The two of them experimented on Nick's ability to turn into mist.

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

It barely took two months.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sadly, advantages could have disadvantages, and disadvantages could have advantages.

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

In 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.

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

There were only so many "bad" people that could be punished.

If 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.

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

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

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

Naturally, 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.

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

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

Nick wanted to be a good person.

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

In fact, Nick wasn't even reaping any emotional rewards from helping others.

Whether he helped or damaged others, there wouldn't be a big emotional difference.

He felt almost identical in both cases.

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

He just wanted to redeem himself.

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

Almost every single human was guided by emotions.

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

Why did people make logical decisions?

Because they wanted to make the right decision.

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

Because they wanted to feel good.

Feel secure by having money.

Feel companionship by having a partner.

Feel community by having friends.

Feel status by having a good job.

Feel fun by following one's hobbies.

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

Humans chased happiness.

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

Everyone wanted happiness.

Nick also chased happiness.

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

Yet, he kept chasing happiness.

Probably forever.

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

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

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

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

Definitely not.

Luckily, that was not how Nick was.

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

"That's everything, right?" the Technician asked with a complacent smile as Nick transformed back into his material form.

Nick 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."

The Technician grinned as he scratched his chin.

Right now, he was thinking about all the possibilities.

If they could make more Half-Specters…

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

How?

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

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

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

There were many things they had to consider.

"I'm ready for ability advancement," Nick said while the Technician was thinking about the possibilities of Half-Specters.

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

Nick 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.

"Sure," the Technician said. "Do you have an ability in mind?"

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

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

That was an unusual reaction from the Technician.

"Sure, but hurry up," the Technician said before sending Nick's Barrier a file with abilities for Specters.

There were hundreds!

"So? Which one is it?" the Technician asked after a couple of seconds.

Nick furrowed his brows.

What was up with the Technician?

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

The Technician looked conflicted.

"What about one of these five?" he asked as he highlighted five Specters.

Nick looked closer at them.

Sadly, 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.

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

The Technician took a deep breath. "Nick, you should really hurry up with your choice."

"Why?" Nick asked, looking at the Technician.

"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.

These words made Nick nervous.

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

"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.

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

Finally, 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.

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

The Technician watched Nick for a second.

Then, he looked around the room a bit.

Finally, the Technician's voice appeared in Nick's mind.

"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."

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

"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."

"It might just directly kill you after abducting you."

"So, please, hurry up with your choice. I don't want to tempt fate," the Technician rapidly explained.

Nick took a deep breath.

He had no idea!

That explained the Technician's urgency.

"I understand," Nick answered.

"I want this one," Nick said two seconds later, highlighting one of the Specters.

The Technician nodded and told Nick to follow him.

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

The Technician opened the door…

And a big hole filled with teeth appeared below Nick.

Nick's eyes widened in horror.

The Technician's eyes widened in horror.

'But I just regained my powers!' Nick thought.

'Does this really have to happen now?!'

And then, the Maw engulfed Nick.