Kyle unfurled the big sack he had brought with him and emptied its contents into the middle of the room.
The room was also made of Adamantium, and it was quite dark in here.
There were torches Kyle could light, but he didn't need them.
The materials that fell onto the room's floor were an assortment of different metals.
These materials in front of him were worth half of everything he had earned during his year in the Stark Brotherhood.
70 Ether Stones.
All of them were Grade C Materials, which meant they were on the same level as Wasteland Metal, the material his armor was made of.
"Put them all in a small pile in the middle of the room," Theodor ordered.
"They are already in a pile," Kyle said.
"The pile needs to be more compact. You will be advancing with it on your lap," Theodor said.
"Sure thing, Boss," Kyle said as he pushed the materials closer together.
"Stand on top of the pile and take out the Physical Tome."
Kyle did just that.
"Infuse the Tome with your Ether," Theodor said.
"Anything I need to pay attention to?" Kyle asked.
"If there were, I would have told you," Theodor said with some annoyance.
"Sure thing, Boss," Kyle said as he infused the Physical Tome with his Ether.
The next moment, the Tome started to shine.
BANG!
And exploded.
Kyle blinked in surprise.
Did he do something wrong?
The next moment, the dust of the Tome gathered around the pile, creating a complex, circular diagram.
There were barely 30 centimeters between the pile and the diagram.
"Do the same thing with the Core Tome," Theodor ordered.
Kyle did just that, and a bigger circle appeared around the first circle.
The next moment, both circles started to shine, and a couple of additional lines appeared, connecting the two of them.
Kyle took out the Mental Tome.
"I did not tell you to take out the Mental Tome," Theodor admonished.
"Okay," Kyle said, putting the Tome back.
"Step between the Spiral Clavicle Rune and the Ossmann Rune," Theodor ordered.
"Eeehhh, which one are those?" Kyle asked, looking at the complex diagram.
After several seconds of directions, Kyle finally found the place where he had to be.
"Take out a piece of Basic Mage Stone and refine it," Theodor ordered.
"Wait, do you want me to change these diagrams?" Kyle asked nervously.
"The Tomes are only made to combine with one other Tome. They can combine with any other Tome, but they don't have enough Ether to combine with two at the same time. "
"That's a yes, right?" Kyle asked.
"Yes!" Theodor shouted.
Then, Theodor directed Kyle to paint several figures on the ground, which took him over 20 minutes.
"Back onto the pile. Use the Mental Tome."
"Sure thing, Boss," Kyle said, jumping onto the pile again.
He used the Mental Tome, and a third circle appeared.
The third circle started to shine brightly, while the second circle lit up just a tiny bit.
Some tiny alterations in the diagrams happened, but they barely counted as anything.
"Use the Spirit Tome."
Kyle did just that, and a fourth circle appeared.
This time, the third and fourth circles shone brightly, and several connections were made.
By the end, all the diagrams were connected.
"Let me analyze the diagram," Theodor said.
Then, Kyle waited for several minutes.
"There's one inconsistency. Change it," Theodor said.
Kyle carefully widened one of the lines under Theodor's direction.
Finally, Kyle went back onto the pile.
"Sit below the pile and put it on your legs," Theodor ordered.
Kyle carefully shuffled past the pile, being careful not to touch the diagram around it.
Some seconds later, he managed to sit in the middle of the diagram while the pile was on his crossed legs.
"This feels awkward," Kyle said, moving some of the pieces of ore back onto the pile. "What am I doing, exactly?"
Keeping a pile of loose stones on top of one's lap was not easy.
"If you got a better weapon than the one you currently have, would you want to use it?" Theodor asked.
Kyle wanted to scratch the back of his head, but his hands were busy keeping the pile in place.
"I guess, but I like my hammer," he said.
"Then, don't ask stupid questions," Theodor said with annoyance.
Kyle sighed.
"Sure thing, Boss."
"Start the advancement. You already know what to do," Theodor said.
"Okay, wish me luck," Kyle said.
"No."
Kyle took a deep breath.
"You don't need luck," Theodor added.
'Aw, Theodor can be nice as well,' Kyle thought.
"You have me."
'Of course,' Kyle thought, rolling his eyes. 'Positive reinforcement and Theodor are just not very good friends.'
'Well, time to start.'
Kyle closed his eyes and gathered his Ether.
The next moment, he willed his Ether to explode forward.
For months now, Kyle had felt like he was ready to explode.
He was just filled with so much energy, and he felt like he wanted to shout to let all of the energy out.
This was the sign of being ready for a breakthrough.
This feeling of wanting all the energy to explode out was an instinct that pushed beings to reach greater heights.
Kyle's arms shook as his muscles tensed.
Ether exploded out of his chest, filling the room.
Thousands of disconnected thoughts shot through Kyle's head.
At that moment, Kyle opened his eyes, and a stream of consciousness left them, stretching across the room.
Kyle felt like he was touching all of the walls of the room at that moment.
The first circle started to shine brightly, followed by the second, third, and fourth.
The Ether inside the room was violently pulled to the center, transforming again and again.
Every time the Ether passed by a circle, it changed and became more complex.
Luckily, there was more than enough Ether in the room.
This was an Advancement Room for people to reach the Third Realm.
It could easily handle the advancement of someone who reached the Second Realm.
More and more Ether gathered, and the rapid movement created a spiral with Kyle in the center.
The air in the room became extremely chaotic as it was being pushed around by the wild Ether.
Gusts with almost 100 kph appeared in the room, and if this room were made with normal materials, it would start to creak and vibrate.
However, the Adamantium didn't even shake.
'Now comes the hard part,' Kyle thought.
'This is going to suck.'
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