Michael didn't really like talking about his family. It was one of the topics that caused him to feel a pang in his heart.
Just thinking about his family was enough to sour his mood. This had gotten even worse after Danny's death.
Nonetheless, Michael wanted to procure more information. Since the Bartholomew Network had some information about his sister, he might as well ask about it and try to find out something about his sister, and maybe even clues that connected the dots to her disappearance.
But Kraft Viton was surprised, even shocked upon finding out about Michael's lineage. The old man took a while to regain his senses, and he stared at Michael for a long time.
"To be honest…if she is your sister, everything makes a little bit more sense. I should have thought of that…" He murmured.
"But I have to disappoint you. I can send a special request to unlock the files for you to read, but if I remember correctly the files are not that interesting. If anything, the files show the tremendous power your sister possessed from a young age. Her family was unknown, yet someone as powerful as the War Empress emerged out of nowhere. That was something the Supreme Families, Great Clans, and High Nobles feared because their Descendants were defeated easily by someone without much wealth, great techniques, or influence. All the War Empress possessed was exceptional power – and that she knew how to use well.
The Supreme Families, Great Clans, and High Nobles were defeated over and over again. Their Descendants didn't learn from the mistakes of their peers and they began to challenge the War Empress to show everyone that they were better than her, and everyone she defeated with ease. Unfortunately, they failed, and created the first cracks in the so-called 'omnipotent foundation' of the higher society. A nobody – a peasant as some High Nobles might call 'commoner' – defeated those who ought to be the strongest, who ought to become humanity's pillar of support; their future rulers. Therefore, High Society wiped away every single mention of the War Empress from the records when she disappeared; everything except the three files in our possession.
"You know, the founder of the Bartholomew Corporation was just like the War Empress. However, instead of being powerful in terms of combat prowess, his power lay elsewhere. He had the wits and the mind of a businessman. Even his Soultrait was related to business. Thus, he faced similar challenges as the War Empress. He was impressed with how she dealt with her enemies and even envied her. That is why her files are still there, mostly for the founder to read through if he ever felt that some other organization, or a member of High Society would try to take advantage of him or his people," Kraft Viton explained with ease as if everything happened merely a few days , or maybe a week ago.
It had been a while since he heard about his sister, so Michael listened intently. He made some mental notes about things he should pay attention to in the future, including the fact that he shouldn't beat up too many Descendants as long as he didn't want to come under the radar of the 'High Society'.
Michael recalled Alice having mentioned the High Society a while ago. Apparently it was the community of all higher authorities of the Supreme Families, Great Clans, High Nobles, and highly influential organizations. As long as the Descendants reached a certain amount of power, influence, or wealth they would be put to test and invited to the High Society if they passed the test.
Michael had never been too interested in politics, which was also why he didn't really care about the High Society. All he wanted from them was to leave him alone and never procure about his secret. Once found out, he would turn into a nameless testing subject, after all.
"Some members of the High Society were convinced that the War Empress' ancestor must have been a hidden powerhouse, who used up all of his achievements to bless his Descendants with great luck during the Soultrait Awakening ceremony. That was what many thought, in fact," Kraft Viton continued to speak, only to notice that Michael's expression changed a little, "You know how achievements work, right?"
Michael was engrossed in the old man's story and didn't expect him to ask him a question out of nowhere. He gathered his thoughts and tilted his head, "I do know some stuff, but I don't know everything about achievements since I'm only a freshman. I think the lecture about the basics of achievements is something only students in their 4th year are taught. In the first place, High Society seems to hide the most crucial pieces of information about achievements so that ordinary people cannot reach their level – ever."
"Ah right, you are just a freshman. I forgot about that. You don't really act like one, so I treated you…Well. Let's forget about that. It's not that important," Kraft Viton waved his hand in dismissal, "Since you don't know everything about achievements let me tell you a little bit about them. Achievements are pretty interesting, after all."
