BXBX NOVEL Chapter 108 - The Third Victim
A few minutes had passed, and as expected, with Jay\'s unexpected interruption and Vedran\'s fierce counterattack, ehe fight that took an unexpected turn came to an end.
Of course, they didn\'t leave all the students on the ground, or rather, Jay didn\'t, as shortly after making sure they were all unconscious, Jay took the jackets of a couple of the students and wind-slashed them, creating strips of cloth that he used to tie each of them up.
In the process, the occasional parasite escaped from him, in the end leaving no student without an unknown host inside.
"Wow, you sure are strong huh, I think even if I didn\'t intervene, you would have been fine." Jay said, standing up as he wiped the sweat from his brow with one hand.
In response, Vedran just put a hand behind his head, not being used to receiving compliments, "Not really, and.... thank you very much for your help..."
"Jay, Jay Sacrest, first grade, and don\'t worry about it, I\'ve also been itching to take on other students for a while now."
This was true, after all, he couldn\'t just get into a fight with anyone he saw on the street, at the very least he needed a reason, and it was for that very reason that he got a job as a janitor, that way he could gather enough money to challengue other students.
However, who knew that just in his first few days at the academy, he had already found himself in such a favorable situation, and without having to spend a dime!
"...I\'m Veldran Lind, also a first grader."
While it couldn\'t be said that his attitude was hostile, it was clear that he was still wary of Jay.
"Veldran uh..."
Jay was trying to remember if he had seen his face while at the academy, either at the entrance, the hallways, or in his classroom, but there were simply too many students, especially at the entrance and in the hallways, so he had to leave it there.
"Oh well." Since he couldn\'t manage to remember, Jay changed the subject, "I guess the reason they\'re after you has to do with this Baron they\'re talking about?"
Jay had originally thought it was a case of bullying, but the moment the blond student mentioned a baron, it became clear to him that it wasn\'t as simple as it seemed.
"...Un." Veldran replied, only nodding as he straightened his clothes and checked what time it was on his smartwatch.
"Would you mind telling me the reason specifically-"
Suddenly, Veldran\'s eyes widened before he ran out of the place, heading towards the city, "I\'m late!"
"Ah, wait!"
But disregarding Jay\'s words, Veldran continued running until he disappeared from the vicinity of the training center.
\'...Well there goes my plan to blackmail them into not ratting them out to a teacher...\' Jay thought, regretting not being quicker to stop Veldran.
Letting out a sigh, Jay then proceeded to look at the statuses of each of the bound students, checking to see if any had any good abilities.
\'Hm, enhanced strength, weaker than superhuman strength, rock skin... I don\'t think this one will do me much good, electric field... I didn\'t feel anything, so he must have been knocked out by Veldran, though that\'s also proof that it\'s weak...\'
Maybe the effect of the latter would be good if Jay increased the proficiency of the skill enough, after all espers with electricity skills were usually quite strong, but still, he wasn\'t convinced.
\'I\'ll leave it as a maybe.\'
By that, Jay meant that he would leave a parasite inside this student, just to make it easier to find him if he decided to choose this ability.
Unfortunately, only that student had an ability that caught his attention enough, so he had no choice but to move on to the main course, the blond student.
He was the only one that Jay had not immediately infected due to the fact that he wanted his status to be a total surprise, after all, this was the second time he would see a mage\'s status.
Immediately, an expression of interest formed on Jay\'s face as his hand moved to the neck of said student.
\'He\'s obviously from a different branch than Kesar, but I wonder how different he\'ll be.\' He thought as he infected the blond student and opened his status.
_____________________
[Nico Doyle]
Mana Control: (D+)
Elemental Magic - Light: (D+)
Condition: Lightly Injured (Unconscious)
Parasites: 1
Assimilation Status: 0% (1% per day per parasite)
_____________________
\'Hm, so this is why he was so weak, he\'s only at (D+) rank\' Jay thought.
It wasn\'t really that he was weak, it was just that after having come in contact with mages like Sarah and Kesar, who were exceptionally more resilient than the average mage, especially the former, Jay had unconsciously assumed that mages weren\'t as fragile as they were made out to be.
Which, of course, wasn\'t true at all, least of all if the mage in question hadn\'t reached rank (C), and this was only made worse when the attacker was of the physically stronger class, i.e. a pugilist, as Jay was.
\'So it is also from the elemental branch, although said element is somewhat rare, perhaps I should...\'
"...U-ugh."
At that moment, perhaps due to Jay\'s touch or thanks to the fact that it was time for him to get up, the blond student frowned before slowly opening his eyes.
His gaze then met directly with Jay\'s, who instead of looking away, just smiled before speaking, "You woke up sooner than I thought, have you calmed down a bit yet?"
Quickly, memories of what had happened just before he was knocked unconscious flooded Nico\'s head, his expression changing to one of anger.
