After checking up on his updated stats, Will joined the trio downstairs in sparring. Although his [Strength], [Constitution], and [Vitality] wasn't quite there yet, he felt that his [Dexterity] and [Perception] were getting very close to where they were in his previous life.

With the two combined, his sense for combat was greatly enhanced, and he felt like he could see and react to everything around him. His reflexes now felt especially sharp.

Will tested the limits of his abilities afterwards.

The range of his [Electric Sense] expanded from 5 meters to roughly 25 meters—about the length of a tennis court. Its sensitivity also increased, and he could now tell what people were doing exactly in his senses, or how many fingers someone was holding up—thanks to a vulgar Donny.

Both the range of his eyesight and his [Electromagnetic Vision] increased by the same amount, but the big improvement was that he could now see further into various objects with x-ray and infrared vision. If he looked close enough, Will could see the termite Parasite inside his gut.

There was also a change to his vision. Will could now see the natural magnetic aura that living beings emitted. He hadn't noticed it until his grandpa came outside to ask what they wanted to eat for dinner. His grandpa was emitting a layer of white aura around him, and when Will looked closer, he could see everyone else faintly surrounded by a thin layer of white.

Will went into the back, where he had tossed the remains of his special diet for the past month. There was barely a stump with a massive tangle of roots remaining.

I should still be able to sell it. Will thought. He had heard of trees regrowing from only the stump, and the Metamorphosis Pod wasn't an ordinary tree. Anyone that buys it wouldn't be able to use it anytime soon either.

Taking a look at the Metamorphosis Pod, he could see the white aura around it, proving it was still alive. Although it was Category 1, the aura was less pronounced than his grandpa but more than the others.

This confirmed his guess.

He was now able to tell how strong any living being was. This was a very useful upgrade because before the technology to scan for virus concentration was developed, he would be able to pick his fights. He would also have a head start on the hunt for Parasitic plants, since they tend to consume more and evolve faster than regular plant life.

After dinner, Will invited his grandpa into the clinic with him. He retrieved several syringes and special bottles he had prepared long ago and sat down. Now that he had time, and more importantly, was a Category 1, he would be able to train his body without worrying about side effects severely affecting him. As shown from building his stats and with receiving abilities from Parasites, an evolved body was very adaptive.

Will picked up the syringe and filled it up with a small dose of one of the weaker poisons in front of him—a paralyzing venom from a platypus. Just in case, he filled up another syringe with a regional anesthesia—since there were no antidotes available for this particular venom. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself for what was to come, he injected himself with the poison.

Poison abilities would evolve to become very potent in the future, and would become a popular tool for assassinations. On his path, Will would likely meet many people in the future that would want him dead, so he would need to start building his resistance early on since he didn't have a bloodline that gave him immunity to poisons. This also saved him the hassle of having to find and evolve a Parasite that inhibited poisoning.

He could tell the moment the poison began to kick in when he started feeling his body temperature starting to rise like he had a fever. Although this poison didn't kill, it caused hyperalgesia—an increased sensitivity to the feeling of pain that will cause the body to overreact to painful stimuli, and Will began feeling pain all over his body like hundreds of bees were stinging him as he began shaking.

Gritting his teeth as his entire body began perspiring, Will sat there strenuously taking in the pain in silence. All that could be heard was his strong exhales from time to time.

The feeling subsided an hour and a half later.

"So..." Will turned to where his grandpa was sitting and spoke with a hint of tiredness in his voice. "Do you want to join me?"

"Crazy." His grandpa muttered and shook his head. "You don't need to worry about me, if I die then I die."

"As long as you don't show off too much, no one should target you."

"As long as you don't show off too much, no one should target me." Grandpa snorted. "Do I look like someone who needs to boast? I'm too old for that."

It was a little strange seeing his grandpa complain about being old when he looked like a man in his 40s but Will nodded in agreement. "That's true."

Grandpa's eyes softened. "You've been pushing yourself too hard since this whole thing started. You should take a rest sometimes, you don't need to push yourself so hard all the time."

"I know." Will said but he was already preparing the next pair of syringes.

Grandpa shook his head and stood up to leave the clinic. "Are you joining me in the morning?"

"I'll be there."

After his grandpa left, Will wiped himself down and chugged down a full glass of water before moving onto the next poison—a chemical found in many insecticides.

This continued for the rest of the night as he injected himself with various types of poisons—both natural and chemical. This was the start of his long and painful journey towards building up his resistance.

Early in the morning, the sun was dyeing the sky orange and the leaves still carried the dew. The air was serene out in the yard as Will rejoined his grandpa in tai chi for the first time since he had fallen into a coma. He was still feeling some aftereffects of the previous night's training, but it would quickly heal now that he was Category 1.

Like riding a bike, he easily fell into the movement of the forms that he could now do in his sleep. Perhaps because of his heightened senses, when he fell into a meditative state this time, the world completely changed around him.

He suddenly felt aware of his entire being. His muscles contracting and relaxing with his movements, his heart beating in his chest, the blood flowing through his veins.

He was also conscious of the energy permeating throughout his body.

No...it's not energy. Will knew right away.

It was the virus inside him.

