Chapter 721: Blessed Child in the Jungle
Michael didn't have to think long to determine what to do with the remaining SoulStar Fragments. It was pretty simple.
He spend more than 82,000 SoulStar Fragments upgrading Cosmic Stride to 6-Star and 55,000 SoulStar Fragments upgrading Sphere of Elements to 5-Star.
The Soultraits didn't mutate or evolve, but their potency increased drastically. The Elemental Spheres inside Michael's energy pool expanded. They stored more energy, which increased the total amount of energy that could be stored inside Michael's body. As the Elemental Spheres absorbed energy from the energy pool, they infused an element into the neutral origin energy. But that was not all.
The Elemental Spheres purified the origin energy by infusing elemental properties into it. The purified elemental energy could be utilized to create stronger elemental attacks. Combined with other Soultraits like Cosmic Stride, Michael could unleash attacks several times more efficiently than before.
Fused with the Elemental Empress, Michael learned that he was capable of doing things he could have never fathomed. It was terrific and terrifying at the same time.
Cosmic Stride was terrific, as it used to be. At 6-Star, it releases even fewer spatial frequencies into the surroundings. Teleporting farther away was easier, and Michael could quickly bring dozens of people with him without attracting too much attention.
Upgrading several Soultraits to 6-Star affected him quite a bit. His body could endure the toll of so many powerful Soultraits, but it wasn't easy. Each 6-Star Soultrait enhanced his physique, mind, and soul to a certain extent. Some Soultraits, like Cosmic Stride and Taming , drastically enhanced Michael's mental power, while Insert empowered his Souls.
Several days had passed in the blink of an eye since he started upgrading his Soultraits. He decided to give his body a break and enough time to adjust to the changes he'd undergone. He had enough SoulStar Fragments left to upgrade Mind Reader to 6-Star, but Michael didn't want to upgrade the Soultrait. Putting aside some SoulStar Fragments to strengthen Danny's Living Soul was more important.
But then again, Michael thought about expanding the Soul Sphere. He felt like binding another Soultrait. Fortunately, he didn't do that. Instead, he left a few thousand SoulStar Fragments to strengthen Danny's Living Soul while investing the remaining Fragments into his Aethyr.
The Aethyr linked to his Soul Sphere had been upgraded to Tier-3. That was the limit of the Aethyr he had been given by the War Priestess and the Berserker Chieftain. However, it was not the limit of the Aethyr Michael wanted to use. Therefore, he did what he had planned to do a while ago.
"Extraction is enough reason for the vast majority of the Universe to be interested in me. They won't care if I have Aether or not. Extraction will be their main focus!" Michael concluded.
Unlimited Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades were far more critical than an Aether weapon. Michael didn't have to hold back anymore.
The Aethyr inside him expanded as the Aether content increased. He gained access to more shapes and a wide variety of functions that could come in handy once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform.
Aethyr's limit increased. It could now easily reach the standards of a High Artifact. That was exactly what Michael needed--a weapon that wouldn't break once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform. Aethyr's forms gained more power now that more Aether had been mixed into the alloy. Michael could cut down Higher Lifeforms even easier now.
"I'm dead," Michael murmured. Even after he'd taken a few days of a break, Michael was exhausted.
[I would be exhausted after upgrading five Soultraits to 6-Star and a sixth Soultrait to 5-Star. You do realize that you have two 5-Star Soultraits, eight 6-Star Soultraits, and one 7-Star Soultrait now...right?]
Michael smiled, "Yup, I know."
[You can take a more extended break. Study your Soultraits more in-depth, create a bunch of customized Elite Class Soul Techniques for your Soultraits, and continue refining your War Rune, body, mind, and soul. Have some fun as well. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Everything will be alright!]
At first, Michael felt he had much more to do, but he kept his mouth shut. Instead of saying that his brother spoke nonsense, he did precisely what Danny said.
He worked hard and enjoyed life simultaneously.
