Kyle started swinging, and as soon as he did, he felt tuff (happy).
He just loved swinging his hammer around.
For some reason, it felt like the right thing to do.
After warming up, Kyle summoned a bunch of hard objects again and returned to what he had been doing back when he first became a Primal.
He struck the incredibly durable objects with all of his power, and his entire body shook with every strike.
Soon, the familiar burning pain of growth returned.
'I love this! This is the feeling of weakness leaving the body!' he thought.
Truth be told, Kyle knew that he was just coping.
Nobody was a big fan of constantly getting injured.
However, by looking at his future gains, the burning pain was not so bad.
The more pain he felt during training, the stronger he would be.
Luckily, Kyle was amazing at ignoring bad emotions, and he just made himself believe that feeling constant pain was a good thing.
Yet, after his talk with the mysterious man, the pain had also been put into a different context.
'I'm no longer working towards achieving supreme power. I'm working towards freedom!'
As Kyle swung his hammer, he realized that it became even easier to swing.
In the Tertiary World, Kyle had loved becoming stronger, but that was simply because it had been the only interesting and fun thing.
It was simply what he had done, just like a fire simply put more stuff on fire.
But now, he had actually had a goal he wholeheartedly aimed towards.
There was a deeper purpose behind his training now.
On top of that…
'As long as I keep growing stronger, I don't have to betray my friends. I just have to keep going.'
'At some point, Sebastian and Swamp Dragon might stop, and they will join the different Elders. Then, they can focus on their friends and family while teaching new Disciples.'
'They can do whatever they want, and they will live in happiness.'
'Eventually, their longevity will run out, and like everyone else, they will die.'
'I don't want to say goodbye to them, but whatcha gonna do? I can't pull them to the top with me.'
'Leading a fulfilling life on your terms is the best thing you can hope for. After all, am I not doing the same thing right now? I mean, kind of. I still have shit to do.'
'Let them lead a happy life.'
As Kyle kept swinging, a content smile appeared on his face.
He didn't dread the future anymore.
He was working towards his goal, and as long as he outlasted everyone else, everything would be fine. The swings of his hammer slowly became different.
They were just as brutal as before, and yet, they seemed less strained.
The power didn't diminish, but the swings took on a more natural appearance.
Kyle was just going with the flow.
He didn't know what was waiting at the end of this road of constant hammer swinging.
He didn't know how far away its end was.
But he just kept walking.
Kyle's eighth Cluster was slowly being unlocked, but the speed couldn't compare to the time he had actually tried to unlock it.
Kyle was not focusing on any Laws, and he was not gaining any insights.
His Clusters were unlocking very slowly.
By all intents and purposes, his power was almost standing still.
He wasn't growing in any perceivable way.
It just seemed like he was wasting his time.
And yet, he didn't feel like it.
He felt like he was making progress.
He didn't know what he was progressing towards, but he knew that he was progressing towards something.
Years passed as Kyle kept swinging.
Very slowly, he was gaining the ability to damage objects he hadn't been able to damage before.
After around 100 years, Kyle's mind seemingly vanished.
He wasn't thinking about anything.
His body was moving on its own.
Eternally swinging.
Slow and steady progress.
Swing after swing.
The world in front of Kyle transformed.
He was no longer seeing objects.
He was no longer witnessing his hammer hitting things.
Everything was just comprised of concepts and feelings.
Kyle could feel the world adapting to his strikes.
Yet, he didn't even notice.
It was like everything Kyle saw was just natural. His perception had shifted so gradually that he never noticed how different it was from the beginning.
He was not sensing the surrounding light, sound, or even Energy.
He was sensing something else.
It was strange, and yet, it felt natural to him.
Kyle felt the resistance of the objects his hammer was striking.
The resistance grew weaker over time, and he naturally gravitated towards the next object.
Resistance was strong in the beginning, but it weakened over time.
New object.
More resistance.
Less resistance.
New object.
Weaving in and out.
Striking again and again.
An eternal rhythm.
Beauty in complexity turned simplicity.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Kyle shook his head in shock as everything returned to normal.
'Wait, what?!' he thought in panic as he looked around.
Then, his Communicator appeared in front of him.
"NEW PLANET!"
Energy composition:
54.4% Earth Energy.
14.7% Metal Energy.
10.5% Wind Energy.
7.2% Water Energy.
…
Intensity: Low.
Profitability: Low.
Size: Mid.
Dimension of Origin: Beast Dimension.
Time until departure: 10 Seconds.
"What? Already?!" Kyle shouted in shock as he looked at the date on his Communicator.
'I've been here for 183 years!' he thought in shock. 'My shift already started, and I didn't even notice!'
"We accept," Swamp Dragon said after establishing a connection.
"Yep!" Manny said with a lot of energy.
"Eh, yeah, sure," Kyle said. "Sorry, was a bit distracted."
"Glad to be on a mission with you again!" Manny said. "Same as last time?"
"No," Swamp Dragon interjected. "There's too much Earth Energy and too little Metal Energy. Meteor Hammer won't make a lot of money by just mining metal. I would suggest joining up to hunt beasts for their Beast Cores."
"You sure?" Kyle asked. "I mean, I can still dig down quite a bit. We can't take advantage of the different Dimensions if we just hunt beasts."
"Beasts are also good," Swamp Dragon answered. "We are still taking advantage of the different Dimensions."
"While the profitability of this Planet is low, it attracts a lot of different kinds of beasts. If my suspicion is right, this Planet will be filled with them."
Kyle shrugged. "Sure," he said. "You've been on more new Planets than me. I'll just do what you tell me to do."
"Great!" Manny shouted. "We get to hunt as a team! I've never had the chance to look at how powerful you truly are, Meteor Hammer. Last time, we were busy running away."
Kyle grinned. "Then, I will show you this time. As long as you're not being a comedian, everything should work out."
"Meteor Hammer," Swamp Dragon said with a serious voice as the timer ticked down. "Manny isn't allowed to be a comedian, but you're not allowed to be a martyr."
"It won't happen again," Kyle said.
"Good," Swamp Dragon said.
Finally, the timer reached zero, and the team was teleported to their target.
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