While eating his Pizza Jason took the time to better explain to Maria how video games worked and how his system worked like one. He went on to explain how Exp. was a type of energy gained from battle, and how stat points worked like a compressed form of that energy. Maria wasn't completely sure she understood but Bry said he would demonstrate later, which was really him lowkey asking for a date. Jason felt the urge to mess with Bry as he knew more or less what Bry was really thinking, but he felt like it would be better to let him enjoy his time with Maria. Jason lowkey shipped their relationship, even if he was a tiny little devil that liked to prank the both of them. While Jason enjoyed his pizza, he began to think of new abilities he could get by using his energy while doing a specific action or set of actions. However, all he could really do was experiment seeing as there was no guarantee it would work. Abilities were complex and they weren't something you could think of doing and it would happen. You needed to know how to do it or else you would have to figure it out on your own and pray it worked. However, Jason didn't have any plans to get any new abilities just yet. The system had suggested to level up the ones he already had, and it was what he planned on doing. Sure he got a few new abilities with his little recent experiment, but he now just wanted to level up what he had. That and Jason wanted to increase his physical stats further so he could use more energy. After enjoying his late lunch/early dinner Jason went with Bry's lab/room to conduct whatever experiment Bry had cooked up, while Maria explained to Luis the events of the day. Jason thought the experiments and tests were just about standard medical tests and reaction to stimuli, and in part they were, but what Jason didn't expect was that Bry had bought some mammals to test Jason's viral abilities. 4 rabbits, 4 Rats, 4 Mice, 4 Hamsters, and 4 Guinea pigs, so basically most of the rodent family. Jason didn't think Bry was willing to make this type of experiment, especially after what Jason had done with his severed arm, but according to Bry, it was a necessary step to further understand what Jason was and what he was capable of. So while Bry wasn't thrilled by the notion of watching Jason consume the poor mammals, he did find it fascinating how Jason could do such a thing. Jason also wondered how it was possible to consume a creature or anything just by holding it in his hand or touching it. Mostly because it looked like his body changed its own shape to accomplish this, while on the other hand his ability to shapeshift was only focused on his eyes. It made Jason wonder if perhaps there was more to the shapeshifting ability that he didn't realize yet. Maybe he made a mistake when he asked what he could change. 'Wait, when I asked you what I could change you told me it was just my eye color. Is that really all?' Jason asked.
[When you asked, your question was aimed toward what part of you, you could change. It would've been better to ask: What can you use Shapeshifting for?]
'Are you really gonna make me ask?' Jason asked a bit annoyed.
[Yes]
Jason sighed rolling his eyes as he said, 'Give me the full description.'
[Shapeshifting: The ability to change, morphed, alter, and/or reshape body parts or your entire body. How you use this ability will depend solely on your imagination. Currently, you are limited in your control because of your low level.]
[Capabilities:
Changing eye color
Nail Manipulation {Only control over shape and strength. Limited growth of 1 inch. Retractability possible as well as halting natural growth. Strenght is dependent on Stats and ability.}
Hair Manipulation {Only control over texture, strength, and slight coloration. Retractability possible as well as halting natural growth. Strenght is dependent on Stats and ability.}
Skin Manipulation {Only control of slight pigmentation, texture, strength, and limited flexibility aka stretchiness. Strenght is dependent on Stats and ability.}
Cell shape manipulation
Consumption of organic matter
Small organic constructs: Limited to small tentacles. {Mainly used for consumption}
Scan function features]
[Shapeshifting ability can also be used or mixed with other abilities]
