(I've got a bit of time before I need to be at the testing ground...) I hummed internally to myself. (I might as well get some conversion done while I wait.)
Currently I was travelling towards a somewhat large building that had been placed close to the centre of the island, a place that had finally finished construction just a few weeks ago. The island itself was relatively serene all things considered, additionally it was actually located several miles from the shores of Louisiana.
Admittedly however, I had been testing out my ability to break the Chains Of The World on the island itself, a fact that was proving far more difficult than expected. It turns out that the chains of most living and non living things could be broken with little effort, most things in the Omniverse apparently don't actually have much, if any, real impact on their worlds fate and as such their chains are usually relatively fragile all things considered, although that of course can't be said about everyone or everything.
Breaking the chain of a whole island however, well, it was a much harder task as you may have guessed, after all, you need to first shatter the chains of everything connected to the island itself. Every tree, every animal, every blade of grass must have their chain broken beforehand, and that's just the living things, you also need to do the exact same thing for every rock, every grain of sand and pile of dirt. Honestly, if this is how hard it was for a relatively small island then I feared to think about how long it would take to break the chain of a continent, let alone a planet.
Of course, my very existence as well as the passive effect caused by my Essence will naturally break the weaker chains simply by them being close to me. Despite this though it didn't make my task any less annoying, I was just glad I was almost done by this point. Not...not that there was any real reason for me to keep doing this, other than satisfying my own boredom when I had nothing else to do that is.
Moving on though, I advanced towards the structure that was clearly visible in the mostly green environment that surrounded it. The building wasn't pretty to say the least but it wasn't made to be, it was actually clearly divided into several segments yet they were all definitely a part of the same singular structure.
Making my way inside however, I moved quickly through the hallways already knowing my way around relatively well. Unfortunately, my path was soon blocked by a wall, a wall that shouldn't have been there.
(God damn it, what have I told him about allowing his pets to run rampant inside of the facility.) I sighed, sending a message through the hive mind.
Soon the wall, which was a mass of blood red leaves and vines covered in thorns that were a metallic black in color, began to shift and retract back into a nearby ventilation shaft. This thing had always been a bit annoying to deal with, mostly because of this exact situation, it would spread its tendrils out from its main body trying to fill up any space it could find. After a minute though the blockage had completely disappeared allowing me to continue, something I did while rolling my head in irritation.
(I don't even know how he managed to make that thing, I mean seriously, I know Jonas is a mad scientist and all but even he has to have some limitations to his ridiculousness...right?) I muttered internally as I entered a place I had been many times before, a room filled with large industrial generators all connected to a completely metal platform in the centre of the room.
(I still remember when I first attempted this...) I thought, chuckling weakly at the rather nerve-wracking memory. (Ophelia had said that I was completely insane for even suggesting something like this, not that she really needed to, after all I was pretty much thinking the exact same thing at the time.)
"Well whatever, let's just get this over with." I sighed as I tapped on the panel that had been built some distance away from the platform.
Soon, with a mechanical hum, the generators began to come to life. "It should only take a second for everything to start up."
(I wonder if other Alternatives get warped ether this way? Who am I kidding, I bet that there are people out there who have taken this to an extreme that I wouldn't even come close to imagining.) I thought, by this point the platform was currently brimming with crackling electricity.
"Welp, let's get started."
I almost immediately felt the wave of electricity hit me as I stepped onto the platform in question, I felt it spread through my flesh and blood until it reached my very core, my heart. Not that this ended up stopping me from laying down and getting comfortable mind you but still.
Anyway, it wasn't painful like you would probably think, in fact it was rather pleasant overall, like taking a warm bath in a way. Of course however, I knew if I stopped using my Warp Conversion Gift it would most definitely hurt like hell, so I made sure not to do something stupid like that.
Anyway, the electricity continued to pour into my body traveling to my heart where it was slowly beginning to be absorbed and turned into something else entirely. As I continued to work rhythmically however, my vision darkened as I focused inwards towards the bazaar, new energy growing inside me. And there, deep within my being, I found what could only be described as my soul, as a spectral version of myself floating in a black void and surrounded by three notable things.
Firstly, there was the warped ether, a pool of gradually growing energy underneath my soul's spectral feet. Next was the few twinkling lights I could see in the void around my soul, I instinctively knew they were the powers given to me by Chaos, my Gifts. And lastly, there, floating around my soul, was what appeared to be a black and purple, ever shifting galaxy that spiraled around my ghostly other self, orbiting it in a way.
This galaxy-like thing was, well, my Essence Of Change, something completely unique to me. In fact Decker had told me before I came to this world that every Alternative has a unique Essence Of Change, apparently your Essence's appearance and temperament depends on who you truly are as a person. Honestly it made me feel a little annoyed, mainly because of how violent and untamed my Essence appeared to be.
(Might as well finish leveling up Hive Dominance to rank five while I'm at it.) I sighed as I got to work.
