Chapter 252 New Superpower!
"Give me a superpower related to technology and the control of it!"
Dante's demand was so predictable and obvious for anyone who had been following him for a long while. The young man had always been fascinated with technology and even chose such for his career path, which was the reason he even went down this magical road in the first place.
If you were to quote his focus on Quantum Entanglement and his magical powers over technology for solving his problems, you would be ignoring the obvious fact that pursuing personal power was always a must.
On top of that, he was tech savvy and knew that tech made by someone else would never truly be his, even if other tech savvy people opened it up and stated that it was safe. Only the tech you opened up yourself and thoroughly inspected could be given a full thumbs up.
Unfortunately, Dante did not have the skill nor the knowledge to check Eternal Universe level technology, and it was not something one could learn in just minutes, even with a quantum chip in your brain.
So from the onset, Dante had always targeted a technology related superpower, which was one of the many reasons why he had never been bothered by the fact that he couldn't eat his own replicated fruits.
Even if he got those other powers, he wasn't truly moved. After all, he could find quantum world on the Etraverse which had that power system and risk trying to get it.
However, with a suitable technology superpower, not only could he build starships and his own mechanical fleet, he could even construct his own virtual quantum worlds and not have to burden Quantum Entanglement with that, allowing him to have many more diverse choices in the future.
While Dante waited, the Black Spire responded straightforwardly. It told him that there was no such thing as a 'technology' superpower but rather a myriad of technology related superpowers that he could select from, so he had to be specific.
lightsnοvεl Whether it was a bonus or not, Dante gained a stronger understanding of superpowers from the Black Spire in the form of a small infopack. Superpowers were not transcendental, but sub-sets of certain higher dimensional rules and abilities.
For example, there was no such thing as the power to control all of fire, but there were powers that allowed you to control different parts of fire or utilize different traits or elements of fire.
The strongest of the varying elemental series were the creation types, Pyrogenesis, Aerogenesis, etc. The allowed you to create air, fire, water, etc molecules even in the vacuum of space, but it was limited in range, limited in quality and limited in time.
Obviously the created molecules could not last forever, as that would affect the natural elemental balance of the universe.
Anyway, the point was that with this information, Dante was given a list of superpower related abilities he could chose from if he so wished, and he immediately perused it carefully.
The list was long and extensive, enough that it would probably surpass over 100,000 words if Dante were to write it down. As such, he sorted out the ten best of the list that could likely make any person go crazy with lust and desire, because he was doing so right now.
The choices were as follows:
1. Cybernetic Symphony: This superpower grants the user the ability to create, manipulate, and control digital frequencies and wavelengths, enabling them to produce a symphony of digital harmony. They can compose intricate digital melodies that synchronize with technological elements, manipulating machinery or devices, and achieving unparalleled control over digital environments.
2. Virtual Architect: A superpower that bestows the user with architectural capabilities within virtual realms. Users can visualize, ideate, and manifest incredibly complex and amazing innovations within virtual space. They have the ability to materialize created virtual constructs into reality, bringing forth blueprints, designs, and innovations, all crafted within the virtual environment.
3. Nanite Resonance: This power grants the user the ability to resonate and synchronize with nanites, granting them control over these microscopic machines. Users can command nanites to merge, separate, or alter their configurations, creating transformative structures or armor, repairing damaged tech, or deploying swarms for a variety of technological purposes.
4. Mechanical Empowerment: Users of this superpower gain the ability to channel energy into mechanical structures or machines, enhancing their performance and capabilities. They can infuse machinery with additional strength, speed, durability, or specialized functions, granting them an edge in technological combat or problem-solving scenarios.
5. Digital Arcanist: This power allows users to manipulate and transmute digital codes and information, transforming data streams into entirely new digital entities or structures. Users can transmute digital elements, reshape data structures, and manipulate code, essentially practicing a form of digital alchemy, creating new programs or systems from existing ones.
6. Quantum Core: This power grants the user unparalleled control and manipulation over the quantum fabric of digital realms. They can reconstruct, reprogram, and manipulate the foundational quantum code of virtual worlds, creating and erasing entities, structures, and landscapes at will.
7. Cyber Echo: This power enables the user to project their consciousness into digital networks, allowing them to traverse cyberspace, hack systems, and interface with complex networks. They can leave digital imprints, create echoes of their presence, and manipulate virtual environments.
8. Mechanical Ascension: This power allows users to evolve and modify mechanical structures or devices by manipulating their functions or designs. Users can engineer adaptive or evolving machinery, allowing them to evolve and self-improve over time, achieving remarkable technological advances. In some cases, machines may even gain sentience and life.
9. Digital Manipulation: This superpower grants users control over digital environments and interfaces, allowing them to manipulate, reconfigure, or rewrite digital systems at will. Users can remotely access and control technology, manipulate data flows, and even reprogram complex systems through sheer mental command.
