"I expected this to be much easier. How are you doing this so effortlessly, Michael?" Alice asked, droplets of sweat trickling down her temples.
She quickly realized that it was much harder to create Soul Energy than Michael and Kaleb made it look like. Even after Alice focused solely on the creation of Soul Energy, it took her two hours to get started. That was still several times faster than Kaleb had been, but that was only obvious. She was a Tier-5 Lord, a Higher Lifeform, with extremely high mastery of her Inheritance Technique. She refined her mind, body, and soul to the Peak of Tier-5. That ought to enhance her brain enough to learn most Basic techniques in the blink of an eye.
Creating her first trace of Soul Energy within two hours was already pretty fast, but this speed was pretty much useless in a battle. Alice had to focus her whole mind onto the production of Soul Energy, which would be a death sentence if done mid-battle. It was necessary to learn how to produce Soul Energy much faster and subconsciously without letting her mind be distracted from fighting.
Michael produced just enough Soul Energy in an instant to create a Soul Glacicle Bullet. He manifested the highly compressed Soul Glacicle Bullet and moved it around freely.
"My situation is a little bit different from yours. I reached this level pretty fast, but I won't be able to progress much beyond this point. You, or other Higher Lifeforms will reach my level pretty soon once you get started. I will have to find an even better Mind refining technique, among a variety of other techniques that need to be upgraded, and refine my Mind to the Peak of Tier-3. That will take a while. By the time I'm done mass-producing the Soul Energy Fusion technique and creating customized techniques for some customers, you will be able to produce enough Soul Energy in an instant to use a Common Class Soul Technique."
Michael could create Soul Energy in small amounts instantaneously due to the memories and experiences he'd devoured from the Tekurs' Memory Orbs. That was also how he learned to utilize most Soul Techniques. The only issue was that his mastery with the Soul Techniques was not that high. He could manifest them but he had yet to learn how to utilize them at their full potential. At the same time, Michael had yet to learn how to mass create more Soul Energy to potentially use Elite Class Soul Techniques at any point in a battle.
Alice understood Michael to some extent. She didn't comprehend everything because Michael kept some information to himself, but it was enough to get a gist of what he meant.
"Allowing everyone to learn how to produce Soul Energy is pretty good. Even if it decreases your income, since you are not selling them as limited editions, you can earn a lot more if the demand of Soul Techniques increases exponentially later on. And that will certainly happen once everyone witnesses the tremendous power Soul Techniques can unleash. As long as you market Soul Techniques properly, you can sell them for a hefty price to the vast majority of Awakened. The only problems you have to deal with is how to turn custom techniques into techniques that can be used by more people," Alice noted.
She pointed at the Soul Glacicle Bullet and tilted her head, "If you can remove the freezing trait of the Soul Glacicle Bullet you could sell this technique to all Awakened with Ice Elemental Soultraits. I noticed that your technique demands the replication of the freezing characteristic, which can be found in your Soultrait, Glacicle. That makes it harder for Kaleb to replicate your Common Soul Technique faster. By removing it, you will have a 'neutral' Ice-type Soultrait. Call it Ice Bullet, or something like that, and everything will be alright."
Michael listened intently. It wouldn't be easy to remove the freezing trait from Soul Glacicle Bullet but it was certainly not impossible. The only downside was that the Common Class Soul Technique's power would decrease drastically.
"The attack power would decrease as a result but I could sell it to more people. If someone wants a customized technique that utilizes their Soultrait's unique characteristics, they can put forth a special request for one. Customized techniques can be sold for a small fortune and the masses obtain weaker 'neutral' Soul Techniques that everyone can use. That will strengthen the Tritan Alliance's overall combat prowess significantly since everyone should be able to afford a neutral Soul Technique at some point, and it will earn me a fortune," Michael mumbled as more ideas formed in his mind.
He was slowly getting somewhere.
But before he could start altering Soul Glacicle Bullet to develop Ice Bullet and other neutral Soul Techniques, Michael was interrupted. The door to the office they'd moved into, after finishing their early lunch swung open, revealing a woman draped in flowing robes of pure white. She stood in front of the door like a beacon of serenity. Her attire was adorned with golden intricate symbols, creating an ethereal glow as origin energy circulated through them. Her dark silver eyes, a pool of wisdom, radiating a calming assurance had a light silver colored rim.
Alice and the others froze in their tracks as the woman strode gracefully into the office, her demeanor marked by the overwhelmingly calm pressure she naturally emanated. She carried some sort of gentle authority, but underneath the gentleness on the surface, Michael felt something that caused chills to run down his spine.
