Damon froze when he 'felt' the feedback from his Probability Manipulation Ability. Even his Clone was dumbfounded as the same thoughts blasted through their collective minds at the very same time, until they both stared at each other with complex looks.
From a layman's point of view, Probability Manipulation would look his lamest Ability, at least at the early Stages. The Ability to only augment direct actions by 5% seemed not even worth mentioning compared to the Ability of creating a perfect Avatar with 100% of your power, even less so compared to the utterly broken Ability to generate your own goddamn 'EXP'.
And yet, Damon had just discovered a frightening use for this 'lame' Ability. If he could receive feedback on the probability of all things before augmenting them, there was so much he could do in this universe.
For one, imagine Damon was in a forest area with thick brushes and bushes, unable to see his left and right, or really just anywhere with poor visibility and low sensitivity.
He could simply ask his Ability 'what are the chances of receiving an ambush?' and receive an answer, allowing him to firstly identify if enemies were nearby, as well as ready himself for a possible attack depending on the specific number.
Alternatively, Damon might find himself before a cave that was rumored to have a treasure hidden inside. At the entrance, he could ask 'what are the chances that I will open a treasure chest?' and would likely receive an answer.
These were direct actions, not states of being. An invalid version of the above statements would be if he were to ask 'what are the chances of an ambush?' or 'what are the chances of there being a treasure chest?'.
Neither of these were direct actions. In the first case, 'receiving' is a direct action happening towards the subject, which is Damon. In the second one, 'opening' is also a direct action which is done towards the object by the subject.
(Author's Note: A piece of advice to not stress yourself or pass unwise comments. If you haven't learned English at the college level, do not try to correct or suggest ideas. If you have a great idea you think Damon can ask with this, make sure you understand language and wording first.)
However, this was just the tip of the iceberg. What was important was finding out the degree or the length at which actions could be carried or augmented. As such, Damon pulled his paused punch back and sat down on the bed.
His Clone also sat down near the terminal and gazed at the main body. Both began running their own tests separately to save time.
'What are the chances that I will be harmed in the next five minutes?'
[Objective chances are currently 0.00002%.]
Damon's main body hummed. He then tried again.
'What are the chances that I will be harmed in the next hour?'
[Objective chances are currently 0.003%.]
Hoh? Damon was intrigued. Even though the chance remained less than 1%, it had increased from the former, making his curious as to what exactly would harm him?
Another important thing he had to uncover was just how 'objective' this measurement was. After all, assuming he stayed in his room, nothing should be able to harm him. However, if he asked his Clone to punch him, he would absolutely be harmed.
So, did that mean that for the next hour, there was only a 0.003% chance that he might decide to harm himself? That was unlikely.
He had just been considering punching himself to test out his Ability, so how could the probability be so low?
Damon realized more and more that the working of this Ability was extremely complex.
But then again, of course it fucking was. This was a REALITY MANIPULATION power!
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Manipulating reality, even a small bit of it, no bigger than a thumb, required calculations and complex augmentations beyond what any fictional tale could suspend your disbelief with.
For example, it was very unlikely for a buff vampire to be able to stop time for the entire world, much less the entire universe, for even a picosecond and certainly not 5-11 seconds.
To manipulate time, one had to be able to manipulate space as well. To manipulate space alone, you'd have to have the knowledge of the world's most renowned astrophysicist and the computing ability of a quantum computer.
And yet, Damon's Ability did all that and more. Space and time were just one subset of reality, and he could control it all. Of course, it was the Ability that did the heavy lifting for him, much like how a GUI based software allowed a common user to manipulate complex hardware without having to use MS-DOS like terminals for everything.
As Damon lay on his bed, he realized that Abilities were similar to the bloodlines he had read about in fantasy novels in his teens years. Simplified powers codified into a medium that required a user to have anywhere between next to no and a little knowledge about the subject matter, yet still being able to use it within a specific range as if they possessed the skill of one qualified to use it.
A person with the Ability to shoot fireballs from his hand, who originated from a clan of Fire Ability users, may not even understand the basic of heat energy. Still, that would not stop him from being capable of controlling that very same heat energy, condense it and form a shape that is a ball and fire it like a projectile while keeping its structure stable until it struck the enemy.
Honestly, a person with basic telekinesis could also create a fireball, but the kind of fine control, knowledge and skill they would need to possess to create even a simple fireball was frightening.
Abilities…
Damon sighed. He realized why these things decided the quality of a species and their standing in the universe. They were incomprehensible powers that could be used by any dog and cat, whether a seasoned genius or a roadside beggar, that unleashed various degrees of power depending on the Ability itself.
Even if you were a Dragon, one of the approximately 100,000 in existence, with all unlocking SSS-Grade Abilities, they could still be crushed to death by a species of 100 billion with all F-Grade Abilities.
Abilities allowed species to transcend their genetic weaknesses and climb the food chain. Stats did not do that. Stats from Essence were literally based on the average standard of your specific species.
A human with 100 Mobility might look great on paper, but it might only be enough to rival a Dragon with 10 Mobility in terms of objective speed. To rely on stats and on Essence to change your fate was nonsense unless your species' starting point was already high.
Humans did not enjoy that privilege.
Apart from short and tiny species like goblins or insectoids, humans were at a very poor starting line in terms of any objective metric. This was just another reason why their Ability to awaken such high rank powers was destined to cause a storm.
As long as Damon wanted to avoid humanity being tagged with the 'slave' label on a galactic scale, he needed as many humans to awaken Abilities as possible and as many of them to enter Essence with their real bodies.
So, the plan didn't change, but some thing would have to be augmented with his new understanding. Damon sighed deeply as he partially understood why a species' Prime Representative would be given such unchecked power over their people for the first 20 years.
A species newly introduced to the galactic political playing field would be like a child wearing a tube in the midst of a storm that spawned a cyclone. They would be lucky to keep their planet in one piece, much less integrate.
As such, a strong hand was needed to force stability and allow integration to occur. This strong hand was also given the burden of finding a way to make sure their species would not be crushed to death the moment that grace period of 20 years was over.
So, Damon, like any awakened of a newly discovered species - especially the species leader - was akin to a sexy young lady walking a dark alleyway with hooligans smiling lecherously on either side.
Completely and utterly nervous and racking their brains to make only the right choices lest they suffer a terrible fate.
"You know, we could just do that." The Clone suggested.
Damon's eyes narrowed but did not respond. The Clone rolled his eyes.
"Stop acting as if your moral compass was at True Neutral or Chaotic Neutral. After what you've done to ensure your 'immortality' on Earth, do you really think there is even a snowball's chance in hell that it would ever change from anything but Lawful Evil?" The Clone pointed out brutally.
Damon still remained silent.
"The thought has passed through your mind many times since we spoke to Ambrose. With what you understood and learned just now, you know more than ever that this is the correct choice." The Clone continued.
"Alright, alright, I get it. No need to harp on." Damon finally responded with a deep sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose.
Awakening Abilities was the only way to save humanity, yet it cost money that they did not have. No power in the universe would simply unlock all of humanity's Abilities, at least not without putting heavy restrictions on them which would make them basically slaves, even if it might be under a different label.
Since Damon was unwilling to allow humanity to sell themselves cheaply because they were unaware of their own value on the intergalactic scope, he resolved himself to take matters into his own hands and make the same mistake his ancestor had committed that had led to years of tragedy.
Damon was going to sell out his own species.