Now that Michael had no more people spying on his work and power, he felt much better. He was alone with Beast, Veronica Park and the Lord with the Energy Seal Soultrait, and since their energy veins had already been severed, they weren't dangerous either.
Michael was not worried that they could harm him anymore. Therefore, he retrieved dozens of Inferior Energy Stones which he placed around himself. Following that, tendrils of Extraction shot out of his body. They tapped into the highly compressed energy within the Inferior Energy Stones and drained it slowly. As a result, Michael's energy storage was filled to the brim.
He thought about what to do first, but decided to wing it. It didn't really matter with what he started, either way. Thus, Michael inserted traces of Extraction into the minds of the three Lords before he used Mind Reader to read their minds.
[LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?!?]
Michael regretted using Mind Reader on Veronica Park. Her inner voice was not only extremely shrill and loud but it resounded through his head over and over again. Something like that had never happened before, and Michael was not willing to experience it again. With that in mind, Michael switched over to extracting the three Lords' treasures. He focused on their Artifacts and the treasures they were hiding in their War Rune's storage space.
Michael was not sure if he could remove their Artifacts while they were still alive, but the screams that filled the room in the following two hours were a clear indicator that it worked. And it was painful. Extremely painful.
The Lords were trying to resist Michael's attempt to extract their War Rune's storage and Artifacts, but they were too weak to fight him. The Investigator who investigated the three Lords' kidnapping attempt had used his Soultrait to poison the minds of the three Lords. Their natural defenses had been corroded and it would require several months of painstaking efforts to reconstruct them. Unfortunately, they weren't given that much time. Michael invaded their minds and bypassed their internal security to use Extraction on them.
All the Lords could do was endure the pain and scream at the top of their lungs until they were too tired to scream. Michael would have felt some pity for them if it was not for the fact that the three Lords considered him a mere asset. They would have done even worse things to him if they had succeeded in their attempt to abduct him. He would have been tortured and held captive until the end of time to act as their personal Soultrait Creator and Soultrait strengthening device.
Michael was angry, and he wanted everyone to learn about his wrath. He continued extracting one Artifact after another. Michael didn't stop even after Extraction notified him that there were no more Artifacts to extract. All Michael did was switch to extracting the three Lords' treasures, not minding their shrill cries.
Michael didn't even take a single glance at the Artifacts he'd extracted. He stored them away and continued to invade the three Lords' War Runes to extract their Common Energy Stones, the tomes about their Inheritance Techniques, their Martial Arts and countless other treasures that had been stored in their War Rune.
After 24 hours passed, Michael resolved to take a short break. He glanced at the mountains of loot he'd extracted from the three Lords and inspected them for a while.
All the while, Michael heard some faint whispers through the speakers. Someone must have forgotten to turn off the microphone – once again.
["What the hell is going on inside? Is Michael a monster or what?!"] One of the older men asked, his voice quivering.
The old man was the same who'd considered Michael as a mere asset before. He was the same person who voted for Michael to be confined for the Tritan Alliance's 'well-being'. Everything he did or suggested was for the sake of the Tritan Alliance according to his words.
However, right now, the old man wanted nothing more but to run away and get into hiding. Michael Fang wouldn't demand his head just because he proposed to confine him for the alliance's sake…right?
["They stopped screaming. Are…they dead already? Maybe…that's for the better. I never liked Veronica but hearing her scream for 24 hours…that's inhuman…"]
The corner of Michael's lip curled upward as he listened to their gossip. Others might think that it would have been better to execute the three Lords publicly. It would have been a public stunt to show that nobody was allowed to touch Michael. However, Michael didn't like that.
The demonstration wouldn't clarify anything. All it would show was that Michael didn't possess the necessary strength to deal with his enemies on his own. It would show that he had to rely on the Tritan Alliance for the next few years until he was strong enough to stand on his own two feet. That was not the message he wanted to give the Tritan Alliance, or more precisely, the High Society.
