After a couple of seconds, another speck appeared, but this time, it was shining with a dim green light.
'Heart, huh? This one probably improves the body. Sorry, can't test this yet. Teacher said I'm not allowed to stand up during class.'
'So, what now? Still one spot remaining. What will I think about now?'
Kyle just looked forward, trying not to think about anything in particular.
Just as expected, moments later, he was suddenly really interested in how friction worked.
'Fire for the Center? Sure.'
Kyle's Center filled with Fire Ether before shooting an intense burst of Fire Ether to the spot behind it.
Within just two seconds, the transfer was completed, and just as expected, a last speck appeared.
This one was a fiery red. It looked a bit like a star.
At that moment, another burst of Ether came from the outside.
It was just like the stream of Ether that his body had absorbed during his advancement.
This time, the Ether only entered the different specks.
His Aspects of Power didn't receive anything.
For a couple of seconds, Kyle watched the Ether entering the specks, and as he absorbed more Ether, he suddenly started to feel… powerful.
It was like everything about him was growing stronger.
Eventually, this burst of Ether also stopped.
His specks grew a bit brighter, but they didn't change in any way.
Then, Kyle just looked around.
Nothing was happening.
No more Ether.
No more intrusive thoughts.
It was just… nothing.
Everything was normal.
'Well, I guess I'm done.'
'I've advanced.'
'I'm an Expert now.'
Kyle stood up, and it was like his body lifted by itself.
'Alright, so, something happened,' he thought. 'I'm just not entirely sure what.'
'Okay, let's summarize. 30% of the Ether of my advancement entered four spots. These four spots seemed to be connected to my four Aspects of Power. My instincts infused each speck with a different Fragment.'
'The first-'
Suddenly, Kyle looked to his left.
The cave was still completely silent, but something told Kyle that something was approaching.
It felt… metallic.
BANG!
The next moment, something broke through the walls of the cave.
'Ah, fuck. Another one,' Kyle thought as he saw the Mid Metal Elemental.
The Metal Elemental immediately charged towards the pile of metal.
'Oh no, you don't!' Kyle thought as he started to prepare-
BOOM!
Ignition was fully prepared, and a burst of fire came out of Kyle's body.
'Wow! That was fast!' Kyle thought.
Yet, before he could think more, the fire on his body became over five times as powerful.
The streak of violently burning fire coming out of Kyle's body was almost ten meters long!
WHOOOOOM!
Within an instant, Kyle was launched to speeds he couldn't have reached before his breakthrough.
He had aimed at the Metal Elemental, but due to his unforeseen high speeds, he missed it.
'Turn around!' Kyle thought.
The fire vanished and instantly reappeared on another spot.
By now, the Metal Elemental had noticed that Kyle posed a danger and charged at him.
As Kyle approached the Metal Elemental, he noticed that he could see its movements with clarity.
It was almost obvious where it would go.
The Metal Elemental moved its arm towards Kyle in an attack.
Yet, Kyle just swung his hammer.
BANG!
A metallic arm shot into the distance as Kyle passed by the Metal Elemental.
At the same time, the Metal Elemental's body spun rapidly due to all of the power from Kyle's strike.
'Stop! Change direction!'
Once more, Ignition turned violent and changed his trajectory.
The Metal Elemental noticed Kyle's approach and turned liquid.
During the previous fight, Kyle hadn't been sure how to deal with that move.
But right now, he felt like he knew exactly what to do.
The fire behind him suddenly stopped, and a violent burst of smoke appeared around him.
Impact.
BOOOOM!
A huge part of the cave was covered in a massive fiery explosion, which had a diameter of almost a hundred meters.
It was like a new sun had suddenly appeared inside the cave.
The Ether in the surroundings turned unstable, but Kyle could still see everything clearly.
The Metal Elemental increased in size as its body heated up.
At the same time, its body became unstable and started to bubble in several places.
Kyle just looked at it, and his eyes immediately focused on a small spot.
Then, with incredible speed and control, the pick of his hammer hit the small spot.
CRACK!
A metallic orb broke into pieces, scattering across the surroundings.
All the other metal of the Metal Elemental immediately lost its will and started to drop to the ground like metallic rain.
It was dead.
Kyle blinked a couple of times as he stopped Ignition.
"Huh, okay then," Kyle said, looking at the dropping metal.
This had been a short fight, but for some reason, Kyle's mind made a ton of logical connections between his strange advancement and his new power.
'I see. I think, I get it,' Kyle thought.
'Every speck needs a Fragment. The power of the Fragment is most likely not relevant. While I categorize Fragments into levels, they don't really have levels. Sure, some Fragments are more useful than others, but it's all just about application.'
'Every Fragment represents an aspect of how the world works.'
'The important part is the Element of the Fragment.'
'The way my body moves is much lighter, and the activation time of the movement is much quicker. It's like my reflexes are better, and it's also like I have much less inertia.'
'The wind speck is probably related to speed.'
'The aggressive, explosive, powerful, and uncontrollable way my Center uses Ether probably means fire increases the power of its related Aspect drastically but makes it much harder to control.'
'On the other hand, my mind and Soul seem much easier to control. There are way fewer distracting thoughts, and everything seems so much clearer. Additionally, the sensations I get from my Soul are also much clearer.'
'So, in summary.'
'Fire make violent but uncontrollable boom.'
'Wind make fast.'
'Metal make control.'
Kyle quickly realized why his instincts had chosen specific Elements for specific specks.
'The more Ether I have, the better. The issue with the control can be mitigated by the increased control of my mind. The speed of my body is much greater, but my Soul gives me a finer and better awareness of my surroundings.'
'Holy shit! Listening to my lizard brain actually worked out!'
"You see that, Boss? I was right! I told you!" Kyle shouted.
Silence.
"Oh yeah, right."
"Forgot about that."
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