"I was busy getting rid of some pesky traitors," Michael responded with a smile, "I knew you would be able to handle this."

He pointed at the High Awakened, struggling to get up from the ground. The High Awakened groaned, his eyes bloodshed. Tears of rage and anger trickled down his cheeks, and foam oozed from his mouth.

"Was he like that earlier as well?" Michael asked. Frederik shook his head, but he looked uncertain.

'Better get rid of this guy before he can do something stupid then.' He shrugged inwardly, ignoring the energy building up in the High Awakened's stomach.

Instead, Michael focused on his attack. A golden blade manifested in his hand vanished in a blur a moment later. The next thing Frederik could see was a red line covering the High Awakened's neck and his head sliding down. The head landed on the ground with a thud, and a fountain of blood gushed out of his headless neck. The High Awakened's body collapsed to the ground, wiggling for a few seconds before it stopped forever.

Frederik swallowed hard.

'I couldn't see anything! It hasn't been that long since he ascended to a Higher Lifeform, but why does it feel like he has grown even stronger since then?!'

It was obvious that Michael grew stronger. The slightest increase in a War Rune's refinement degree as a Higher Lifeform was equivalent to a massive improvement as a Lesser Lifeform. Still, Frederik could tell that Michael had changed much more than a simple refinement of his War Rune.

'How can he continue to grow stronger this fast? That's not fair!' Frederik exclaimed inwardly in an outburst, only to shake his head. 'Michael works harder than anyone. I should know that better than most.

His territory is crazy, and I haven't seen Michael taking a break in forever. He is either somewhere fighting with his life on the line or grasping golden opportunities others wouldn't dare to. The golden opportunities were spiked with dangers potent enough to kill the strongest of their kind, yet Frederik was certain that Michael would grasp them.

Michael never avoided danger. He embraced it to grow stronger.

Even though Michael could see the trains of thought flashing through Frederik's eyes, he didn't say anything. He patted Frederik's back and smiled proudly at him.

"You did well."

That was enough to stir Frederik's heart. A sting of guilt spread outward, filling his entire being. Michael was a good guy. He was a little weird, but he deserved to grow stronger. It would be a shame if Michael died out there while growing stronger.

'I hope he has some time out after all of this is over.'

Michael focused on the task ahead. Frederik was injured, and the Berserkers were about to die.

He retrieved a few corpses from his War Rune storage and immediately used Swallow Domain on them. Frederik saw only a glimpse of the bodies, but it was enough to confuse him. He stared at Michael as viscous silver glimmering liquid formed all around him.

Michael used Permute on the content within Swallow Domain to create healing serum on a large scale. There wasn't much healing serum, but it was enough for the task ahead.

"Don't resist me," Michael announced, splitting the healing serum into four streams. The smallest stream swirled around Frederik and pushed inside him. A thin layer of healing serum splashed on his face, healing his bruises rapidly. His swollen cheeks receded to their original shape, and the cuts all over his face healed rapidly.

Frederik's wounds weren't nasty and returned to his peak within seconds. Unfortunately, the Berserkers weren't faring that well. They'd already lost too much blood and were already deadly pale. Michael lifted them with ease and put them down next to each other.

Since his experience with healing other people wasn't that great, Micheal relied on the quantity of healing serum at his disposal. The three remaining streams of healing serum were used to swallow the three Berserkers. The healing serum stopped their bleeding while entering their bodies. It spread through their system and reached their cells, invigorating them rapidly.

The Berserkers improved quickly, but Michael was not done there. He manifested a few masses of attributed energylight, nature, and fireand used Permute to create nutrients and lifeforce in their purest form. The nutrients and lifeforce were grasped with Insert and infused into the masses of attributed energy. Michael felt the immense power within the masses of energy and smiled. He willed them above the Berserkers and used Insert to channel everything inside them.

The nutrients and lifeforce were distributed evenly through the Berserkers' bodies, where the healing serum required them.

Michael tapped into the nutrients and lifeforce with healing serum to accelerate the healing process. The Berserkers looked better by the second. Their bodies produced blood much faster than before to make up for the masses of blood they'd lost. Breathes of relief escaped their lips. They were recuperating and escaped the cliff of eternal darkness. They'd escaped death at the door's step.

'From the looks of it, River of Vigor's passive effect is more than enough to stabilize their condition. Well, then again, River of Vigor would be too strong if I used it actively on them. Berserkers are innately strong and might be strong enough to endure it, but their condition was not durable enough to endure River of Vigor at full power.'

'Maybe Enhancement would work out best to ensure that patients on the verge of death like these Berserkers - can be saved from even more grievous injuries. Enhancement improved the healing serum of River of Vigor without increasing the serum's potency. An increase in potency would be troublesome. An efficiency, on the other hand, would save countless lives.'

Still trying to figure out how to acquire the most suitable way to utilize River of Vigor on others without accidentally killing his patients. It would be a lot worse to tear his patients apart while trying to heal them.

'That would be a deadly healing.' Michael frowned deeply. He certainly didn't want to kill his patients. If anything, Michael wanted to rescue everyone!

Michael closed his eyes and used River of Vigor actively now that the Berserkers were stabilized.

The moment River of Vigor was activated, Michael's energy was drained rapidly. He was stunned to see how much energy was drained but smiled when the Berserkers improved even faster. The healing serum was utilized up swiftly, which allowed Michael to stop using River of Vigor after a while.

The Berserkers got up as the healing serum dispersed. They inspected their bodies and channeled energy through them, only to note that their energy paths and lifeforce were stronger than before. They were ready to jump back into battle, their fighting spirit skyrocketing.

"You will feel more energetic for a while, but that effect won't endure forever. Your energy paths are temporarily enhanced as well. Remember that this is temporary," Michael reminded the Berserkers with a smile. Their eyes lingered on him, a flash of reverence and astonishment filling them.

"You saved us," They uttered in unison before their focus turned to Frederik.

"You as well. Thank you. We survived thanks to you," One of them said, his words filling Frederik's soul with something he hadn't felt for a while.

Pride.

He was proud of himself.

'I did it!' Frederik clutched his hands into tight fists.

'I can do it!'