Less than half an hour passed since Michael had entered the Origin Expanse, but he felt that his entire life had been turned upside down, in a good way.
He didn't feel weird being surrounded by a vast and densely packed rainforest overflowing with life, instead of a concrete jungle void of the liveliness he experienced in the Origin Expanse for the first time.
Rather than feeling odd, Michael was happy and full of curiosity. He had his first encounter with a foreign lifeform, a demi-human, who was not only beautiful but also his maid!
Tiara held a tattered leather scroll in her left hand and a fist-sized crystal in her right hand. She pushed them in his direction and exclaimed,
"I kept them safely Master!"
'Master? Didn't she call me Lord before? Maybe she likes that more…whatever,' Michael wondered but he didn't mind the way Tiara addressed him. The Fortune Summoning Scroll and his Soultrait Awakening Crystal were more important.
Every Lord would receive a Fortune Summoning Scroll and Soultrait Awakening Crystal upon entering the Origin Expanse the first time.
Summoning Scrolls were items created by the Origin Expanse with the use of data acquired from beings inside the Origin Expanse. They were used to resurrect beings that died in the Origin Expanse by summoning them.
The summoned subjects were given a star rating according to their innate talent, the quality of their retained memories, techniques, power, and so on. They would become the Lord's subject and had to obey their will, which was confirmed through the Link of Loyalty.
It was a little cruel but everyone entering the Origin Expanse knew about the risks of entering and dying in the Origin Expanse. There were two ways to prevent becoming a Lord's subject; either don't enter the Origin Expanse, in the first place, or make sure that you wouldn't die!
The Origin Expanse was the only place Michael could use to become strong enough to make sure that no one from outer space could kill him with a snap of their fingers. He didn't want to stay idle at home and wait for foreign races to obliterate everything he held dear
That was not his style.
Thus, he would rather give his utmost and make sure that he could die without any regrets, even if that would happen inside the Origin Expanse. He accepted the risk and embraced it tightly.
"Thanks, Tiara," Michael said with a smile. He retrieved the Fortune Summoning Scroll and the Soultrait Awakening Crystal from her.
The latter glowed brightly the moment Michael's right hand came in contact with it. The glow was faint, but it was enough to startle Michael and Tiara.
'I don't have to will the War Rune to awaken my Soultrait?' Michael wondered before he was surprised by a flood of information swamping his mind.
The Soultrait Awakening Crystal had been triggered, and its miraculous power was unleashed.
Michael closed his eyes and he entered his consciousness. The white light in the deepest part of his being shone brightly, but something was changing.
A Symbol with complex lines and overlapping patterns manifested inside the white light.
It showed a golden hand and countless star-like particles of various colors, sizes, and shapes that were attracted by the hand.
'A Stigma? So that's my Soultrait?'
Soultraits were also considered the dormant power of the Soul. They existed in various forms, granting the ability to transform, control winds, become a master blacksmith, and much more.
Soultraits were also ranked in accordance with their might, utility, and potential, using the star rating. A weak Soultrait had only one or two stars while an Epic Soultrait had five stars in the ranking.
Soultraits were one of the most important aspects of entering the Origin Expanse, and their utility and star rating were extremely important. After all, most Lords and Adventurers had only one Soultrait! It was publicly known that it was impossible to increase the number of Soultraits, forget about changing their Soultrait.
It was not possible to change their Soul, after all!
'Well, I know for a fact that people with multiple Soultraits exist,' Michael thought with a knowing smile, recalling the old, tattered book in the office.
This was also what made it easier for him to accept the bitter reality, which was unveiled in front of him right now.
'The flood of information is such a mess…so let's see…My Soultrait is called 'Extraction', and it is a…hm?!... It's a 2-Star Soultrait?!?'
A deep frown spread across his entire face. He first sighed, then he clenched his fist.
A 2-Star Soultrait was not too bad. Two Stars meant that his Soultrait was of Low-Elite Quality.
Most Lords and Adventurers awoke a 1-Star Soultrait, or their Soul didn't possess any dormant power, in the first place.
Michael's 2-Star Soultrait was clearly in the top 10%. However, he never compared himself to the norm because it didn't make any sense.