10. Mech Assault: Mech Assault allows users to conjure and control nano-mechanical constructs resembling powerful robotic entities. These constructs are highly versatile, capable of combat, construction, and complex tasks with extraordinary strength and precision.
Dante was spoiled for choice and his face showed endless reluctance that he couldn't have a superpower that had all these functions at once. However, he could only knuckle on and looked through them in detail now that he had chosen them from the millions of others and select one that he liked best.
Still, the young man couldn't help but marvel at the sheer variety of tech-based superpowers available. Each power presented a unique path toward wielding the digital and mechanical forces that ruled tech-centric worlds.
Cybernetic Symphony, for example, seemed like a musical ability but for technology. The power to compose digital melodies and control machines with musical frequencies was intriguing. It was like becoming a conductor of a grand digital orchestra, manipulating the essence of technology in a harmonious dance.
However, Dante had never been good with song and dance while he also did not feel all that enthused to do musicals in the middle of a fight in order to use his superpower.
Virtual Architect was another hidden gem in the treasure trove of powers. Dante imagined creating, molding, and manifesting technological powerhouses within virtual realms.
The ability to bring these creations from the digital world into reality was mind-boggling. It was akin to being an artist whose canvas wasn't limited by physical constraints but only by imagination.
Imagine all the starships, space bases and the like he could draw up and then take out in reality... his army would be limitless!
Though... Nanite Resonance also caught Dante's attention. The power to resonate and command nanites, those microscopic little bastards who were the formation of his Bionics, Psionics and even AI chip, was enticing. nove)lb(In
This superpower promised control over an entirely different realm. It was like having an army of tiny, powerful assistants at your beck and call, capable of repairing, transforming, and building technology in miraculous ways.
Dante could control and enhance his own various Bionics but it would mean that all his technological creations would be limited to 'hardware'. Things like AI systems and quantum worlds, the 'software' would be out of his reach.
Well, the idea of Mechanical Empowerment was also captivating. Enhancing mechanical structures or machines with energy to supercharge their functions sounded like giving technology a turbo boost. It was the kind of power that could turn an ordinary gadget into a technological marvel, giving its user an edge in any tech-based showdown.
However, it was the lowest of the list to Dante, quite possibly a supporting superpower he could consider getting if he could get more Spire Points. If he had a tech superpower like the Virtual Architect or Nanite Resonance, then it would synergize with them well.
Digital Arcanist, with its manipulation of digital codes and transformation of data streams, was like performing magic in the realm of cyberspace. Rewriting digital laws and creating new programs from existing ones was indeed a form of digital alchemy.
However, it was a bit weird and troublesome because it only allowed for changed, not creation nor manipulation. If you saw a data stream you didn't like in your program, you could morph it into something else and that had many uses for those who were tech savvy.
But Dante was looking more for something that would - rather than allowing him to change the data stream - grasp it by the neck and bring it closer, allowing it to come face to face with him and explain why it dared to misbehave.
There was also Quantum Core, which was the epitome of control over digital realms. Rewriting the foundational quantum code of virtual worlds was like rewriting the fabric of reality itself. It offered the power to create, manipulate, and erase digital landscapes as if they were a mere canvas to an artist.
He, with this power, could achieve something close to his Quantum World sub-ability and create his own quantum realms with laws as well as rules that suited him. This was on the top of Dante's list of choices as it directly scratched one of the itches he had.
The only problem it had was that it lacked the ability to control technological hardware, but one could not eat their cake and have it with these kinds of things.
Cyber Echo was a power that intrigued Dante slightly. The ability to project his consciousness into the digital networks was akin to diving into an ocean of information and power, or rather, information which was power.
He could traverse cyberspace effortlessly, interact with complex digital and even quantum systems, and even leave traces of his presence behind. This power was the key to unlocking vast troves of knowledge and accessing hidden corners of the digital realm.
Especially since his intelligence stat was so high, he would probably be like a behemoth compared to conventional digital and quantum entities within the space.
Mechanical Ascension stood out to Dante, as it was an evolutionary marvel in the realm of technology. The theory had long been there, that the potential to modify machines to evolve, self-improve, and potentially gain sentience was possible.
It was even said that there was a young man with a certain 'touch' that could make 'mechs' attain a special synergy with their pilots.
This superpower hinted at the creation of a new breed of technology that could adapt and grow, marking a significant leap forward in mechanical longevity.
Digital Manipulation was pretty straight forward and was a power that resonated deeply with Dante's fascination for control and precision. Manipulating digital interfaces and reconfiguring systems with a mere thought appealed to his need for careful precision in all things tech related.
Especially when you considered the ability to remotely access technology, rewrite data flows, and reprogram complex systems. This superpower definitely opened doors to a myriad of options for someone with a n agenda to fulfill, especially against a tech related universe.
