The last items Michael had extracted from the Black Bear were SoulStar Fragments!
There weren't many of them, but that did not matter. The SoulStar Fragments were genuine, and they had been extracted from a monster!
"How is that even possible?" He mumbled while a white stream of energy shot out of his War Rune.
It was the same tentacle-shaped stream of energy as usual. It dashed toward the three SoulStar Fragments and devoured them instantaneously.
'The Black Bear dropped 3 SoulStar Fragments…why though?' He asked himself first before he thought of something else.
'What is the correlation between the Heroic Summon Fenrir, the Gogi Lord, and the Black Bear?'
Until now, Michael had been certain that only Awakened with War Runes and Summons with a high star rating could drop Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments. However, now it was a monster that seemed to have dropped SoulStar Fragments!
'I have never seen or heard anything about a Bear living in the Untamed Jungle. The huge Frenzy Deer had a horde, and there should be more of them spread through the Untamed Jungle…but what about the Black Bear? Is it a special monster?'
It was a little bit weird.
The Black Bear seemed to be a special monster from somewhere nearby, but how did that make sense? Maybe it was just a single monster that had fled into the Untamed Jungle…but that didn't answer the most crucial question; what common points did the Black Bear, Fenrir, and the Gogi Lord have?
At the end of the day, Michael had been certain that he had finally figured out the condition for SoulStar Fragments to drop. However, the extraction of the Black Bear changed his understanding of his Soultrait altogether.
Fenrir had been in possession of an 8-Star Soultrait when he was still alive as Cleave Fenrir. His potential was tremendous even as a Heroic Summon.
And he assumed that the Gogi Lord had been in possession of a Soultrait. Michael was not too sure about that because he had never seen the Gogi Lord using a special Soultrait. But, of course, countless types of Soultraits existed. It was highly likely that it was a Soultrait one couldn't see.
However, it was a fact that all Lords were either in possession of a Soultrait or that they would awaken one later once their Soul was nourished through the dormant energy of the Origin Expanse. One way or another, all Lords were supposed to awaken a Soultrait at one point.
But if that was the case, what was the reason behind the Black Bear's drop of SoulStar Fragments? It was neither a summoned being with a high star rating since it had been in possession of a Monster Core, and it was not an Awakened being with a War Rune either.
'Let's just say that the Black Bear was a special regional boss and that all regional bosses drop SoulStar Fragments,' Michael told himself.
'That's valid until it's proven wrong.'
It was easier to give simple solutions than to think too long about something that was not actually worth it.
He would never be able to clear his mind if he wasted his time overthinking every little thing.
Furthermore, the Will of the Origin Expanse was unfathomable. It didn't have to make sense all the time, or so it seemed.
With that in mind, Michael's train of thought returned to the treasure map.
His adventurous spirit awakened and he desired to follow the arrow on the map to find out where it would lead him.
He didn't think that there would be much of a problem taking a quick glance at the destination. Furthermore, it would be better to find out what kind of place the arrow would lead him to so as to prepare for the worst case accordingly.
But before Michael went on his first adventure, he digested the energy influx of the Monsters he had killed.
The two Tier-2 Monsters provided a tremendous amount of energy, and he was able to digest almost all of it. That was different from before.
Michael could only digest less than a quarter of the Lizard mother's energy influx properly because his body couldn't handle the toll. He had to use three-quarters of the energy influx by constantly activating his Soultraits and channeling energy into his Artifacts, otherwise, he would have collapsed on the spot.
That was not the case anymore.
He could endure the energy influx and give his War Rune the time it needed to absorb everything for refinement.
Michael was not sure if the energy would be enough to break through the barrier separating him from the 1st Tier, but it wouldn't be a problem even if he couldn't reach the 1st Tier after killing two Tier-2 Monsters. He had more than enough time left to spare and there was no need to hurry.
Thus, Michael and his people returned to the territory now that their hunt had ended. It had been a great success, which Michael celebrated by giving the cooks several hundred kilograms of Black Bear Meat to serve everyone.
The nutrition in the meat of a Tier-2 monster was several times higher than the nutrition in a Tier-1 monster meat. It would make his subjects feel full and let them enjoy a lavish feast for quite a while, giving them something tender and juicy to savor.
They would probably think about the Tier-2 meat for a long time, which was something Michael enjoyed watching.
He combined 1250 Summoning Scroll Fragments into 50 Summoning Scrolls and put them together with the 26 Summoning Scrolls before he broke them to expand the population of his territory by 76 new subjects.
Other than two Warriors and another Archer, Michael summoned two 1-Star Carpenters, a second 1-Star Architect Apprentice, and a second Alchemist Apprentice.
The gains were pretty good, and it improved Michael's mood even further.
He ate several kilograms of Black Bear Meat while savoring every single bite of it.
His gluttonous stomach was in euphoria for a long time, and he felt extremely pleased with himself.
When it was late at night, everyone went to sleep. It was dark outside, and no more work could be completed in low light. However, everybody looked forward to each new day and was full of energy, ready and well-rested for the tasks that had to be completed in the next few days.
Meanwhile, Michael resumed his practice of the Berserker Physique.
After eating several kilograms of Black Bear meat, Michael's body was not only overflowing with energy but also with nutrition.
That being said, Michael could practice the Berserker Physique's first level with much higher intensity than the days before.
He practiced it for half an hour like usual, but the energy and nutrition he used up tonight had been several times his normal consumption.
His muscles screamed for rest due to all the soreness, which Michael had to ignore in order to start the second process of his daily workout; the practice of the Sun Soldier's Breathing technique.
Michael wanted to improve his physique and change his breathing fundamentally using the second version of the Sun Soldier's Breathing technique.
Neither was easy, but it felt like the nutrition provided by the meat of Tier-2 monsters – and their energy influx – allowed him to take a shortcut.
This excited Michael.
It made him wonder if it was possible to accelerate his progress even further.
The sensation of becoming stronger and altering his body made him feel something he hadn't felt for a long time.
It was addictive and made him crave more.
