Chapter 789: Canteen

789 Canteen

No trace of the Origin Sap was left. It had been devoured entirely. Michael digested the highly potent energy, yet his stomach growled like a little monster. He was hungry beyond measure.

Selena stared at Michael for a moment before she burst into a peal of laughter.

"If he's hungry even though he'd consumed the Origin Sap, he must be-... Well, whatever. I think I can work with that one."

Michael didn't know the woman, but Spirit Eyes informed him enough about her to stay guarded.

"This is Selena Ryn. She is the Leader of the Nets and one of its Founders," Eren introduced Selena to Michael, who nodded slowly.

"I can tell. Her presence is everywhere in the Nest," Michael pointed at his eyes, smiling faintly, "Greetings, Leader. I think you might have heard about me already, but let me introduce myself again. My name is Michael Fang. Thanks for your hospitality. The Ancient Isolation Chamber is very efficient."

Michael's long, black tail whipped against the floor behind him again. Evee flinched whenever the whip smashed down, thundering loudly through the chamber. She could vividly imagine the floor cracking open from the tremendous force accompanying the tail whip.

"I did indeed hear a lot about you, but let us talk about this over some food. I wouldn't want you to destroy the Ancient Isolation Chamber over some food," Selene chuckled, "But you should wear some clothes first. Others might not adore you as much if you keep walking around naked."

She looked down at his body, one eyebrow lifted. A mischievous smile curled around her lips, "You aren't too bad though."

Michael looked down as well, his expression even more nonchalant than expected, "Oh, well."

He accessed the War Rune storage and retrieved a set of clothes, which he accidentally tore apart when he grasped them. His claws tore easily through the cloth.

"Oops," Michael murmured while his tail flailed around, smashing heavily onto the stone ground behind him. He twisted his head, uncomfortable to look back, where his black tail greeted him, "Ohhh."

He gazed back at the others, his head faintly inclined, "How do I remove them?"

Another burst of laughter escaped Selena's lips, but she didn't answer him. The World Serpent answered him instead.

[You take our powers, yet you do not have the faintest clue how to utilize them. That's humiliating,] The World Serpent hissed before sending a surge of energy through his body. The serpent tail receded first. The World Serpent's fang-claws also retracted a second later, revealing his hands.

The Wolf Curse growled as well but it didn't do anything other than aiding the World Serpent in the retraction of the fang-

claws.

'Why are they so moody? Weren't they adamant about taking the Origin Sap? Did their plan not work out?' Michael wondered. He shrugged, 'Maybe that is for the better. The success of their plans might as well be my demise.'

Michael felt something odd when the tail and fang-claws disappeared. He closed his eyes and focused on his Curses. It didn't take long before he found his Curses in his mindspace.

'Wow!' Michael exclaimed, his focus on the mindspace skyrocketing as dozens of Seals appeared before him. Michael didn't start counting them, but there were more than 40 Cursed Seals, roughly the same as Serpent Seals. The Seals could be activated individually, but the more intriguing point about them was that they formed a constellation.

The Seals weren't individuals anymore. They were linked correctly and formed two beautiful constellations, one for the Wolf Curse and one for the World Serpent.

'That is beautiful!' He muttered into the mindspace, 'What are those constellations?'

Michael queried the World Serpent, curious about the constellations, but the World Serpent didn't say anything. It turned radio silent. That was weird. The World Serpent was rarely silent when he spoke directly to it.

Fortunately, Michael was pulled out of the awkward situation when his stomach growled again. He opened his eyes again, the canine-like eyes that had preyed upon the Curse Users were no more, and put on a set of neat clothes.

'I don't know what happened, but thank you for helping me,' Michael informed the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse. He didn't receive a response, but it was not like Michael expected one.

He sighed inwardly but decided that it was time to eat now. Michael desperately needed a proper meal.

Once Michael was done putting on enough clothes to cover him properly, he stepped closer to the three Curse Users. He glanced in the direction of the cafeteria through the walls of the Nest and tapped into the power of Cosmic Stride. Cosmic Stride's power erupted from Michael and enveloped their group in an instant. A moment later, they disappeared, leaving the Ancient Isolation Chamber untouched.

They reappeared in the cafeteria, where the magnificent smell of a wide variety of dishes assaulted Michael's nostrils. His mouth watered, and he sensed like rushing to the chefs to ask for a bit - or maybe a lot - of everything.

"Have you been here before?" Evee queried Michael, who shook his head in a hurry.

He gazed at Selena, his eyes glimmering in excitement, "Can I eat whatever I want, or do I have to pay for the food with some sort of curse currency or the like?"

"Just...take whatever you want..." Selena responded quieter than usual. Her eyes followed Michael closely as he rushed to the canteen, where he bombarded the chefs with a load of requests and questions. The cooks didn't know Michael, but they'd seen him talking to Selena. They followed his requests, though a little bewildered about the amount of food he ordered.

"He can teleport to places he's never been?" Evee asked, not entirely understanding how that would work without knowing the destination's exact coordinates.

"His eyes allow him to see through walls. To be precise, he can see all kinds of energies, presences, and whatnot with his eyes. The isolations of the Immortal Quarz might be extraordinary, but they are not perfect. It looks like he can see through it," Selena responded, but not in her nonchalant manner. She was more serious and quieter than before.

Michael's teleportation had been quite powerful. However, the ease with which he teleported two Divine Lifeforms away interested her more. Neither she nor Eren actively acknowledged Michael's teleportation. That might not seem necessary for Higher Lifeforms, but the impact Divine Lifeforms had on their surroundings was different. Their impact was tens of times higher for the lack of better words.

Tearing them away from their surroundings without their consent wasn't supposed to be easy, but Michael did it that easily. It gazed like he wasn't even trying.

Selena's interest in Michael skyrocketed. She had other things to take care of but postponed her appointments. Instead, she sat down in the canteen with Eren and Evee, where their trays had been left behind. Fortunately, the heating runes on the trays kept their food warm.

It didn't take long for Michael to walk over with a few trays in his hands...and floating around him. He manifested and willed the wind around him to compress underneath some trays to move them through the air. After all, Michael didn't want to run back and forth to get his food.

Several trays landed gently on the table, resulting in a confused stare from Evee.

"Did you bring us food as well? But we alrea-.."

Michael frowned deeply. "What are you talking about? That's my appetizer!"

She blinked violently.

"A-Appetizer?"

"Of course, this isn't going to fill my stomach!" Michael responded, staring at Evee as if she'd lost her sanity.

"Of course..."