'. . .' Jason told Bry to give him a second while he went upstairs to his room. In his room, Jason grabbed his pillow and screamed into it. He felt so stupid because only a few days ago he had made a mistake when he asked 'What can I change with my Shapeshifting?' Instead of asking, 'Give me all the details.' So of course Jason wanted to kick himself for that oversite, but he figured it was better to leave that for later. Jason went back to Bry's room to conduct the experiments. "Ok. Which should we start with." Ask Jason, and Bry responded, "Well since you already consumed a rabbit before, how about we test with those first so we can compare the difference. You already told me about the event in as much detail as you could so we have a base to start with." Bry was prepared to take notes with his OdinPad, but before he would open the cage housing the 4 rabbits he said, "Let's not tell Maria about the rabbits." Jason nodded because everyone knew Maria liked bunnies and she probably never forgive them if she found out what they were going to do to 4 innocent bunnies. In any event, although Jason couldn't grow his nails he still could manipulate the tip shape with what was already there, so he turned them into sharp tips, and to ensure efficiency he used his Strengthening ability to make them strong enough to pierce his skin. He only did this on his right hand, as he pierced his right palm with his nails and let the blood pool in it, before grabbing the first bunny. He used the same strategy as with the bunny in the mountain, but this time he decided to test out the Tachycardia symptom, he got before. Jason found out Tachycardia had its own level and although level 1 was the lowest, it was more than enough to kill the bunny. Jason didn't expect the symptom to be so effective, but to his surprised, because he had killed the rabbit, the infection was then instantaneous and he consumed it right after. He didn't think the infection would continue after the death of the subject or that it would be faster, but since the organs shut down right after death, the immune system went out the window and a virus stays viable and infectious even after the host is dead. Finding this out, Jason now knew that if he killed his target, the virus would infect faster and he could consume his target faster.
[Rabbit infected, killed, and consumed]
[Exp. gain 10]
[Cell Duplication Lv.4 -> 5]
[Symptom Tachycardia has caused its first death]
[Tachycardia Lv.1 -> 2]
[Symptoms found and added to arsenal]
[Symptom:
Induce Fear Lv.1
Tonic Immobility{Fear Paralysis} Lv.1
Paralysis Lv.1]
[Biomass added to Storage]
'Awesome! Those are some good rewards. How come I didn't get them before?' Jason asked.
[Different circumstances. Different methods of attack. You caused fear on the bunny and used a symptom to increase the effect of that fear, thereby also causing other symptoms. Your VS also played a part in this.]
'Ohh~ So I caused a domino effect and learned to cause those symptoms. Awesome!! Now I know I can do that!! I am so gonna cause more dominos effects and get a fuck ton of symptoms!' Jason thought excitedly. 'Ok moving on to the next bunny.'
[Notice: Biostorage is at 50% capacity.]
'Hu?! You're telling me 2 bunnies take up that much internal storage?! How come I have so little space? On that note, how do I increase it and what do I use biomass for?' Jason asked.
[Biomass has many uses. However, you are unable to use it with your current level of Shapeshifting.]
[Reach Shapeshifting level 5 to use biomass]
Jason sighed out the word "Fuck~" which made Bry curious so Jason explained the situation. Bry only understood the part of him somehow being able to store biological matter inside him but to a limit and now he couldn't use said biomass without increasing the level of his Shapeshifting ability. With that in mind, Jason began to use his Shapeshifting ability in many ways trying to level it up. The first thing he tried was making tentacles which to his surprise was rather easy to do. Jason could only make them appear from the tips of his figures and on one hand at a time. They were red and black in color, about the same diameter as his fingers, but got thinner as they got closer to the tendril tip. Jason could manipulate the length but at full length, it was only about an inch from his fingertips, width, girth, and move them around. The tentacles were far more flexible than his actual figures and he used them to pick up a pen and do a few tricks with said pen, as he tried to figure out how to better control his tendrils and understand them, as well as their limit. Jason even used his Strengthening ability on them and he noticed they turned full black and stiff in whatever shape they were in. He could regain mobility and change the shape they were stiff once more if he lessened the Strengthening ability. That didn't make the tentacles super strong or sharp, it merely made them stiff to the point of not bending or releasing the grip on whatever they held on to. However, Jason made a discovery when he noticed that his skin was connected to the tentacles, rather than the tentacles coming out of his fingertips. This made a lightbulb light up in Jason's mind and he proceeded to try something out. Jason focused on one finger alone, growing a single tentacle on his index finger, and stretched it out as much as he could, and that's when he noticed that his skin was getting tighter, but his tentacle was now longer than if it was on each finger separately. Then another realization hit him, enough to finally get a notification.
