“I didn’t even know it was possible to do that!” Michael exclaimed, only to freeze for a second, “You are not lying to me, right?”
Selena stared at Michael dead-serious. “I’m not lying. It works, but only when certain conditions are given…conditions that are really difficult to fulfill under normal circumstances.”
Michael had so many questions, but he didn’t know where to start. Just as his lips parted to get started with the questions, a familiar man with silver hair appeared at the entrance to the library. Eren was here as well.
He stared at Selena for a while before his eyes drifted to Michael. His attention lingered on Michael for a second before he looked away.
‘Is he avoiding me?’ Michael wondered. He didn’t understand why Eren would avoid him, but it felt like he did.
[Or he is busy and has no time to deal with you. Maybe he knows you will bother him and take up too much of his precious time.] Danny responded, igniting Michael’s urge to hit his brother.
‘I am not that demanding…or time-consuming…’ He told his brother but found himself not believing a single word he said.
Danny chuckled, forcing Michael to shove his brother out of his mind.
“I thought you left already. Why are you still here? Maybe the Phantasm Spring is occupied now.” Eren asked, his words feeling oddly familiar. To be precise, it was the way Eren spoke.
Michael frowned, but Selena didn’t care too much.
“We will leave soon. As for the Phantasm Spring. Nobody has entered it. In the first place, it is not a location known to many. Among the few who know, even less have the means to make full use of it. They won’t compete with me and will leave. Don’t worry,” She declared confidently, her tone as light as usual.
Michael was still not entirely sure what was going on. Going somewhere to give his brother the chance to create a perfect vessel sounded great. He had no idea what the Phantasm Spring was, but Michael wanted to go there if it would help him and his brother.
“So….this Phantasm Spring is going to help my brother’s Living Soul to manifest a proper vessel, a perfect vessel, and it will aid my studies of the Curse Transformation Arts?” Michael asked, butting into the Curse User’s conversation before it escalated.
Since Michael couldn’t accelerate the anchoring of the bridge to a backwater galaxy – his lovely home – Michael figured that he might as well give his utmost to grow stronger. Training somewhere else, secluded from the rest of the Nest or the cosmos, didn’t sound too bad. It didn’t matter too much.
If anything, Michael hoped that the secluded training would help him acquire enough strength to subdue High Society alone, if that were necessary to remove the traitors who’ve been colluding with the Supreme Human Alliance.
“That’s about it. The Phantasm Spring is not that simple, but your training will focus on the Curse Transformation Arts since your High Ascension showed that your body is ready to undergo a partial transformation. The resources in the Phantasm Spring will help your brother’s Living Soul to be stimulated and nourished to the degree required to transform.”
Selena didn’t go deep into details, but that was not needed. Michael nodded slowly.
“How long would it take to finish my brother’s vessel? I don’t mean to rush, but I hope it won’t take years to finish his vessel. My friends in the Tritan Alliance are waiting for me, and I do not wish to arrive home after the Supreme Human Alliance conquered the Tritan Alliance. Most of the people I hold dear would be killed because they are either Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs or are often seen around them.”
Selena waved dismissively, “It shouldn’t take much longer than one month. Maybe six weeks if your brother is a little slow.”
“That’s…much faster than expected…” Michael murmured, only for Eren to add something.
“You won’t be able to use the bridge much earlier, either way,” Eren didn’t look long at Michael, but he saw something flash in the Curse User’s eyes. 𝒻𝘦𝘸𝑜𝓿𝘦.𝑐𝑜
“I think that’s more than feasible then. The timing couldn’t be much better. We should g–…What the?! Is this the Curse User gathering place, or what?!” Michael blurted out, his eyes falling on another figure standing at the entrance to the library.
A young woman with long black hair, eerily dark eyes, and a graceful yet dominating presence that encompassed every inch of her body.
It was Hesta Fang, Michael’s sister.
Hesta saw Selena and took a long stride toward her. However, she slowed down suddenly upon seeing Michael.
“Michael?!” She asked, her eyes narrowed to narrow slits.
