Michael decided to test River of Vigor right away. He infused a small amount of energy into the Soultrait Symbol and received an immediate response.
The exhaustion that had plagued him was no more. A rush of soothing energy swept through his body, washing away his exhaustion. But that did not only include his body’s exhaustion but also his mind and soul. Even the weariness of his Soul expanding unnaturally was no more. It felt like he had never been in pain in the first place. That was very interesting.
‘Even the psychological pain and exhaustion is no more.’ Michael concluded with a grin. This could be very useful. Using River of Vigor after several hours of fighting would help him return to peak condition. If utilized properly, Michael could turn the tables in various fights that would be very difficult to win under normal circumstances.
‘Is it possible to remove the burden of emotions as well? If I’m overflowing with rage…can this wash away the emotions and clear my mind?’ He wondered, tilting his head before he tried to cut himself to check River of Vigor’s healing powers.
Aethyr manifested in his right hand. It transformed into a dagger, which he pressed firmly against his left palm. He tried cutting into his palm, only to realize that it was much harder to cut himself. Michael thought that a mental barrier ensured that he wouldn’t put enough force to cut himself, but he discarded that idiotic thought after a moment. He’d put a lot of force into the cut but didn’t manage to cut himself.
He had to put a lot more force than expected to cut himself with the Aethyr Dagger. Michael was a bit too ambitious and cut deep into his palm, but that was hardly an issue. The instance he cut into his hands, Michael noticed that blood wasn’t the only thing splattering out of his body. A viscous liquid, silverish in color, spurted out of the wound alongside his blood.
No, that wasn’t the entire truth. To some extent, the silverish liquid seemed to be part of his blood. Michael sensed something odd as the silver liquid spurted out of the wound. The deep cut regenerated as the liquid poured out of him. It felt like time trickled backward as the deep cut was sealed moments after Michael retracted the Aethyr Dagger. As the blade pulled out of the deep cut, Michael found himself staring at a fully intact hand. There was no cut, let alone the sign of a scar.
Michael’s hand was unblemished if one ignored the silverish crimson blood.
[Damn. Your Soultrait is impressive!] Danny exclaimed in Michael’s mind.
Michael could only nod. He was a bit flabbergasted and had a hard time figuring out what happened. Well, it wasn’t difficult to tell what was happening, but it was still somewhat surprising.
“The healing serum accumulated in River of Vigor’s network was used to surge toward the wound and both heal and seal it nearly instantaneously,” Michael concluded.
Since he didn’t have too much healing serum in his system yet, a small portion of it was used to mend the deep cut in his palm. However, as he amassed more healing serum in his system, Michael could heal deep cuts like that hundreds of times.
Michael was unsure how much healing serum River of Vigor could store in his system. River of Vigor was a 6-Star Soultrait, and it possessed a tremendous amount of soul power. The Soultrait Symbol had also yet to be fully integrated into the Soul Sphere. That meant, River of Vigor didn’t receive the gains of Michael’s Lord Power. It had yet to obtain the soul power from more than three million subjects.
More than 90% of Michael’s subjects had a firm Link of Loyalty, indicating that each would provide a considerable amount of Soul Power to Michael’s Soultrait Symbols. That included River of Vigor, which felt incredibly powerful even without the additional gains provided by his Lord Power.
If he wasn’t already smiling from one ear to the other before, this would be the perfect timing to break into a vibrant smile.
“River of Vigor’s passive effect is monstrous. Cutting myself a little won’t be enough to test the active effect of River of Vigor,” Michael concluded. He would have to use the healing serum accumulated within his system to test River of Vigor’s active healing power. The passive effect was too strong otherwise.
Michael’s vibrant smile transformed into a shit-eating grin, and…he stabbed the Aethyr Dagger into his stomach.
He put a tremendous amount of force into the stab – maybe a little bit too much because he used Qi to sharpen Aethyr Dagger’s blade as well – and the blade cut deep into his stomach. He was actively trying not to block the attack, suppressing the urge to use Serpent Seals, Heavenly Beast Physique, and Foundation Break.
Instead, he allowed the blade to cut deep into his stomach.
A pained groan escaped Michael’s lips, and he cursed himself for doing something this stupid. He was about to kill himself to test River of Vigor’s efficiency. Fortunately, his newest addition was fairly powerful.
Blood and healing serum squeezed past the Aethyr Dagger blade and poured out of the wound. It wasn’t anything special, yet Michael felt the resistance rising. The Aethyr Dagger was pushed back. Simultaneously, he stopped bleeding. The plasma stopped pouring out of him while the dagger was slowly pushed out of his body.
Michael had to react fast to see – and feel – River of Vigor’s active effect. He cursed himself and turned the Aethyr Blade in his stomach before pulling out.
At the same time, Michael treated his attack with Qi like he would do under normal circumstances. Usually, he would burst the Qi in his victim’s wound after the blade tore through his foe’s defense. That was exactly what Michael did…or tried to do. Once River of Vigor was actively channeled, the therapeutic serum removed the Qi that threatened to invade his body. Simultaneously, all other harmful substances were removed from his body.
That was unexpected but very intriguing.
‘Does that mean attacks like inserting Extraction traces into my body wouldn’t work if someone used something similar on me? Will River of Vigor remove poison and the like as well?’ Michael wondered, his shit-eating smirk returning, replacing the pained groan.
The grotesque wound healed rapidly as River of Vigor reached his abdomen. The Soultrait Symbol’s active use augmented the therapeutic serum and used bits of the serum to mend his fleshly wounds. The healing process was unproblematic and rapid, recovering his fleshly wounds within seconds while removing all pain with a soothing wave the moment he activated River of Vigor.
“It drains an exorbitant amount of energy once actively used, but its therapeutic is on a different level,” Michael murmured. He was healed within seconds without any issues, and all harmful substances had been removed.
The active effect was incredibly powerful. It was perfect for deadly wounds that required immediate attention and minor wounds. It tended to his exhaustion if needed and filled him with vigor at all times.
Michael shuddered in excitement.
River of Vigor was perfect.