The small-scale brawl ended after a while. Everyone was exhausted but they were also satisfied with their improvements. At least, that was the case for most of them.
Frederik was one of the few Awakened who had a hard time walking. He grumbled loudly and staggered toward Michael upon seeing him.
"I hate Kaleb."
Michael chuckled lightly and looked behind Frederik.
"He hates you. Looks like you were a bit too energetic when you beat the crap out of him, Kaleb."
Frederik shuddered and turned around slowly. Kaleb was standing there, staring at Frederik menacingly. Frederik swallowed hard and was about to say something when Kaleb broke into a smile.
The atmosphere eased up at once.
"You hate me? That's too bad. I was just trying to teach you how to use your Soultraits more efficiently."
Frederik felt like throwing bricks at Kaleb, but he held back. He learned a lot from the small-scale brawl. It might look like he was beaten up senseless, but Kaleb didn't thrash him mindlessly.
Kaleb pointed out Frederik's weak points cruelly, forcing Frederik to scrap his usual fighting style to handle Kaleb a little bit better.
A single fight against Kaleb was not enough to fix all issues and bad habits, but it was enough for Frederik to notice some bad habits and mistakes more easily.
If he didn't feel like his body was going to break apart, Frederik would have thanked Kaleb. No. Frederik couldn't thank Kaleb. Not, after recalling the devilish smile on Kaleb's face as he 'pointed out his mistakes'.
'Kaleb is a sadist!' Frederik swore in his heart. He shuddered once again and stepped back a little.
Kaleb's attention pulled to Michael and his smile widened, "Did you throw everyone at us to show off how beneficial it is to become your subordinate?"
Michael furrowed his eyebrows, "Hmm?"
Kaleb chuckled and pointed at Frederik before gesturing to Thaor, Lokai, Zeron Polik, and another Berserker who was also part of the Untamed Awakened.
"I thought that you sent them over to have them show off their new Soultraits, but it looks like I was wrong. The look on your face tells me that you had no idea about today's Brawl," Kaleb shrugged.
Lincoln and Zeke found Michael and approached him as well. They were glad to see Michael after so long. Lincoln patted Michael's shoulder with some force whereas Zeke eyed him for a while.
"The Awakened working for you are not the only ones who've gotten stronger," Zeke mumbled.
Michael smiled lightly. He wasn't trying to hide his progress since there was no need to hide it anymore. It felt great that the weight of being forced to keep Extraction a secret was no more. There was no need to create white lies about the sudden increase in his strength, or the appearance of new Soultraits.
"I know that you've always been careful, and I'm fully aware that you can do whatever you want..." Lincoln started, attracting Michael's attention, "But I think you should be a little bit careful. Strengthening yourself is fine and all, but turning ordinary Awakened into powerhouses will destroy the balance that the High Society built over the last five centuries."
Zeke didn't plan to tell Michael about that right now, but he agreed with his childhood friend, "Lincoln is right. Many families will be displeased if ordinary people become powerhouses all of a sudden. They will be pressured to act to remain at the top of the High Society...and they will act."
Michael could fuse with as many Soultraits as he wanted, and nobody could tell him what to do with the Soultrait Symbols he was hoarding. That was a fact.
However, it was also a fact that Michael's actions might displease others. No. His actions would displease most High Society members.
Of course, it was not like Michael wasn't prepared to deal with some displeased High Society members. Some wouldn't like that he gave his Awakened a huge discount for Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades, but there was not much they could do about it.
The Soultrait Symbols had been extracted with his Soultrait, just like the means to upgrade Soultraits.
Michael could tell that Extraction's power wouldn't be a problem for the time being. However, it was also quite obvious that more problems would arise once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform.
Maybe, he exaggerated the issue at hand a little bit, but Michael was pretty sure that the High Society and the vast majority of influential households would feel threatened by his existence once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform.
