Kyle just looked at the wasteland.
For now, he didn’t see any beasts, but that didn’t mean anything.
There could be beasts anywhere.
In the crevices.
In the dirt.
Behind the small mountains.
“So, yeah… the outside…” Kyle commented.
“You have to listen to me when we are outside,” Theodor said with urgency. “It is imperative that you listen to me. This is not a place where you can run around and shout.”
“A wrong move out here, and you will come face to face with a beast as strong as the Great Anaconda. If the wrong beast finds you, you will die. No amount of training or experience will save you, then.”
“Did I make myself clear?” Theodor asked.
“Yes,” Kyle said.
“Then, move to that big crevice as soon as you are outside. Running is fine. Being seen is more of a danger than being heard.”
Kyle looked forward and saw a crevice, which was around five meters wide.
He had no idea how deep it was.
’Here we go,’ Kyle thought as he took a deep breath.
Then, he started to sprint towards the crevice.
As soon as he left the Cradle, Kyle’s skin started to prickle a bit, but he ignored it.
It was around 500 meters to the crevice, and Kyle ran with all of his speed.
Kyle was no longer a normal human, and his strength had long since reached levels unimaginable by normal humans.
As he ran through the relatively open outside, Kyle felt vulnerable.
His instincts were telling him that he was in great danger.
They told him that he was not supposed to be here.
The short journey to the crevice felt like it took forever, but in truth, it just took about 25 seconds.
Kyle jumped into the crevice, and when he looked down, his eyes widened.
It was bottomless!
BANG!
Kyle rammed the pick of his hammer into the wall of the crevice and stopped his fall.
Some stones exploded off the walls and fell down.
They sounded so loud as they hit the walls while falling down.
As Kyle looked forward, he saw no good footholds.
“What now?” Kyle asked.
“You walked on water,” Theodor answered. “Walking on the side of a cliff shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Wait, I can walk on walls?” Kyle asked.
“Your Soul has power over the environment,” Theodor answered. “Walking on walls or walking on water costs Ether, but it is possible. It all depends on your Ether in relation to your weight.”
“You have an upgraded Center. As long as you don’t start sprinting on the wall, you will recover Ether faster than you expend.”
“Ouhkay, then…” Kyle said as he moved his hand to the wall.
A moment later, his Ether came out of his hand.
Almost immediately, his hand got sucked to the wall.
Kyle blinked a couple of times in surprise and tried to pull his hand away.
CRK!
He tore a piece of stone out of the wall.
The stone was still stuck to his hand.
Kyle looked at his hand for a bit and deactivated his Soul.
The stone immediately lost contact with Kyle and fell into the crevice.
“Weird,” Kyle said.
Kyle put his foot to the wall, and he felt it getting sucked to it.
’I mean, this probably works like suction cups. In a way, I’m an octopus, but I definitely feel like a spider.’
After experimenting for a bit, Kyle stood on the side of the cliff.
He looked into the bottomless crevice.
’Now, I feel like a mountain goat.’
It was so strange to stand on the side of a wall.
Kyle noticed that the muscles on the right side of his abdomen were straining to keep him straight, fighting against gravity.
Luckily, his body was powerful enough to deal with that.
’Feels like I’m in a cave,’ Kyle thought as he looked up and saw the other wall of the crevice.
The sky was to his right, and the abyss was to his left.
Kyle grabbed his hammer again and pulled it out of the wall.
With the added weight, Kyle had to use more Ether, but it was still fine.
He moved the hammer to the little loop he had tied on his back.
’Wait a second,’ he thought as he stopped. ’The hammer is being pulled to the left. It could totally fall out like this.’
’I wonder…’
Kyle held the head of his hammer to his back and activated his Soul.
Immediately, the hammer was sucked to his back.
He let go of his hammer, and it didn’t fall.
’Now, I feel like a magnet,’ Kyle thought as he looked at the long hilt that stretched “upward”.
“You better not lose focus,” Theodor said. “If you lose focus, the mining weapon will fall into the crevice.”
“I mean,” Kyle answered, “if I lose focus, I will also fall into the crevice.”
“Don’t lose focus, then,” Theodor answered.
“I won’t,” Kyle said.
Then, Kyle deactivated his Soul on his right foot.
That increased the Ether his left foot used by more than twice.
He took a careful step forward and activated his Soul again.
“Huh, that was easy,” Kyle commented.
“It’s not difficult,” Theodor answered. “You learn how to do that in any kind of academy that deals with any of the paths.”
“Speaking of,” Kyle said. “What’s even the plan? Will I just travel through the world while you teach me?”
“I know a lot of things,” Theodor said, “but I have never fought with my body before. I have seen my creations fight plenty of Royal Knights and Grandmasters, and I know enough to counter them.”
“However, I do not know how to fight as one.”
“I can teach you Golemancy, mining, basic skills, and smithing, but I can’t teach you fighting.”
“You need to learn how to fight with your weapon, and for that, you need people to teach you.”
“Wait, so you’re sending me to school?” Kyle asked nervously.
“You’re too old to join an academy,” Theodor answered. “Also, I don’t think you’re cut out for learning anything that isn’t directly related to violence.”
“You will have to follow the path of a dropout.”
“Someone who underwent a ritual but didn’t qualify for further education.”
“You will perform different tasks and jobs in exchange for teaching.”
“As soon as we’re at our goal, you will be joining a Fighters Guild.”