Michael thought for a long time about the next step to remove the threat of the Jungle Expedition, but he felt a little helpless.
He read the reports written by Blaire, her disciples, and the Forest Elf Summons to have as many detailed pieces of information as possible. Yet, Michael didn't have a foolproof plan.
Multiple strategies formed in his mind, but none of them seemed perfect. Something was missing…and Michael could not put his finger on it.
The thought of trying to reach something within reach but still grasping just air was unbearable. It made him feel like something was eating him from the inside out.
"It should be fine if I leave the Origin Expanse for a few minutes, right?" Michael murmured to himself.
He hoped that a change of scenery would clear his mind and that the missing piece would fall into his lap.
"The scouts of the Jungle Expedition are still far away, and Icarus hasn't returned yet either. So, I believe it will take a while before the Jungle Expedition starts. Just make sure that you come back safe," Lilica said calmly.
At least, she was trying to stay calm. That was pretty difficult in the given situation.
For a moment, she hoped that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team could just disappear and never return so that they would not have to worry about any of this. However, she knew deep down that it was wrong and selfish. If they did that, Michael would die, his territory would be destroyed, and thousands of Forest Elf Summons would disappear as well.
There was also Michael's tireless effort to produce Armaments for the Forest Elven tribe, and the Forest Elf Summoning Core installed in his Summoning Gate. Even if she was worried, Lilica knew that they would never be able to leave. The entire EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team understood this fact very well.
It was a little bit problematic that thousands of invaders were about to infiltrate the Untamed Jungle, but it was not as if they weren't prepared. The issue was just the scale of the Jungle Expedition and their high numerical advantage.
"I will return in no time. I won't abandon my territory, don't worry," Michael said reassuringly as he manifested the Runic Gate.
He stepped through the Runic Gate and disappeared, leaving Lilica and the others behind.
"You would rather die than see your territory be destroyed, I know," Lilica murmured quietly.
If not for Michael being the Lord of this territory, Lilica and the rest of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team would have left by now. The threat of the Jungle Expedition was too much to handle for them. Michael's territory didn't even have a military force exceeding 1000 combatants. Only the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team's members were at Tier-2 as well.
No matter how they looked at the situation, they could not see any way to overcome this ordeal.
Yet, Michael didn't panic. On the contrary, he immediately initiated an attack to kill hundreds of opponents to reduce the number of opponents even before the Jungle Expedition began.
Then Michael extracted something from the Adventurers that caused the War Runes of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to go crazy.
They had yet to ask Michael what these transparent marbles were, but it was not difficult to tell that they were something amazing.
Since the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team joined Michael's territory they learned a lot about Michael, his special powers, and the reason his territory had prospered so much.
The most important reason was Extraction. He could expand the population of his territory much faster than anyone else, but that was not all. It looked like Michael could do much more with Extraction than they first presumed.
Michael didn't tell them a lot about Extraction, but they figured that Michael was in possession of four, or more, Soultraits. They also knew that he had a Soultrait that was eerily similar to the Soultrait used by the Lionheart Leader.
Slowly but steadily the mystery about Michael's Soultraits was unveiled. However, Michael didn't really care about that. If he had been too bothered about keeping Extraction a secret, he would have acted more vigilant.
But there were more important things to pay attention to right now.
Ensuring the safety of his territory was his number-one priority right now!
Michael was deep in thought after he stepped out of his room. He was supposed to be in the training hall as his individual teaching with Alice was today.
Thus, he rushed over to the training hall where both Alice and Kaleb were already training.
Kaleb joined their individual teaching after he manifested his War Rune.
He was mostly focused on his Soultrait study, but he occasionally sparred with Michael.
Today, Kaleb wanted to spar with Michael again. He felt that his control of the Frozen Nova Soultrait had improved enough to fight Michael. If nothing went wrong he might even be able to defeat Michael!
Unfortunately, Michael wasn't in the training hall when he and Alice arrived for the training session.
Kaleb's spirits dampened in an instant, while Alice only shrugged and gave his brother a reassuring pat. Michael was a reliable man. Alice was sure that Michael had a good reason for his late arrival.
However, she didn't expect Michael to be covered in dried blood when he arrived in the training hall.
His short hair was disheveled and he looked like he hadn't bathed in the last few days. His clothes were torn, while blood and dirt were smeared all across his body.
"I won't be able to attend the next few classes. I might have to stay in the Origin Expanse for a few days," Michael said immediately, instead of greeting the siblings.
Kaleb frowned deeply after hearing what Michael said. Seeing his appearance, Kaleb immediately recalled the last time Michael had stayed in the Origin expanse for a longer period. Not only was Michael injured after that, but his mood had been the worst for several days. He had even beat up Frederik and Jacqueline, fighting like a ferocious beast.
Kaleb sensed that something was wrong.
"Will you be fine?" He asked.
Michael just shrugged while looking at his friend, "Probably."
Only when she heard the slight trace of uncertainty in Michael's voice did Alice react.
"What's the issue?"
The reason Michael had headed to the training hall was to clear his mind and talk a little to Alice and Kaleb. He wanted to be distracted from the upcoming mid-scale battle. However, it looked like Alice didn't want to give him the peace of distraction.
But that might actually be for the best. Alice had more experience with the Origin Expanse. She would definitely know what he had to do.
"It's a little bit difficult to explain," Michael began to speak but he halted in his tracks the next instant.
