Chapter 796: The Wolf and the Serpent

Michael was still trying to adapt to the changes in his body, but he had near-perfect control of the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent. Of course, Michael couldn't unleash the full potential of his Seals without them, yet it wasn't a big issue to urge them to help him.

They were easily convinced to join the battle against Ligno'vsh and her Behemoth Curse. Much easier than Michael had anticipated now that he was getting a better grasp of the situation and the changes that occurred to his body, mind, and soul after ascending to a Higher Lifeform.

The expansive plain transformed back into an ordinary-looking arena circle. The surroundings didn't look special, which made Michael wonder where the runic array required for the teleportation into the Gladiator Arena was hidden.

The expansive plain wasn't in the same space as the Nest. Nonetheless, it wasn't in a different space either. Michael guessed that the Gladiator Arena was in a small pocket dimension connected to the arena. But even if that was the case, Michael should have been able to see the runic array responsible for the transportation into the pocket dimension. That wasn't the case, though.

"You don't have to understand the mechanics of the Gladiator Arena. Yet, at least. Evee and the others can teach you a lot in the near future. Your lack of knowledge can be cured. It's not an incurable disease after all," Selena chuckled lightly. She grinned at Michael, who frowned deeply.

Selena was kind, but her constant laughing was way too artificial in some instances. It intensified his urge to curse Selena. Her artificial laughing and bad act made Michael sick, and he didn't even know Selena for a long time. He wondered how he was supposed to be trained by her at some point.

[She is powerful. No matter how insane your teachers are, there won't be any issues as long as they train you decently well.] The World Serpent hissed. Michael sensed how content the World Serpent was at this point. That was weird, given the World Serpent had been throwing a tantrum not long ago.

[If he survives, you mean.] Danny responded to the World Serpent, who hissed in acknowledgment.

[Survival is the essential requirement of everything other than death.]

Michael was not sure if that was correct, but he didn't bother starting a fight with the World Serpent. Not over something like that, at least.

He closed his eyes for a moment to enter his mindspace, where he found the Major Seals levitating next to the Soul Sphere. This was Michael's first time seeing the Seals together with the Energy Pillar, the Soul Shere, and Aethyr. It wasn't supposed to be something special, but Michael felt different upon sensing the narrow gap between the Major Seals and the Soul Sphere. It felt...good.

Michael glanced at the Major Seals for a moment. He inspected the constellation of the Wolf Curse's first Major Seal and observed as it shifted around. The constellation of the Wolf Curse didn't depict a single picture. It showed a scenery of golden twinkling Cursed Seals.

It was difficult to get a good grasp of the constellation, and it was quite challenging to pinpoint what he was seeing, but the meaning came to Michael's mind without trying. It was implanted deep into his head.

One word surfaced in his mind when he thought about the essence of the power of the Wolf Curse's Major Seal.

Permute.

Permute. To change thoroughly. Michael was not sure what he was supposed to think about the word revolving around his mind, but it made a lot of sense when he thought about it now. He used the Major Seal only once, less than a minute ago at that, but he was confident to have figured it out, theoretically, that is.

Permute allowed him to change everything he'd extracted into power. Michael had yet to get a better grasp of the conditions and limits of Permute, but the word said enough about its effect. It would change something into something different, entirely.

The World Serpent's Major Seal was not that different. It was just that Michael didn't expect it to have such a power. It's Major Seal showed the World Serpent's head. There weren't any details. Instead, the Serpent Seals were tightly pressed together, forming a darkish-green symbol of the World Serpent's head.

Whereas the Serpent Seal couldn't do much more than augment Michael's physical traits, the Major Seal was on a completely different level.

At first, Michael thought that the Major Seal's name was Swallow. He was fairly certain that the World Serpent's power was to swallow. In retrospect, it would make a lot of sense as to why Michael was so hungry. However, that wasn't all the Major Seal was. Another word followed Swallow.

Swallow Domain.

The World Serpent's Major Seal was capable of swallowing everything within the User's domain. Everything too weak to oppose the horrifying force of Swallow Domain would be devoured.

Swallow Domain was quite powerful against weaker enemies. Michael could form the True Extraction Domain and focus on spreading it through the entire battlefield before using Swallow Domain. The amount of curse power drained to utilize Swallow Domain wouldn't be low the more expansive the space it had to devour, but Michael was fairly sure that the World Serpent had more than a little curse power to spare if it desired to help Michael.

Michael wouldn't rely on the World Serpent but had access to enough curse power to utilize Swallow Domain on a smaller scale. Combined with Permute, Michael was fairly certain he could form something terrifying.

He could unleash Swallow Domain to devour everything in his surroundings before utilizing Permute on the things he had devoured to transform them into power, just like he did instinctively when Ligno'vsh, under the Behemoth Curse's control, attacked him.

Michael smiled upon realizing how well-tuned the powers of his Major Seals were. Despite hating each other, the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent's powers were highly compatible. That was odd, but who was Michael to complain about something this nice?

"Hey, Michael! I'm talking to you!! No daydreaming in front of your new boss!"

Michael had forgotten that he was yet in the arena, and that Ligno'vsh and Selena stood before him. Selena stared at him, one eyebrow raised. She didn't look displeased and was more interested in what Michael had been doing than listening to her. However, Michael wasn't going to satiate her curiosity.

"Sorry, I was a little bit occupied."

"Occupied?" Selena asked, but Michael merely smiled. He trusted Selena a fair bit, but he had heard and seen enough things about the Nest and its members to stay vigilant.

The Nest was countless times superior than the Supreme Human Alliance, but that didn't mean the Nest was perfect. They wanted to eliminate his brother because he was a threat - a Hellbound Cataclysm -, without trying to assist him instead of going for the 'kill' right away. It made sense, but Michael wasn't going to be forgiving when it came to his brother.

Other than that, the Nest was filled with oddballs. It was almost like every Curse User lost some sane brain cells while fighting their Curse for supremacy over their very own body.

[I know that you know that I know you know, but I have to say it, either way.] Danny appeared in his mind again.

[You are the weirdest of them all.]

'Thanks, brother...for nothing...'