Chapter 1022 Saddened
Chapter 1022 Saddened
Since Michael decided against picking Soultrait Symbols after advancing to the 1st Tier, ensuring his War Rune would be refined quickly, he picked up a few mountains of Spirit Armaments, Artifacts, and some items like the Orbs of Growth.
Michael never lost control of the Extraction Seed's powers, which was also why he could still use Insert. The Soultrait Symbol of Insert was no more but the powers still existed within Extraction. Therefore, the secondary body could use Insert as well.
He used Insert to combine the mountains of Spirit Armaments and Artifacts by mixing some of their strongest traits. He fused the common traits to upgrade them and didn't waste any time creating some of the strongest Artifacts he had ever held. Interestingly enough, Michael had to use Extraction on a few Divine Artifacts to remove their most precious parts, which he then fused with the Orbs of Growth.
The Orbs of Growth transformed, but instead of shapeshifting into Divine Materials, the Orbs of Growth fused with Michael's empty Soul Sphere. They anchored in his Soul Sphere and revolved around it, where they were accepted as Unranked Tier-1 Artifacts.
Michael fused his newest creation with two Orbs of Growth, creating a Mythical-ranked Tier-1 Spear and a Legendary Void Scale Armor. The Void Scale Armor was also a 1st Tier Artifact, which was perfectly adjusted to Michael's body and Tier.
Both the Mythical Spear and the Legendary Armor were adjusted to Michael's preferences and Tier. Still, they would have crushed any other 1st Tier Awakened under normal circumstances. Fortunately, Michael's circumstances were far from normal. He might not have any Soultraits pushing his physique to a higher level, but his Primordial-grade Body Refinement Technique easily pushed Michael's physique to the Peak of Tier-1.
Michael's body, mind, and soul were perfect. His soul was massive and on the same level as an Elderly God, while the same could be said about his mind. There was no way Michael would crumble under the Augments of two Tier-1 Artifacts.
The Augments purely focused on the secondary body's physique. The body's tenacity, physical strength, and agility skyrocketed. It wouldn't surprise Michael if he could defeat the average Tier-2 Monster like this. The enchantments on the Mythical Spear and the Void Scale Armor were very potent and could transform Michael into a beast on the battlefield.
"Your Artifacts are magnificent," Siegfried praised his Lord, "Do you think you can create similar Spirit Armaments for the Sacred Knights?" Michael was training on the Sacred Knight Temple's training ground, testing the Mythical Spear and the Void Scale Armor when Siegfried Dragoon approached him. His eyes traced his Artifacts repeatedly, the excitement in his eyes increasing as the seconds passed.
"I don't think I can copy them easily. Even if I could, Summons wouldn't be able to use them. I might be using Spirit Armaments to form the two Artifacts, but they're mixed with proper Artifacts and Artifacts forged by the Grandmaster Blacksmiths. The enchantments are from the Grandmaster Blacksmiths' Artifacts, woven into the Spear and Void Scale Armor with great precision. That's a disgusting self-praise, but I think those two Artifacts are among the best Artifacts that can be created for a Soultraitless Awakened like this secondary body. Even more so because they grow with my Energy Vortex."
Siegfried Dragoon raised his eyebrows, but he let Michael continue.
"I purchased a few Orbs of Growth for experiments and decided to start. The Mythical Spear and the Void Scale Armor are the results of my experiments. Creating them destroyed the Spirit Armaments produced in a full month and the Artifacts of more than 100,000 Awakened. The Grandmaster Blacksmiths will hate me when I tell them how many of their precious babies I had to take apart to create these two Artifacts."
Michael looked slightly saddened at the thought of the Armaments he'd destroyed, but he knew the Growth-type Artifacts would help him grow stronger much faster. He didn't have to worry about fighting enemies without a Soultrait Symbol if he had the two Artifacts. Their enchantments weren't unlike weaker Soultraits, after all.
"Are you planning to keep researching Growth Type Artifacts? What about Growth type Spirit Armaments?" Siegfried asked curiously.
"If we can create Divine Spirit Armaments, take them apart, and fuse their core components with the Orbs of Growth before inserting them into other Spirit Armaments, it should work. But doing so is…very difficult without a proper connection to the Energy Pillar and War Rune. Artifacts are bound to the War Rune, which makes it easier for Growth type Artifacts to improve alongside the Awakened's Rank and Tier. The same is not possible with Spirit Armaments. Not that easily, at least."
Siegfried nodded, but his vibrant expression dimmed a little.
"Did you come to talk to me about something? What's on your mind, old friend?" Michael asked Siegfried Dragoon, who sighed deeply.
"I… am not sure how much I am supposed to tell you and what would be too much to tell you without crushing my people's spirits, but we encountered a problem. You should be aware of the problem. We talked about it before and never came to a conclusion." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Michael thought about it for a moment before nodding, "You are talking about how discouraging it is for all the hard-working Summons to watch the Super Awakened, Divine Subordinates, and even average Awakened to grow much stronger than them, even if some of the average Awakened don't put as much effort into their growth as they do, right?"
Siegfried nodded slowly, "More Sacred Knights and Holy Knights than you might think collapsed over the last few months. They have been training tirelessly in a desperate attempt to keep up with the growth spurts of the Awakened. However, their Soultraits and Artifacts make it increasingly more difficult to do so."
"The members of the Sacred Knight Temple – but not only them – feel like they are not useful anymore. They feel increasingly more like wasted space. After all, your biggest fights are fought by the Super Awakened, Divine Beasts, the Guardian Beasts, and your strongest jungle monsters."
Michael understood Siegfried's point, but it was difficult to solve. It was a matter of fact that Summons were weaker than Awakened.
Their star rating restrained their potential, whereas the same did not apply to Awakened. But that was not all. Awakened were more likely to fight stronger enemies from the get-go. Their Soultraits and Artifacts would strengthen them to a level most Summons couldn't reach easily. That was especially true with the Artifacts and Soultrait Symbols, which have a higher star rating in the Jungle Shop.
Soultraits and powerful Artifacts could be purchased easily in the Jungle Shop. They might be worth a little, but the investment was worth it. All Awakened profited tremendously. Their strength increased faster as they slayed stronger enemies with better Soultraits and Artifacts. The energy influxes would push them, but they would also receive more Jungle Points for hunting stronger enemies. The Jungle Points would then be used to buy even better stuff, further pushing the Awakened higher, whereas the Summons couldn't do the same. All they had to retaliate was to use Spirit Armaments, but they weren't exactly the same as Artifacts. They were a great replacement, but the original couldn't be replaced properly. It was a shame, but even Michael was unsure how to solve that problem.