Was he going to expose his territory, or would he keep some information a secret?
'It doesn't really matter where my territory lies, right? Not a single human Lord is nearby, either way. Why am I overthinking again? Just act like the foolish idiot you are and reveal everything. If that's needed to save your people, do it, you fool!!!'
Michael slapped his cheeks with great force. A loud slap resounded in the training hall, causing the Zenovia siblings to stare at Michael with slight surprise.
They had never seen Michael like that – flustered and uncertain about what to do next. It was totally different from his usual behavior.
That meant Michael's situation was far from easy to handle.
"My territory is located in the outer area of a really dangerous region, and a Native Empire funded an expedition recently. They want to clear the outer area of the region for the first time in decades."
Michael didn't speak loudly, but the siblings heard every word he said.
"There are two problems; I might have annoyed a Senator of that Native Empire by killing some of his subordinates in the last few months. He never found out that I was the one who killed them, and he probably thinks that the perpetrator or cause is related to the region I have my territory in. Setting aside the first problem, the second one is a little bit more annoying…the expedition has more than 60,000 participants. Most of them are Mercenaries, but at least 10,000 are Adventurers."
The tension in the room intensified when Michael voiced out the second problem. 60,000 combatants were equivalent to a mid-scale army. No matter how strong they were individually, the collective force was already enough to give Kaleb goosebumps.
"Their combat prowess ranges from Tier-1 to Tier-3 – though there are only a few dozen Tier-3 Awakened. Sooo….I'm currently at a loss of how to tackle them because I am trying to think of a way to kill them all without exposing the existence of my territory just yet. Until now, that worked pretty well, but it will be a 'little' bit more difficult."
Michael scratched the back of his head, and he sighed heavily before he added quietly.
"…I am not even that bothered about exposing the location of my territory. It's more important to survive the attack of tens of thousands…"
Alice raised an eyebrow after listening to Michael's worries. Meanwhile, Kaleb's frown deepened.
He might have called all of this a bluff had it been someone else but over the last few weeks, he had gotten a better understanding of Michael and his thought process.
Kaleb was certain that Michael was one of the worst liars in existence. Even if he had some secrets, Michael would rather admit that he had secrets, or that he couldn't talk about something instead of lying.
But that didn't really help in this situation. In fact, Kaleb hoped sincerely that Michael was lying to them right now. If not, Michael's situation was truly the worst.
"Do you need some help? If you need something, I can help you out!" Kaleb thus offered without hesitation.
But Michael just chuckled lightly, "If you cannot lend me a bunch of Tier-3 Soldiers, or your Soultrait, I don't think you can help me."
"..."
Kaleb shut his mouth and frowned deeply.
"I don't know how strong your territory's military force is, but you should try to use the surrounding environment to your advantage. If they need Tier-3 Adventurers to conquer the outer area of the region, it holds a certain degree of danger. Sending more than 60,000 participants also means that the region is quite big. Try to make use of the region's size and existing dangers in your favor as much as possible," Alice advised.
"If the topography is complex and dangerous, exploit that. If there are powerful monsters nearby, use them to your advantage."
Alice gave him a few more tips, but there was only so much she could do. Her pieces of advice might be helpful, but she didn't know Michael's territory as well as he did. It was his battle and only he could fight it well.
If Michael had time, he would have tried finding out some secrets about his enemies, and exploiting certain aspects of his territory, and the means he could deploy to outwit his opponents. However, time was a luxury he could not afford right now.
Hence, Michael listened to Alice's advice intently. Her experience in dealing with enemies in the Origin Expanse helped him a lot, especially since her advice came from someone who didn't know everything about his region. She could stay neutral and look at the situation from a completely different point of view. That helped him a lot.
Furthermore, Alice's words allowed him to gain a better understanding of certain things. He recalled some things he had totally forgotten. It might allow him to change the tide of the Jungle Expedition a little.
"Thanks a lot. You guys are the best!" Michael shouted with renewed enthusiasm. He manifested the Runic Gate and smiled vibrantly, "I'll be going!!"
Then he disappeared inside the Runic Gate, leaving the siblings alone.
"Sis…is it just me, or is Michael's territory's surroundings way too dangerous? I encountered a few Lords, but I've yet to encounter a Monster at the Peak of Tier-1. Why is Michael already fighting Tier-3 Adventurers…and why is he so nonchalantly talking about Tier-2 Awakened? It sounds almost as if he has been fighting Tier-2 Adventurers and Monsters for a while now…" Kaleb asked, while his eyes were still lingering on the spot his friend had disappeared from.
"When did you start fighting Tier-3 Awakened? Maybe, I'm the slow one here," He added, not sure what kind of answer he wanted to hear from his sister.
Alice smiled wryly – or she tried to. Her smile disappeared, leaving behind an expression filled with uncertainty and confusion.
"I think I was already close to Tier-3 when I encountered my first Tier-3 Awakened in the Origin Expanse. But that was only a single Tier-3 Awakened, and I had to fight him using the territory's whole army. The losses I faced were terrifying. The Glacier Flood Dragon of mine nearly died because he was only a Low Tier-2 Flood Dragon at that time," She said truthfully.
Kaleb's head was beginning to hurt already by just thinking about the dangers his friend was going to face.
"I think he'll have a hard time…will he be fine?" He asked his sister.
"Well. We will see…" She mumbled, "But one thing is for sure."
"Hmm?"
"If he survives, he will come back far stronger than ever."
