Even though Tiara was in possession of two powerful Soultraits, Michael felt that it was a great idea to equip her with more Soultraits. Unfortunately, Tiara didn't like the Soultraits they received from the Lords and Awakened they'd killed in the Lord Rift. There was nothing Michael could do about it.
"It's better to create a Soultrait set-up with Soultraits that have great synergy, in the first place. After all, our situations are a little bit different," Michael mumbled to himself.
He was in possession of Extraction, meaning that he could extract Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. Meanwhile, Tiara would depend on him if she wanted to upgrade her Soultraits, or if she desired to obtain a new Soultrait. Thus, Michael could bind a wide variety of Soultraits as he pleased while it was better to focus on a selected few when it came to nurturing Tiara and the Forest Elves' Soultraits.
Though when his gaze fell on Masked Saber, he released a heavy sigh.
'It would be quite interesting if Summons could obtain Soultraits as well.' He thought, feeling slightly frustrated to be unable to strengthen Masked Saber by giving him a bunch of Soultraits. After all, Masked Saber was not in possession of a War Rune as a Summon.
'There is nothing I can do about that, either way. The only thing I can do is help him advance his Tier, provide better equipment, and more suitable techniques,' He told himself with a heavy heart.
It made him a little uncomfortable that Masked Saber had a condition attached to his life. The moment his skin was exposed to others, or his face revealed, he would die. That was a harsh condition, and definitely not something Michael would want to live with.
Unfortunately, Michael could only do so much to protect Masked Saber.
Masked Saber was not too worried about the condition attached to his life, but Michael felt like a heavy weight was pressing down on his heart with every passing second. It was a weird feeling that didn't make any sense. He didn't even feel like this at the thought of Tiara dying, or the future dangers that could lead to his territory's destruction.
"What do you want to do now? Should we continue to hunt a few more groups of Lords, or do you want to rest a little bit, Master?" Tiara asked, still a little excited from the previous two battles.
By now more than half of the Lords inside the Lord Rift had been killed. That left only the stronger ones behind to fight with all their might. But Michael was not scared.
"Let's take a look at the abandoned town's periphery. We can scan the area around the abandoned town first and see how many Lords are moving through the abandoned town before we enter," Michael suggested after he thought about it for a second.
They had roughly 40 hours left to travel through the Lord Rift and plunder heavenly treasures before they would be thrown out. That was more than enough time.
With that in mind, the small group went on to complete their next task with high spirits. They'd already gained a lot from the Lord Rift, but they could tell that their strength was enough to generate even more benefits.
Over the course of the next six hours, Michael and the others walked around the abandoned town. They always maintained a distance of more than one kilometer from each other and fought a bunch of monsters. However, Michael used most of the time to create a detailed map of the abandoned town's infrastructure in his head. He used Enhancement on Eagle Eyes to see farther with great precision, allowing him to pinpoint the location of some Lords and a rough estimate of the actual number of Lords pacing through the abandoned town.
"Several small groups are either resting, or waiting for something in three different spots," Michael updated Masked Saber and Tiara once he finished gathering all information.
Eagle Eyes was pretty helpful for scouting tasks. He didn't even have to approach his enemies and fear being discovered to collect the most vital information such as the number of their enemies, their race, and certain details about the equipment they possessed.
These three factors were already enough to make a rough guess of the Lords' combat prowess, which Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber could exploit easily.
"Let's go to the biggest group, Master!" Tiara exclaimed in an even more excited voice than before.
Michael could only smile seeing Tiara like that. She wasn't much older than him, but she always acted mature and wise in their territory. Michael always felt that Tiara grew up with a heavy burden weighing down on her shoulders, forcing her to become mature and wise faster than others.
However, the feeling of being weighed down didn't seem to exist in the Lord Rift for her. Tiara was more energetic than ever, and the excitement spreading through her entire being was contagious. It affected Masked Saber, who patted Michael's shoulder before he nodded faintly in the abandoned town's direction.
