Chapter 783: The Nest

Michael never planned to make anyone cry when he arrived at the Nest, and it didn't sit right with him that his questions triggered memories someone didn't want to remember.

He didn't say another word and left the portal chamber with the others, who led him through a long-winded floor. They reached a small hall with more than a dozen short-distance teleportation arrays and were just about to use one when the World Serpent resurfaced in his mind.

[These drawings...they're almost like my Living Image...] The World Serpent noted a hint of seriousness in its voice.

Michael's attention traveled to the intricate murals depicting various mighty beasts. There were Leviathans, Dragons, Behemoths, Titans, Giants, Pegasi, Unicorns, Wyvern, and much more. But while there were so many murals, only a handful were incredibly detailed. They looked lifelike, just like the Living Image.

Eren saw that Michael halted in his tracks and followed his gaze. The mural of a familiar silver dragon unraveled before him.

"I infused a trace of my Curse into the Nest to aid Nest's security system. That's all you have to know for the time being," Eren remarked.

Michael nodded slowly and moved along as Eren and Evee passed by. Evalynn glanced at him thoughtfully but remained silent. She had a lot to say but didn't know where to start. Now that Michael was in the Nest, the Geas didn't restrain her that much. Evalynn could tell Michael everything she'd wished to say the entire time. However, Michael didn't seem to care too much about her presence.

'I forgot that you were still here.'

His words rang through Evalynn's mind over and over again, hitting her even harder with every time she thought about them.

The words weren't what hurt Evalynn. It was the fact that Michael had been honest when he spoke them aloud.

Michael noticed his mother's gaze but stepped onto the short-distance teleportation array where the father-daughter duo awaited. Evalynn followed shortly after with a downcast expression. The space around them twisted once again, and they vanished. A deep frown appeared on Michael's face as they reappeared in the same room they'd been in.

No. It only looked like the same room. Michael's attention fell upon the murals, and he - the World Serpent - noticed right away that the Living Image of the Silver Dragon was missing.

"Is everything built in the same style? It would be best if you guys had an interior designer. Everything is so bland and similar," Michael murmured, giving him an appreciative nod from Evee and a light laughter from Eren.

"Everything looks similar to make sure that outsiders will get lost here. The security system is sentient and will alter the teleportation arrays when it notices that you don't belong in certain places. You will not notice the changes at first because everything will look different, but invaders will be laid straight to the prison cells or where most Curse Users are gathered. The invaders will be apprehended long before they can cause serious harm," Eren explained, but Michael couldn't help but frown.

"I guess that means I wouldn't have found my way into this hall because my access level is too low."

"Exactly."

At least they were honest. Michael had to give them that.

Eren turned back and stepped out of the short-distance teleportation array. He stepped out of one of the four doors that were placed in each direction and proceeded to stride through the long hallway. The surrounding scenery hasn't changed even now. The grayish-silver stone was still everywhere around them, and there was no furniture in which to take interest.

Michael rushed behind Eren alongside the others until they found a large obsidian gate. Eren swung the heavy gate open effortlessly and stepped inside. Michael followed, only to sense a sudden change in the surrounding atmosphere. The origin energy was much heavier and its presence weighed heavily on Michael's body, mind, and soul.

Interestingly enough, the surrounding origin energy was not affected alone. The changes also influenced the origin energy inside Michael. Evee, Eren, and Evalynn didn't seem affected, but Michael was on the verge of collapsing.

"Definitely a Lesser Lifeform," Evee murmured, but Michael noticed that she frowned deeply when she saw Michael breaking into a cold sweat. Michael's skin burst open, unable to contain the pressure within and around him anymore, "You...Why is your vessel like that?!"

Michael groaned in pain, unable to say anything, but he sensed that the Wolf Curse moved. It writhed as if in pain but couldn't do something because Evalynn made a move.

Evalynn Fang appeared beside Michael to give him a helping hand, her action subconsciously pushing the Wolf Curse away. She coated Michael in a thick membrane of liquefied origin energy, repulsing the heavy energy that had threatened to crush him while also blocking the influence the energy had on the annexed origin energy inside him.

Michael nodded to his mother but didn't utter a word. He was busy figuring out why the Wolf Curse within was about to move.

'I could have used Extraction to split to push the heavy origin energy away.' He noted grumpily and shook his head lightly. His mind stayed with the Wolf Curse, which reminded him of what Eren and Evee had mentioned.

'Perfect compatibility. Do we have that? That's possible, but why does it feel wrong?'

Michael shrugged inwardly, understanding that he would have to research more about perfect compatibility soon. But before that, Michael had to undergo the High Ascension. It was time to ascend to a Higher Lifeform.

His eyes flicked through the massive hall that was covered in countless large, mid-sized, and miniature arrays. Michael's head ached when he tried to dissect the arrays in his mind. Some of the mid-sized arrays were somewhat easy to distinguish, but Michael forgot about the array the moment he didn't focus on it.

"Don't even try to separate the arrays. Most of these arrays have been infused with the Immortal Quarz. You're lucky if you end up with a headache. If you focus too long on the arrays, you might faint. We don't want that, do we?" Evee asked lightly, but her expression was dead-serious.

Michael sighed deeply but nodded, "No more prying. I see."