He didn't want to be seen as a weak man who'd have to rely on the Tritan Alliance to stay safe. Therefore, Michael demonstrated what would happen to the power-hungry wolves of the Tritan Alliance, and High Society if they happened to fall victim to him. He created a private demonstration to show everyone wanting to sneakily learn about his powers that he understood the game as well as what would happen to them if they resolved to make a move against him.
All they could do was hear the three Tier-5 Lords' screams, but that was far more impactful than one may think. Unable to see the three Lords and what happened to them, the spectators outside could only imagine what cruelties Michael committed. They imagined Michael pulling out the Lords' skin and removing their nails one by one before moving on to wait until the high natural regeneration of the Tier-5 Lords would kick in. The Lords' wounds would heal promptly and he could start torturing them from scratch over and over again - not that he planned to do anything other than using Extraction on them, in the first place.
Michael's initial plan had been to ensure that nobody could see how he extracted the Lords' Artifacts, a portion of their War Rune's storage, their Memory Orbs, and SoulStar Fragments, but his innocent plan turned into a nightmarish threat to those who had postponed to decide whom to side with.
Even if Michael told the old fogies to keep the punishment a secret, he was certain that news would spread like wildfire. It would reach High Society in the blink of an eye, and reach every nook and cranny in no time. Michael's image would probably worsen, but that might be for the better. A seed of fear would be instilled in the hearts of those who had regarded kidnapping Michael or thought of him as a pushover.
Meanwhile, Michael calmed down a little bit. He was still angry that some people thought of him as a mere asset – not even a living being – but claiming the three Lords' treasures and Artifacts offered him some respite. It was not that bad to be permitted to do whatever he wanted with the perpetrators.
'Maybe, I should offer the Chieftain, and Alice to act as bait to draw out more idiots. I will offer them a Soultrait and they will protect me in exchange. As long as some idiotic, but powerful, Lords attack me, I'll be able to make a fortune,' Michael imagined, a small daydream forming in his mind.
Of course, it was unlikely that more people would attack him here in the ancient city. The surprise effect of Kraft Viton's trap had been revealed and it was well-known that the Chieftain and War Priestess stayed near to protect him if necessary. The safety measures in the Saphirelake Military Academy would increase drastically as well. That was not only because of Michael, but simply because the Saphirelake Military Academy developed into the trademark academy for the Tritan Alliance.
Too many important Descendants, and prodigies of the Berserker, and Warlock Centaur races would attend the Saphirelake Military Academy from next year. It would turn into a target of the Supreme Human Alliance and dark organizations, therefore, increasing the need for high-quality defensive mechanisms.
'Oh. Their Inheritance Techniques!' Michael nearly blurted aloud as his eyes fell onto the thick tomes. There were Martial Art scrolls as well, but Michael stored them away with little to no interest.
The Common Energy Stones, Artifacts, Martial Arts, and other less interesting treasures were thrown in his War Rune's storage, leaving the Inheritance Techniques behind.
Michael retrieved the three Inheritance Techniques and used Extraction on them. It was a long-winded process but Michael managed to extract Knowledge Wisps for each Inheritance Technique in the following six hours. Michael consumed the Knowledge Wisps and digested the information of the Inheritance Techniques, gaining a lesser understanding and mastery of a few of the Inheritance Techniques.
He learned about the Body Refinement, Mind Refinement, Soul Refinement, Breathing, and Soultrait Mastery techniques, along with Legacy Arts that utilized the mastery of the Inheritance Technique as a whole to unleash the Soultrait's full potential.
Michael couldn't use the Inheritance Techniques but he could pinpoint common points and divide each Inheritance Technique into different portions to study them. It was only a matter of time before Michael could create his own Inheritance Technique.
Michael was looking forward to the creation of his own Inheritance Technique. But he was not going to do the same thing as the other big households. Since he had multiple Soultraits, and the means to create his own Soul Techniques, why should he create the same Inheritance Techniques as these old households?
They were outdated, and it was about time for someone to create something better than the ol' Inheritance Techniques!
