Kyle took a deep and satisfying breath through his nose as the darkness lifted.
Naturally, this darkness had been created by some kind of inherent beast technique.
These two bugs or beetles had instincts that told them how to use this technique.
Kyle looked around and saw the corpse of the first beetle.
'Sure enough, it's a beetle,' Kyle thought.
It had six long, black feet, and on its head were two long horns that pointed forward like spears.
'What were these things called again? Hercules Beetles? Or were those the ones with the wide horns that flip other beetles from trees? Bro, I don't know. I'm not an entimolagonititist or whatever they're called.'
'Speaking of, why do I not know that word? I should know that word. Is the concept of an entamolaginist not a thing in Sandspeak?'
'I mean, why would you need entilamonatitists? People only care about beasts in general. No point in looking at insects.'
As Kyle looked at the beetle, he noticed that they looked just how he had imagined it to look, which was weird.
After all, he had only seen their feet.
"Hey, Boss," Kyle said. "I kinda knew how these things looked before I even saw them. How come?"
"Experience," Theodor said.
"Experience?" Kyle asked. "I'm not sure how experience allows me to see stuff I can't see."
"Ether," Theodor answered. "Whenever you come into contact with any living being, you subconsciously feel their Ether. You have seen a lot of beasts in your life, and your subconscious has become quite good at deciphering details just from the beast's Ether."
"That works?" Kyle asked.
"Of course," Theodor said. "When you see many different kinds of lizards, you learn all the intricate patterns on their scale and can determine what kind it is. The same thing is true if you hear a lot of beasts."
"Ether Sense is just another sense, and the more powerful you become, the more important it becomes."
Kyle scratched the side of his head as he looked at the dead beetle.
"I could also tell where it was near the end. Somehow, I knew how it was going to move and where it was. Is that also because of my Ether Sense?"
"No," Theodor answered, surprising Kyle.
He had expected that this would also be related to his Ether Sense.
"This is the effect of combat experience," Theodor said. "You have been through many dangerous battles, and your experience is telling you how different enemies are going to act in advance."
"With humans, this is very difficult since humans have very varied powers and fighting styles, but beasts mostly act the same during battles. In general, their attacks are very straightforward."
"During the battle, it should have been obvious to you how the enemy was going to move."
"It was," Kyle said. "It was like I knew how the beetle was going to attack next. At least, near the end."
"These are your instincts telling you what to do," Theodor said. "Your instincts are more closely connected to your senses than your actual mind."
"However, you must be careful. If there is an enemy that acts differently from usual, your instincts can give you false information. If you follow your instincts too much, you will one day run directly into an attack."
Kyle frowned. "Then, should I listen to my instincts or not?"
"There's no correct answer," Theodor said. "It is an intricate act of balance. You must learn when you can trust your instincts and when you can't."
Kyle remained silent for a while.
'Theodor hasn't insulted me in forever,' he thought. 'That feels weird. Almost feels like he's angry with me because he's not angry with me.'
'So strange.'
"Alright, time to continue," Kyle said.
"You are not going to consume the corpses?" Theodor asked evenly.
"No," Kyle said, walking past the scattered beetle parts.
"What's your reason?" Theodor asked.
"I don't want to advance, yet," Kyle said.
"That is the right decision and reason, inheritor," Theodor said calmly.
'Who the fuck is this guy?' Kyle thought. 'Is that still the Theodor I know?'
Kyle shook his head a bit to regain his bearings.
Theodor was being weird.
Kyle left the small room, taking note of a couple of ore clusters.
'That's another 20 Ether Stones if I take that with me later. I'm making some good money here.'
He entered the next tunnel and followed it for a while.
His instincts were once again warning him of danger as he reached the next room.
This time, Kyle saw a bunch of Ore Fiends that had the appearance of gorillas. In a way, they looked a bit like the Ore Fiends in Theodor's underground city.
There were almost 20 of them, and Kyle also saw a bunch of ore in the room.
'But they're only in the Early Second Realm.'
Kyle walked into the room without fear, and the Ore Fiends all looked at him.
These were not the nice kind of Ore Fiends.
They had seen plenty of beasts killing other beasts, and they had started to emulate that behavior.
As soon as Kyle entered, they all jumped at him.
BOOM!
Kyle struck with his hammer, decimating the first Ore Fiend into tiny pebbles.
Then, he easily weaved to the side, avoiding the attack of the second Ore Fiend.
CRKSH!
Kyle's left arm was covered with Pilebunker, and he buried it into the Ore Fiend's Core, killing it.
After that, he threw the corpse at the next Ore Fiend.
At that point, more and more Ore Fiends arrived, but Kyle seemed to weave through them like the needle of a skilled seamstress weaved through cloth.
He was faster than all of the Ore Fiends, and more importantly, Kyle had access to Time Slow.
Since he also had a strengthened Center, Time Slow wasn't nearly as draining for him as for other Fighters.
A tide of metal and stone washed over Kyle like a tsunami, but he somehow always found an open spot.
With Time Slow, these slow Ore Fiends were basically moving in slow-motion.
With his Ether Sense, Kyle could feel where every Ore Fiend was without even needing to see them.
He knew perfectly which Ore Fiend was where at any given moment.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Within less than 20 seconds, all the Ore Fiends had been turned into pebbles.
Kyle was not even out of breath.
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