Michael flew through the slew of organic, powdery confetti flying through the skyline of the Elven village, and eventually arrived on the front steps of Lady Farren's quaint cabin.
With a knock on the door, he let himself in and saw a busy Elf surrounded by even more busy bodies.
As soon as the door creaked open, they turned their heads towards his direction.
Their eyes glistened with awe and adoration as they recognized his face.
"Sir Keo!"
"Sir Keo! You've awoken!"
"Our hero!"
Michael was once again besieged by the Elves on all sides. They became so rowdy at his presence that he could barely even understand what they were talking about. They talked over each other like a bunch of small birds chirping for another worm.
"Okay, okay, settle down," Lady Farren commanded. "I'll handle this."
She forcefully pushed the crowd of overly-enthusiastic Elves out of her house, leaving her alone with Michael. Finally, they could both heave a sigh of relief.
"What was that?"
Lady Farren chuckled. "They're just fans of yours. The circumstances of yesterday's turmoil have been spread throughout the Elven circle. Now, they're treating you as an important figure akin to the mythical heroes of old. Lyra is a beloved member of this community. The fact that you rescued her from a fate of doom is enough to earn adoration from us Elves
Now…this brings me to my question. What happens with Lyra now?"
Lyra was saved. That was a fact that all Elves had gotten to know after these past few hours. But the circumstances, or more importantly the extent, of her rescue wasn't exactly common knowledge. Only Lyra, Lady Farren, Michael, and Katarina knew of what really happened that night.
For most Elves, they simply thought that Michael was a heroic figure who unfettered Lyra from the evil vandals who dared to kidnap her.
They never knew about the fact that Lyra's Dao Heart curse had resurfaced. They thought that she had already been cured by the Compound Bow.
So, no one was privy to the fact that Lyra's curse was cured due to an awakening of her talent—something that was thought of to be impossible by normal standards.
"She… has a talent now? Just like humans? Is she no longer a Beastfolk?"
Michael was hesitant to answer that. After all, even he didn't even know how to explain this situation because this was the first time this had ever happened.
"To be honest, I don't know. But… I am sure that she has a Talent."
An image flashed back into his mind, a set of bold text that appeared in his vision the moment that he awakened Lyra's talent.
[SSS-class Divine Trickster]
That was Lyra's talent. Those few words gave credence to the fact that Lyra was no longer just a Beastfolk… but she also wasn't a human either.
She was a combination of both, something that transcended the two categories.
The exact meaning of this… Michael didn't know.
After all, having a talent meant that a person was able to awaken a Diva if they became a Maugnetic. This was the reason why only humans became Maugnetics. Only they had talents to awaken. Demi-humans and Beastfolks had none.
It was only when Michael awakened the talents of a Beastfolk would they be able to awaken their Divas, like the Dragonborn siblings.
But the Beastfolks were different. Unlike the demi-humans, they already had a way to access Aubility Power without manifesting a Diva. They had a Dao Heart, allowing their bodies to possess the power of a Maugnetic without a talent.
The fact that Lyra, a Beastfolk, now had a talent was simply unheard of… until now.
Would Lyra manifest a Diva? If so, would it interfere with the natural powers inside her Dao Heart? Michael had no idea.
How would she increase her cultivation? Would she need to obtain GodForge pieces like all Maugnetics, or would she only need to stimulate her Dao Heart for it to grow?
There were way too many unknown variables in this situation.
"I'm just worried for her. I don't want her to feel isolated even more than before," Lady Farren muttered.
"Don't worry," Michael assured. "She's not alone."
"What do you mean?"
Michael smiled. "What, you don't think Lyra's the only one who had a cursed Dao Heart, right?"
"Had?"
"There's this Mermaid girl who was also cured from her curse."
Lady Farren's eyes widened with hope. "Really?!"
"Yes. I've already linked the two together so that they have each other to talk to."
"That's great!"
Michael even had an idea about creating a school meant for Cursed Childs like Lyra and Nixie, where they could interact with each other and grow their talents in a safe and free environment.
Now that Michael knew that Cursed Dao Hearts were an indication of extreme talent, he was more willing to help them and recruit them over to his side.
Speaking of which, I need to visit Nixie soon. Maybe I'll see if I can awaken her talent.
There was no reason to think that Lyra was the only Cursed Child to have a potential for talent. Perhaps, Nixie simply didn't have the proper requirements in order for her to manifest a talent.
For example, Lyra showed great signs of recovery after being in contact with a Mithril Artifact.
Perhaps, that was what Nixie was missing. Maybe if she held a weapon that she could call her own, she'd also be able to manifest a talent.
"Hopefully, some company will galvanize that recalcitrant kid into practicing her Compound Bow for a change," Lady Farren yearned. Then, Lady Farren took out her Compound Bow and caressed its metallic surface. The combination of dynamic and modern energy of the bow and the ancient stalwart aura of the Darkwood made from some amazing harmony of power.
"But maybe I'm just projecting. It's not Lyra's responsibility to become stronger. It's ours. If I hadn't hoarded the Darkwood in a vault and instead empowered my army using it, then those vandals wouldn't have even been able to set foot in our village without getting shot down. So, the fact that you can supply Darkwood for us in a consistent manner will be greatly appreciated."
Michael nodded, before pointing at the Compound Bow.
"You know, if you want, I can add in an order of Compound Bows with the Darkwood."
Lady Farren stopped and stared at Michael. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Like I told you before, I have lots of spare Compound Bows back in the nation. I could even deliver complete Compound Bows and Darkwood already installed inside it."
She was shellshocked to hear Michael's proposition.
"Ahem, of course, it's going to be hard to produce," Michael coughed awkwardly, implying his need for a generous offer.
Lady Farren immediately knew what he wanted.
"If you can deliver those weapons to us, then I can offer you 500,000 Sand Dollars for each one!"
Michael's greedy eyes flashed as soon as he heard that.
Half a million! The Darkwood alone was worth 200,000 Sand Dollars. And if he added in the Mithril needed to create the Compound Bow, which he estimated to also be 200,000 Sand Dollars, then that meant that he got an extra 100k SD from this transaction!
This was an amazing deal! If he could deliver eight Compound Bows + Darkwood to the Elves, this would net him 4 million Sand Dollars each month!
And if he ever upgraded his capacity on the [Isolated Rooms] he could grow that number even further!
"DEAL!" Michael emphatically agreed.
It was a win-win for both parties. Michael enriched himself with more Sand Dollars, and the Elves armed themselves with the best bows in existence.
"This is great. Let us—"
Just as Lady Farren was about to shake Michael's hands, the door suddenly burst open as a menagerie of Elves stumbled through.
They had been pushing through the door so much that its hinges broke entirely!
"I'm sorry Lady Farren. But we just have to ask one question to sir Keo!"
The group of inquisitive Elves picked themselves up from the ground and slowly approached Michael.
"Sir Keo… is it true that the reason why you were able to find Lyra is because of this thing called a… phone?"
Michael looked at the expectant eyes on the Elves and answered, "yeah."
Then, he reached into his pockets and presented them with his own phone.
With the real thing right in front of their very eyes, the Elves immediately burst into excitement and ardent zeal.
"I can't believe there's an object with such magical properties. It can capture the scenery of something with an even better quality than paintings!"
"And it can communicate with others at such long distances! Even without using magic or Dao Heart!"
"Can… can we have one?"
Lady Farren immediately pushed the group of strange phone enthusiasts out of her room.
"Okay now, don't get too excited. This object is extremely rare—"
But Michael stopped her with a hand. Then, he turned to the zealous Elves with a glint in his eyes. "You can get one… for a price."