Michael tried to forget about the possibility that Killian Zeus would want to tear him into shreds and focused on the tasks ahead.
He used the SoulStar Fragments in his possession to upgrade Spirit Gaze a little bit more, resulting in the intensity of the silver hue in his eyes to increase. The outlines of the 6th Star were long since drawn, meaning that Spirit Gaze required merely 6000 or 7000 more SoulStar Fragments until the upgrade was completed.
Michael looked forward to that, not only because he could clearly sense that the power of Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze was increasing exponentially as both Soultrait neared 6-Star, but more because of the fact that they were likely to fuse into a single Soultrait. Michael wanted to know whether Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze would turn into an Apex 6-Star Soultrait, if the Soul Power the two Soultraits had accumulated would fuse, and how the fusion would proceed exactly.
It was something he'd never heard before, and attracted his curiosity therefore.
The Tekur's memories showing some Soul Techniques were also enough to attract his curiosity. Unfortunately, none of them were compatible with him. But that was fine. Michael was getting to know more about Soul Techniques. He felt like he was making significant progress the more he watched and experienced the Tekur using their Soul Techniques. The same could be said about their body and mind refinement techniques.
Michael actually procured a body refinement tome from the War Rune's storage of one Tekur. Michael could decipher it despite never having studied the mother tongue of the Tekur race. That was mostly owed to the vast amount of experience he gained from witnessing the memories of the Tekur race as if he was present when the incidents occurred. He learned the Tekur race's language to a certain extent without studying anything.
Michael's only issue about the Tekur race's body refinement technique was that he couldn't be certain if the technique was suitable to him. Did he have to alter the technique to fit it to the human anatomy, or could he use the Tekur race's body refinement technique just like that? The former was likely to be a necessity since most races had a vastly different anatomy.
Other than the body refinement tome, Michael procured a large quantity of Inferior Energy Stones as well as Artifacts. The loot was actually quite intriguing because Michael never expected ordinary Soldiers to own so many Inferior Energy Stones.
'Maybe they have an Energy Stone mine? If Inferior Energy Stones are not rare for them it would make sense why all of those Soldiers are at the Peak of Tier-3 despite being so young.'
Michael was intrigued by so many things. However, he decided to spend some more time testing the Soul Techniques and stored the loot inside his storage space right away. Instead of doing nothing while roaming around the dimension, Michael chose to test out more about the Soul Techniques and experiment a little bit with his already existing techniques and Soultraits. He wanted to alter some of his techniques with small components out of the Soul Techniques he extracted from the Tekur to test how difficult it was to create his own Soul Technique and how deep his understanding of Soul Techniques was at this point.
Despite extracting Lifeforce from his enemies whenever possible Michael noticed quickly that his mind was not in its best state. He'd used his Soultraits too recklessly, too often, and too many simultaneously to deal with the Tekur.
Roc Eyes, Spirit Gaze, and Enhancement had to be activated at all times against the Tekur to be on par with their physical capabilities – to some extent. 6-layers of Enhancement applied to his body were needed to compete with the Tekur, and origin energy weaved into his physique with great precision was required to decrease the toll Enhancement put upon his body.
Meanwhile, Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze had to be kept at their peak as well to analyze his opponents' movements by seeing everything, including their energy circulation. Therefore, his eyes, mind, and body were already highly stimulated by those few Soultraits, yet Michael had to use more Soultraits and increase the intensity of his Soultraits accordingly to deal with multiple powerful enemies at once.
Aethyr and the fact that it could shapeshift at any moment was not exactly helpful in decreasing the toll exerted on his mind.
Of course, Aethyr was powerful. It was part of the reason he could defeat the Tekur with considerable 'ease'. Nonetheless, Michael needed a little break after three fights and digesting nearly a dozen Memory Orbs. Eagle Eyes upgraded to Roc Eyes not too long as well, altering his body permanently.
Hence, it was a relief when several hours passed in the blink of an eye without him encountering a single enemy or ally. Not a single group of Tekur or the Alliance arrived his view. That was great but also confusing. Was the isolated dimension really that big, or were people avoiding the area he walked through?
Michael had no idea, however, he was grateful. He received half a day's break to think about all kinds of things and experiment with Soul Techniques and his own techniques. Michael tried to alter some techniques he had learned and test them to see if he could create his own technique. It was something he had never done before.
He never expected to enjoy it this much.
Unfortunately, half a day was not enough to create his own technique. It would have been weird if Michael ended up creating his own Soul Technique in such a short duration. He was not a heavenly prodigy, after all.
Just as Michael was about to decide whether he wanted to end his break and start searching for some Tekur to hunt, a few Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs arrived his sight.
They were still a few kilometers away from his current position but crossing that distance was hardly an issue.
Michael ran in their direction, temporarily teaming up with their merged groups.
"I presume that you're Michael Fang. You don't look as strong as the rumors say;" The Warlock Centaur leading the merged group spoke to Michael first. His hoarse voice conveying his judgment reached Michael with no delay.
The leading Warlock Centaur smashed his heavy broadsword to the ground right next to Michael, who didn't move an inch. The only thing Michael did was to gaze back at the Warlock Centaur, his eyes glowing vibrantly as the tension around them increased.
"No, forget that. Your eyes look intense and you look like you've fought some Tekur. Did you kill some of them?" The Warlock Centaur added, the left corner of his mouth curling upward.
Michael raised an eyebrow and used Enhancement on Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze three times before he bombarded the Warlock Centaur with a single use of Spirit Disturbance.
"I fought some Tekur and killed them. That's indeed correct," Michael replied as Spirit Disturbance impacted hard upon his target.
The leading Warlock Centaur expected Michael to do something, but he wasn't prepared to face a spiritual attack, even less an attack with such lethal force.
The Warlock Centaur's grip around his heavy broadsword loosened and he nearly let go of it as a wave of destruction swept through his mind. He groaned in pain and blood began to trickle from his nose, yet the Warlock Centaur didn't move. His legs didn't cave in and neither did he retreat. All he did was stare at Michael, the corners of his lips tilting further to transform into a bright smile.
"What a cocky bastard. I like you!" The Warlock Centaur shattered into a hearty chuckle, "How about joining our team for a while? We could make use of someone like you!"
"Of course. I'll make sure you survive," Michael responded, flashing a crafty smile.
"That's what I wanted to say," The Warlock Centaur said, patting Michael's shoulder with great force.
The other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs looked at their exchange with mild interest. It was intriguing that their leader accepted Michael so easily but everyone had listened about Michael already. It was well-known what Michael had done for their people in the Colosseum, and how he nearly attacked his own people for their sake, as well as the great service he provided to the entire Tritan Alliance.
The Chieftain and War Priestess had already informed them not to disregard Michael in the Flag War and to support him as long as he didn't do anything dishonorable and disrespectful.
"I just want to make one thing clear," Michael said, his gaze flitting across the faces of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, "I don't care if you guys want to fight a head-on battle against the Tekur alone. I will join the battle, either way. If you don't like someone interfering in your Sacred individual battles, I have no problems with leaving either."
Michael knew that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were too honorable for their own good. Against the Tekur, that was extremely problematic. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn't attack the Tekur if their brethren were already in a head-on battle against them.
That was also why 15 Alliance members died in the first battle against the Tekur. Michael did not want a repeat of that.
"We will see whether you're fast enough to join our battles, or if we finish them long before you can lift your finger to act," The leading Warlock Centaur boasted with great confidence in his voice.
Michael accepted that answer and indicated to their left. Far away from their current position, a group of eight Tekur were traveling through the plains.
"We will see about that. Eight Tekur on your west. Prepare for battle!"
