Chapitre 23: Artifact

"236 Summoning Scroll Fragments, three Unknown Summoning Scrolls, one Artifact, a stable blueprint, a piece of a map…that's not bad, not bad at all!" Michael mumbled while munching on the meat that had been prepared for breakfast.

He slept soundly on the second night in the Origin Expanse, and his energy had been fully replenished. His mind had also been rebooted and refreshed.

"Master, the Summoning Gate materialized another summoning scroll," Tiara informed, handing Michael the scroll.

He accepted it and nodded his head subtly.

'With the gains from yesterday's hunt, I can summon more than ten subjects. Should I focus on letting everybody settle and get familiar with my territory for the next few days, or should I keep hunting? I don't even know how the region around me looks. Maybe Tier-1 Monsters are my smallest problem…' Michael noticed that many things needed work and improvement. It would be much easier with a few powerful combat units by his side, but Tiara was all he had.

She was powerful, but it was clear that her combat awareness and experience were not comparable to Fenrir's. Michael was not sure what kind of Soultrait she had either. Tiara was not allowed to speak about it due to the regulations of the Origin Expanse's Will, and she didn't seem to be utilizing her Soultrait secretly either.

It was a little bit annoying but not something Michael would ponder about for hours knowing that he wouldn't receive a useful answer.

"Before taking action, I should summon more subjects. Williams and the others will need more help to finish the treehouse complexes," He mumbled, getting up from the wooden stool.

Michael made his way to the Summoning Gate before he merged the Summoning Scroll Fragments in his possession together. Since he had still more than 20 fragments from the day before, a total of 10 Unknown Summoning Scrolls formed from the fragments. Adding the complete scrolls to his possession, 14 subjects emerged from the energy pool after Michael ripped the seals away on the scrolls one after another.

13 starless subjects – nine men and four women – emerged from the energy pool. All of them were wearing the same clothes just like the subjects he summoned the day before. Following the starless subjects, one 1-Star summon emerged from the Summoning Gate. It was a young man in his mid-20s tightly holding a Staff in his left hand.

His name was Heran Tarn and he was a Lesser Tamer.

When everyone introduced himself, Michael was quite surprised to find out that he got hold of a Lesser Tamer as well. For now, the Lesser Tamer's power might be considered less useful, but this could quickly change. The Lesser Tamer's power could come in handy to control livestock easily, or tame lower-ranked monsters for combat.

If a Tamer raised a monster from infancy, it would even be possible to create a cavalry, or simply have mounts to carry him and others around with much less trouble.

'It might be a little bit annoying in the rainforest, but once I create trails through the rainforest it would be very helpful and timesaving to have a docile, agile monster mount,' Michael thought with confidence.

However, for now, the Lesser Tamer's unique trait was not helpful, so he sent him to help construct the treehouse complexes.

"Should I try to get hold of monster eggs when I return home tomorrow?" Michael mumbled, wondering if he should tweak his plan a little.

Initially, Michael wanted to leave the Origin Expanse the moment the War Rune's connection had been confirmed. That was usually the case after spending 72 hours in the Origin Expanse. By selling the near-perfectly dissected monster corpses, their blood, Monster Cores, and exotic body parts such as the Gem Jaguars' Gemstones, Michael wanted to have sufficient funds to purchase everything he needed until the protection barrier would disappear.

Unfortunately, the space of Michael's War Rune was still not humongous. To purchase everything needed and carry it back to the Origin Expanse, he would have to be able to travel back and forth several times. But that was currently not possible because the War Rune's connection would only be perfectly solidified once it had been refined to the 1st Tier.

'Recharging the War Rune should only take a few days. If I can go back tomorrow, and a second time two days before the protection barrier lifts, it shouldn't be too difficult to protect my territory even in the rainforest full of Tier-1 Monsters…'

Michael had to make the best of the given circumstances, but that was easier said than done. Certain things didn't get easier even after he racked his brain to think of a solution. Purchasing a few 1-Star Warrior Summoning Scrolls would help a lot, but it was not certain that the Warriors would be enough to ensure the territory's safety. After all, the rainforest was still an unknown region with a high likelihood of being inhabited by stronger monsters.

