The signing of the pact happened in secret. No one knew that the Ragebergs had overnight turned into one of the most influential families. After the signing of the pact, all people present looked towards Michael.

Michael smiled at them and started speaking about what he knew:

All of us know about the forbidden forest. We have never tried claiming the land or venturing deep into the forest because we believed that it was a place of habitat of the planar spirits. There is also the mysterious disappearence of many experts who ventured too deep. So now, I will tell you the secret of the forbidden forest.

The forbidden forest is filled with illusion energy that makes anyone lose their sense of direction. But we also find that once we cut the trees, the energy vanishes gradually and the sense of direction remains intact. In truth, there is an illusion array in the forest. The array has been created with the trees as nodes. If you want proof, I can show you the way to replicate the array!

With this, Michael showed all experts at the table the method of construction of the illusion array. This was one of the things Michael had researched during his free time while he learned about illusion energy with Demitrus.

Looking at the array, Mubal's eyes lit up. He said:

Mubal : Wow! This is a very profound array! I have never seen such a formidable illusion array. If I had not seen it, I would not have been able to break it.

While others were not as well versed as Mubal, they too could verify that Michael's words were true. This was definitely a great finding. None of the elves or dwarves ever managed to learn of this secret.

Michael then continued. As you see it, there is a massive array in the forest. The thing is, what do you think powers it? Why would trees act as nodes? What is the energy that is common among all trees?

The same answer came to everyone's mind:

Life Force

All living beings contained life force. This was an accepted fact in Aterna. As trees were immobile and carried life force, if the illusion array was using them as nodes, then it must be life energy that was powering it.

As soon as the people around the table arrived at this thought, they all understood where the life essence was.

It was in the forbidden forest. As long as they could break the illusion array, it was their own for the taking. Both Jerome and Reez felt their eyes going red with excitement.

But, Michael's next sentences poured cold water over them.

While this theory does explain the existance of life essence in the forest, it is not a proof. Here comes the reason why I am certain. The elder that I made a deal with is perhaps the greatest illusionist in Aterna! He was the one to notice the illusion array first. Thus, he entered the forbidden forest by himself in order to learn it's secrets. As he managed to crack the array, he reached the heart of the forest. There he saw the life essence crystals! There were more than 30 of them! But, they were being guarded by a beast. The beast he saw was unlike any monster. It felt more like a dark spirit. But, its fluctuations were in the immortal realm! Perhaps extremely strong even in the immortal realm! As the beast was sleeping, he could escape with his life.

Naturally, all Michael had said now was bullshit. Demitrus would never dare to step into the forest even if he knew about the array. All this was made up by Michael but there was no one who could say otherwise. After all, there was a plausible theory and they had seen the expert at hand. Thus, they totally believed Michael's words.

Michael then continued:

While the beast is formidable and we humans will not be able to do anything to it, the other races are quite capable. I propose we sign an agreement with the God's Hand to receive 3 crystals in exchange for this information. Naturally, we would use binding ceremonies. While my credibility is not much, if both of you support, they will listen to us.

The crytals would be divided three way. One for each of you seniors and one for the illusion master. What do you guys think??

God's Hand was an organization that spanned across all Aterna. It was established by the true overlords of the plane - the god beasts! They had the Dragon tribe, the Pheonix tribe, the Qilin tribe and many other tribes. They had too many powerhouses to count. It was such that they could perhaps fight all races together by themselves. But many years ago, in a calamity, they suffered a curse from planar laws and it made powerhouses from their tribes to reach the immortal realm almost impossible. Thus, while they were stagnant in power, perhaps they would want the life essence the most.

The experts of the two families started deciding the plan with Michael. They were already considering him a peer. It was not due to his power or talent, but due to his intelligence and potential. They knew that Michael had all it took to become a powerhouse. And he had the intelligence and wisdom to survive. This was a deadly combination. They knew that the throne of Atrexia would change for sure. All that was left to see was to see if he could reach the immortal realm and dominate for thousands of years.

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After much discussion, the experts accompanied Michael to the elven kingdom. It was at the boundary of both kingdoms where there was a trade city located by the name - Dawn.

