Kaleb received a lot of attention from fellow freshmen and the seniors of the Saphirelake Military Academy.
Even the Professors and Instructors paid more attention to him when he attended their lessons. The attention was a side-effect of awakening a 7-Star Soultrait. He was added into the Heavens, the group of people who had awakened a 7-Star Soultrait.
Kaleb's potential was extremely high, and so were the hopes of the people around him. Everyone hoped that he would become a pillar of support for humanity.
Yet, despite all of the attention he received from the people around him, Kaleb didn't feel superior compared to Michael.
He had been certain that he would overpower Michael soon. After all, he used an Inheritance technique that strengthened Frozen Nova even further. In addition to the Inheritance technique, Kaleb was also given more than enough resources to refine his War Rune rapidly and expand his territory much faster than others could expand their territory within years.
The resources at his disposal were alarmingly high, and so was the luck he had with the awakening of a 7-Star Soultrait and a Growth-type Summon.
So why did he still feel that Michael was superior to him?
Kaleb was not certain about that either. Michael's War Rune might have advanced to the Peak of Tier-1, but Kaleb was not much behind. He would catch up with Michael in a few weeks. By then, Kaleb should be strong enough to overpower Michael. But why did that feel like an impossible task?
Kaleb felt weird while watching Michael train and study tirelessly. Something about his friend had changed in the last two weeks, but he couldn't grasp what it was.
One way or another, Kaleb could tell that Michael continued to grow rapidly. Rather than slowing down eventually, Michael was slowly gaining momentum.
'If I want to keep up with him, I should hurry up. Having a powerful Soultrait doesn't mean that I'm invincible!' Kaleb reminded himself, coiling his fists tightly.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline and Frederik were faced with a similar problem. The Barbaric Couple felt dread, and desperation spread through their entire being noticing the rapid pace at which Michael grew stronger.
They were giving their all – spending most of their time in the Origin Expanse, and training –, but it felt like their strength didn't increase by much. It was evident that Michael's strength increased much faster than theirs. Why was that the case? How was it possible for Michael to be way stronger than them? They were in possession of upgraded versions of their family's Inheritance techniques. Shouldn't that give them an advantage over Michael?
While they kept wondering about this, Michael didn't even notice that something was wrong with Frederik and Jacqueline. He didn't have much to do with them at this point. Their War Rune's refinement degree increased rapidly, but Michael was physically much stronger than them. Facing them in the spars of the Limit Breaker Course was not too exciting for him anymore. Their fighting style didn't change, and Michael could tell that they couldn't unleash their full combat prowess whenever they faced him.
Michael was not sure why that was the case, but he didn't care too much about it either. Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb were far more interesting in his opinion. The descendants of the High Nobles and the Supreme Family had a versatile fighting style and they used their Soultraits in unique ways, providing Michael with enough material to research his own Soultraits.
Upon fusing with a Soultrait one was usually given a flood of information related to the Soultrait. This made the utilization of the Soultrait much easier.
However, that didn't mean all functions of the Soultrait were handed out to the Awakened. Certain abilities required more energy before they could be utilized, while other abilities required a unique approach.
Extraction was the best example. When he first fused with Extraction, all Michael knew was that Extraction could extract certain objects from other objects, or beings. That was how Michael started using Extraction on the soil beneath him and the corpses of Tier-1 Monsters.
Slowly but steadily, Michael found out more about Extraction's limits and how to use it to make the most use of the Soultrait. Eventually, he would learn more about Extraction. After all, the Soultrait would continue to develop and he would find out more about the remaining functions of Extraction.
His other Soultraits were the same. Each of them was likely to have some hidden functions that required thorough research to be discovered. But that required time, which was what caused problems for someone like Michael. He was in possession of too many Soultraits, and the number was bound to increase in the future.
Michael would focus on Extraction in the future because his growth was bound to the development of the Extraction Soultrait, but that meant he couldn't spend much time researching his other Soultraits.
"Looks like I'm going to become a Jack of all trades, master of none," Michael shook his head as he walked over to a large table with several places full of nutritious dishes.
He just finished the daily workout of the Limit Breaker course and was ready to devour the dishes in front of him when he noticed that someone familiar sat down opposite him.
"It's not that bad to be a Jack of all trades. After all, being a master of none means that you're oftentimes better than a master of one," Annabelle Claire said wisely as she reached for her spoon and fork.
It had been a while since Michael and Annabelle met. Nonetheless, they often used starnet messenger to chat with each other. That was also how they knew about each other's progress, and also the reason they met up at the cafeteria today.
"Aren't you way too busy to think about improving your archery skills? I heard some rumors about you, and all of them turn you into a training maniac, and a masochist, who likes getting beat up by the descendants of the Zenovia, Lavita, and Piedra family. You look tired as hell as well. If you look in a mirror now, you would probably think that your reflection is a ghost!" Annabelle remarked with a deep frown on her face.
Not many focused on Michael, but rumors soon spread that Alice had picked him for individual lessons, and it was also well-known that Michael often sparred with Lincoln, Zeke, Kaleb, and the Barscht Triplets. Whenever someone saw Michael, he was either eating, sparring, or training. It was almost like Michael didn't know what the words 'rest', 'fun', or 'relaxing' meant.
"I am quite busy, that's true. But I cannot neglect my archery skills. I want to become a better archer since I have a suitable Soultrait. It would be a waste of potential to leave behind archery and focus solely on close combat," Michael explained lightly.
