"Why do you need to understand a Law to become a Transcendent?" Kyle asked.
"Because you are undergoing a rebirth," Theodor answered. "Your fundamental being changes when you become a Transcendent. For example, you can't differentiate a Transcendent's power by the usual Initial, Early, Mid, Late, and Peak levels. It's completely different."
"Wait, so, there are no more power differences in terms of Ether?" Kyle asked.
"No, those still apply, but you do not grow more powerful just by absorbing Ether. You still gather more Ether, but your true power is the Ether around you."
"As a Transcendent, you can control the Ether in your surroundings. In essence, you are borrowing the Ether of the world and using it as your own. The Ether in your Center is just being used as a controlling force that manipulates the Ether around you."
"The difference in Ether you have access to as a new Transcendent is over 20 times more than what a Peak Expert has access to."
"Over 20 times?" Kyle asked in shock. "That's like four levels!"
Usually, advancing a level increased someone's power by a bit more than double.
An Early Fighter had about 2.2 times the amount of Ether as an Initial Fighter.
20 times more was roughly a jump of four levels.
This meant fighting a new Transcendent as a Peak Expert was like jumping four levels.
It was like trying to fight a Peak Fighter while being an Initial Fighter.
This would be equivalent to Kyle fighting Wyveria just after he had freshly joined the Stark Brotherhood.
Even in this moment, Kyle wouldn't be able to fight the old Wyveria, and he had spent around two years in the Stark Brotherhood and had advanced a level.
"Is it even possible to kill a Transcendent as a Peak Expert?" Kyle asked.
"Just in theory, yes," Theodor said. "Practically, no."
"In theory, you could also find an Ether Crystal lying on the side of the road, but that won't happen."
"How is it theoretically possible?" Kyle asked. "What would someone need to achieve?"
"An incredibly powerful level of Momentum," Theodor said. "It must be so powerful that the Transcendent feels intimidated."
"Then, one would need to have comprehended at least two Laws. Maybe even three."
"Lastly, that person's experience in battle needs to be almost unmatched."
"Then, and only then, will there be a slight chance of victory."
Kyle took a deep breath.
"And I have to do that, right?" he asked.
"Possibly," Theodor said. "Assuming the Skysand Kingdom isn't willing to hand you an Ether Essence."
"What if someone hunts a Nature God for me?" Kyle asked.
"That might happen, but the chances are even slimmer," Theodor answered.
"What? Why?" Kyle asked.
"Nature Gods are valuable when they are alive," Theodor said. "The Nature God living on the World's Peak has a Metal Affinity. The World's Peak has the most valuable and most powerful metals in the entire world, and it's not because of the Ether Essence that they are there."
"The Nature God living in the Fathoms is the source of many powerful and valuable beasts, which the kingdom needs. The beasts in the Fathoms have incredible talent, and the Beast Master Association won't allow it to be killed."
"What about the Colossus?" Kyle asked.
"It is creating valuable earths around it and consumes them shortly after creating them," Theodor explained. "We can't harvest these valuable earths, but we also aren't interested."
"What's important to us is that this process gives off Neutral Ether as a side-product. Yet, this side-product is not being spread across the world but is gathering near the Colossus."
"We suspect that the Colossus will someday create an Ether Essence."
"That's crazy," Kyle said. "So, you think the chances are higher that they just give me an Ether Essence instead of killing a Nature God?"
"Yes," Theodor said.
Kyle sighed. "Well, I hope I don't have to go through that. That would suck."
"You side-tracked the conversation," Theodor said. "You said you wanted to know how your Chief got so strong."
"Oh yeah, right," Kyle said. "Fragments, Momentum, experience, right?"
"Correct," Theodor said. "In the beginning, I said there are three reasons that can all be summarized into one."
Kyle took a deep breath. "Danger."
"Yes, danger," Theodor confirmed. "He had to have gone through many difficult battles in his life, and these battles were the reason why he became so powerful."
"His power is most likely one-in-a-thousand."
Kyle nodded. He knew that he was also one in a thousand, but that was very different.
How many people in the Second Realm were there in the kingdom?
Between 100,000 and 1,000,000.
There were at least 100 people who were just as, or more, powerful than Kyle if they were in the same Realm and level as him.
How many people in the Third Realm did the kingdom have?
Less than a thousand.
"Silvester's son has a realistic chance of becoming a Transcendent in the future," Theodor said.
"You do not."
'Ouch,' Kyle thought.
"So, what do you think I should do?" Kyle asked.
"Risk it," Theodor said. "Your battles have been too easy. You are growing steadily. You are growing faster than most people."
"But that's not enough."
"If you grow steadily, you will never reach the peak."
"You have to take risks."
Kyle took a deep breath.
He was not the biggest fan of searching for ways to kill himself.
Sure, he wanted to be strong, but if he couldn't stay alive, he wouldn't benefit from his powers.
This entire thing felt like gambling.
Wasn't the goal of a gambler to make money?
Yet, in order to reach that goal, the gambler spent money.
In order to achieve one's goal, one essentially had to sacrifice a small part of that goal, which was weird.
Kyle wanted to become powerful, but to become powerful, he had to put his life and power on the line.
He had to bet his future to achieve his future.
In Kyle's mind, this was stupid.
He was not some crazy guy who desired freedom and happiness so much that he would desperately search for overpowered enemies that could kill him with a fart.
He was not some masochistic maniac who desired power so much that he continually tortured himself just for a slight increase in power.
He was not some guy with overpowering morals that would make him sacrifice himself for the good of mankind.
He was Kyle.
He just wanted to have some power and fun.
He wanted some excitement in his life.
He didn't want to be bored.
'I mean, it's not boring to risk my life, right?' Kyle thought.
'Also, Theodor will just blow up if I don't do what he says.'
'Kinda sucks, but there's no way around it.'
'Fine, might as well go all-out. I can still chill out after I fulfilled the promise I made to him.'
Kyle sighed.
'But then, I have this entire Overseer job thing afterwards.'
'Sure hope they don't force me into more dangerous situations.'
'I kinda just want to chill.'
'Whelp, work is work. Gotta finish work before you can relax.'
'Guess I have to work towards being one in a million if I don't want Theodor to smash my brain.'
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