[Int. 56 -> 57]
Jason smiled as he retracted his tendril completely because a question had opened up to an answer he hadn't thought of before. 'Why does it seem like I have more tentacles and tendrils, and longer, when I'm consuming my target?' That simple question made Jason realize a simple answer, following the same line of thinking as the rule of conservation of energy, except this time conservation of matter. Or in his case, biomatter. This made Jason realize one of the uses for the biomass inside his storage. While he couldn't use 'that' biomass, he could still use the biomass outside it, or rather the one that already composed his body. With that, he took the notion of an organic construct a bit farther as he made his entire right hand become like the tentacles in terms of texture before making the tips of his fingers stretch out, with his nails attached, into tentacle tip, while making his nails circular, thin and sharp like snake fangs. While one inch may not sound like much, imagine taking that inch and distributing evenly into thin, long, and sharp retractable fangs. That was more than enough to get him the level he had so desperately wanted to get on his Shapeshifting.
[Shapeshifting Lv.1 -> 2]
[Shapeshifting now capable of:
Muscle manipulation {Limited muscle movement, strength, and flexibility.}
Bone manipulation {Limited ligament flexibility, and bone movement outside of the natural bend.} ]
[Shapeshifting previous capabilities upgrades:
Eyes now capable of adding or taking different forms. {Forms require genetic material or you will have to wait till Shapeshifting level 10 to experiment and add new forms of your own making}
Nails now under full control but no growth besides the previously available or natural growth over time.
Hair now under full control but no growth other than natural growth over time.
Skin now under full control but limited by available skin.]
[Organic construct 'Tentacle' now capable of being used on both hands at the same time.]
[New organic construct derived from 'Tentacle']
[Would you like to name it?]
Jason smiled from ear to ear as he realized what he had done, and the newly discovered cheat to leveling Shapeshifting. 'Needle Tentacle' Jason said.
[Needle Tentacle added to organic constructs]
[Cell Manipulation has linked with Shapeshifting further, and new cell forms will be able to be made in the future.]
[Cell Manipulation Lv.10 -> 15]
Jason was still smiling as he started to test out the new capabilities of his Shapeshifting. While Muscle and bone manipulation didn't let him do much other than moving them a bit to make minor changes to his facial and a bit of his body structure, he didn't mind much. He was more than happy with his bone manipulation as he was able to dislocate his joints without pain or the toe-curling sound. However, he couldn't bend them much with what little he could stretch his ligaments and sinew. Bry was going nuts writing notes he would edit later but what really send him over the moon was watching Jason make his entire skin look like his tentacles in texture. It was black and blood-red all over with a texture of skin with smooth patches as well as rough patches similar to calluses with cracks and bumps focused on the joints like adding extra protection. Unfortunately, this little trick could only be done for a millisecond because it was too much of a strain on Jason. When Bry saw this he thought his day couldn't get any better. . . Seeing Bry's expression, Jason smiled as he got closed to the bunny cage, and with his right hand, he made the 'Needle tentacles' which were now longer since Jason could stretch his ligaments a little bit. He made the tentacles slip their way through the cage bars, moving them like snakes before rearing back and suddenly shooting out to wrap around the closest rabbit. Before piercing its skin with the five-needle tips, Jason strengthened the needles, the pierced the rabbit's skin in five places while it struggled against the strengthened tentacles coiled around its little body. Bry was writing at an amazing speed as his eyes widened, then widened even more when Jason told him that the needle tips were feeding his own blood into the rabbit. Jason only used the Paralysis symptom on the bunny, which only affected the outer muscles, making its limbs, torso, and head completely limp. Jason wanted to conduct multiple tests as he retracted his tentacles once the rabbit was fully infected. He turned his hand back to normal before moving a few steps back and testing his control over his cells at different distances. Jason was pleasantly surprised the system told him he could still control his viral cells inside the rabbit at a rough distance of 100 feet, which was a pretty long distance, and that even from his room, he could still use what he called 'Cell Vision' which allowed him to see inside the body and cells of the rabbit. After that little test, Jason moved on to testing the Paralysis symptom and his control over it. He discovered he could paralyze the host's outer muscle groups even if it was just one limb or even the jaw, although he could only use a limp kind of paralysis, not that he minded of course. Any form of paralysis would come in handy in any battle so he wasn't picky about what kind for the moment. After that final test, he went on to use the Induce Fear, which made the poor little Rabbit paranoid and alert at all of his surroundings before running all over his cage scared and frantic. It was going absolutely nuts before its little heart gave out and he died. Jason walked up to the cage and used the tentacles to consume the bunny's carcass.