"How about we let the tiger lose?" He asked, causing the corners of Michael's lip to tilt upward.
"Alright. Let's go then," Michael agreed and quickened his pace.
They didn't require long to enter the abandoned town. Their small group moved silently alongside the crumbling house walls, their weapons gripped tightly.
Michael kept the enhanced Eagle Eyes fully unleashed as they silently moved toward the first targets inside the abandoned town.
It didn't take long until they were only separated by two walls and roughly 100 meters. Michael used Enhancement on Glacicle just to manifest several dozen Glacicles mid-air. Afterward, Masked Saber and Tiara moved around the house walls toward the right.
Meanwhile, Michael exposed himself by walking toward the left, entering the main alley where seven Lords and their subordinates were guarding the entrance to a large building.
Michael pulled Zark's bowstring back, condensed an energy arrow, and released it alongside the Glacicles that shot forth like bullets.
Michael didn't pay attention to the result of his first batch of Glacicles. Instead, he continued firing energy arrows at the chaotic battlefield in front of him.
Only after he released six energy arrows did he decide to change his tactic. He manifested the Wyverntooth Spear, applied three layers of Enhancement, and turned into a blur. The strength coursing through him was much higher than expected – a clear sign that his War Rune's refinement degree was improving slowly but steadily.
However, Michael didn't pay too much attention to that right now. He was more focused on the battle in front of him, and increasing his gains inside the Lord Rift. After all, Michael couldn't tell how long it would take before he would enter a place such as the Lord Rift once again.
He had to reap as many benefits as he could while the opportunity was in front of him.
The Lords guarding the entrance to the large building were first surprised about the sudden attack, only to realize that merely a single individual had attacked them.
Six of their subordinates ended up dead, and even more had been affected by the aftermath of the Glacicles shattering upon their bodies, yet none of the Lords were worried about their lives. They were in a numerical advantage and their enemy didn't seem to be in possession of powerful Artifacts either. He wasn't even at the Low-stage of the 2nd Tier. How could he be considered a threat?
Most Lords were not worried about Michael's attack. However, two of them quickly realized that Michael was alone and that he fit the characteristics written in the reports about the Lord in the Untamed Jungle.
Realizing that Michael might be the Lord, who defeated the Jungle Expedition and the 13 Paladins with his merciless tactics, they quickly entered a state of vigilance and looked around.
They anticipated a trap, and couldn't be more right as they discovered a young Awakened, and a Summon wielding a black sword coated in thick layers of silver energy.
But just before they could shout out loudly to warn everyone their vision tunneled. A freezing chill spread through their eyes all of a sudden, and horrible pain appeared in their eyes, only to spread further.
Michael had noticed that some Lords and subordinates turned their attention to Tiara and Masked Saber. It seemed like they had noticed what Michael and his subordinates had planned. Unfortunately, their diverted attention turned them into easier targets for the Glacicles.
After the first impact of the Glacicles, everyone realized that they were not necessarily lethal, and that the freezing child was the Glacicles' biggest attribute. However, that didn't mean Glacicles weren't dangerous. They were ridiculously fast and could still do some minor damage – such as piercing through the eyeballs and affecting vital organs right before shattering.
Michael had perfected his aim from religiously practicing Archery almost every single day, combined with his enhanced Eagle Eyes to accurately pierce several Glacicles through the distracted Lords and subordinates' eyes. The Glacicles shattered after piercing their eyeballs, spreading the freezing chill through their head.
It was only a matter of time before they would die.
Meanwhile, Tiara and Masked Saber initiated their own attack. A crescent-shaped silver energy blade burst through the abandoned town, cutting several enemies into half before it lost momentum. Meanwhile, a ferocious tiger-like being emerged in the center of the Lords and their subordinates before she started wreaking havoc, letting go of the responsibilities that had shackled her down – even if it was just for a few hours.
