In the end, Michael had Jester return to his usual form—but instead of sending him back to the Netherworld, he slipped the small undead into his pocket.
This was the first undead Michael had ever owned that displayed such high intelligence, and that alone made him curious about many things.
Thanks to Li Yang’s mories, conversing with Jester was surprisingly enlightening. But what Michael valued more than personality or conversation—was knowledge. And Jester, unfortunately or not, was brimming with it.
From their exchange, Michael could already tell that Li Yang’s cultivation world was technologically inferior to Aurora. But that didn’t an it was primitive or lacking powerful inventions.
Quite the opposite.
The world was terrifyingly strong—just in a different way.
Still, Michael wasn’t in a rush to compare his world to theirs. After all, he didn’t fully understand the extent of that world’s power.
At least, that was his stance—until he heard about the "Children of Heaven" from Jester.
As an Awakener himself, Michael was intimately familiar with what defined his kind. But hearing about them shook his assumptions.
With history far older than Aurora, that other world had depth.
And Michael couldn’t help but feel that, in the grand sche of things... his own world might be the weaker one.
How weak exactly, though—that, he didn’t yet know.
Another revelation struck Michael later, back in the quiet of his manor study in Thornvale.
It was sothing Jester had casually ntioned—sothing that hadn’t fully registered in the heat of earlier events.
He had been reviewing the absurd list of skills Jester had absorbed when he found himself muttering aloud, half-joking, half-curious.
"I wonder if I could learn any of these..."
To his surprise, Jester answered imdiately, with far too much enthusiasm.
—Oh, you can! I can teach you!
Michael blinked.
"You can?"
—Well, not , technically. My original skills weren’t designed for teaching. But he—Li Yang—had plenty. Dozens of thods to transfer knowledge. So required spirit roots, but not all. It’s general knowledge in his world.
Michael stared at him, stunned for a few seconds.
That changed things.
If true—this ant Michael had access to more than just an undead with many skills.
He had access to the legacy of a powerful being that has lived for centuries
All bundled up in the form of a small undead in his pocket.
He leaned back in his chair, gaze distant as possibilities unfolded in his mind like a map.
"...Could you really teach ?" he asked slowly. "Even if I don’t have a spirit root?"
—We’d need to test, but yes. So techniques work without it. It’s about how you channel internal energy. Your mana might function similarly.
Michael’s mind raced. If even a portion of those techniques were compatible with his system, that would be great.
Imdiately, Michael decided to test his luck and rattled off a few things he figured he needed.
"Do you have a cultivation skill that can increase my mana? If it improves my physique too, that’s a bonus—I’ll take it. Oh, oh—this one!"
Sothing else suddenly ca to mind. Sothing far more important to him.
"Do you have any skill that can connect my soul to sothing—or soone?"
—Hmmm... maybe a refinent art.
"Refinent art?" Michael echoed, raising an eyebrow.
—Yes, Jester chirped. Let’s say you want to bind an object to your soul directly. A spiritual connection. Through refinent, you can do that. At the lowest level, it’s used to keep items within the soulscape. At other levels, it nourishes the item, strengthens it, and in so cases... allows it to grow.
Michael leaned forward slightly. "So... like evolving an item?"
—Not quite. This is different. Think of it like... bathing sothing in your essence over ti. You give it your soul’s flavor. That makes it yours in a way no one else can replicate. So cultivators even refine swords to such a level they beco pseudo-living extensions of themselves.
Michael muttered under his breath, "A spiritual bond..."
—Exactly. And it’s not limited to tools. At more advanced levels, you can refine many things.
—There are three primary branches of Refinent Arts. First: Object Refinent. This is what we just talked about—anchoring sothing to your soul. Second: Self-Refinent. You refine your own soul and mind, sharpening focus, boosting mory retention, and increasing resistance to ntal attacks. Third: Symbiotic Refinent. The rarest. You refine a connection between your soul and another’s—living or dead. It’s used for dual cultivation, or mutual strengthening.
Michael’s expression turned serious.
"...That last one. Can it be used on undead?"
Jester paused for a mont.
—Not normally. Undead don’t have real souls. But you’re different, Master. There’s so spirit. Well, I’m using as an example so if your other undead are like then yes.
Michael exhaled deeply.
"I want to try all three," he said calmly. "Object, self, and... maybe the symbiotic one later."
There was a reason Michael wanted to try all three.
The first—Object Refinent—was directly tied to his Talent.
The second—Self-Refinent—was a necessity born from experience. If he didn’t start defending his own mind, it was only a matter of ti before he encountered sothing he couldn’t block out.
The third—Symbiotic Refinent—was the most uncertain, but also the most tempting.... Maybe it could fix the issue he had with [Taming].
"How exactly would you teach ?"
Michael inquired.
—Simple! I’ll just push the knowledge into your consciousness, Jester replied cheerfully.
Michael blinked. "Wait... you can do that?"
—Of course! I did say Li Yang knew many thods. So involve this—Jester’s tone practically buzzed with glee—direct mory infusion.
Michael then thought of sothing imdiately. "...If you can do that, then... does that an you can do the sa to anything else? As long as it has a hint of awareness?"
There was a pause.
—Yes, Jester answered slowly, tone more thoughtful this ti. That’s the theory, at least. If sothing has the capacity to comprehend, even on a basic level, then yes—I can teach it. Push knowledge into it.
Michael’s mind reeled at the potential. "So... if I gave you an undead with just a little bit of intelligence, you could—"
"Yes."
"Damn!"
****
A/N: Mass release tomorrow. Thanks for reading!!!
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