Selene and Kyle traveled through the wasteland on the safe routes.
Kyle decided to let Selene do whatever she wanted.
After all, he knew how it felt to be indebted to someone.
The two traveled west for a while before going straight to the south.
Despite carrying Kyle's heavy weight, Skweera was still running at a speed of about 60 kph, which made the ride feel like a relatively slow car ride.
"What's your plan when we arrive?" Selene asked.
"Join a Fighter Guild," Kyle answered. "I only know a single technique, and I need more."
"You only know a single technique?" Selene asked, looking at Kyle in surprise.
"Yep, Air Current. Makes my hammer go faster."
The fact that Kyle only knew a single technique was quite shocking to Selene.
He only knew a single technique and was already this strong?
"That's why you didn't run out of Ether," she mused. "I was surprised that you could fight for so long."
"Fighters usually use several techniques at a time, which makes them run out of Ether relatively quickly."
"Oh, yeah," Kyle answered. "I only know a single one. I need more."
'Gotta be more careful,' Kyle thought. 'I have an improved Center, which means I have several times more Ether than a normal Fighter.'
In fact, hitting the ground to lure out the stronger Colossus had consumed far more Ether than the actual fight.
After suppressing the weaker Colossus, Kyle still had over 50% of his Ether left.
However, a normal Fighter would have run out of Ether twice already.
"The more techniques you have, the stronger you become. Fighters need lots of techniques," Selene commented.
Kyle nodded.
"You probably also need the Physical and the Mental Tomes, right?" Selene asked.
"What's that?" Kyle asked.
Selene was taken aback and looked at Kyle in surprise.
"You don't know about the Physical and Mental Tomes?" she asked.
"Never heard of them," Kyle said.
Selene just looked with confusion at Kyle.
This guy knew random facts about Skinner Salamanders and Colossuses, but he didn't know something as basic as this.
Skweera kept running along a well-traveled path as Selene tried to figure out if Kyle was messing with her.
"The Tomes teach important ways to manipulate your Aspects of Power," Selene said. "You can become an actual Fighter without them, but you will be in the weaker half, and you will most likely never have a shot at becoming a Grandmaster."
"The Physical Tome teaches you about manipulating your body."
"The Mental Tome teaches you about manipulating your mind."
"The Core Tome teaches you about manipulating your Center."
"And the Spirit Tome teaches you about manipulating your Soul."
Kyle scratched the back of his head. "What do you mean by manipulating?"
"Well, for example," Selene said. "A Fighter who has studied the Physical Tome can shape their body with Ether. Fighters focusing on physical power increase the size of their body at the cost of speed. Quick Fighters make their body thinner and smaller, increasing their speed at the cost of physical power."
"After studying the tome, you have a normal body and a True Body. Your normal body won't change, and you will look like a normal human."
"But when you are in a battle, you summon your True Body. Shouters become almost three meters tall, while agile Fighters become tiny but extremely fast."
'What…' Kyle thought. 'That's crazy!'
'I can become an artificial manlet!'
"Fighters can become that big with their True Bodies?" Kyle asked.
Selene nodded. "Grandmasters are even more extreme. I have seen a Grandmaster turn into a giant that was almost 50 meters tall."
'Bro! 50 meters! That's like, at least 50 feet or something since meters are bigger.'
'I want that!'
'I want to be big hammer man!'
"What do the other Tomes do?" Kyle asked.
"The Core Tome allows you to transform the Ether in your Center into Elemental Ether. That essentially saves you the cost associated with transforming your Ether. All of your techniques, Spells, and so on will cost only half of what they would cost without it. Additionally, since your Ether is not neutral anymore, you are also immune to several indirect attacks that target your Ether."
'Brah, that would double the Ether I have available for Techniques. Pretty crazy,' Kyle thought.
"The Mental Tome teaches you how to safely overcharge your mind. At the cost of Ether, you can increase your thinking speed, making time essentially move half as fast in your perception. This is the main reason why Fighters always seem to make the right decisions during battle."
"Double of zero is still zero," Theodor commented.
'Thank you for your input, Theodor,' Kyle thought.
"The Soul Tome allows you to manipulate your surroundings without being in physical contact with them. It doesn't seem very impressive at first glance, but it opens a lot of avenues in a battle," Selene said.
"You need that to improve your mining weapon," Theodor commented. "You also need that to temper your equipment."
"That's crazy," Kyle commented. "How do I get these Tomes?"
"There are several ways," Selene said as Skweera jumped over a hill. "Money, connections, contributions…"
"Wait, I can just buy them?" Kyle asked.
"Of course," Selene answered. "But they're expensive."
"How expensive?" Kyle asked.
"Well, if you were to buy them from a neutral source, the Physical Tome alone would cost you probably 50 Ether Stones."
Kyle's eyes widened.
'I only have 69 Ether Pebbles!'
"And I need those before I advance?" Kyle asked.
"Correct," Selene said. "You need to do certain things during your advancement to make them usable."
"50 Ether Stones," Kyle commented. "That's… a lot."
"Well, there are easier ways," Selene commented. "For example, if you do enough missions for a Fighter Guild, they might just give the Tomes to you for free as an investment."
Kyle sighed when he heard that.
At least, those two Tomes were easier to get.
'But I still need to buy the other two.'
'Yeah, well. Whatchu gonna do? Just gotta go out there and earn some money.'
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