[Exp. gain 5]
[Symptom Induce Fear has caused a death]
[Induce Fear Lv.1 -> 2]
[Symptom found and added to arsenal]
[Symptom: Adrenaline Rush]
'Ohhh that's cool. Too bad I can't apply that to me.' Jason thought.
[Notice: Symptoms can be used on yourself. Symptoms will never be able to harm you or kill you.]
'Wait a second. You're telling me I can make myself sick?! When was this when I wanted to skip school?!?!' Jason asked very annoyed yet also a bit amused.
[Biomass added to Storage]
[Biostorage at 75%]
'Shit. Guess I can only get one more Bunny.' Jason thought.
[Infect Lv.2 -> 3]
[New transmission method unlocked.]
[Sexual transmission added to the arsenal.]
'. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' Jason had to turn to Bry and ask him if he could make the room soundproof, but Bry told him he didn't have that ability. So Jason covered his mouth and tried very hard not to yell out, 'WHAT?!?!?!?!!?!?!' which pretty much sounded like a muffled scream through his hands covered mouth. 'You're telling me I'm a fucking STD?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! MY SEX LIFE IS RUINED!!!!!!' Jason muffled screamed again while yelling those sentences in his head.
[You can turn off that transmission method.]
'Oh. . . Ok. Awesome I won't die a virgin.' Jason thought a bit less worried.
[With your attitude that may still happen]
'. . . You know sometimes I'm not sure if I should hate you.' Jason thought narrowing his eyes in annoyance. He then grabbed the third bunny with his Needle tentacles like before and just went on to try the latest symptom on it and once more it went nuts. Adrenaline may not sound like a bad thing, but if it flows continuously without stopping, it could cause a heart attack. Which is exactly what happened for the 3rd time before Jason consumed it.
[Exp. gain 1]
[Biomass added to Storage]
[Biostorage at Max cap. 100%]
[Consume Lv.3 -> 4]
[Symptom Adrenaline Rush has caused a death.]
[Adrenaline Rush Lv.1 -> 2]
[3 Heart Attacks have been caused]
[New lethal effect has been created]
[You will now be able to cause a Heat Attack if you infect the target completely, or if you combine multiple symptoms]
[Lethal Viral Effect Window has been unlocked]
[Heart Attack Lv.1: Requires combination of symptoms or full infection. At higher levels, the requirements lessen.]
'Woohoo!! Now I can kill with a thought!!' Jason thought smiling. 'Now I just need to get to Shapeshifting Lv.5 to use Biomass. Hopefully, even increase my storage capacity.' Jason thought as he began to explain to Bry the details of his new symptoms and even the transmission method. Bry tried not to laugh, but Jason's red eyes with Needle tentacles hands as he said, "Go ahead. Laugh. I dare you." Of course, he said that while giving Bry a death glare, so it helped stifled his laughter to a 'Pffff' After the final notes were written down, Jason left to take a shower then jump into bed for a new day. Another day another crazy training session focused entirely on Shapeshifting. Maria wanted to train him in something else but once she saw Jason's tentacle hands, she gave the biggest, "Nope." and left telling Jason they would continue magic training once he was done with whatever creepy stuff he was doing. Jason smiled and thought, 'Ah~ So she finds tentacles unsettling. This will be very useful.' Then his smile changed to a devilish one as he thought, 'Should I tell Bry about this?' He decided to leave that for later as he put all his focus on his Shapeshifting, starting with trying out his control over his air. Now making hairs stand completely straight doesn't sound very useful, but what if you could make those hairs sharp and strong enough to pierce through skin. That's a different story, however, Jason wasn't there yet, but at least he could change his hair color and his facial features enough to look like someone else. Of course, that alone should be useful in it of itself, especially for getaways, hiding, etc. The only issue is making sure people don't catch on that he can shapeshift, although that is a bit hard considering his shapeshifting is fully biological. Without the consumption of energy, and his ability to suppress his energy that should make it a bit easier to throw people off. Of course, Jason was multitasking with his Shapeshifting, changing his facial features, body structure, hair, and eye color, skin pigmentation, nail shape, growth, retraction, tentacle control, changing the needle form to hook mixed with the needle, which of course added another tendril form.
