Chapter 496 – Liaison

Chapter 496 – Liaison

After Simon's explanation, things made much more sense.

'Right, our Zephyx Synchronizers just copy the way the Specters use their abilities, but there is still a way to manually achieve the same effect.'

'It's just extremely difficult.'

The manual had many simple examples of how to produce a certain effect.

Creating light that could keep the Nightmare at bay was not difficult.

However, achieving a certain effect was the simplest part.

Finding out how to do something was not hard.

The hard part was making it usable.

For example, the way the manual explained how to create light could even be understood and used by Nick.

However, if he were to use that method, he would only be able to create a tiny twinkle before running out of Zephyx.

With this method, a Mid Hero would probably run out of Zephyx within ten seconds.

That was, obviously, unsustainable and effectively unusable.

The difficult part was the next.

Refinement.

Refinement was the process of making the ability Zephyx-efficient while also keeping usability in mind.

The less Zephyx someone wanted to use to create a certain effect, the more steps the Zephyx needed to go through, complicating the entire process.

However, complicating the process naturally also made it much harder to actually use the ability.

It was a balancing act of efficiency and ease of use.

And assuming someone managed to refine an ability to usability, they would still have an even harder task in front of them.

Actualization.

Actualization was a way to use that ability in an instant, making it useful in battle.

But that was almost impossible.

The Zephyx couldn't leave one's body while manipulating it, making any kind of device or machine useless.

Weapons like guns used someone's Zephyx to create a destructive effect, but these kinds of transformations were extremely simple.

A machine that could achieve what a Zephyx Synchronizer could do would need to be humongous, extremely expensive, and cumbersome.

In short, while these machines could technically exist, they couldn't be used in battle or transported.

Humanity was constantly trying to create weapons that could achieve these kinds of effects, but progress in the research was slow.

Every major part of progress needed to get past the Envious Researcher, the Adversary that killed all humans who knew about a significant advance in technology.

Getting past the Envious Researcher was extremely difficult every single time, and it was responsible for the deaths of 90% of humanity's brightest minds.

Without the Envious Researcher, progress would speed up by over 50 times!

Without it, humanity might have already created a way to use external gadgets to create an ability.

Creation.

Refinement.

Actualization.

Those were the three steps to getting a new ability without the need for the Zephyx Synchronizer.

Yet, it was so, so much harder than it seemed.

"So, I'm a Bailiff?" Nick asked.

Simon nodded.

The two of them entered a door to the side of the hallway and found themselves in a disorderly room with many small gadgets strewn about.

"Oh, you're already here," a young man said as he lifted his head to glance over a table.

"Yes, Technician," Simon said respectfully.

Nick also performed a quick bow of respect.

"Might as well get this over with," the Technician said as he rummaged through his Spatial Bag.

"Here's the rulebook. You have to read it and remember all of them," he said casually as he threw a booklet on the table.

"Yes, Technician," Nick said respectfully as he took hold of the rulebook to read through it.

It was just a couple of pages long, and Nick read through it in a couple of seconds.

The rules were very basic.

Humanity above all.

Don't be corrupt.

Support Aegis.

Don't be a monster.

Stuff like that.

"Here's your uniform," the Technician said, pulling out a white uniform with a couple of yellow streaks going through it.

Nick looked at the uniform with wonder.

His uniform!

Aegis' uniform!

He was part of Aegis!

"Excuse me," Simon said nervously.

"Huh?" the Technician uttered.

"Sir, this is the uniform of an Agent," Simon said. "Nick isn't a Hero yet."

"Oh, that," the Technician said casually. "He's the first recipient of an entirely new position. Personal power is not what gives you authority for this position."

"Also, it's not completely the uniform of an Agent," the Technician added as he unfurled the uniform.

"You see this?" the Technician said as he pointed at the left shoulder, which had one yellow streak.

"And this?" he added as he pointed at the right shoulder, which had two yellow streaks.

"Agent uniforms have two yellow streaks on both sides, while governors have one yellow streak on each side. This has one on one side and two on the other."

"Nick's job is going to be to work together with different governors to improve the lives of the people in the city while also increasing the Zephyx output of said cities."

"During our meeting with the Champion, Nick said that happy people should provide more Zephyx as well. The Champion is willing to give him the chance to prove himself."

"He will slightly outrank the Governors and get an almost full say over how the cities have to be run. However, in exchange, Aegis demands a 20% increase of Zephyx within five years of Nick's arrival in said city."

Simon and Nick took deep breaths.

The Technician smiled and looked at Nick.

"You are receiving the new position of Liaison. You will outrank the Governors but will still be beneath the Agents."

"But you have to keep in mind that cooperation between you and the Governor is important. Without the Governor's power, you have no way to enforce your policy changes."

"Speaking of," the Technician said as he remembered something. "The old Governor of Crimson City is going to be standing guard in front of one of your locations as punishment for his cowardice and corruption. Since you're going to be going back to Crimson City as your first assignment, do you have a new Governor in mind, Nick?"

Nick looked with surprise at the Technician.