Michael missed several weeks of school to recuperate.
However, even after his War Rune's Essence had been tended to, Michael didn't bother to return to school. Instead, he disappeared through the Runic Gate to return to the Origin Expanse.
Upon stepping into the Origin Expanse, Michael was immediately surrounded by a bunch of Summons. Even though only three weeks passed in the Saphirelake Military Academy, a total of six weeks had passed in the Origin Expanse.
His territory progressed rapidly in every possible way. More high tree houses had been constructed in the proximity of the Summoning Gate and the wooden manor. Wells with fresh water had been dug out in several spots all over his territory, and his army had grown much stronger.
Just a fleeting gaze throughout his territory was enough for him to tell that they progressed well even without his help.
Every little bit of progress would have made him happy if Michael was still the same as in the past, but that was not the case. His eyes were void of emotions, just like his expression. It was almost like Michael was an emotionless robot.
The Starless Summons gathering around Michael noticed that something was wrong about Michael, but they didn't know what it was. It seemed too far-fetched to think that Masked Saber's death would have such a big impact on Michael's life. It was not that uncommon for Summons to die in battle, after all.
Yet, Michael had lost a lot of weight. His muscle mass had receded drastically as well, which made him look like skin and bones.
When Michael emerged in his territory, a wooden chest materialized in front of him. It looked delicate and had intricate enchantments engraved all over it.
It was the lootbox given by the Will of the Origin Expanse, granting him treasures according to his accomplishments in the Lord Rift.
Michael didn't want to open the chest at first, but it appeared next to him after he stepped aside. The chest followed him wherever he went.
Annoyed and frustrated, Michael opened the chest, and emptied it at once before kicking the chest. The chest didn't break. Instead, it began to glow brightly and burst into countless white wisps that dispersed in all directions.
Michael cursed quietly, but he picked up the loot one by one. There wasn't that much, in the first place.
But just as he was about to pick up the first item, Michael froze in his tracks.
A Soultrait Symbol with tiny roots attracted his attention. It was among the drops generated by the Will, causing his eyes to turn red. Even if the image shown on the frontside of the Soultrait Symbol didn't say a lot, Michael could immediately tell what it was…and it broke his heart.
The image shown on the frontside of the Soultrait Symbol was none other than a Sword shrouded in silver energy. It was the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait…Danny's Soultrait…
Michael's hand began to tremble horribly, yet he continued to move. He bit on his lower lip so hard that it began to bleed, but he forced himself to pick up the Soultrait Symbol nonetheless.
However, when he picked up the Soultrait Symbol something unexpected happened. As usual Michael's War Rune desired to absorb the Soultrait Symbol. The white tentacle-like streams of energy emerged from the back of his hand, ready to devour the Soultrait Symbol. Michael tried to restrain the streams of energy because he was not ready to accept Danny's Soultrait.
He didn't even have enough time to digest that his brother was actually dead, and that he would never return to talk to him, to fight beside him. How could he be daring enough to absorb his brother's Soultrait?!
Unfortunately, his War Rune didn't care about his emotions. It desired the Soultrait Symbol that had tiny roots growing out from the bottom of it.
Unable to restrain the energy streams that poured out of his War Rune, Michael had to miserably witness how his War Rune devoured the Soultrait Symbol.
Recalling what had happened when he absorbed Glacicle last time, Michael was forced to enter his subconscious. He appeared in front of the humongous white pillar of energy, only to see that the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait took root in the Sphere of Light's inner area. Michael didn't even have to spend his SoulStar Fragments to expand the Sphere of Light and create a socket for the Soultrait. It took root and firmly lodged itself in place before a flood of information streamed inside his head.
Michael learned various secrets of the Reinforced Sword Qi, but he couldn't feel happy about that. He may have gotten hold of another Soultrait – a 5-Star Soultrait at that –, but he would rather see Daniel using it.
His heart felt heavy sensing the power of his brother's Soultrait inside him. However, at the same time, Michael felt a turmoil of emotions raging through his entire being. His brother had died, but one part of Daniel would always be with him.
Michael was not too sure what to think about that.
He clutched his chest and sighed heavily before he picked up the remaining items.
There were five items, two of which were the remaining materials Michael required to construct a teleportation array.
There was also a note – a message from the Will itself –, a ring artifact, and a keychain that looked like a miniature coffin.
