Chapter 124: 124

Nova's form had solidified—no longer shifting voxels, but now a body identical to Joseph's, clad in a sleek black bodysuit only exposing the head. The A.I. didn't seem to notice the change. Joseph stepped forward and hugged him. //Sir?// Nova asked, confused by the gesture. It felt strange—hugging what was essentially himself. Maybe this was peak self-love. "I'm just glad you're back, Nova," Joseph said. Then he let the voxels shift again, allowing the face to dissolve. In the end, Nova's origin and nature didn't matter. It had proven its loyalty time and again—most recently by returning from the Dreaming, summoned by the literal embodiment of Dreams, who had asked what it desired. And it had chosen him. That was enough. Joseph would continue to trust it. Nova likely couldn't exert psychic influence on the external world because it wasn't in control of his body. But the entire situation raised a deeper question: how had he created a dream creature in the first place? From what he'd picked up during some idle conversation between Nova and Morpheus, dream and nightmare entities typically manifested from archetypes, fears, hopes, or concepts rooted in the collective unconscious of sentient beings across the universe. So what was he—what part of himself had birthed Nova? Maybe Morpheus had the answer. Wesley Dodds might know how to contact the Endless. Joseph exhaled and willed himself out of the Dream State. //Warning: Your body has ambient energies within you—lightning, chaotic, and orderly magic. They are separate at the moment but it is unknown what will happen if they come in contact with each other.// The lightning magic must've been from Wotan, the chaotic magic from Klarion, and the orderly magic from Kent's Tower of Fate. He'd been aware that they were present but hadn't done anything about it as they had never bothered him. In hindsight, that was very stupid of him. Another thing to ask about when he gets back. He focused inward. The new Force stirred—hot, dense, ever-churning like magma beneath the skin. When he willed it, it responded instantly, permeating his cells. His body swelled, bulking up rapidly. Muscles thickened, bones grew denser, his mass increased sharply. The Nth metal armor adapted without hesitation, reshaping itself to accommodate his new proportions. With a thought, he let the magma out, his enlarged fists becoming encased in fiery rock. He didn't panic as the transformation surged through him. On the contrary, he leaned into it, curious. Then he grasped it instinctively, as if the Force itself was communicating with him. He realized he was shifting his physical attributes by adjusting gravitomic inception. Density, weight, toughness—they were variables he could now control. It wasn't limited to himself, either. Anything he touched could be made heavier, denser, or more robust using the Strength Force. Applying the power fully to himself, Joseph felt his musculature compress into something beyond human biology. It wasn't just size—it was density. Strength poured from his limbs, and he knew without doubt: in this state, he could have matched Despero blow for blow. He looked down at the crater he had landed in—originally about twenty feet deep. With a pulse of Strength Force, the earth groaned and sank as he made it heavier. The crater extended to a forty feet deep in moments. If he set his mind to it, he could sink a whole neighborhood like this. Just to test it, he pushed his strength to the theoretical maximum, concentrating hard. But... there was no cap. The more he pulled, the more there was to pull. His strength felt limitless—an infinite well. Was this how Superman felt? Still, it wasn't without trade-offs. Joseph noticed something peculiar: when he maximized his strength for physical action, his body lost a measure of its imperviousness. It made him the ultimate glass cannon—unstoppable in offense, but more vulnerable to attacks. At least when using as much strength as possible. Releasing his focused state before he became too exhausted from the mental exertion, he dropped his power back to manageable levels. He willed this new Force to reshape his body into its usual form—strong, lean, refined. The rock encased fist shrunk too. Then he let the power go, the rock receeding into his skin. Interesting. With a single jump, he launched himself hundreds of feet into the air, sailing like a cannonball. He landed hard and jumped again, repeating the motion like a living missile, racing toward the nearest city where the sounds of battle echoed through the wind. This was how Superboy moved. In his base state with the Strength Force present, he was probably Superboy's equal in strength. As he moved, he analyzed the battlefield. The Gordanians weren't trying to raze Thanagar—they were occupying it. Carrier ships descended from orbit, offloading battalions of Gordanian troops into urban centers. Joseph guessed they were after the planet's vast Nth metal resources. It made sense. He saw a Gordanian carrier descending nearby. With a leap of 200 feet, he latched onto the craft and ripped its door off with sheer strength. Inside, startled Gordanians turned their weapons on him—but it was already too late. "Time to try out another gift," he muttered. With a single mental blast, he knocked out every alien in the craft. All living beings possess psychic energy. However, true psychics can shape and manipulate that energy—both their own and others'—to achieve various effects. For most, psychic energy is finite. Using it, especially for large or sustained feats like durable telekinetic barriers, high-impact psychic attacks, or elaborate illusions, drains that energy. It must then be replenished through rest, meditation, or natural regeneration. Each psychic has their limits. Exceeding them results in mental and physical exhaustion, temporary power loss, or vulnerability. Surpassing them too far can be fatal—as Joseph had learned firsthand. When he absorbed all of Count Viper's psychic energy, it nearly tore his body apart, forcing him to transfer the excess into Nova's avatar to survive. Complete depletion leads to death, as he'd demonstrated with Count Viper, Silver Swan, Two-Face, and recently Despero. Thanks to Py'tar's gift, Joseph could now effectively read minds, communicate telepathically, project thoughts, unleash mental blasts, craft illusions, influence memories, create mental shields, manipulate objects through telekinesis, and more. He could even detect presences, control minds, and generate psychic shockwaves and barriers. His technique was remarkably refined for a first-time user. That was likely due to his comparatively smaller reserve of psychic energy—far less than what Kalanorians typically possessed, the species Py'tar's knowledge was intended for. While his control improved quickly, his raw psychic output still paled in comparison to high-tier psychics. At least, with the reserves he'd absorbed from Count Viper and Despero, he would be able to endure longer than most. After he'd controlled the craft to land in a more hidden and deserted area with his anti-gravity field, Joseph turned toward one of the unconscious Gordanians. He reached into the alien's mind and began to dig.