Michael stood in the middle of an antique room. Various antiquities of tremendous value were displayed openly for visitors to observe and analyze. The floor was made of marbled oak, a rare type of wood imported from the Origin Expanse. The marbled oakwood was highly energy dense and had a bright sheen to it. The area beneath Michael's feet released faint hues, attracting his interest, but just for a moment.
He was more interested in Kraft Viton and the old Aztec robe he wore.
"I was already waiting for you. To be honest, I was not sure when you would call. Everyone expected you to spend a few months in the Origin Expanse to grow stronger until you would feel comfortable returning from the Origin Expanse. But it looks like you realized that there is no way you can run away from the issues revolving around your power. That's a good thing. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs will like it," Kraft Viton said, smiling at Micheal like a proud grandfather.
"Running away was never an option. I hoped to hide my power until I advanced to Tier-4. As a Higher Lifeform, I would be much stronger and be able to use my Soultraits at full potential. After all, I have yet to reach a high mastery for any of my Soultraits. Unfortunately, hiding my power didn't work out. I realized that after my eyes turned golden."
Maybe, it would have been possible to hide his Soultraits and Extraction's power a little bit longer if Spirit Eyes hadn't transformed his eyes into bright golden globes, but at the end of the day, it was only a matter of time before Extraction was discovered.
"It was a good decision to hide your power since you have the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs on your side. They pressured High Society enough to pull more High Nobles and Supreme Families onto your side. Many families are actively switching sides as we speak because they want to obtain your power and the wealth of resources from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," Kraft Viton explained, clearing his throat before he switched to the more important topic.
"But I do not want to beat around the bush. I want to help you out. In fact, I want us to become partners in crime and benefit from one another. You should know how the Bartholomew Corporation works and behaves after providing a vast pool of valuable blueprints as a major partner in the Agriculture Project. I wish to create more projects with your help, right from the creation of Soul Techniques, to the auction and distribution of Soultraits and the means you use to strengthen Soultraits. Of course, we will also sell and auction your Mythic Scrolls, and other goods.
I, and the president of the Bartholomew Corporation, hope that you become a partner of the entire Bartholomew Corporation, not just the Agriculture Project."
Michael did expect to receive some sort of offer, but becoming the partner of the entire Bartholomew Corporation had not been his key expectations. But it did make sense the more he thought about it. The assets at Michael's disposal were invaluable. Becoming a part of the Bartholomew Corporation meant that the value of the corporation would increase significantly. However, that didn't sound too bad.
The Bartholomew Corporation was not closely associated with the High Society or the Supreme Families. The president and Kraft Viton were members of High Society but Michael had already researched and knew for a fact that they were not active members.
'Partner of the Bartholomew Corporation…'
"Your offer is appealing but I need more information before I can make a decision about something as important as this matter. To be honest, I think that no one knows the true value of the assets, knowledge and power I possess right now. Except Alice, and Kaleb Zenovia, maybe," Michael responded, retrieving the newest version of the Soul Energy Fusion technique he'd created.
The Soul Energy Fusion technique was still not perfect but it was good enough to be shown around as a sample of his prowess.
"I would like to consider this a prototype of a technique I call 'Soul Energy Fusion'. The technique is needed to create Soul Energy from fusing Soul Power and Origin Energy without any complications. The process can be done without a technique but just like martial arts and other combat techniques, it is much better to learn the production and utility of Soul Energy from a technique. As long as you follow the instructions you won't get hurt, which is something that can happen very easily if you try to create Soul Energy without any experience, or techniques."
Michael handed the tome to Kraft Viton, who opened the first page to start reading at once.
There was no need to exchange any further comments about the efficiency of the Soul Energy Fusion technique. It was all written inside the pages of the tome.
Kraft Viton spent fifteen minutes reading through the tome twice before he returned it to Michael.
"You're calling this a prototype? It may not be perfect, but for your first attempt, it's almost close to perfection. However, no technique is perfect as you may already know. Otherwise, there would be no need for instructors to teach Martial Arts with great focus on proper execution and energy circulation," Kraft Viton remarked and commended Michael for his efforts. His eyes locked onto Michael and he could swear that a shroud of mystery covered the deepest secrets locked in the depths of Michael's being.
"From what I can tell, you created the Soul Energy Fusion technique to mass produce it using the labor and networking system of the Bartholomew Corporation. The technique is extremely simple. That was probably a mechanism you installed to ensure that every practitioner would survive. There might be some impatient practitioners who will fail to execute the technique properly by rushing one or all the steps, but they will sustain minor to medium injuries at most.
Since you can create such a simple technique based on your knowledge about Soul Techniques, I guess that you can create more efficient Soul Energy Fusion techniques as well. They might be more complex, but it should be possible. Am I right?"
Kraft Viton could make a few more comments to analyze Michael's course of action, but there was no need to do so. Michael didn't hide his intentions in the first place.
"I can create more complex Soul Energy Fusion techniques, and it is also possible for me to create both neutral and customized Soul Techniques. Neutral Soul Techniques will be weaker because a wider variety of Soultraits can utilize them, but that is also why we can produce more of them to sell them for a decent price. The price will never be too low because the demand should exceed the supply as long as I remain the only one with extensive knowledge about Soul Techniques. However, all Awakened with a little bit of skill and ability to collect and manage their finances will be able to purchase neutral Soul Techniques in the near future. As for customized Soul Techniques, I can produce them as long as I know as much as possible about the Soultrait, personality, and combat style of the person who requested a technique that is several times stronger than the neutral Soul Technique."
Kraft manifested the holographic screen of the crystal watch to start noting down a few things Michael mentioned.
"Your concentration will be on earning for a long duration with mass-produced goods but also on attracting big fishes with the customized Soul Techniques. Most will hesitate to reveal the secrets of their fighting styles and Soul Techniques but with the Bartholomew Corporation vouching for you, there shouldn't be an issue. The Supreme families, High Nobles, and Great Clans will be satisfied with their superior products and you can satisfy the masses with the neutral Soul Techniques at the same time. To put simply, you can satisfy all parties and increase mankind's combat prowess," Kraft commented.
"The Tritan Alliance you mean. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs will obtain the same offer," Michael added.
Kraft took a deep breath but he nodded, "Of course. We were hoping to tap into the market of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but I didn't dare to mention it just now. By using Soul Techniques as our first product to enter the market of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, we can spread our network rapidly. That means the value of your techniques alone is already enough to expand our market to cater to two new races. No other corporation was able to deal with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs until now. That means we can gain a fortune…"
Kraft Viton stared at Michael, his eyes widening ever so slightly. He couldn't be certain about it, but he presumed that Michael thought of all of these possibilities when he told him that both sides should know each other's value before they started negotiating the terms of their partnership.
"I presume that you want to concentration on the creation of more Soul Techniques, the improvement of the Soul Energy Fusion technique, and the customization of Soul Techniques for the wealthy. That means you either want to sell the copyright of your technique to the Bartholomew Corporation or that you want a big chunk of our profits."
"I prefer royalties," Michael acknowledged, "You can consider me a partner of the Bartholomew Corporation, but I prefer providing the resources to gain money for a long duration. That is also why I poured a lot in the Agriculture Project. I like the Bartholomew Corporation, but as we know…business is business…"
That being said, Michael and Kraft Viton engaged in a fierce session of negotiations. They spent close to two hours figuring out the fine details of their partnership and devised specific rules and conditions for various scenarios.
The Bartholomew Corporation and Michael benefited greatly from the contract they established after the tiresome negotiations. But all of that was just the start of something big.
They were about to gain a fortune.