The ring was crimson in color and had the head of the Red Dragon engraved on it. Seeing the Red Dragon, Michael wanted to throw the ring away instinctively. The Red Dragon's mythical flames were the reason his brother wasn't around him anymore. Of course, he didn't want to stare at the Red Dragon's engraving all day.
Unfortunately, Michael could feel tremendous power from the ring. Even Tac Lec and Taros' Epic Tier-2 Artifacts didn't exude as much power as the Tier-2 Ring Artifact he was holding.
"A natural 6-Star Tier-2 Artifact…fuck…" Michael cursed, realizing that he couldn't throw the ring away if he wanted to stay strong enough to protect his subordinates in times of peril.
Michael was not sure what he wanted to do now, but his heart told him that he couldn't abandon his subordinates, otherwise, he wouldn't be any better than his parents.
'Danny would never forgive me if I abandoned anyone…'
Michael put the natural Legendary-grade Tier-2 Artifact away, ignoring the sting in his heart. If not for the overwhelming grief consuming him, Michael would have been overjoyed about the Ring Artifact. But he could not, not right now.
After he put away the ring, Michael wanted to put the keychain away as well. It had intricate enchantments engraved all over its surface, yet it wasn't an Artifact. In the first place, Michael hadn't seen most of the overlapping enchantments ever before. They were extremely complex and too hard to comprehend for someone, who was not taught properly – and someone who couldn't care less what this casket was, at this point.
Michael quickly realized that he couldn't store it inside the War Rune's storage space, nor the spatial pouch.
For some reason, the miniature casket keychain couldn't be stored. Michael stared at the casket for a while. He lost his sense of time staring at the casket. Michael was not sure why, but the keychain seemed to both mock him about his inability to protect his brother and calm him. Staring at the casket made him feel like everything that had happened was not as bad as he imagined. It was even worse, yet not.
It made him feel as if he could bend fate as long as he was alive. Yet, despite the ability to bend fate, Michael had been incapable of protecting his brother. It was frustrating.
'A calming aura? Is that what it is?' Michael wondered, fastening the keychain to his belt a moment later.
The keychain ought to be his constant reminder about the things he lost even though he had given his best to protect them. It was a reminder that life was uncertain.
After the keychain was fastened to his belt, Michael retrieved the Ring Artifact, which he labeled Dragon Might Ring, due to the presence released naturally. It was the presence of a dragon exuded – even though it was a lot weaker than the Red Dragon's dragon full might.
He released a white strand of energy and bound the Dragon Might Ring Artifact to his War Rune slowly to ensure that he wouldn't receive a backlash. The higher the grade of an Artifact, the stronger its external enhancement would be. He might have lost his Typhern Armor Set Artifact to the Lord Rift, but Michael was still in possession of a few more Artifacts.
Thus, he had to hope that binding Dragon Might to his War Rune wouldn't cause any issues.
Some Artifacts had their own will as well. It would be necessary to force the Artifacts into submission, or come to an agreement before the bound Artifact's full power could be unleashed.
Michael felt some resistance while binding Dragon Might, but he didn't give up. On the contrary, Michael forced his way through Dragon Might, using his rage and anger. The Red Dragon was one of the reasons he suffered so much. The more he thought about that, the weaker Dragon Might's mental resistance felt to him.
Upon binding the Legendary Artifact, Michael didn't feel a big difference in terms of physical strength, or endurance. The Legendary Artifact's external enhancement didn't increase his strength, perception, or endurance. Instead, it enhanced Michael's brain. His memory improved, and Michael could immediately tell that it was much easier to multitask.
His mind power had increased drastically.
The binding process of Dragon Might had been completed within an hour, without causing a backlash from binding too many Artifacts to his War Rune. In fact, Dragon Might's enhancement was different from other Artifacts, allowing Michael to bind more Artifacts to his War Rune, as long as they didn't enhance his mind power any further.
With that understanding, Michael picked up the note written by the Will itself. He couldn't care less about the gains he made from Lord Rift, but something made him hope that the Will of the Origin Expanse was being nice to the Fangs – even if it was just once…
Picking up the note, Michael read it silently, only to end up far more confused than before.
[May the Star with the greatest accomplishments shine the brightest. May his light ignite the embers of the dying star anew. May his Cursed Soul bend fate as he pleases.]
"Fuck this shit…what even is this nonsense?!" Michael cursed when he finished reading the note. He grits his teeth and called himself stupid for hoping that the Will would be generous for once.
"Fuck you, Origin Expanse!!"