[Hook needle form added for Tentacle]
Jason also used his nails in his normal form to try and simply make just a needle nail without the tentacles and adding it to a form he can use cataloged to the system for faster transformation. Then he tried to make a retractable hook claw, like the ones from a cat but he couldn't pull it off too well. The needle claw was easy because he could just make a thin or thick, semy curved or straight needle from the tip of his finger, or just make a few single lines along the edge of a sharp nail that coats the nail in his blood. He spent a significant amount of time experimenting but mostly he just wanted to see how he could increase his combat efficiency and his delivery method for his blood. 'Ugh, I can't wait till I can infect with just my touch.' Jason thought, 'But at least I'm learning new tricks. I wonder if I can make something regarding my spit.' With that in mind, he tried to think of ways to use his spit, but so far he couldn't really do much other than spit at someone or bite them, but it was still a viable method if applied properly. Aside from his attempts to manipulate or change different parts of his body, Jason mostly focused on trying to figure out creative ways to use his ability but most of his attempts were met with failure because of the current level of his Shapeshifting ability. Before he got frustrated he decided to move on to a different form of training as he headed downstairs for magical training with Maria. Seeing as Jason was very adept at forming geometric shapes with his mana, Maria started to explain the complexities of spells and how he needed to have a clear goal in mind. A spell was basically a command based on intent, and a spell matrix was the medium that allowed mana to take that command and cause the desired effect. Of course, that was easier said than done. . . for normal people that is. Maria asked Jason to make a floating light that would work like a candlelight or a flashlight. She didn't expect Jason to pull it off on the first try so imagine her surprise when he did it without a hitch. Jason's mind was capable of forming a clear picture of what he wanted to occur and when he cast it without a single problem, and a little ball of light appeared out of the spell matrix. It obviously made Maria a bit jealous at how fast Jason was progressing compare to her in her youth, but on the other hand, she also felt a bit proud of her little apprentice. Jason wanted to learn at least one combat spell, but for today alone, he wasn't allowed. After all, no one wanted to blow up the house, so he only learned 2 spells: Candlelight, and the one he desperately wanted to learn, Cleanse. These two spells were added to his A&S window, with their own respective levels, which wasn't all that surprising, but it was very convenient as Jason only needed to think about them and the spell matrix would be formed instantly casting the spell, instead of having to first prepare the matrix to cast it. For most mages, it would take time before they were so familiar with a spell to cast it as fast as Jason could, but what Jason did was akin to instant casting.