Focusing in on the pool of warped ether under my soul I began willing it to move, to flow towards one of the lights within the void, and it did, little by little the energy trickled into the light causing it to grow. After several minutes of feeding my energy into the light in question it finally stopped growing, a second later I felt the familiar sensation of the gift ranking up, a kind of fuzzy feeling in the back of my head that was not something I considered pleasant.
"Done..."
[//Name: Hive Dominance.
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 5
//Grade: C
//Effects:
Effect 1:
Creates a hive mind like network that the user is fully connected to and in control of. Allows for the slow indoctrination of non hive mind members as well as better control over naturally born hive members. Telepathic communication between the user and indoctrinated individuals is also possible. Current limit of indoctrinated individuals: 351/24,300.
Effect 2:
All those connected to the hive mind can transfer memories and experiences into a kind of shared mental archive, a fact that allows others to view and even learn from them.
Effect 3: LOCKED.
//Notes:
The higher the individual's will and mental strength compared to the user's the harder it is to succeed with the subjugation attempt, in fact it is very possible for someone to completely stop or negate the domination attempt with enough mental fortitude.
Learning from information stored within the hive mind is not instant, in a sense it is like watching a video or reading very detailed instructions. For example, someone trying to learn medical skills can use the knowledge within the hive mind to speed up their understanding, however they can not instantly become a master in the medical arts.]
"Huh..." I hummed, surprised to see that a new effect had been unlocked. "So it's like I have a smaller version of the internet in my head that only those a part of the hive mind can access or add to?"
"I gotta admit, that's actually really cool." I muttered while I continued converting the electricity flowing into my body.
(Not to mention useful, I mean there are a lot of obvious uses for it but I could also use it to extract information from my enemies.) I thought as various ideas flowed into my head. (I could forcefully add someone to the hive mind, afterwards I could then have them transfer all of their knowledge and memories into it before dealing with them however I see fit.)
(I'll have to run some tests later but for now though let's just go ahead and check my other Gifts as well while I'm at it.)
[//Name: Hive Possession.
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 3
//Grade: D
//Effects:
Effect 1:
Allows the user to temporarily take control of the body and mind of anyone or anything that they are connected to via the hive mind.
Effect 2: LOCKED.
//Notes:
If a possessed being dies while under the control of the user a penalty in the form of a psychic backlash will be inflicted, the severity of the backlash will increase with every consecutive death but will return to normal given time.]
[//Name: Empress's Redemption
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 2
//Grade: C
//Effects:
Effect 1:
A spiritual entity passively protects the user from various non-physical based assaults, such as mind control as well as forced mental intrusion.
Effect 2: LOCKED.
Effect 3: LOCKED.
//Notes:
The spirit in question can be damaged and rendered inoperable if it is overpowered by a stronger force, however it will regenerate and reform given enough time to recuperate.]
[//Name: Sanctuary Gate
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 2
//Grade: D
//Effects:
Effect 1:
Allows the user to create a two-way gate between their current location and their Sanctuary, the size of the gate depends on the Gift's current rank. Current largest possible gate size: 15m
Effect 2: LOCKED
//Notes:
The user can use the gate to enter their Sanctuary as they see fit, however they cannot return to their origin point through the use of the Sanctuary if they are currently on a mission in another universe.]
[//Name: Enhanced Understanding
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 5 (Max)
//Grade: E
//Effects:
Effect 1:
Increases the user's of ability to understand and break down new ideas and problems at a faster rate.
//Notes: None.]
[//Name: Learning Understanding
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 5 (Max)
//Grade: E
//Effects:
Effect 1:
Increases the user's of ability to learn and process new information and techniques at a faster rate.
//Notes: None.]
[//Name: Hive Mapping
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 3
//Grade: D
//Effects:
Effect 1:
Multiple mental maps can be generated over time with the visual information of all those corrected to the hive mind. Anyone connected to the hive mind can see and understand these maps, however the user is the one who decides when and where they are created.
Effect 2: LOCKED
//Notes:
The user is capable of deciding which pieces of visual information from individual members of the hive should be added to each map.]
[//Name: Weak Projectile Protection
//Type: Growth
//Rank: 5 (Max)
//Grade: E
//Effects:
Effect 1:
Creates a field around the user that slightly slows and weakens incoming projectiles lessening the damage taken from long range attacks to some degree.
//Notes:
The higher the rank of the Gift the more damage will be reduced, additionally the field around the user will grow slightly larger as well, this means that the projectiles in question will spend longer within the field before hitting the user and as such will have their momentum slowed further.]
"I'll focus on ranking up Hive Mapping for a while, after all it will probably be very useful considering what world I'm going to next after this one." In fact right now Hive Mapping was pretty useless but later down the line it would definitely end up coming in handy.
(As for Sanctuary Gate, Hive Possession and Empress's Redemption, well, ranking them up can wait for now.)
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