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nThe two of them experimented on Nick’s ability to turn into mist.

nLuckily, due to their previous experience, they managed to unlock it rather early.

nIt barely took two months.

nNaturally, they also found a way to expand the ability a little bit.

nSince Nick also assured the Technician that he had already dealt with his main ability, Nick was technically ready to continue.

nAll his abilities worked again, and they had even been improved.

nAdditionally, the Specter Core had increased Nick’s speed of Zephyx recovery and the size of his storage by quite a lot.

nCompared to someone on the same level, Nick was gaining Zephyx almost four times as quickly, and he had thrice as much Zephyx.

nOn top of that, Nick’s abilities had also been elevated to a higher level.

nAll in all, this newfound way to create Specialists had proven to be extremely beneficial.

nSadly, advantages could have disadvantages, and disadvantages could have advantages.

nThe advantage of being able to generate one’s own Zephyx sadly came with a disadvantage.

nIn a way, benefitting from human suffering was inherently parasitical, and while one parasite usually wouldn’t damage a host too much, if the host were filled with parasites, it would die.

nHumanity could support feeding one Nick, but they wouldn’t be able to support a thousand. Maybe not even a hundred.

nThere were only so many “bad” people that could be punished.

nIf there were more people like Nick, there wouldn’t be enough suffering to go around for everyone. Either they would advance much slower or they would have to inflict suffering on innocent people.

nAdditionally, the inherent stress of constantly being in an alert state of fight-or-flight could turn people mad.

nThe Technician decided to officially call this new state Half-Specter.

nThat title described the power and the risk associated with it very well.

nNaturally, the Technician and the Left Arm had talked about these dangers in private, and in the end, they were glad that Nick had such an abnormal psyche.

nThey could see that Nick’s ideology had been firmly shaped and put in place by years of extreme emotional torture.

nThe emotional torture had manifested his ideology so firmly and thoroughly that even his logic completely followed it.

nNick wanted to be a good person.

nHowever, that wasn’t his goal due to some holy and selfless reason like just making others happy.

nIn fact, Nick wasn’t even reaping any emotional rewards from helping others.

nWhether he helped or damaged others, there wouldn’t be a big emotional difference.

nHe felt almost identical in both cases.

nNick was helping others solely to repay the debt he was perceiving.

nHe just wanted to redeem himself.

nSuch a mindset was obviously unhealthy and abnormal, but exactly that was what made Nick perfect to become a Half-Specter.

nAlmost every single human was guided by emotions.

nEven extremely logical humans were guided by emotions. It was just very different from what one would think.

nWhy did people make logical decisions?

nBecause they wanted to make the right decision.

nAnd why was it so important to make the right decision?

nBecause they wanted to feel good.

nFeel secure by having money.

nFeel companionship by having a partner.

nFeel community by having friends.

nFeel status by having a good job.

nFeel fun by following one’s hobbies.

nAll of that could be put together under the word happiness.

nHumans chased happiness.

nWhether they were animals that solely followed their instincts or scientists that followed logic and reason.

nEveryone wanted happiness.

nNick also chased happiness.

nHowever, compared to others, it was almost impossible for him to ever find happiness.

nYet, he kept chasing happiness.

nProbably forever.

nAnd the best way to achieve happiness was to remain a good person in Nick’s mind.

nBecause of that, Nick had a uniquely fitting disposition for becoming a Half-Specter.

nIf Nick had been less broken, Aegis might not have risked investing too much in him in the future.

nSure, in the short term, they would still invest in him and experiment on him, but would they ever consider letting him become a Protector?

nDefinitely not.

nLuckily, that was not how Nick was.

nNick’s mindset was a disadvantage most times he interacted with others, but in this case, it was an advantage.

n“That’s everything, right?” the Technician asked with a complacent smile as Nick transformed back into his material form.

nNick nodded. “Since I have already fixed my main ability, I can say that the Specter Core has been fully integrated. All in all, I would call this a success. My power has increased by a lot.”

nThe Technician grinned as he scratched his chin.