In any event, Jason was quite happy with his progress, but he also wanted to do more. Mostly he wanted to learn how to increase his dimensional storage size, but Maria thought it might be too advance for Jason. However, when she took into consideration how much energy he had, and how easy it was for Jason to learn those 2 simple spells, she thought it might work as a way to test his limits. Dimensional storages could be made with any of the 3 energies but making them was very advanced stuff, and growing them was even more so. Jason already had one, but he only knew how to use it, not how to how to make one or make it bigger. With that in mind, Maria began to explain the basic theory of how a dimensional space worked. At the start, everyone needed a medium, like a key for the doorway, to make one and maintain it. The most common was a ring, which of course was called a Dimensional Ring, and those were rather expensive to get. Mostly because the ring needed to be made from a strong material, capable of containing and resisting different amounts of energy, and the size of the space greatly influence how much energy the ring needed to bear. If the ring wasn't strong enough it would just break and all that energy would go to waste, so the stronger the ring the bigger the space that could be made inside it. The basic principle was carving the enchantment with whatever energy the user wanted, be it Qi, Psi, or Mana, onto the ring then focus on creating the space inside the ring. However, if one was diverse and strong enough, they could skip the ring process and tie the space to themselves, using themselves as the medium. Once again, this was easier said than done as one needed to have a very strong body to do so, but in the case of Jason, his body was more than capable of taking the strain. After all, he was an evolved human and after leveling up his body had only gotten stronger. The basic principle to make a dimensional space, was to imagine an empty cube in the form of a cube, then use any of the three energies, to make said cube once the matrix was made to solidify that intent and cause the effect. Spell matrices aren't the only kind of matrix that could be made with energies. Mana heavily depended on a spell matrix to work, while Psi and Qi didn't but that didn't mean those energies couldn't be used to make their own matrix and have their own effect. However, Qi made something more akin to runes, while Psi made 3dimentional geometric shapes. There are 3 purposes for these matrices: the first is to better focus intent and amplify the effect of a specific ability, the second is to imbue objects with certain effects that further amplify abilities, and the third is to learn abilities that are too complex for simple intent. This was especially true for creating a dimensional space since it was such a complex ability/spell to make and maintain. However, Jason greatly differed in this because he could already use all 3 energies, and his control over them, while still young, was nothing to scoff at. Not to mention the amount he had alone, was more than enough to offset a lot of the learning curve as he could just try as many times as he wanted before running dry. For once, Jason finally met his match when he tried to make a dimensional space other than the one he already had. He didn't know how to make runes with Qi or how to use Psi to make 3dimensional geometric shapes and making a spell matrix with his mana wasn't nearly enough to make one. While it is true Jason has a lot of energy compared to those of his same age, and generation, he only had abundant energy if he used one after the other, or all at the same time, but individually? It wasn't enough to make a dimensional space. Not even enough to grow the one storage cube he had. This made Jason realize his knowledge about abilities and energy, was far too shallow, but instead of discouraging him, it spurred him to study further. However, as the system had warned before, he didn't wanna forget about what he already had for now so he wanted to focus on the abilities he currently had before learning more. In his head, mastering one ability was more valuable than learning a whole lot, but he also didn't want to dedicate all of his effort to just a singular ability. In his case, it would be somewhat foolish, considering many co-depended of each other, like his Consume, depended on Shapeshifting, and his viral abilities depended on each other in a perfect circle. Though his main target, for now, was Shapeshifting, as it would improve his ability to infect a target as well as his combat ability if he could improve certain parts of his body.
Jason spent the entire day training his Shapeshifting and Strengthen, while he was also practicing his martial arts and trying to get accustomed to using his abilities while fighting. While he did get used to using his abilities, he didn't receive any levels but he didn't consider the day wasted. Although he did wish he had something to actually hit to test how strong he had become. Jason would have to ask Luis for some help regarding that subject. He couldn't very well go anywhere and train just like that, at least not if he wanted to keep his abilities a secret. The next day Jason asked Luis if there was a way to get training gear but it was a bit complicated considering they would need a safe place to train, as well as private, and that wasn't exactly easy considering they were still living in a house owned by the Miller family. Usually, rich