Michael's gaze slowly swept through the entire hall. He studied the reaction of the powerhouses in front of him, while continuing to smile faintly.
His clear eyes gleamed brightly, without a trace of fear or worry. It felt like Michael didn't feel the heavy pressure in the room, or understood the gravity of the situation.
Palika Mavenham, the Chieftain of the Berserkers, stared at Michael for a few seconds and beckoned him to come closer.
"Are you certain that you can do it? You are not playing around, right?" The Chieftain asked in a gruff voice. He was exhausted but that didn't change the tremendous aura enveloping the huge Berserker.
"I can probably do it, and I am certainly not playing around," Michael responded with a nod.
"Probably? That's not very convincing," The War Priestess intervened, her voice sharp as a blade.
"Then let me be more convincing," Michael merely said, "I can most likely do it. However, you have to take into consideration that I'm only a Lesser Lifeform at the 2nd Tier, and that the criminal is a Higher Lifeform at the 4th Tier. As long as there is a way to weaken his mind by inflicting mental attacks or something like that, I can do it."
Michael's voice was filled with confidence and determination. He wanted to catch Dark Heavens just like everyone else. However, there was something else residing deep within him that increased Michael's desire to find and obliterate Dark Heavens. It was just that he had no idea what exactly made him strive for that goal.
"We shouldn't assign such an important task to a lowly–...I mean low-ranked youth. It's just like he said. He is a Lesser Lifeform and not 100% certain that he can get what we want. We don't even know if he has what it takes!" A middle-aged woman from one of the Great Three Academies suggested. She insisted on waiting for a professional to arrive to crack the Traitor's mind.
"If we lose him we will not only lose the Tritaenus, but also the only way to find out more about Dark Heavens' future plans and the names of their spies!" Another human opined. This time, it was an elderly man, an elder from one of the Big Five Universities.
He looked at Michael sharply, only for his eyes to linger on his War Rune for a quarter of a second, "To think that a nobody like you has been chosen. What a disgrace to the Seraph Family."
"I think the Seraph family would be happy to have someone like me in their family. That's much better than some old pervert becoming Maria's Primal Amplifier. I don't look that bad, and I'm definitely not some old pedophile, who would ogle at their beloved treasure," Michael retorted, staring straight into the Elder's eyes.
A bright smile blossomed on his face as he saw the Elder's wrinkled face twitch twice.
"What did you just say? How dare you insult me like that?" The Elder bellowed, his hand smashing on the table as he jumped up. His energy erupted and it looked like he was about to attack as Michael scoffed lightly.
"I never said anything about you. In fact, I don't even know your name, esteemed elder," Michael said, bowing to the Elder with utmost respect, "How come an esteemed Elder like you thought that I was talking about you? I don't understand."
The Elder grit his teeth and stared at Michael menacingly. He wanted to break a few bones of that young Lord's body. Unfortunately, the Berserker's Chieftain lifted his hands, interrupting the Elder.
"Please calm down, Elder Hun. We are not here to fight each other, but to find a solution to our problems," The Chieftain said, his head turning to Michael. "Since you rescued my kind from dishonorable deaths, I will trust you for once. I am in favor of using this young lamb's aid."
The War Priestess looked at the Chieftain for a moment and asked, "Is that the human from the Colosseum?"
The Chieftain nodded in affirmation, resulting in the War Priestess appraising Michael once again.
"I believe in this young human as well. If he thinks that he can help us, the Warlock Centaurs shall trust him!"
"Bu–..." Elder Hun began, only to be interrupted by Alice, who raised her hand, "I agree as well. If Michael says that he can help us, he can!"
"I can use Psych Obliteration against Mihal-" Kraft Viton added, also agreeing to trust Michael.
He gave Michael a thumbs up and sent him a note through Whispering Energy.
["Psych Obliteration weakens Mihal's mind drastically in its weakest form. That gives you enough time to rummage through his mind. After all, I cannot read his mind or force him to spill Dark Heaven's secrets. You will have to do that, Michael."]
Michael continued to smile, but he noticed something interesting when he saw the reaction of the other Elders and old people seated near Kraft Viton.
["When did you plan on telling me that you are also a member of High Society? Psych Obliteration should be a powerful Soultrait as well if its weakest form can weaken a Higher Lifeform's mind to allow someone like me to rummage freely through his mind."]
Kraft Viton didn't owe him an explanation, but Michael was curious. It was obvious from the beginning that the old man was not an ordinary old man tasked with the job to tail him, however, Michael didn't expect that nearly everyone decided to accept Michael's help after Kraft Viton agreed to it. That meant Kraft Viton was even more Influential than Alice Zenovia.
