Chapter 783 The Nest

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.

"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.]

...

**

[A/N: Hello there, the author is back in the game. I don't want to bother anyone for too long, but I think it has been a while since I asked y'all what you think about the story's progress. I would love to hear what you think about the story and what y'all think will happen in the near future. Will everything be alright, or will his presence in the Nest cause problems? What do you want to see? I'm curious to know what y'all would wish to read about.

Don't hesitate and throw a bunch of messages into the chapter, or paragraph comments. I'll take your opinions, wishes, and criticism to heart and try improve the story.]