The atmosphere around the woman shimmered with hallowed calm, as if the air itself bowed down to her, acknowledging her presence.
"I apologize for my intrusion, but I have some business with Michael Fang," As the woman spoke, her voice resonated with a soothing cadence. Michael's hair stood up on its end and he felt like running away. However, the woman had already turned to him, "You must be Michael Fang. I heard that my little girl found an unpolished diamond, but you look rougher and less polished than I expected."
The woman stared at Michael, whose eyes began to shine brightly. The Stigmata of Spirit Eyes rippled and increased the tension in the office instantaneously.
Instead of taking offense, the woman chuckled lightly, "I should take back what I said. You might be an unpolished diamond, but the first layers of dirt and grime have been removed already. I heard a lot about you, and your powers. Your powers might be interesting, but they are not the reason why I'm here today. I just wanted to take a look at the boy who became my girl's Primal Amplifier. "
'Primal Amplifier? Is her 'little girl' Maria?'
"Given the look on your face, you must have comprehended who I am. It is quite intriguing to think that there are still people who don't know about me and my family. I expected everyone to know about me, my husband, and Maria at this point. We have the strongest Healing Soultraits all over the Tritan Alliance, after all," The woman, Maria's mother, remarked, her sonorous voice resounding through the entire office.
"But that's fine as well. It doesn't matter whether you know me and my family or not. All you have to know is that the Mark of Fate means a lot to the Seraph Family. You are Maria's Primal Amplifier and I know that you've used Heaven's Descent with Maria more than once. Both of you know how powerful your connection is and that you can save millions of innocent people as long as you stay together and strengthen each other. The stronger your bond grows, the easier it will be for Maria to use the full potential of Archangel's Grace."
Michael listened to the woman's words but he was gradually growing tired of it. He could already tell where this was going, and he didn't really like it.
"I want you to come with me to the Seraph family's household to undergo training as Maria's Primal Amplifier. I do realize that you have yet to finish your studies at the Saphirelake Military Academy, but that can be solved rather easily. We can teach you far more than the Saphirelake Military Academy is willing to teach its students. You will also obtain far more resources than most Descendants can dream about. After all, you are Maria's Primal Amplifier. Nurturing you will strengthen Maria as well. And ensuring that Maria can grow even stronger as the Healer with the most potential all over the Tritan Alliance is the most important – especially now that we have traitors in our own rows," The woman explained.
She took a short breath to circulate some oxygen through her system and continued, "The Supreme Human Alliance is quite problematic but they're not omnipotent. They want to kidnap and brainwash our Heavenly Chosen children as well. That can only mean that they do not possess many Awakened with 7-Star Soultraits. Kidnapping our Heavenly Chosen children can change that…or kidnapping a noname without any family backing. The Seraph family can promise to protect you while you're growing stronger. We won't force you to stay outside the Origin Expanse. All we need is for you to stay by Maria's side and nurture stronger while your connection with her grows firmer. Protecting you and Maria together won't be a problem."
Michael didn't really like the woman. She spoke down to him and acted like it was obvious what he had to do next. Her proposal was pretty intriguing because she didn't seem to care about his ability to procure more Soultraits and strengthen them. All Maria's mother cared about was ensuring Michael could aid her daughter in unlocking her full potential by being Maria's Primal Amplifier.
But that was something Michael could take advantage of.
"Your offer is very nice and all, but don't you think you're a little bit rude?" Michael inquired calmly, an innocent smile covering his face.
Maria's mother didn't expect Michael to react that way. She stared at the youthful Lord for a second before she regained her senses.
"What did you just say?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.
"It's pretty simple. I inquired you whether you think you're acting rude, or if that's your normal behavior? Like, barging into someone's office without knocking, let alone an appointment. Interrupting other people when they're working hard. Insulting someone. Acting like the world revolves around the Seraph family."
Michael glanced at Maria's mother, or precisely the small head that peaked out from behind her. It was Maria.
"You didn't even introduce yourself properly, and from the look on your daughter's face you didn't even ask her about her opinion. You're just trying to control everything and everyone." Maria's mother only stared at him as he continued,
"To put it in very simple terms, you act like the majority of High Society, and I don't really like the majority of the High Society because most of them are selfish bastards."
Michael's golden eyes glowed vibrantly as he stared straight into the eyes of Maria's mother.
