《Reborn: Apocalypse》 Chapter 1: The Fall Chapter 1: The Fall Important Note Before Reading: Whenever Iplete a Volume, I will be releasing it on Amazon after a few weeks! Per their rules, however, if I do that, I can''t leave it up here online, save for a multi-chapter sample. The full, edited Amazon version of Volume 1 can be found here - > bit.ly/WizBook1 (if this doesn''t work, just search Reborn: Apocalypse in the Amazon search bar) Buying it supports me and my writing :) If you can''t afford the Amazon version, I''m aware that other sites have pirated my story and host it online, and while I can''t condone that, I will understand if you read it there. Thank you :) Volume 3 is still in writing, and thus, all chapters are up here and free. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- The following is the unedited version. Amazon currently hosts the heavily edited version. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- "The battle is lost." A calm voice spoke aloud, full of sorrow and loss. "Humanity has fallen." Shin Hopefell lifted up a chipped and damaged golden sword, raising it above his head for a brief moment before he plunged it downward. The de left a trail of golden light as it shed down, ripping apart the enormous brown boulder that had just been lobbed at him. BOOM WHOOSH The split parts of the boulder mmed down onto the ground past him, throwing up a small cloud of dirt and dust. Shin''s aching body shook from the force of the deflection, his tired green eyes looking out at the hopeless scene before him. It was a ughter. They were standing on arge, broken stone teau. Tens of thousands of figures could be seen battling on this teau, swords shing against spears, explosions of light and magic searing the air and sky. Shin could make out thousands of Adapted Humans making use of their Vampire, Werewolf, and various other forms as they fought against the hundreds of blue-skinned humanoids that had greeted them when they arrived on the teau. He could even see a few Full Transformation users. A few towering Tyrannosaurus Rexes and otherrge dinosaurs, a couple of huge Golems made of ck rock, and a massive green turtle all helping lead the defense against the blue-skinned humanoids. Humanoids from one of the 12 Tribes of Deities. The blue-skinned Morians. "Don''t give up yet, Micheal! We''ve made it so far! Humanity can not fall yet!" Shin yelled out loud at the speaker, twisting his body to the side as another huge boulder came smashing down. The Morians had sent out a force of roughly 1,000 of their members to confront the Last Army of Humanity, as their force was so proudly dubbed. The strongest 50,000 surviving warriors that had made it through the Seven Layers, fighting to protect and ensure the survival of the Human Race. Billions of lives had already been lost, yet billions more were depending on them to seed. To gain a foothold on the Seventh Layer and allow humanity to flee the loweryers in safety. Shin''s body was muscr and mighty, the years of intensebat and survival having hardened him into a powerful fighter. His entire physique was covered in scars, a testament to the brutal fighting that had overtaken him. His bright blonde hair was tied up in a Norse braid, a nod to his Gaelic and Norse roots. A dark red Aura clung tightly to his body, full of potent strength. Micheal turned to look at his longtimepanion, his best friend that he had met back in high school so many years ago, back on Earth. "I''m not giving up, Shin. I am merely stating the facts." Micheal whipped a sharp-edged sword of his own forward as he split a boulder of his own in half, his body shaking as well under the force of the attack. Micheal''s body wasn''t as muscr as Shin''s, but instead held a slim, inner strength that bespoke long years of practice. While he was nowhere near as powerful as the true geniuses of the Human Race, his years of dedication and obsessive training had seen results. Clinging around his body was a powerful red Aura, just like Shin''s, full of vital strength. "The air is incredibly thick here. Gravity is far stronger than on any previous Layer. Even the rocky ground is incredibly durable, I was nearly unable to split that boulder. Despite that, those Morians are ying with us. They aren''t even trying..." Micheal continued, his voice harsh. Indeed, the Last Army of Humanity had just arrived on the Seventh Layer, in full force and regalia, with as much preparation as possible. Well, as much preparation as possible given that the varying leaders of the army were arrogant and self-obsessed after so many years of ruling by themselves. They didn''t really get along and had no agreed-upon strategy. And as soon as they had arrived, they were ambushed by a force 50 times smaller than their own. A force that didn''t contain any of the true elites or experts of the Morians. And despite that They were being ughtered. The teau they had arrived on was set in a seemingly random location. Of all the Layers, this final, Seventh Layer seemed the most normal. There was arge mountain range in the distance, and a series of broken stone teaus visible around them. It almost felt like they were back on Earth. The only real, visible indication that this wasn''t Earth were the two Suns hanging high in the sky overhead. The blue-skinned Morians were casually ripping giant boulders of stone from the ground and lobbing them at the humans. A few of the Morians had even leapt forward and engaged their army in a grand melee. Explosions of light and fire shook the air as other members of the Last Army responded, sending out powerful Abilities to try and strike back. Micheal could make out the elite members of the Human Race engaging several of the Morians directly. The Chinese ck Dragon King Yun Qi was currently facing off against several of the stronger looking Morians, all of their bodies blurring as they fought in hand to handbat. The blue Aura that clung to him was identical to the Aura the Morian attackers held, one that rippled with power far surpassing Micheal''s own. The American Blue Queen Jessica Wiles was sending out rippling spear after spear of ice, knocking back the blue-skinned Deities with grace and ease. The Morians, however, were only minimally injured by her freezing strikes. Strikes that had, on the Sixth Layer, easily obliterated entire mountains. Micheal saw the legendary French Sundering Swordmaster Bastien Amiot wield his de against a dozen Morians, his arms blurring as he unleashed blistering strike after strike. Quivering beams of energy sted through the air, mming into foe after foe. The greatest geniuses of the Human Race went up against the Morians, the experts that represented the various nations of Earth, from Germany to Russia, from China to France, America to Singapore, the Philippines to Mysia. It was a glorious joining of hands as every nation joined together to survive. Behind those elite geniuses stood thousands of powerful and tested experts like Micheal and Shin backing them up. While Micheal wouldn''t truly consider himself an expert, only a middling warrior among the 50,000 greatest, he was still an experienced soul, ready to battle. Most of the Morians simply circled, throwing out boulders or long distance Abilities, as if they were waiting for something. Only a few of them rushed forward to engage, and even then, they only engaged the geniuses that were fighting at the forefront. For every boulder that a human expert managed to deflect, another would crash down hard, prating through defensive Auras and taking a life. At least 2,000 of the greatest fighters humanity had had already perished, leaving them at roughly 48,000. ''Status.'' Micheal thought, calling up the strange, mystical screen that had appeared years ago. He had a few moments of safety and opted to check and see if anything abnormal had appeared after arriving in the Seventh Layer. . - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 84 Race: Human Age: 28 - Stats - Strength - 2,428 Endurance - 1,703 Recovery - 412 Soul - 108 - Abilities - (7/7) - Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5) - Ironblood Body Type - Ki Cultivator (King Tier) - Herculean Strength - Talos Mind Power - Enhanced Strength - Enhanced Recovery . He sighed as he looked over it. He had just barely managed to reach the lowest Tier of Grandmaster Sword Mastery before the final battle, after training for so long. He was not an innate genius like the powerful warriors fighting at the front line, but his dedication had proven itself in the end. ''While my Stats and Abilities aren''t the greatest, I should not be the weakest either.'' He thought, hoping he could prove useful. Compared to regr humans from Earth, he had the strength of more than two hundred and forty menbined. Yet, among these giants, he could only be considered average. ''Nothing about my status has changed.'' His eyes shed with glowing light as he flicked it off, all while maintaining his guard. "WELCOME TO THE SEVENTH LAYER, HUMANITY! CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING IT THIS FAR!" A loud, terrible voice interrupted the ongoing melee, causing a temporary ceasefire as both sides disengaged. This voice was full of throbbing power, causing the air itself to ripple. A figure descended from the sky. A blue-skinned Morian wearing a simple leather vest and holding a simple looking grey sword in his hand. The air seemed to shiver around the Morian as he moved, distorted. "I am General Kelleth of the Morian Tribe." The floating figure introduced himself, looking down at the figures down below. A cool, white Aura seemed to cling to his body, one that radiated strength and power. An Aura that Micheal recognized. ''He''s actually God Tier'' He thought, his heart dropping with despair. "Hmph, who cares who you are? The Human Race fears nothing and no one!" The ck Dragon King''s voice boomed as he jumped up into the air, a pair of ck wings appearing on his back. The blue Aura that surrounded his body rippled with ck light as he activated some Ability, facing off against the General. WHOOSH His body expanded, transforming into a huge, towering ck Dragon. ck energy crackled around his enormous frame as his wings shook the air, thundering with power. It was an awe-inspiring sight, a gargantuan leviathan that sted through the air. Micheal watched all of this, his eyes glued to the ck Dragon King, desperately praying for his sess. The ck Dragon King wasn''t a fool, he could recognize the power of the creature he was up against, yet chose to fight anyway, confident in his own strength and well aware that retreat was not an option. SHKKK WHOOSH General Kelleth''s arm seemed to shiver, blurring for a brief instant. It moved so quickly that Micheal was unable to make out the attack at all. The ck Dragon King looked at the Morian General. And then, slowly, closed his eyes as his body fell apart, split into 24 bisected pieces. Killed instantly. "No!" "The Great King!" "Dragon Lord!" Cries of horror and terror shook the human army as they saw one of their legends die. Tens of thousands of voices cried out. "How dare you! Die, you vile cretin!" The Blue Queen had never been on fair terms with the ck Dragon King, yet she still rushed up into the air, wings made of ice surrounding her as sheunched freezing cold attacks of her own. Beautiful crystals and frozen snowkes swarmed the air, surrounding her like a beast from legend. Against a single opponent, other allies would merely get in the way. SHKKK WHOOSH The General''s arm twitched. The Blue Queen fell, killed instantly, her body ripped to shreds. "No!!!" More screams from the crowd. "I will not allow this to continue!" The Sundering Swordmaster rose into the air, the bright blue Aura that covered him fluctuating. He saw the deaths of the other legends, the power the Morian General held, yet fought all the same, doing everything he could to stop the attackers. SHKKK SHKKK WHOOSH The Sundering Swordmaster fell to the side, killed. This time, it seemed to have taken slightly longer than with the other two legends of humanity, yet he still died all the same, from an attack that Micheal could not even make out. "No!" "It''s too much!" "Retreat back to the Sixth Layer!" The Last Army of Humanity seemed to fall apart as expert after expert tried to challenge the General. Dozens of powerful Ability users all rushed forward, some as unique Adapted Humans while others focusing with pure power. Some attacked in groups, while others attack on their own. The Morian General floated down to the ground, taking allers. One after another, all the challengers died. Those that tried to retreat found their way cut off. The portal that had led them here was locked, unable to transport them backwards. All that awaited them was the jeering Morians, throwing deadly boulders, arrows, or bolts of energy. "The battle is lost, Shin." Micheal''s voice was quiet as he looked at hisrades, his brothers in arms. He looked down at his de and then back up at the Morians. Now that their General hadnded, the Morians seemed to take that as a cue to attack. Several hundred of them were rushing forward, wielding an assortment of weapons. "I-I" Shin stumbled over his words as he looked at this scene, his arms trembling. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "I guess you''re right, Micheal. I was wrong in the end." Shin''s voice was small, his usually cheerful and optimistic demeanor nowhere to be seen. "There was no hope for us." His voice broke as he looked at the charging wave of death, his de limp at his side. His shoulders hunched, making him appear small and fragile. "We have failed. Humanity has failed." Micheal closed his eyes as well, tears threatening to leak. He had done everything he could. When everything began, so many years ago, the people of Earth had been transported to the Seven Layers in waves. As someone that was part of the 4th Wave, far behind those firsers, it was only because of his sheer determination that he managed to catch up to this point. And despite everything he proved useless. He couldn''t even help those vaunted geniuses, let alone stand anywhere near their level. "How could we have known, Micheal?" Shin muttered quietly, watching as thest hope of humanity died out. "How are we supposed to fight Gods?" Shin fell to his knees, his hands trembling. CRUNCH THUD Noise echoed out as a figurended down near them. The figure of the blue skinned Morian that had wiped out all the geniuses of Humanity. The figure of General Kelleth, covered in his resplendent, oppressive white Aura that indicated he was a God Tier warrior. A true Deity representing an entire Tribe of Deities. "To struggle from being the weakest race all the way to the Seventh Layer, it is truly something to bemended! Allow me to send you on your way!" The General loudly proimed. "Die!" "Kill it!" The fighters near Shin and Micheal rushed forward as one, more than a dozen powerful warriors all at least King Tier throwing themselves forward. ck lightning, bright red mes, powerful energy bolts, a deluge of attacks smashed down towards the figure, full of chaotic might. BOOM With almost a casual wave of his hand, the General dispelled and blocked the attacks. His body then blurred as he began to unleash a ughter, killing everyone that attacked him. In less than a second, more than 50 warriors died. The General''s body blurred and then stopped in front of a kneeling Shin, looking down at the fighter curiously. "Ah, has despair taken you, warrior? s. If our survival did not depend on this, perhaps we would spare your kind." The General shook his head sadly. Shin looked up, his eyes bloodshot, but, at the same time, conveying a feeling of eptance. The General raised his sword above his head, the white Aura bursting around him as he prepared to take Shin out. "Die!" Micheal''s voice was full of passion as he rushed at the General, swinging with all his might. He unleashed everything, his de moving in an intricate and skilled arc, red energy surrounding it as it cut through the air itself. WHOOSH SHKKK CLANG Micheal felt as if he had been punched in the chest. A stabbing pain filled his body as he was flung backwards, his sword knocked from his grip as he sailed through the air until he crashed down hard on the ground. He felt his Ki fluctuate, the red Aura that surrounded him shivering. "No" He croaked, blood spattering from his lips as he looked down. A huge hole in his body could be seen, punched directly through his heart. As Micheal''s vision wavered, he could just barely see the General return to stand in front of Shin, raising his de once more. His body went into shock at the gaping injury it had received, making everything around him appear surreal. WHOOSH SHKKKK The world around Micheal seemed to move forward in slow motion. . Slowly, ever so slowly, he watched as thest friend he had in this world, a man he loved as a brother, slid to the ground. Dead. ''NOOO!'' Screams tried to rip free from Micheal''s failing throat as he watched Shin die,manding his body to stand and fight. Pulling forth every iota of willpower and strength, all the years of training and