Zeke Lavita and Lincoln Piedra were a little bit different from the Barbaric Couple.
They had responsibilities as the descendants of High Nobles, and couldn't favor a noname like Michael. Their actions were thoroughly eyed by their families and the informants of other households, after all.
Michael was a little confused because the Lavita and Piedra household inferred in his punishment. He wondered if they talked to their family about him to extend a helping hand. Alice said that the Piedra and Lavita households had interfered in his punishment. They decided to propose that he would have to join the Interdimensional Flag War to gain merits for mankind's sake.
While that may sound like they tried to push him closer to death, Michael felt that it was easier to compare their tactics as a means to please all sides – including their curiosity revolving around Michael.
Michael was not too sure what to think of the Greater Nobles yet, especially Lincoln and Zeke's families, but he was happy to have them around.
They were strong and interesting people. Last but not least there were Kaleb and Alice Zenovia. They gave their best to help him, even if it could have harmed their family's reputation. That was something Michael didn't take lightly.
Their actions were also part of the reason he was able to get back to his senses that quickly. He regained his motivation to grow stronger, to fight alongside his friends, and regain the clarity he had lost for a few weeks. His sorrow and anguish caused him to lose sight of what was important, and the things he should pay attention to.
He even ended up neglecting his territory for several weeks, not just his body.
Daniel would have been disappointed in him if he had known about all of that.
Regaining the clarity and motivation he had lost for a while, Michael found himself back at the starting line with renewed vigor.
Lying on the ground, Michael smiled lightly. He stared blankly at the thick canopy of the old towering jungle trees and chuckled foolishly.
"To think that I would end up like this. Who would have thought that my life would be…so messed up?" Michael mused to himself.
His mind was a little bit messy after he exhausted himself physically to the limit. His body required more nutrients and origin energy, but Michael didn't move. Instead, he kept his pores open to absorb the dense origin energy in his surroundings naturally. He retrieved a few slabs of meat that had been grilled this afternoon and began to eat it all while continuing to lie on the ground.
Even though he ought to be stressed because of the Battle Exchange, and the Interdimensional Flag War, Michael didn't feel an ounce of pressure weighing down on his body.
On the contrary, he felt oddly liberated and free for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Michael couldn't really explain the feeling, and he felt a little bit guilty to feel like this after his brother died, but he was content with himself.
He had made some great friends for the first time in forever, and his territory developed rapidly.
His army would expand rapidly and the Starless Summons who had been training with various weapons in their free time would finally obtain the chance they had been eagerly anticipating for the last few weeks. Using the Warrior Enlightenment Potion they would obtain an opportunity to attain enlightenment and become a 1-Star Warrior. That was something they never expected, but it was an opportunity to grow stronger and become more useful.
It was an opportunity for those who felt worthless to attain value and some sense of worth, whether it was for themselves or in the eyes of others.
"Maybe we can mass produce the Energy Nourishing Pills and Body Strengthening Pills soon. Once we can do that even my small-scale army will turn into a place full of ferocious monsters. Dealing with the Jungle Expedition will be a walk in the park," Michael mumbled to himself, still smiling lightly.
He guessed that the Energy Nourishing Pill was more than ten times more effective than ordinary energy pills. That was quite exceptional. As for the Body Strengthening Pill, it was just as effective as the Energy Nourishing Pill. Even though Michael never used a different type of Body Strengthening Pill so he had nothing to compare it to, he could tell that it was even more valuable.
After all, Body Strengthening Pills were extremely rare in the market. Not only was it hard to find recipes for ordinary Body Strengthening Pills, but they were also quite hard to make. The ingredients were valuable due to their effects and rarity, and they were hard to process – increasing their value even more.
Planting the ingredients and rare herbs his Alchemists required to concoct all potions and pills would definitely help Michael to decrease the costs required to strengthen his territory and army. They were basically free since Michael had already collected the saplings and seeds for most ingredients – all thanks to the Lord Rift.
Nonetheless, there were still many resources Michael had yet to procure. He wanted to take the development of his territory to the next step and focus on mass-producing the new potions and pills. After all, the stronger his army the less likely would they have issues once the Zentika Empire made their next move against the Untamed Jungle – and Michael.
"If that's how potent the Energy Nourishing Pill and the Body Strengthening Pill are despite being concocted with low proficiency, I wonder how much stronger the effect of the pills will be once the Alchemist's proficiency increases," Michael mumbled, looking down at himself with a tinge of surprise and excitement.
Given the potent effect of the Body Strengthening Pill and the massive amount contained in the Energy Nourishing Pill, Michael was certain that he could recuperate from his weakened physical state in two days. As long as he supplemented his body with enough nutrients other than origin energy and the miraculous Body Strengthening Pill, Michael might as well end up refining his body to a higher degree than before.
He might actually have enough time to practice the Ceasurium Menta mind-refining technique as well. The Energy Nourishing Pill contained more than enough energy to allow him to practice Ceasurium Menta for a few hours without having to take a break!
Nonetheless, the Energy Nourishing Pills were better off being used by other people. Michael could only use them efficiently to refine his body or mind. Refining his War Rune solely by using Energy Nourishing Pill would be too expensive and ineffective. After all, his War Rune required a lot more origin energy to properly improve his refinement degree than most other Awakened.
The reason he required more origin energy than most other Awakened was pretty simple as well; The star rating of a Soultrait, and the number of Soultraits fused with the War Rune determined the amount of origin energy required to refine your War Rune!
Not many knew about this fact because most Awakened were only in possession of a single Soultrait with less than five stars, but Michael had noticed this quite a while ago.
After fusing more Soultraits with his War Rune, Michael first experienced a drastic decrease in his War Rune's refinement degree. But he didn't think too much about it at first. Michael simply thought that fusing with a new Soultrait required a considerable amount of origin energy. While there was a bit of truth in it, it was not the whole truth.
The whole truth was that Michael's War Rune refinement degree had stagnated for quite a while after the warfare with the Jungle Expedition, especially with Extraction being upgraded to a 6-Star Soultrait.
Being in possession of several Soultraits with four or more stars meant that his War Rune required several times more energy to be properly refined. His Soultraits grew stronger alongside his War Rune's improvements. They were one and the same.
Thus, while Michael received numerous advantages in possessing more Soultraits than most could fathom, the biggest downside was that he required more origin energy to refine his Tier-2 War Rune from Lowest to Low than some Awakened would need to refine their War Rune from Tier-2 to Tier-3.
Of course, that was only a rough guess he made and not something he could prove yet, but the speed at which his War Rune was refined spoke volumes about the truth behind his theory – even if the exact amount of energy required to increase his rank had yet to be determined.
For most Awakened with high-ranked Soultraits such as Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb the increased requirement of origin energy could be solved by investing a vast fortune in supplements such as high-quality potions and pills like the Energy Nourishing Pill. However, Michael didn't have the support of a Supreme Family, or Great Nobles.
He would rather invest his fortune into his subjects to expand his military force. More Combatants meant that more monsters could be hunted, and more hunted monsters meant that Michael would receive more energy shares.
Despite that, Michael knew for a fact that he would require much more time than others to refine his War Rune and upgrade it to the next Tier. But that was not a problem. After all, his Soultraits were perfect for combat, allowing him to overwhelm enemies at a higher rank than himself without much difficulty.
Using the Energy Nourishing Pills and the Body Strengthening Pills, Michael could refine his mind and body to the peak while relying on energy shares to refine his War Rune simultaneously.
Even if it would take a while to advance to the next Tier, it was not as if Michael made a loss. On the contrary, his power would only increase exponentially with the passing of time, and the increase of his rank!
