The Saphire Points in his possession could be very well used to purchase recipes similar to the Energy Nourishing Pill. The recipes would be of a lower level than his Energy Nourishing Pill, but it would be very valuable for most Lords nonetheless.
However, Michael had a different plan in mind. He first thought of saving up Saphire Points to purchase recipes for potions similar to the Warrior Enlightenment Potion, but he changed his decision when he found something very interesting in the academy shop's purchase catalog.
"Zention Ore…an ore that attains exceptional flexibility upon being purified in the reduction process. The higher the purity of the Zention Ingot, the higher the origin energy conductivity, and the stronger the force distribution of physical attacks…Zention Ore is often used for customized Epic Tier-2 Armor Artifact…" Michael read aloud, while nodding his head slowly.
High energy conductivity in ores indicated that the energy veins within the ore weren't clogged and that multiple enchantments could be engraved on the Armament once it was shaped into the desired form. Adding the force distribution of highly purified Zention Ingots, they could be considered one of the best materials to forge Armor Artifact.
Unfortunately, Zention Ore was as rare as it was exceptional. It was extremely expensive and would be sold in auctions most of the time. Even Michael couldn't easily purchase enough Zention Ore from the Bartholomew Corporation to forge a proper Armor.
In fact, even if he purchased enough Zention Ore, Michael didn't really have the means to hire a Saint Blacksmith, and a Grandmaster Enchanter to create a customized Epic Tier-2 Armor for him earlier. That changed when he found the Relic of Draka. Now the only issue was the amount of Zention Ore he could purchase, and getting hold of a compatible armor forging blueprint.
Michael decided to use all of his Saphire Points to purchase enough Zention Ore to forge one Armor Set and a wide variety of forging blueprints. But before that, Michael had to continue listening to the speeches of the Professors.
After Alice's short speech ended, the other Professors said a few more things. They forwarded a few more information guides and informed everyone that they should always come to them if they had any questions. The Battle Exchange was a very important event. Therefore, the Professors were even willing to spar with the students and provide specific pointers to help them hone their skills.
The Professors would then spend some time with them to give them individual lessons and specific advice for the issues they encountered.
Michael was not too interested in that offer for the time being. He would rather enter the Origin Expanse where he could use most of his time to develop his territory and grow stronger by practicing Sacred Rectification, Whispering Energy, and attain deeper understanding of his Soultraits.
Researching his Soultraits was far from easy. It might look easy given that Michael learned new things about his Soultraits every now and then, but given that he had so many Soultraits he would have to spend far more time and effort to gain a deeper understanding of each of them.
Time was definitely not on Michael's side, but it was not as if that had ever been the case.
Other than some standard information and general guides, Michael also got to know more about the other Professors, and more pieces of information about the other Universities and Academies.
The two Professors standing next to Alice were called Ophelia Blaze and Oliver Zeus. Apparently, Oliver Zeus was Killian Zeus' uncle. Oliver was only three years older than Killian, but he was already a Professor. Meanwhile, Ophelia Blaze didn't look much older either.
Most Professors, who traveled with the participants of the Battle Exchange were rather young, and all of them belonged to Supreme Families, High Nobles, or Great Clans. All of them had the same mission- to approach the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to get closer to them. If possible, they should sign trading agreements encompassing the entire Tritan Alliance the moment they arrived in Meku.
'It was only obvious that the Zenovia family is not the only family trying to become the pioneers in the trading business with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Everyone wants a piece of the cake,' Michael thought with a grin.
The Zeus, Blaze, and Zenovia family seemed somewhat close. Alice, Ophelia, and Oliver definitely knew each other for quite a while, otherwise, Ophelia and Oliver wouldn't be able to be chatterboxes in front of Alice for tens of minutes despite Alice's chilling cold expression that didn't change even once. Most people would feel uncomfortable chatting around the Frozen Duchess.
Michael also noticed that they never really stopped talking and that they even pulled Alice into their conversation, but she kept her replies short. Even though she looked cold and distant, she talked to Ophelia and Oliver for quite a while – and that was not something she would do with many people.
