just a natural process, as if...that's how it was supossed to be.

When he finally arrived, I ordered him to get out.

Then, a small worm came out of the palm of my hand.

I had a couple of doubts about it.

First, it looked nothing like the worm in my dream, this one was thinner, smaller and had no eyes, just a few small sharp teeth, his size was about 2 centimeters long, so where did it come from?

Second...how come this doesn't hurt me...?

Of course, at that moment I decided to leave those questions for later, since I was more interested in the little friend I had in my palm and what I could do with them.

My motto is "One problem at a time" after all.

Another thing I noticed is that even though the command I gave him was "get out", he didn't completely left my palm, his lower body was still in my hand.

I wanted to know the reason why so I started trying different things with him.

What I found out was that he didn't like being outside my body at all because he seemed to get weaker the longer he was out.

I also discovered that he could enter my body from anywhere other than my head or some intimate part, not because I didn't try, but because I didn't want the parasite in those areas...

Anyway, no matter what part of my body the parasite entered from, I felt nothing but a little itch.

Then, I decided to test another parasite, it was exactly the same as the first one and it behaved in the same way.

The next thing that occurred to me was to test their piercing power, after all, those sharp teeth definitely had to be able to cause a considerable damage, so I bought some meat to see how long it would take them to enter it.

Incredibly, it didn't take them even 1 second to get in, and despite not being inside my body, their mobility wasn't affected at all, it was as if they were fishes swimming in water.

As for their capacity of damaging the meat... it seems that the weren't able to do it even if they wanted, after entering, they didn't leave any wounds on the meat, nor could they eat it or damage it in any way.

It seemed like their main function was to enter inside the body of someone, not damage it, but I was fine with that too.

The system obviously didn't recognize the meat as a host either, so I decided to left that kind of test until I got a real host.

What I tried next was to move them differently, the test site had been my right arm, I ordered the first parasite to move towards my palm and the second one to climb up towards my elbow.

It turned out well, it seems that I can control them to do different things at the same time.

I also did the same with the other 8 parasites I had in my arm.

In this process I also discovered something new, the parasites have a "rest mode".

When I stop controlling them, they slowly return to my right arm no matter the part of my body they were in.

Once in my arm, all they did was stand still, as if they were resting, so I called it rest mode...yeah.

Unfortunately, because of school consuming a lot of my time, improving my statistics and the tests I did with the system functions, those are the only things I managed to discover in that short period of time.

***

Back to the present.

"But today...I finally managed to get my longed-for host!" I said while raising my fist.

The problem of the host was something that troubled me from the beginning.

I did not know any criminals or villains after all.

As for Carl...I had a good debate with myself as to whether he deserved to be infected or not.

He was an idiot, yes, but he was far from being a real criminal, I had heard that he sometimes defended some classmates from other bullies and even acted as an intermediary when there was a fight, it seemed that the only person he had trouble with was me...but I couldn't remember why.

Because of that I was in a bit of a conflict, but in the end I came to a pretty simple conclusion.

I would infect him, but I wouldn't do anything to harm him, just to investigate what my parasites could do with a host.

So, determined, I spent my days improving the control I had over my parasites and exercicing.

In the process I couldn't help but get attached to the parasites, I even called them my little ones because...well, they were my little ones, I wasn't really lying or anything.

That was pretty much my routine until the last day of school finally arrived, the day where I had decided to carry out my plan:

-Seek an excuse to touch Carl and infect him with all the parasites I had.

"Everything worked out well!" I said as I rolled around in my bed...what can I say, it's really nice when a plan works.... regardless of how my reputation may have ended after that.

"Now then...let's see what's new in the system, open."

Finishing my sentence, the interface appeared.

_____________

[Parasyte System]

Carrier: Jay Sacrest

[Status]

[Hosts] (New)

_____________

I quickly chose "Hosts" to see what had changed...

_____________

[Hosts]

Parasites Available: 0

A type of host has now been identified:

[Espers]

_____________

"...this...this...is incredible!" I said as I hurriedly got out of bed, the tiredness I felt before had already vanished.

If the system classifies the hosts by class... that means I can also infect pugilists and magicians!

"...Oh, well, there's no point thinking about that now, the classes are over and I don't know anyone else to infect..." I said while scratching my head.

"Let's go on then~"

I selected the "Espers" option.

_____________

Espers Infected:

[Carl Davis]

_____________

Looking at the new window that opened, I quickly selected the only option that was available.

_____________

[Carl Davis]

Skill: Wind Control (D) (Assimilating)

Status: Healthy

Parasites: 10

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

_____________

"...Oh my god..."

'If this is the way I think it is...then it's too good...!' I thought before jumping towards my bed to roll on it again.

I calmed myself after 10 seconds.

'For now I just have to wait 10 days to be able to pick my little ones, as far as how I will do it...I don't think it will be much of a problem...I already know where he lives after all.

Since I don't seem to be able to do anything else with the system at the moment, I will keep repeating my previous routine.

I took my smart watch from my desk and saw what time it was...

4:04 pm

It was still early, enough for an exercise session.

"Hmm, well, I'd better start now~." I said as I stretched and changed the school uniform I was wearing for more comfortable clothes.

***

In the central part of a big city, really far from where Jay lived, where the view of tall buildings was normal, there was a skyscraper that overshadowed any other building as far as height was concerned, and on the highest floor of this building, several people were gathered around a table.

"Alright, as everyone knows, the admission exams are coming up and we have some really exceptional candidates worthy of special attention..." said one of the people sitting at the table, his voice was deep and clear, even though his face was not visible, the silhouette this person had was quite big, over eight feet tall and a thick build.

"This year there are many promising newcomers coming...but if I had to choose one it would be... Asher Grey... 'Heaven's Son'. Incredibly good looking, intelligent and a genius when it comes to controlling his various powers...totally worthy of his title." Said a slim silhouette with a female voice whose face was also not visible.

"Hahaha, so it's one of those three, it was obvious he was going to get your attention, but you'll have to fight hard if you want him to be your apprentice, you're not the only one who wants him after all!" Added a small silhouette with a childish voice that was sitting in front of the silhouette with a female voice.

"Hmph, do you really think anyone can compete with me?" replied the silhouette with the female voice.

"I'm just telling the truth," said the little silhouette leaning back in her chair and putting her hands behind her head.

"To me... Jenny Green... 'Little Gaia'." Said an average height silhouette with a female voice that was slow and heavy, as if the person was about to fall asleep.

"Ohhh, the name of another of those three came out~!" Yelled the small silhouette after she heard what her partner said.

"Well, it's inevitable to mention her, when you can handle elementary magic from the age of 4 when the normal is 14 and the exceptional 10, it's decided that she will be an incredible character." Replied the eight feet tall silhouette.

"To be honest, I would like to compete with you for her, Zena, but elemental magic is not my strong point, too bad," said the small and now visibly depressed silhouette.

"Finally, does anyone else have any other suggestions?" said again the six foot tall man.

"Oh, oh! I know~! Since you already mentioned two out of the three big names, how about 'her'?" shouted the small silhouette without any sign of the depression she suffered a few moments ago.

"Hm, the most promising of all the newcomers, Valerie Adler... 'Athena'." Replied the eight feet silhouette while stroking his chin.

Right after he said that, none of the silhouettes in the room could help but feel something at the mention of this name...respect.