Kyle walked around the lake on the other side of the capital.
He didn’t want to get anywhere close to it.
Sure, he was probably not a fugitive yet, but he didn’t want to take any chances.
“Hey, Boss,” Kyle said.
“What?” Theodor asked, as always, annoyed.
“How strong are Transcendents?” Kyle asked.
“Their name tells you everything about their power,” Theodor answered.
Some seconds of silence passed.
“Can you be a bit more specific?” Kyle asked.
“You can just ask more specific questions,” Theodor shot back.
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Could you beat a Transcendent?”
“Impossible,” Theodor answered immediately.
“Even with all of your Golems?” Kyle asked.
“Impossible,” Theodor repeated.
“Why? You had to have a ton of them. Wouldn’t the numbers overwhelm them?”
“I could have millions of Master Golems, and it wouldn’t make a difference,” Theodor explained.
Kyle’s eyes opened wide. “They are that much stronger?”
“The power of the Transcendents is not of this world anymore,” Theodor explained. “The most powerful person in the Third Realm wouldn’t be able to scratch even the weakest Transcendent.”
“How come?” Kyle asked. “I mean, I managed to scratch a Ferocious Beast while only being a Mid Human.”
“Someone who has the power to injure a Transcendent has the power to become a Transcendent whenever they wish,” Theodor answered. “Therefore, instead of battling a Transcendent, they will just become one themselves.”
“How can I become a Transcendent?” Kyle asked.
“You need an Aristocrat’s Body,” Theodor answered.
Silence.
“Okay, and why?” Kyle asked. He thought Theodor would continue talking, but apparently, Kyle needed to pull all the information out of them.
“Remember the fourth of my trials?” Theodor asked.
“The weird flame thing, yes,” Kyle answered.
“How did you pass?” Theodor asked.
“Well, I tried to understand the flame from the outside, but it was too difficult. So, I walked into the flame.”
Kyle expected Theodor to rebuke him, but surprisingly, Kyle didn’t feel any annoyance from Theodor.
“Then, while inside the flames, I had to use my Soul to see the hidden meaning in the flames,” Kyle said.
“And?” Theodor asked, waiting for an elaboration.
“And I needed a powerful mind to solve the equation I saw.”
“Correct,” Theodor said. “For once, you passed one of my trials in the intended way.”
“To understand the fire, you need to directly interact with it. With a weak body, you will be turned to ash. Therefore, you need a powerful body.”
“To perceive the hidden meaning in the flame, you need to have a strong affinity with your environment, which translates to having a powerful Soul.”
“To understand the complexity of the fire, you need a powerful mind.”
“And the abundant Ether in your Center powers all three of these Aspects.”
“You need all four Aspects of Power to understand the fire.”
“To become a Transcendent, you have to do something similar but on a much greater scale.”
“If any of your Aspects of Power are not up to par, you will suffer and find it extremely difficult to survive the ordeal or make sense of it.”
“When you understand how something works, you can learn how to manipulate it.”
“Hieronymus went to the origin of the Skysand and spent decades in there.”
“He was tormented and suffered grievous injuries.”
“But when he emerged, he understood how the Skysand worked, and thus, the power of Skysand was at his fingertips.”
“What value does an army of Master Golems have when a single wave of Skysand turns all of them into dead stone?”
“What value does a trained army of Royal Knights, Grandmasters, and Grand Sorcerers have when a sea of fire swallows them all?”
“Transcendents command nature. They are Gods. They are immortal. Fighting against a Transcendent represents fighting against the world itself.”
“When you can split the entire ocean with a single strike, you can try fighting one of them.”
Kyle’s heart was pumping rapidly.
This sounded terrifying, but it also sounded exciting.
’Shit, that’s like out of an Anime or videogame or something! People can actually do that here? That’s crazy!’
But then, Kyle also felt a bit of pressure and anxiety.
“And I am supposed to kill one of these guys?” he asked.
“And his lineage, yes,” Theodor answered.
Kyle gulped.
“I don’t think I can split the ocean,” Kyle answered. “I mean, I’ve never tried, but I wouldn’t put my chances at more than 20%.”
“You think you can split the ocean?” Theodor asked evenly.
“It was a joke, dude,” Kyle answered. “It was a hyperbole. Of course I can’t split the ocean.”
“A well-placed joke,” Theodor said, “if it came from somebody with average or higher intelligence.”
“When you tell these jokes, you make people believe you are delusional.”
Kyle just grumbled.
By now, he had passed by half of the Ether Spring.
“Yeah, I’m going to try my best to punch a God or whatever,” Kyle said. “But I won’t promise anything.”
“You have no choice,” Theodor said. “There are only two outcomes. Absolute power or death.”
“If you can’t fulfill my dying wish, there is no reason for me to stay alive, and when I die, I will take you with me.”
“On the path to absolute power, people climb a mountain, but in your case, it’s a cliff.”
“I will push you down the cliff of power.”
“Either you survive the landing and join the Transcendents, or you die on impact.”
Kyle grimaced.
Sometimes, it was nice to talk to Theodor, but other times, Kyle was reminded of his actual relationship with Theodor.
Theodor was not his friend.
Kyle was a hostage, and he had to follow Theodor’s orders.
If he didn’t…
’Well, that sucks,’ Kyle thought as he absentmindedly looked at the lake.
’Gotta punch a God or die.’
After some seconds, Kyle groaned.
“Fine, I’m going to punch your God or whatever! Just, at least give me an actual chance before killing me prematurely, okay?” Kyle asked.
“That will be up to my discretion,” Theodor said.
The two of them continued traveling in silence.
Kyle passed the lake and reached the southern end of it.
The next moment, he felt Theodor getting annoyed and disgusted with something.
’Dude, what’s it this time? I didn’t even do anything!’ Kyle thought.
“What?” Kyle asked.
“What do you want? Speak in sentences,” Theodor answered in annoyance.
“I felt your disgust just now. What did I do this time? Were my strides not graceful enough for you?” Kyle asked.
Theodor snorted.
“Look ahead,” Theodor said.
Kyle did just that.
There was nothing of importance.
“On that stone. The totem,” Theodor said.
“Totem?” Kyle repeated, looking at a relatively big rock.
Sure enough, there was a round piece of wood with a face carved into it.
“What does it mean?” Kyle asked.
“It means we are going to meet your family,” Theodor answered with disgust.
