Michael figured that the members of High Society were not certain what they were going to do with him either. There had never been a precedent like this before. That was also why he received over a hundred messages from merchants and representatives of High Society members about deals with Soul Techniques and Soultraits.
No one had any idea what was going to happen in the future, therefore everyone used several tactics, hoping that one of them would work out. One of the ideas was to please Michael and give him a 'tempting' deal, whereas the other plan was to gather more members of Higher Society to have the majority of support to confine Michael. It was for his own sake, of course. At least, that was what the members of High Society promised.
The truth, however, was the complete opposite. They wanted to turn Michael into an asset. The easier he was to control the better.
Michael expected something like this, so he was not surprised. It made sense that those who were always trying to control everything loathed losing control, no matter how trivial it was.
That was also why Michael decided to make an official post on one of the forums that could only be accessed by Awakened of the Tritan Alliance.
[I will use my Soultrait for myself and those I care for, but there is no need for anyone to worry. I know how important my products are. Some will be sold every now and then, in exchange for a suitable price, of course. To make one thing clear, I do NOT plan to hurt anyone or destroy the balance of High Society or the Tritan Alliance. I won't use all my power to empower merely one family. And, I also won't hesitate to react to violence with more violence.]
The short text didn't really feel like anything official but it conveyed everything Michael wanted to say. Extraction was his Soultrait and he would use it as he pleased. He needed resources. So, he would sell some Soultraits sooner or later, either way. Michael never planned to hurt innocent people, and he did not plan to conquer High Society or the Tritan Alliance either. Therefore, he couldn't focus his trades on only one family. In fact, Michael wanted to trade with as many families as possible to make sure that everyone depended on him to procure more and upgrade their Soultraits.
The last line of his message was a warning, but he hoped that he would never be forced to turn it into reality.
Michael wouldn't trade his Soultraits and Soul Techniques with all families either. If he disliked someone or sensed ulterior motives, he wouldn't give them anything. He was not that stupid.
The message Michael conveyed to everyone was simple- You guys can discuss whatever you want, but that doesn't mean I will listen to you. Michael wouldn't allow anyone to restrain him, but that didn't mean he would sell his Soultraits and customized Soul Techniques just to get in somebody's good books.
"Are you sure that's fine?" Kaleb asked his sister when he saw what Michael posted in the Awakened forum.
"It should be. Most Awakened won't even see Michael's post. For them, Michael is an ordinary Tier-3 Awakened. His post won't attract too much attention. Only the merchants and representatives of the High Society members will see the post. They will forward it to their superiors, who will react by messaging Michael, or calling for the assembly of the High Society's round table," Alice responded, glancing over to Michael who was seated on a chair taking notes in an empty tome.
Since the tomes that contained the Soul Techniques before were empty after using Extraction on them, Michael could use them to write down everything he knew about Soul Techniques and their customization. He didn't have to write down every little detail, but it was easier to visualize his knowledge while being focused on writing everything down.
"The round table? Won't that be problematic for Michael? What if they decide to imprison Michael? They can easily create some reasons to imprison him before manipulating him into thinking that he could regain freedom if he shared his power with 'everyone', which is the equivalent to High Society keeping everything for themselves."
"I think you're forgetting that we are currently in the territory of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. The Chieftain and War Priestess protect Michael right now. You might not have noticed it but there are dozens of guards spread throughout this building alone. No one can kidnap Michael, or accuse him of something without a dozen guards witnessing everything. He is safe in the ancient city."
"But what will happen once we return to the Sapphirelake Military Academy? Do you think that something will happen then?" Kaleb asked, still not convinced, but Alice could only answer with a shrug.
"I think Michael is already preparing to sell some Soul Techniques and Soultrait Symbols to some families to make them stay on his side to ensure that nobody dares to kidnap him. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs are also on his side. I sincerely doubt that there will be an issue," Alice could only say, "Of course, I might be wrong. But it is a good thing that Michael has close ties with the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, the Bartholomew Corporation, the Zenovia family, the Lavia household, and the Piedra household."
Kaleb stared blankly at his sister for a few seconds. Alice had no idea what her brother was thinking, but she could see the cogs in his mind rattling.
"That's why mom asked me how close I was to Michael. But that happened months ago. Even before the Battle Exchange started, mom asked me how close we were and why you're training him. I think she researched Michael thoroughly long before the other families noticed anything!" He said all of a sudden.