'Nobody in our family ever awoke a dormant power with such a low star rating…'
Cursed with misfortune, the only advantage his ancestors possessed were high-star Soultraits. For example, his brother had a five-star Soultrait, which allowed him to survive the peril thrown at him in the Origin Expanse.
'Does that mean I am misfortunate, and I have a bad Soultrait?' Michael wondered, but he quickly shook his head.
'No, the Soultrait is not exactly bad.'
Out of the vast flood of information that had entered his mind, Michael had deciphered a little chunk. That gave him a better understanding of his Soultrait.
He could extract anything from everything using his Soultrait. What did that mean?
Well, it was pretty simple.
Michael squatted down, his right-hand hovering less than thirty centimeters above the grass. Tiara looked at Michael feeling a little confused, but she didn't utter a single word.
She figured that Michael wanted to try something after the Soultrait Awakening Crystal crumbled in his hand.
"Extraction!" He said out loud in an attempt to direct his energy toward the desired area.
It was not necessary to use incantations to activate one's Soultrait, but as someone who had just awoken his Soultrait, Michael was not even sure what he had to do. The new information in his head was still being processed. So, he had to use the trial-and-error method.
A golden light conjured in his palm. The energy inside him was quickly drained, which made him feel as if he was being squeezed like a lemon.
The golden light dispersed after two seconds, and a bright smile blossomed on Michael's face.
He turned his hand around and looked at the extracted substance in front of him. It was soil, perfectly ordinary soil, but without a single blade of grass or pebble.
It was exactly what Michael wanted to have extracted, JUST soil.
"As long as I use Extraction properly, I should be able to make some gains. It shouldn't be impossible to extract pure iron from iron ore, or Essences from Elemental Crystals once I get stronger…"
A Lord's Soultrait grew stronger with his territory and by increasing their War Rune's Tier. Meanwhile, Adventurers could only increase their Soultrait's power by focusing on their War Rune's Tier.
That meant, Michael could increase the utility of his low-star Soultrait by becoming a stronger Lord!
The Soultrait might not help him in combat, but it would be quite useful when it came to managing his territory.
'Let's try it again.'
"Extraction!"
Two seconds later, he held three pebbles in his hand. He extracted them from the ground in front of him.
'In the worst case, I will use it to remove weed from my farming land…once I get farmers, seeds, and the necessary tools to farm…'
Extraction didn't seem to be an overpowered Soultrait but it could have been worse.
There was no need to be needlessly pessimistic. There was still a Fortune Summoning Scroll to use!
'No matter how bad our family's luck is, a Fortune Summoning Scroll cannot deliver a horrible Starless Soldier! Three stars should be the minimum…'
While his brain continued to digest the intel of his Soultrait, Michael walked over to the Summoning Gate.
"What was it again? Break the Seal of the Summoning Scroll and throw it in the air near the Summoning Gate…" Michael mumbled quietly while doing as he said.
He broke the Seal of the tattered leather scroll and threw it in the air.
For a moment nothing happened, but it was then that the Fortune Summoning Scroll unrolled itself and shot inside the Summoning Gate's shimmering pool of energy. As a result, the intricate engraving all over the Summoning Gate began to shine brightly.
It was only at this moment that Michael noticed something he had missed out on before.
'There are ten empty stars etched on the Gate.'
The Summoning Gate had a total of ten stars etched on the metal ring. When a new subject was being summoned the stars would glow, clearly showing how high the summoned subject's talent was.
This was something Michael witnessed for the first time today.
The first star glowed up in a faint golden light.
2 Stars…3 Stars…
5 Stars…6 Stars…
When the seventh star began to shine brightly, Michael's heart skipped a beat.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and he had to move his hand to close his jaw that had dropped to the ground.
"Seven Stars…!!" Even Tiara was dumbfounded. She blushed in excitement and turned to Michael.
"Master!! A Heroic Summon!!! Your first summoned subject is a Hero!!!"
'Damn…' Michael thought as he watched a figure walking out of the Summoning Gate's energy pool.
'...It's actually a Hero…'
