233 Diamond
Several days passed since Michael's last meeting with Kilian Whira, the shop manager of the Bartholomew Shop in the Saphirelake Military Academy.
He had yet to hear any news about the proposal he made, but that didn't bother him.
Michael was willing to wait patiently. He was not in a rush, after all.
Michael had yet to purchase Tier-2 Artifacts and high-quality ores for himself, Tiara, and Masked Saber as well, thinking that he should wait for the perfect opportunity.
Instead of rushing anything, Michael spent his time training like usual. He practiced the Sacred Rectification body refinement technique to refine his physique. That way, Michael could improve his physique to an even better state than before even though he didn't make any significant progress. Instead of rapidly progressing and charging ahead, Michael took his time to fix the small flaws the Berserker Physique technique left behind.
As a result, his flexibility and agility improved drastically. Michael even felt like his senses had become sharper. However, he was not sure if the improvement of his senses was related to Sacred Rectification, or because his progress with regards to Pandemonium's Requiem improved. The neutral energy absorption technique enhanced his control of origin energy significantly, providing a considerable enhancement all over his body as origin energy circulated through him at all times.
Ceasurium Menta and Memory Lane received the highest boost. Both techniques reached the 2nd Stage, improving his memorization ability, and his brain's overall capabilities.
By advancing to the 2nd Stage with Memory Lane, Michael caught up with the other freshmen. In fact, he surpassed the progress of most average students, providing him with enough leeway to study ahead in the Old Language and Ancient Ruins Courses.
During the last few months, Michael never got sufficient time to study the Temple of the Forbidden. He had never forgotten about the Temple of the Forbidden, but he had also been painfully aware of the fact that it would take a while to find out more about the Old Origin Language, to learn it, and to grow strong enough to face the dangers lurking inside the Temple of the Forgotten.
The more Michael studied about Ancient Ruins the more evident was that the Temple of the Forgotten was dangerous and that he would die the instant he entered it. His current strength was simply not enough to even think about taking a peek inside the temple.
'In a few weeks, the Lord Rift will open.' Michael was deep in thought while undergoing Silverian Schild's Limit Breaker workout.
Despite wearing a heavyweight combat suit weighing more than 700 kilograms he could move around efficiently while circulating origin energy through his body.
Michael was not even using his Soultraits right now. He solely relied on his physical strength and the minor physical enhancement he received from circulating origin evenly through his body to complete Silverian's devilish workout.
Simultaneously, his mind kept distracting him, bombarding him with thoughts about the Lord Rift and the preparations he had yet to complete.
'Tiara should advance to Tier-2 today or tomorrow. Masked Saber will also advance to Tier-2 in a week or two. That's good, but will that be enough? We'll only be at the Lowest-stage. Our refinement degree will probably be lower than everyone else.'
Michael knew that Tiara was quite powerful. Her spatial awareness and wild instincts, combined with her unique Soultraits allowed her to unleash power that was way higher than her rank suggested. Masked Saber was similar in that regard.
He was actually stronger than the Forest Elves in terms of teamwork and power utilization. That was also why Michael felt more comfortable fighting next to Tiara and Masked Saber. The three of them had great teamwork and they understood each other without the need to exchange words.
In a chaotic place like a Rift where dangerous surprises could appear at any point, Michael felt that his chance of survival would be much higher with Tiara and Masked Saber by his side.
Once the Limit Breaker workout was done. Michael took a quick shower and changed into a neat set of clothes. Michael possessed dozes of clothing sets by now – all stored neatly inside his War Rune's storage space.
He cleaned them every now and then – mostly when he was deep in thought, trying to find a solution to certain issues or to find out the most efficient ways to execute some plans –, and it was quite enjoyable.
After he put on his clean clothes, Michael and the other members of the Limit Breaker Course left for the cafeteria together. They ordered the Jumbo plates and ate together.
While having lunch, Michael received a notification. He opened the holographic screen, just to halt in his tracks when he saw the message that popped up in starnet messenger.