dedication, to try and make himself rush forward, to try and save Shin. All to no avail. His body was failing, his heart already still. All he did, everything he tried... It was all not enough. It had been a waste. Humanity had still fallen. ''Sorry, Shin.'' Tears streamed down Micheal''s face as he copsed, his vision turning ck. ''I let you down.'' ''I was useless in the end.'' As Micheal''s body fell still, a small, unassuming, purple ring on Micheal''s finger shed. A ring he had stumbled upon through random chance and luck, acquired in a ce he had long since forgotten. Micheal died. But as he died, that ring vibrated with power. Words began to resonate, contained purely within the ring. Words full of desire and longing, passion and need. ''If only I had a chance to start over, to fix everything.'' "" ''If only I had a chance to start over, to fix everything.'' "" ''If only I had a chance to start over, to fix everything.'' "" ''Divine Artifact: The Wishing Ring activated. Wish has not exceeded the maximum range of values.'' "" ''Wish granted. Transporting memories through time.'' "..." WHOOSH . Chapter 2: Return Chapter 2: Return Micheal blinked as he came awake, his mind groggy. "Huh?" He muttered as he woke up, rubbing his eyes. An instantter, his heart spasmed as he jolted up, long years of constantly being on alert kicking in. His hand clutched at his chest, searching for the gruesome injury he had taken while he quickly took in his surroundings. ''My Recovery stat means my body will regenerate at a rate roughly 41 times that of a normal human on Earth. Even with that, though, I was stabbed through the heart. One of the Full Heal Technique users must have'' Micheal''s thoughts trailed off as he stared around him, at a loss. "This is my Cab Tent from Earth?" He muttered out loud. He would recognize this tent anywhere due to the colorful, and rather poorly painted, interior. When he had been much younger, his siblings had gone camping with their parents every summer. One summer they''d decided to paint the interior of the tent, filling it with brown and green trees, white and ck pandas, and a variety of colorful creations. "But how?" He stared, not understanding. He waved his hands in the air, almost not believing his eyes. His heart was flooded with emotions as the memories of his death haphazardly washed over him, vague and difficult to remember urately. ''Status.'' He thought, calling up his Status. Nothing happened. "W-what?!" His heart began to pound as he realized he couldn''t call up his Status. The mythical Status Screen. When the Apocalypse first struck Earth, everything had started with that damned screen. An illogical, magical screen that appeared in the air in front of every human, visible to only oneself. Without hesitating, Micheal burst out from his tent, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He appeared to be in some sort of forest clearing, with a small brook crashing down off to the south. Towering oaks and cedars could be seen, spreading out around him. ''Am I in some sort of dream trap? An Ability I''m unaware of? Perhaps the Gods of the 12 Tribes can manipte memories?'' His mind instantly raced as he tried to process what was happening. For, he clearly recognized when and where he was. He was out on a camping trip with his best friend, trying to find some peace and quiet away from the chaos that had swept over the world. This clearing, the tent, everything was identical. He remembered this moment keenly. After all what happened next was unforgettable. His turn to join the apocalypse hade. ''If it''s like my memories'' He thought, rubbing his chin, ''Then I am about to be Chosen as well.'' His eyes widened. The Apocalypse. The Seven Layers. The Chosen. Everything that had happened to him over the past 10 years washed through his mind. He had been a regr, 18-year-old, just finishing up high school and preparing for college when it all went down. His biggest worries had been his SAT score results, the test he needed to score well in to get into a good college, and if his favorite schools would ept him. Seemingly randomly at the time, roughly 1,000,000 people vanished. A great sh of light swept across the Earth when this happened, terrifying the world. These people disappearedpletely from the face of the Earth. They could not be seen, nor heard. Their locations couldn''t be tracked, it was as if they had vanished from reality itself. As one might expect, mass hysteria and panic broke out. People had vanished from all over the World, from America to France, Germany to China. Some people thought it was aliens, others thought it was some massive conspiracy, while still others thought it was the end times. Exactly one monthter, the same thing happened. Except this time, it wasn''t just 1,000,000 people. It was 10,000,000. A 3rd month passed. 100,000,000 people disappeared. And finally, now, it was the end of the 3rd month and the start of the 4th month. A time when 1,000,000,000 people would vanish from the face of the Earth, in a great sh of light. Micheal and his best friend Shin would be a part of that Fourth Wave. In the preceding three months, the world had almost broken down in shock and horror. Everyone was trying to understand what was happening, but no one truly could. Life itself had almost ground to a halt. Trade continued, unabated even in the face of the end of reality. But people began to live freer lives, no longer worrying about the future. After all, the daunting fear that hung over everyone, the mass vanishings, was something inescapable. Science couldn''t exin it. The majority thought it best to live and let live. ''It should be happening in just a few minutes.'' As Micheal came to this conclusion, he realized something. ''This is not a dream. There is no Ability that I know of that can make something so realistic for so long. As well, it should be impossible for me to not be able to ess my Status Screen, even if someone is using some type of rare Artifact.'' His thoughts raced ahead, ''There is only one possibility.'' He looked around the forest clearing, his heart calming, ''I''ve gone back in time.'' As an expert that had been through thick and thin, he was able to adapt to situations like this in a short period of time. He didn''t allow himself to get overwhelmed, instead moving forward to n. As he thought this, he felt something sh at the edge of his eyesight, right on his hand. He zeroed in on the light, staring. A faint image of a ring could be seen, resting on his hand. As Micheal looked at it, slowly, this ring fell to dust, vanishing. Particles of light drifted off of it, fluttering into the air. ''An Artifact? Ah, I remember. I picked up that mysterious ring in a game of chance somewhere. Was it in the 4th Layer? The 5th?'' Micheal thought, shaking his head. He couldn''t remember where he got it exactly. ''I won it through pure luck. I never could figure out what it did and kept it with me as a lucky charm'' He continued, frowning, ''Is it responsible for this?'' ''So the reason I came back it isn''t because I was specially chosen or anything of the sort.'' ''It''s just because of dumb luck, huh?'' As this series of thoughts shed through his head, Micheal couldn''t help but smile ruefully. ''At least something has gone my way.'' He clenched his fists as the full scale of what had happened swept over him. ''I''m getting another chance. I can change the future.'' His eyes widened, a fire appearing in them, ''I can change the course of events. I can stop billions from dying, I have the chance to make it so humanity isn''t wiped out!'' He knew the future. He knew secrets that no one else knew, where hidden treasures were, which Abilities were most powerful or useful, how to scorerge numbers of Points... All of his information had beenrgely outdated at the time of the final battle. After all, what use was there in knowing where something was on the 2nd Layer if that thing was already looted and they were on the 7th Layer? ''But now I have a chance. We have a chance.'' His eyes trembled, ''Humanity has a chance. And it''s up to me.'' His body shivered as emotions flowed through him, feeling a huge amount of pressure settle upon his shoulders. If he did not change the future, all of humanity would die. ''There is so much we didn''t know the first time around. So many people died, so many lives wasted. I need to make humanity as a whole stronger, but I also need to focus on my own power.'' He nodded as he realized this, ''The 12 Tribes of Gods they are literal Gods. They are born at the Lord Tier of Ki Cultivation, just one Tier below the strongest Tier I ever reached. By the time we reached the 7th Layer, only a few of humanity''s strongest experts managed to reach the Emperor Tier, let alone the God Tier like that General.'' He mused over the specifics, his eyes hardening. ''And we only faced their initial forces on that final battlefield, we have yet to face their actual army. We were ughtered by what was essentially just a scouting force.'' He shook his head angrily, passion filling his blood. He would not let things end up this way again. He would stop the future he had lived from happening. He would save his family, this time around. He would save the White Knight, he would stop the Great Disaster of the 2nd Layer, he would kill the Vile King before he spread his legions of death, he would stop everything. ''Humanity will survive'' He thought, closing his eyes for a brief moment, ''I will change the future.'' . Chapter 3: The Holy Shop Chapter 3: The Holy Shop After a few moments, Micheal overcame his emotions. There were only minutes left till the next Wave of Chosen were transported away from Earth, never to return. In that brief period, he knew exactly what he needed to do. He could not afford to let himself get emotional right now, no matter how raw his feelings. His deep, blue eyes gleamed as he looked over to the left, his short brown hair rustling slightly. He rubbed his strong chin lightly, feeling the scraggy stubble that had appeared. "Shin! Shin! Wake up, quickly!" His voice was authoritative as he rushed over to a tent that was set up right next to his, throwing it open. The brisk scent of the morning air filled his lungs, a refreshing smell that he hadn''t tasted in years. "Y-yo what''s up, man? How early is this?" A bleary-eyed, blonde haired 18-year-old stared at him through the open tent in confusion. "Shin, I need you to listen to me." Micheal''s eyes were deadly serious as he spoke, his voice containing a certain level of pressure and force that Shin had never heard before. As Micheal looked at Shin, the scene of Shin sliding to the ground, dead, shed in his mind. He blinked as he looked at the blonde teenager, taking a deep breath as he forced himself to focus. All of that had yet to happen, it wasn''t real. At least, not this time around. "What''s happening?" Shin''s eyes became serious too as he nodded at Micheal, settling down. Shin had always been better at adapting to things, Micheal had always noticed, taking things as they came. He, himself, had always been bad about that. "Shin, we are about to be Chosen. We are part of the Fourth Wave of Chosen, which means we will be three years behind the other Chosen." Micheal''s voice was cool as he continued, "I need you to listen and remember everything I am about to tell you. This is not a joke, this is not a game. If you don''t listen to me, you may very well die." He had already changed the future now, so he might as well go all out. "" For the next several minutes, Micheal talked without pause at Shin, telling him various things and exining what was about to happen. In particr, he exined what the Shop was. The Holy Shop, as some called it. When the apocalypse took hold and people were transported, the first thing they saw when they vanished from earth was a small, floating blue screen. The infamous Status Screen. Apart from that, there was a white screen that appeared as well. The Holy Shop. A shop where one could spend ''Points'' to gain powerful Abilities or Artifacts, tools that affected whether or not one could survive at all as they moved through the Seven Layers. Every human being in the world had ess to the Shop. However, none of the other Races had ess to the Shop. Only the Human Race did. Researchers theorized that this was because the Human Race was considered the weakest race in existence, and that the Heavens had created the Shop to rectify this, to make this final struggle a fair one. Of course, in the end, it hadn''t been enough. Humanity lost, and lost pitifully. ''But I will change that, this time around.'' Micheal swore, his eyes full of fire. ''I won''t let it happen likest time.'' ''I won''t.'' "This is all about to happen?" Shin''s stunned voice, full of shock and surprise, caught Micheal''s attention as he finished musing. "Yes. I had a vision of the future. I need you to keep that a secret, and remember exactly what I said." Micheal responded, his voice warm as he looked at his longtime best friend, a man that had stayed by his side for more than 10 years of harrowing survival. For now, he decided it was easiest to exin his situation as a vision of the future. Hecked the time to dive deeper, not right now. As he looked at his best friend, he knew that there was no way in hell he would leave Shin to die. He hadn''t even met up with Shin again till the 2nd Layer, originally, the two being lost and clueless like all of the other Chosen initially were. As for his family He had never met up with them, but had known that, at the least, they weren''t part of the Fourth Wave. They had died in one of the Layers, he wasn''t sure which. If only he or Shin had brought their phones with them on this camping trip, it would''ve been worth it to hear his mother or father speak, or to talk to his little sisters. He sighed. ''I will save them. I will save everyone.'' His eyes widened, full of determination. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR A few moments after they finished speaking, a loud, but familiar, whirring noise shook the air. Particles of energy seemed to flow, visible to the naked eye as bright light surrounded Shin and Micheal. And not only those two. But, instead, 1,000,000,000 people total, an entire billion people. From China to America, Russia to South Africa, Australia to Brazil. In that instant, one billion people were surrounded by light. 1,000,000,000 people were Chosen to be part of the Fourth Wave. All of those people, Shin and Micheal included, vanished. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Micheal blinked, his vision clearing as he found himself in a familiar setting once more... An ethereal, fogscape where he floated in mid-air, right in front of two stationary screens. His body felt cool, as if he was swimming in a pool of water. It wasfortable and rxing, quite peaceful. . - Shop - Avable Points: 48,200 Abilities - Artifacts . - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 48,200 Race: Human Age: 18 - Stats - Strength - 11 Endurance - 11 Recovery - 10 Soul - 10 - Abilities - (0/7) "Please spend your allotted Points till they arepletely used up. You have one hour to choose. After that hour, all unused Points will be discarded, and you will be transported to the First Layer." An ethereal, feminine voice sounded off, another familiar voice. A voice from the ''Spirit'' that ran the Shop, a being some theorized was God, while others dered was something akin to a magicputer program or Ai. Micheal ignored that voice, however, as he immediately tapped upon the ''Abilities'' option in the Shop, ignoring everything else. . -Abilities- Ki Cultivator (God Tier) - 1,012,800,500 Ki Cultivator (Emperor Tier) - 256,850,600 Ki Cultivator (King Tier) - 31,402,800 Ki Cultivator (Lord Tier) - 5,288,000 Ki Cultivator (Sky Tier) - 606,500 Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier) - 95,000 Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier) - 5,000 High Werewolf Type 10,250,000 Werewolf Type 556,000 Lesser Werewolf Type 12,000 High Vampire Type 11,350,000 Vampire Type 688,000 Lesser Vampire Type 16,000 Steel Body Type 40,000 Herculean Strength 2,500,000 Enhanced Strength 20,000 Enhanced Recovery - 20,000 Dragon Blood Type 16,340,000 Ice Caster Type 245,000 Fire Caster Type - 245,000 (1/41 page) . "It''s all the same." He thought, breathing out a sigh of relief. The Abilities you could buy, some of them upgradeable while others were enhancements or unique ''Types'' who''s users woulde to be known as ''Adapted Humans.'' Everything was the same. He even had the same ''Point'' total as before, a total that he had lucked out with. The average Points that most humans started with was 20,000. To start with 48,200 was a huge boon and the luckiest part about his starting position. How the Point totals were decided was a hotly debated topic among researchers that had no answer. Some thought it was based on potential or talent, while others thought it was random. Of course, that was nothingpared to those that started with 100,000 Points, or even a few that started with 150,000 or 200,000. Some of the legendary leaders of the Last Army even