Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 983: Whatʼs a Spirit?

As Kyle looked at the surroundings, he felt shocked. During all of his major breakthroughs, his Energy Sense had expanded, but it had never expanded by this much!

His last breakthrough had been an especially significant one since his entire existence had been upgraded. He had advanced from a Secondary existence to a Primary Existence. Back then, his Energy Sense had expanded from around 2,500 kilometers to around 25,000 kilometers. Essentially, it had been expanded by a factor of ten.

Yet, as Kyle looked at his surroundings, he noticed that he could sense everything within a radius of a million kilometers! His Energy Sense had increased by a factor of 40!

He knew the rough size of a Spirit Lordʼs Energy Sense, but seeing it for himself made it feel different. The difference between his Energy Sense and his physical speed had changed completely.

As a Legendary Sage, Kyle had managed to reach speeds of about 200,000 kilometers per second. With an Energy Sense with a radius of 25,000 kilometers, he could have traversed that distance within around 125 milliseconds.

Now, his speed had increased to around 250,000 kilometers per second, but his Energy Sense had a radius of a million kilometers. This meant that he would need to travel for four entire seconds to traverse this distance.

Kyle could sense so many things simultaneously, and yet, he still didnʼt feel like his mind was experiencing any strain. It felt as easy as mindlessly looking in a random direction.

ʼAnd itʼs only going to grow,ʼ he thought. ʼCompared to all the previous Realms, Spirit Lords also experience increases in their Energy Sense during minor breakthroughs. One million kilometers is just the beginning. It will keep growing.ʼ

After looking at his surroundings for a while, Kyle looked back at his Spirit.

ʼThe anchors are first. As far as I know, the black anchor is supposed to be destroyed first. The requirement to become a Minor Spirit Lord is to have all Major Laws of the Aspects. Several Seekers are stuck at that level since not everyoneʼs talented in all Aspects.ʼ
ʼLuckily, I already know all of the Major Laws of the Aspects. Becoming a Minor Spirit Lord shouldnʼt be an issue.ʼ

ʼAnd the best part is that I wonʼt feel any discomfort. The Wisdom Fire Realm is over! There are no more horrible and painful Refinements! In fact, I donʼt even have to focus on it. As far as I know, I just need to focus on one of the restraints in my Spirit, and everything will happen by itself.ʼ

Kyle focused on the black anchor. He could sense it. In fact, he even felt like he could interact with it.

All of Kyleʼs insights gathered and flowed towards the black anchor. A moment later, an illusory version of himself appeared beside the anchor. The illusory version of him grabbed the chain and started yanking.

The anchor didnʼt move at all. In fact, it didnʼt even shake. However, that was normal. These anchors were not easy to break, and he would need to keep attacking them for many years. Luckily, the anchors didnʼt regenerate. Every bit of Energy they lost was forever gone.

ʼNo one told me how long it takes to reach the next level, but it shouldnʼt be that long. Itʼs most likely a very reasonable timeframe. If it were super short or super long, I wouldʼve heard about it.ʼ

Kyle watched his illusory self yanking on the chain for a while longer before he returned to the real world.

The others had already finished their advancements and were in different states. Some were experimenting with their improved senses, while others looked at their Spirits.

Kyle noticed that Manny was already done. Right now, Manny was just waiting for the others.

”Hey Manny, I got a question,” Kyle transmitted.

”Yes?” Manny asked.

”This might be a dumb question, and maybe Iʼm overthinking, but what exactly is a Spirit? I know itʼs part of my mind and that itʼs somewhere else. I know itʼs my will, but what does that even mean? I thought my brain was my will,” Kyle asked.

”Not many people know the true purpose of a Spirit,” Manny transmitted. ”They know what it can do. It can sense Energy, Laws, and matter. It can command your surroundings. It can protect your existence. Attacks can be infused with it, making your attacks truly yours. However, that doesnʼt explain what it is or how it works.”

”Do you know?” Kyle asked.

Manny smiled with a bit of discomfort. ”Yes.”

For years, Mannyʼs true knowledge, allegiance, and personality had stayed hidden. He had only shown part of his true self when he had realized Ayuvarʼs desperate situation. In order to keep suspicions low and to keep fitting in, Manny never wanted to show so much of his knowledge. Sadly, he had been forced to.

When Kyle asked him such a direct question, Mannyʼs instinct was to deflect and to keep up the illusion. Yet, there was no point to that anymore. The illusion had already been broken a long time ago. He felt like he was supposed to keep things hidden, but he knew that there was no reason to.

”A Spirit is your connection to the Cosmos,” Manny transmitted via the relay, even though he was just a couple of meters in front of Kyle. ”The Cosmos operates on a certain set of rules, which govern how the Energies inside its boundaries behave. One of these rules defines life and how it works. Keep in mind, these are not Laws. Laws are supposed to be understood. Rules are not.”

”You can view experiencing existence in this Cosmos as an online game. Your mind is your device on which you play the game. Without that device, you canʼt possibly play the game at all. If anything happens to that device, the game ends, and you canʼt restart it.”

”Your Center would be your electricity. Without electricity, your device wonʼt work, and the game ends. Your body is your character in the game. If it dies, you can just restart or resurrect, but you also need it to properly play the game.”

”Your Spirit, in this metaphor, would be your data on the game server. If the server doesnʼt have your data, you canʼt log in. Without your data, you canʼt play. If you do not exist on the server, you do not exist inside the game.”

”In more realistic terms, your Spirit is your connection and key to this Cosmos. Without it, you canʼt manipulate or interact with Energy. Your mind works by moving and transforming Energy. If you do not have permission to manipulate Energy, your mind will stop working, your body will start decomposing, and your Center will stop gathering Energy.”

”Your Spirit is basically your representation in this Cosmos. This means it also dictates all of your attributes. For example, if you lose an arm, you can just regrow one, but how does that work? Well, your mind activates your Biological Energy, and your Biological Energy accesses the data of your Spirit. Your Spirit knows what you are supposed to be, and your Biological Energy creates you a new arm, which will be identical to your old one.”

”Yet, if your Spirit is injured, things are different. If the part of your Spirit, containing your armʼs data, is destroyed, your arm will die and turn into Energy. If that happens, you also canʼt grow a new arm. The rules of the Cosmos dictate existence, and within the rules of this Cosmos, your arm no longer exists. Therefore, you are not supposed to have an arm. If you want to regrow your arm, you would need to grow a new arm, which means adding data to your Spirit, which isnʼt easy. At least, itʼs not easy right now. As you gain more power over your Spirit, a lot more things will become possible.”

”Anyway, yeah, thatʼs what a Spirit is.”

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