First, Kale learned about the various awakened pathways and what they actually meant or how one progressed through them in general.
It seemed like there were five general pathways to power, and one hidden pathway.
For example -
Elementals refer to mage-like beings who could wield one or more types of elements, amongst the six elements that make up the reality.
Martials, who hone their bodies endlessly, rely on combat techniques and Qi.
Psions are those who cultivate the power of their minds and willpower to an extreme.
Artificers are those who can create powerful weapons and medicines or attempt to modify living beings.
Tamers were beings who could form bonds with beasts and control them, also gaining the capacity to use a random ability of the beasts for themselves.
Last but not least was the hidden pathway to power. This pathway could only be awakened through the blessing of the Dragons, meaning by joining the Dragon church. Those who walk this pathway are called Diviners.
Of course, there were many deeper intricacies, further classifications, even within each awakened pathway. Still, he skimmed over those details, not too much interested in them at the moment, as they won't help him in any way.
So, he focused more on the details of the Tamer path, and, just as he had expected, the reason there was no great qualitative change in him when he awakened was that the first awakening was merely the unlocking of a small doorway.
It's not that there weren't any changes, but they were extremely small.
The true transformation comes when an awakened one takes the very first step on their awakened pathway. As with Tamer, they need to tame their first beast to experience that true qualitative change.
Which, for him, was not possible due to the existence of the curse.
Similar achievements or steps needed to be taken to awaken the other pathways in their own way.
Finally, after a lot of searching, Kale found something that could be a temporary solution: every awakened, apart from their main awakened pathway, possessed affinities for two additional pathways, known as their Partial Pathways.
Kale hurriedly got up to bring a few more books on this topic, determined to get to the end of things, yet he was stopped by one of the guards, who said with a provocative smile, "Your time is up."
Kale could only swallow his anger and curiosity as he was forced to leave the public library. Unfortunately, he only had two more silver coins; the guards would not take less than three silver coins from him; otherwise, he would have just handed it all over and stayed another shift.
Kale was a man who always loved devouring knowledge. He was a genetic engineer back on Earth, but he was also an expert in countless other fields, even more so than the professionals in those fields.
He was a never-before-seen genius in almost all advanced scientific fields that relate, directly or indirectly, to genetic engineering. So, his rage could only be comprehended when two fucking no-name guards were stopping him from absorbing his desired knowledge.
Kale stayed the night at a cheap inn. The first thing he did the next day was look for odd jobs he could do here and there. Unfortunately, most of the time, he was rejected; no one wanted to give an unknown kid any job, no matter how minuscule the task might be.
But eventually, he got some tough physical tasks, which he completed with ease, to the dismay of the shady people who had given him the jobs.
Kale went directly back into the library, this time with enough money to stay at least three uninterrupted shifts.
After nearly 10 long hours of nonstop flipping through every book on topics that caught his interest, he finally came out of the library, somewhat satisfied; it seemed there really was a way, though an extremely hard one. But at least it was not a dead end.
For most of the past 10 hours, he had been copying all the information into his mind with his semi-photographic memories. As he began to walk towards the inn where he was staying, he began to think over the details of what he had discovered one more time.
Among the two partial pathways of him as a Tamer, he was at first more inclined towards the Psion path, as it referred to the cultivation of the mind, which seemed strangely mysterious and powerful. But he immediately stopped the thought when he learned that someone who walks this path cannot progress beyond a certain point.
Because almost all the high-level Psions were controlled strictly by the Dragon church, the information and resources on how to progress to a higher level as a Psion were also strictly controlled by them. So, once you reach a certain rank, you either submit to the church and become their lapdogs or remain stuck forever.
In fact, Kale could guess that there was more information not written in the books; even if someone did find a way to advance further as a Psion without swearing allegiance to the church, they might be hunted down and killed.
In conclusion, it meant that, just like the Diviner's path, the Psion's path was almost entirely controlled by the Dragon church.
So that left him with only one choice: the Artificers' pathway. To cultivate on that path and keep researching until he found the right method to break away from the curse.
The best way forward, Kale found, was to join the Artificers Association.
This was the single biggest organization that produced the cream of the crop Artificers of the empire; the difference between an Artificer belonging to the association and someone not belonging to it was like the chasm between heaven and earth.
Kale further learned that this was one of the most neutral organizations, with good relations with every other major force, yet powerful enough on its own. The Association also had one of the deepest reservoirs of knowledge that Kale could draw on to find a solution.
As this profession also makes one highly respected by society, it would serve as a strong cover for him to hide from the church.
But there lay a challenge, a very, very big challenge. Getting into the Artificers' association was extremely difficult, even for someone who had actually awakened on the Artificer pathway; only one in a hundred, or even one in several hundred, literally the best of the best, could get in.
Let alone someone like him, who was actually just a tamer who wanted to make progress on his Partial Pathway. By all common sense of this world, it was impossible, beyond impossible even.
Because an awakened only cultivates on one of their partial pathways as a means to bolster their main awakened path, to rid themselves of any weakness or counter to their power. As no one could ever progress beyond just a few ranks on their partial pathway.
That line of thought may hold back the inhabitants of this world, but not him. Kale knew that he could do it. No, he had to do it because this was his only choice.
There will be an entrance exam within a week; the Association's Master Artificers will serve as judges to determine which candidates are qualified to join and which are not.
Kale had already read the requirements to participate; the exam did allow Tamer and Psion Awakens to participate. But no one of those paths ever did.
Now, the things he needed to do were to gather the necessary funds to participate hastily. Once the funds were deposited, they would allow the contestants into the Association's outer library. The place that contained all the necessary knowledge to study for the exam.
People could start studying there almost a month before the exam date, which is what most candidates do, but Kale would have to do it in five or six days at most, and then ace it so well that the Association would have no choice but to let him in.