Even though Michael had changed a lot since they last saw each other, Hesta could remember Michael. How could she forget her siblings? That was impossible.
“Hesta,” Michael responded in a neutral tone. He was unsure how to react and forced a smile on his lips.
Fortunately, Danny could use Whispering Energy at this point. He tapped into Michael’s energy pool and used Whispering Energy to talk to his sister.
[Hello, sister. It’s been a while,] He greeted her.
Hesta’s eyes widened and she retreated instinctively, until she recalled something.
“Right. You managed to get Daniel’s Living Soul. The threat of the Hellbound Cataclysm was quite troublesome,” Hesta nodded slowly, “How have you been?”
Hesta wasn’t at fault for anything that happened. The Nest took her to ensure she wouldn’t transform into a Hellbound Cataclysm during her High Ascension. It wasn’t like she told her parents to follow her. Nonetheless, Michael was at a loss. Looking at her filled him with anger.
[I raised Michael into a more-or-less kind kid and managed to keep my territory until I was betrayed. I died twice and have been relying on my younger brother ever since then. Apparently, I will create my vessel soon. Putting aside the struggle and desperation, life has been busy. Whether that’s good or not…who knows?]
Since Danny used his energy to converse with Hesta, Michael could hear everything he said via Whispering Energy as well. Michael was surprised that his brother didn’t leave a snarky remark about their parents’ following Hesta.
But then again, his brother had been the better person. Daniel Fang had always been the more pleasant person to be around. At least, that was how Michael felt. Danny didn’t like people feeling uncomfortable around him. On the other hand, Michael acted as he pleased. If someone didn’t like him…so be it. Why should he care what others think of him?
“What did you say to our parents when you heard they left us alone to care for you?” Michael thus asked right away.
He didn’t care that the situation turned awkward or that Eren and Selena were present.
“I…” Hesta stared at Michael, “You are not the same shy kid you used to be.”
“Being an orphan is far from easy. School as an orphan, surrounded by spoiled brats from wealthy families, sounds fun, doesn’t it? I was forced to change, otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it this far.”
Hesta’s lips parted to say something, but Michael’s vibrant golden eyes drilled into her eerily dark eyes. Other people would be scared of Hesta Fang for her accomplishments, the prowess of her Curse, her mighty Soultrait, and her high mastery of both Soultrait and Curse at such a young age.
However, Michael didn’t care about any of that. He wouldn’t have treated his mother like that if he did care. Evalynn Fang was a Peak Tier-6 powerhouse. Treating her like Michael did wasn’t exactly brilliant. Fortunately, Michael wasn’t someone who cared about someone’s rank.
“You didn’t answer my question yet. What did you say to our parents when you heard about us being left in the Golden Sun province?” Michael asked in a demanding tone. His voice grew colder with every word escaping his lips.
Hesta cleared her throat. Her shock was replaced with seriousness. She regained her composure.
“I didn’t say anything at first. I was busy fighting with my Curse. It took me a while to perceive anything other than the Curse. My Curse nearly swallowed me. I heard your Curse is similar to mine. If our Curses are similarly strong, you should know how problematic it was for me to control my Curse.”
Michael stared at Hesta, a heavy sigh escaping his lips, “That doesn’t answer my question, but I think I heard enough excuses to understand that you don’t want to talk about it. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.”
A wave of sadness flushed through Michael. He sighed again.
“As for battling with your Curse. The Wolf Curse awakened when I was a Lesser Lifeform. I had five active Cursed Seals before ascending to a Higher Lifeform. I have 51 active Cursed Seals right now, and they form a Major Seal. But it didn’t ‘take me a while’ to perceive anything around me,” Michael responded, glaring ice-cold at Hesta, “Don’t get me started with our Curses are similar. My Curse is stronger than yours, yet I didn’t succumb to it.”
“I’m different from you.”
The overflowing emotions got the better of him, but Michael didn’t care. At this moment, Michael felt like throwing a tantrum. The need to tell Hesta that he wouldn’t rekindle their wholesome sister-brother relationship was too strong.