**
Time passed much faster than expected. In the first few months, he looked for his mother quite often, but he couldn't find her. It was almost like Evalynn Fang left the Tritan Alliance once again. Daniel was a bit sad about that, but he overcame the sadness quickly. It was not like Danny expected to talk to their mother ever again after she left them once.
Michael didn't even have to console his brother. He fared much better than expected. Michael knew that he would never be able to act like his brother. Danny was more mature.
Michael spent some time with Alice. They got closer after going on multiple dates. After a while, the pair warmed up to each other, but they hesitated to jump into a connection right away. Both were busy with their territories and businesses and growing stronger. Nonetheless, after several months passed, they made the big jump and got together.
They shared their first kisses and had a happy time together - even if it was not much.
The first Holy Knights received a promotion to become Sacred Knights in Michael's territory, and the livelihood of all subjects improved. More offspring were born in his territory.
Immortal Knight, the Untamed Army, and all members of the Untamed Awakened continued to work hard. They grew stronger and attended the monthly championships that Rebecca Zauber had initiated after consolidating Michael thoroughly. The championship winners were given a large number of Jungle Points that could be used to purchase Spirit Armaments, Artifacts, Soultraits, and a wide variety of other stuff.
The championships existed in various sections. There was a combat section divided into Awakened Championships and Summon Championships. The further divisions were Higher Lifeform and Lesser Lifeform to ensure that no Higher Lifeform would thrash the Lesser Lifeform's battle spirit and fiercely flickering spark to compete against each other.
However, there was also a non-combat section for Craftsmen and magicians focusing on research, etc. Rebecca was certain the championships would push the territory's power and progress to a new level. She wasn't wrong. The championships pushed everyone with enough competitive spirit to work even harder than before.
The championships were the most exciting thing to happen in Michael's region for a long time. The third settlement was constructed, and his territory's population again expanded drastically.
The trading enterprise with the other races expanded, and the Forest Elves and Valyr approached him with their well-
prepared offers. They wanted some changes to the drafted proposals Michael had prepared earlier, mainly because they hoped to be more involved with Michael.
Michael didn't have anything against that. If anything, their offers were more beneficial for him than his drafted proposal. Interestingly enough, the Valyr had been generous enough to 'gift' Michael many more criminals than he'd requested in his drafted proposal. That was unexpected and allowed Michael to strengthen the Soultrait Symbols of the Untamed Awakened a lot.
The Valyr also reasoned that Michael would have fewer issues once the Savannah was safe and sound. Therefore, it would be in his favor if they obtained Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades. Following that reasoning, the Valyr promised to come to his aid if needed. That, followed by other offers - including more criminals - was enough to convince Michael that he should give them some Soultraits.
On the other hand, the Clan of the Forest Elves decided to support Michael differently. They allowed more Forest Elves to come to his territory. But there were not only ordinary Forest Elves among the batch of Rogues who'd decided to join Michael's territory. There was also a Blessed Child, who had lost his region a long time ago in a fierce battle against several High Lords.
He was a powerful Rogue known for supporting his kin at all times, but Lilica said that the Blessed Child only did that because he liked fighting a lot more than most Forest Elves.
He was known as the Blood Elf even though he looked nothing like Blood Elves.
Jason Kleora was his name. He was a Higher Lifeform who'd managed to enter the Untamed Jungle with the help of the Forest Elf Elders. They sacrificed a Platinum Teleportation Token to bring Jason Kleora to the Untamed Jungle. It was a sign of their goodwill.
However, Jason Kleora didn't plan to act like the Forest Elf Elders told him. Instead of keeping a low profile, Jason Kleora challenged the strongest Higher Lifeform in the territory.
"Are you the Lord of the Untamed Jungle?" He asked Hiraku the moment he found him.
"N-...."
"There is no need to be shy around me. Fight me with all you have!" Jason declared his challenge.
"I will beat you!"