"Alright, so, I will just grab one of the Ether Essences in the ocean. That cool with you?" Kyle asked, pointing at the door with his thumb.
The Duchess of Twilight just wordlessly nodded.
'She doesn't know that I'm an employee of that other company, and if I tell her that I can eat beasts, she might become suspicious,' Kyle thought. 'Better just consume an Ether Essence like everybody.'
Kyle left the room, and the Duchess of Twilight followed.
"You're coming with me?" he asked.
"Yes, the ascension happens relatively quickly, and we have to make the agreement in person," she said.
"Oh, okay, sure," Kyle said.
The next moment, the two of them flew towards the Grand Ocean.
Naturally, the Duchess of Twilight had no issues keeping up with him.
Even now, the gulf in power between them was vast.
Despite being the most powerful being in the world aside from her, Kyle was still helpless in front of her.
Her Laws were better.
She had far more Ether.
She had far more experience.
He wouldn't even be able to react if she attacked.
Kyle and the Duchess of Twilight entered the ocean, and Kyle went to one of the Ether Essences he had found.
About 100 kilometers away from the coast, near the bottom of the ocean, Kyle found an Ether Essence.
There were thousands of Ether Crystals growing around it since nobody had ever harvested them.
Kyle went over to the Ether Essence and touched it.
"Here we go," Kyle said as he willed his body to absorb the Ether.
A stream of violet Ether left the Ether Essence and entered Kyle's body.
Kyle closed his eyes and pushed his Ether through the figurative blockade.
It was a bit like pushing while sitting on a toilet.
Kyle's body started to heat up, and moments later, the Ether Essence turned into powder.
However, all of the Ether of the Ether Essence had entered his body.
Kyle pushed more, and his Ether started to course through his body.
Moving the Ether needed quite a lot of strain, but the more he pushed, the easier it got.
Eventually, it was like his Ether broke through some kind of barrier, and it started to move on its own.
Now, even if Kyle wanted to stop his advancement, he couldn't anymore.
The four Law Specks in Kyle's body shone with light.
Then…
BANG!
They broke, and their Ether joined the other Ether coursing through his body.
However, it didn't hurt at all.
As the Ether coursed through his body, strands of it started to gather near his lungs, close to his heart.
Kyle just kept his eyes closed and focused on the Ether.
As always, he let it do whatever it wanted.
More and more of his Ether gathered on this spot, and after some time, a small, shining ball appeared.
His Core Spark, or more like, the embryo of his Core Spark.
It shone with a white light and filled Kyle with warmth.
Over the next two minutes, the Core Spark grew in size until it reached the size of a walnut.
That was when it started shaking in strain.
It was like it couldn't keep itself together.
It was like some kind of humongous building made with nothing but wood. Its own weight was too much for it to carry.
Yet, Kyle wasn't nervous at all.
He just listened to his instincts, and they told him that he should really make some Meteor Ether.
So, he did just that.
The dark-red Meteor Ether naturally flowed into the new Core Spark, and it slowly started to change its color.
The white light became redder and redder, and as it became redder, the Core Spark also stabilized.
Over the next two minutes, Kyle's Core Spark became dark red.
At that point, all the Ether of the Ether Essence was used up, but it had been enough.
Kyle's Core Spark was shining brightly.
An instant later, all of Kyle's Ether entered the Core Spark, leaving him without Ether for just a couple of seconds, which was not a nice feeling.
It was like not being able to breathe.
Then, the Core Spark became brighter, and a flood of dark-red Ether left it.
The Meteor Ether went into Kyle's Ether Pathways and started to course through his body.
At that moment, Kyle suddenly felt his muscles bulge and his mind clear.
His eyes widened as millions of thoughts shot through his head.
There was so much!
So many things he had never noticed before!
At the same time, his perception enlarged.
As his perception enlarged, Kyle noticed something.
Time Ether.
Space Ether.
Gravity Ether.
He could finally feel them!
'They're so fragile!' he thought.
It was like reality could just barely support his existence.
Kyle's perception proverbially trampled the Space Ether, breaking through the Laws that governed space.
His perception stretched for thousands of kilometers until…
It touched itself again.
Kyle could sense the entire planet!
'This is crazy!' he thought.
The next moment, Kyle opened his eyes and looked at his hand.
He clenched it into a fist, and the space around it warped, trying to support his hand's power. "Wait, what?" Kyle said as he noticed that his hand was shining with light.
"That's not my doing, right?" he asked.
"This is the process of ascension," the Duchess of Twilight said. "Within a couple of minutes, the world will eject you into one that can support your power. Real Transcendents are too powerful for this world."
"Kyle Freeman," the Duchess of Twilight said with a serious tone. "Do you solemnly swear that you will become the Overseer? Do you solemnly swear that you will protect this world from the Cult of Final Fate?"
Kyle looked at the Duchess.
"Yeah, sure. I swear," he said casually.
At that moment, the light around his body vanished.
The Space and Time Ether around Kyle stopped supporting him. Instead, it was like it curved around him.
It was like Kyle was inside the world but not part of it.
The Duchess of Twilight looked up and closed her eyes.
Since they were underwater, Kyle couldn't see it, but he could tell that a bit of Water Ether was coming out of the Duchess' eyes.
"Thank you," she said.
Then, a content smile appeared on her face as light gathered around her body.
"Thank you so much," she said with a shivering voice.
"No prob!" Kyle said with a smile of his own. "Just doing my job!"
The Duchess didn't get the double-meaning behind Kyle's words.
"I hope I will meet you again, Kyle Freeman," she said.
Kyle nodded and waved to her. "Have a nice trip!"
The Duchess relaxed and stopped resisting the light.
She became brighter and brighter.
At some point, Kyle couldn't see her anymore.
Some seconds later, the brightness reduced until it was completely gone.
Kyle couldn't sense the Duchess of Twilight anymore.
Then, he just scratched the back of his head.
"Guess that's it."
"I'm the boss now!" he said with a grin.
Yet, before Kyle could finish enjoying his new freedom, he felt something strange.
A wave of rhythmic energy.
For some reason, it felt like someone was knocking on his door.
Kyle felt like he had a choice.
He had the power to open the door or to keep it closed.
'Yeah, well. No point in hiding. Pretty sure they have contingency plans in case I refuse.'
Kyle willed the door to open.
"Helloooooo?" he asked.
The next moment, a tall, red-haired woman materialized right in front of Kyle, and she smiled at him with professional friendliness.
"Congratulations, Mr. Freeman," Magic Lady said. "You have become this world's Overseer."
Kyle took a deep breath of water. "Horraaaay," he exclaimed without enthusiasm.
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