“So, you’re telling me that you went through an awakening some time ago?”

“It’s the truth, look~” Jay replied by activating his wind glove.

“And it’s stronger than it looks!” Sarah added, touching the glove.

After the problem with Jay passing out, the three sat down in the backyard to discuss what had happened, or rather, Sarah and Jay sat down while James interrogated them.

“Even if it’s a late awakening…”

While it was true that cases of late awakening were very rare, it was still possible that Jay had gone through one, James knew that very well so he could accept the “wind glove” that Jay had in his right hand.

However, what didn’t seemed right was that Jay had manifested an Aura!

“It could be a side effect of his awakening.” Sarah replied, looking at James.

“Hmm…”

Listening to what Sarah was saying, James began to think, and saw that it made some sense.

Of the three kinds of supers, which were Mages, Pugilists, and Espers, the Espers were the ones with the most unpredictable abilities, and it was not uncommon to hear of some “side effects” of their abilities, in some cases it could be the change of color of the eyes, hair, and in some particular cases, even their bodies changed!

Therefore, the fact that Jay’s eye color changed every time he used his skill to the limit could fall into that category, meaning that the glow in his eyes wasn’t an Aura, but rather a side effect of his awakening.

“Haa, well you’ve only just woken up after all, so maybe your body is just trying to stabilize your ability.”

Although he still had some doubts, he decided to leave it there for the moment, he was worried not because he didn’t want Jay to strenghten himself or something like that, but rather because he didn’t want Jay to take some drastic measures just to obtain some power._.

“Now then, you told me you wanted to learn how to fight…?” James asked, changing the subject.

“That’s right, as you might have guessed, I’ll apply to the Eitsirc Academy too.”

‘Knew it…’ James thought with a bitter smile.

James was already aware of Jay’s ambition to become a super, however, that didn’t take away the fact that it was incredibly dangerous for him to try something like this, even if he had suffered an awakening, that didn’t mean he could pass the exam.

After all, the number of supers that ended up heavily injured or worse on the entrance exam was not small, and these were supers that had used their abilities for a long time, so there’s really no need to mention what would happen to Jay if he tried to take the exam.

However, he also knew that Jay wouldn’t change his mind no matter how hard he tried to convince him, so, seeking help, he turned to Sarah…unfortunately, she only gave him a bitter smile.

“Haa…well, let’s get started then.” He said before getting up as he took off his shirt and stretched, immediately after, his presence changed, he was no longer the handsome and kind young man that Jay and Sarah knew, he had become one of Jay’s traumas again, “This time…”

“I’ll make sure to teach you well…” He said with a smile that would give even the bravest criminal the creeps.

Thus, at the request of his longtime victim, James the Ogre had woken up again.

***

“AAAH!!” shouted Jay as he was chased by a tall and muscular half naked man.

“STOP RUNNING, WARRIORS ALWAYS FIGHT FACE TO FACE!”

“I don’t even know what you’re teaching me right now!” Jay complained with a few tears in the corner of his eyes.

Fortunately, just as the mass of muscles called James was about to catch up with him, Sarah interrupted them.

“Come on, stop playing, or at least include me~” Said Sarah, waving her wand.

*Bam!*

Jay then fell to the ground while James’ movements slowed down by a lot.

“…Ouch.” Jay couldn’t help but let out a sound of pain because he had fallen face down.

“Haha, well, it was fun to scare you.” James said with a laugh, ignoring the increased weight on his body.

‘Damn you…’ Thought Jay from the floor, although he really wasn’t going to get angry, they were just playing after all, plus, he had unlocked a new skill, which made him extremely happy!

“Um, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back!”

Because he knew that the “training” would be long and torturous, he quickly went to the bathroom to check his new unlocked skill.

Once in the bathroom, Jay started to do a few poses in front of the mirror before opening the system…it seems that he was getting a little narcissistic…

“Open Skills.”

_____________________

[Skills]

Wind Control (D-): (4%)

Overload (System Ability) (Free Uses 1/2): The parasites inside the carrier’s body temporarily become a part of the carrier’s body, allowing the carrier to double its statistics for 8 seconds in exchange for all the energy available in it’s body. (Only available if the carrier’s statistics have reached the current limit and if there are at least 10 parasites in the carrier’s body.)

