The Will

The Will is the creator and longtime administrator of the Origin Expanse. For most of the story it is known only through the systems attributed to it: War Runes, Summoning Gates, generated loot, contracts, territorial recognition, and challenges such as Lord Rifts. Its final conversation with Michael reveals an emotional, fallible intelligence whose interventions across generations were intended to produce a successor capable of repairing the Expanse and opposing the Primal.

Biography

War Rune Awakening and the First Territory

The Will first enters Michael's life as the unseen authority that must confirm every newly manifested War Rune's link to the Origin Expanse. That confirmation lets an Awakened enter the realm, store objects through the rune, perceive origin energy, and exceed ordinary mortal limits. In Michael's first territory, the same invisible administration generates loot from slain creatures, including blueprints, scroll fragments, and Artifacts that make the settlement's rapid growth possible. (Chapters 4, 20–23)

Its authority also extends beyond individual rewards. Soul-binding contracts can be acknowledged by the Will, giving agreements such as the Zentika Empire's secrecy restrictions force at the level of the soul. Much later, the Will explains that Lords, summons, and rewards all belong to a vast attempt to use the Expanse's excess Essence to expand the realm and raise stronger mortals. What initially looks like a neutral game system is therefore part maintenance mechanism and part selection program. (Chapters 56, 1072)

Saphirelake Admission and EmeraldLeaf Contact

During Michael's early growth, the Will appears inconsistent and impossible to predict. SoulStar Fragment drops do not obey the rules he thinks he has discovered, while mass summoning pauses as if the Will is still deciding which beings will emerge. Summons arrive resurrected with occupations, equipment, star ratings, and varying amounts of knowledge. The resulting uncertainty teaches Michael to treat the administration as powerful but not necessarily legible from a mortal perspective. (Chapters 85, 120)

Older peoples recognize another layer of design in Ancient Ruins: increasingly old and complex inscriptions signal increasing danger and opportunity. The late revelation explains this pattern. The Will deliberately created Ancient Ruins, Dungeons, Lord Rifts, and exceptional rewards to concentrate Essence, test ambitious mortals, and produce a sufficiently powerful Lord. It also prepared promising successors' starting Soultraits and suitable territories, meaning some “random” beginnings were curated even though their later choices remained their own. (Chapters 172, 1072–1073)

The Lord Rift and Daniel’s Loss

The Will's Lord Rifts function as selective trials rather than ordinary locations. The Librarian inside the Rift recognizes Michael as one of relatively few entrants with the will and appetite to exploit its knowledge, and also identifies the curse running through his bloodline as something associated with the Will. Only near the end does the Will admit that it made this particular Rift so Michael and Taros could meet the Librarian, placing their apparent encounter inside its successor search. (Chapters 261, 1073)

Daniel's death shows both the reach and limits of that intervention. The Will later denies resurrecting the Undead Pharaoh or causing the betrayal that awakened him, but admits intervening after Masked Saber's sacrifice by preserving Daniel in the Keychain Casket. Its stated reason is partly compassionate and partly instrumental: losing his brother completely might have replaced Michael's gentleness with uncontrollable fury and ruined the candidate it was cultivating. The rescue preserves Daniel while further shaping Michael's path through grief. (Chapters 277–284, 1073)

Battle Exchange and Interdimensional Flag War

The Will continues operating through systems whose internal language remains inaccessible. Mythic Summoning Scrolls unfold into letters that only it understands before the Summoning Gate consumes them, while naturally generated Artifacts command extraordinary prices because their external enhancements are difficult to reproduce. Even extensive books titled around the Will's nature and utilization only emphasize how much civilizations study its mechanisms without speaking to the intelligence behind them. (Chapters 296, 405, 455)

In retrospect, this period's rewards cannot be treated as proof of direct favoritism in every instance. The Will later distinguishes broad administration from targeted intervention: it says it never changed Michael's probability of obtaining a Soultrait Symbol or forced him to accept one, even though it prepared his starting Soultrait and placed selected opportunities before him. This boundary preserves Michael's agency while confirming that the environment in which he exercised it was sometimes deliberately arranged. (Chapters 1072–1073)

Savannah Alliances and Regional War

By the Savannah campaigns, the Will's rewards have become part of interstellar economics. Lord Rift rewards and Soultrait Symbols can be accumulated, sold, or exchanged for favors, while generated drops from hundreds of dead Awakened supply materials that Michael separates from their corpses. The administration thus turns achievement and death into transferable power, allowing successful Lords to equip armies and accelerate growth far beyond what ordinary harvesting would permit. (Chapters 506, 575)

The Will later explains the objective behind that economy: Essence stored in ruins and rewards was meant to return to mortals capable of conquering the challenges, increasing the potential of living beings until “The One” emerged. Most victors simply became gods without solving its underlying problem, so the Will gradually moved from broad incentives to bloodline and Curse experiments. Michael's increasingly unusual gains occur inside that older, repeatedly revised program rather than a system designed solely for him. (Chapter 1072)

