Chapter 547 The essence of Temperature

Temperature Manipulation.

Out of all the powers that Alex has right now, he considers this one as this weakest.

After all, the ability to change temperatures on a whim is not a really useful power, especially against Sixth Stage Beings.

How would making a metal hot or cold allow Alex to defeat an Immortal Stage practitioner? Most likely, an Immortal will just shrug these changes off with his/her power. The same case also applies to other Sixth Stage Beings.

With their bodies able to turn into energy or essence at will, the most damage that Alex can give to these Sixth Stage Beings could only be minor inconveniences to them....

If this was the only problem with Temperature Manipulation, then Alex can still manage to do something about it. However, there is another limitation that is much more bothersome than this power’s weakness.

And that was the fact that unlike other Power Systems, Alex’s Temperature Manipulation (Superhuman Power) does not exactly have any linear or systematic way to get stronger.

While an Esper gets stronger from an increase of Mental Power, and an Abyss Monster grows from absorbing Abyss Energy, those with Superhuman Powers like Temperature Manipulation cannot do this.

Unlike other Power Systems, Superhuman Powers were abilities that were innately born with an individual. These were not learned or cultivated, making it per se, a part of the Superhuman’s body.

Because of this trait, it is impossible to just absorb some kind of energy to make a Superhuman Power get stronger.

historical

If a Superhuman wants to make his/her Superhuman Power improve, then it can only be done through countless experimentations and training with the Superhuman Power.

Only if a Superhuman discovers something new with their power that they can improve it. Without any new discovery, nothing will happen on a Superhuman Power...

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So for example, if there is a man whose Superhuman Power was to manipulate water (Water Manipulation), the only way that he can improve this power is by discovering new aspects of it.

This man could perhaps discover that he does not only manipulate water. Maybe he can also manipulate other liquids. Or perhaps he can also manipulate the other states of water (water vapor and ice), or even turn solid materials into their liquid form!

The potential for the improvement of Water Manipulation is almost limitless at this point, although this improvement will depend on how much discoveries this man can get from his power...

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This same dilemma is now plaguing Alex, who is currently brainstorming on the possible improvements that he can do with his Temperature Manipulation.

Because he was preoccupied with a lot of stuff before, now is the only time that Alex actually had the opportunity to observe all aspects of this Temperature Manipulation ability.

Needless to say, he was initially stumped.

"So.... my Superhuman Power can at will, change the temperature of any objects near me. It doesn’t matter what these objects are, but as long as they exist, I can change their temperature...." Alex thought as he suddenly grabbed a brick.

"Shish..." Alex then began applying his Temperature Manipulation on the brick, increasing its temperature way beyond a thousand degrees. Alex continued to heat the brick up nd he only slowed down when the brick has begun to release a rancid smell. The brick’s body started to break down at this point, as if it was unable to resist the extreme heat anymore.

"Crumble!" In the end, the brick crumbled down like a sand castle, with all of the moisture inside it forcefully evaporated by the heat. Its fragments scattered into the air like dust, with some landing directly on Alex’s slightly miffed face.

"Tsk, even if I can change the temperature, there is still a limit on the scale that I can do it. For now, I can only increase the temperature up to 5,000 degrees Celsius and decrease it down to -100 degrees Celsius..." Alex took a deep breath as he rubbed his forehead, which seemed to indicate that he’s getting slightly frustrated right now. "Hmph, this power might sound impressive to some people, but here in the world? Tsk, this power is just nothing but a tickle!"

"If I really want to make this power have an impact, I must improve it right now!" Alex declared as he let out another sigh. "But how will I improve this power anyway? Is there anything else that I can link... with temperature manipulation?"

This line by Alex prompted him to begin brainstorming, with his mind now preoccupied on creating imaginary experiments in relation to his Temperature Manipulation. Since Temperature Manipulation is a power related to scientific stuff, then the best way to improve it is by doing experiments with it!

With his mind bolstered by all the other powers that he had, Alex was able to examine hundreds of imaginary experiments at the same time, something that is of real use to him now.

"Hmm..."

While all of these experiments flashed by his head, Alex continued to mull to himself, as he was starting to get bored from his experiments already.

"...If this Temperature Manipulation was only an Esper Power, then I do not have to worry about making it improve. I can just swallow a lot of Mental Energy and voila, it will evolve by itself!"

"Hmm... speaking of Esper Powers and Superhuman Powers, I wonder how Tetra and Vibrator fare now. Will they be happy now that the Esper World has materialized? Well, Tetra will be happy for sure. As for Vibrator, maybe he will just start vibrati- wait."

All of a sudden, Alex forcefully halted all the imaginary experiments that he had in his mind. Whatever progress his imaginary experiments earlier were now swept away, as he willingly threw them at the back of his mind.

It was as if Alex was not interested on making any more experiments, a fact that was supported by the current look on his face.

Alex’s face, which was as placid as a mirror earlier, now held a nervous and delighted expression on it, as if he had discovered something interesting.

As for what this discovery was, Alex’s next words had revealed it.

"Vibration, vibration, vibration... F**k, why did I not think of that earlier?" Alex suddenly shouted out as he held his head between his hands. He seemed to be both ashamed and happy right now, a combination that made him look extremely comical. "Of course it will be like that!"

Alex then stood up from this seat, before he began pacing all around his room like a maddened prisoner. There was excitement and agitation present on his steps, making his body appear to be full of nervous tension.

"....The temperature of an object is dependent on the amount of vibration present in the atoms and molecules of that object. So the more that these atoms and molecules vibrate, the hotter the object will be. Conversely, the less that these atoms and molecules vibrate, the colder that object will be!"

If Alex could start jumping up and down right now, then he could have already done it. The only thing that was stopping him from doing this was his mind, which was too busy analyzing his new discovery.

"So in essence, my Temperature Manipulation is actually just the manipulation of the vibration of atoms and molecules! If I want to increase the temperature, then my power will just increase the vibration of the atoms and molecules! And if I want to make things colder, then my power will just slow down their vibration!"

"...If that was the case, then technically speaking, my Temperature Manipulation is also a derivative of Vibration Power! If this is true, then aside from vibrating atoms and molecules right now, maybe I can also... vibrate other things!"

"Bang!" At the moment that Alex reached this line of thought, he suddenly felt some kind barrier breaking inside his mind. This barrier, which was undetected by Alex all this time, only made its appearance right now when it was breaking apart!

"Hong hong hong hong~"

At the moment that this barrier broke, heaps and heaps of knowledge began to materialize inside Alex’s mind, which made Alex lurch in surprise.

But before Alex could make sense of this change, his surprise began to increase, as he realized that all the new knowledge inside his mind were actually related to Vibration Power!

"No way... I just discovered a link between Temperature Manipulation and Vibration Power, and I suddenly get all these info? Does that mean... that I can really use Vibration Power now?" Alex thought to himself as he began to scan all the knowledge that had just appeared inside him. "If this is legit, then my Superhuman Power has just received a major upgrade..."

With all this knowledge related to Vibration, Alex of course was happy. After all, his weakest power had just received a great improvement. However, there was also worry present in his heart, as the appearance of all this knowledge has presented a hidden problem.

"Even if all this knowledge is real, I cannot just be happy. After all, I am only supposed to improve my Superhuman Power through trial and error... But this, this dump of knowledge right here is not a product of trial and error! Someone or something.... has hidden all this knowledge inside my mind without me detecting it!"

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