BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

1149  Merging Powers (1)

Caiden left, and Erik sat alone in his work tent. While there were still many things to do regarding the blackguards, his mind shifted to something unrelated, a crucial task for him to get stronger. The servers they'd found in the blackguards' headquarters would have to wait—he needed to optimize his powers first, and to do that, he needed to merge them.

"System, show me the status."

—STATUS—

[Host Information]

NAME: Erik Romano

AGE: 18

POWER LEVEL: 1,462

SYSTEM LEVEL: 352

EXPERIENCE: 340,013,778

DNA POINTS: 77,469,671

HEALTH: 47,860

MANA: 47,790

{Attributes}

STRENGTH: 542

INTELLIGENCE: 474

DEXTERITY: 522

ENERGY: 1592 n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Available attribute points: 105

{Powers} [Biological Super Computer Powers] -Brain Crystal Manipulation (…)

-DNA Manipulation (…)

-Analysis

-Brain Information Injector

-Device Manipulation

[Host's Powers]

PLANT MASTER: Aι3B-RANKED

CHIMAERIC DEMON: Aα3X-RANKED

SELF HEALING: Aι2A-RANKED

INSTABILITY: Aλ2B-RANKED

Phantom Veil: Aθ2A-RANKED

Force Bastion: Aν1B-RANKED

Lightning Lord: Aη3A-RANKED

Beastwalker: Aθ1B-RANKED

Telekinesis: Aσ1A-RANKED

Will of the Hydra: Aσ1X-RANKED

Earth's Will: Aσ1A-RANKED

Rising tide: Aσ1B-RANKED

Time Freeze: Aσ1A-RANKED

Warp: Aσ1A-RANKED

Molecular Restructuring: Aσ1A-RANKED

Aegis Morph: Aσ1A-RANKED

Healing Touch: Aσ1A-RANKED

Will of the Puppet Master: Aσ1X-RANKED

{Skills}

(…)

—END STATUS—

He studied the list of abilities he'd accumulated in these four years.

His eyes went on the elemental powers. Frostwind Fire Tempest and Lightning Lord were both powerful on their own, but combined, they could create something truly strong and hopefully more efficient. Adding Earth's Will and Rising Tide would complete the set, giving him control over all basic elements. Of course, there were more he could take, and for sure he was going to, when he found them. Yet despite knowing there were other elements out there, Erik never found them. <This is the first thing I'm going to merge. A single power controlling all elements would be more efficient than juggling multiple ones,> he thought. <Hopefully, the merging will also reduce the mana drain.>

The defensive powers, Force Bastion and Aegis Morph, also caught his attention. Force Bastion's exoskeleton and Aegis Morph's adaptive armor complemented each other perfectly. Merging them could create an ultimate defense system—one that combined Force Bastion's force shielding and strengthening with Aegis Morph's material adaptation capabilities.

<System, remember to keep the Force Bastion as the main power. I don't really want to lose Nathaniel's brain crystal power; it is too useful. Just focus on giving Force Bastion the things that make Aegis Morph superior. Can you do it?>

[Well, I mean. I always did the mergings, considering what would have been best for you. From your point of view, they were random, but in truth, there were thoughts behind. Of course, depending on the powers' compatibility and the limitations the two powers offer, we might not be able to get what you want.]

The system paused.

[But I don't think we would have many problems here. These two are pretty similar brain crystal powers, so I guess we could do it. The only problem is that we will lose something from Aegis Morph. While I can give its attributes to Force Bastion, it will never reach the defensive abilities Aegis Morph has. That is a purely defensive power, after all. It doesn't have Nathaniel's ability to make force shields or create concussive blasts of energy, and there is a limit to what the DNA can store.]

[True, but with Aegis Morph, you might have been able to get 3 times that defensive power at the same mana cost. But if that is what you have decided on, I won't argue.]

Erik nodded. There was something else Erik was thinking about merging.

"The healing powers are obvious candidates, too," Erik said to himself. Self-healing's passive regeneration was useful, but its blood consumption could be dangerous in prolonged battles. <What can we do about this?> Erik asked the system.

[In this case, I would suggest making healing touch the main power. It can already heal yourself and other people, but it is not as powerful as self-healing, which is much faster at doing its job than healing touch. So, I would implement the fast regenerative powers of self-healing. The result should be something slightly less powerful than self-healing, but that can be used on other targets too. Clearly, it will be better than Healing Touch.]

<Is there a way to make it less mana reliant?>

[Yes but that would involve using blood as a complementary source, and that might be a problem sometimes.]

<Ok,> Erik said, then stick with the original plan.

But then came the harder decisions. Erik studied the remaining powers. Will of the Hydra and Instability both dealt with mental capabilities—could their merger create something that enhanced both cognitive abilities and emotional manipulation? Or would it dilute their individual strengths?

<I don't want to risk it. Both powers are too useful, and Will of the Hydra will become more once I make more heads... Instability is too valuable for its ability to read people's minds, so no, I will leave them as they are.>

Phantom Veil and Beastwalker both involved transformation and deception. A merger might create an ultimate stealth ability, but it could also result in something less focused than either original power. Erik often had to find new shapeshifting powers, so he decided to leave Beastwalker as it was. Phantom Veil was good at creating distractions, and unless he got something to power it up, he didn't want to risk making a mess. The same was for Invisibility. The power was useful as it was, so there was no need to merge it with something else, and he didn't even have something suitable for the task.

He stopped to think.

"System, what factors should I consider when merging powers?"

[Multiple factors affect the outcomes,] the AI said. [Power compatibility, intended use, potential synergies, DNA storage limits, powers' characteristics that go against each other.]

Erik nodded. The risk of unwanted outcomes was still present, and while he could use Brain Crystal Power Editing to adjust the results, that would consume too many DNA points he might need later.