Kyle looked at his broken hammer with intense eyes.
'It happened again! Pretty sure this is very close to what I want to achieve! If I ever manage to control this power and summon it whenever I want to, my power will reach incredible levels!'
'Back when it happened for the first time, I was focusing all on Energy Weight. It's possible that my hammer just couldn't handle it. This time, my hammer survived longer. It didn't immediately explode. This time, it exploded during the swing.'
'Although it could also be that I'm simply using a harder hammer. Back then, I only had ten unlocked Clusters. This time, I have twelve, and I changed my hammer.'
'It might just be that my hammer just isn't strong enough to resist the power.'
Kyle calculated some things.
'If I go all-in on speed, I could probably just use a heavier and harder hammer. That would put less stress on my hammer, and I could still strike with a lot of speed. I would be able to deal with my breaking hammer without having to learn how to control this Energy.'
Kyle frowned. 'But I don't like that. Feels like I'm simply trying to avoid the problem instead of confronting it.'
Then, he snorted. 'Avoiding a problem. Ha! Isn't that basically my entire life motto?'
'Just run away. Just keep going. Stuff is going to work out eventually.'
Kyle released a self-deprecating sigh. 'Just ignore it. As long as you keep trying, you will keep making progress.'
The next moment, he took out his Communicator and looked at the date.
'About 600 years left.'
'Still plenty of time,' he thought as he took out another hammer.
Then, he continued hitting the mannequin.
Hit after hit.
Slowly, he became better at damaging the mannequin.
Another long period of hitting the mannequin followed.
'Again?!' Kyle thought as the majority of his Energy rushed towards his hammer once again.
This time, his hammer exploded almost immediately.
He couldn't even properly strike.
'That's the third time now!'
Kyle took out his Communicator and looked at the time.
'It's only been 50 years!'
'The first one happened centuries after I started attempting it. The second one just happened a few centuries after the first, and the third one only took 50 years. I mean, that's still an insane number of swings, but I believe it's getting more reliable.'
Kyle narrowed his eyes.
'I need to get there!'
'More swinging!'
Kyle continued.
By now, his body was moving weirdly again to make up for his lack of control.
The way he had to control his Energy was just way too complex, and he needed some help from his body.
Suddenly, Kyle's Energy was dropping again.
The fourth time!
This time, his hammer almost hit the target before exploding, and once more, he looked at the date.
'40 years since the last one. Improvement! I'm not getting luckier! I'm getting better!' he thought with excitement.
Kyle kept going.
He swung without end.
And again, it happened!
The fifth time!
Once more, the hammer exploded.
'That one just took 35 years. I have a bit less than 500 years left. If I keep going, I might be able to succeed!'
Soon, the sixth one appeared, which happened after another 35 years.
However, the seventh one only took 20 years!
20 years again for the eighth.
17 years for the ninth.
15 years.
13 years.
10 years.
Another 10 years.
Nine years.
Nine years.
Eight years.
Nine Years.
Seven Years.
Six years.
Every single successful attempt still took an ungodly number of swings, but the number of swings required had already dropped considerably.
After many more times of swinging his hammer, Kyle managed to succeed about once a year.
'About 200 years left,' Kyle thought. '75% of my alone-time has already passed, but I also feel like I'm super close to getting there!'
Kyle kept going, and soon, the interval of successful attempts reached months.
At that point, Kyle was confronted with a new problem.
Creating a new hammer took him about a month, and every time he reached the threshold, his hammer broke.
In the end, Kyle decided to go with a way heavier hammer.
The speed of his strikes slowed down significantly, and the successful attempts became rarer again.
Yet, when it happened again, something different happened.
The heavy hammer in Kyle's hand shook under immense strain, but it didn't break.
The Energy inside it was still very chaotic and uncontrolled, but it was powerful enough to resist the wild Energies.
For the first time, Kyle managed to hit his target without his hammer breaking.
BOOOOOM!
The mannequin shot across the room, bouncing off the walls several times.
Usually, when Kyle managed to damage the mannequin, he saw a dent in its metallic armor, which quickly vanished.
But this time, he saw cracks going all across the mannequin.
When he saw that, he took a deep breath. 'This mannequin is made for Major and Advanced Crushers! An Advanced Crusher can already become a True Sage!'
Kyle looked at his hammer, which was severely damaged but still in one piece.
It was still not as hard as he could make it. In terms of level, it was about as good as an average Higher Crusher Rank Material.
Kyle could still make the perfect Higher Crusher Rank Material, which would even be able to resist a Fulfilled Crusher with a 99% certainty.
'My own attack can damage average Higher Crusher Rank Materials. Doesn't that mean that my attack power is similar to the attack power of an Advanced Crusher?'
'If I reduce everything by a level, that's like having the attack power of an 8/13 Primal while just being a Transcendent.'
As Kyle thought about that, he realized something.
'That's actually very believable. When I became a Legendary Transcendent, I probably also had the offensive capabilities of an 8/13 Primal.'
Kyle looked at his hammer. 'I'm 99% certain that this is the way to become a Legendary Primal. The increase in power is ridiculous, and it's related to physical activity. I constantly swing my hammer with my body and learn to control my Energy better.'
'You could argue that the Transcendent Realm is all about Laws and the Core Spark. In that case, it would make sense that advancing was fully related to one's Laws.'
As Kyle thought about what someone needed to do to become a Legendary Transcendent, the image of an otherworldly Seeker entered his mind. The Seeker was hard-working, serious, intelligent, and only aimed to understand everything about nature.
On the other hand, as he thought about what someone needed to do to become a Legendary Primal, he saw a different image. Some Laws, Treasures, will power, resistance to pain, Momentum, and incredible control over one's Energy and body. The image of this Seeker was muscular, stalwart, brave, and dependable.
One was a priest or magician, while the other was a knight or warrior.
'Everyone gets a shot,' Kyle thought. 'No matter in which Aspect you're talented, you will get a Realm in which you excel. That's your opportunity to make a name for yourself.'
'But if you wanna go all the way, you have to be decent in all Aspects.'
'Even your weakest Aspect has to be within the top 10%.'
Kyle thought back to the image of the perfect Primal.
'I can kinda see myself in that image.'
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