Chapter 441: The Fourth Ability
Normally, having waited for over 10 days for this day, Michael could have already made a decision on the ability that he would select. But, with the changes that continuously happened, Michael had no choice but to look at the other options as well.
And at the moment, he was really contemplating on a certain ability that would allow him to be able to utilize other abilities, even without possessing them.
After going through the several grade SSS abilities, Michael finally came to a final list of the abilities that he could select from.
Reality Manipulation allowed the user to alter the properties of the world around them, changing things that should normally be impossible to change.
Time Manipulation allowed the user to slow down, speed up, stop, or otherwise control the flow of time within a certain area.
Causality Manipulation allowed the user to alter the connection between actions and their results, making an event produce a different outcome from what should normally happen.
Space Manipulation allowed the user to bend and distort space, enabling them to teleport, create portals, or shorten the distance between two locations.
Matter Manipulation allowed the user to change, reshape, or destroy physical matter through their own power.
Ability Nullification allowed the user to completely suppress or disable the supernatural abilities of other mutants.
Probability Manipulation allowed the user to influence the chances of events occurring, making unlikely outcomes happen far more often.
Ability Duplication allowed the user to be able to temporarily duplicate abilities of other people. A maximum of 5 abilities that lasted for 3 days.
Within the system store, there was a wide range of abilities at grade SSS. Therefore, with him having only an option of selecting one ability at a time, it really was kind of difficult to choose.
Previously, Michael had been considering either time manipulation or space manipulation.
Within the system store, there was space manipulation, and teleportation. And both of them were at grade SSS.
The difference between the two of them was that, space manipulation was multifunctional. It could allow a person to be able to do more things, but the range of the teleportation that it allowed could not match the teleportation ability.
Michael had been considering these two abilities simply because of the people that he cared about. For the space manipulation ability, it could allow him to be able to get to those that he cared about quickly.
In that way, in case they faced a situation that they could not handle, he would be able to get there the moment that he got the information.
On the other hand, the time manipulation ability was mostly related to his parents. Even though it currently could not allow him to be able to bring his parents back to life, if he could advance it, he believed that he could.
Additionally, he thought about the possibility of him facing danger in the near future. If they were suddenly attacked, and they could not handle the enemy, this ability could be useful.
Even if it did not affect the aliens, it could be used on the people that he cared about. He could slow the time around the people that were severely injured, so that they could look for a solution for their injuries.
At the same time, for someone like Kate, maybe he could use this ability to be able to speed up the time in the training chamber. That way, she would be able to spend a lot of time inside the training chamber, while only a short time had gone by outside the training chamber.
Finally, there was the ability duplication skill. This was something that he had considered after the last time that he had spoken to Stewart.
With him deciding to allow the spread of the mutation serums from the system store, the number of mutants would obviously increase in this world.
Obviously, they would be a variety of abilities appearing. Some of the abilities could be very useful in some situations, even if they did not grant someone incredible fighting capabilities.
Even though Michael could possess more than one abilities, it took time. Michael was not really sure how long it would take to be able to possess abilities that could allow him to be versatile.
Therefore, he thought, it would be much better to be prepared. Despite the fact that he had not given out grade SS and grade SSS mutation serums, he still had to consider if he would do so in the near future.
But of course, there was one thing that was clear, several people around him would definitely possess grade SSS abilities.
In case dealing with a certain situation required a combination of several abilities, he could always duplicate them from someone else. That way, even if it was a weakened version, it would still be much more helpful.
Michael was left in a dilemma for quite a while, wondering what to choose between the three abilities. If he was given time, he would possess the three of them.
But at the moment, he was not sure which ability he was supposed to give priority.
He thought for quite a long while, before he finally came to a decision. That was, he eliminated the space manipulation ability. As for why that was the case, as compared to the other two, it seemed to be less useful.
Michael could solve something like this by making sure that he was not too far from those that he cared about. Additionally, he could always arrange for bio humans to ensure the security of those that he cared about.
Now, for the remaining to abilities, after thinking for a short while, Michael finally decided to go with time manipulation.
He decided to make a gamble. He hoped that he was overthinking, and they would not be invaded by aliens anytime soon. Or even if they were invaded, the grade SSS abilities would be as powerful as he thought them to be.
After all, it was not a new concept where, the powerful people within a certain world, when faced with invaders, they realized that they were at the level of the most ordinary soldiers of the other civilization.
The time manipulation ability could be much more helpful, especially in helping Kate to grow stronger. Additionally, Kate was not the only person that had the rapid adaptation ability.
Among the bio humans, there were two who had chosen the rapid adaptation ability. It implied, those with the rapid adaptation abilities were the weakest among those with the combat-related abilities.
As he thought about this, Michael no longer hesitated, as he spent at all 90 SP to complete the purchase.
Like usual, with a flash of light, a test tube appeared on a stand beside the couch.
The appearance of the serum inside the test tube was still the same, a mixture of silver and gold. Even as he removed the cork, he noticed that the serum was odorless.
This surprised him slightly, as since the last time that he had taken the serum until now, his sense of smell had drastically improved. But even then, he could not pick any scent from the liquid contained within the test tube.
Shaking his head and deciding not to think much about it, Michael quickly gulped down the contents of the test tube.
Several seconds after he swallowed the serum, a sharp pain spread through his body. He clenched his teeth and stood still, already knowing that the mutation was beginning.
Then, his heartbeat became heavier, each beat sending a strange pressure through his chest as the serum rapidly took effect.
The pain soon reached his head. His vision blurred, and the room seemed to move strangely around him. Michael remained calm despite the discomfort.
Having already experienced taking mutation serums several times, he was kind of getting used to it. Even though, he kind of felt different sensations each time, his body was already adapting.
Just as he was waiting for the next change, the world around him seemed to slow down. The movement of the air became almost impossible to notice, the faint sounds in the room stretched into long, drawn-out noises, and even the ticking of the clock seemed to become slower with every passing second.
Michael’s eyes narrowed as he felt an unfamiliar force spreading through his mind. He slowly took a slow breath and focused.
The change became more obvious. A small object that had been falling in the video that was playing on the TV suddenly appeared to hang motionless in the air. It was as if someone had pressed the pause button.
As he looked around, he realized that the second hand of the clock had frozen in place. Even the curtains near the window remained completely still.
At this moment, Michael realized, these were the effects of the ability that he was gaining.
He raised his hand and carefully moved it through the frozen air. His own body still moved normally while everything around him remained trapped in the moment. The sensation was strange, but it was also exactly what he had hoped to experience.
Just as he was trying to understand this feeling, everything moved at once. But this time, everything was moving fast but Michael was even having a problem following through.
Though, this did not last long, as just a few seconds later, everything went back to normal. Michael was not sure if everything had gone back to the way that they were, or they were slightly delayed, or hastened by the ability.
As he took a deep breath, Michael realized that he had successfully gotten the ability. And, at this moment, he felt that in his subconscious, quite a huge amount of information had appeared.