Hehe.
Finally, there was Mech Assault, the last superpower on the list. This one also spoke to Dante in consideration of its potential for conjuring nano-mechanical constructs as the idea of creating powerful robotic entities from nanites was enthralling.
These constructs would be versatile, capable of combat, construction, and handling complex tasks with immense strength and precision. This was different from Nanite Resonance as that one focused on micro-control of nanites, while this one focused on macro-control of nanites.
In the end, Dante was torn between the options and weighed his choices carefully. In the end, he could only bite his lip and hastily pay up another vial of the Nirvanas Fire of a Phoenix, which the Black Spire greedily collected.
Dante then chose the two superpowers of Nanite Resonance and Quantum Core. One would given him the power to control and manipulate his own hardware within his body and within the body of others - possibly - while the other would let him achieve the best synergy with Quantum Entanglement and fetch power systems for his body that were customized.
The moment he made his choices, Dante felt a surge of power coursed into his body and into his soul space, just like before. Within the space, two new sections formed, one that continued planet sized core that glowed with strange purple energy and many quantum codes and numbers flashing across it, while the other was a swarm of nanites that buzzed silently, coiling over each other and slowly patrolling their zone.
In terms of size though, they were far, far smaller than the giant gate that depicted two universes, as well as its smaller attachments by the side from various upgrades. It was like comparing a toddler to the tallest man in the world.
Dante retracted his hand from the Black Spire and seemed to be a part of the world again. There was an uncanny feeling of isolation from reality when using the Black Spire that finally receded at this moment.
When Dante looked around, he still did not see anyone around nor did he sense them, so he maintained his defenses and focused on his new powers. Just like Quantum Entanglement, or any superpower really, how to use them as well as the rules they came with was clear to him from the get go.
Dante first connected to his own nanites in his body and felt like he could control, as well as rearrange them. However the influence he could exert at the current F rank was minimal.
Lets not even talk about Quantum Core, for that one to work, he had to be within a quantum world in the first place. He could not create them out of nowhere, but could manipulate them.
Dante was satisfied. He immediately took out Mutation Cores of the requisite ranks up to the S Rank and absorbed them for both his superpowers, making them soar up. With each rank they climbed, their manifestations within the soul space grew, but no new sub-abilities were born.
After all, Quantum Entanglement was special because of that. All other superpowers just became marginally better in terms of percentage value and efficiency. In the case of Dante's two new superpowers, their base abilities just grew in scale and power.
After reaching the current limit of the Mutation Cores, which was the S Rank, Dante pressed his hand against the Black Spire and checked his remaining points. He had over eight thousand left and he resolutely spent them on buying upgrades for the Quantum Core and Nanite Resonance equally.
One upgrade cost 500 Spire Points, so that was 8 upgrades, split equally into four for each. Both went from the S Rank, to SS, SSS and peaked at EX, perfect and at their limit.
The moment they reached the limit, Dante could feel something strange, like a calling from a higher level. This calling was strange, something similar to what he had with Quantum Entanglement, but far weaker if that even made sense.
It was unknown if it was because Dante was still connected to the Black Spire, but he received another info pack informing him of much more. Apparently, this was the natural limit of all superpowers and they had to undergo a 'selection process' by higher dimensional beings of the same attributes to become their 'sponsor', so that they could be upgraded to higher dimensional rules.
When Dante receive this, it was like thunder flashed in his mind. He naturally thought of Quantum Entanglement and understood why his superpower was so overpowered. It had skipped all the realms that superpowers had to pass and already gained more than just a sponsor, but a sugar momma!
After all, apparently higher dimensional beings who sponsored didn't do it for free, there was a price they extracted from the superpower user that was agreed on by both parties beforehand.
However, Dante had no such agreement with the cosmic tree and was being fully funded, sponsored and even pampered for free!
Dante's eyes flickered. He decided that he would not answer the calling of his two new superpowers because why should a free man indenture himself? Besides, would the Cosmic Tree even agree?
Given its power and its big talk, typical higher dimensional entities probably had to kneel at its feet and beg, so how could it share a 'client' with them?
Dante would never disrespect his sugar momma like that.
Imagine the the 2008 Halle Berry or 2012 Scarlett Johanson stated that she would sponsor you for life and fed you the best food, games, and comforts without even asking for anything back like intention, love or your time.
Would you be moved if Jada Pinkett or Kim Kardashian slinked over to you and tried to solicit you into their bed with various terms and conditions attached?
As such, Dante took away his hand from the Black Spire and did not care about his meager remaining points. He dropped a Quantum Marker on this spot and teleported back to the area he came from, where he had released his technology.
With a smile, he tested his new max power Nanite Resonance on his base and the various androids, but the feedback made his face change greatly.
"ETERNAL UNIVERSE, YOU ARE FUCKING COURTING DEATH!!!"