"If you're worried about the rainforest, we can send out Blaire Tracer, Master. She told me that she was never good at work which required her to use her hands. She was a little embarrassed that she made so many obvious mistakes when she was supposed to help the others in constructing the treehouse complex, and told me about it last night," Tiara proposed.

"Sending out Tracer? She might be agile, but we're talking about a region overpopulated with Tier-1 Monsters. Tracer is a Tierless Tracker who has yet to start refining energy!" Michael couldn't agree to something that risky. If Tracer was also Tier-1 – just like Tiara – he would agree, but this was way too dangerous.

"Blaire Tracer will be fine, and she wants to do that, Master. We need the information she can procure as well," Tiara tried to convince just as Blaire Tracer approached them. She heard her name and concluded that Tiara had proposed what they had discussed last night.

Her expression changed in an instant, and it looked like she started to glow.

"Please send me out to procure information about the rainforest, my lord!" Blaire requested politely after she rushed over to Michael to give him a deep bow.

A frown appeared on Michael's face, but he nodded his head after a while. Even if he wanted to protect his subjects from as much harm as possible, the unknown worried him a lot.

"Alright, you can go," He said at last, "But don't even think of getting injured. We have nothing to treat wounds, not even bandages!"

Michael was sorry that he had to push the responsibility of exploring the rainforest outside the protection barrier to Blaire Tracer, but she didn't seem to mind. On the other hand, she was happy, bowed deeply, and disappeared after finishing her preparations.

'As long as she's happy, there is no need for me to feel bad…I guess,' He thought, turning to one of the most important drops he received from a Low Tier-1 Frenzy Deer.

It was a Bow, an Artifact created by the Will, and made from the Frenzy Deer's Antlers and tendons.

Even if the Artifact was Tierless with a common quality star rating of one star, the power it could unleash once fully charged was quite high. Michael didn't have any Arrows to use it with, but using Extraction allowed him to extract sturdy wooden shafts from the rainforest's trees. He used them to test out the Artifact's strength.

Unfortunately, wooden shafts were simply makeshift arrows and not comparable to proper arrows. That was something even a rookie archer could tell, let alone Michael whose memories predominantly revolved around archery and a few other memories.

Michael finished organizing his first ancestor's memories, and he learned quite a lot. Most memories were not useful right now, but Michael was certain that he could make use of them in the future.

For one, Michael learned that the wicked Spear Art required exceptional eyesight and the ability to see what others couldn't even perceive and forget about seeing. He also found out that Fenrir became a Spearman solely because of the wicked Spear Art. He had been an Archer before – an exceptional archer at that.

Fenrir's archery skills had been impeccable, but he switched to the spear once he found the wicked spear arts. That was just too bad because Michael would have loved to receive more memories of Fenrir as an archer rather than his memories about the wicked Spear Art.

'Looks like I can become a pretty good archer in no time as well,' Michael thought with a subtle smile on his lips, 'At least, some of his memories are useful. With a little bit training, I can become an expert Archer using this bastard's memories, experience, and a weakened version of his Soultrait!'

Extracting everything from Fenrir had been extremely useful. Michael gained so much in return. Of course, he lost a Heroic Summon as a result, but that could also be considered an advantage. His Heroic Summon would have definitely lost his sanity in no time. Removing Fenrir was the only way to ensure his own safety and the survival of his territory.

Thus, after pondering over it for a while now, Michael concluded that he had done the right thing.

Michael would kill Fenrir again, even if time would turn back 24 hours. That was enough for him to understand that he did the right thing and that it was not worth dwelling on the what ifs any longer.

After he justified his actions to his conscience and accepted them at last, Michael began to work hard, once again.

He helped procure the purest and most resilient resources – to build the treehouse complexes – using Extraction. Simultaneously, he got to know his people more. They were a little confused at first, wondering why their Lord was so…kind, bubbly, and generous, rather than a stern commander who ordered everyone around while watching from far away.

However, they liked this kind of Lord much better, especially since he seemed reliable and quite powerful as well.

The day passed in the blink of an eye, and time seemed to slow down when Tracer returned to the territory, holding something in her arms while bleeding profusely.

"What the hell did you do?"