Chapter 44 - 44 – Level Three
Kyle lay in a second basin, bathing in Silver's Fluid.
His head was covered in bronze-colored dust, while his eyes were covered with two slices of yellow stone.
His arms and shoulders were outside the bath and were slathered in amber goo.
He looked like someone who was having a spa day.
However, Kyle didn't do all of this to look beautiful for his husband, who went on business trips every week.
Silver's Fluid could strengthen a body's quality without increasing its ethereal weight.
This meant that his body could become stronger without increasing in level.
One could say it simply improved in quality.
Inefficient and unimportant parts vanished, while efficient and important parts were created.
The dust on his head increased the power of his mind, while the yellow stone could do wonders for his Center.
Apparently, the best way to improve the Center was by going through the eyes.
For some reason, the eyes had a very strong connection with the Center.
It was kind of like balls and blood.
Putting a crème on one's balls would lead to an absorption rate that was over 20 times higher since ball skin was very thin and filled with many blood vessels.
Except, in this case, it was the eyes. Not the balls.
But it was a similar principle.
Naturally, the goo for his arms improved the Soul.
'This is really comfortable but also boring,' Kyle thought, trying to relax.
'It's fun for like an hour since it feels so nice and prickly, but it gets boring real quick.'
Kyle carefully took one of his arms out of the goo and grabbed a shining green piece of ore.
He took just the tiniest sip of the green ore, and he felt like all his hair stood on end.
This was the Spirit Spring Core, and it made its reputation justice.
Just a tiny bit made Kyle feel like his heart was beating in his ears.
Eight days had passed since Kyle had entered the third trial.
By now, he was no longer concerned with the Hunter Hall. They probably thought he was dead.
As Kyle swallowed another little piece of the Spirit Spring Core, he felt his entire body heating up.
He clenched his fists as his body began to shake violently.
'Is it time?' he thought.
The shaking intensified until all his muscles bulged.
Some seconds later, Kyle's body relaxed, and he slumped back into his bath.
He felt so powerful and relaxed.
'I guess I'm in Realm One Level Three now. Mid Squire.'
'This ore shit is amazing!'
Kyle slowly stood up, and the yellow stone fell from his eyes.
"Huh?" he uttered as he saw two big holes in the stone where his eyes had been.
Then, he looked at his arms and saw that all the goo had vanished.
The level of the bathwater also dropped quite a bit.
Kyle moved his hand through his hair and didn't feel any dust anymore.
'Did my body absorb all of that during the advancement?' he thought.
He moved out of the bath and put his clothing back on.
RIIIP!
He accidentally tore his pants a little bit while picking them up.
'Eh, oops?' he thought, looking at the hole.
He carefully put on the remainder of his clothing and armor before grabbing his hammer.
'Finally, I can lift it again!' Kyle thought.
He had already upgraded his hammer two days ago with the Craftsmen's Stone.
Using the Craftsmen's Stone apparently wasn't enough. While it upgraded the core of the weapon, the weapon itself also needed to be upgraded.
However, that was much easier.
When a sufficiently powerful core was installed, the weapon could absorb ethereal ore to become more powerful.
One of the tools inside the hammer siphoned the Ether out of ethereal ore to incorporate it into itself.
Kyle had upgraded his hammer quite a bit and didn't notice how heavy it had become.
But now, he could lift it again.
'It's a bit light, though,' Kyle thought. 'I need to upgrade it some more.'
He walked over to the big Blood Crystal and rammed his hammer into it.
When Kyle saw the sharp end of his hammer sticking inside the crystal, he smirked.
'I couldn't even damage this thing without the Focus Band. Now, I can just ram my hammer into it!'
The next moment, Kyle activated the absorb function of his hammer.
The Blood Crystal's shine dulled, and Kyle pulled his hammer out again.
'Still a bit too light.'
BANG!
He rammed it back into the crystal to absorb some more Ether.
'Perfect!' he thought as he pulled it out again.
The hammer was nice and heavy.
The next moment, Kyle looked at the Blood Crystal again.
He pulled back his hammer...
BOOOM!
The top of the crystal shattered into pieces, which scattered across the cave.
"UUUUUHHH!" he shouted like an ape. "Kyle strong!"
After celebrating his newfound power, Kyle looked around the cave.
'There are still a couple of minerals I haven't investigated yet, but I can also just proceed to the fourth trial now.'
"Hey, does ending the trial early benefit me in any way?" he shouted to the golem.
"Congratulations, you passed the third trial. You may stay here for six more days before you have to proceed to the fourth trial. There is no reward for leaving the trial early," the golem said.
When Kyle heard that, a smirk appeared on his face.
'Sneaky Theodor,' he thought. 'Did you make the deadline this long on purpose? These other materials are probably important later. You're giving your entrants the option to learn more things for the future.'
'Fine, I've already been here for eight days.'
'Might as well stay here for six more.'
Over the next six days, Kyle looked at all of the remaining materials.
There were three materials that he couldn't crack, but he managed to mine and refine all the other ones.
"Entrant 69, your time is up. Proceed to the fourth trial," the golem shouted suddenly.
"Sure thing, boss," Kyle answered.