started with close to 600,000 or 700,000 Points, a ridiculous sum. In an instant, he flipped to one of thest pages, in the very back. These pages were full of Abilities that could only be purchased a limited number of times, for some reason. Many of these had beenrgely taken up by the users of the first three Waves. After the Fourth Wave finished, almost all of these were gone. As he scanned through the list, however, he found the Ability he was looking for. It had already been chosen three times, one of the few Abilities that had a limited supply. Life Orb Master 40,000 (3/4) "Ability select, Life Orb Master!" "Are you sur-" "Yes, I''m sure! Purchase it immediately!" . Chapter 4: Life Orb Master Chapter 4: Life Orb Master When the apocalypse first started, so many years ago in his previous life, Micheal had chosen two specific Abilities as his first upgrades. ''Enhanced Recovery and Enhanced Strength'' His eyes narrowed as he looked over the two Abilities that were listed on the front page, each for 20,000 Points. He sighed at his past ignorance. The younger him hadn''t even tried to pick up a basic level of Ki Cultivator, one of the most important Abilities he would need. ''Status.'' . - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 8,200 Race: Human Age: 18 - Stats - Strength - 11 Endurance - 11 Recovery - 10 Soul - 10 - Abilities - (1/7) - Life Orb Master . His stats remained unchanged. His Strength was slightly above the average of a normal human at 11 points as was his Endurance. Both stats were vitally important, with Endurance representing his stamina and physical durability, while Strength represented his physical strength. His Recovery stat was normal, but that was to be expected. It was one of the harder stats to raise. It also affected his stamina, but in a different way. It could be considered the regeneration factor that a being held. At his strongest, Micheal had reached a Recovery stat of roughly 412. That meant his physical regeneration was slightly more than 41 times as powerful as that of a normal human. He could heal from injuries at an abnormally fast rate, vastly increasing his survivability. It was nothing much whenpared to some of the monsters among the Human Race that had achieved Recovery stats in excess of 1,000 or 2,000, able to quickly and visibly see themselves regenerate from gruesome injuries, but it was extremely noteworthy to him. And, finally, hisst stat. Soul. ''Aw man, it didn''t carry over.'' He sighed as he realized this. He had been hoping that some part of his Soul stat would have stayed with him when he went back in time. s. The Soul stat affected two very important things. The first was how powerful many Abilities were. A stronger Soul meant one could handle using or unleashing powerful Abilities and increased the power of certain types of Abilities. The difference between someone unleashing, say a Lightning Lance, at 10 Soul and a Lightning Lance at 500 Soul was like the difference between heaven and earth. The second thing it affected was just as important. One''s perception of time. The stronger your Soul stat, the faster your perception of the world around you. This was vitally important to closebat warriors as battles at a high level could end in an instant. ''Well, I can increase it like normal. With the secrets I know, getting powerful shouldn''t be impossible, even with my several yearste start.'' He thought, rubbing his chin. That was right. He was starting pretty far behind the leaders of humanity. ''Arge number of people were chosen every month, teleporting away from earth to here. But time in here operates much faster. A month on Earth is a year in the 7 Layers'' He sighed. He was part of the Fourth Wave of people Chosen toe to the 7 Layers. Everyone in the First Wave was already three entire years ahead of him. Most of the leaders of humanity in the 7 Layers had been a part of that First Wave. ''I can still catch up.'' He nodded his head sharply. He turned his attention back to the shop, looking through various parts of it. Every human could have exactly 7 Abilities. No more and no less. Some Abilities one could remove just by tapping on one''s Status Screen, while others would be a near-permanent addition that were extremely difficult to remove. Choosing what Abilities to use was an extremely important decision. The two Abilities Micheal had originally picked, Enhanced Strength and Enhanced Recovery, weren''t actually bad options. Enhanced Strength increased his Strength by 30%, while Enhanced Recovery enhanced his Recovery by 30%. Both Abilities were quite useful and had powerful effects that would always affect him even as he grew stronger. However, once applied, it was also almost impossible to remove these Abilities. Thus, when Micheal eventually gained arge number of Pointster on, he found that those two Abilities had be dead slots, dragging him down from using stronger or better Abilities. ''I am a Life Orb Master currently'' He spoke aloud, turning his focus back to the Ability he had chosen. ''I can''t believe I managed to snag thest one.'' He smiled, a feeling of glee filling him. He pulled up the rather sinct description of the Ability, looking it over. . -Life Orb Master- A Life Orb master can manipte, create, and use orbs called Life Orbs. Life Orbs automatically take the ce of a user when that user otherwise would have died, fully healing the user. Life Orb Masters cannot have any Type Modifications. . It was an Ability so powerful that even the Holy Shop ced it in the limited section. The Ability to cheat death itself, and not just once, but multiple times, depending on the number of Life Orbs one had. Of course, there was also a reason it had been so cheap for him to buy. Every positive had a negative. Life Orb Masters could not have any Type Modifications. This didn''t mean he couldn''t get Abilities that could boost his Strength or Recovery, like Herculean Strength or Troll''s Heart, that also happened to change his physique. Instead, it focused on ''Type Abilities or Modifications.'' Abilities that allowed one to be an Adapted Human. As long as Micheal was a Life Orb Master, he would be unable to use any Type Abilities. Type Abilities were pretty huge in the 7 Layers. A huge number of people used at least one Type or another, the mostmon being Vampire and Werewolf Types. Even he had originally used a Type Ability, the Ironblood Body Type. This Ability transformed his physique into one that was much more durable and strong, greatly enhancing his Strength and Endurance. It had worked particrly well for a closebat expert like him. As a Life Orb Master, he would have to give up on Type Abilities. ''But I''m fine with that.'' He thought, smiling. The powers a Life Orb Master had were simply too overwhelmingly useful. He had first heard of this Ability on the 6th Layer. A legend had been told to him of a powerful warrior that had presumably died while exploring unknownnds on his own. The warrior had been one to challenge the impossible, doing whatever he pleased freely. He disappeared on the 6th Layer to never be heard from again. The Invincible Kim Jiwoon from Korea. The only known user of the Life Orb Master Ability, part of the First Wave. ''And now I have the same Ability as him'' Micheal couldn''t help himself, shivering in glee. With this power at his disposal, so many doors opened. He would be capable of doing so much more. ''I stand a real chance at saving humanity now'' He clenched his fists, his eyes filled with determination. ''But first let''s use thest of my Points.'' . Chapter 5: Arrival Chapter 5: Arrival He looked back at the Shop, nodding his head sharply. Several minutester ''Status!'' He called to mind his Status Screen. . - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 0 Race: Human Age: 18 - Stats - Strength - 22 Endurance - 16 Recovery - 12 Soul - 10 - Abilities - (2/7) Life Orb Master Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier) . After looking over everything he could buy, Micheal had finally managed to spend the remainder of his Points. Since his Points would disappear upon leaving this starting area, there was no point in trying to save any of them up. He had first obtained the Ki Cultivator Ability, the mostmon Ability in the 7 Layers. This Ability was so necessary and needed that he would be a fool not to pick it up. It was an Ability that one could grow naturally, without even needing to spend Points, though it was possible to speed up growth using Points. At higher levels, this Ability vastly enhanced one''s strength to such a high degree that almost everyone chose it. Because of the Ability, his Strength stat had already doubled, meaning he was slightly stronger than two average humans on Earth. His Endurance had been boosted, and his Recovery had even increased a little bit. His Soul stat remained unchanged, though not unexpectedly. It was the hardest stat to change. In terms of physique, Micheal was already in better condition than most humans on a normal, non-Chosen Earth would ever be. While his body would appear like that of a slightly fit 18 year old, he was functionally equivalent to a top tier bodybuilder. ''And this is just the start'' He thought, clenching his fists and nodding. ''I should just automatically obtain my Sword Mastery Ability by swinging a sword once I enter the 7 Layers, too.'' He thought, nodding his head again. It wasn''t as if he had forgotten the many years of effort and practice he had put into his training. ''As for the Artifacts I purchased'' The Holy Shop had two sections. One for Abilities and one for Artifacts. . -Artifacts- Food Selection - Custom Drink Selection - Custom Iris Holy Shield - 23,800,500 (0/1) Angelic Sword - 15,900,000 (0/1) Vast Dragon Chariot - 20,700,500 (0/1) Golden Defense Formation - 8,800,400 (0/1) Enhancement Staff - 15,000 ck Iron Mail - 6,000 Titan''s Robe - 400,000 (1/25) Spatial Backpack - 16,000 (40/100) Green Firebomb - 20,000 Heldven''s de - 450,000 (0/1) Soaring Wings - 680,000 (1/25) ck Wand - 15,000 Sr sses - 180,000 (2/25) Fasfel Boots - 220,000 (12/200) Ancient Shield - 18,000 ckmire Bow - 15,000 Aeon Spear - 800,000 (0/10) Enhanced Iron Hasta - 3,000 (1/39 page) . Abilities were something one could only purchase for oneself. They appeared in one of your 7 Ability Slots and could not be traded away. Artifacts, on the other hand, had a plethora of usages and could be used for tons of different things. Micheal looked down at his hand as he looked at the Artifact he had purchased for 1,000 Points. A Low-Tier Spatial Ring. The ring had 3 cubic meters of space within it. It was a magical ring that let him carry huge amounts of supplies or tools, all within a ring that fit squarely on his pointer finger. One of the many impossible legends that had be a reality in the face of the apocalypse, and one that was pretty cheap too. Spatial Rings were a necessity in the 7 Layers. Trying to live without one, especially in the higher Layers, was incredibly difficult. ''Many Artifacts are like the special Abilities. Only a limited number of them exist in the Shop. These Spatial Rings run out pretty soon if I recall.'' He thought, nodding his head. Most of the spatial storing Artifacts would run out from the Shop after the Fourth Wave finished establishing itself. Inside that Spatial Ring was a Steelborn Sword, a decent, well-made de that wouldst him for a while. As a fighter that practiced the sword, going into the First Layer unarmed would be incredibly foolish. The Steelborn Sword had taken up thest of his Points. There were a few other Artifacts he had considered, but he couldn''t bear the idea of going into the First Layer with nothing to fight with but his hands. ''Or the Life Orbs too.'' He thought, correcting himself. The Life Orbs were small blue orbs that would float around him once he spawned a few. ording to the Ability, he could control them at will and technically use them as a weapon to bash into things, albeit one he had never used before. He had no idea how effective they would be. "Spirit, can you send me to the First Layer now?" Micheal spoke aloud, his voice calm and collected. An ethereal, feminine voice responded, "You still have several minutes to decide on how to spend your Points. Are you certain you wish to proceed?" "Yes, yes, I''ve already spent my Points. Please send me through." He responded, feeling slightly impatient. After reaching this point, he was ready to get started. The First Layer was the most dangerous for many people, an incredibly unique world that defied logic and reason. "Acknowledged. You will be sent through to the First Layer. Upon arrival, you will be informed upon the basics of the 7 Layers and then set free to do as you will." The voice of the Spirit of the Shop replied coolly. WHOOSH Bright light swarmed around Micheal before he could reply and, an instantter, he vanished, teleported away. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ''The First Layer'' As Micheal teleported, his mind raced. What exactly were the 7 Layers? ording to what Micheal knew, the 7 Layers were a series of mystical worlds connected to each other. Each Layer grew more and more dangerous and waspletely unique, extremely different from the previous Layer. Once you went up one Layer, returning to the previous Layer was usually impossibly difficult. As the years passed, the lower Layers would be more and more dangerous, forcing people to move upward. The Human Race had been given a ''Goal.'' That ''Goal'' was to pass through all 7 Layers and achieve the ''Prize.'' Heaven. In this case, though, the ''Prize'' also meant survival. For, Humanity was not alone. There were multiple other races from different universespeting in the 7 Layers, all fighting for survival. Most races had their own unique First Layer, hidden away from other races. The farther up the Layers one went, however, the more races one would meet as Layers began to merge. The only way to survive was to pass the Seventh Layer. However, even now, Micheal had no clue how to achieve that. After all, Humanity had been killed the instant it stepped foot into the Seventh Layer. How could he possibly know what they were supposed to do there? Who created the 7 Layers? No one knew. No one knew how they came about, how all of these races came to be teleported into them, and what the true purpose of this all was. It was a brutal, deadly game that was incredibly unfair and killed billions. As these thoughts all shed through his mind, the shing light around him vanished. Abruptly, he felt his body grow slow and heavy as gravity that felt much stronger than Earth''s mmed into him. He felt his feet touch down on hard ground, bending his knees slightly to absorb the shock of thending. He slowly opened his eyes, taking a deep breath as he looked at the world around him. He was standing atop the roof of a familiar, towering skyscraper. Around him, as far as the eye could see, were tens of thousands of skyscrapers. Some were connected to each other by long rope bridges set with dozens of wooden nks, while others had fancy steel bridges, or sheer wooden beams set directly across. At the base of the skyscrapers, empty roads and streets could be seen, like that of a normal city,plete with sidewalks and traffic lights. Micheal shivered as he looked down at the ground level, his memory shing back. The one rule of this world was that you must stay in the skyscrapers. Never, never go to the ground. Only death waited down there. He took a deep breath as he looked around, feeling a sensation of excitement fill him. He was here. He had truly gotten a second chance. The unique First Layer for the Human Race. The World of Endless Skyscrapers. He was back. "Oi, looks like the newbies are arriving. Hey kid! Turn around!" . Chapter 6: First Meeting Chapter 6: First Meeting "Oi, looks like the newbies are arriving. Hey kid! Turn around!" Micheal''s eyes twitched as he heard a rough voice call out at him, demanding his attention. He turned around smoothly, his eyes calm as he looked across the roof of the skyscraper. The roof was t with a small, about 1 meterrge raised grey wall that matched the color of the floor. A small doorway and shed could be seen near the opposite side of the roof, leading down inside the skyscraper. ''We can only safely ess the upper levels of the building, though.'' He thought, the memories shing back into him. The closer one got to the ground, the more danger they would be in, though it wasn''t like the roofs were safe either. The main threat on the World of Endless Skyscrapers could be found almost anywhere. The Morenkai. "Hey, I said hello. Are you an idiot?" Micheal snapped out of his memories as he looked back up, staring at the speaker. A trio of figures could be seen,nguidly resting inwn chairs that were set down right next to the door into the skyscraper. All three were men, wearing loose-fitting jeans and id shirts. Two of the men had rather forgettable faces, with short brown hair, broken noses, and in brown eyes. Thest one was the speaker, a man with bright blonde hair and a huge tattoo of an ''X'' across his forehead. All three were white. Micheal stared at them, his memories stirring once more. It had been more than 10 years since he wasst in this world and had met these people. So much had happened since then that minor events or characters gradually faded to the background. Despite that, Micheal could remember what happened here clearly. He had arrived as a total newbie. After looking over the Shop list, he ended up choosing the ''Enhanced Strength'' Ability alongside the ''Enhanced Recovery'' Ability due to their powerful sounding names and the fact that he could afford them. The Abilities were useful, it was true, boosting his Strength and Recovery stats by 30%. However, due to his rather normal Strength in the first ce, the increase in power was incremental. He went from a Strength stat of 11 to a Strength stat of 14. Still well within the limits of an above average human. The same applied for his Recovery. Micheal''s current Strength stat of 22 put him well above the average and close to the maximum limit of a normal human, while his Recovery stat was slightly upped. In addition, his Endurance had been boosted by quite a decent amount. Plus he had a Spatial Ring, a strong de within it, and the Ki Cultivator and Life Orb Master Abilities. His starting point this time around was so far above what he had started atst time, Micheal didn''t even want to think about it. "Sorry about that. Can I help you?" Micheal stepped forward with a friendly smile while he looked over his stats and physique, confirming everything was normal. "This is- uh- yes. Newbie. Ahem. I am Daniel." The speaker, the man with an ''X'' scribbled on his head, stuttered as he named himself, looking at Micheal in confusion. Usually, the new Chosen would be scared or fearful, from what Daniel could remember. After all, who wouldn''t be? This entire situation was a terrifying one. This was his first time greeting the newbies, so it couldn''t really be helped that he was taken aback by Micheal''s odd response. "Micheal. A pleasure." Micheal waved at him, starting to recall everything. His eyes darted to the left and right as he looked around at nearby skyscrapers. He could make out figures moving on other roofs, the area not at all abandoned. "I am a member of the group that watches over this part of the Lower Section, the Saru Group. If you wouldn''t mind waiting for the rest of your group to arrive, I will give a speech and exin everything then." Daniel said, crossing his arms as if he dared Micheal to talk back. Despite his brutish demeanor, Micheal could vaguely recall that Daniel wasn''t actually a bad sort. He just had a harsh personality. "Sure, I don''t mind." He didn''t. As he spoke aloud, he tapped the ring on his finger, bringing out the Steelborn Sword. "Woah!" "Hold on!" "He''s got a sword!" Instantly all three men reacted, going on guard as they looked at Micheal warily. The two simr looking men sprouted brown fur along their hands and neck, gaining a ferocious aura, while Daniel, the leader of the group, gained a metallic sheen to the color of his skin. ''Two Lesser Werewolf Types and a Steel Body Type. All three are Adapted Humans, huh?'' Micheal remembered some vague details of what happened here, but the minutiae was lost to him. It had simply been too long. Far too much had happened over the past 10 years for him to clearly remember everything minor. "Oh, sorry! I''m just practicing some sword techniques my sensei taught me. I didn''t mean to worry you! I''m still going to wait here for the others!" Micheal waved his hands to calm them down, apologizing. At the same time, he gave off an air of danger and readiness, making it very clear that he was not someone to be bothered. The disy of his weapon wasn''t carelessness, but rather, absolute confidence. "A fucking Irregr" "Damn." "Captain B will be happy" The trio stared back at Micheal, slowly calming down as they epted his exnation. At the same time, Micheal heard what they muttered, smiling slightly. Irregrs. The name people gave for anyone that started with a huge amount of Points or were otherwise strong from the start. ''I certainly wasn''t an Irregr the first time around.'' He thought, his smile turning rueful. Still, he certainly qualified as one now. If he disyed a high level of strength at the start, he would attract some attention from the higherups here, which was exactly what he wanted. ''My ns will only work if I can convince arge number of people.'' He nodded his head. ''Oh right, wasn''t there also a rather famous Irregr that started somewhat close to me in the Fourth Wave?'' He thought, his eyes shing as he looked out into the distance. The Ki Cultivator Ability he''d picked up did many things. Part of what it did filled his eyes with a faint gleam of light from the energy now held within his body. It gave him, and all humans that gained it, a mysterious, powerful appearance. WHOOSH As he was contemting this, a gust of wind and light set the air to trembling as a new figure arrived. A middle-aged woman clutching at a purse, dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a pink sweater. ''I was the first this time because of how fast I was. I remember that on my first time around, I was one of thest ones to appear.'' He nodded as he saw this. "Wee, newbie! I''m sure you have a lot of questi" He moved over to the edge of the skyscraper as he ignored the intro Daniel was telling the new Chosen, as people called themselves, holding his de out in front of him. ''Inner peace'' He thought, taking several deep breaths. He felt at the sword in front of him, letting his senses fall over it. He focussed on it, zeroing his every iota of will into it as he held it out calmly. ''I am the de. The de is part of me. A tool, a weapon. An ally and an enemy.'' He thought, his eyes peaceful as he shut them. SWISH Almost silently, he swung the de forward at the air. The sword moved incredibly quickly, blurring as it made a quick, sharp cut. As he swung it, a feeling of mystical power swept over Micheal, sliding onto and covering his sword. . -New Ability Acquired - Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5) ept the Ability? Yes / No . A blue screen popped up in his vision as he let loose the simple strike. As soon as he saw it, a burst of adrenaline ran flush in his veins and he immediately clicked the ''Yes'' option. WHOOSH Micheal felt his body vibrate slightly as something inherently shifted and changed, the magical Ability fusing with him. ''Status.'' . - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 0 Race: Human Age: 18 - Stats - Strength - 22 Endurance - 16 Recovery - 12 Soul - 10 - Abilities - (3/7) Life Orb Master Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier) Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5) . He couldn''t help but smile as he saw this. Even though his stats remained unchanged, he had gained something extremely important. ''Yes! I did manage to get it back!'' He clenched his fists, excitement running through his veins. The Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability. The deadliest Ability he had ever gained, one that was renowned and legendarily hard to achieve, even for those on the Fifth or Sixth Layers. An Ability he now had on the First Layer, within the first hour of his appearance. . Chapter 7: The Morenkai Chapter 7: The Morenkai . -Grandmaster Sword Mastery- A powerful Ability that requires an extremely in-depth understanding of the Way of the Sword. This Ability grows in strength alongside the understanding of the user. This Ability allows one to infuse their swords techniques with energy from the environment, granting them incredible cutting power and might. . The description of the Ability was sinct and actually underyed how powerful an Ability this was. While many Abilities could be purchased from the Shop, there were also many Abilities that could not be purchased. Some of these could only be gained by raw talent and practice, using skill or luck. Many Abilities that rted to battle technique or skills often functioned like this. Basic forms of those Abilities, like Basic Sword Mastery, could be purchased from the Shop. But anything above the basic levels had to slowly be trained, through constant practice and training. Martial Artists from Earth found themselves at a veryrge advantage, especially those that were considered experts. Sword Master was one of the strongest techniquesmonly used for battle. There were 7 Stages to this Ability, each one, save for thest, split into 5 internal tiers. Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Grandmaster, World Master, Supreme Master. Thanks to his raw dedication and effort, as well as obsessive practice, Micheal had just barely managed to achieve the lowest tier of Grandmaster Sword Mastery. The strongest swordsman alive at the time of the final battle, the legendary French Sundering Swordmaster Bastien Amiot, had achieved the lowest tier of World Master Sword Mastery. Bastien Amiot was a genius that had been studying the de his entire life, including more than 45 years back on Earth. Micheal had been a regr 18 year old fresh out of highschool. For him to reach the lowest tier of Grandmaster Sword Mastery, just a single, though full, stage behind the greatest swordsmen the Human Race had alive at the time, it could be considered a huge achievement. The frantic progress Micheal had made was incredible, enough to rank him among the 50,000 strongest living elites of the Human Race. s, it wasn''t enough in the end. ''But it will be this time.'' He thought, his eyes shing as he tossed the thought to the side, focusing on the present. The Sword Mastery Ability allowed one to draw upon the ambient energy in the world around them, infusing it into their attacks. Back on Earth, there were legends of masterful warriors that could split steel in two using a simple wooden branch. Sword Mastery made legends like that actually possible. Basic Mastery allowed one to imbue their weapon with energy from the environment, making their blows heavier and more powerful. Intermediate and Advanced were simply stronger forms of this, allowing one''s weapon to carry with it a huge amount of force and cutting power. The increase in power between Basic and Intermediate, and Intermediate and Advanced was quite noticeable. The Basic Sword Master Ability alone allowed one to step into the level of superhumans, able to slice through rock like butter. Intermediate allowed one to cut through steel. Advanced allowed one to cut through any and everything from Earth with ease, the materials there no longer able to hold up. At Master Sword Mastery, one gained the ability to manipte the energy they imbued into their sword, allowing one to extend a weapons range, or condense the energy, vastly increasing the power and impact a weapon held. It was at this stage that one could call themselves a Swordmaster. And at Micheal''s current stage, Grandmaster Sword Mastery, one gained the ability that transformed sword users into lethal weapons of terrifying power. The ability to send out long distance sword attacks imbued with energy, cutting through the air with terrible force. ''I only just reached this stage, just hours before the final battle happened'' Micheal observed, his eyes full of excitement as he looked over his status screen. ''Now that I have it again, I can actually test it out and use it to the fullest extent!'' He flicked his sword upward, slowly starting to draw upon the natural energy of the world. He felt invisible waves of power begin to concentrate around his sword. At the same time, however, his body trembled, shaking. He felt a huge amount of strain settle upon him, threatening to crush him. He immediately cancelled his concentration, allowing the invisible energy to dissipate. ''Right I don''t have the same stats that I did back then. I can''t go all out currently.'' He frowned, looking down at his trembling arms. Using powerful techniques required a powerful physique, through abination of Strength, Endurance, Recovery, and Soul. ''My Talos Mind Power, King ss Ki Cultivation, Herculean Strength, Ironblood Body'' He listed off all the rare and powerful Abilities he had gained. The Enhanced Strength and Enhanced Recovery were notable too, but not nearly as hard to obtain. ''Herculean Strength can be purchased in the Shop for 2,500,000 Points, while the others are even more expensive. I can''t even get the Ironblood Body anymore.'' He frowned slightly. ''Well, whatever. I need to take care not to fill my slots with wasteful Abilities likest time. I can just concentrate on increasing my Ki Cultivation.'' It was possible to grow that Ability without spending Points. Ki Cultivation was one of the best ways to grow stronger, enhancing one''s stats across the board. WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH While Micheal was nning and thinking, more and more people arrived. People of all ethnicities and nationalities, a plethora of different faces and types. A businessman from India appeared wearing a traditional blue suit, next to a youth that looked to be around 16 from Belgium, dressed in a set of rxed jeans and a t-shirt. A rough looking man from Japan wearing what looked like a set of beach clothes appeared next to a nervous looking Australian woman. There weren''t any super young children or babies that appeared in his group, he recalled. One of the strongest powers in the First Layer, the Godfather Organization, had put out a special guaranteed reward for those that protected young children or babies and cared for them until a representative could arrive. Despite that, those that arrived here truly young were unfortunate. Oftentimes their initial Points were wasted, and the mortality rate of the young was high, even with the Shop providing ess to magical medicines in the Artifact section. ''If I can make the First Layer safe, infants and children arriving won''t be an issue at all.'' He thought, nodding. Thanks to the mystical Shop and Spirit that had appeared in the minds of every human being,nguage barriers no longer existed. Even if you spoke in Mandarin to someone from Spain, they would inherently understand you now. Soon, more than 30 figures had appeared, all crowded on to the rooftop. Micheal nced back at them, narrowing his eyes at the familiar sight. ''I think most of them died, didn''t they? At least, none of them made it to the final battle.'' He sighed. Billions of humans had died on the journey through the 7 Layers. A huge number of lives were lost here, on the First Layer. In the distance, Micheal could see simr sights happening on various other rooftops. He could see tens of thousands of humans arriving all around them, all at the same time. The Morenkai weren''t active during the arrival of the new Chosen, he remembered that much. ''1,000,000,000 people arrived with the Fourth Wave.'' He nodded, his eyes gleaming. What he could see here was only a small fraction of those that were arriving. ''I need to get to The Towers and find a Subway to the Second Layer as soon as possible. The First Layer gets more dangerous with each Wave. I must prepare the Second Layer to receive humanity, I can''t let the Great Disaster happen again.'' He thought, frowning slightly. ''But first'' He smiled, ''I need to find a way to reveal the big secret of the First Layer to the public.'' "Alright, everyone! Gather round, gather round!" A loud voice interrupted Micheal''s thoughts as Daniel called out to all the milling Chosen, his voice full of authority. Everyone''s attention zoomed in on the burly figure, staring at him. Micheal turned to look at him, his eyes zeroing in. "I''m sure a lot of you have some questions! Before we do anything else, however, I need to exin to y''all the danger you are in." Daniel waved his hand around at the various rooftops, "You are no longer in safe little Earth. You are now in the wilderness of the First Layer, a world of terrible danger, where death stalks thend. If you listen to me closely, you might have a chance at surviving!" As he spoke, sniffling and cries broke out from a few of the girls in the crowd, wails of panic and fear. Some of those that were transported were teenagers that weren''t even ready to live as adults, let alone deal with this disaster. Even many of the adults shook with fear, taking everything rather hard. Very few people wanted to be teleported away from their loved ones to a world of danger. There were, however, some that took it better than others. Some that looked eager or excited, looking around at the strange new world with a sense of wonder. "This world is not only home to us humans." Daniel said, pounding on his chest. "There is another type of being that stalks the skyscrapers. Beings of horror that prey upon humans." His voice was dour as he continued, "Beings that you absolutely must not fight against if you encounter, but instead must flee. Their strength is far beyond yours, standing up against them alone is the same thing as asking to die." As he continued speaking, he walked over to the doorway that led down into the skyscraper, opening it up. He reached inside, grabbing ahold of something. "A type of freakish creatures that look like this." Without hesitation, Daniel jerked his arm out, revealing a body. Screams of horror broke out as people saw it, a cacophony of fear. The body of a lean, skeletal figure that had pitch ck skin. It had no eyes, no nose, no ears, only a long, closed mouth on its ghoulish face. As Daniel held it up, one could see that it was abnormally tall, around 2.5 meters, with eerily long arms. The very sight of it was one that drove fear into the heart of any human. It was not a costume or an art creation, one could feel, in a very real sense, that this was a creature that had once moved, preying upon the Human Race. "The Morenkai." . Chapter 8: Hunt Chapter 8: Hunt Micheal looked at the small room he had set up in, feeling an odd sense of familiarity. There was a small bed, a desk with an office chair, and a window that faced the outside. It was a cramped room, barely enough for a single person to live in, but it was a ce he nned on calling home for the next month. He sighed, rubbing his forehead, ''If I recall everything urately, this Cluster will only connect to the Main Cluster after a month or so, maybe a month and a few weeks. From there, reaching The Towers and finding one of the Subways to the Second Layer will probably take about as long.'' He ran the idea through his head, nodding. The First Layer was set up as a very unique world. Spread across it were tens of thousands of ''Clusters.'' Each Cluster had tens of thousands of skyscrapers in it, all connected with a variety of bridges. At the edge of each Cluster, however, the skyscrapers stopped. Leaving nothing but barren space, all the way to the dirt ground. In the distance, one might be able to see other Clusters, spaced miles apart. These Clusters would never connect to each other. Trying to cross the dirt ground from one Cluster to another was suicide due to the presence of the Morenkai. There was one special Cluster that existed, a unique one. A Cluster muchrger than other Clusters, bigger in its size and scale. The Main Cluster. And at the center of the Main Cluster were The Towers. A set of massive skyscrapers that seemed to pierce the heavens, towering above all else. There were around 100 Towers, all standing tall and proud. Micheal''s mission was to reach one of these Towers and then descend through it to the ground floor, exit, and find a Subway entrance. The entrances looked like normal subways on Earth. However, the moment anyone walked into one of the Subways on the First Layer and sat down on one of the waiting benches, they would be transported away, teleported to the Second Layer. Reaching the Subway was the trial or goal set for those on the First Layer, something the Spirit announced as soon as the Clusters connected with the Main Cluster. ''And the only way to reach the Main Cluster is through the Great Bridge that appears in about a month or so.'' He nodded his head, the memories all flooding back. ''I know what''s going to happen. I know all, or at least most, of the secrets of this Layer.'' He clenched his fists, nodding again. ''I can do this.'' After the envoy for the Saru Group greeted everyone, back atop the roof of the skyscraper, he had given a short speech exining how to survive in the First Layer. ording to him, the Morenkai came out at random times. They had poor senses and if you were quiet, you could usually avoid conflict as long as you didn''t get too close to them. Once theytched on to your trail, though, they would pursue you viciously till you lost them or killed them. The Morenkai were strong, durable, and difficult to kill. They possessed powerful regenerative properties, deadly pointed fingers, and an unwavering appetite for human flesh. They were like zombies out of a horror movie, only much stronger and harder to kill. The Morenkai usually only stalked the rooftops, the bridges, and the ground level and actual ground outside. It was very rare for them to descend into the skyscrapers themselves, at least not in the many scattered Clusters spread out across the. On floors that were close to the ground level, it was slightly moremon to see the Morenkai. As long as one stayed inside, one would be mostly safe. However There was one problem with that. Humans had to eat and drink to live. Water was not a problem. All of the faucets in the skyscrapers worked, providing clean fresh water, as did the lighting and air condition. How or why exactly they worked, no one knew. In this strange, foreboding world there were only 2 ways to get food. The first was to randomly find food stashed away in unexplored rooms in the various skyscrapers. The first few Waves hadrgely cleaned out most of this food, making this option one that wasn''t very viable. The second was to spend Points. The Artifacts section of the Shop contained tons of actual Artifacts, magical objects that contained odd or mystical effects, some that were overwhelmingly powerful and in limited supply. It also contained much more normal objects, likemon weapons and armor. One could even find guns, cannons, or a variety of vehicles within it. As a part of those rather normal objects it also contained a pair of special slots. . Food Selection - Custom Liquid Selection - Custom . By tapping on one of these options, it was possible to call up arge assortment of foods and drinks. Almost anything one could imagine could be purchased here. To get anything at all, though, one had to spend Points. And how does one obtain Points? In the First Layer, there were only two ways. One was to kill a Morenkai. The other was to kill a fellow human. Researchers theorized that the Shop somehow transferred life energy from beings into the mystical ''Points'' that the Human Race could use to grow stronger. The Morenkai have a powerful life force, and this tranted into Points. A normal Morenkai, when killed, would give off around 10 Points. Stronger Morenkai could drop more, but were a much rarer sight and much harder to kill. A single Point was enough to buy a full day''s worth of food from the Shop. As for killing humans: the Point totals varied, but most humans would drop a small number of Points. Those with stronger Abilities would drop more, as would those with Points saved up but not spent. There was a great deal of inefficiency in this method, and more than 90%, oftentimes up to 96% or 98%, of the Points spent by a human would usually be lost. "So that is the basics of how life works around here. This is the south side of the Stardust Cluster. The Saru Group controls a third of this cluster and works to protect everyone here. If you join the Group, you will be required to work with our Hunting Teams every other day, to ensure that everyone has enough to eat." The Saru Group recruiter''s words echoed in Micheal''s mind as he recalled them. The first time around, Micheal had joined the Saru Group. He''d remembered how terrified he was, but also been rather excited. This was a strange new world and a strange new life. Who wouldn''t want to live it to the fullest? It had taken him several months ving away in the Saru Group to grow to any level of strength, slowly building up his own supply of Points. Eventually, he gained enough to get the Mortal Ki Cultivator Ability. The Saru Group held true to its word and did indeed protect them, but it also prioritized making their leaders and older warriors stronger over people like Micheal. From then on, he had grown in strength at a decently fast pace. He''d begun to intensively practice using a sword, knowing his survival depended on his might. ''But I was still far too slow.'' He shook his head at the memories. While it was true that he''d made rtively fast progress, even with all of his effort, he''d still only barely managed to catch up to some of the middling members of the 50,000 strongest humans. This time around, things had already started to y about differently. Micheal hadn''t joined the Saru Group. Instead, he''d chosen to be a solo hunter. "Let''s get moving." After he finished scanning his room and setting it up securely, he walked out of it into a long, narrow hallway. It was dimly lit by evenly spaced white lights up above. A in grey wall could be seen on either side, with doors to mostly empty rooms interspersed at normal intervals. He was on the 30th floor of one of the skyscrapers close to the center of the Cluster. After listening to the speech by the man from the Saru Group, Micheal had slinked off on his own. There had been a rush to sign up and join the Saru Group after the man finished talking, something he took advantage of to leave unnoticed. Well, supposedly unnoticed. He doubted that they actually didn''t see him leave. It was likely that they didn''t want to anger an ''Irregr'' outright and just let him go. He had then begun to travel through the Cluster, crossing bridge after bridge. The feeling of crossing a rickety bridge set between two massive skyscrapers, looking down on a huge and certainly fatal drop, it was something Micheal hadn''t experienced in a long time. It had been the safest hour to move and he didn''t hesitate. The Morenkai were inactive when the new Chosen were arriving. Even more importantly all the different organizations and groups were busy snapping up new recruits. There were so many new people arriving, it was a given that they would all temporarily focus on that. This meant he was able to cross through more than 80 skyscrapers unobstructed, till he found himself at an area close to the center of the Cluster. Most of the groups weing recruits had descended into their various skyscrapers, leaving him free to cross each area. This particr skyscraper was one of the ones that rtively few people chose to live in. In fact, it seemed entirely abandoned, which was to his liking. The central area of every Cluster was known to be more dangerous than the outer reaches. The Morenkai were more active here. ''I could stay behind and help the Saru Group grow stronger but that would just waste the lives of every other group of people. I can''t focus on a single group, I need to focus on the whole, but also my personal strength. I must be a champion that can fight off the champions of the Gods'' There was no point in ensuring humanity survived if they were just going to die again, after all. Micheal shook the thoughts from his head as he began to move. He quickly found the staircase he had descended to reach the 30th floor, moving up it till he found the roof. The stairs were drab but well spaced, leading all the way down to the ground floor. When he reached the door that exited onto the roof, he paused. The door was a in metal one, in a dimly lit shed atop the roof. The walls and roof were the same drab grey that covered most of this skyscraper. ''It''s been quite a while the special safety period for the new Chosen is bound to be over. It should be around now that the world goes back to normal.'' His eyes shed. ''The Morenkai should be active'' He thought, nodding. He wasn''t afraid of them, at least, not any of the basic Morenkai. He was certain he could handle that. ''The most dangerous thing about the First Layer isn''t necessarily the Morenkai, though'' He thought, his eyes cool, ''It''s other humans.'' Micheal stepped forward, putting his head next to the door. He listened carefully for a few moments before cracking it open and peering out it. He didn''t see anything, at least, nothing atop this skyscraper roof. Slowly, he stepped out upon it. It was time to hunt. . Chapter 9: First Encounter Chapter 9: First Encounter The first thing Micheal noticed was the silence. Eerie and quiet, little sound could be heard. There were no birds squawking, no cars moving and honking, no childrenughing or yelling. It was silent. Each skyscraper was set pretty far from other skyscrapers. They weren''t as clustered as they normally would be on Earth. Instead, they were spread out by arge 6ne road, back on the ground level. This meant each skyscraper was around 30 meters from any other skyscraper. Over such a great distance, sound would carry quite poorly, especially when people were trying to be quiet. No one wanted to alert the Morenkai to their presence, even if you were hunting them. After all, hunting down 1 Morenkai at a time was much easier than taking on a whole group. "Hmm" Micheal turned to the left and right as he fully stepped out onto the roof, his sword strapped into a sheath that came with it on his waist. There wasn''t anything on his roof currently. He walked over to the edge of his roof, looking down. More than 100 meters stood between him and the ground, a height that would instantly kill even him if he fell. Down on the ground level, he could make out various figures moving on the sidewalks, asionally crossing the street. "The Morenkai" He shivered slightly despite himself, pushing back his own horrific initial memories of the creatures. "They''re active down below, which means they''re hunting up top as well." asionally, some Morenkai would climb up the sides of buildings, reaching the rooftops. After they made it up, they would wander about aimlessly. They''d only return down to the ground at random times. The Morenkai weren''t always actively roaming. There were usually short gaps that most would take a few minutes here, sometimes an hour or two, where they would enter the base of buildings to rest, lying down on the ground randomly. It was incredibly unsettling to see. Micheal had never seen it personally, his fights on the First Layer leading him to leave through a brutal meleebat in The Towers. But he had seen pictures and recordings that were brought up the Layers about it. After confirming that they were active, he stepped away from the edge. He turned to look at one of the bridges that connected to his skyscraper. ''The central area has the highest chance of Morenkai appearing up top. It should only take a few minutes at most to encounter one if I keep moving.'' Before anything else, he needed to kill arge number of Morenkai. He needed arge number of Points before he could begin his n to save the First Layer. ''This Layer wasn''t meant to ughter us. Far from it, it was meant to make us stronger.'' His eyes shed. ''We were simply too ignorant at the time to discover how.'' He shook the thought from his mind as he looked over the bridge. It was one of the rickety rope ones. The bridges that connected each skyscraper were random. Some were fancy and sturdy while others were poorly constructed and barely worked. Not all the skyscrapers were the same height. Some were taller while others were shorter. The one Micheal was now looking at was 2 levels higher than his current skyscraper. tap tap Micheal took a few steps forward onto the rickety bridge. He held on to the rope as he moved, his every step sure and confident. While something of this level would''ve terrified the younger him, it had little effect on him now. He put each foot firmly on the wooden nks as he crossed over, ignoring the gaping distance between him and the ground. He quickly crossed over the bridge, finding himself on a new skyscraper. This one had a slightly raised metal wall, about half a meter in height, surrounding it. There were a few visible air condition units, some vents, and a trapdoor that lead into the bowels of the skyscraper. But apart from that, not a soul in sight. ''I think something like 60,000 people arrived in my Cluster, right? There are a few thousand skyscrapers here, and I think there were around 10,000 people here left over from the first three Waves.'' He shrugged, ''I guess I do remember hiding and resting inside for the first day. It makes sense that it''s so empty. Even onter days, I tried to stick to staying inside as much as possible. No one wanted to run into any of the Morenkai unprepared.'' He walked across the rooftop, pausing as he noticed something. When he moved, he was constantly scanning the environment. He did not lower his guard and was always alert. A single moment of weakness was all it took to die. Micheal''s observational skills were built up from years and years of constant training. This skyscraper''s roof was white, set with long-lined tiles. On a few of these tiles, Micheal made out severalrge ck splotches and a few patches of grey powder. He dropped to one knee, reaching down and picking up a pinch of the grey powder. He sniffed it lightly and then nodded, discarding it. "Gunshot residue and the remnants of some fire-based attack or explosive." The buildings here might look like ones from Earth, but they were much more durable. Even explosive attacks could hardly damage the roof, leaving behind only a ck mark. He frowned slightly, considering his situation. Regr guns actually had some limited effect on the First Layer. The Morenkai were extremely tough and durable, but they weren''t invincible. A solid rifle could pack a decent punch and knock a Morenkai backwards, though prating their extremely dense skin with regr weaponry was difficult. Special magical weaponry or Abilities from the Shop could make the challenge much easier, especially with the often superhuman strength many people possessed, but the regr type of weapons from Earth were only so-so. Despite that, many people chose to use guns thanks to their long-range capabilities and the familiarity people had with the concept. A gun was reassuring to many. It offered them sce and a feeling of security, especially from other humans. While the Morenkai had very powerful physical defenses, not too many humans in the First Layer were immune to normal bullets. Few people also willingly wanted to get anywhere close to the Morenkai. Still, enough bullets could damage the Morenkai internally and cause it to die. They were still creatures of flesh and blood, after all. They just had a very unique physical makeup that made them very difficult to kill. They also seemed to be able to subsist without eating or drinking anything for long periods of time, making them even more freakish. The Shop also sold advanced weaponry, including Energy Guns and various weapons like that. There were even Types that could gain special bonuses or powers from using guns. In the end, however, most people that used guns depended on external power. In theter Layers, the actual power and strength one could wield on their own was far more important. Still, there were a few rare gunmen in the Last Army, using weapons that were bound to one''s Ki Cultivation, allowing them topete equally with physical fighters. "Is there a team using this area as their hunting ground?" It wasn''tpletely impossible. The central areas did have the highest concentration of Morenkai, which meant it was the fastest way to farm Points if you could survive and handle that many Morenkai. Despite that, even the strongest members in his Cluster typically avoided this zone. While handling a couple of Morenkai might be manageable, handling a horde, or worse, some of the special Morenkai few people would purposefully look for that. Only the lesser off groups or teams would work here. Therger organizations, like the Saru Group, were fiercely territorial. Almost no one wanted to give an inch of help to anyone else without some type of return. Charitable groups like the Godfather Organization were a rare sight. The apocalypse had, at least initially, brought out the worst in humanity. He looked around carefully, not seeing anyone else present. He shrugged after a moment and kept walking, moving towards a bridge that connected to this skyscraper. Overhead, the bright mid-afternoon light of this Layer''s sun beat down, with a few clouds drifting across the blue sky. This Layer was very simr to Earth in some aspects. As he walked up to the bridge that connected to another skyscraper, Micheal froze. This bridge was a stiff wooden one, three meters wide. It had handrails and seemed to be drilled into each skyscraper, holding it steady. It was far more reliable than the one he''d crossed over on. On the other end of this bridge, Micheal could see a tall, gaunt figure shambling forward. It had leathery ck skin and was extremely unsettling to look at. Its long arms were currently dragging something behind it, bumping along the wooden nks. thud thud thud ''A Morenkai.'' His heart began to pound as he listened to its monotonous footsteps, each step rumbling as it moved across the bridge. He looked at the freakish creature, and specifically what it was dragging. The corpse of a young woman, ripped and bloody, clearly dead. He clenched his fists, his anger surging. He had seen billions die in his time, yet now that he had a chance to stop that, seeing even a single innocent death was infuriating. Immediately after, however, he regained control, forcing his rage down. A feeling of coolness swept over him as he began to analyze the situation, not letting his emotions control him. ''It''s not a special Morenkai, just one of the regr ones. It appears to have killed recently, that woman is probably one of the new Chosen that went off on her own and paid the price.'' His right hand slowly slid to his waist, resting on the hilt of his de. ''It doesn''t sense me yet.'' The Morenkai had weak visual senses. Their sense of sound and smell were much stronger, but only when they were actively hunting. When they were simply shambling around, aimlessly, all of their senses operated weakly. However, there was a positive to every negative. In terms of raw Strength and Endurance, Micheal was hopelessly outmatched. Even the weakest Morenkai had at least 8 times the Strength of a normal human from Earth, which meant at least 4 times Micheal''s current Strength, without even considering their abnormal Endurance that could easily block even bullets. In a head to head collision, Micheal would be directly pulverized. Without hesitating, Micheal began to walk forward onto the bridge towards it. thud thud thud He was no ninja, and certainly not capable of hiding his footsteps and making no sound at all. Things like that required special shoes or a unique Ability. His movements, however small, were bound to make some noise. As he got closer to the Morenkai, even someone trying to be quiet would be noticed. Instead of trying to walk quietly, Micheal timed his each and every footstep tond perfectly in tune with the Morenkai''s own movements. Its own somewhat loud steps drowned out his own movements. As he walked, he made no sudden or strange movements. While the Morenkai couldn''t see easily, they could detect movement. He allowed his body to blend into the background, keeping the height of his head, chest, and arms continuous. thud thud thud Micheal had crossed half the distance to the Morenkai. At this point, he began to concentrate on his body, controlling himself precisely. The Ability ''Ki Cultivator'' was extremely important for the Human Race. The initial purchase of the Ability modifies the human body, causing one''s entire vein structure and organs to mutate slightly, though not to the degree that it was considered a ''Type'' Ability by the Shop. Micheal had always felt the ''Type'' designation by the Shop was rather arbitrary. The Ability causes one''s veins and organs to be tougher and more durable, but even more importantly, it allows one to be able to handle blood that is energized with ''Ki,'' a type of cool energy that is absorbed from the environment and can be used to be supernaturally powerful. This single purchase was extremely important because the ''Ki Cultivator'' Ability was an Ability that could be grown without the need for Points. Of course, one needed to get the Ability first to gain the modified veins and organs that allow the Ability to function. That roadblock had caused Micheal a huge amount of trouble when he first started. Micheal could feel his entire body flush with energy right now. It was this energy that had caused the visible increase in his Strength stat. Because of this, despite looking like a slightly athletic human, he was as strong as a top tier bodybuilder. By now, he was only a dozen or so meters away from the Morenkai. Up close, the creatures looked even more horrifying. It''sck of eyes or a nose, or most facial features, was incredibly unsettling. A long slit could be seen where its mouth existed, shut tightly at the moment. Morenkai only opened their mouths when they were eating or on the hunt. ''At least it doesn''t smell bad.'' The creatures didn''t have much of a scent, oddly enough, though the stench from the corpse it was dragging was nauseating. thud thud thu- Abruptly, when the Morenkai was around 2 meters distant it paused, its head tilting to the side in confusion. Micheal''s eyes shed. Immediately, without hesitating, he leapt forward, whipping his de from his sheath. His entire body was focused on this movement, making the leaping strike with an incredible amount of fluid movement. Despite the fact that his muscles were rtively untrained, the long years of muscle memory he built up non-existent, Micheal managed to perfectlyunch the attack with amazing precision. The instant his sword left his sheath, it was coated in ayer of edged energy thanks to his use of the Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability. It cut through the air at an incredibly fast speed. SWISH SHKKKK Micheal tumbled to the ground and rolled forward, his movements smooth as he flipped up and around, his sword at the ready. His eyes pierced forward as he looked at the foreboding figure of the Morenkai. The creature stood frozen for a brief moment. A secondter, the upper half of its body slowly slid off, cut cleanly in two. ck blood burst out from the Morenkai as it tumbled, dead. Killed in a single strike, easily shearing through its incredibly dense outer skin. . - Points Obtained - Points: 11 . Micheal looked at the notification and smiled. He didn''t even need to consider depending on his Life Orb Master Ability, or anything else, not for something of this level. ''Now THIS is something I can handle. Let''s keep going.'' . Chapter 10: Meeting Others Chapter 10: Meeting Others "Khari, hit it now! Hit it NOW!" A woman dressed in a pair of jeans and a tight yellow coat yelled out loud as she brought arge metal shield in front of her. She was currently standing on the roof of one of the tallest skyscrapers in the central Stardust Cluster, one that had four separate sheds opening down into the skyscraper. THUD An instantter, as she brought the shield to bear, the woman was knocked backwards as arge, hulking Morenkai punched it. The woman''s body sailed through the air till it mmed into one of the four sheds atop the roof,ing to an abrupt halt. She let out a pained moan as shended, sliding down the shed. BOOM A half secondter, an ear-splitting shot shook the air as a rifle bullet mmed into the Morenkai. The impact blew the Morenkai backwards, sending it crashing more than a dozen meters over to the other side of the roof. "Got it, Lana!" A tall and fit ck skinned man, dressed in a set of khaki pants and a vest, blew a plume of smoke off the end of his rifle. He was crouched atop one of the four sheds, his body pressed low against it. Lana, the original speaker and woman wielding the shield, stood up with a groan, turning to look at the downed Morenkai. "Riker, is the Sound Barrier still up?" Her voice was pained but determined as she nced to the edge of the roof. A short, pudgy and balding man could be seen, his mmy white skin covered in sweat as he held his hands forward. A thin, almost transparent barrier could be seen magically flowing from those hands, surrounding the entire roof. The man didn''t respond, just looking at her questioningly as if he couldn''t understand. "Right, you can''t hear me. It''s still up. Khari. Prepare another shot! It''s just like I said, it''ll get back up in a moment!" Lana''s voice was cool as she began to walk towards the downed Morenkai. "My Weatherby Mark V chambers a .460 Weatherby Magnum bullet! We used babies like these to take down diseased elephants that were harming the herd, ain''t no way that Morning Rap or whatever is going to stan" The ck man''s voice trailed off as he saw the Morenkai slowly shamble to its feet. A small dent could be seen in its chest, the spot where the powerful bullet hadnded. The impact had left an imprint on it, but was otherwise unable to prate its dense skin. It didn''t seem particrly shaken up as it began to walk towards the former African elephant watcher. "Khari, reload now! We need to hit it several times to rupture its organs! Keep firing at center mass!" Lana mentally swore as she saw the man hesitate. She ran forward with her shield, her body tensed up behind it as she stayed between them. As a member of the previous Third Wave, Lana had gained quite a bit of experience over the past year. She was a lower member of one of the smaller organizations in the Stardust Cluster, the Mayoral Alliance. There were about 400 people in her group, making it one of the at least decent sized ones. Today she was assigned to take out one of their brand new members, Khari, and show him the ropes. Riker was a Third Wave Chosen like her as well, with a unique Ability to block off sound in a certain area via a Sound Barrier. The Mayoral Alliance wasn''t big enough topete with the otherrge organizations, and thus they were forced to use more dangerous areas like the central zone to hunt. Still, the terms they offered were generous and it was easier to get Points here than it would be in the Godfather Organization, the Saru Group, the Tobagin Party, or the ck g Pirates, the four major powers of the Stardust Cluster. ''But to have to take all the new Chosen out to practice immediately I guess we don''t have time to waste if we want topete with the others.'' BOOM A second echoing shot rang out as Khari fired his rifle, this time ncing the Morenkai on the shoulder and spinning it around. His gun truly did pack a powerful punch to send it spinning so many times. Lana sighed as she saw this. She promptly withdrew a handgun from inside her jacket, a Smith And Wesson .500, one of the strongest handguns in existence. BANG BANG BANG Three crisp shots echoed out as she fired directly into the Morenkai''s chest as it was trying to stand up. This knocked the creature back several meters, sending it tumbling to the floor where ity still. "You need to aim for center mass, Khari, and hit it. The only way to kill them with bullets is to rupture their internal organs. It''s too difficult to pierce their outer skin. Your rifle is far stronger than my handgun, it should only take a couple of well-ced shots." Lana''s voice was calm as she turned and exined herself. "Y-yeah. I got it. But- Woah!" As Khari was responding he cut himself off, somethingpletely unexpected happened. From the corner of her eye, Lana saw a dim sh of yellow light. She spun around, her heart dropping as she looked at the Morenkai she had dropped. Its ck body had begun to glow slightly as it raised itself up from the roof. An eerie aura rested upon its shoulders as it turned to look directly at Lana with its eyeless face. "Shit. We found an Abnormal." Lana stared at the glowing Morenkai, her heart pounding with terror and adrenaline. She slowly raised her handgun, her hands shaking. An Abnormal. One of the Morenkai that possessed unusual or strange abilities, ones that were much harder to kill than regr Morenkai. Ones they were more likely to encounter here in the central area. "Khar-" Before she could stay anything else, the glowing Morenkai began to move. Instead of the ominous shamble that regr Morenkai move with, this glowing one sprinted forward in a powerful dash, covering the distance between them on the roof in a split second. As it moved, it unhinged its freakish mouth, though remaining eerily quiet as all Morenkai did. It revealed multiple long lines of grey teeth, hundreds of them packed together. BANG BANG BANG Lana fired three more shots. Each bullet hit the Morenkai center mass. However, instead of knocking it backwards, the bullets seemed to interact slightly with the glowing light that surrounded the Morenkai, their impact absorbed into it. It slowed the creature down somewhat, but not enough. THUD Lana felt her entire body explode with pain as the Morenkai collided with her shield, punching out with one of its long arms and mming her into the ground, sending her handgun flying from her hand. Her Mortal Ki Cultivator Ability had strengthened her body and the shield she used was a special one from the Shop, an Iron Ice Shield that helped nullify impacts, but despite that, she waspletely overpowered in an instant. In her entire year of experience here, Lana had never encountered any of the special Morenkai. She had only heard of the leader of the Mayoral Alliance fighting one before, eventually managing to kill it by luring it off the roof into a dangerous free fall from the skyscraper. "Arrgh!" She involuntarily yelled as she felt several of her bones crack. Her head felt dizzy as she looked up at the Morenkai, her heart exploding with emotion. ''Is this where I die? After all of the past year, all the pain I went through?'' Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the Abnormal. "No! Lana!" The African man off on the side struggled to reload his rifle, his hands shaking with adrenaline and horror as he saw someone about to die in front of his eyes. He had just arrived here from Earth, stuff like this waspletely foreign to him and well outside of any training he had had. Even Riker, his hands still raised as he maintained the Sound Barrier and blocked out the sound of their gunshots, looked on with horror, unable to help. If he lowered the Sound Barrier to try and help while they were shooting very loud guns, they would attract a horde of Morenkai this deep in the central area. All he could do was watch on and pray for a miracle. Just as everything seemed as if it was all over Yet anotherpletely unexpected thing happened. WHOOOOSH "Wo-woah! Hup!" From out of seemingly nowhere, the body of a teenager that looked to be around 17 or 18 came flying crashing through the air at a very fast speed. This boy flew down into the Sound Barrier and mmed into the towering Abnormal Morenkai. BAM The impact sent the glowing, grotesque figure several meters away, tumbling down hard on the rooftop. The teenager, meanwhile, agilely flipped to his feet from the impact, his body spinning around and smoothly canceling off the extra momentum. As he spun, his legs twitched slightly and the young man frowned, as if his body was not following his orders perfectly. From behind the man, a pair of blue orbs floated up and began to slowly orbit the man''s head. "Whoops, my bad. Sorry for interfering with your kill." The teenager turned to the stunned onlookers with a cheerful smile. As he spoke, he tapped a ring on his finger. Immediately, a steel sword appeared in his hand. The trio just stared on in shock. "W-w-what?!" Lana stuttered out. Meanwhile, the Morenkai that they had been hunting slowly shambled back to its feet, like a creature from a horror movie. Its ck body was beaten and bruised, but stillpletely fine. "W-watch out!" Khari yelled out as he saw this, finally managing to reload his Weatherby Mark V. He pulled the rifle forward to aim. BOOM He missed. "Careful, it''sing back!" The Morenkai began to lunge forward, its gruesome mouth opening wide again as it charged at the teenager. "Khari! Quickly! Shoot again!" Lana desperately called out, clutching at her cracked ribs as she spoke. Unfortunately, the former elephant watcher was too slow. He was an expert at taking care of elephants, but far from an experienced shooter. The fear and excitement of everything had overwhelmed the man. "No!" Lana could only watch in horror as the looming Morenkai ran right up to the strange teenager that had saved her life SHKKKK WHOOSH And then tumbled down to the ground, its body split into two as ck blood sprayed outward, copsing. "" "" "" "Huh?" All three of the trio stared, their jaw''s collectively dropping. "What?" . Chapter 11: Fly Chapter 11: Fly . - Points Obtained - Points: 38 . ''Ooh, not bad. The Points aren''t crazy, but it''s still much more than the regr ones.'' Micheal nced at the notice that appeared after he killed the glowing Morenkai, smiling ever so slightly. This was the 8th Morenkai he''d killed in the past couple of hours, wracking up more than 120 Points now, in his first day. Abnormals, or Abnormal Morenkai as they were officially called, were a type of Morenkai that had mutated powers of various types. They were usually stronger than the regr Morenkai thanks to that, though some were actually weaker. The one he had faced here seemed to be a bit quicker than average and had some type of energyyer making it tougher. Still, that wasn''t enough to challenge him. He would only need to worry if he faced down arge number of Morenkai at once or some of the truly powerful Abnormals. They were a feature of this world. The reasons the Morenkai existed, the weird setup of the Clusters, everything here was all rted and all connected to the big secret of this Layer. A secret that wouldn''t be discovered, in the normal timeline, until it was far toote. A secret that made it possible to get tens of thousands of points very quickly, the hidden way to hit the official Point Wall of the First Layer. ''Still, I''m a long way from getting there.'' Each Layer had a certain maximum amount of Points one could hold at a time. The wisest researchers of humanity had theorized that this was due to the Layers themselves, how the higher you went up the Layers, the more durable and stronger reality seemed to be, allowing your soul to hold more Points. It wasmonly epted, now, that every human had a soul. The Shop and the Abilities it gave were imprinted upon one''s soul, in unique and mysterious ways, granting people mystical powers. The theories about the Point Wall were all veryplex and confusing. No one truly knew for sure why or how it worked. All that was really known was that each Layer had a certain limit to the number of Points you could hold, something people called the Point Wall. The number wasn''t set in stone and could vary by small amounts from person to person. As for the Abnormal Morenkai Micheal didn''t know too much about them either, other than that the chance of one appearing was pretty low. He would''ve done a lot more research and preparation if he had known he was going to be sent to the past, but there was no point inining now. Regardless, the trio before him had pretty bad luck to encounter an Abnormal. ''Slow and steady wins the race.'' He repeated the saying in his head and then turned his attention over to the people he had just saved. Micheal''s goal in hunting around the central area on his own was two-fold. One was to gather Points at a fast rate, unobstructed and not weighed down by having to take care of others. While he might be able to save a few lives if he joined any random group for an extended period, millions of people would die in other Clusters. He didn''t have any time to waste. He kept the big picture always present in the back of his head. The other reason he was here was because he was searching for someone. The Irregr that had arrived in his Cluster during the Fourth Wave, Sophia Morgan of Great Britain. Her presence was a vital part of his n to reveal the big secret of the First Layer. Without her, it would take much more time and be much more difficult. It was worth it to spend time looking for her. ''Hmm Abnormals and Irregrs whoever originally came up with the names for these two different groups wasn''t very creative.'' Micheal silently critiqued the amusing simrity. As Micheal looked over at the trio, he realized something. He had no idea who they were. While in stories and books the protagonist always seemed to find exactly who or what he was looking for, in real life things were never that easy. Micheal had saved them because he saw they were in trouble. While he wouldn''t go out of his way to join small groups, he wouldn''t just watch as innocent humans were about to die. He was here to save humanity, after all. Just a few minutes prior, he had been in the middle of exploring the special Ability he had purchased. The Life Orb Master Ability. Two small, floating blue orbs could be seen swirling around his head. They were small, a little bitrger than a golf ball. They glowed with dim blue light, foggy and opaque. Each one was a Life Orb. . -Life Orb Master- A Life Orb master can manipte, create, and use orbs called Life Orbs. Life Orbs automatically take the ce of a user when that user otherwise would have died. Life Orb Masters cannot have any Type Modifications. . While Micheal was prowling about for Morenkai to kill, he was also reviewing his Ability. In his mind, he had a certain amount of innate knowledge that came with the Ability. The Life Orb Master Ability appeared to be tied, like many Abilities, to the strength of his Soul Stat. Every 24 hours, Micheal could create 1 new Life Orb. The orb would fizzle into existence out of thin air, magical energy flowing around Micheal in mysterious ways to form it. He had no idea how exactly the Ability worked, but he certainly wasn''tining. Right now, he felt that he could have a maximum of 3 Life Orbs. Each orb put a certain amount of strain on his soul. He could feel a type of innate connection he had with it, a feeling that if it broke, it wouldpletely heal him, even if he was killed. He had started with 1 Life Orb automatically and created a second one just a few minutes ago. He could hide the Orbs, absorbing them back into his soul, or he could let them float around and use them to his advantage. He had the ability to manipte the orbs as if they were a part of his body. After some testing, Micheal had found that he could make the orbs fly anywhere within 10 meters of himself. They were tough and durable, easily bumping or bashing into things. He was tempted to try and split one in half with his Grandmaster Sword Mastery, just to see if he could, but he decided to hold off on that for now. What made him most pleased, however, was an idea he came up with while messing with them. If he couldmand the orbs to move wherever within 10 meters of him and they could float in the air What would happen if he stood on them? After clearing out a skyscraper and making sure nothing dangerous was nearby, Micheal had tested that question out immediately. "Alright, Orbs." He had muttered, standing on the edge of the skyscraper. This one was one of the shorter ones, a few levels lower than the neighboring buildings. A corpse of a Morenkai could be seen, one he had killed just a few moments ago. His Grandmaster Sword Mastery plus years of experience as a warrior made taking down individual Morenkai a piece of cake. "Get over here." The two blue orbs had floated down to his feet, hovering about half a meter off the ground. Micheal had crouched down and examined them closely. He pushed on them, and felt as they pushed back, holding their position in space. There was a certain level of resistance, as if they were firmly nted in the ground. "Hup!" After a moment, Micheal put one foot on one of them, and then jumped up and put his other foot on the other. "Woah!" He slipped back and forth for a few moments, his arms waving in the air as he caught his bnce. He abruptly began to zip back and forward as he tried to not fall, zooming several meters back across the skyscraper before he managed to catch himself. "Ah! I got it!" After a few seconds, his innate sense of bnce kicked in, one he''d gained from years of training. While his body had a lot of catching up to do, all his skills and experiences could still make up for a lot. The result was pretty great. He could fly. The orbs rested snugly up against his feet, pressed up against him as if they were naturally supposed to be there. It only took a few seconds to get used to it. It almost felt like he had a pair of rockets attached his feet, flying him over anywhere he looked at. Using them, he could move and shift the orbs to carry him anywhere within 10 meters. There were certain restrictions he found, through some very basic testing. The Life Orbs could float freely, but there seemed to be a need for him to be within 10 meters of a surface of some sort, one that was durable enough that it could bear his full weight. He found it impossible to fly freely above 10 meters from any surface, though he could glide for long distances. In the inner city style Cluster, where he was constantly surrounded by towering skyscrapers, it was almost a given that he would constantly be within 10 meters of one surface or another. He needed to test and explore the Ability more, he had tons of questions. The feeling of flight from his own power was something he had never experienced. After all the fierce battles and hardened war he had been through, the sheer exhration of soaring through the sky and flying over skyscrapers it was a very wee break. He kept practicing, and one thing led to another, he spotted a woman about to be killed, and now he was here, staring at the shocked trio. "Th-thank you very much, sir!" The woman caught her breath first, hobbling to her feet as she clutched at her chest. It seemed she''d broken or cracked some of her ribs. The other two of the trio, both men, looked at Micheal and the dead Abnormal Morenkai with a hint of fear in their eyes. "It was nothing, I was just passing through." As Micheal responded, he paused for a moment and then queried, "While I have you here have you met or heard about an Irregr, or any new Fourth Wave Chosen, named Sophia?" He looked intently at the woman. The woman paused for a moment, her eyes widening as she blinked. Micheal felt his hackles rise in anticipation. Did he get lucky and run into someone that had found her already? "Nope, never heard of her." . Chapter 12: Deal Chapter 12: Deal He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Why react like that if you haven''t heard the name? He mentally sighed. "What group are you from, if you don''t mind me asking?" Micheal began to wipe the edge of his de on the ground of the roof. Some of the blood from the Morenkai hadnded on it after he cut through it and released his Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability. He couldn''t maintain the cuttingyer of energy for too long at his current level of strength. "Uh, not at all, sir! We are humbly part of the Mayoral Alliance! My name is Lana, a Third Wave Chosen! How should I address you, sir?" The woman hobbled over and picked up a handgun she had dropped as she spoke, nodding at Micheal respectfully. Lana felt a subtle feeling of raw danger whenever she looked at him. The man had the eyes of a vicious predator, breaking down anything and everything in sight. She felt at her very core that if she tried to attack him, she wouldn''t stand a chance. The man before her was an expert. As a result, she didn''t dare act out of line. She pulled out a small red pill from her pocket as she finished, swallowing it whole. Micheal recognized it as a Low-Tier Healing Pill, a magical medicine that could boost one''s Recovery stat temporarily, allowing one to heal from injuries at a much faster rate. "You can call me Micheal. Oh?" As Micheal heard the name of the group, memories shed into his mind. Back in his first year, when he was still on the First Layer, Micheal had constantly been out grinding up Points so he could purchase the Ki Cultivator Ability. He had made some friends after a few months of constant training and work, but none that he truly trusted. They were more allies of convenience, working on the same Hunting Team. He''d never felt that feeling of camaraderie or trust that he felt with Shin. Most of them had died well before the final battle took ce. He couldn''t even remember most of their names, though if he saw them he''d recognize them. His first year had been an incredibly lonely one. As one of the weaker humans in the First Layer, his original run had been brutally hard. He had experienced things seen things things he would never allow to happen again. And as his mind shed back, one memory, in particr, showed up. The memory was a bit vague, but Micheal could remember the conversation, if not the faces of everyone in it. He had been talking to one of his ''friends,'' an overweight Middle Eastern man named Karif. They were hiding down in a skyscraper, a group of them hanging out together and ying poker with some cards they''d found in a drawer. Karif had shared some gossip he''d heard. "And it turns out the ck g Pirates Pirate Commander Devin took over two-thirds of the Godfather Organization''s territory in a surprise attack." Karif spat into a trash can he''d pulled up to the side, chewing on some tobo. "They damn near cleaned ship with em'', the bastards. Not that I care much either, mind, the runts the Godfather Organization saves are a waste of space. But someone''s got to take em in. Not good to kill so many of em." He leaned over and spat again, shaking his head. "Hmm?" Micheal had been surprised to hear that. The Godfather Organization had quite a bit of influence. They could be found all over in thousands of separate Clusters. Their strength, however, was spread extremely thin as a result. All of the truly strong experts would remain in the Main Cluster, trying to tackle the stronger Morenkai that could be found there to gain Points or move up to the Second Layer. Conversely, the ck g Pirates were a band of reprobates that dered the old way of life was over, embracing a new philosophy of freedom. It really just meant they robbed and killed to survive, led by a pair of muscr brothers that feared nothing. Well, they said they feared nothing. The fact that they had stayed behind in the Stardust Cluster for 3 years while their peers moved ahead told a different story. The heads of the ck g Pirates were First Wavers, and had taken full advantage of their several years head start to build up quite a bit of strength. "How did they catch them by surprise?" Even if the Godfather Organization was spread thin, it still had a number of capable fighters within it. "Turns out one of them smaller teams infiltrated the group, pretending to join. I think they called themselves the Mayoral Alliance? Their leader is a Fire Caster named Abel. I heard it was an inside ambush." The talk from there had devolved to other unrted gossip as everyone their bemoaned their lives and tried to put their minds off the hellish existence they were living. Micheal hadn''t thought much of it at the time. After all, what could he do? He certainly didn''t have the strength to butt in. Now however His eyes shed as he made a grim, mental promise. If he had a chance to encounter either of those two parties The ck g Pirate Brothers or the Fire Caster Abel, Head of the Mayoral Alliance, he would kill them both directly. He was here to save humanity, but that didn''t mean he was soft. Some people were better off sleeping in the warm embrace of the earth than alive and spreading pain. He would take them out if he was strong enough to handle them, that is to say. After all, his body right now was still very weakpared to where they would be at. He had only just arrived while they had been here for years. He pushed these unpleasant memories to the side as he returned his focus to Lana. He nced at the other parts of the trio, an idea forming in his mind. "Say, Lana I can see that you and your friends here aren''t exactly skilled in hand to handbat. I''m guessing all three of you have open Ability