Both Alice Zenovia and Silverian Schild trained him, but none of them was proficient at using the bow. Silverian Schild was a brute close combat fighter, who mostly focused on heavy blows and sudden surprise movements to attack.
On the other hand, Alice was a nimble combatant. She could fight close combat and long distance. However, her long-distance attacks were the creation of her Ice-type Soultrait. Alice would conjure icicles and throw them at Michael using her willpower rather than her eyes to aim precisely.
While it was interesting to learn Alice's approach to a long-distance battle, it didn't help Michael in his current state. He had yet to fuse with an Elemental-type Soultrait and couldn't use her approach to improve his archery skills either.
Annabelle might not be an instructor, but her mastery of bow and arrow was on par with an Instructor's. She was the best Archer he knew – by far.
"If you think that training with me will help you… I don't have a problem with that," Annabelle said after a while.
She thought about rejecting Michael's request, but there was no reason to do so. If anything, Michael's request benefited her. After all, Michael could connect her to his social circle – which was something most freshmen would love to be a part of at this point.
"Thanks a lot. If you need help in the future, just tell me. I owe you!" Michael declared.
He finished his meal in mere seconds and resumed his training. Meanwhile, Annabelle sent him a copy of her schedule and the time of the day when she usually focused on training her archery skills.
Michael took notes and he adjusted his schedule accordingly, adding two archery training sessions a week.
Once he finalized the schedule everything was set in stone.
Michael could follow his schedule without anyone bothering him for the next few weeks.
Likewise, a full month passed in the blink of an eye.
The situation in the Saphirelake Military Academy changed slowly. More students diverted their focus to the ranking boards to challenge their fellow friends and colleagues to a ranked battle.
The Battle Exchange of the Tritan Alliance would be held in less than two months, and everyone wanted to participate.
Most freshmen had been sent to the Saphirelake Military Academy for three reasons. First, most influential families wanted to ensure that their children could accumulate military merit points in the Saphirelake Military Academy in order to improve their military rank before a large-scale war broke out.
Second, the influential families showed interest in the Berserker and Warlock Centaur races. They wanted to connect to the fellow races of the Tritan Alliance and strengthen their family's influence and power by becoming close friends with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.
And last but not least, the freshmen were told to befriend the students around them. Since many big families were willing to send their prodigious descendants to the Saphirelake Military Academy, other families sensed a golden opportunity. Many prodigious descendants left their family's protective shell for the first time to attend the Saphirelake Military Academy, and many wanted to exploit this situation to befriend the strongest families and create a highly influential social circle.
Compared to the political reasons and scheming of the influential families, Michael's reason to join the Saphirelake Military Academy seemed like a big joke. He was also interested in the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs, but that was mostly because he wanted to learn more about the old origin tongue.
Furthermore, he had been certain that he could learn a lot from the professors and instructors.
Never would Michael have imagined that he could get closer to the descendants of several nobles, forget about becoming close friends with two High Nobles.
But then again, Michael had also never imagined obtaining a Soultrait like Extraction, or that he would advance to Tier-2 in less than six months after his War Rune manifested.
But that was precisely what happened.
Michael focused so much on his studies and training that he didn't even realize when his War Rune began to break down the barrier to the 2nd Tier.
He only sensed that he was on the verge of a breakthrough when the barrier to the 2nd Tier was fully covered in deep spider web-like cracks.
His War Rune pulsated wildly, notifying Michael that it was about time to focus on the breakthrough.
Michael entered the Origin Expanse and sat down cross-legged to utilize Pandemonium's Requiem. Pandemonium's Requiem allowed him to control the circulation of origin energy inside his body and vicinity precisely. He calmed the origin energy inside his body while absorbing the energy in the surroundings.
Afterward, he focused on the deepest part of his consciousness where a pillar of light appeared.
The pillar of light pulsated vigorously, and every vibration caused streams of light to flood toward the pillar of light from all directions.
It looked like the pillar of light was a humongous tree that branched out in all directions, reaching every part of his body.
Michael entered a state called introspection, allowing him to see the origin energy everywhere inside his body. He was utterly fascinated to be able to see every wisp of energy inside him and continued practicing Pandemonium's Requiem to accelerate the flow of energy in a controlled manner.
The pillar of light's pulse grew stronger, deepening the cracks that spread through the barrier restricting the pillar's growth.
It was only a matter of time before the sound of crackling glass echoed through Michael's entire body. The sound intensified with the passage of time until a thunderous explosion rang out.
In the next instance, soothing warmth and unfathomable power swept through Michael.
A groan escaped Michael's lips as the soothing warmth slowly turned into searing heat that flared up instantly. It turned into a viscous blazing flame that spread through every inch of his body.
It made him feel like he was on fire; as if hot, molten magma was circulating through his body.
The burning heat first emerged inside his heart, which made Michael feel like his heart would melt on the spot.
However, he knew that this wouldn't happen. In fact, Michael had already faced the exact situation before.
By advancing to the next stage, his body would undergo a natural cleansing – which was exactly what was happening right now.
Understanding the situation, Michael braced himself and endured the pain and discomfort.
The pores all over his body opened, and a black reeking mass began to slowly ooze out of him.
At this point, Michael sensed that he could activate Extraction, and that was what he did the next moment.
He unleashed Extraction in its strongest form, picking himself as the target.
The next moment, Michael's entire body was engulfed in intense golden streams of light that seemed to devour him.