"You... bastard, just wait until the baron hears-"
"Shhh." Before he could say anything else, Jay urged him to shut up before speaking himself, "I want you to think for a moment, we just tore you and your group apart, we are clearly stronger than you, and even though my partner is gone, you think the smart thing to do now is to continue to antagonize me?"
Still staring into Nico\'s eyes and not wanting to give him a chance to speak, Jay continued, "Tell me.... do you really think threatening will work to get any people to join your group? So far, how many people have you actually managed to recruit? And of those you have managed to recruit, are they all just as weak as these?"
"..."
Nico wanted to refute those words, but unfortunately for him, what Jay was saying made sense to him, as it was nothing but the truth.
So far, the number of people he had recruited was quite low, only reaching the amount of 12 people, considering that the academy had hundreds of thousands of students, that number was absolutely pitiful, especially when compared to other servants of the Baron.
Worst of all was that, just as Jay said, they were all weak, with the average being rank (D) and only a couple reaching rank (D+).
"What\'s wrong then? Maybe you really are doing a bad job? Maybe the problem is in your leadership? Maybe it\'s that the benefits aren\'t enough?"
For some reason, Jay\'s words, for Nico, were causing a lot of his insecurities to bubble up, creating a swirl of emotions inside him.
The fact that Jay\'s gaze, with his piercing green eyes, were still locked on him, wasn\'t helping at all.
"Or could it be... that the baron isn\'t really that great?"
Immediately, though he was still slightly shaken by Jay\'s words, an undercurrent of indignation surged within him, a product of his loyalty to this baron.
"YOU!"
However, Jay didn\'t flinch, but calmly replied, "It\'s normal for you to feel indignant, after all, deep inside you, you know that\'s not true, and that the reason you fail is due to nothing more and nothing less than something that\'s right under your nose!"
As Jay finished saying that, he held out his arms, pointing toward the students who were leaning against the wall, the arms of each tied behind their backs.
"Just look around you! It\'s not because you\'re a bad boss! It\'s not because you lack benefits! And of course it\'s not because the baron is not a reliable backup! Why is it that you were defeated tonight?!"
Again, the emotions inside Nico began to run riot, his mind working quickly to find the answer Jay was demanding of him.
Fortunately, he didn\'t need to think too hard, because just as Jay had said, Nico, deep down, already knew.
"...It\'s because of them!" Nico said, looking at his accomplices, or rather, his attempted accomplices.
Suddenly, the cloth that was holding his arms loosened, Jay finally releasing him.
"Think hard then, if it really suits you to go on with underlings like this or.... maybe you can find something... or someone better."
With those words as his last, Jay then started walking towards the city.
As for Nico, he had stopped feeling anger towards both Jay and Veldra a while ago, thanks mainly to the fact that Jay\'s words had affected him.
Under the curtain of night, his gaze slowly moved to his companions, a trace of condescension present in his eyes.
Thus, the brief encounter between Nico, Veldran and Jay came to an end.
***
Back at the training center, Jay resumed his task of sweeping the yards as he thought about how to proceed with Nico.
\'I had to give up on using them all as free merit points since Veldran left early, but with some luck Nico should contact me in a few days, that should be better in the long run...\' Jay thought.
By the time he had finished tying up all the students who attacked Veldran, the first thing Jay thought of was how could he take advantage of such terrible miscreants.
Obviously, getting the most merit points out of them, either by extortion or force was basic, but that was only going to be possible if Veldran acted as the victim and he acted as the witness.
But that plan fell apart almost instantly when Veldran headed into town, so Jay only had to resort to a plan B.
This plan B was actually not something he came up with on the spot, but was something he had already planned to do the next time he encountered a worthy person, as it was something that served as punishment for that person while granting Jay a benefit.
And that was... influencing that person by making use of his little ones along with the right incentives.
The first victim of this had been Carl, then Colt, and just a few minutes ago, Nico had joined that small group, as for the other people in the South Zone, due to the short time Jay spent influencing them, he didn\'t really count them as his victims.
However, it is worth mentioning that there were some differences in the type of influence each received.
For Carl, he with no doubt had the best luck, as it was the first time both Jay and his parasites had done anything like this, and what was more, Jay didn\'t even know he was capable of influencing anyone, resulting in Carl only receiving a boost in his self-esteem and little else.
With Colt things had already changed a bit, thanks to Carl, Jay began to suspect that his parasites had influence over people, so to confirm his doubts as well as it being a necessary thing at the time, Jay tried to influence him, which worked out splendidly, with Colt developing a great deal of trust towards Jay, trust that only increased the more time passed.
Finally, although Jay was unable to determine exactly how his influence over Nico would turn out this time, considering that Jay was now not only fully aware of his ability, but that his control over his parasites had greatly improved, he was confident that the results would not disappoint him.