His attention was drawn to a massive pool in the center of the room. Eren pressed a button near a small podium, and water streamed inside the pool.

A moment later, he retrieved the vial with the Origin Sap.

Evee's eyes lingered on the Origin Sap until a grunt escaped her lips.

"I always wanted to ascend to a Higher Lifeform with a droplet of Origin Sap," She explained upon noticing Michael's expression, "But it's a waste of precious energy. At least, that's what everyone says. Origin Sap is too hard to procure and waste on a High Ascension. Of course, it will accelerate the ascension, but using its full potential is impossible, even in the Ancient Isolation Chamber."

Eren had already told him that no Lesser Lifeform, and even Higher Lifeform, could use the Origin Sap's full potential. However, Michael didn't care about that. If 10% of its potency was enough to aid his ascension to a Higher Lifeform...so be it.

Of course, he would love to digest its full potential to strengthen his energy veins and refine his body, mind, and soul. Who wouldn't want to reap as many permanent benefits as possible if they could? Still, that wasn't Michael's primary goal.

"Ancient Isolation Chamber?"

"This room. We call it the Ancient Isolation Chamber. It's one of the oldest rooms in the Nest. You could also say that the Ancient Isolation Chamber is part of the reason the Nest is located here. As you might have noticed, this room's energy density is incredibly high. It naturally compresses origin energy into liquid and gathers it in the pool. The pool is for High and Divine ascensions, by the way. You are lucky that no one is using it right now, otherwise, you would have to wait a few months, or maybe years. We have only two Ancient Isolation Chambers, after all," Evee explained just enough for Michael to understand.

He nodded slowly, only to be distracted by Eren, who hurled something in his direction. Michael caught it mid-air and observed at it.

A book.

"Seal Fusion. It's not a Curse Technique, but it can only be used by Curse Users. To be precise, others can use them as well, but there is no reason for others to use them. Seal Fusion helps you merge with your Curse's Seals without giving your Curse control of your body. To be precise, you will dominate the Seals and slowly take over your Curse's power as your proficiency with Seal Fusion deepens," Eren explained lightly, but Michael could tell that the matter was far from light.

"Is it fine to give me this technique just like that?" Michael asked, unsure if Seal Fusion was an incredibly rare technique or if everyone from the Nest had it.

"Of course. You have two powerful Curses. You should have it. I don't need it anymore. It's just one of the copies I made a long, long time ago."

"So...you don't need this book anymore?" Michael asked, licking his lower lip subconsciously.

Eren merely shrugged, "Like I said. It's merely a copy I made, and I no longer use it. You can keep it."

"Your vessel shouldn't break apart in the next few weeks if you don't move too much. You shouldn't have used your Soultraits too much at that time either. Instead, it might be better for you to get used to the pressure of origin energy in the Ancient Isolation Chamber while studying the Seal Fusion technique. The time you have left before your vessel tears apart might not be enough to fully study Seal Fusion, but I think you should study it for a week or two. Maybe you can use bits and pieces of it to influence your High Ascension a little."

Michael studied Eren, trying to determine what the Curse User wanted from him. It was not exactly typical for someone to throw benefits like that in his direction. What was he trying to get from helping him? Michael was not sure, and he figured that Eren wouldn't tell him everything, even if he was to ask. Thus, Michael chose a different route.

"I hope you're not going back on your words later," Michael murmured, manifesting the Cursed Seals all over his body. The Soul Grimoire appeared before him, and he used several Soul Tears, applying them on Extraction, Enhancement, his Soul, and each Cursed Seal. Following that, Michael used Enhancement on True Extraction before gathering True Extraction's full power to hurl it at the Seal Fusion technique.

Michael expected the Wolf Curse to resist him as he used True Extraction on the book, but nothing happened. In fact, Michael had a much easier time using True Extraction than expected.

He ignored the gazes lingering on him and focused on the task ahead. True Extraction impacted heavily and extracted a massive, highly compressed Knowledge Wisp. The Seal Fusion book crumbled and fell apart as if the knowledge it contained was the only reason it stayed intact for centuries.

Michael grasped the Knowledge Wisp and swallowed it whole. At the same time, the Soul Grimoire returned to the Soul Sphere. The Cursed Seals vanished right after.

Michael closed his eyes, still ignoring the gazes drilling into him, solely focusing on digesting as much of the Knowledge Wisp's information as possible.

He groaned as the information spread into his mind, including some knowledge Eren had imparted into the Seal Fusion book from his centuries of experience.

The information, knowledge, and understanding coursed through Michael's mind, and he digested it, annexing everything.

Michael opened his eyes again, a thin grin forming on his lips. " It looks like I'm still too weak for a full extraction."

He then shrugged.

"That wasn't too bad, though."

The others were still staring wildly at Michael. Evee was the first to say something when she regained her senses.

"Did you know he can do that?"

Eren shook his head, "Nope. That's news to me."

He observed at his daughter, tilting his head lightly.

"I don't have the All-Seeing-Eye. That's you."

Evee groaned.

"That again? That's not how my Soultrait is called!"

Michael stared at the father-daughter duo, not sure what to say.

[Are we like that as well?] Danny asked in his mind, only for the World Serpent to answer instead.

[You guys are worse.]

...

**