These beams were thin and pointed in specific directions.
They all had different colors, and there were thousands, if not tens of thousands, of them.
Compared to humans, Specters had an innate understanding of what their abilities could do, and Nick wasn't any different.
He knew what these beams represented.
'The more powerful I grow, the more I become like the Null.'
Every beam represented someone who knew him.
There were different levels of knowing him and different aspects.
For example, someone knew how he looked.
Someone knew that he existed.
Someone knew him as Nick Dusk.
Someone knew him as Julian Winter.
Someone knew part of his abilities.
Someone knew his history.
Someone knew all of his abilities.
All of these people who knew him were represented by the beams.
The vast majority of the beams were white, which meant that they knew he existed but didn't know anything about him.
These beams represented all the people who had seen Nick doing something in one of the cities while disguised.
They didn't know anything about the true Nick, but they had once seen Nick somewhere in a city.
Then, there were more colorful beams.
The light orange ones represented people or Specters who knew that he was a Specter and part of his abilities.
Some Specters he had worked along with while working for Wrath or Gluttony belonged to this group of beams.
They had seen him use some light, while others just knew him as that idiotic cloud of mist that constantly misinterpreted orders and messed things up.
There were not many of those since Nick tended to kill every Specter that had seen him.
Then, there were light blue beams.
These represented people who believed him to be human.
Most of the Agents and Protectors working for Aegis belonged to this group.
They had seen him occasionally and knew that he was a special Agent working for Aegis.
Then, there were the red threads. These symbolized people and Specters who knew that he was a Specter and knew him quite well.
The Champion and the other Shields belonged to that category. The Protectors whom Nick had led in the fight against Gluttony also belonged to that category, just like Aria. 𝖗ÃꞐÒβÊṣ
One of these beams also pointed right toward the sky…
Towards the Sun.
The Sun also belonged to that category.
The deep blue beams pointed at people and Specters who believed him to be human and knew him very well.
Samar Melfion belonged to that group.
Then, there were the black beams.
These black beams represented people and Specters who knew the real him.
Those were the ones who knew the most about him.
There were three black beams.
One pointed at the Technician.
One pointed at Ghosty.
And one pointed at the suppressed Fallen in the secret research base.
While it didn't know Nick's stories, it had essentially seen all of his abilities in action.
Its beam was between black and a deep and dark red.
The beam pointing at Aria was also a deep and dark red.
Aria knew his story and his name, but she didn't know what Nick's primary ability could do.
In a way, one could argue that there were either two or four black beams.
'This new ability is horrifying,' Nick thought with furrowed brows.
'As long as someone knows about me, I can see where they are.'
One of the light blue beams pointed to a space a bit east of Aegis' headquarters.
'That's most likely Death. It believes I'm a human.'
Another light red beam pointed to the middle of the ocean.
'That's most likely the Salt Trident. I came into contact with water while fighting the Fallen. It took note of me but knows almost nothing about me.'
'If I can already sense all of these things as a Fallen, what can the Null sense?'
As Nick thought about the Null, he also thought about something else.
'The Technician might have been right. The Null eliminates anyone who knows anything about it.'
'There's probably a good reason behind that.'
'It's possible that the power of my ability will improve based on how many people know me in the future.'
'Right now, it doesn't have that aspect, but it might get that aspect later.'
Nick looked at the beams.
He imagined cutting off all of them.
That would represent tens of thousands of deaths and the death of everyone he knew.
'There's no point in doing that yet.'
A dark cloud appeared in Nick's heart.
'But I might need to do that in the future.'
'Humanity needs me.'
Nick took a deep breath.
'That is something for when the final battle arrives. Thinking about this before then won't change anything.'
'I should focus on my other abilities for now.'
Naturally, Nick's other abilities also improved.
A moment later, he released a black cloud around him.
This was the ability he used to keep his whereabouts vague and allowed him to use half of his primary ability.
The new version of this ability now also gave off disorienting and confusing Zephyx.
This meant that not even Zephyx senses could pinpoint him with accuracy.
Even more, the cloud had become quite a bit bigger, making it harder to perceive where Nick was.
Instead of only getting 50% of his ability inside the cloud, Nick now had 70%.
Of course, if he made a noise or created vibrations, the enemy would still be able to pinpoint his location for a short instance.
But as long as Nick moved stealthily, it would become difficult to truly sense him.
This was a huge upgrade.
However, in a way, it wasn't as significant as his next upgrade.
The ability he had received from the Blinding Light had changed.
He could still release a burst of focused light, but he had also gained something else.
Nick moved his arm, and a moment later, a blade of light materialized on it.
As Nick moved the blade through the ground around him, it cut and burned everything it touched.
However, this wasn't the most terrifying aspect of it.
The most significant change was that the light could disperse and even use foreign Zephyx.
'Finally,' Nick thought.
'I can kill Force Specters.'
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