At first, the Forest Elves didn't want to acknowledge that Michael's strategy worked better, but they had to put their pride aside, and agree reluctantly.
Michael was quite happy about that – especially because he could feel that the Forest Elves' Links of Loyalty grew stronger. Despite their constant verbal fights and conflicts, Lilica and the others did not hold a grudge against him. Their only problem was that they didn't like to be told that they had been wrong.
They were too prideful of their skills and capabilities.
The firmness of the Link of Loyalty was not only an indicator of the increase in the Forest Elves' trust, or the fact that they could clearly tell that Michael cared about every single one of his subjects, his surroundings, and their health. It was also related to the respect Michael earned from them, his subjects, and even their Elders.
The Elders of the Forest Elven tribe praised Michael's low-level armaments, his generosity for taking in the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team after the problems they had caused to him and his territory, and the fact that he didn't try to exploit the tribe by demanding more goods in exchange for his qualitative low-level armaments.
The Elders were known for worrying about the tribe's children, especially those who spawned in a region far away from the rest. They had been worried sick when Lilica and the others told them that they became the subordinates of a human. But looking at the terms and conditions of their Links of Loyalty, and Michael's actions of the past two weeks, they realized that they didn't have to worry too much.
Michael didn't mistreat anyone, and he didn't even think about exploiting the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team or their tribe.
Lilica was also fully aware that they had been somewhat of a nuisance until now. Yet, Michael never forced them to do as he wanted except when it was a life-and-death situation. He didn't make use of his Link of Loyalty to command them to split up either. Michael respected them and their words even if he personally did not like their decision, and the Forest Elves could clearly tell that.
All of these reasons combined together created the foundation for the Links of Loyalty's growth.
Michael sensed this as well.
The improvements in their Links of Loyalty were also part of the reason Michael decided that it was time to tell the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team more about his territory…and his Soultraits.
Of course, Michael wouldn't reveal everything at once. However, there had been too many instances in which Michael had revealed three Soultraits in battle.
Furthermore, the population of his territory expanded by close to 2500 subjects in the two weeks since the Forest Elves became part of his territory.
Michael could have been purchasing the subjects all this time, but that would mean he had money to spare after investing most of his hard-earned money on purchasing ingredients for the production of energy pills and the expansion of his territory.
Some calculations would immediately reveal that Michael spent his money the moment he earned it.
However, what Michael hated the most were three points.
First, he didn't like to lie to his people. It made him feel as if he did something he wasn't supposed to do.
Second, it was inconvenient to keep the charade up. Hiding Extraction from the Forest Elves longer would grow more tiresome as time passed. It stressed him out, especially because the youngest Forest Elf was way too curious about his territory's secrets.
Third, the Forest Elves had been accepted in his territory completely now. Hiding something from them meant that he subconsciously thought of them as outsiders, and that was not the case!
Even if all those reasons didn't exist, everyone living in his territory would sooner or later find out about his Soultrait either way. Connecting all clues would slowly unveil the secrets of Extraction. However, that was a risk Michael had accepted the moment he decided to provide shelter to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team in his territory.
Back in the clearing, Michael told Tiara and the others to bring the Horned Gray Wolf carcasses, instead of storing them until Michael found some spare time to use Extraction.
Tiara did as told and put the carcasses in front of him.
The Forest Elves eyed Michael's weird actions with great curiosity. They sensed that something big was about to happen.
"As you guys must have noticed, my territory is not that ordinary," Michael said while rolling up his sleeves.
The Forest Elves nodded their heads in unison.
"The reason is my Soultrait, which allows me to do this," Michael continued, and a golden light emerged from his right palm. He held it half a meter above the ground, and it didn't take long before pebbles shot up from the ground.
"I can extract the pebbles from the ground and do this as well…" Michael added at last, moving Extraction's focus onto the six Horned Gray Wolf carcasses.
In the next five minutes, they were fully dissected, and the spoils of war manifested in front of them. Seven complete Summoning Scrolls, five blueprints, 151 Summoning Scroll Fragments, and one 1-Star Tier-1 Artifact manifested.
"By extracting monster corpses, I can dissect them near-perfectly, and the droprate of loot created by the Will of the Origin Expanse is much higher. There are even Summoning Scroll Fragments which can be combined into an Ordinary Summoning Scroll!"
As Michael spoke, he combined 150 Summoning Scroll Fragments to form six additional Summoning Scrolls, totaling 13 Scrolls from merely six monster carcasses.
Michael could have shown them a few more things, and he could have told them that he can extract Soultraits as well, but he didn't want to expose everything. The Forest Elves were not stupid and could connect the dots on their own. They were intelligent enough to connect the large number of Soultraits displayed in combat with Extraction soon enough.
Either way, the information he shared with the Forest Elves was enough to shock them to the core.
"So that's why your population grows so quickly," Lilica mumbled, while Liopham added,
"Killing many monsters allows you to grow even faster…doesn't that mean the Untamed Jungle is a perfect grinding spot for you?"
After Liopham spoke, the youngest Forest Elf began to jump around in excitement.
"Isn't that super amazing? That's crazy!!"
The youngest charged over to Lilica and began squealing around. Michael was not sure if the Forest Elf was intentionally exaggerating his reaction, but after looking at Lilica, he realized that she was slowly getting annoyed.
One action led to another, and the youngest Forest Elf ended on the ground, his face hitting the wet soil first.
The youngest groaned in pain, but Lilica ignored him. She clapped her hands as if to remove dust before her expression turned serious.
"Do you want us to keep this a secret from everyone, including our Elders?" Lilica asked with a deep frown on her face.
It was one thing to ask them to keep a secret from other races, but their Elders were their most trusted people. Exposing his Soultrait's powers in front of them meant that he trusted them. However, Lilica didn't want to lie to their Elders.
"I already thought about that issue. It's not necessary to hide it from your Elders. In fact, I really don't like hiding my Soultrait from my race either," Michael added lightly, before his eyes turned sharp, "Fortunately, I have some hostages in case your Elders reveal my secret to others."
Michael didn't shy away from threatening the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team.
The meaning of his words was clear; It was fine to tell the Elders about him and his Soultrait, but if they would make a mistake like their youngest they should be careful, otherwise, their head would roll on the ground.
The Link of Loyalty prevented Michael's subordinates from betraying him. However, there was also a certain gray zone, which couldn't be ignored easily.
Michael took care of that by threatening the Forest Elves with their Link of Loyalty, and that their Elders should be careful with his secret once they'd been told about him and his Soultrait.
It might not be a nice thing to do, but Michael didn't really care.
He was just glad that he could stop hiding his Soultrait in front of the Forest Elves. That had been way too stressful in the last two weeks.
"I trust our Elders. They won't tell anyone about your Soultrait," Lilica said confidently after she swallowed her saliva hard.
Michael's threat caused her to break into a sweat. She really couldn't get the hang of Michael's character. Was he kind, and generous, or was he usually a merciless man who hated inconveniences?
It was truly frightening for her.
Nonetheless, as the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, she was their role model. She had to show her people how to stay strong, and how to respond. Thus, she cleared her throat and stepped forward.
"On the contrary, the Elders will probably work hard to keep everything a secret. They might even attempt to deepen our business relationship and advance it to the next level!" Lilica said knowingly.
She was behaving as if she had already exposed the remaining secrets of Extraction.
Maybe, she had already concluded that Michael was in possession of a Soultrait that allowed him to get hold of more Soultraits, and his revelation reaffirmed her suspicion?
Michael was not sure, but he wasn't worried at all.
On the contrary, he was a little hopeful of the future.
'Finally, I don't have to hide this shit anymore!'
