888 Power Up
Michael wasn't sure which Soultrait he should upgrade first. Of course, upgrading Extraction to 8-Star first would be helpful, but he wasn't sure if he had enough SoulStar Fragments to do that.
Fortunately, finding out wasn't too difficult. Michael spent the next 24 hours infusing more than two million SoulStar Fragments into the Soultrait Symbol of Extraction to form the 8th star and fill it. The star wasn't filled to the brim until Michael infused two and a half million SoulStar Fragments, leaving him with merely 500,000ish fragments.
But even that was enough to upgrade more Soultrait Symbols. Yet before focusing on other Soultrait Symbols, Michael focused on the changes in his body. Something was changing as Extraction advanced to an 8-Star Soultrait. First, Extraction created a small sphere in his Energy Pillar. It didn't look any different from the other spheres from his Elemental Spheres' Soultrait, but it was nothing like that. The Extraction Sphere absorbs excessive origin energy whenever the energy within the Energy Pillar reaches a certain threshold. It was absorbed and transformed into golden Essences.
His body began creating Extraction Essences naturally. But that was only the start.
Extraction's potency and efficiency skyrocketed. They reached new heights, which was affirmed when an influx of information entered Michael's mind. The influx of information was different than before. It informed him about his Soultrait's new capabilities but also shared certain techniques and complex weaves to tap into the Extraction's dormant potential.
At the same time, Extraction's advancement to an 8-Star Soultrait tightened his connection to the Wolf Curse. Michael had already predicted this beforehand, but the change in their relationship affirmed his prediction again. The Wolf Curse and Extraction belonged together. Maybe they weren't one entity; however, they had an intimate relationship.
It was a little frustrating to be even closer to the Wolf Curse than before, but that was also one of the reasons Michael had decided to upgrade Extraction to an 8-Star Soultrait in the first place. The Curse Seals of the Wolf were stronger than they used to be. A single minor seal impacted much harder, strengthening Extraction like five minor Seals did before the advancement. His 51 Cursed Seals were now as potent as 255 Cursed Seals would have been when Extraction was still a 7-Star Soultrait.
That was excellent. Soul Tears and Enhancement added to 8-Star Extraction and 51 highly potent Cursed Seals – plus Extraction Essence accumulated within the Extraction Sphere – should be strong enough to deal with most enemies in the Sacred Desert. Maybe it was not enough to kill the Blaze Patriarch, but Michael was already fairly confident in dealing with that bastard – whether Extraction was a 7-Star or 8-Star Soultrait didn't matter.
220,000 SoulStar Fragments later, leaving Michael with less than 10,000 SoulStar Fragments to use, Insert advanced to a 7-Star Soultrait.
Interestingly enough, not much about Insert changed. The Soultrait's energy consumption, potency, and efficiency improved drastically, but that was it. No, that wasn't the entire truth. The link between Insert and Extraction grew thicker. It had only been a faint connection before but transformed into a thick tendril, firmly connecting the two Soultrait Symbols at the core of the Soul Sphere.
Using Extraction and Insert together was easier now – not that it was difficult. The synergy of the two Soultraits burst through the roof, and Michael found himself exposed to another influx of information...related to the synergy of the Soultraits.
That was confusing. Michael never obtained something like that when Spirit Eyes was created. Still, it was pleasant to learn more about his Soultraits without having to put in the necessary work. He was already on a tight schedule and needed as much knowledge and mastery of his Soultraits as possible.
'One 8-Star Soultrait, four 7-Star Soultraits, five 6-Star Soultraits and two 5-Star Soultraits...Well and one dormant Soul Socket which I can unlock once I know what type of Soultrait suits Soul Grimoire.'
The dormant Soul Socket was still a bit confusing. Michael could insert any Soultrait Symbol into the Soul Socket, but the Soultrait would have to be compatible with Soul Grimoire if he wanted to use either Soul Grimoire or the new Soultrait in the future. They would probably be linked to each other and mutate like Spirit Eyes. Thus, no mistake was allowed!
It was a good thing Michael wasn't in a hurry to add another Soultrait. He had more than enough powerful Soultraits to study in-depth.
A few Lords and the Blaze Patriarch were also waiting to be thrashed!