[That wasn’t necessary.] Danny commented quietly. However, instead of telling Michael that he should apologize, he nodded slowly in his mind, [But I’m glad that you don’t hesitate to speak your mind. Even I can sense that your Wolf Curse is extraordinary. I genuinely doubt that Hesta has a stronger Curse, yet she uses her Curse as an excuse…Hesta has grown weaker. She is not as strong as she used to be…]
The World Serpent resounded in Michael’s mind. It sounded like the serpent was laughing at them.
[Your sister has a strong Curse, but you are indeed correct in your assumption. That wolf bastard is stronger, as unfortunate as it is.]
Michael and Danny understood that point. They had no idea how strong the Wolf Curse was, but the brothers could tell it was disgustingly strong, just like the World Serpent.
Either way, the conversation with Hesta ended with Michael’s remark. The situation was even more uncomfortable and awkward, but Michael didn’t care. His head flicked to the left, and his eyes drilled into a point further away, into a wall near the library entrance. It looked like he was staring at several bookshelves, but Michael frowned deeply and snorted before turning back to Selena.
“I don’t want to wait any longer. Is it possible to leave now?”
The earlier they left, the sooner would Danny create his vessel. By the time his brother got his own body back, they could bash their family – verbally, at least. Micahel wasn’t sure they could beat them up for real. In the future, definitely. Right now? They could always give it a try.
“Take this before you leave,” Erena said, retrieving a spatial ring, which he slid over to Michael, “The spatial ring is filled with a bunch of resources. They’ll be useful for the expansion of your territory. With the resources, you won’t have to worry about your territory’s expansion for the next few weeks.”
Michael was about to reject the spatial ring, but Eren was adamant. Something about Eren was weird. His behavior worried Michael. Something was off, but he couldn’t get the gist of it.
At last, he shrugged. Michael trusted Eren enough to depature for a few weeks. Even if Eren acted weird, there shouldn’t be a big problem.
He had to depature either way. For Danny’s sake, but also to get stronger.
“It would be better to give your people the spatial ring right now. You won’t have much time to leave for the Origin Expanse once we’re in the Phantasm Spring,” Selena said, all while Hesta’s eyes widened in surprise.
Michael affirmed and manifested the Runic Gate to return to his territory for a few minutes.
In the meantime, a myriad of thoughts flashed through Hesta’s mind.
“You’re going to the Phantasm Spring with Michael? Why? That place is reserved for Divine Lifeforms! Why would you allow Michael to go–…”
Selena glared at Hesta, silencing the young woman.
“First of all, stop questioning my actions. I do whatever I want,” Selena responded with a brisk comment, surprising Hesta.
“Second, Michael’s Curses are stronger than your Curse is, yet the result of his High Ascension revealed that his Curses are tied to him. Michael didn’t lose control of his body even after he underwent a partial fusion with both Curses. You nearly died when your Curse attempted to swallow you. I guess you don’t remember how pathetic you were when we brought you here.”
“Either way, Michael’s High Ascension is enough reason to bring him to the Phantasm Spring. He has enough active Seals and one Major Seal for each of his Curses as well. Lastly, your brother’s Living Soul needs the Phantasm Spring to create a perfect vessel. Do you want to take your brother’s only chance to rebuild his body without any blemishes?!”
Hesta wasn’t given the luxury to respond.
“Let it be,” A familiar voice appeared from behind. Hesta turned around, merely to see her mother, Evalynn Fang, emerge from several bookshelves.
She sighed heavily.
“Michael saw me.”
“You don’t say…” Hesta murmured, trying to accept what the Nest Leader had said. Still, she felt that Selena favored Michael too much.
Michael was given a droplet of Origin Sap, personal training from a Commander and the Nest Leader, and a chance to enter the Phantasm Spring, a place that could merely be entered once every few dozen years. Only a handful of people could enter at a time as well.
“That whiny kiddo grew up a lot,” Hesta said, “He is even more annoying than he used to be.”
However, instead of frowning deeply, Hesta smiled. Her spurt of jealousy dispersed, and her smile widened.
“That’s good.”