Arx, the Sacred Desert, and Bloodline Revelations

The Will is also presented as a destination for remnants of the dead. When an old Awakened dies, a wisp rises to disperse and merge with it until Michael diverts the remnant through the Soul Grimoire. The episode demonstrates a reclamation process but does not establish whether the Will preserves an intact personality, recycles Essence, or performs some other operation. Michael's interference leaves only a diminished snippet before the wisp resumes its original course. (Chapter 652)

As Michael recovers Daniel's Living Soul, he remembers the Will's prophetic message about the brightest star rekindling a perishing one and a Cursed Soul bending fate. The words acquire new meaning after the Will admits planning encounters and preserving Daniel, but the resurrection itself remains Michael's achievement through Extraction and the Soul Grimoire. Later, the Undead Pharaoh begins mentioning the Will and is abruptly checked by pain; the exact source of that speech restriction is never identified. (Chapters 694, 758, 1073)

The Nest and the Supreme Human Alliance

After Michael defeats the Undead Pharaoh, he explicitly asks the Will for a useful reward. A Lord Seal and Claim Note appear on the corpse, together granting the means to claim Paradise Valley and secure the cooperation of its native beings. The precision of the combination convinces Michael that the Will is on his side, although the later confession suggests a more exact interpretation: it exposes chosen candidates to useful opportunities while still requiring them to survive the challenge and decide how to use the result. (Chapter 764)

The Will responds just as directly when the resurrected Daniel uses an Awakening Stone and asks for a Soultrait suitable for helping Michael. It grants the flawless young man what he requests, showing that it can answer an individual plea rather than only execute impersonal drop rules. Meanwhile, the God Curses reveal that a primordial contract with the Primal lets the Will assist in sealing gods; it later admits offering that mechanism because it expected the Primal's greed to advance its own plan. (Chapters 837, 899, 1072)

Trials, Divinities, and the Titan War

Speculation about the Will grows as Michael approaches godhood. Human factions credit it with ancient political divisions, Michael suspects that it or Fenrir gave him Extraction, and even the God Curses cannot agree why full gods lose their War Rune connection and are expelled from the Origin Expanse. These beliefs demonstrate the scale of its reputation, but they are not equivalent to confirmation; the corpus leaves the origin of the human dispersal and precise expulsion rule unresolved. (Chapters 909, 937, 996)

The final confession resolves only part of Michael's suspicion. The Will confirms that it prepared his initial Soultrait, marked him with pristine Essence, and watched his growth; Michael suspects that this preparation altered Fenrir's inherited power, but the exact modification is not separately explained. The Will denies controlling Michael outside the Expanse, altering later Soultrait drop odds, or compelling his decisions. Its method is revealed as selective pressure and opportunity design, not direct control of his mind. (Chapters 1072–1073)

God Wars and the Primal Conflict

The Will continues recognizing ordinary development even as its succession plan nears completion. Improved Hunter Academies receive official upgrade status, showing that it validates innovations created by residents rather than prescribing every advancement itself. When Michael restores the Untamed Jungle's Primal Essence, the Will opens an extraordinary Runic Gate, invites him above the Expanse, upgrades the jungle to a Primal Region, and finally appears in person after eons of indirect administration. (Chapters 1003, 1069–1070)

The meeting exposes the Will as the Expanse's creator rather than a perfect embodiment of it. It separated the realm from the weave after recognizing the Primal's actions, but failed to establish a complete connection back to the Origin. Because all of the expanding Expanse's Essence must pass through its unstable body, it is breaking apart. It needs a successor born in the wider universe who can reconnect the Expanse to the Origin and survive the power involved. (Chapters 1070–1072)

The Will acknowledges fear, preference, and moral compromise. It selected Michael because he worked hard and possessed suitable potential, but feared that his gentle nature would leave him unable to finish the task. It therefore arranged trials, preserved Daniel, admitted the Dragys to push Michael toward the Temple, and allowed Hel and Jormungandr access at useful times. It insists that Michael still chose every path, and Mind Watcher confirms the truth of its account. (Chapters 1072–1073)

Michael accepts succession because the Will is dying, the Expanse otherwise risks implosion, and its power offers a means to confront the Primal. The Will calls him the right choice, transfers its pristine Essence through his War Rune, and dissolves as the Origin Expanse establishes a new link and owner. By the final conflict Michael has repaired the Will's mistake, shares the Expanse's Essence with restored Guardians, and retains the administrative role after the original intelligence is gone. (Chapters 1073–1075, 1091–1093)