Michael nodded eagerly as he continued,
"To put it in simple terms everything is an achievement. Subjugating a Monster of a higher Tier or rank, killing X Monsters in Y amount of time. Defeating an Awakened stronger than you. Quite literally, everything can be considered an achievement by the Will. However, more important than acquiring all kinds of achievements is the difference in their value. Subjugation Achievements are usually ranked the lowest since the Will doesn't provide many achievement points for unlocking them. Of course, there are some exemptions such as hunting Mythical Creatures at the same rank and Tier, and achievements with similar difficulty. It's similar to Title Achievements and Ranking Achievements. Ranking includes how far your War Rune has been refined, and to what extent your territory has been developed. As long as your territory meets the requirements you will receive the Baron Title and Achievement from the Will of the Origin Expanse. Once your territory has developed further, the Will will consider you a Viscount, Earl, Duke, and so on.
"You might think that your title doesn't matter if it's 'merely' the Will granting the title to you. But that is not true. Titles unlock special sections in the achievement shop, a function your War Rune unlocks upon advancing to Tier-4. Once the achievement shop is unlocked, your understanding of what I've just said will improve drastically. You will notice that you can buy nearly everything you want using Achievement Points – as long as you unlock the items you desire with the specific titles. You can even purchase Curses and Blessings. Therefore, many assumed that Hesta received a Blessing because she was the first of her family, who possessed enough power to exceed the power level rank of a Mythical Being. Her lineage must have been hoarding countless achievements over the course of centuries, or something along the lines was what everyone presumed."
Kraft Viton's explanation ended at last. It had been a bit straining to listen to everything intently, but Michael was glad that he did.
'How many achievement points do I have?' He wondered as a thought flashed through his mind.
"Can you resurrect the dead? A literal resurrection, not just as a Summon, I mean…" Michael asked, not quite sure if that was something his parents wanted to do after Danny died.
His parents messaged him that they could bring back Danny…so using achievement points to achieve that might have been something they had wanted to do. Or was that a foolish thought? Their parents abandoned them. Would they be willing to use their achievement points to resurrect someone they left to die once?
"Resurrection…is a little bit difficult. I think I heard someone trying to resurrect their lover, but they could only Summon them at the end of the day. The resurrected woman was unable to leave the Origin Expanse, but she was brought back to life. But maybe a true resurrection would work with enough achievement points? But then again, if the person you want to resurrect was already summoned it wouldn't work anymore. Someone else tried that already – attempting to resurrect one of their ancestors to procure about the ancestor's secret technique, – only to find out that their ancestor had already been summoned somewhere else a long time ago. Their ancestor died as a Summon as well, making a second resurrection virtually impossible," Kraft Viton said, revealing some files an outsider wasn't supposed to know.
Michael sighed deeply. He was a little bit disappointed that he couldn't resurrect Danny, but he actually expected that. It was not as if he was delusional enough to think that the entire Universe revolved around him and that everything would go his way just because he wanted something to happen.
That would be ignorant, narcissistic, and an entirely new level of arrogance.
"The files won't help you that much, and I'm not sure if you want people to procure that you are the War Empress' brother. Many members of the High Society loathed her for her actions and ignorance. If I were to send the founder a special request to unlock the files for you, you might garner some unwanted attention," Kraft Viton revealed, giving Michael a lot to think about.
Since Kraft Viton told him a lot about his sister, Michael wondered what else could be written in the files about Hesta. However, attracting too much attention now that he was about to fight against Descendants in the Battle Exchange before fighting with the Descendants against the Tekur might not be the best decision.
The Interdimensional Flag War would already put him in the spotlight.
"Let me think about it for a bit. Maybe, I will request the files once the Flag War is over," Michael mumbled.
Kraft Viton nodded.
"In that case, here are your Summoning Scrolls. If you need me, I will be in the library. I found some books that piqued my interest!"
No sooner had he said that, stashes of Summoning Scrolls, hundreds of thousands of them, appeared in front of Kraft Viton.
They filled Michael's room to the brim.
