Michael chose to observe Maria Seraph as she saved Jirah Loar's life.

As Maria arrived in front of Jirah, her hair fluttered in the soothing aura that emerged from her body. The soothing aura was warm and comfortable. It suppressed pain and stimulated the natural regeneration process of all targets. Maria shrouded Jirah Loar with the soothing aura before a bright light emanated from her hands.

The pain in Jirah's eyes dispersed as the bright light shone onto his weary body. The essence of life seemed to fill Jirah as color returned to his wounded face, and deathly pale cheeks as a glimmer of vigor manifested inside his eyes.

"Dispel the blades," Maria ordered in a low voice.

The referee was about to release his energy to crush the Glacicle Swords, but Michael was faster. He transformed the Glacicle Swords into freezing mist which he pulled away from Jirah instantaneously. The freezing mist swirled around Michael before it disappeared inside him.

Fountains of blood gushed out of Jirah's wounds as the Glacicle Swords dispersed, however, Jirah didn't sense anything amiss. The vigor in his eyes never wavered. All he did was glance at Maria, whose entire body emanated bright light. A white, glowing halo had manifested above her head and the outlines of semi-translucent, whitish wings formed right behind her.

The power of Maria's Soultrait increased significantly. The gaping wound on Jirah's neck healed rapidly as thousands of tiny flesh tendrils shot out to stitch back the flesh and close the gaping wounds once again. The injuries visibly mended as if Maria reversed time itself. The deep gashes closed with a shimmering seam, which disappeared as well. Not even a scar was left behind once Maria finished mending the wounds. It was as if Jirah had never been injured.

However, what interested Michael the most was how easily Maria reattached Jirah's leg. A single wave of her hand was enough to stimulate the severed ends of the leg. She gestured to the referee to put the leg down next to the leg stump and to step away afterward. The referee didn't say anything as he followed her commands. He knew better than to talk back to a healer, even if the healer in front of him was still a fletchling compared to him.

The severed bones reconnected with a soft, almost musical chime while the nerves, veins and flesh rejoined with slick noises. Regaining the feelings in his severed leg, the ache and suffering Jirah had been feeling before Maria arrived dissipated from his memories. His emotions were replaced by a profound sense of relief. He wouldn't be a cripple!

Jirah felt a rush of strength surge through him. He felt blessed and happy.

'Interesting.' Michael thought, getting slightly interested in the ability of Maria's Soultrait.

Not only was Maria able to mend the wounds easily and much faster than any other healer Michael had ever seen working, but she could also block pain and manipulate emotions in a way. Maria's Soultrait healed the body, soothed the soul, and dispelled the darkness of afflictions such as ill-intentions and Curses, replacing the negative emotions with the joy of life and renewal.

It was truly wondrous.

'Yup. I should definitely get my hands on such a Soultrait in the future. Did she use her Inheritance technique to heal Jirah near-instantaneously or was that only her Soultrait's tremendous power' He wondered, unsure if the halo and the semi-translucent wings were related to her Soultrait, or if they were the manifestation of Maria utilizing her Inheritance technique. One way or another, the halo and wings further accelerated the restoration of Jirah's body. They allowed Maria to ensure that Jirah wouldn't have to face any mental trauma after today's battle.

Michael stared at Maria. She didn't break into a sweat and it looked like the young woman hadn't used a large amount of her energy either. This, combined with how easily Maria healed Jirah's wounds, gave him a good idea of Maria's power and her value. It was understandable why so many Descendants and people from the High Society tried to get in her good books.

If something were to happen to them and they were to be on the verge of death, or afflicted with a major Curse, they would want to receive Maria Seraph's help. As long as Maria happened to be close to the patients or their family, or owe them a favor, there was a big chance that she would help out. Her powers were especially useful for old patriarchs and the elders hailing from the big families. They probably hoped that her Soultrait could rejuvenate them, or ensure their lifespan extended for a few more years.

'That must be annoying,' Michael thought, looking at Maria with pity, "But it's a good thing that she was born in the Seraph family. I don't want to imagine how she would be treated if such a Soultrait manifested in a nameless family."

