The hilt entered the Metal Elemental's body and was quickly being absorbed.
After all, the hilt was also made of metal.
Kyle's senses traveled into the Metal Elemental.
His eyes widened with focus as he swung his hammer.
CRKSH!
Something exploded out of the Metal Elemental's body as Kyle kept swinging.
It was Kyle's hammer!
His first one!
This had been Kyle's plan to deal with the first two Metal Elementals.
He wanted to make them absorb metals that he knew.
Then, with his mastery over these metals, he could transform their shapes and destroy them from the inside.
But now, Kyle had simply recreated his original hammer, tearing it out of the first Metal Elemental.
A big chunk of its body dropped, and the third Metal Elemental started to engulf the first one.
Kyle went to the dropped part of the body and took hold of it, while the third Metal Elemental consumed the Core of the first Metal Elemental.
After getting the dropped part, Kyle consumed that part as well.
For just a moment, both parties were busy consuming their prey.
As soon as the third Metal Elemental was done consuming its prey, it charged at Kyle.
Meanwhile, Kyle looked at it and could feel its unstable Ether.
This Ether instability could only mean one thing.
The Metal Elemental was about to advance and become a Late Metal Elemental.
This would just take a couple of seconds.
'I have to kill it before that happens!' Kyle thought.
As the third Metal Elemental charged at Kyle, Kyle also charged at it.
The third Metal Elemental stretched its arm to Kyle.
Compared to the first Metal Elemental, the third one didn't have any experience in fighting Kyle.
The battlefield had been reset.
Kyle was facing a Mid Metal Elemental that didn't know how he fought.
However, Kyle was much weaker than in the beginning.
'This is my only shot!' Kyle thought.
He couldn't create long and intricate battle plans anymore.
He didn't have enough Ether for a long fight left, and his opponent would also soon advance.
Kyle had to take a risk and put everything on one card.
The two reached each other.
Smoke appeared around Kyle before vanishing.
Kyle struck forward.
Impact.
The entire cave was bathed in intense fire.
The Metal Elemental melted, but that didn't matter.
It was still in one piece.
Solid or liquid. It didn't matter.
Yet, just as everything around Kyle exploded, his hammer changed shape.
It rapidly expanded, encompassing him in a new set of armor.
The third Metal Elemental surrounded him.
Kyle pulled his legs to his chest and protected his head with his arms.
And then, the liquid Metal Elemental encompassed him.
There was no escape anymore.
The Metal Elemental was consuming the metal shell.
It was growing more and more powerful.
Meanwhile, Kyle's mind was going wild as he desperately tried to do something.
His senses spread throughout the Metal Elemental.
He felt the Ether moving as several spikes were being created.
BANG!
Before the spikes could leave the Metal Elemental's body, they exploded as parts of them broke off.
The Rank B Materials from earlier had been consumed by the first Metal Elemental, which had been consumed by the third Metal Elemental.
Kyle knew how these materials worked, and he manipulated them from inside the Metal Elemental.
Meanwhile, Kyle's arms and legs were being crushed as the Metal Elemental shrank around him.
Kyle focused on the metal.
His body was being compressed.
He just focused on the metal.
His legs and ribs broke.
Insights and experiences shot through Kyle's mind.
All the times he had experimented with metal.
He had felt the pain and power of the first Metal Elemental.
He had seen how it acted molten.
He had seen its Ether moving around.
He was seeing how the third Metal Elemental moved the metal of the first Metal Elemental.
Everything became clear.
Suddenly, the pressure around Kyle vanished.
A spherical shell made of metal had appeared between his armor and the Metal Elemental.
Meanwhile, the power of the third Metal Elemental also dropped.
'I got it!' Kyle thought. 'I know how the Rank A Material of the first Metal Elemental works!'
The third Metal Elemental lost almost 40% of its body as the metal of the first Metal Elemental left it.
It was no longer on the verge of advancing.
However, it was still much stronger than Kyle.
While it couldn't compress Kyle anymore, it could still kill him in other ways.
'If it realizes that compressing me doesn't work, it will leave, become solid again, and hit me. If that happens, I will die!'
The Metal Elemental kept putting pressure on Kyle's shell while Kyle pushed his arm further into the Metal Elemental.
A second later, Kyle also understood the composition of the second Metal Elemental.
CRK!
As soon as that part was also pulled out of the Metal Elemental, it retreated. It had returned to its original strength.
Meanwhile, when Kyle noticed that the Metal Elemental had retreated, he dispersed the shell and stood up again.
He was bleeding all over, and it was easier to count the bones in his body that weren't broken.
His Ether was running low, and he needed all of it to recover from his severe injuries.
Meanwhile, the Metal Elemental was in the same condition as before the fight had started.
Kyle put some of the metal into his mouth to recover some of his Ether, but that would take some time.
The digestion of so much Ether wasn't instantaneous.
The Metal Elemental hesitated for a moment. Its opponent was dangerous.
Kyle was out of ideas.
Out of habit, he simply turned the huge chunk of metal into an equally huge hammer.
The hammer was gigantic, and Kyle couldn't even hope to swing it.
As he held the hilt, Kyle was pulled towards the ground helplessly.
The Metal Elemental was still hesitating, but Kyle knew…
It would soon attack.
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