families have a private training hall in their house, but the big 11 families more or less have whole buildings dedicated for such, as they had companies and even formed their own factions. Sure Jason and his family didn't have that much capital, but it didn't mean they were completely hopeless. It would take time to get things in order but they had plenty of time. Sure, they needed to figure out a temporary method for Jason to train in combat, but for the moment Jason had to content with his current method. Well, that and Maria's lessons which begun once more but another mountain of books to cover. Maria had researched the classes Jason needed to cover in order for him to take the last test required for graduation. Considering Jason was still in his first year of high school, halfway to the second year, the material he had to cover was rather extensive, especially if you add the extra advanced classes Maria added to 'his' curriculum. Jason didn't mind as he saw the lessons as free Int. stat points, so he was more than willing to go through with it. With the added energy lessons and ability training of course. After all, he wanted to get as many levels into his A&S's as possible, even if he was mainly focused on his Shapeshifting. To state the obvious, Jason wanted to get Shapeshifting to level 5 so he could finally use the biomass inside his storage, and see if he could increase the amount he could store, or at the very least make enough space to consume more biomatter. After all, he didn't see the point in letting biomatter go to waste, but Jason did have an idea that would still help increase his viral abilities. One he employed after his lesson with Maria, which was to go back to Bry's room and told his plan to Bry. Basically, Jason infected the last bunny, but he made the virus harmless and just stay in there until Jason was ready to consume. However the other small mammals Bry had bought, he only infected one rat to see if it would spread the virus on to the other rats. An experiment to see how much his virus could spread, and how fast, so with that in mind he made the virus inside the rat have all the transmission methods. However, there was a slight flaw in his plan. He could only infect by his own hand as he was the main host, any other host was just a carrier and didn't work as a source to infect others. Jason wasn't happy, but in a way, it made sense since there was no way for him to effectively recall the virus unless he picked it up himself. But! To Jason's surprise, the moment he infected the rat, he got the following notifications from the system:
[Infect Lv.3 -> 4]
[New transmission method unlocked]
[Tactile Transmission added to arsenal]
'Yay! I finally got the one I wanted!!' Jason celebrated in his mind but still smiled when he told Bry what he got.
[Cross-Species Transmission Lv.1 -> 2: You will now be able to infect medium-size mammals like dogs or cats.]
'. . . I'm not sure if I should be happy about that one. I mean I don't wanna kill cats and dogs.' Jason thought, 'Then again. . . I could just not kill them or consume them. . . but the rewards though. Am I a terrible person for even considering this?' Jason asked.
[Medium-size mammals also include raccoons or anything of a similar size.]
'You aren't making it any better. You're basically telling me most pets are potential victims!! How is that ok?!' Jason asked annoyed.
[You didn't have any reservations when you consumed the bunnies.]
'Jason argued ok that's different! Bunnies are mostly prey animals and even dish worthy.' Jason argued.
[So are most animals including cows and pigs. Not to mention some cultures also consume dogs and cats.]
'. . . You are really making me feel horrible right now.' Jason said.
[You forget you are a Human-Virus. You are a level higher than a human on the food chain. You may currently not be at the top like the beasts outside the walls, but you are still considerably high. In addition, you are also a virus, and a virus doesn't discriminate when it comes to hosts it kills.]
'But I do!! Living creatures matter!!' Jason said.
[Yet you have no problem when it comes to killing humans or small mammals.]
'That is different!!' Jason nearly screamed out loud.
[How is it different? You don't have the slightest problem killing your own kind, yet when it comes to life forms you consider pet worthy, you shrink. In the wild, if you met a dog or a wolf and you needed their meat to survive, you wouldn't hesitate and you know it.]
'Oh my God, I can't believe I'm having this argument.' Jason said dragging his hands down his face.
[You declared you would do anything necessary to survive.]
'That doesn't mean I'm willing to sacrifice my morals!!' Jason nearly screamed again.
[How is consuming animals and humans, sacrificing your morals? The choice is ultimately yours but you have to consider that you WILL come across difficult decisions. Which is the point of this conversation. What you consume is entirely up to you as well as what you kill. However, you need to consider that certain sacrifices will be needed for your growth.]
'. . . Let me get this straight.' Jason started furrowing his brow closing his eyes, 'You are telling me this entire philosophical debate was just to teach me a lesson?! Isn't that basically teaching myself?!? Or like a revelation?!?'
[Correct]
'. . . . . . . You could at least have given me an Int. point' Jason said annoyed sighing.
[Int. 56 -> 57]
'. . . . . . Can you give me another one?' Jason asked a bit hopeful.
[No]