559 Complaints
Sun Demos was not the only one who complained to Michael. The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was merely the first of his many subordinates.
Following Sun Demos' departure to act as the future guardian of his master's territory, complaints from the Lesser Elementals and the members of the Sacred Knight Temple reached Michael.
["The Lesser Elementals want to join the war in the Savannah Region. They heard about the heroic tales of their brethren and they desire to create their own heroic tales."] Zeroa informed him. She forwarded a few more comments from the Lesser Elementals, making it clear that the Elementals didn't want to rot away in their society underground. They wanted to help Michael and their Empress to protect and expand their territory, while also seeing the breathtaking scenery in the outside world.
"My students hope that you can allow them to join the next battle as well. I know that you're worried about their well-being, but there is no need for that. Each and every single one of them knows what might happen on the battlefield. Thus, you cannot pull them away from all battles. They need to learn how to fight life-and-death battles and the Savannah's Regional War is the most suitable to achieve that. There are no Higher Lifeforms on the battlefield, after all," Siegfried Dracoon said as he approached his Lord.
Michael turned to the Immortal Knight and nodded, "I know that I shouldn't restrain them. They can leave with the Awakened once everyone has recuperated.
"But tell them that I won't return to the Savannah Region for the time being. That means they have to rely on their own combat prowess, tactical understanding and situational awareness to survive," Michael added. He wanted to keep fighting in the Savannah's Regional War but he had put aside his job and responsibilities as a Lord long enough.
More than enough time had passed since he obtained the treasures from the Bartholomew's Soultrait Symbol Auction, but he had yet to extract the impurities within the Summoning Cores. He had been so busy that he didn't even install the Cores yet!
He had to tell the Immortal Knight a few more things but that didn't take long. Once their discussion was over – with Michael allowing everyone who wanted to join the Regional War to do that – Michael retrieved a small obsidian token. Thick crimson veins passed through the token, creating intricate patterns all over the obsidian's surface.
"Take this. It's a Bloodline Upgrade Token. Once you break the token, your bloodline will be upgraded. I don't know how painful that will be but considering that you sustained some major injuries which decayed a portion of your body, I guess it will be very painful," He explained.
"It will probably take a while as well, and consume a tremendous amount of resources. So, take this as well!" Michael added, while retrieving piles of Inferior Energy Stones and Intermediate Nutrient Pills to support Siegfried's bloodline upgrade.
"I…I don't know what to say. This is…unbelievable," Siegfried responded after a while. He'd been speechlessly staring at the Bloodline Upgrade Token and he couldn't believe what was happening. The Immortal Knight had already accepted his fate. He accepted that he would never be able to join his students onto the battlefield. The day he was summoned, he knew that all he could do was share his knowledge, train students to become stronger and fend for themselves, and to recreate the Sacred Knight Temple.
It was not a boring life. Training his ambitious learners was entertaining, and it felt great to witness the reappearance of the Sacred Knight Temple. However, none of that was the same as being out on the battlefield, feeling the electrifying tension spreading all over the battlefield, and fighting with his life on the line.
The Immortal Knight was thirsty for action. He wanted to fight again, but he knew that he would never be able to do so. His battle spirit remained but his youth and fighting powers had been taken from him.
But the Bloodline Upgrade Token could change everything. Siegfried Dracoon could tell from the bottom of his heart that the Bloodline Upgrade Token was the solution to all of his problems.
He couldn't believe that his master was willing to give him something like this. Just like that. Michael didn't even request anything in return. If anything, Michael gave Siegfried more than that. He provided the Immortal Knight with everything he could possibly need to initiate the bloodline upgrade and overcome it without any difficulties.
"There is no need to say anything. But if you want to say something, how about 'Thank you'? That's all there is to say," Michael shrugged, "At the end of the day, actions reveal more about someone than words. So if you're really thankful, keep doing what you have been doing. That's all I wish for."
The Immortal Knight observed at his Lord, his expression softening.
"Thank you." He said from the bottom of his heart. "Thank you very much!"