Manifestation and administrative temperament

For almost the entire corpus, the Will has no visible body. Its presence is inferred through notifications, generated objects, restrictions, War Rune behavior, and the outcomes of summons and rewards. When it finally manifests, it appears as a fluctuating humanoid frame made from pristine, luminous white Essence. The frame resembles Michael by deliberate design, lacks ordinary physical detail, and releases overwhelming ripples of Essence because its form is already unstable. (Chapter 1070)

The Will has a resonant voice, emotions, preferences, and a dry enjoyment of anticipating Michael's questions, but explicitly denies reading his mind. Michael finds it lonely, confusing, and socially awkward; it often answers only part of a question or redirects the discussion toward its plan. It can express fear for Michael, satisfaction in his achievements, regret over miscalculation, and reassurance when transferring authority, making it an intelligence with personality rather than an automatic interface. (Chapters 1070–1074)

Its temperament is patient on an eon-long scale but increasingly interventionist after repeated failures. It regards manipulation as necessary when survival and succession are at stake, yet draws a line between arranging circumstances and compelling choices. That distinction is self-serving but not merely asserted: Michael uses Mind Watcher, sees the Will's memories, and confirms that its account is truthful, including smaller interventions it initially omits from its verbal summary. (Chapters 1072–1073)

Expanse authority and system administration

Essence, creation, and maintenance

The Will creates and maintains the Origin Expanse through pristine Essence. The Expanse and the weave were once part of the same Creation and each accumulates enormous amounts of Essence, but the Will's imperfect separation leaves it as the sole proper conduit for the Expanse. It can shape the realm, keep it level while it expands, create origin energy, establish challenges, and resurrect summons. Every such operation costs or redirects Essence rather than occurring without a power source. (Chapters 1070–1072)

That authority is vast but not limitless. The Expanse expands faster than the Will expected, while summons drain too little of its growing reserves; routing every trace through one unstable intelligence eventually destroys its body. It also cannot provide summoned beings with the same open-ended potential by which the weave creates and strengthens life. The succession plan is therefore a response to structural failure, not a simple retirement by an omnipotent administrator. (Chapter 1072)

War Runes, summons, and rewards

The Will confirms War Rune links, recognizes soul-bound contracts, generates loot, processes summoning scrolls, resurrects summons, and assigns or recognizes star-rated outcomes. Generated items can draw on slain creatures' materials, while higher achievements can yield rare scrolls, Soultrait Symbols, Lord Seals, or territorial claims. The exact probability rules remain opaque, and the Will states that it did not manipulate Michael's later Soultrait drop chances even while sometimes choosing specially suitable rewards. (Chapters 4, 20–23, 56, 120, 173, 764, 1073)

Its administration can respond to intent. Daniel's request during awakening receives the sort of Soultrait he asks for, and Michael's plea after defeating the Undead Pharaoh produces a complementary Lord Seal and Claim Note. These cases demonstrate discretion but do not prove that every drop or awakening is individually selected. Most of the system continues operating at immense scale, including after Michael becomes owner, so direct intervention should be distinguished from the Expanse's ordinary reward machinery. (Chapters 764, 837, 1075–1076)

Trials, territories, and successor cultivation

The Will can create Ancient Ruins, Dungeons, Lord Rifts, special rewards, and territory starting conditions. It encodes an informal danger-and-opportunity scale in Ancient Ruin languages and recognizes resident-created building upgrades. For potential successors it goes further, preparing compatible starting Soultraits and territories, arranging particular meetings, and permitting otherwise unusual incursions. These interventions guide candidates toward pressure and opportunity without guaranteeing they will choose correctly or survive. (Chapters 172, 261, 1003, 1072–1073)

Its most extensive experiment is the Cursed Child program. After ordinary mortals repeatedly became gods without producing the necessary successor, the Will fused traces of sealed gods and its own Essence into selected bloodlines. Early Curse Users suffered severe mental and spiritual damage, leading it to seal Curses inside descendants from the womb so their souls could adapt gradually. The program produces powerful candidates but also creates inherited danger, trauma, and many failures before Michael. (Chapter 1072)

God sealing, restrictions, and enforcement

Through a primordial contract, the Will assists the Primal in sealing gods into Soultrait Symbols. It offers the arrangement knowing that the Primal want threats removed without the consequences of killing them and hoping their greed will advance its successor plan. This authority supports the creation of God Curses and Taboos, but the actual sealing is collaborative rather than proof that the Will can defeat every god unaided. (Chapters 899, 1072)

Several other restrictions are attributed to the Will, including painful limits on protected information and the severing of War Rune access at full godhood. The text does not consistently show whether each restriction is personally imposed by the Will, an automatic Expanse rule, a contract, or another power. The Undead Pharaoh's interrupted speech is especially ambiguous. These effects are part of its perceived administrative reach, but their precise mechanism and authorship remain unresolved. (Chapters 120, 758, 996)