nRight now, he was thinking about all the possibilities.

nIf they could make more Half-Specters…

nSadly, at that time, problems after problems shot through his mind.

nHow?

nNaturally, Aegis had already tried the method of forced suicide in order to get the Specter to capitulate.

nBut they had never managed to convince the Specter that they would actually go through with it.

nAdditionally, they needed to experiment more to see how being a Half-Specter impacted Nick’s mindset.

nThere were many things they had to consider.

n“I’m ready for ability advancement,” Nick said while the Technician was thinking about the possibilities of Half-Specters.

nWhen the Technician heard Nick’s words, he put his current thoughts to the back of his mind and looked at Nick.

nNick wasn’t sure, but he felt like the Technician’s demeanor had subtly changed after he had said that he was ready for ability advancement.

n“Sure,” the Technician said. “Do you have an ability in mind?”

n“Do we have a list of available Specters and what they can do?” Nick asked.

nThe Technician furrowed his brows with a bit of annoyance, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Nick.

nThat was an unusual reaction from the Technician.

n“Sure, but hurry up,” the Technician said before sending Nick’s Barrier a file with abilities for Specters.

nThere were hundreds!

n“So? Which one is it?” the Technician asked after a couple of seconds.

nNick furrowed his brows.

nWhat was up with the Technician?

n“I’m still thinking. I don’t want to rush this since this has an impact on the remainder of my life,” Nick said.

nThe Technician looked conflicted.

n“What about one of these five?” he asked as he highlighted five Specters.

nNick looked closer at them.

nSadly, the Technician didn’t know about Nick’s main ability, which was the reason why the five Specters he had chosen were not what Nick wanted.

n“No, I want something else,” Nick said as he looked at the other Specters.

nThe Technician took a deep breath. “Nick, you should really hurry up with your choice.”

n“Why?” Nick asked, looking at the Technician.

n“Just… hurry up, okay? I can’t tell you more. Just trust me on this, okay? I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

nThese words made Nick nervous.

nWhen the Technician saw Nick’s skeptical expression, he started to roughly scratch the side of his head in frustration.

n“Argh, listen! Usually, I wouldn’t make a big deal out of this, but you’re our only Half-Specter. I don’t want to lose you to some random force of nature, okay? You’re kind of important,” the Technician explained.

nThe Technician looked at Nick, who still seemed quite uncertain.

nFinally, the Technician just groaned. “Nothing of what I say will leave this room, get it? If this gets out, I will kill you, understand?!” he said with a severe and urgent voice.

nNick was taken aback, but he nodded with a serious expression. “I will keep it just as secret as my main ability.”

nThe Technician watched Nick for a second.

nThen, he looked around the room a bit.

nFinally, the Technician’s voice appeared in Nick’s mind.

n“The Maw really likes fights between Extractors that have used it for their ability advancement. It often abducts people when they are ready to advance, allows them to reach the next level while inside of it, and then makes them fight each other.”

n“Research has shown that the word ability advancement increases the likelihood of being taken by the Maw by quite a bit.”

n“Usually, I would even encourage you to enter a contest with the Maw since you would gain an amazing ability, but you are not a pure human anymore. You are a Half-Specter, and we don’t know how that will affect the Maw’s judgment.”

n“It might just directly kill you after abducting you.”

n“So, please, hurry up with your choice. I don’t want to tempt fate,” the Technician rapidly explained.

nNick took a deep breath.

nHe had no idea!

nThat explained the Technician’s urgency.

n“I understand,” Nick answered.

n“I want this one,” Nick said two seconds later, highlighting one of the Specters.

nThe Technician nodded and told Nick to follow him.

nThe two of them went upward a couple of floors until they entered the floor with the Specter Nick wanted.

nThe Technician opened the door…

nAnd a big hole filled with teeth appeared below Nick. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

nNick’s eyes widened in horror.

nThe Technician’s eyes widened in horror.

n‘But I just regained my powers!’ Nick thought.

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n‘Does this really have to happen now?!’

nAnd then, the Maw engulfed Nick.

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