Path to Transcendence

Chapter 440: Kinetic Energy Refinement

It took him a long time to finally figure out what skill he was going to go with. But eventually, he decided that [Kinetic Energy Refinement] was the best choice for him. Cain also agreed that this was a choice that likely didn’t have any downsides.

Julius could have waited and acquired [Kinetic Energy Mastery] or [Kinetic Force Adept] and leveled either of those two skills to the next threshold. Where he might be offered a similar skill when he was evolving it to epic

However, Cain and the other students in the advanced course were what convinced him that [Kinetic Energy Refinement] would be a better choice. At first, he wasn’t going to ask any of them for advice or to let them know about his skills. But he was surprised at how many of them consulted with each other about their abilities.

Since they all used kinetic energy, similar skills were bound to appear. Many of them employed a version of [Kinetic Energy Refinement] to great effect. With that being said, they all had their own slightly different paths and preferences. Still, they all agreed that at some point, a refinement skill or a skill that improved the quality of one’s kinetic energy was essential.

For example, Arthur had freely explained to Julius that he had a skill called [Energy Purification] that had evolved from [Kinetic Energy Filtration]. It was a skill that worked much like Julius’s skill sounded like it did. By channeling his kinetic energy through this filter, Arthur was able to purify it before using it to attack.

This gave it the ability to latch on and integrate more of the young man’s Concepts and techniques. Which meant his attacks became much more potent as a result.

Julius’s problem with kinetic energy had always been that he had too much to control properly. Furthermore, he always had to use more since he was regularly fighting Tier 4s nowadays. He didn’t have the option of just using less when fighting against such strong opponents.

However, if he were able to enhance the kinetic energy he had now, then he wouldn’t be forced to use as much. He could lower the amount required to attack and focus more on control. As such, [Kinetic Energy Refinement] would allow him to accomplish that.

He brought up the notification once more.

Skill [Kinetic Energy Control] is evolving… possible advancements: [Kinetic Energy Mastery], [Kinetic Force Adept], [Kinetic Energy Refinement], and [Kinetic Energy Amplification].

He felt a little hesitant, but that only lasted for a brief moment. He was pretty confident in his decision, and Cain also supported it. Therefore, without further ado, he selected the skill.

Congratulations, you have learned [Kinetic Energy Refinement] (Rare+).

He felt the familiar sensation of a new skill acquisition flow through him. He also felt his kinetic energy undergo a change. It started to vibrate inside his body. It started slowly, but it quickly gained speed, and the vibrations became extremely fast. He could barely keep up with it.

As it was vibrating, it also started to pulse out rhythmically, reverberating throughout his entire body and throughout his soul. At some point, he believed that literal shockwaves were blasting outward from his body.

It didn’t feel painful like some of his other skills did. It almost felt pleasant, as if a massive creature was massaging his kinetic energy.

It took longer than he expected, but eventually the sensation started to die down, and his kinetic energy stopped vibrating so fast, and the pulsing started to slow. He let out a relaxed sigh and was about to examine the changes within his body.

However, the moment things stopped entirely was when he widened his eyes with concern. It happened so suddenly, and before he could even react, his kinetic energy absolutely exploded. A massive shockwave erupted from his chest, and everything in the vicinity was shattered into pieces.

His bed went flying off into the opposite corner of his room. The window cracked in half, and his dresser lodged itself into the ceiling. His ears were ringing from the blast, and he shook his head since he was disoriented.

Thankfully, he was alone in his room, but the damage was already done. Nothing, other than the walls in the room, was left in one piece. The shockwave was so powerful that even the enchantments Freya had installed while he was experimenting with [Spatial Crack] were unable to contain all the damage.

His door suddenly swung open, but since the blast had already damaged it, the door was ripped from its hinges. Freyaʼs face appeared, and she looked at the room with concern once she made sure that Julius was okay.

“What the hell happened?” She asked with a confused frown.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just chose my skill, and my kinetic energy suddenly went out of control.”

She tilted her head, looking like she was thinking of something.

“You chose the refinement skill, correct?” She asked him after a few brief moments.

He nodded.

“Do you mind if I check something?” She asked as she got closer and reached out her hand.

He didn’t hesitate to extend his hand. He didn’t know if it had something to do with her healing his soul during this past week, but something had changed between them. Something in the dynamic had shifted. There was this mutual level of trust that hadn’t been there before.

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She gently took his hand and used her aura to give him a check-up. While she didn’t technically need to touch him, she had mentioned before that a physical connection did help her get a better visual of her patientsʼ issues and thus, she was able to heal them better.

“Hmm,” she murmured after several seconds.

“What is it?” He asked, a little impatient to know what had gone wrong and why his kinetic energy had done that. His kinetic energy still felt a little weird. There was this powerful charge to it that hadn’t been there before.

He didn’t want to admit it, but it was a little challenging to hold on to.

She didn’t respond to him right away; instead, he watched as she waved her hand in the air. Instantly, a barrier enveloped them. Julius knew it wasn’t the right time to gawk, but he couldn’t help but be flabbergasted at how quickly she managed to place the barrier.

