"An Adolescent?" Nick repeated.
Wyntor nodded. "I am not entirely sure how he gains more power, but based on his behavior in the past, I would say that he becomes stronger by causing others fear or by just doing horrible things. I'm not sure about the specifics."
"Riker has been in the Dregs for quite a while, and by now, he has amassed a gang with over 50 members. He has probably caused an incredible amount of grief, which should have given him a lot of power. I doubt very much that he's a Hatchling."
Nick looked with worry at Wyntor. "Could he be an Adult Specter?" he asked.
Wyntor shook his head. "Very unlikely. It takes a lot for a Specter to grow."
"We have been feeding the Dreamer 24/7, and after months, it still only advanced by 1.5 levels. If we keep going at this rate, it will probably take three years or so to turn the Dreamer into an Adult Specter."
"And that's considering that we keep feeding him with powerful Zephyx Extractors. Nick, you have to keep in mind that something stronger also produces much more Zephyx. For example, if we keep sending in Newbie Extractors while the Dreamer is an Adolescent, it would take over 15 years for it to become an Adult."
"While Riker has a great reach, a lot of his terror is spread over his gang, and I don't think that suffering by proxy gives as much Zephyx as directly inflicting the suffering."
"At most, Riker is a Late Adolescent, and I'm already very generous with that evaluation. Most likely, he's an Early or Mid Adolescent," Wyntor explained.
Nick just furrowed his brows. "And we don't have a shot at taking him?"
Wyntor shook his head. "Since the difference between Realms is a twofold increase in power and since Riker is most likely an Early Adolescent, his physical power would be about five times as much as you, and that's only considering his physical power."
"He most likely also has an ability that is very useful in combat, which would make it extremely difficult to deal with him. Even if you could keep your ability perpetually active, you would most likely lose."
Nick could only sigh when he heard that.
"So, we don't go after Riker just yet," Nick said.
"We don't," Wyntor repeated.
"But then what?" Nick asked. "We are out of ideas now."
"That's how all the Zephyx Manufacturers feel," Wyntor told Nick. "Getting the Specters is always the most difficult part."
Nick could only sigh.
"Guess that means that I have to go out and find a Specter again."
"Sadly, yes," Wyntor said. "We are still lacking the funds to create a full team of Investigators."
Nick sighed once again. "Okay," he said. "I'll do my best and look for a Specter, but I'm honestly not sure where I can find one."
Wyntor nodded. "This time, our survival isn't dependent on your rapid success. Even if you don't find one immediately, we are still earning money with the Dreamer."
"If there is a deadline, it will most likely be when you are about to become a level two Extractor, but that should still take a bit more than a year or two," Wyntor said.
"You mean the Ability Advancement?" Nick asked.
Wyntor nodded.
"I guess you're right," Nick said. "I don't think the Dreamer would advance my ability in a very useful or meaningful way."
What made the advancements between Stages different from advancements between levels?
Why was a Peak level one Zephyx Extractor becoming an Initial level two Zephyx Extractor far more meaningful than an Initial level two Zephyx Extractor becoming an Early level two Zephyx Extractor?
Two reasons.
First, the increase in power was twofold instead of 1.5-fold.
But more importantly, the ability of the person also advanced.
By absorbing Zephyx, the Extractor's Zephyx Synchronizer would also become bigger, and eventually, it would become big enough to support a stronger ability.
When one was ready to reach the next Stage, one's Zephyx Synchronizer would regain the ability to synchronize with a Specter, but this new synchronization was different from the first one.
During the initial synchronization, the Extractor's Zephyx Synchronizer would try to fully copy the Specter's ability.
But during the second synchronization, the Zephyx Synchronizer would combine the new ability with the old one, creating a new one.
For example, Wyntor had the ability of The Blinding Light, and if he were to advance by attuning his Zephyx Synchronizer with the Dreamer, Wyntor's ability would transform.
Maybe Wyntor's light would also cause hallucinations?
Maybe Wyntor's light would make its targets tired?
Maybe Wyntor would gain the ability to read the thoughts of his enemy while his ability was active?
No matter what case were true, Wyntor's initial ability would remain the dominant one, and the Dreamer's ability would need to somehow fit into Wyntor's initial ability.
Naturally, there were very compatible abilities and very incompatible ones.
For example, Wyntor's ability and the Dreamer's ability were not compatible at all.
One of them dealt with bright light and very noticeable attacks, while the other one was a very covert ability that relied on the element of surprise.
So, what if Nick used the Dreamer to advance his ability?
Well, in a certain way, the Dreamer's ability was quite compatible with Nick's ability since both of them used the element of surprise.
However, they differed very much in how they were used.
Nick's ability wanted to kill the enemy, while the Dreamer's ability wanted to manipulate or spy on them.
Even more, both abilities would only be able to unleash their powers with the element of surprise but became useless after that.
That was not what Nick wanted.
The Ability Advancement was the best way to transform Nick's ability into one that could be used more than once in a battle.
And the Dreamer's ability wouldn't help Nick in achieving that.
Because of that, Nick needed another Specter.
And that was why the deadline for capturing the next Specter was Nick's advancement to the second level, which would take one to two years.