He was already powerful enough to deal with Low rank Tier-4 Higher Lifeforms while being a Low Tier-3 Lord. How strong would he be once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform? How long would it take before Michael advanced to Tier-5? Wouldn't he be strong enough to overwhelm Tier-5 powerhouses while being at the 5th Tier if he continued to grow at this pace? How much stronger would his subordinates become in a few years?
Michael was pretty sure that some influential households were already asking those questions. It was just that they didn't dare to act yet. They couldn't tell what Michael wanted to do, and what he had up to his sleeves.
It was only a matter of time before Michael was strong enough to potentially rule the entire Human Race.
That didn't mean Michael desired to become the supreme ruler of the human race. It was just a possibility based on Michael's potential. The potential of his main Soultrait.
But that was the problem.
Most wouldn't care if Michael desired to become the supreme ruler of the human race or not. More important was that his Soultrait provided that much potential. It scared some powerhouses. The atmosphere turned heavy as Michael thought about his future troubles. Fortunately, he was pulled out of his train of thought as someone next to him cleared her throat.
Alice approached the group with her usual cold and emotionless expression. She glanced at Kaleb for a moment and pulled her brother closer before her attention turned to Michael.
"I noticed that Kaleb had some fun in the earlier brawl, but it looks like he isn't tired," Alice grasped Kaleb's shoulder a bit tighter, her eyes glimmering lightly, "How about you help him a little bit with that, Michael?"
Alice was trying to ease the tension and distract Michael. He could sense that, but didn't expect that Alice would sacrifice her little brother for his sake.
Michael raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kaleb, whose expression soured, and a chuckle escaped his lips.
"Of course. I gladly help you out with that little problem!"
Alice and Michael locked gazes. The corner of their lips curled upward, and Alice flashed him a small smile.
Oliver Zeus, who approached the group with Alice, stared at Alice in surprise. Her smile disappeared after a second, but that didn't mean nobody noticed it.
'She is even more beautiful when she smiles.'
Oliver's heart skipped a beat. He was a little excited to see Alice smiling and wished to see her smile more like that. She looked like a fierce beauty usually, but her pure and flawless looks were even more shocking when she smiled.
The only downside of her smile was…that she didn't smile because of him. She smiled at Michael.
'What a nuisance. Why can't it be me…'
Oliver sighed deeply in his heart. He felt like twisting Michael's neck, but he knew that the kid didn't do anything wrong. He never messed up…or did he?
Oliver squinted his eyes, unsure if Michael deserved his hatred. However, one thing was certain. He envied Michael for managing something no one was capable of.
He melted Alice Zenovia's frozen heart.
Oliver felt a sting in his chest and the desire to curse Michael rose from the depths of his being, but he didn't do anything. All he did was to observe Alice…just like he had done for the last few years.
'Does she even realize how much she's changing whenever he is around?' Oliver wondered, unable to see the familiar fierceness that Alice exuded usually. Was she really the Frozen Duchess he knew?
Michael didn't think that there was anything wrong with Alice's behavior. Didn't she behave like usual?
He observed that two young Descendants stared blankly at Alice while Oliver's emotions were in turmoil, but that had nothing to do with him. He shrugged inwardly and paid more focus to Kaleb, who retrieved a few potions in a hurry.
Kaleb gulped the content in no time, replenishing his used-up energy, stamina, and mental power.
"If I have to fight you, I should be in my best state!" Kaleb declared before gritting his teeth. He avoided glaring at his sister, but Alice observed how displeased Kaleb was about fighting Michael right now.
She leaned closer to her brother with a glimmer in her eyes.
"Didn't you say that you would beat Michael the next time you see him?" She whispered, trying hard to maintain her poker face.
Somehow, being around Michael and his friends made it increasingly more difficult to behave like usual. It was almost as if being around Michael unsealed the child within her. That was new. It was weird.
After all, she had never been able to behave like a child.
"Now is your time to shine."