[Kilian Whira(shop manager): Sir Fang, I have great news for you. I am pleased to tell you that the executive director of the Bartholomew Corporation is willing to negotiate with you. Are you free this afternoon at 3 pm?]
'Was about time that you guys made a move,' Michael thought, taking in a big breath to inhale the delicious aroma of the remaining dishes on the jumbo plate before he put away the plate to rush out of the cafeteria.
It was already 2 pm, and Michael had yet to validate a few nasty pieces of information that he found while researching a few organizations.
He spent the next hour searching for Alice Zenovia. Michael found her after half an hour, but she had only a few minutes of spare time to discuss his tactic with him.
At first, Alice was a little stupefied when she heard that Michael had the means to make an executive director of the Bartholomew Corporation pay him attention. That was not easy, especially not for someone, who didn't know how to utilize his connections well.
She listened to Michael's idea and provided a few pieces of advice. When she found out about Michael's agriculture-type blueprints, Alice felt like convincing Michael to sell the blueprints to the Zenovia family. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Zenovia family were Lords in cold regions – most of them having frozen ground at that.
Michael would make more losses dealing with the Zenovia family than utilizing the vast range of connections the Bartholomew Corporation attained over the course of several centuries.
"This kid is really different. Good thing that I invited him to the Saphirelake Military Academy. If not, mankind might have missed out on a little treasure," Alice mused quietly after Michael left.
She was pleased with herself for finding a diamond in the rough but the smile lasted only for a few seconds before her expression changed again. The smile disappeared and she cleared her throat turning around. Alice Zenovia went back to her class, her usually cold expression back on her face, hiding her true emotions.
Meanwhile, it was 3:00 pm when a holographic projection appeared above the table in front of Michael. He arrived in the Bartholomew Shop in the nick of time and was led to a soundproof room where the negotiations would be held.
The projection of a middle-aged woman with long black hair and dark eyes manifested. She had an intense gaze and stared straight at Michael. Michael felt her gaze moving from his head to toe to analyze him thoroughly.
"My name is Helen Ascaln, and I was given the responsibility to deal with you. Let's not beat around the bush and finish business quickly," Helen Ascaln said straightforwardly, her gaze never leaving Michael.
Michael didn't avoid eye contact either. He stared back at her, his gaze filled with determination.
"No matter how the negotiations end, your membership card will be upgraded to the Diamond level. You'll be given higher discounts and you can access the second highest level of our network system. Furthermore, as a Diamond-level member, you will have access to the contact details of all members of the Bartholomew Corporation. You might not think that the last point is necessary, but you will quickly realize that the contact details are quite useful.
In addition to all of this, Diamond-level members receive a heads-up for special promotion events and your orders are prioritized. Our staff will ensure your satisfaction in any facility affiliated with the Bartholomew Corporation!" Helen Ascaln explained, studying Michael's reaction to the generous gift he was given.
However, Michael's expression didn't budge at all. He was unfazed and responded with a nonchalant nod.
"You don't seem surprised, Mr. Fang. Seems like you have high expectations about today's deal," Helen Ascaln remarked with a professional smile plastered on her face.
"Of course not. The membership card upgrade is something you are gifting me to make me feel guilty. You want my conscience to be guilt-ridden at the thought of exploiting the Bartholomew Corporation for a higher profit share of the Agriculture Project," Michael pointed out calmly before he added with a devilish smile on his face.
"Unfortunately, I'm not that foolish. I know the limit of the Bartholomew Corporation, and how valuable the contribution of my agriculture-type blueprints is. So let's put aside this nonsense and start negotiating!"
[A/N: It's me again, the author. How is everyone doing? Is life pleasant? I genuinely hope that everyone is doing fine here. If you have a bad day, I wish you some luck!
How is the novel? Ready for a little bit of peace? Or...are you prepared for another huge battle?
If you want to support me a little bit, give me a nice review and your powerstones.]
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel