Michael was not sure how much time they would spend in the Lord Rift. But to be on the safer side, he prepared detailed development plans to survive for several weeks and messaged the Professors and Instructors of his courses that he might not be present for a week or two.
It was unlikely that the Rift would stay open for several weeks, but Michael thought that it was better to be prepared for every possibility.
At last, the last few hours before the Lord Rift would open, elapsed. A faint pulling force manifested in Michael's mind, which he accessed once he double-checked his plans and ensured that everyone knew what they had to do.
Accessing the golden wisp in his mind, Michael got rid of the pulling force in his mind. In response to his action, a golden swirl manifested in front of him. The swirl was the size of a peanut at first. It revolved around its own axis slowly and continued to expand consistently until it reached the size of a mid-sized shuttle.
The golden swirl formed a large ring after it reached its full size, and golden-metallic liquid formed inside the ring.
In less than ten minutes, a golden gate that looked like a more expensive version of the Runic Gate had been manifested in front of Michael, completing the one-way path to the Lord Rift.
Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber stood in front of the golden gate with mixed emotions. They were excited, ready to harvest countless treasures, and nervous about the unknown dangers they would face soon.
The excitement in their hearts was on the higher side, overwhelming their nervousness easily.
They manifested their Artifacts and gripped their weapons tightly while staring at the golden gate.
"Is everyone ready?" Michael asked, looking left and right to see Tiara and Masked Saber nod their heads.
He took a big stride toward the golden gate, and placed a foot inside as he said, "In that case, let's go!"
Tiara and Masked Saber followed Michael's example. They took a big stride toward the golden gate.
The three took a second stride to step inside the golden gate, which dispersed after the team of three entered it. The golden gate's goal had been fulfilled, leaving no reason for it to continue to exist.
As Michael and his team vanished, Lilica and the others kept staring at the empty spot where the golden gate had been just a moment before. They didn't move for a while as countless thoughts flashed through their minds.
"I know that I'm a little bit late to mention this only now... but isn't Michael a weird Lord?" Liopham asked in an amused voice to the small group of Forest Elves around him.
"Weird? What exactly do you mean?" Lilica asked even though she could guess what Liopham was talking about.
"It's hard to put into words, but why is he growing so fast? His growth-rate is extremely fast, and he has to face much more dangerous situations than most young Lords. His territory manifested in an extremely dangerous location, he has a Soultrait with abilities that I've never even heard of before, and his subjects' Links of Loyalty grow stronger way too fast.
I even noticed that my Link of Loyalty to Michael is growing firmer by the day – even though I don't even think about Michael. And then there is the fact that Michael trusts us way too much," Liopham pointed out, unsure what to think about Michael.
"That's true. If I were in Michael's situation, I wouldn't trust us that much either. We created way too many problems for him to accept us into his territory that easily. Indeed, it's a little weird," Opars agreed, and the others nodded their heads in affirmation.
Even Mika could only agree in shame. He had been the biggest troublemaker for Michael even if he had never intended to do so. It was his mistakes that were the root cause of most problems, yet Michael never complained or punished him. The more Mika thought about it the weirder Michael's actions and train of thought seemed to him.
What was going on in his mind to accept them into his rows that easily? Did Michael think several steps ahead in advance and have the foresight to accept the Forest Elves into his territory for financial gains? Had he already planned to create a new market that can be used to generate great wealth and strengthen his connections with the higher-ups of the Elven race, and his own people?
The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team wasn't too sure about that anymore. They thought of Michael as a little naïve at first but that had been proven wrong several times by now.
Not only did he think a lot about the course of events, but he had a keen foresight as well. Michael also understood that it was sometimes better to take a step back to stride several steps forward when the perfect opportunity appeared in front of him.
"If we're already talking about his Soultrait, don't you think that we owe him big time? Not only did he grant us the ability to fuse with another Soultrait, but he even provided the means to upgrade the Soultraits. No matter how I look at it, we don't really deserve this kind of treatment. After all, our modified Links of Loyalty allow us to leave Michael. We're not exactly permanent members of his territory," Liopham mentioned, causing the other Forest Elves to fall into deep thought.
The Jungle Expedition might have been dangerous warfare, but that didn't mean they deserved to obtain new Soultraits from Michael. They fought for his territory because they wanted to protect their own hideout, and their means to procure low-level armaments for their tribe. Their motives had been selfish to some extent.
"We can think of something to repay Michael later. Let's focus on the production of armaments first. Michael wanted as many agriculture-type blueprints as possible. We should help him out as much as we can!" Lilica remarked, making the final decision for her team.
The Forest Elves began to make their move, ready to fulfill the tasks given by Michael.
Meanwhile, Alice Zenovia stepped out of her Runic Gate and emerged in her office within the Saphirelake Military Academy.
Her hair was disheveled, and splatters of frozen monster blood covered her clothes. She had dark circles beneath her eyes and looked exhausted as she slumped down into her office chair.
It felt extremely comfortable and caused a heavy sigh of relief to escape her lips subconsciously.
"I should fix my schedule before I forget about it…" She murmured quietly, opening the holographic screen of her crystal watch drowsily.
However, instead of opening her schedule, Alice Zenovia's fingers moved to starnet messengers.
The messenger opened, and her fingers stopped mid-way.
"Wait…what's that?" She mumbled, still half-asleep.
The information that appeared in front of her eyes confused her, forcing Alice to read the messages once again.
"What the hell do you mean with 'delayed'?!? How long?!?" Alice Zenovia cursed in fury, her eyes widening in shock. The sleepiness in her eyes had been wiped away in an instant.
She didn't waste anymore time, and rushed over to the student's dormitory. Simultaneously, she moved to a different chat in starnet messengers, trying to reach Michael before the supercomputer would provide him with the update of the information he had requested.
However, Alice couldn't reach Michael. She was unable to find him in his room either.
He was nowhere to be found.
"Right…he said that he might have to spend a few weeks in the Origin Expanse…" Alice recalled helplessly.
She stared at Michael's empty room, gritting her teeth.
A single word escaped her lips, mirroring the feelings that spread through her entire being.
"FUCK!"
She had been too late and couldn't even tell Michael that there had been an error in the Lord IDs within the Sacred Desert.
[End of Volume 4]
