Kyle returned to Forward Base 198 and went to Major Sovignor.
"I've heard about what has happened," Major Sovignor transmitted. "If I had known about Commander Meristo's plan, I wouldn't have sent you to Fort U-878."
"I know," Kyle answered. "This all happened because I need to keep my identity secret. It has nothing to do with you."
To Humanity, the value of every Seeker was clearly defined. Many people said that one couldn't put a value on life, but if Humanity followed this philosophy, it would have long since collapsed. In order to be efficient in a crisis, values had to be determined and assigned.
What had happened on Fort U-878 was a misjudgment of value. Exchanging the life of a Sage Magnet to uncover the identity of such a valuable spy would be an amazing trade. Humanity would benefit.
Yet, Kyle was not just a regular Sage Magnet. He was a member of a team from Ayuvar. They had tried for hundreds of years and had little to no progress. Kyle's team was just the help they needed.
A Sage Magnet couldn't save the world, they needed help from the outside, and risking Kyle's life in such a way was wasteful and idiotic.
While the two of them conversed via voice transmission, Major Sovignor looked at Kyle's Emblem.
"Your Military Merits have reached 14,800," Major Sovignor transmitted. "If you're willing to exchange 10,000 Merits, you may join Humanity as a Trialist. You've shown your power, and the Demons will target you."
Trialists were the lowest members wearing the red of Humanity. In order to become a Trialist, one needed to fulfill five requirements.
First, they needed to be Sages.
Second, they needed to pay 10,000 Military Merits.
Third, they needed the endorsement of a Major or a Commander.
Fourth, they must have made an extraordinary contribution.
Fifth, they must be able to fight a Demon on their level on equal footing.
As a Trialist, Kyle would get plenty of time and resources to work on his power. At the same time, he would be assigned to a Representative or an Aspirant, who would teach and test him.
This process would take about 2,000 years, and if he performed adequately, he would become either a Representative or an Aspirant.
Representatives represented Humanity and acted as supervisors and managers. They traveled from place to place, finding resources, people, and bases. They managed the Aspirants and presented them to the leaders of Humanity. Without them, Humanity wouldn't have nearly as much information.
Aspirants were former Representatives who had proven themselves to be even more exceptional than other Representatives. They were Unique Sages, and they were tasked with more important missions. At the same time, it was expected of them to become Legendary Seekers after a certain amount of years. If they failed, they would become Representatives again. The Unique Sage Kyle had seen in front of the Ascension Pool had been an Aspirant.
If an Aspirant managed to become a Legendary Sage, they would become either a Lieutenant General or a General, depending on their talents and performance, the Lieutenant General would become either a General or a Protector after a breakthrough.
If a General or Protector proved to be exceptionally powerful, they had a shot at becoming an Overlord, the highest rank in Humanity. All Overlords were Ascendants.
By becoming a Trialist, Kyle could take the first step on the path of becoming an Overlord. As long as he performed well, he would be nurtured by Humanity.
If a Trialist became a Representative, they were even granted a unique reward. If Kyle asked for a cube of all Spacetime Metals, the request would most likely be granted.
"Thank you for the offer, but I decline," Kyle answered. "I am not the right person for the job."
"Over 80% of Trialists say that exact sentence," Major Sovignor answered.
"I'm not humble, and I'm not someone who can't see their own talent," Kyle transmitted. "I can claim with confidence that I am more powerful than 99% of all Trialists, assuming we are at the same level, but I still believe I'm not the right person. This is also not what I'm supposed to do. I have a team, and we all have our roles in that team. My comrades are supposed to gather information and plan everything."
"I'm just the muscle, and as the muscle, I need plenty of stress and exercise."
Major Sovignor looked at Kyle for a bit. "As you wish. Do you plan to exchange your Military Merits this time?"
"Are there any messages?" Kyle asked. "I want to make a decision after reading them."
"There are some messages," Major Sovignor transmitted, updating Kyle's Emblem.
Kyle looked at the new messages on his Emblem.
Swamp Dragon wrote a long message this time. As a new Guide, he had access to countless techniques and teachings, High secrets, and he had already found a couple of things.
For example, he found out how there could be so many Unique and even Legendary Seekers, even though comprehending Laws was so rare. This had stumped him for a while, and he finally got his answer.
He wrote a long analysis about his findings and included them in the message.
"They have a Rite for every empty slot, and these Rites can fulfill the requirements for advancement," Kyle thought. "All the Rites are mixtures of part Imposing Law and part Pure or Complex Law."
"Battle Rites are like External Complex Laws, Mental Rites are infused Mind Laws. There are also Physical Rites, Spiritual Rites, and Core Rites. All of them are just Refined Laws."
"Physical Rites include the Minor or Major Law of Body, part of an Imposing Law, and if they're very powerful, even parts of Common Laws. By incorporating such a Rite, the body of the user changes and becomes more powerful."
"However, the more Rites you have, the more dangerous it gets. Since every Rite includes an Imposing Law and since a Seeker can only have one Imposing Law at a time, every additional Rite means incorporating an additional Imposing Law. In the vast majority of cases, this means that you're mixing Imposing Laws from different people."
"Imposing Laws are not truly part of this world. They are all based on a common foundation. Having a Physical and a Mental Rite at the same time could result in the two Rites fighting each other, weakening the Seeker."
"However, there are also exceptionally powerful Rites that work together. Each set is made by one person. For example, if a powerful Seeker creates an Imposing Law, condenses a Rite with it, creates another Rite with the same Imposing Law, and so on."
"These sets all come from former Ascendants, who have dedicated hundreds of years to perfecting them, breaking and rebuilding their foundation. This made them very vulnerable and weak, but it strengthened future generations."
"Sadly, only Protectors, Overlords, and Generals have access to these sets to protect their way of operation. One of the reasons why nobody uses Pure Laws in battle is so that no other Seekers know these Laws as well. If somebody attacks me with Gravity Wind, I could easily counter it, because I know how it works. If the Demons find out how these sets work, they could do something similar."
"The way Seekers in Ayuvar used to fulfill the different requirements to advance was similar: learn it, abandon it, learn another one, abandon it, and so on."
Kyle frowned.
"Unfortunately, this means that these Seekers also barely have any experience when it comes to comprehending Laws. Sure enough, Manny was right. The only way to safely create a Refined Law is by slowly condensing it yourself. If you learn a Refined Law from someone else or condense it incorrectly, your future will be crippled."
Kyle took a deep breath.
"Even if the Spirit Lords and Ascendants gained access to Level Five and Level Six Law Wells..."
"They might not be able to comprehend their respective Laws."
"This world is truly crippled."
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