Or was it because Kraft Viton was more trustworthy? Contrary to Alice Zenovia, who was evidently biased about Michael and his capabilities as his teacher, Kraft Viton's stance toward him was neutral.
["I am nothing special anymore, but you could say that I was well known in the past. My territory is located in the Barren Lands, and it's considered the Tower of Defense. The Bartholomew Corporation's headquarters is located there as well."] Kraft Viton explained calmly, catching Michael off-guard.
'Huh? He really told me…'
["You don't have to look at me like that. None of the things I told you just now are a secret. You just never searched my name online, did you? If you did, you wouldn't be that surprised right now. Haha, you really are a weird child. If you plan to do it now, focus on some stories. Most are exaggerated but there is always some truth intermixed in them. Some of those stories are pretty good."]
'Now he is bragging. Why did I even ask him?' Michael shook his head.
In the meantime the scene around him changed. A handful of loathing gazes were thrown at him, but most people glanced at him with a tinge of curiosity. They were wondering what made Michael so special. Not only was the Berserker's Chieftain and the War Priestess willing to accept the help of a random youth, but the Frozen Duchess and the Legend of the Tower Defense vouched for him as well.
The prisoner, Mihal, was carried into the hall, his mouth gagged, and his entire body chained by a wide variety of metal chains. Some of the chains looked like the elemental chains the Kitsun Lord had used to pin the Elemental Empress to the wall, while the other chains restrained the prisoner from using energy in any way. He couldn't even sense the energy around him.
One of the Guards who brought Mihal inside, taken off the prisoner's gag to begin the questioning.
"You disgusting bastards! Traitorous swines!! How can you sit in front of your enemies and judge me?!? I did the only right thing by following the–..." The prisoner couldn't speak any further as his mouth was gagged again.
"Thanks for this nonsense," Kraft Viton said all while his body radiated purple fumes. The purple fumes gathered around his hands and condensed. It formed a purple shimmering droplet of fluid. Kraft Viton released the droplet with a burst of energy. It collided with the prisoner's brow and pierced through it. Yet, instead of leaving a deep hole behind, the droplet disappeared into the prisoner's head.
"Since I have to restrain my power as much as possible to avoid activating any self-destructive mechanism, it may take a few minutes before his mental defense collapses." Kraft Viton explained, his eyes trained on Michael.
"When you invade his mind, make sure to not release too much energy. Most self-destruction mechanisms are triggered when they come in contact with origin energy. If something goes wrong, I will try my best to save you, but I cannot promise anything."
The War Priestess watched Michael intently. If he was not 100% confident to deal with this issue, she would interfere and take back her vote. This matter was too important to leave it to a youngling who was simply relying on his gut feeling to take the responsibility of such an important task. Even if the Chieftain and the old powerhouses of the human race decided to trust Michael, he was still a youngling who had yet to acquire years of experience with his Soultraits.
The War Priestess doubted that Michael had had enough time to self-study his Soultraits in-depth. And she was not the only one who was doubtful of Michael's power.
Unfortunately, they were pressed for time, and the closest professional Inspector was somewhere in the Origin Expanse. Nobody knew where exactly, and it was unknown when he would return. They didn't have the luxury of waiting patiently.
"Was his head already scanned for explosives, or self-destructive devices? If that's already done and the results are negative, I will be fine," Michael responded confidently.
He then closed his eyes to tap into his consciousness. The Sphere of Light manifested in front of his closed eyes and he took a look at Mind Reader's Soultrait Symbol. The Soultrait Symbol had four radiant stars.
'Let's make sure that we won't mess this one up.' Michael thought as he used 3,800 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Mind Reader to a 5-Star Soultrait.
Mind Reader was upgraded right in front of everyone, but all the powerhouses around him felt was a subtle change in Michael's presence.
The fifth star formed on Mind Reader's Soultrait Symbol and a flood of information affected him heavily.
Michael took a deep breath to soothe his nerves, his hand lunging forward with tremendous precision. His palm pressed against the prisoner's forehead, and Michael exerted Mind Reader.
Simultaneously, Kraft Viton released the power he had compressed into the purple liquid droplet. The prisoner screamed out at the top of his lungs as one mental barrier after another was forcefully taken down by Psyche Obliteration.
Michael felt some resistance, but he passed through it as easily as taking a stroll through a park.
"I'm inside him."