Available Skills:

Currently there are no skills available to assimilate.

_____________________

“Wow…”

Jay couldn’t help but be amazed at this skill, even though it was only 8 seconds, his stats would double, this was with no doubt an amazing skill!

“Hm…free uses eh…I guess the reason I don’t feel so tired is because of that…although my muscles feel sore…”

As Jay had said, the reason he didn’t feel any fatigue or tiredness was because the system had given him 2 free uses, so the first 2 times he used it, the energy will come from the system instead of Jay, but of course, that didn’t mean that his body wouldn’t feld the strain of using his body to the limit.

As to why he had fainted, it was due to it being the first time his body had been forced to use so much energy and greatly surpass it’s limits, thus excerting a huge pressure on it.

Seeing that he had unlocked an ability by training to the limit, Jay confirmed his suspicious that there definitely were more functions, even including abilities of the system that he could discover and unlock, which made him quite excited.

“Anyways, one step at a time, for now….let’s learn how to fight~!”

Now with a renewed determination, Jay quickly went downstairs and out into the backyard.

The sight that greeted him, however, was somewhat unexpected.

“YOU’RE STUPIDLY HEAVY!” Shouted Sarah holding James inches above the ground using a spell with her wand.

Judging by the beads of sweat running down her reddened face, one could tell she was having a hard time doing it.

“HOHOHO, YOU CAN’T WIN AGAINST MY STRONG BODY, YOU GLUTTON MAGE!” James responded as he made a pose to emphasize his toned pecs as he floated.

“…I guess there’s a reason we’re friends eh….” Jay thought as he watched this scene.

***

After the three of them calmed down, James and Jay then began the “training”, James first started explaining some things to Jay.

“As I said before, your body is very weak compared to other supers, even if you can cover your hand with your ability, that won’t be enough if you have to face another super or a monster, well, it won’t even be enough to reach the entrance of the Eitsirc Academy.”

What James was saying, although it might seem like a negative thing, was nothing more than the truth.

Jay’s current body may be in better physical condition compared to a normal person, however, that only applied to them, in comparison to most supers, all of Jay’s aspects were lacking.

He didn’t have a strong physique like a pugilist, he didn’t know any long-range magic spells that would keep enemies at bay, and his skill was incredibly weak for now, that was one of the problems of a late awakening.

While other supers had already started their journey from childhood, the ones who had a late awakening would have to start years behind, so the effort they had to put in was many times greater if they wanted to follow the path of a super.

Jay’s case was exactly this, so what martial technique was appropriate for someone with a weak defense and attack power?

“I’m going to teach you how to dodge!” James shouted with such strong determination that there even seemed to be fire in his eyes.

James, like many pugilists, was a training fanatic, especially if it was physical training, so he couldn’t help but get excited.

“…You’re going to hit me again, aren’t you?” Said Jay with a look of resignation.

“Not this time, last time I had to do it because I wanted to teach you to be able to run away if someone was chasing you, but you wouldn’t take it seriously if I just caught you, so beating you up was necessary.” James replied by raising his arms and making an expression of ‘It was the only way.’

“Normally, the easiest way would be to improve your physical condition so your reflexes would improve too, but since we don’t have that much time and you can’t use Qi to improve your body, we’ll have to use another method, try to hit me.” James continued.

“Alright~” said Jay before activating his wind glove and throwing a strong punch at James.

Even though they were friends, there was not a shred of doubt on Jay’s part, it was partly because James was a pugilist, and an exceptional one at that so even if he hit him, James would only feel a caress.

On the other hand, when James chased him a little while ago, he had relived some traumatic memories of Jay, so Jay wanted to hit the root of them in an attempt to diminish them even a little.

However, just as his fist was about to connect with James’ face, he suddenly disappeared!

“Oh no-gah!” Jay said, knowing what was coming.

At that moment, someone hit his head with a karate chop, causing Jay fall to the ground.

“…Ouch”

“So, what do you think~?” James, on the other hand had a smile on his face.

“Exactly how did you do that…?” Jay asked very curiously.

“It’s a foot technique, it’s called Phantom Trace!”