"Huh, what?" Kyle suddenly said as he regained clarity, looking around in panic and confusion.
"Oh, yeah, right," Kyle said as he remembered everything that had happened.
'First things first,' Kyle thought as he looked at his Ether. 'Yep, breakthrough still in progress. My brain should have only been injured a little bit. Something like that should only take a couple of seconds to heal.'
Kyle still felt the massive stream of Ether entering his body.
Out of interest, he looked at where the Ether was going.
As expected, about 70% of the Ether was entering his Aspects of Power.
'But what are the other 30% doing?' Kyle thought as he looked more closely at his Ether.
The other 30% were focusing on… weird spots.
'But why, though?' Kyle asked himself. 'What the fuck are they doing there? Why do these spots need so much Ether?'
These four spots created a line going from Kyle's brain to somewhere in Kyle's torso.
'There should be some kind of logic behind this, right? I mean, the Ether is entering my body based on instinct. So, there has to be some kind of point to these four locations.'
'Let's see. One spot is basically in the middle of my brain. One spot is in the middle of my face, behind my nose. One spot is close to my Center. The last spot is… on my heart? That's where the heart is, right?'
'So, in total, we have eight spots. Four for my Aspects, and four random spots that form a line.'
Kyle was beginning to become a bit nervous.
His Aspects hadn't grown as much as he had hoped.
Just as everyone had said, a big chunk of the Ether seemed to be just… wasted.
'But how can it be wasted? I mean, my four Aspects of Power literally encompass all of myself.'
'The Ether has to improve SOMETHING. If it flows into random parts of my body, it should improve my body, right? I mean, if you press a random spot on a cow, you're still touching a cow.'
'But my body isn't growing any faster than my other Aspects.'
A moment later, the Ether stopped going into Kyle's Aspects of Power, but it still kept going into these four random spots.
'People must have analyzed these spots. I'm certain that some kind of nerd looked at the logic of them.'
'Yet, everyone still says that you should not let your instincts dictate your advancement. Not even for regular Warriors that have equalized Aspects of Power.'
'This means nobody managed to make use of them.'
'Can I make use of them?'
Kyle breathed through his teeth. 'I mean, I'm smart, but I'm not THAT smart.'
'I'm not the best researcher in the world, and I'm not some kind of biologist.'
Kyle scratched the side of his head.
Then, he shrugged.
'Yeah well, whatcha gonna do? In for a cent, in for a dollar.'
Some seconds later, the flow of Ether became weaker until it eventually stopped.
Despite watching all the Ether entering these spots, Kyle couldn't see anything different.
They were just random fucking spots.
Kyle subconsciously looked at the big pile of ore, which used to be the Metal Elementals.
Insights about all kinds of metals entered his mind, and for some reason, Kyle seemed to be really interested in Rank C Materials right now, even though he already knew everything there was to know about them.
Kyle shook his head to regain his bearings. 'Why the fuck am I thinking about materials? I've got something- wait!'
Kyle noticed how a flow of Metal Ether going from his Center to his brain suddenly stopped.
'What? What the fuck was that just now?' Kyle thought.
A moment later, his thoughts veered to Rank C Materials again.
'My lizard brain tells my human brain to think about shiny rocks,' Kyle thought.
'Fine, lizard brain has been in charge during this entire breakthrough. Go ahead.'
Kyle actively thought about all the Rank C Metal Materials and the framework he had created that explained all of them.
Without his order, his Center produced Metal Ether that flowed to his brain.
Kyle watched the Ether but didn't stop it.
'Huh, it's actually entering that random spot in my brain.'
For the next couple of seconds, Kyle allowed the Metal Ether to enter his mind.
Nothing seemed to happen.
Quite a bit of Metal Ether was flowing in that spot, but it just… vanished?
'Just like the Ether entering the random spots.'
Eventually, the flow of Ether stopped.
Then, Kyle's eyes widened.
'A sparkle?' Kyle thought.
His Ether Sense was telling him that there was something in that random spot now.
It was some kind of minuscule speck that shone with a metallic grey light.
'Nobody told me about this! I don't even know what the fuck this is!'
At that moment, Kyle noticed something.
Everything seemed to move… slower.
However, it also wasn't moving slower.
The next moment, Kyle was reminded of the new Fragment he had comprehended during the battle.
The Fragment of Metal Density.
As he thought about his new Fragment, more Metal Ether was produced by his Center.
Once more, the Metal Ether left his Center, but this time, it went to the second spot.
The one in the middle of his face.
For the next couple of seconds, Kyle watched until the flow stopped.
Once more, the spot transformed into a little speck shining with metallic grey light.
'Did something change again?' he thought as he looked around.
As he looked around, he realized that the surroundings felt more… intimate.
He was reminded of the time he had tested the Remote Infusion ability he had received from the Spirit Tome.
The feeling was basically the same, just stronger.
'Alright,' he thought. 'Whatever you're doing, lizard brain, I think it's working.'
Then, Kyle was suddenly reminded of his Wind Movement Fragment.
'Oh, it's wind, this time.'
Wind Ether came out of his Center, but this time, it traveled towards the fourth spot, which was in the middle of his heart.
'No idea what's going on.'
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