567 Family Talk II
It took Michael a while to squeeze the answer out of his mother, but he got everything he wanted.
His mother reassured him that Danny's soul was probably a Living Soul with an affliction of a weakened Curse. That was the most likely outcome given the current circumstances.
However, the weakened Curse was bound to grow stronger in the presence of Michael. He was still a Lesser Lifeform but he had already unsealed three Cursed Seals. That shouldn't have happened, and it made it increasingly more difficult to predict the time his next Cursed Seal would be unsealed.
The weakened curse affliction would increase around Cursed Children and Cursed Users with more unsealed Cursed Seals as well, but Daniel and Michael had been really close. Danny's Curse was the most compatible with Michael, therefore accelerating the recuperation process of Danny's weakened curse.
It was highly likely that the weakened curse would develop into a Minor Curse until the end of the year. That was also why his mother told him that she would have to bring Danny's Living Soul back to the Nest in ten months. If she didn't return after ten months, more Curse users from the Nest would come to get Danny's Soul.
The others wouldn't be as nice as Evalynn. That was something his mother promised him. They would kill him if necessary, or bring him back to the Nest as well. After all, Michael was dangerous to the outside world.
Michael ignored the not-so-subtle threat, rolled his eyes, and asked his mother about the techniques required to transfer souls to other vessels. Since his mother had mentioned that earlier, he was pretty sure that she had some useful pieces of information to share. And that was exactly what he obtained; useful information.
He learned quite a lot from his confrontation with his mother, including that souls with compatible bodies and strong vessels couldn't devour souls. That was also why the constitution of Cursed Children was on the stronger side. Their Body, Mind, and Soul were constantly being tempered from the moment they were born to withstand the power of the Curse.
The stronger the curse, the more pressure was put on the body, soul, and mind. That resulted in a higher mortality rate among Cursed Children whose latent potential couldn't keep up with the lethal potency of their Curse.
While that meant that Michael was a lot stronger then the majority of Awakened because his body didn't crumble under his Curse's pressure, it also meant that he had to prepare a suitable vessel for Danny. If the vessel was not compatible with Danny's Living Soul, it would crumble the moment the curse finished spreading through the vessel.
That made everything a lot more complicated than Michael had hoped for.
'Will the Soul Grimoire be enough to solve that issue?'
According to what Michael could tell…yes, the Soul Grimoire could solve most issues. In the worst case, Michael could extract the Minor Curse and insert it into someone else, maybe even himself. That way Danny's affliction would be removed and it wouldn't be too difficult to insert his Living Soul into another vessel.
Michael was already afflicted with a powerful curse. Inserting Danny's Minor Curse shouldn't be too much of an issue. Even if it would turn into a problem, Michael was certain that he could live with it. Michael would be fine as long as he could save his brother!
BUT to extract the Minor Curse without harming Danny's Living Soul permanently, he would have to strengthen his own soul first. The problem with that, however, was that he couldn't even touch Danny's Soul without potentially harming it. He could use Extraction on Danny to touch his Soul once he applied 10 layers of Enhancement onto the Extraction Soultrait Symbol, but that posed some level of risk as well.
That meant, Michael would have to upgrade Extraction to 7-
Star and test out afterward if he could extract the Living Soul in one swoop to put it into Soul Grimoire. Of course, he would do that after upgrading the Soul Grimoire as well and potentially strengthen it further.
'But what about the Soul Tear? Can they be used as well? If I use them on Extraction while it's amplified with 10 layers of Enhancement, I should be able to do something, right?'
The Soul Tears could strengthen Souls as well. It was merely a temporary reinforcement but it might be useful in some way, probably. If he used it on Danny's Soul, Enhancement, and Extraction, he should be able to inspect Danny's Soul much better.
Fortunately, Soul Grimoire and Extraction were not his only Soultraits.
'If Extraction and Soul Grimoire don't work…what about Insert? Can I insert Soul Tears into the Living Soul? What about SoulStar Fragments? I can strengthen Soultraits, Aethyr, and the Sphere of Light with SoulStar Fragments. I can form completely new Soultrait Symbols with SoulStar Fragments as well.'