Alice nodded in response.
"Mother was always a control freak. She must have noticed something about Michael a while ago, otherwise, she would have ordered me to stop training Michael and to keep you away from him. After all, she always focuses on the reputation of her beloved family. Being around 'weaklings' and 'useless' people will destroy the Zenovia family's image, after all. That's what mother thinks."
At this moment, Michael looked up from the tome in front of him. He smiled at Alice and said, "Your mother seems like the type of person who is increasingly hard to please."
"It's quite difficult to deny that without sounding like a notorious liar," Alice mumbled, whereas Kaleb shook his head, "The only time mom praised me was when she heard that I awakened Frozen Nova. Awakening Frozen Nova was sheer luck, yet mom acted like it was the best thing I've ever accomplished. But it's not like I actually did anything. I was just lucky."
Kaleb continued to rant for quite a while.
lightsΝοvel "Mom also lectured me for a long time because my engagement with Jasmine Blade was terminated. She blamed me for not telling her how useless the Blade family was and that they were not worthy of joining the noble rows of the Zenovia family. I couldn't even find the time to tell her that I've been complaining about the Blade family's arrogance and their family issues for months. She is stubborn…way too stubborn…"
Michael smiled lightly at the sibling duo. It looked like everyone had their fair share of family problems.
"Alright. Enough talk about family issues and the High Society. How about the two of you test something for me?" He asked instead, handing over the tome with his notes.
Alice read through the notes first and frowned deeply before her attention moved to Michael.
"You want to mass-produce neutral techniques that allow all Awakened to produce Soul Energy? Why?" She asked.
Michael did not say anything. Instead, he gazed over to Kaleb as if to tell his friend to answer in his stead.
"Sis, it's actually pretty simple. Michael is probably trying to teach everyone how to produce Soul Energy because the principle is pretty easy. Everyone can produce Soul Energy even without knowing the technique. All they have to do is to fuse Soul Power and Origin Energy. The only issue is that producing Soul Energy without a specific technique that teaches the characteristics of Soul Energy can lead to injuries. Severe injuries at that. So, one of the reasons he wants to mass-produce Soul Energy creation techniques is to minimize the injuries and casualties of Awakened, who'll soon witness the true power of Soul Techniques," Kaleb explained.
Alice thought about it for a moment and agreed, "It makes sense that others will try to replicate Soul Techniques on their own. Whenever we found new techniques such as Soul Refinement techniques, thousands of Awakened died trying to replicate them with the little knowledge that reached the public. Mass-producing Soul Energy production techniques will decrease your earnings drastically but it will also help to ensure that fewer people will die from experimenting."
"But that is not all," Michael started to explain, "Learning how to produce Soul Energy in a life-and-death battle is extremely difficult. Kaleb, for example, has to spend more than 20 minutes to produce enough Soul Energy to produce a rather weak replica of a Soul Glacicle Bullet. He cannot even use the full potential of Frozen Nova's characteristics because his Soul Energy production is too slow. If he desired to create a Frozen Nova Bullet that uses the full potential of his 7-Star Soultrait and the Common Soul Techniques, he would have to accumulate Soul Energy for more than an hour. Which fight lasts for an hour, AND allows the combatant to ignore the opponents and focus completely on the creation of Soul Energy?"
"Is it really that difficult to produce Soul Energy?" Alice asked, reading through the notes once again.
"You could give it a try. I will finish the first version of the Soul Energy Fusion technique. It won't be good enough to be sold en masse, but you can test it."
Alice did not respond. Instead, she watched Michael retrieve another empty tome. She observed Michael as he penned down his insights about the creation of Soul Energy. His insights were incredibly detailed, amazing Alice as Michael finished writing after he reached the 12th page. Michael's insight didn't originate from his own experiences alone. Of course, they played a role as well, but that was not all.
Michael used the memories of the dozens of Tekur he'd killed to write down a perfect guide for Awakened who desired to learn how to produce Soul Energy for the first time in their lives. The Soul Energy Fusion technique was this guide, and Michael aspired that it was comprehensive enough to allow every reader to learn how to produce Soul Energy without a rush.
Alice perused through the text, and her eyes widened the more she read.
"This is amazing!"
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