Kyle just looked in shock at the fragments of his hammer.
'How?! Literally, how?! I could shove as much Energy into this shit as I want, and nothing would happen! How did my hammer just randomly explode on me?!'
Several calculations shot through Kyle's mind.
'No, this can't happen from internal accumulation of Energy. This has to be something external. My Energy must have changed the surroundings in a way that put pressure on my hammer's composition.'
'Also, how did all of my Energy vanish so quickly? What did it all turn into? Physical power? I mean, if it's physical power, it would explain some things, but that's also not entirely correct. If it were just physical power, my hammer's hilt would have broken, not the entire thing.'
'It must be something in the surroundings.'
Kyle closed his eyes as he tried to remember the feeling he had had while swinging.
The swing felt great.
However, there was still something missing.
It was like he had perfectly accumulated the maximum power imaginable, but there hadn't been a direction.
It was like a bullet that went off without being inside a gun.
It was just a random explosion.
'I have to recreate this! This might actually be what I'm after!'
'If I can guide this power into an attack, my attacking power would shoot through the roof!'
Kyle quickly grabbed another hammer and returned to hitting the mannequins.
However, even after hundreds of strikes, nothing like this happened again.
Thousand swings.
Ten-thousand swings.
Millions of swings.
Nothing.
Eventually, Kyle stopped swinging and looked at his hammer.
'I think I was just insanely lucky. This was probably just an absolutely cosmic coincidence. I essentially flipped a coin and got heads 500 times in a row or something like that through sheer luck.'
Kyle snorted. 'Would be cool if I could get this luck in something that actually matters.'
'I tried so hard to recreate this feeling that my normal mastery didn't improve at all.'
'Seeing this might have actually set me back, funnily enough.'
Kyle checked the Communicator and saw that not a lot of time was left.
'Yeah, well, nothing is going to change anymore. Might as well get started. It's not like there's a fixed appointment.'
Kyle quickly wrote a message to the Chief Overseer.
"I'm ready for the battle. You can accept the challenge," he wrote.
Moments later, he received his answer.
"Hi, the challenge has not been rescinded yet, which means your opponent has not become a Crusher yet. It appears that our suspicions were correct. They are most likely a former Legendary Transcendent. If I accept the challenge, the battle will happen within two months. Are you sure you're ready? As soon as I accept, there's no way back."
Kyle snorted a quick laugh. "I've already been paid. Go ahead."
"Alright. I will accept the challenge and keep you posted on the details."
"Thanks," Kyle wrote back before closing the Communicator again.
As he looked back at his home gym, he scratched his head.
'Well, that settles it. I'm going to have a pretty significant battle. My power won't be able to improve anymore. Let's put the training on hold.'
'I should just chill in the cafeteria. Might as well strike up a conversation with some of my seniors.'

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