If a young woman from an ordinary household had appeared Maria's Soultrait, the big families would have invited that woman to join their families. The moment she rejected, she would have been kidnapped and abused as a pawn by the big families. She would have turned into an asset whose ability was sold to others at the highest price.

Michael shuddered at the thought.

Maria was lucky to have been born in the Seraph family, a family full of medics, and healers that nobody would dare to harbor ill intentions toward. All they could do was to try their utmost to please her and get close to her.

Maria Seraph heard what Michael mumbled quietly to himself. She glanced over to him, only to notice that Michael had already diverted his attention from her. He looked at the Flag War Token D#23, which the referee handed to him. With the Flag War Token, Michael would receive a tremendous amount of resources once the Battle Exchange was over. He would be able to spend the months training until the Flag War started, increasing his strength drastically.

As for the goal he wanted to achieve; he wanted to advance to Tier-3 until the Interdimensional Flag War started. If that was not possible due to a lack of resources, money, or enough enemies in the Origin Expanse to hunt and procure energy shares, Michael would be fine advancing to the Peak of the 2nd Tier as well.

That was already enough of a challenge given that he possessed nine Soultraits with seven being 5-Star or higher. But where was the fun without a real challenge?

Michael would have a hard time in the Interdimensional Flag War even if he advanced to the 3rd Tier, but that was fine. Michael was already prepared for this.

'One Tekur is roughly as strong as six Berserkers at the same rank. However, they don't possess a versatile combat style. Their Soultraits are the foundation of their combat style, and they build their strength around their Soultrait as the foundation. So, I should either create a team and pinpoint Tekur with weaker Soultraits, or Soultraits that are not good against me and my team. That way, we can deal with them one by oneprobably.'

Instead of worrying about the last few days of the Battle Exchange, Michael was already thinking about the Interdimensional Flag War. But that was quite obvious since Michael was not worried about losing his Flag War Token.

The probability of someone challenging him after his battle against Jirah was low. It was not nil, but Michael had the means to use even more ability against his enemies. He had yet to use the Power of Energy Imprint that Opars had stored in the Legendary Ring Artifact over the last few days.

Michael wanted to continue storing Opars' Energy Imprint in the Legendary Ring Artifact until the Interdimensional Flag War started. That way, he would never lack the energy to fight even if his War Rune's refinement degree would be stuck at the Mid rank. Having more energy than others was crucial for someone like Michael. He could let himself loose a little and wreak havoc, killing everything in his path.

At least, that was the plan.

Unfortunately, Michael's plans tended to fail miserably. That was exactly what happened right now.

Michael was just about to leave the Colosseum now that he obtained what he desired when he heard a commotion from outside.

"The Tritaenus returned!" A Warlock Centaur announced loudly to his colleagues.

"The Tritaenus? The War Priestess said that they would be out in space to explore the cosmos for the next five years. Why are they already back?" Another Warlock Centaur responded, sounding more confused than excited.

"Are you an idiot, or are you just trying to garner attention? The Tritaenus must have returned because they found something! That means we have a new solar system to explore, new planets to colonize, new enemies to fight with our lives on the line, or new friends to create trading routes with!" The first Warlock Centaur exclaimed, his excitement clearly evident.

Michael didn't like one out of the four possibilities announced by the Warlock Centaur but his curiosity was piqued.

'Is the Tritaenus a spaceship? Since they're talking about the exploration of space it should be a spaceship.'

Michael was just about to walk to the Warlock Centaurs to ask some questions when his perception picked up something weird. His eyes moved to the ceiling of the Colosseum and he narrowed his eyes.

In the next moment, a thunderous explosion resounded through the Colosseum. No. It did not only resound through the Colosseum. Thunderous explosions reverberated throughout Piloq.

Following the thunderous explosion, the Colosseum began to tremble wildly. The ceiling collapsed where Michael was looking at with Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze, which activated instinctively, yet all Michael could pay attention to was the metallic, elongated cylinder with a pointed tip that burst through the ceiling.

It was a missile a high-destructive Perses Missile used in large spaceships.

No. It was not just one missile either. It was just the first Michael saw.

And the next moment, all hell broke loose.

[End of Volume 7]