Baldas didn't bother responding to Micah's taunts. He just flew along as Micah arrived at Wither HQ, pouting all the while, both because he didn't get any pol and because Micah was so rude.
"So, are you planning on trying to unlock your second page now?"
Baldas spoke when they entered the building.
"Yeah. This much should be enough, right? I mean, it's enough to make you drool. I also absorbed some earlier during the day."
"It's possible…."
"You're right. Why am I even asking you when you fucked up so bad last time."
Micah smirked as Baldas couldn't respond to his mockery. But when he returned to his private floor, his expression grew neutral and more solemn as he grabbed the pouch.
Micah poured the coins into his hand, careful not to let any of the silver or bronze coins spill to the floor.
Since he had given his subordinates some of the bronze coins, there were only two silver and about a dozen bronze coins. It was a little less than he had spent purchasing the Cube. But it was still a decent amount, especially considering how the spectators numbered just above the hundred. It was actually quite surprising that he had gotten so much pol in addition to the prize pool after most of the residents had been robbed during the day.
Micah briefly wondered if everyone had held back a little too much because he had asked them to keep it in moderation. Or maybe people were just lazy. Well, in the end, it didn't matter since it all ended up in his pockets at the end of the day.
Micah threw away any stray thoughts and decided to focus on absorbing the pol, a little bit at a time. He could absorb it all in one go if he wanted. But Micah wanted to get a feel for how much pol he needed to unlock his third page and how much pol was required to strengthen his body.
Baldas' help and the forced awakening had helped Micah get a more accurate feel for the pol inside his body, after all. And it would be a waste not to take advantage of it, even if he couldn't get an accurate measurement in terms of the pol's efficiency.
Micah wasn't sure that getting just a rough guess of how much pol did was helpful at all, especially since different people apparently weren't equal in terms of how well they absorbed the pol. But it definitely wasn't a waste.
With that thought, the pol in Micah's hands disappeared little by little. The bronze coins were soon all consumed. After that, only the two silver coins remained, but those didn't disappear in one go as the bronze coins had. They faded away from one edge until they were completely gone.
All the while, Micah felt the pol enter him. Part of it melted into his physical body manifested through the power of pol, while the rest disappeared into what felt like thin air. According to Baldas, that pol entered his soul. That was something that should only be possible after his body had been filled to the brim. But it happened now because of the forced awakening.
Micah couldn't sense the pol that disappeared into his soul, or his soul for that matter. But he could sense the pol that entered his physical body, and from that, he could estimate how much entered his soul.
Micah was so caught up in sensing where the pol went and how much of it went where that he barely noticed that he was already running out of pol. He was on the last silver coin, and there was less than half of it left.
Yet, there were still no signs of the Hell Restoration Project System picking up any second pages of Micah's Negotiation Tactic Handbook. That worried Micah a little. But not too much. It would be a shame if he couldn't unlock his second page even after absorbing so much pol since it was very likely he would need even more for the third page. But even if he didn't get his second business up and running, he would still rake in cash just by letting his subordinates do the same they did today, every day.
It was only a matter of time before he could afford to get his second page unlocked. But like all good things, it would be better to get them as early as possible. However, forcing it could have the opposite effect. So, although disappointed, Micah was prepared not to get his second page at the moment.
However, Micah's feelings of disappointment were premature. When there was less than a third of the silver coin left, Micah felt something change, and the next moment, a holographic screen from the Hell Restoration Project System flickered open in front of his eyes.
Micah hurriedly absorbed the rest of the coin while looking at the screen. But the mechanical voice that rang out almost interrupted him.
[Congratulations!]
Micah thought the congratulatory message would be longer since the past messages had been more detailed about the reason behind the congratulations. But since it meant he didn't have to listen to that voice for as long as usual, Micah was happy.
But, just in case he missed something or the system acted up as it sometimes did, Micah still tapped the message to see if it would expand and tell him anything. He wanted to find out what the second page was, but he wasn't so desperately eager he would ignore potentially important information.
Thankfully, there wasn't anything else, and after tapping away the congratulatory message, Micah pressed the tab on the window that held his ability, the Negotiation Tactic Handbook.
It almost felt as if the system could sense Micah's impatience since it took a few attempts before it listened. But Micah finally ended up on the right tab, and the red, holographic depiction of a book was in front of him.
Micah opened the book and excitedly skipped the first page. His eyes fell on Page Two of the Negotiation Tactic Handbook.