SoulStar Fragments were similar to Soul Power, but it was not the same. It was more like Soul Essences that had been extracted. It was not artificial like Soul Power felt sometimes, but it was more natural.
It was worth a try. He ignored his mother for the time being and focused on the Miniature Coffin Keychain.
He retrieved one SoulStar Fragment from his War Rune and summoned the Soul Grimoire simultaneously. A Soul Tear manifested above the Soul Grimoire at Michael's command in the next instance.
His mother stared at Michael, confusion and curiosity glimmering in her eyes. Her eyes weren't watery anymore. She had to acknowledge that nothing would be the same as it had been a decade ago between her family. That was to be expected.
She watched with great curiosity as Michael pushed the indigo droplet of water against the Miniature Coffin Keychain. However, instead of splattering on the keychain's surface, the liquid droplet vanished inside it.
Michael had used Insert to integrate one Soul Tear into Danny's Living Soul to temporarily strengthen it. A moment later, Michael used Insert once again. This time, however, he used Insert on the SoulStar Fragment before pressing it against the Miniature Coffin Keychain, hoping that the SoulStar Fragment would be inserted into Danny's Living Soul.
Michael couldn't detect any difference in the keychain's surface. It didn't feel like anything had changed. Therefore, he manifested two more Soul Tears which he used on Extraction and Enhancement before using Extraction with 10 layers of Enhancement to take a sneak-peek at the insides of the Miniature Coffin Keychain.
Michael could sense Danny's Living Soul. The mass of energy infused with sentience and lifeforce was clearly noticeable. But something was different. It was merely a slight change but Michael could perceive a subtle difference. The Living Soul was a tiny bit sturdier than it had been the last time Michael felt it. It was not a tremendous improvement, but it was more than enough to give Michael a few ideas on how to use Insert, Extraction, and the Soul Grimoire with Enhancement and the Soul Tears.
'If I upgrade Soul Grimoire to 6-Star and strengthen the Living Soul until it's strong enough to overcome the ordeal of having the weakened hex removed…I should be able to do it much earlier than initially planned. That way the weakened curse won't be able to transform into a Minor Curse anymore either. After that…all I have to do is search for a suitable vessel after I put his Living Soul Inside – without its curse – into my Soul Grimoire.'
If that worked out, Michael wouldn't have to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star. Of course, it would potentially be simpler to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star, but Michael doubted that he could easily accumulate close to a million SoulStar Fragments. He was pretty sure that it would be another annoying ordeal.
His plan, however, was still not as complicated as it could have become. Michael would strengthen Extraction to 7-Star, Soul Grimoire to 6-Star and then integrate thousands of SoulStar Fragments into Danny's Living Soul. He would do that until it was strong enough to survive having Extraction remove the weakened Curse while it was still restrained in the keychain. In the worst case, Michael could upgrade Enhancement and procure a few other Soultraits to aid the extraction as well. That would hardly be an issue…or so Michael thought.
At the end of the day, Michael's initial plan didn't change a lot. However, he learned a lot and applied his newly acquired knowledge to make specific changes that would potentially help him rescue his brother. Even if he didn't want to acknowledge it, talking to his maternal figure had been a good idea.
It was for Danny's sake and thus a sacrifice Michael was willing to make.
But now it was about time to ask other questions…questions that were not related to Danny's Living Soul. It was something he considered asking because Alice advised him to do so.
He took a deep breath and felt the hair all over his physique stand up on its end.
"I'm curious about something."
Evalynn had been focused on Michael's use of a handful of Soultraits for a while. She was baffled and visibly confused. However, hearing her son's voice pulled her back to her senses.
"What is it, dear?"
Michael hesitated, but only for a moment.
"Why did you and father abandon us?" He inquired and his maternal figure stiffened.
"Why did you never ask for forgiveness? Why do you act like you care about my well-being all of a sudden?"
Michael took a deep breath to not let his voice waver as a last question escaped his lips.
"You would potentially have never returned to see us if it was not for the issue with Danny's Living Soul, right?"