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Lord Astang was the head of God's Hand department in the light empire. Located in the city of Dawn, the department was secretly run behind the banner of the greatest auction house of the city. On this particular day, he received a report from his subordinate about three perfect realm humans and an emperor realm human visiting for sharing information. Astang was an immortal realm expert from the dragon tribe, an ancient existence. For him, who saw the rise of humans by his own eyes to the establishment of their kingdom, it was like watching the miracles of time!

What caught his eye was that the information discussed life essence. He had thought of detaining these four, but then realized that this action would perhaps collapse the human race. They were so weak that a touch would shatter them. Thus, he decided to listen to their conditions.

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In the meeting hall of God's Hand, Michael sat with the three ancestors of humans and the ancient dragon - Astang. While many said that Karslon Dumbledore was the strongest expert in the empire, it was mostly true. Except, Astang. No one knew how powerful this Ancient Dragon was. He was in the immortal realm. With his soul cultivation in the sublime realm as well. As he was from a strong race, his soul was at the peak sublime soul realm, comparable to Mubal. With soul guard, he was unbeatable!

Sitting in front of such a being gave Michael shivers. Even in his past life, he would not have dared to anger this existence! But, Michael knew that what he had to face was something stronger than Astang. While the god-beasts had put formidable resistance against the devils, it was only till their true powerhouses entered the plane. That power was not something Astang could compare to! Even the planar laws seemed to crack under their power. They blasted apart the entire plane!

Remembering what he was up against, Michael calmed down. He needed to change his mindset. If he was awed and subdued by such a level, he might as well be destroyed when the devils came.

No! He would not yield! He would tear the devils apart! All his plans were for that!

Looking at the calmness of the puny emperor level human, Astang was astonished. Under his pressure, even the ancestors were trembling. He looked at him with interest.

Looking at the person in detail, he was even more astonished.

What a profound illusion technique! He could not see through the technique!

Thus, he said:

Why doesn't the little friend here remove these veils?

With that, he exerted his pressure dispelling the technique! Michael was shocked. His level in the disguise technique was reaching Demitrus' level. Astang truly lived up to his reputation.

But, Astang was even more stunned. His jaw dropped in shock.

Holy shit! This was a kid! A kid wet behind the ears! And he could actually conceal his appearance in front of myself - an ancient dragon!

He remembered that the humans had a new crown prince. Well, this kid definitely qualified. Just his cultivation and technique placed him at the top strata in Aterna, including the god-beast children. For a human of such talent to appear, it truly was a miracle.

But, being an ancient dragon, he quickly hid his surprise. He said:

Astang : So its the crown prince of humans. Why would you try to use illusion in front of me?

Micahel : Senior, forgive me for overestimating myself. I just felt that you might not give my words any weight if you were to see me as an ignorant kid.

Astang : Hmm. It would have been the case previously. But, now you have interested me. Tell me about this information that you have brought.

Michael : I have brought the information of about 30 life essence crystals. I can share the information, but I will take 3 of these crystals. Please sign a planar law pact with us as the representative of God's Hand. Or else, you will be unable to find the information.

Astang : And why shouldn't I torture you here to get the information out?

Michael : While knowing the information is nothing much, the way to solve the array is something only I know. Not even the ancestors know this. If you believe that you can break my will, you are welcome to try!

Astang tried to use his soul force to probe Michael. As his soul was stronger, he easily could. But no matter what he tried, Michael's will would not budge! Soul pain was the toughest to bear. For a kid to bear such pain without a change in expression was incredible.

Even Astang was liking this kid. He had spunk!

Astang did not try to torture Michael for long. He knew from his probe that it would lead nowhere. Next, he brought out the planar law agreement. He signed it as the representative of God's Hand.

The agreement terms were decided by Michael's group even before they stepped foot here. So, they were done with everything quite quickly. In short, God's Hand could not hurt them after the transaction and neither could they tell anyone about the source of information.

After setting these matters aside, Michael told the dragon about the secret. But, at this time, no one including Michael knew how big of a treasure was hidden in the forbidden forest!