Chapter 297 Expansion II
Michael was positively surprised when he heard a familiar screech resounding through the periphery of the Summoning Gate.
He turned his head and smiled lightly. Today was a good day.
"A Greater Eagle?" Michael mused quietly as a green-feathered Greater Eagle appeared in his vision.
It was a little bit smaller than Icarus and its plumage had a unique sheen, which was a clear indicator of its sex. The Greater Eagle was a female.
As if Icarus realized that Michael was thinking about him, the Greater Eagle appeared above the Summoning Gate. He descended and landed in front of the smaller, green-feathered Greater Eagle and screeched much louder in response.
The smaller Greater Eagle opened its wings as wide as possible, and everybody watched them in anticipation, fearing that the two would fight. However, the smaller one lowered its head and bowed to Icarus.
Michael and the Summons in the surroundings were a little stunned at the show that unfolded in front of them, but Michael quickly realized what had just transpired.
"Since we have a male and female Greater Eagle now…we might have to create a nest for Greater Eagles in the future. Maybe, I will become the Lord of the Greater Eagles Army." He joked before moving his attention to the other 3-Star Summons that had stepped out of the Summoning Gate one after another.
There was not a single 3-Star human Summon, but that was something Michael had somewhat expected. His gut feeling told him that his summoning ratio would be weird today -- and that was definitely the case.
Instead of a human, there was a Forest Elf, a Demi-Human, another monster, and a Fae.
The Forest Elf was a 3-Star Master Enchanter, and the Demi-Human was a Mythic Engineer of the Rhinofolk.
Meanwhile, the Fae was a tiny humanlike being with a height of a few inches. It shot toward Michael and patted his head all while laughing mischievously. The Fae had delicate, ethereal features and a mischievous aura that seemed to radiate from their very being. Her body was slender and graceful, which was highlighted by the delicate wings that sprouted from her back.
Her wings resembled those of butterflies and were iridescent, reflecting light in a mesmerizing manner. She had long silver hair that bounced around as if the essence of wind wanted to play with the little Fae.
She was a Pixie, a Forest Pixie to be precise.
Michael didn't expect to summon a Pixie anytime soon. Most reports said that they were rare to summon and that some Lords didn't receive one even after their Summoning Gate was upgraded to the Intermediate rank.
Pixies exuded an aura of enchantment that affected the surroundings. They naturally attracted origin energy to themselves, which allowed Lords to create energy-rich environments in their territory. But that was not all. Their existence embodied the mysteries of the natural world, accelerating the growth of the surrounding Flora and Fauna.
As for the last 3-Star Summon he had summoned, Michael first didn't quite notice it. He could only pinpoint the Monster when the little stream of information entered his mind through the Link of Loyalty.
The Monster was even smaller than the Forest Pixie. It had a slender body and narrow waist, and distinctive black and yellow stripes marking its abdomen. These markings served as a warning to potential predators as they indicated the Monster's ability to defend itself with a potent sting. It had two pairs of wings, six legs, and a large golden stinger that gleamed dangerously.
The Monster he summoned was a 3-Star Golden Stinger Wasp!
It was tiny and didn't seem too dangerous. However, the spark of intelligence in its eyes indicated that it was not an ordinary monster and that it deserved its star rating.
"My little friend, what are you capable of?" Michael asked, only to see that Wasp pointing its stinger at him. It released a burst of energy that looked like a replication of its stinger.
Michael could have avoided the stinger but he didn't. He didn't sense any danger from it. In fact, he didn't sense anything from the energy stinger. The energy stinger hit Michael, but nothing happened afterward.
He didn't feel anything for a few seconds and narrowed his eyes while staring at his smallest summon.
Yet, just as Michael began to wonder if the Golden Stinger Wasp was a con-artist, something miraculous occurred.
Michael and the Golden Stinger Wasp switched places. Michael disappeared from his initial position, and he reappeared next to Icarus.
The next moment the Golden Stinger Wasp ascended higher into the air. It landed on a tree branch and switched positions again.
Michael landed on the branch while the Golden Stinger Wasp was next to Icarus in the blink of an eye.
"Teleportation? It's more like switching places with the person it stung with the energy stinger…that's amazing!" Michael exclaimed, jumping down from the tree branch.
"Show me what else you can do!"
Michael spent the next ten minutes testing out the Golden Stinger Wasp's powers.
It could only switch places with a target it had hit with the energy stinger. Every Switch required origin energy, but the consumption was not all that high as long as the target was nearby. The energy stinger's effect would disperse after ten minutes. Thus, the Golden Stinger Wasp had to switch places within a time frame of ten minutes.
But that was perfectly fine. Ten minutes was more than enough to wreak havoc by switching places continuously.
Once he was done testing, Michael understood that the Golden Stinger Wasp was the best Summon he had obtained today – alongside the Forest Pixie, of course.
Both the Forest Pixie and the Golden Stinger Wasp had unique abilities. That didn't mean the Greater Eagle, the 3-Star Enchanter, or the Mythic Engineer were of no value. It was just that the Pixie and the Wasp had more unique traits that would come in handy to trick an opponent.
Now that all Summoning Scrolls had been used up and the Summons' information had been noted down, Michael received a detailed report from his attendant.
"My Lord, here is the report. Please take a look at the second and third page as well. The second page has a detailed report about the daily Summons that appeared while you were in the Lord Rift and recuperating from your injuries. The third page can give you a clear indicator of the territory's growth, and population. We measured the strength of the army, everyone's individual ranking, and the total population," The attendant said, bowing lightly before he added, "The information of the third page has already been updated to include today's summons."
Michael nodded his head in satisfaction. He was thankful that the attendant was meticulous in his work.
Michael went to the second page without second thoughts. He roughly knew the number of today's summoning so the second page was more intriguing.
He was in possession of three Summoning Cores that had been purified with Extraction several times, and roughly eight weeks passed in the Origin Expanse since the Lord Rift had opened. That means 168 Summons should have been summoned through the Summoning Gate's daily summons.
[List of Daily Summons since the Lord's departure to the Lord Rift.
119x 1-Star Summons: 12x Apprentice Enchanter, 9x Apprentice Blacksmith, 25x Warriors, 9x Assassins…
49x 2-Star Summons: 8x Berserkers, 5x Knights, 4x Forest Elven Sharpshooters ….]
Michael was not shocked about the high number of 2-Star Summons. He had already expected that many. After all, his Summoning Cores were of extremely high purity. It was only obvious that the number of stronger, skilled, and resourceful Summons increased in his daily Summons alongside the improvement of his Summoning Core's quality.
Nonetheless, it was nice to see that Extraction had been useful once again. It was a great long-term investment and increased Michael's desire to focus on collecting more Summoning Cores. Unfortunately, they were too expensive to purchase in large quantities.
It was better to purchase tens of thousands of Summoning Scrolls and train his Summons using Instructors, Warrior Enlightenment Potions, and other means to create 1-Star Warriors rather than purchasing a single Summoning Core.
One way or another, Michael was satisfied.
He moved to the last page and took a look at his territory's population, and the evaluation of his army's combat prowess.
A smile crept up Michael's face as his eyes read through the last page, and he exclaimed quietly.
"Ohooo…"
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