He could also place a barrier around him at a moment’s notice, but he wasn’t capable of placing up a barrier like the one she had just created. There were countless functions woven into the structure of the barrier. There were many of the same features as the healing structure she had shown him, but they were significantly more advanced.

It was a beautiful work of mana and magic. For a brief moment, he indulged himself and studied the barrier with fascination. He took in every detail of the barrier as quickly as possible before he forgot the sensation.

Freya was patient and allowed him to do this. She stopped what she was doing and let him study the barrier on his own. She didn’t give him any explanations or hints of what she had done, but simply allowed him to observe with his senses and eyes to figure it out on his own.

She smiled throughout this whole process, and it wasn’t until he was finished that she continued her examination.

“I see you are as curious as ever,” she said with a grin.

“You’re gonna have to teach how you did that so fast,” he responded with a grin of his own.

“Why would I do that? Don’t you want to figure it out on your own before I give you the answer?” She asked with a scoff.

He rolled his eyes. She already knew how he was and was absolutely correct in her assumption. It was why she rarely ever gave him a straightforward answer. She always let him come to his own conclusion before she explained herself.

“So what’s up with the barrier?” He finally asked.

She shrugged. “Precautionary measure. I don’t want to make an even larger mess than you already have,” she said with a small side eye at the mess he had indeed created.

Suddenly, he felt her give him a poke with her aura, and the result was unexpected. The same shockwave that had destroyed half the room was replicated, and he winced as his eardrums rang once more. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

“What happened?” he asked, a little more wariness coming to the surface.

“Interesting,” she grumbled as she poked him again, resulting in another explosion rocking the room. He was about to say something when she did it again, and each time he was about to interject, she would cause another one.

At one point, when she realized that it wasn’t causing him any discomfort, she started to find it extremely amusing and began to poke his kinetic energy like one would do to make a monkey do a trick. Explosion after explosion began to rip from his body, which was immediately followed by her bright giggles.

He let her have her fun, but instead of joining in, he focused on trying to stop her from doing whatever she was doing. He had no idea how she was causing his kinetic energy to go out of control, but he wanted to make sure she couldn’t keep on doing it.

However, nothing he did seemed to work. Eventually, he threw his hands up in the air in defeat.

“How are you doing this?” He asked, half-frustrated, but the other half of him was also amused because, toward the end, she had gotten such a degree of control over his explosions that she was able to make a musical beat using him as an instrument.

She let her laughter die out before she answered him. “I don’t know if you are extremely lucky or unlucky.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asked, furrowing his brows.

“On one hand, the refinement skill might have been the wrong choice. But it also seemed to have opened up some interesting paths to you,” she said with a shrug.

“What do you mean by wrong choice?”

“Well, we assumed that the refinement skill would act as a skill that would allow you to infuse more of your soul and willpower into your kinetic energy, making it more potent and resilient. Which would be a great addition with your already massive amount of kinetic energy you can use,” she explained to him.

“But…?” He asked, sensing there was something else as well.

She scratched her nose. “But, it would appear the skill was slightly different than what we expected.”

“How different?” He asked the critical question.

“Well, instead of acting like a simple, but stronger container that would allow you to infuse your willpower and Concepts, it has already started to initiate the merging process on its own,” she explained with a grin, looking somewhat happy.

”Merging process?”

”Yes, the process of your kinetic energy and parts of your soul mixing like a stew. For example, your Emblem will be the first thing to start merging at this level,” she explained.

He nodded, following her explanation. “Okay, but why is that making me explode?” He asked, not quite understanding what she was trying to imply. He understood that this was a natural process that would have happened regardless, when he advanced to Tier 4.

She tilted her head upward. “Hmm, that is a bit trickier to explain. But you can thank your massive pool of kinetic energy. It would appear that due to the sheer size and strength of your soul, your kinetic energy is struggling to adapt to this new change. It is unable to handle all of the power, thus sometimes you experience some...” She paused as she thought about the right words. “... releases of pressure,” she finally finished.

“And that makes me lucky?” He asked with a deadpan look.

She nodded confidently. “It doesn’t help that the skill is only rare, and this might not be ideal in the short term, but in the long term, this is quite an amazing situation for you. You would have to eventually do some of this manually if you want to advance to Tier 4. And it takes a long time to get the hang of, but now you won’t have to worry about that. You get a nice little headstart and once you get the hang of it, your kinetic energy will become truly powerful… not that you really need it.” That last part was muttered under her breath.

He was about to say something in response, but he slowly started to realize what she was implying and smiled slightly. Perhaps this was a lucky turn of events for him. If he were understanding her correctly, then it would mean this was a small speedbump. Once he got a better handle on things, it would actually be a pretty nice benefit.

Nonetheless, only time would tell.

The main issue now was how to prevent himself from going boom spontaneously. He didnʼt think that would be a very convenient thing to experience throughout his day. Luckily for him, he had a little experience with that and should be able to get control over it.