Succession and terminal limits

The Will can transfer its stored pristine Essence and administrative connection through Michael's War Rune. The transfer enlarges and transforms the rune, establishes the Origin Expanse's Pillar within it, drives Michael to Tier 10, and makes the Expanse's Essence available to its new owner. These are effects of inheritance from the Will and Expanse, not evidence that the Will itself possesses an Awakened Tier or Soultrait ladder. (Chapter 1074)

The transfer is terminal. The Will's form disperses as its Essence enters Michael, and it is explicitly no longer present when the Expanse acknowledges its new owner. The Expanse continues to feel, communicate, generate energy, and operate its systems afterward, confirming that realm and administrator were connected but not identical. Michael inherits the work and authority; he does not preserve the Will as a separate speaking consciousness. (Chapters 1074–1076, 1079)

Relationships

Michael Fang

Michael Fang is initially one promising child among several marked prospects. The Will prepares his starting Soultrait and territory, then watches as work ethic, adaptability, and Extraction distinguish him from earlier candidates. Its interventions become more personal after Masked Saber's sacrifice: it preserves Daniel, directs Michael toward the Temple, and admits teachers suited to his development because it fears his gentleness could collapse into fury or leave him unable to survive. (Chapters 1072–1073)

Their only direct conversation is both confession and inheritance. Michael fears that his life was controlled, but Mind Watcher verifies that the Will shaped opportunities rather than his thoughts or decisions. He accepts its Essence despite discomfort because the Expanse will die without a successor and the Primal remain a threat. The relationship ends with Michael correcting the Will's failed connection and continuing its office, while retaining freedom to govern the Expanse differently. (Chapters 1070–1075, 1093)

The Origin Expanse

The Will creates the Origin Expanse, separates it from the weave, and becomes its only proper connection to the Origin. It treats the realm as both a creation to protect and a mechanism for producing stronger life, but its flawed architecture makes continued expansion fatal. After its death, the Expanse expresses happiness, announces Michael's ownership, and keeps functioning. This continued agency establishes a creator–creation relationship rather than complete identity between the two. (Chapters 1070–1076)

Daniel Fang

Daniel Fang matters primarily through the Will's concern for Michael. It preserves Daniel's Living Soul in the Keychain Casket after his sacrifice, not only to save him but to prevent Michael's personality from breaking in a way that would jeopardize succession. After Daniel's return, the Will directly answers his request for a useful Soultrait, giving him a new foundation from which to assist his brother. (Chapters 277–284, 837, 1073)

The Primal and sealed gods

The Will opposes the corrupted Primal but also bargains with them. It offers a method for sealing dangerous gods, expecting them to overuse the agreement and unknowingly supply material for Cursed bloodlines. Its ultimate goal is not simply their deaths: when Michael receives the inheritance, the plan gives him the means to reconnect the Primal to the Expanse and restore four of them as Guardians. The Will's strategy is exploitative, indirect, and aimed at repairing the wider Creation. (Chapters 899, 1070–1073, 1091–1093)

Other prospects

Michael is preceded by many failed prospects, including Cleave Fenrir, and is considered alongside Taros and other Cursed Children before becoming the final choice. The Will treats candidates as individuals with potential but also as components of an experiment spanning hundreds of thousands of years. Its willingness to expose them to lethal challenges and inherited Curses reveals the moral cost of its urgency, even though it describes Michael as the best result and does not falsely claim responsibility for every tragedy. (Chapters 1072–1073)

Items

Keychain Casket

The Keychain Casket is the clearest item-level intervention in the Will's succession plan. It provides a vessel that preserves Daniel's Living Soul after Masked Saber dies protecting Michael. The Will later admits arranging its creation to keep Michael from being consumed by uncontrollable fury. The item therefore serves both Daniel's survival and the Will's effort to preserve the temperament of its chosen candidate. (Chapters 277–284, 694, 1073)

Lord Seal and Claim Note

After the Undead Pharaoh's defeat, the Will rewards Michael with a Lord Seal and a Claim Note. The seal can establish a Lord's claim, while tearing the note recognizes its user as Paradise Valley's rightful owner and makes native beings, including Sacred Beasts, amiable toward that user's forces. Their complementary effects turn an unlikely victory into stable territorial expansion rather than merely saleable loot. (Chapter 764)

Generated Artifacts and summoning scrolls

The Will produces numerous unnamed or separately owned Artifacts and summoning scrolls as part of the Expanse's reward economy. Early examples include a bow formed from a Frenzy Deer's antlers and tendons, while later natural Tier 3 Artifacts are valuable because their enhancements are difficult to reproduce. These are system outputs rather than the Will's personal possessions, and their individual quality, type, and appearance depend on the reward rather than a single standard design. (Chapters 23, 173, 405)