Chapter 790: Glutton's Return

It felt like eons had passed since Michael last ate so much good food. He tried savoring every bite from every dish but devoured the mountains of meals. Every tray had been filled with food to the brim, yet Michael emptied everything.

At first, Michael tried to eat like the civilized young gentleman he was, only to recall that he wasn't much of a well-mannered gentleman in the first place. Furthermore, the food entered his mouth too slowly while he ate in a civilized manner. He would have to eat for hours if he kept going like that. Therefore, Michael switched up a little bit, transforming into a little starving monster.

At the same time, Michael bombarded the others with a flood of questions, using Whispering Energy to talk to the Nest Leader, Eren, and Evee without having to stop feasting on the delicacies before him.

["What exactly are those constellations of Cursed Seals in my mind? Is that related to my High Ascension, or is that more related to my Curses? In the first place, how much time passed since I entered the Ancient Isolation Chamber? What will happen now that I ascended to a Higher Lifeform? What is your mission in the Nest, other than trying to beat the shit out of the Supreme Human Alliance?"]

Michael remembered something and stopped eating mid-way.

["I'm not going to sign any kind of Geas. If you force me to... Well, we will see about that then. I hope it doesn't come to that. It would be a shame for us to become enemies. I kind of like the Nest, even if it seems like my grandfather hated it. It's probably a good thing that I never met my grandfather. Also, I don't hate you guys for putting a Geas on my Mother. I don't know why you put a Geas on her, but it's not like I cannot understand you. I don't trust my Mother either."]

Michael had much more to ask, but his focus returned to the food while waiting for some answers.

"You should have two constellations somewhere in your mindspace," Eren pointed out, which Michael affirmed with a nod.

"We consider these constellations Major Seals. Major Seals form whenever you unravel some of your Curse's Essence. They usually require the Curse User to release several dozen Seals closely tied to each other. Not many Curse Users can unseal their Curse's Essence, let alone control it. Only a handful of Curse Users accessed their Curse's Essence as Higher Lifeforms. It is usually better to wait until you ascend to a Divine Lifeform before you try to tap into the Essence of your Curse, or Curses in your case."

Eren glanced at Michael, a trace of guilt flashing through his eyes, "But it looks like I'm a little bit late to tell you that."

Michael shrugged nonchalantly, ["My Curses used a portion of the Origin Sap to unlock a bunch of Seals, but the Origin Sap's essence helped me stay in control. Not that I was trying to stay in control. It blocked my Curses before I noticed what happened."]

He didn't recall too much about his High Ascension, but putting the fragments of memories and the World Serpent's attitude together created a clear picture of the situation. His High Ascension created far better results than expected. The World Serpent and the Wolf Curse were the only ones who lost something. They were closer tied to Michael's existence after the High Ascension without gaining anything in return.

Michael was pretty sure that he had complete control of the Major Seals. He was also confident that the World Serpent couldn't leave his body easily anymore. It would have to permanently cut a portion of its essence to leave him for good. That meant the World Serpent would have to help him more actively if something terrible was to happen. It couldn't abandon him whenever it desired.

'Is it sulky because of that? Well, I don't believe that it's my fault. It isn't like I told the World Serpent to use my body as a hideout,' Michael found a good excuse and nodded inwardly.

"We noticed that you absorbed the Origin Sap, but the results are...unexpected," Selena said in all honesty, "But that's probably the best. The stronger you are, the easier your future will be. Or the sooner you will be faced with stronger enemies. It usually depends on your luck, which you shouldn't have much with two potent Curses tarnishing your fortune."

Selena smiled lightly, but she didn't look apologetic. "The stronger your enemies, the faster you'll grow. That's good for the Nest as long as you survive. As for the Geas, we decided to put a Geas on your mother for multiple reasons. One of the reasons was that she endangered your sister's life. She didn't come to the Nest or prepare the resources for a proper High Ascension.

"If Evee didn't find your sister's curse frequencies in time, Hesta would be dead. Her Curse would have transformed into a Hellbound Calamity, possibly into something worse given how powerful your sister's Curse is. The SHA would have used such an incident to move against the Nest, obliterating us once and for all."

["To put it very simply, you don't trust her."] Michael summarized.

It was understandable that Selena didn't trust Evalynn. Her father was already troublesome and it wasn't like Evalynn did a good job by hiding her sons from the Nest. If anything, her actions endangered Michael and Danny.

Maybe Evalynn's actions endangered the Tritan Alliance as well, but the Supreme Human Alliance would have been interested in the Descendants' Soultrait Symbols, either way.

Selena bowed curtly, which was enough.

"As for your other questions, six months passed since you ventured the Ancient Isolation Chamber. As a Higher Lifeform, you're deemed a Curse User rather than a Cursed Child. You will learn how to control your Curses, which won't be too hard since you can already control them fairly well, and you should learn how to use them. In the future, you will be deployed to eliminate Curses and fight against the SHA. Hunting Curses and exorcizing them will strengthen your Curses, unlocking more Seals to access, which will strengthen you."

"Of course, you will have to learn how to control the Curses as they gain strength, but we will help you with that. As for fighting the SHA, you will have to do that either way. The Nest might be one of their biggest enemies, but your little Tritan Alliance in the backwater galaxy has lured the SHA's attention. The Lesser Humans over there have good Soultraits, yet they're tarnished - as the SHA members like to call it - by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs."

Selene sighed, her expression growing more serious

"The SHA will attack the Tritan Alliance. They won't hesitate to kill all 'impure beings' and kidnap everyone 'worthy' enough. If you want to protect your loved ones, you must fight the Supreme Human Alliance. You will have to grow stronger. The Nest will help you with that."

Michael figured he and the Nest worked toward the same goal. Bloodhound tried purifying his Curse by force. They had already kidnapped a bunch of Descendants as well. The Supreme Human Alliance had been his enemy all along.

Michael was about to say something, but his stomach rumble again. It was weird thinking about it. He'd already emptied several trays overflowing with food, but it felt like his stomach was empty. Since he completed his High Ascension, Michael felt like an endless pit. He could easily eat several times the amount of food he'd already devoured.

That was exactly what he did. He teleported to the cooks with the empty trays, made a few - quite a lot - requests, and returned to the others. Michael acted like he never disappeared and smiled at the Nest Leader while feeling the nutrients and energy contained in the food coursing through him.

Now that he thought about it, Michael didn't feel like an ordinary Higher Lifeform. He felt stronger. It was almost like he advanced further than a Higher Lifeform. At this point, his body was almost void of impurities as well.

But both the sensation of unfathomable power, his insatiable hunger, and the lack of impurities might all be related to the Origin Sap and the Major Seals.

"You need strength to defeat the SHA, and I'm fairly sure the Nest can profit from you as well. This is not only about your potential as an individual but also about the potential you can awaken within others. I know you must have heard it very often already and I understand if you're annoyed, but your Soultrait can change everything. You are different than the—..."

While listening to Selena's long-winded commentary, Michael focused on the people around him. There weren't many Curse Users in the cantine but everyone was powerful - dangerous, if one wanted to put it like that.

But then again, Selena was the biggest threat - if he had to fight everyone in the Nest. She smiled and laughed a lot, almost like she didn't take anything seriously, but she was a monster. A real monster.

Nobody he'd seen or perceived was as powerful as Selena. The Winged Mythic Serpent, the Primal Phoenix, and the Curses he'd seen until now - not even the presence of the being underneath his territory - were strong enough to scratch Selena.

It was a good thing that Michael was on her side and that they had the same goals.

He shuddered and was glad when more food arrived. The food soothed his soul and nourished his entire being, filling his Energy Pillar with energy.