Michael wanted to learn how to overcome the burden brought by the death of his people. To be precise, he had to learn how to ensure that deaths wouldn't degrade his mental strength and sanity.
Michael understood that he was too emotional about the deaths of his subjects. More subjects were bound to die in the future, and that the numbers would increase as the strength of his enemies increased exponentially. However, Michael knew that his instinct would always make him jump into the fiery pits of hell to rescue his people, even if they had a 0.1% shot at survival.
But he couldn't save everyone no matter what. Everyone understood that, and Michael had to learn to live with this understanding as well.
"Please help me to become a great Lord!" Michael requested Kraft Viton, his voice overflowing with determination.
He knew that he could become a better Lord. He had to be.
The old man smiled at the youthful Lord. Michael was a good guy. There was no reason to deny his request – even though Kraft Viton swore himself to never teach anyone ever again. Too many suffered from his tutelage no matter how good his intentions had been.
"My training will be painful. It will burden your mind and spirit. Your will has to grow stronger and you might have to do things that go against your principles. Are you willing to go against your principles and ideals to receive tutelage from me?" Kraft Viton asked, his voice deadly serious.
Michael's lips parted, but his mouth shut in the next moment. He looked at the old man for a while and furrowed his eyebrows.
"I won't go against my principles. All I want is to become a better Lord, and I will definitely not endanger my subjects for that purpose. My highest priority as a Lord ought to be to protect my people and strengthen everyone, including my subjects, NOT hurting them. If that's what you mean by going against my principles and ideals," Michael shook his head, rejecting Kraft Viton's condition.
There was no need to give it any second thoughts. Michael wanted to learn from Kraft Viton, but he was not going to let go of his principles and ideals for that sake. It was not worth it.
"Good."
Kraft Viton's serious expression softened and the corner of his lip curled upward.
"I wouldn't want that either."
Michael raised an eyebrow.
"Was that a test?"
Kraft Viton didn't say anything but the silence filling the office was an answer in itself. His 'condition' was definitely a test of his character., probably the first of many.
"I swore to myself to never pick up teaching again. That means I'm breaking my promise to mentor you," Kraft Viton said, taking Michael by surprise. Michael didn't even know that Kraft Viton had been a proper mentor before, though it did make sense.
"I…"
"There is no need for you to say anything. I will teach you because I think you should be taught properly. Maybe the Matriarch of the Seraph Family would give you some nice pieces of advice as well, but I would rather teach you myself. That way, I do not have to worry."
'Worry? About what?'
"Either way. The promise I made has nothing to do with you. However, I do hope that you can trust me a little bit more. I'm curious about your powers and I wish to support you in more than just one way. Maybe, I can help you make more use of your power," Kraft Viton requested.
Michael halted in his tracks.
"Will you not teach me if I decide to not tell you anything about my power?"
"No. My request is unrelated to the offer. I'm just curious."
Michael nodded his head slowly.
"In that case…let me think about it," He mumbled, "It should be fine if I tell you about my power, if and only if…you sign a Soul Pact with me."
Kraft Viton was not a Descendant. He wouldn't be interrogated by the higher-ups of his family, or…anyone. Signing a Soul Pact with an NDA with Kraft Viton shouldn't be a problem.
"That's great!" Kraft Viton exclaimed, slightly surprised that Michael was willing to reveal his powers that easily.
However, the negotiation about the Soul Pact's terms that followed after, made it clear that Michael was not a greenhorn anymore. It also showed that Michael valued the secrets of his Soultrait much higher than the facts that have already been exposed to High Society.
'How interesting!'
At the end of the day, the Soul Pact between Kraft Viton and Michael Fang had been established. It was a complex NDA Soul Pact that prevented Kraft Viton from revealing anything about Extraction and the other secrets Michael may or may not reveal in the future. Kraft Viton was forced to ensure that nobody would ever learn about their discussions and that none of their chats would be shared with anyone else.
If someone were to hear and forward information that Michael shared with Kraft Viton, the Soul Pact would determine Kraft Viton as the perpetrator and execute the punishment accordingly.