'So they're competing against each other with the teams they trained, but it's more of a friendly competition since they're friends? Or will they fight each other to death even though they're friends?'
Michael was not sure how deep friendship between the influential families ran, but he could guess that friendships were either highly valued and that not even business could destroy them, or that the exact opposite was the case. He guessed that they had a very distinct separation between friendship and business.
"Are you curious about the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies?" Kaleb asked from behind, startling Michael a little.
He was fully focused on observing Alice and her company, and the new pieces of information he had obtained so he didn't even notice when Kaleb arrived behind him.
"I'm not sure why, but I always thought the Saphirelake Military Academy would be the only academy sending students to participate in the Battle Exchange. I didn't even think about the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies until now," Michael revealed in all honesty.
"Usually, all sides send 1500 participants to the Battle Exchange. Out of 4500 future powerhouses, 1000 will be picked to participate in the Flag War. As for why you thought differently…I don't really know. Maybe it's because the Saphirelake Military Academy is the only prominent human-built academy in the Lumina Stellar System. The Big Five and the Great Three are located in our native solar system, after all," Kaleb explained a little to which Michael responded with a faint nod.
After skimming through some of the guides, he also learned about those pieces of information. The Big Five and Great Three would send 150 participants to Meku just like the Saphirelake Military Academy. This left 150 spots for the Battle Exchange, which were filled with heavenly prodigies from other academies, talented youths from the Great Clans, or other promising Awakened, who were in possession of Soultraits that could influence the outcome of a battle to a great extent.
Some Awakened with Soultraits like that were also present in the spaceship. These students never made it into the top 13 of their grade's ranking, but their Soultraits were too good to ignore them.
There was a skinny young man from the 3rd year, who would definitely go to the Interdimensional Flag War because of the Soultrait he manifested. He was at the Peak of the 2nd Tier and didn't exude intense pressure either. However, Michael found out that the skinny student's Soultrait was called War Flag. Once the War Flag was manifested, its presence would elevate the morale of the allies within the Soultrait's range.
The War Flag would also enhance the power of all allies, further enhancing the combat prowess of everyone around it.
Other than the skinny student, there was a female student with a Soultrait called Dome of Vitality. The dome healed everyone in its range, and it lowered the time they required to replenish their energy drastically.
There were a handful of students like them in the Saphirelake Military Academy, and Michael was sure that the other Academies and Universities had students with similar Soultraits as well. In fact, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs should have such Soultraits as well, even if there weren't many of those since Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were known for manifesting physically attributed combat-type Soultraits.
"The competition this year will be…interesting," Kaleb said with a bright smile on his face.
The Professors might have said that there was no competition between the Universities and Academies because everyone was fighting for mankind's survival and growth, but Michael clearly recalled the competitive spirit in the Professors' eyes, indicating the opposite of what they'd said before.
The competitive spirit of the Professors was contagious. Kaleb and the other students were exhilarated, eagerly awaiting to reach Meku and start the Battle Exchange. They could not wait to participate in the fierce battles and demonstrate that they were prodigies among prodigies. Some of them didn't even care about the honor they could earn for their families. They just wanted to be the strongest of the youngest generation and showcase what they were capable of.
They wanted to be praised from all sides and stared at with awe, respect, and a tinge of fear.
Michael was no different. However, his reasons were not exactly similar. He didn't need the respect, awe, or fear. All he desired was the strength he could attain by getting ground and polished while battling future powerhouses. They were powerful, and Michael wanted to use their power to become stronger on his own.
He was in possession of enough Soultraits to grow much stronger than any of them, but he required the pressure from outside to squeeze out more of the potential that was hidden deep within himself and his Soultraits.
But before he would risk his life to become stronger, Michael returned to his room.
After talking with Kaleb for a while, he had grown even more excited about the Battle Exchange. He was looking forward to it.
The Battle Exchange and the future events were bound to be epic. Michael was certain about that.
