Chapter 957 Disbelief and Agency

Chapter 957 Disbelief and Agency

Michael didn't talk about the finest details of his life, but he had more than enough to talk about nonetheless. He ended up chatting about his life and answering some questions for hours. Seeing everything awestruck and having difficulty believing the words escaping Michael's lips was satisfying. Their reactions were exaggerated in his opinion, but once he visualized some of his memories using a Memory Crystal, Michael rewatched some of the most intense moments of his life with the audience.

Reminiscing about certain events was not unusual for Michael, but it was vastly different to do so with people watching. They had known Michael was strong, but observing his fight against the Dragys in the Origin Expanse, or bits and pieces from his fight against the Blaze Patriarch, was terrifying. Michael also mentioned the Temple of the Forgotten, including the Curses that were now residing within him.

"Is that the ancient ruin you questioned me about?" The Berserker Chieftain asked around that time. In the past, Michael had questioned the Berserker Chieftain in the library about ancient ruins, how to determine their difficulty level according to their age, and so forth. Michael was glad about the answers he'd received then and smiled back at the Berserker Chieftain.

"It is. The Temple of the Forgotten was a...unique inheritance trial, which the Primordial Tree Spirit of the Untamed Jungle had altered. But maybe that was for the best. I wouldn't have survived the ordinary trials if the Temple of the Forgotten had been created for Divine Lifeforms." Michael chuckled, but everyone looked at him with complex emotions.

"So, you went through an ancient ruin designed for Divine Lifeforms alone because the Dragys Lordess, a Tier-8 Lord with a following of more than 20 Divine Lifeforms, would threaten your territory soon. They discovered you, and you said, 'I need a power-up.' Is that how it went?" one of the younger members of the Tritan council asked.

"I...guess?" Michael responded with a shrug.

"Then you succeeded, jumped from Tier-5 to Tier-6, formed your Divine Shell while not even being a Divine Lifeform, and acquired another Curse, the sister of the brother duo already inside you, and a Divine Fragment of the Untamed Jungle, which turned you into the Untamed Jungle's one and only True Lord. You also gained control of all jungle monsters and plant life, forming Links of Loyalty and..."

Michael intercepted the excited yet flabbergasted man with a wave, "That is literally what I said. I don't think you have to repeat what I've already explained in detail."

"I think the Awakened Agency is a nice place for the poor and unfortunate to grow stronger. Didn't you say that the Tritan Alliance works together more than ever? How about you integrate the Awakened Agency into your plans? If you do that, you can ensure that the Awakened of the Awakened Agency find a suitable Lord to work with and that they're treated nicely. At the same time, you can easily ensure that your Lords will have enough Subordinates to help them fight and control their territories." "I had the same idea, but the problem is that investing too much into Awakened with weak Soultraits is rather problematic for our Lords. It wouldn't be an issue to support the Awakened via the Awakened Agency like we're doing, but the whole purpose of creating the Awakened Agency was to pick out determined and ambitious Awakened with weak Soultraits and poor standing for you to transform into proper powerhouses. Without your Soultrait Symbols, transforming them into powerful High Awakened is several times harder and much less efficient."

That was indeed a problem. Granting unfortunate Awakened, who had either not manifested a Soultrait in the first place or manifested a weak Soultrait Symbol that didn't suit their persona and desired, an opportunity to show that they had the means to do something great was nice. It was part of the reason the Awakened Agency had been created.

However, without Michael's active support, the Awakened Agency's biggest advantage disappeared: the advantage of possibly removing their 'useless' Soultrait, which might as well be a treasure for someone who had always wanted such a Soultrait or to gain more Soultrait.

"I should have enough space to establish a few hundred Links of Loyalty with more Awakened—probably more than a thousand, if I'm honest—but accepting 1,000 Awakened won't solve the problem long-term. I don't think I should constantly supply the Awakened Agency with Soultrait Symbols. While it might be nice to strengthen the Tritan Alliance to the point where the Alliance turns into a superpower, I have to be careful as well.

At this point, too many powerful beings know about my power, and if they think that the Tritan Alliance is hoarding hundreds of Soultrait Symbols, or maybe only dozens—it doesn't matter how many—they might attack the Tritan Alliance, eradicate the entire alliance before it transforms into a problem, and steal the Soultrait Symbols.

I have seen what my Soultrait Symbols can do when they fall into the hands of my enemies, and I do not wish for this to repeat itself."

Michael recalled Lincoln destroying so many lives with the power he had given his friend and shuddered. Even if Lincoln wasn't his enemy, the Blood Incursion transformed him into a ruthless murderer. Lincoln still used his power to cause harm and end innocent lives. Too many to count.

"So...we have to reform the Awakened Agency once you picked some suitable Awakened to become your Subordinates. This is...their last chance to become Super Awakened."

'Super Awakened? That sounds...fun.'

[A/N: This is the author with a small side-note. The Family Arc is only a small arc to connect a few dots and push forward to the next arc. But don't be afraid that there will be no more romantic scenes, or no more chatties in the story like there have been in the last few chapters. The Main Story of SL might be complete in half a year up to nine months but there will be extra volumes. -> You can recommend story parts to write once the main story is done - about different characters and how Michael influenced them and such.]