Under the circumstance that Kraft Viton broke the Soul Pact, Kraft Viton, as an individual, and everyone, and everything belonging to him would become part of Michael's possession. Kraft Viton would become his slave until the day he died. This included Kraft Viton's territory, the subordinates linked to Kraft Viton's Lord Power and so on.
"Done?" Kraft Viton asked rhetorically, his eyes glimmering. He retrieved a metal box with numerous intricate patterns and letters engraved on the surface and underneath. The box was triggered and thrown to the ground a moment later.
A semi-translucent dome spread out from the box, covering the entire room, momentarily deactivating all devices within the room. But that was not all the dome did. The dome acted as a sound-barrier as well.
"Tell me about your lovely power!" Kraft Viton requested, while Michael was engrossed in observing the intricate patterns of the box. The magical container and the dome's effect were quite interesting, after all.
Michael grinned at the old man after he diverted his attention from the metal box. Kraft Viton seemed much younger all of a sudden, the vigor in his eyes overflowing.
Michael gestured to Kraft Viton to wait a second. He retrieved a Mythic Summoning Scroll, 25 Summoning Scroll Fragments, an Artifact, a Memory Orb, a SoulStar Fragment and another Soultrait Symbol.
"To put it in very simple terms, my power allows me to extract additional loot from the enemies I've killed. It's already enough if I contributed to the battle, or if my subjects killed the entity. I can extract Summoning Scroll Fragments and combine them into Summoning Scrolls," Michael explained right before making a demonstration.
The Scroll Fragments shone brightly and transformed into a Summoning Scroll. He then pointed at the Mythic Summoning Scroll, "I can also create Mythic Summoning Scrolls…and other scrolls. By bartering Mythic Scrolls with Ordinary Scrolls, I can create an infinite loop to create more and more Mythic Scrolls. That might take a while but it should be possible with enough discretion and the right connections."
Michael pointed at the Memory Orb, the SoulStar Fragment, and the Soultrait Symbol, "Awakened provide special loot. This includes a portion of their War Rune's storage space, a Memory Orb containing parts of their memories – random memories to a certain extent –, Soulstar Fragments according to the power level of the target, and occasionally, Soultrait Symbols as well."
Kraft Viton's eyes widened but he was not the only one who was surprised. Michael shut his mouth the moment he finished giving the old man a quick summary of Extraction's uses. He didn't plan to disclose Kraft Viton this much, yet the words spurted out of his mouth like a waterfall. There was not much he left out.
However, despite telling Kraft Viton much more than he told everybody else, Michael did not feel uneasy. He was mostly surprised at himself for letting someone in on his secrets, but there was also a tinge of relief. It was a good feeling to disclose someone this much about his powers.
"Your Soultrait generates more loot, and creates special loot from Awakened. That means events like the Interdimensional Flag War and large-scale wars in the Origin Expanse allow you to earn a tremendous amount of strength. That's amazing," Kraft Viton mumbled.
He didn't say anything else for the next five minutes, his train of thought leading to various conclusions and thoughts. The dots connected and various events and power-ups related to Michael started to make sense.
"I read reports about the last battle in the Interdimensional Flag War. Was that the same power?" Kraft Viton inquired at last.
"It was the same, yeah. I can use this ability in more than one way," Michael nodded, though he was not sure what exactly happened in the last fight against the Tekur. He had been too busy thinking about what to do with High Society, the human traitors, the Supreme Human Alliance, the Seraph family, and the Tritan Alliance, to clear his mind and think about the power residing within him.
Kraft Viton and Michael Fang spent the next ten minutes talking about his powers. There was no need for Michael to hide too many pieces of information, but it was not as if he revealed everything. Michael left enough secrets to himself to stay safe and sound.
After their short chat, it was about time to part ways. Kraft Viton was willing to instruct Michael immediately, but he had to finish some other tasks first. He had yet to initiate the Soul Energy Fusion Project, or set up a large-scale auction for Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs respectively. There was a lot to do. Therefore, he gave Michael a few days off before their lessons would begin.
Once they separated, Michael went to his room. Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Most of them were about the issues at hand and possible solutions. However, Michael's mind was also back-pedaling to the ability he'd unleashed at the end of the Interdimensional Flag War.
Only now did he get the time to wonder about it as he scratched his head. What exactly happened during the final battle?