Michael nodded back at Immortal Knight's heartfelt expression of gratitude. He didn't know what to say. Instead, he cleared his throat and wished Immortal Knight good luck and a successful bloodline upgrade.
Afterward, they went their separate ways. The Immortal Knight retreated to upgrade his bloodline. He looked ahead to it, excitement filling his heart.
Michael was ready to dive into his to-do list of things he'd pushed aside for over a week, but there was something else he had to do before he got started.
He had to integrate some changes into the Jungle Point System. Mekhaz's words and his piece of advice might not be entirely correct, but his sneaky comments were not wrong either. It was not like Michael wanted to restrain his subordinates in some way. Now that he had given it some thought, it would help Michael if his subordinates managed to collect enough Jungle Points to purchase a Soultrait Symbol and Soultrait Upgrades without having to kill hundreds of powerful Awakened. Nonetheless, it was a fact that Michael didn't want to turn Soultrait Symbols into something 'ordinary'. He hoped that the Soultrait Symbols from the Jungle Point Shop could remain special. Therefore, the prices couldn't be too low.
'The price for everyone's first Soultrait Symbol will be heavily discounted. The second Soultrait Symbol won't have a discount, and the price from the 3rd Soultrait onward will increase exponentially. I should do the same with SoulStar Fragments.'
'The price for the first three upgrades, which is equivalent to roughly 500 SoulStar Fragments, will be cheap and easy to procure, but the following upgrades will cost a lot more. Most won't be able to increase their Soultrait to 5-Star anytime soon, which gives me enough time to harvest more Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments to upgrade my strength as well…'
Michael implemented the changes without further delay. It was a good thing if his subordinates grew stronger. His subordinates were part of his territory's military force, after all. Stronger subordinates were harder to kill as well. Nourishing a small elite force by giving each of them several Soultraits sounded much more pleasant than hiring thousands of Awakened in bulk. After all, he didn't have the means to nourish thousands of Awakened.
It was also a good thing that Micheal integrated a special clause into the Soul Pact of his subordinates. Once they purchased a Soultrait Symbol, their Soul Pact would tighten, preventing the Awakened from betraying Michael even if he were to surrender his Lord power. Furthermore, the Awakened would be forced into fusing with the Soultrait Symbol they'd purchased.
Michael added this clause to the Soul Pact to prevent his Awakened from selling Soultrait Symbols to other forces, or to exchange them with others. They would have to fuse the Soultrait Symbol they'd purchased, or their Soul Pact would shatter, bursting the Awakened's heart and insides in one go.
It might sound cruel, but Michael couldn't think of a better clause to prevent other forces from procuring his Soultrait Symbols for a cheap price. He didn't want his generosity to come back to bite him.
Once he was done altering the Jungle Point System, Michael checked how many Awakened were already close to purchasing their first Soultrait Symbol. Since they'd returned a while ago, the dashboard inside the Jungle Shop had been updated. Everyone's Jungle Points were listed, and their achievements were neatly written down in the Jungle Shop's log.
Bureaucracy was an annoying thing that had to be done properly in every territory, but the paperwork for certain tasks didn't seem like a big problem. In fact, most people liked paperwork that given them benefits. Therefore, everyone who had been fighting in the Regional War finished their report swiftly. They provided hard evidence to back their claims, completed their reports, and were given Jungle Points not long after.
"Thaor is doing much better than expected, but Mekhaz is much faster. That's not unexpected. But then again, none of the newcomers can retain up with Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. They'll have to procure their 2nd Soultrait Symbol and upgrade it to 4-Star before they can desire to keep up with them," Michael snickered lightly.
He turned away from the dashboard before he gestured to his attendant.
"Make a list and tell everyone that they have to hand over an official application if they want to join the Savannah's Regional War. I want to know their strengths, weaknesses, rank, and the reason they want to join the Regional War. If their rank is too low, or their reasoning seems off, reject them," Michael ordered heartlessly.
"I don't want anyone who endangers their comrades. If they're too weak or their reasoning is not serious, they should focus on growing more durable and changing their attitude by training hard in a secure environment. It won't do them any good if they move out and fight desperately, just to surrender their lives at the end of the day."