Focusing on the virus, Will could feel it all over but there was one spot with a higher concentration, his gut—where the termite Parasite was located. He could feel the Parasite slowly taking in the virus from him to feed its evolution.

While he was focusing on that area, the virus suddenly stopped trickling into the Parasite.

I can control the movement of the virus? Will thought in surprise. This shocked him so much that his concentration broke and his movements stumbled. And what was that state I was in just now? Did I finally make a breakthrough in [Mental Power] or is this because of my [Electric Sense]?...or was it a combination of both?

Will hadn't been in a rush to embed the Parasites inside him again but if he could control how much of the virus they could take in, this would be an entirely different matter. He wouldn't have to limit how many Parasites he could use as much.

"Are you alright, William?" His grandpa suddenly asked him. He also paused his movements and looked over at Will.

"I just made a discovery..."

"A discovery?" His grandpa gave him a questioning look and Will explained what he just felt.

"Hmm, that? I feel it all the time." His grandpa stated casually.

"Really?" Will asked in surprise. "Since when?"

"Hmm...ever since you put me inside that pod."

Ever since he evolved? Then it must be related to [Mental Power] somehow.

Although Will wasn't sure if it was the most efficient, this proved that he was at least on the correct path for [Mental Power]. He began to wonder what else he would be able to do as he progressed down this path.

Will went to check on the traps outside afterwards while his grandpa went inside to prepare breakfast. By the time Will returned with a few rats, breakfast was ready.

After breakfast, he let Diana out of the cage and brought her outside, where he began a few training exercises.

Donny was as excited as Broski, while Monica and Grandpa sat on the porch, drinking tea and watching in interest. Karen made sure to stay close to the door, but she still watched with curiosity.

Will had never owned a pet before, but he had seen a few tamers training their hunting animals in the future. Since it was their first time training, he started simple—trying to get Diana to respond to her name.

As she moved around examining her environment curiously, Will put a bit of distance between them and called out her name. "Diana."

At first, she only looked in his direction but as he kept calling out, she eventually came over to see what the strange creature was squawking about. Donny grinned as he rewarded her with a rat, which she briskly gobbled up. They repeated this several times, rotating the rewards with other types of food. The training ended an hour later when they ran out of rats to feed her and Diana seemed like she was getting full.

After placing Diana in the cage once again, the four young adults hit the gym for [Strength] training. Halfway through the workout, they went outside.

Since he learned that he had some sort of enhanced [Dexterity], Will made sure to especially focus on developing it. They had set up a complicated gymnastics course in the backyard for this type of training and Will had the others toss balls at him while he ran the course in order to push him further, and to train his [Perception] and [Dexterity]—especially his abnormal reflexes, at the same time.

After the girls went inside to clean themselves up at the end of their workout, Will and Donny brought out metal rods and began beating each other with them. This was their durability training, or rather, [Constitution] training.

They had lunch afterwards, and then Will had the Parasites placed inside him again. He would need to practice but he felt that he would be able to eventually choose which Parasites he wanted to receive the virus flowing inside him. But for now, he need to raise his compatibility with the Parasites.

With the ant Parasite now in his left hand, Will went out around the area, attempting to attract other ant Parasites and occasionally practicing his climbing. He had no Parasites to show on his first day but he was confident that as he practiced more and his compatibility raised, he would be able to harvest all the ant Parasites in the area, at least the ones from the same species.

Will returned to the compound at the same time Donny did. Donny had started keeping tabs on the factory where they had traced the robbers to.

After a small break, the four gathered again for combat training. Now that Will was Category 1, the fights were completely different, and most of the time, it ended up with the three teaming up against Will at once. This allowed them to improve their teamwork and when they really clicked together, they cornered Will with well-coordinated attacks, making it hard for him to avoid.

The way Will countered this was to blitz them before they could attack together, taking advantage of the huge physical difference to swiftly take down one of them.

They had dinner after training and then Will isolated himself in the clinic once again. Because he was still feeling a little of the aftereffects from the previous night, Will moved to a different type of resistance training.

Will powered on a taser, and it began releasing a constant clicking noise.

Taking a deep breath and bracing himself for the incoming shock, Will turned the power source that was surging in his senses and jabbed himself with it.

Will left the clinic exhausted and entered the lively living room. Everyone was sitting around a square table, shuffling around little tiles on the table.

Seeing Will, Donny invited him over. "Mahjong. You want in?"

"You can take my spot." Monica said, standing up from her seat. "I'm not very good at this."

"You need to be flexible." Grandpa advised.

"You guys play like you've been practicing for years." Karen directed her comment at Donny, who began skillfully flipping a mahjong tile between his fingers to prove her point. Karen rolled her eyes and turned to Will. "Come join us."

"Take a break." Grandpa said, giving Will a look. "It won't be the end of the world if you sleep in for one day."

It seemed like his grandpa had planned this.

"Mmm, that sounds like sage advice." Donny crossed his arms and nodded profoundly.

"You don't even know what he said." Karen retorted.

"I understood the first part."

Seeing the scene before him, a rare smile grew on Will's face.

"Alright." He walked over and joined everyone at the table.