?The news was surprising, but Michael accepted them relatively quickly. The Wolf Curse was also enraged, as angry as the World Serpent, if not worse, but there was little Michael could do to please them. It wasn’t like he felt comfortable in this place, either.
Nonetheless, the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse continued bombarding Michael with emotions and booming noises. It was…a lot.
Michael tried to ignore their anger and discard their voices, but that was easier said than done.
‘If you comply and help me with the Curse Transformation, we will never leave this place. On the other hand, if you resist and make things more difficult, we might have to stay in this place for a very long time.’ He reminded his Curses, who went silent almost immediately.
They didn’t want to stay here one minute longer than necessary…even if that meant they had to support Michael.
‘That is exactly what I thought. The sooner we’re out here, the better.’
Michael manifested the Soul Grimoire before him and walked over to the black, viscous liquid pond.
“Are you sure this is going to help my brother?” He asked Selena, a trace of doubt in his voice.
“I told you that the Spring of Abundant Life will help your brother create a perfect vessel. Whether you and your brother believe me, I don’t care. It’s fine either way. Just remember I won’t be able to give you another opportunity like this,” Selena responded in her usual, nonchalant tone.
[Do it. I think we can trust her.] Danny told his brother, who bent down to his knees.
Michael was close enough to smell nothing but the disgusting stench of the viscous liquid. He gagged and could barely restrain from releasing his last meal inside the Spring of Abundant Life. At last, Michael shrugged. If his brother wanted to try it, who was he to say no?
Michael closed his eyes and focused on the Soul Grimoire. He felt countless vibrant threads connecting to his Soul Grimoire. Many were from the Soul Tears, which had been etched into the Soul Grimoire for future uses. The rest, however, belonged to Danny’s Living Soul. Michael grasped the vibrant threads of his brother’s Living Soul using his mental power and removed them one by one.
If the Living Soul was like a Soul Tear, Michael would have torn it out of the Soul Grimoire without paying much attention. But Michael wanted to ensure his brother’s Living Soul would stay unscathed during the process. He didn’t support and nourish his brother’s Living Soul to injure it right before he would be granted the opportunity to create his vessel.
One vibrant thread after another was removed from the Soul Grimoire, which hummed quietly. The massive space occupied by the Living Soul was released, creating more space for other souls to nourish. But that wasn’t what Michael desired. In the first place, he wasn’t sure what to do with Soul Grimoire now that it fulfilled its sole purpose – to store and nourish Daniel Fang.
The Living Soul emerged from the Soul Grimoire. It was as dazzling as the blinding sun and much warmer than Michael recalled. He took a deep breath, ignored the stunning light the Living Soul emitted, and stared briefly at his brother’s Living Soul.
‘You can do it. I will be waiting for you!’ Michael told his brother, who responded with a final tug at his soul.
Michael lowered the Living Soul into the Spring of Abundant Life a moment later, removing Daniel Fang for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
It was a weird feeling to let go of his brother. He missed Danny already, even though they wouldn’t separate for real. However, it was going to be different starting today. After today, Daniel wouldn’t wreak havoc in his brother’s head. If anything, they would tease each other while talking face-to-face like typical brothers.
Michael’s lips curled into a smile, “Don’t take too long…and don’t mess up.”
The Living Soul submerged in the Spring of Abundant Life, startling Michael briefly. Fortunately, he had Spirit Eyes in his arsenal of Soultrait Symbols. Spirit Eyes allowed him to see Danny’s Living Soul surrounded by the black, viscous liquid. It also allowed him to see the massive amount of lifeforce, origin energy, and nutrients stored within the Spring’s liquid.
Michael could also perceive something else in the Spring of Abundant Life, but he had never seen something like that.
‘I guess this is going to help Danny construct his vessel?’ He thought while observing his brother’s Living Soul as the vigorous tendrils spread everywhere. The tendrils created a suctioning force that pulled all energy, nutrients, and lifeforce out of the surrounding liquid. It was only a short instance, but Michael saw the Living Soul pulsate. That was enough for Michael to divert his attention with a vibrant smile.
He thought about thanking Selena but remembered her gleeful expression when the Nest Leader spoke about beating the living shit out of him. Michael shuddered at the thought and glanced at the Soul Grimoire instead.
‘What am I going to do with you now? You fulfilled your purpose. That was excellent work!’
Michael would never regret upgrading Soul Grimoire to 7-Star because that was essential to rescue his brother. Michael would also never complain about the Soultraits he had to integrate into the Soul Grimoire Symbol to adjust the Soultrait. All of this had been necessary to rescue his brother. Michael had been ready to risk much more than a mere Soul Grimoire Soultrait Symbol to help his brother.
It wasn’t like the Soul Grimoire was useless, either. The Soul Grimoire was still valuable. Using the Soul Tears of slain enemies could augment the potency of other Soultraits and the Soul. Furthermore – though Michael was unsure if that would be essential in the future – Soul Grimoire could tend to souls and nourish them back to peak and beyond.
Another advantageous perk of the Soul Grimoire was that it had expanded his soul, creating a sealed Soul Socket. The only downside of the sealed Soul Socket was its location. It was located in the outer area of the Soul Sphere, where upgrading Soultrait cost 2.5x the initial price. That was also part of the reason Michael created another Soul Socket for River of Vigor.
The other reason was that Michael felt the sealed Soul Socket belonged to the Soul Grimoire. If he placed a Soultrait in the sealed Soul Socket, it would have to be compatible with the Soul Grimoire. Of course, it might take a while to find a highly compatible Soultrait, but it was not like Michael was in a rush. He had more than enough time to spare for something like that.
Another critical factor was that Michael could remove certain perks from the Soul Grimoire. Michael had already experienced what it would feel like to tear a Soultrait apart without replacing the removed parts with other perks. That means Michael would have to find other Soultraits suitable to replace some of the Soul Grimoire’s perks and insert them into the Soultrait Symbol after extracting everything related to nourishing Living Souls.
Or, Michael could add more Soultraits to the Soul Grimoire, altering it slightly until it adapted and gained new abilities.
Everything was possible, but Michael could notify that those points had to be addressed in the future.
For now, Michael had to survive Selena’s beating.
‘You guys better help me, otherwise, we might actually die!’ Michael told the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse, who didn’t respond.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips at that.
“This is going to be fun…”