slots, right?" He gestured at them, his voicemanding. His every moment was full of powerful intent, giving him a strong force of presence. The trio nodded passively, none of them responding out loud. They all kept looking at Micheal in respect and a bit of fear. In their eyes, he was a powerful expert that could easily wipe any of them out. "I''ve got an offer for you. If you ept, I''ll teach all three of you how to achieve Basic Sword Mastery without spending Points. With that at your disposal, you should be far stronger at defending yourself when ites to closebat." Basic Sword Mastery was an Ability one could buy in the shop. It cost 10,000 Points and gave one a decent edge in meleebat, an Ability that Micheal was well aware could be trained to higher levels. It was possible to achieve this Ability without paying for it. However, very few people actually were capable of that or had the knowledge on the steps to do so. "What would you ask of us, Swordmaster Micheal?" As Lana spoke, she clenched her fists, an eager light shining through. To her, this felt like a lucky chance to break past the deadly pattern of monotony she had settled into. A chance to rise above the daily dangers of surviving in the central area and no longer have to live in fear. Micheal smiled, "Nothing demanding. Just use every source you know to help me find a woman named Sophia Morgan, an Irregr that has the ability to create illusions." . Chapter 13: Ranking Chapter 13: Ranking After settling things with Lana and her allies, Micheal had left. They agreed to meet up on the upper floor of this skyscraper in 2 days to discuss what she had found. Micheal didn''t have super high hopes, but they weren''t low, either. Sophia had been an Irregr that was obsessed with finding her little sister, a girl that had vanished as part of the First Wave. Partly as a result of that, she was on the hunt constantly for more Points, using her unique Fairy Eyes Ability to her advantage. She hunted solo at first, and with her Ability in tow, as well as the fact that she was smart enough to pick up the Ki Cultivator Ability, she didn''t needpany, though that didn''tst long. She eventually ended up joining the Tobagin Party. The Mayoral Alliance was a group that hunted in dangerous areas like the central area. Sophia was known to have hunted here, relying upon her rare Ability. There was a real chance Lana would interact with her, or at least hear about someone who had. Micheal tossed the thoughts to the side as he looked up at the sky, frowning slightly. The daylight had long since fled to evening. The World of Endless Skyscrapers had a day and night cycle just like Earth. There were clouds and even, on rare asion, rain and thunderstorms. The world itself was barren except for the Clusters, from what he had been told. Someone with a unique Artifact that could map out ces had set it to map out the entire world, learning a bit more about the tens of thousands of Clusters that existed. ''Damn it, I don''t know enough about the First Layer, apart from its big secret.'' He sighed, once more annoyed that he didn''t pay more attention to this stuff. ''I should head back.'' As he realized howte it was getting, he turned around, looking back the way he came. He put his Steelborn Sword away after ensuring there was none of the ck blood of the Morenkai on it. The blood was mildly acidic and if you didn''t clean it off, it could ruin your weapons. He began to jog back home, keeping his eyes peeled for movement as he started crossing over one of the bridges back the way he came. As he moved, however, he couldn''t help but feel as if he was being watched. He kept ncing around as he jogged, his eyes narrowing. No matter what he did, he couldn''t shake the feeling. "It''s probably just a scout. If it''s something else, I''ll deal with it when the timees." He shrugged, not feeling particrly worried. Even if he was attacked by a surprise attack, the worst that would happen is he would be killed and thene back to life thanks to his 2 Life Orbs. The reassurance that Ability gave him was incredibly confidence boosting. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. "So that''s him, Anju?" A gruff, middle-aged man spoke out loud as he looked through a pair of binocrs. The man wore a set of army fatigues and military boots, with a cowboy hat on his head. Arge knife could be seen strapped to his waist, as could an AK-47 on his back. While guns only had a certain level of effectiveness against Morenkai, they often were quite effective against other humans, at least in the First Layer. "Yessir Captain B! He''s allegedly an Irregr that appeared with Daniel''s group and ran off." A younger, lean man that appeared to be in his mid-20s responded. The man had short ck hair and was well dressed in ck pants, a ck shirt, and wore a ck scarf. He wore a set of ck gloves and, in general, was covered in dark clothes or garments, helping him blend into the fading darkness, standing to contrast with his pale skin. "A damned Irregr" Captain B, one of the Three Captains of the Saru Group muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Hadrian wants us to find out his intentions. If he ns on joining the ck g Pirates we''ll need to kill him here and now If he joins the Tobagin Party or the Godfather Organization, that is fine, if not optimal. It would be best if we could recruit him" B spoke to himself as he considered his options out loud. "He did kill a few normal Morenkai on his own and the attack that took out that Abnormal Morenkai was a decent sh, but he has yet to face one of the truly powerful Abnormals or worse, one of the truly powerful humans" The biggest threat in the First Layer wasn''t necessarily the Morenkai. The Captain turned to his subordinate, his eyes narrowing. Anju was his trusted lieutenant that had stayed with him ever since the duo arrived with the Second Wave. While they hadn''t known each other before the apocalypse, they were fast allies now. "Anju, follow him and find out where he lives, but stay at a distance. Report back to me when you have that information." As the Captain spoke, he picked up his binocrs again, staring at Micheal. "How strong of an Irregr are you..? If this is all you have, you would hardly qualify as a C Rank human. Maybe just a high D Rank. That Abnormal could only be considered one of the weaker ones." He rubbed his chin slowly, taking a moment to consider the Ranking system the First Layer used. In the First Layer, a general way of ranking how powerful someone was hade about. The ranking itself was actually based on a mix of fantasy stories from Earth and the familiarity people had with a letter grading system. B had always thought it a bit odd, but he wasn''t the one that made the rules here. F Rank was considered the lowest Rank, set aside forpletely normal humans. E Rank was slightly better, for those with basic Abilities that were useful and could fight with teams against basic Morenkai. ''He''s at least above those two in strength, that is for certain.'' B nodded slightly. D Rank was the first Rank that was considered useful. At this Rank, you should be able to fight against a regr Morenkai and have a real chance at winning, though death was also a possibility. ''At a minimum, he has to be D Rank. Well above average for a newbie Chosen.'' He nodded again. C Rank was reserved for those that could kill a single normal Morenkai with ease and could fight against many types of Abnormal Morenkai evenly. ''He has shown the potential to be a C Ranker, but I''m still not sure...'' B frowned. ''There''s very little chance he''s anything higher than that.'' The higher Ranks were all very difficult to achieve. Even for an Irregr that was strong from the start, it would be very difficult toe in at B Rank or higher. Even he himself was only B Rank, and he had been here for 2 years. Anju, in the meanwhile, prepared to set off, tapping on a bracelet he wore. It was a Low-tier Spatial Bracelet, capable of holding a decent amount of gear. From this bracelet, the ck-garbed man withdrew several ckened knives and strapped them to various spots on his clothes, gearing up. "Anju." B called out, waving at his lieutenant. "Yes, Captain?" "After you confirm where he lives, wait for a moment and then test his strength." B kept his eyes on Micheal as he watched the Irregr cross a rickety rope bridge, his voice cool. "Find out how strong of an Irregr he is." B''s eyes shed. Anju was a powerful C Rank fighter, one that was nearing the level of B Rank thanks to his unique Ability. He was more than capable of going up against some of the strongest experts in the Stardust Cluster, or at least escaping from them uninjured. "Yessir, Captain!" . Chapter 14: Cultivation Chapter 14: Cultivation Thankfully, as Micheal ran through the central zone, he noted that almost everyone was either in orientation with the newbies or taking the day off due to the arrival of all the new Chosen. He didn''t encounter a single person on his way back, though he did run into a normal shambling Morenkai which he made short work of. The deathly zombies which had proven terrifying to his younger self were nothing more than a footnote on his journey now. His home base wasn''t actually very far from where he had been. In what felt like no time at all, he found himself back atop the skyscraper where he''d decided to set up camp. Overhead, the sky had faded to darkness, evening almostpletely slipping away. The Morenkai were just as randomly active in the day as they were at night. Because the Morenkai had weak visual senses in the first ce, the darkness of night didn''t hamper them much. Compared to humans who relied greatly upon their eyes, they were typically much better off. Very few of the skyscrapers would give off any light at night, and there were no stars in sight overhead, nor was there a moon. This made every night one of grim darkness, only asionally lit up by some of the skyscrapers with lights shining through windows. If one wanted to hunt in the night, they were typically forced to bring a light of some sort or some type of night vision goggles or Ability. Bringing a light out at night made you stick out like a sore thumb and was ill-advised. Conversely, using an Ability slot for something like that was usually an expensive and potentially wasteful choice. The night vision goggles were the best option, but were also quite expensive to purchase from the Shop. Micheal had usually opted just to sleep at night, like most humans. When he gained the Ki Cultivator Ability, he''d used that time to meditate as well. "Hmm." His eyes narrowed as he stopped in front of the door that led to the bowels skyscraper. ''That feeling is still here.'' The feeling of being watched and followed had persisted this whole time. No matter how he moved or ran, it never left him. It was a type of sixth sense, a feeling that rose the hair on the back of your neck. The type of feeling you wouldn''t recognize unless you had felt it many times before. Several times he had taken casual sweeping looks around, trying to spot the tracker. All, unfortunately, to no avail. ''Whatever.'' He mentally shrugged, putting it aside for now. Someone, or some group, had likely seen him taking out the regr Morenkai and wanted to keep tabs on him. He pushed open the doorway, moving down into the skyscraper. As soon as he opened it, however, he froze. He sniffed the air. ''Someone has been through here.'' He frowned again. ''It seems I''m not the only inhabitant here.'' It wasn''t exactly surprising. There were tens of thousands of people in this Cluster, while the number of skyscrapers was only in the thousands. ''That or they lured a Morenkai down here to trap and kill it.'' Micheal could remember back when he had been on a Hunting Team in the Saru Group how they would lure a Morenkai in and use the close corridors of the skyscraper hallways to their advantage. The walls and doors here were all extremely sturdy. Even the powerful shambling Morenkai couldn''t break them down. He moved into the stairway and down the stairs. He paused as he moved down a single floor, listening carefully to the world around him. Faintly, he could make out the hum of various air conditioning units working, a few fans running He couldn''t make out anyone or anything else. He shrugged again. ''Eh.'' He couldn''t be bothered worrying over something like a rookie. He quickly made his way down to his floor, the 30th, entering the dimly lit narrow hallway. The in grey walls were soothing and rxing, a nice change from the monstrous Morenkai up top. When he entered his room, he found that everything remained untouched. While he hadn''t actually left anything in here, he had already decided this was where he was going to live. With that in mind, he turned around and walked over to the office desk that was set in the corner of his room. The wooden edifice was aged and worn looking, though, like almost everything else that was originally here, almost virtually indestructible and impossible to move. From the bottom of one of the drawers, he pulled out a short wooden doorstop. These were found in almost all rooms, one of the secrets you picked up over time if you lived in the First Layer. He ced the stop in front of his door, nodding his head sharply. There were no natural locks on any of the doors here, you had to make your own. This doorstop would serve for now. It would stop anyone from entering for at least a few moments, giving Micheal time to awaken and react. With that thought in mind, he sat down on his bed and began to meditate. He concentrated on rxing his body, taking in several deep slow breaths. Gradually, he became fully calm. He felt at peace with himself and the world around him, entering a state of peaceful rxation. This was the Cultivation State, as experts termed it. The mental state one needed to enter into if they wished to cultivate their ki, or inner strength, and increase the might of their Ki Cultivator Ability. Entering this state was actually quite difficult. It had taken Micheal years to be able to get it down perfectly, and even longer to be able to enter into it at will for as long as he wanted. It was the type of thing you couldn''t teach, but had to learn naturally on your own. He had heard that some geniuses were able to enter into it reliably within weeks of gaining the Ki Cultivator Ability. ''I can enter into it perfectly on literally day one I''m probably setting a record in that regard.'' He smiled ruefully. The longer and more perfect your Cultivation State was, the faster you could grow your Ki Cultivator Ability. WHOOSH The air around Micheal vibrated slightly as his body began to slowly absorb ambient energy from the air itself. The feeling was like having a warm nket tossed around your body, filling you withfort. ''My current Ki Cultivator Ability is at the Mortal Tier.'' All of his veins and organs had been reinforced, filled with a weakyer of warm protective energy. To progress, he needed to increase the amount of energy stored within his body by absorbing it from external sources, like the air around him. The process was a slow and gradual one, but if he kept at it, he should be able to steadily improve his stats across the board. ''I can sleep after I cultivate for an hour.'' He set himself a time limit, aware that he shouldn''t rush his cultivation. Upgrading his Ki Cultivator Ability was something he needed to do step by step. With the knowledge he had, as long as he took his time it would be impossible for him to make any mistakes. ''Focus rx'' His eyelids fluttered as he entered his Cultivation State, absorbing energy from the world around him. Gradually, he felt his Ki Cultivator Ability begin to grow in strength, bit by bit, enhancing his stats. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Meanwhile, back on top of the skyscraper Micheal was meditating in Anju looked over at the entrance, his eyes pensive. ''This Irregr why is he so freakishly alert?'' He mentally swore at the weird swordsman,ining in his heart. The entire way here, Anju had been forced to stalk him from an extremely far distance, using his binocrs to barely maintain line of sight. Several times the warrior had gone onrge sweeping nces, his eyes seemingly taking everything in. More than once Anju had been forced to throw himself down and hide, at one point even bruising his knees from the impact. If he hadn''t been under strict orders to find out where the Irregr lived, he would''ve ambushed the man right then and there. It was ridiculously difficult to follow the man and remain undetected. ''But I managed, thankfully.'' He grumbled silently. ''Hmph, there''s a reason I''m called the ck Knife Ninja.'' His eyes shed cooly as he struck a pose, kneeling slightly with a knife in his hand. After waiting a moment and realizing there was no one there topliment him, he sighed again. He was ready to get this mission over with and return back to base. ''Let''s go find his room.'' . Chapter 15: Shadowalker Chapter 15: Shadowalker Micheal felt cool energy flow into him, bit by bit. He was at peace with the world, his mind rxed. Micheal had mastered his Cultivation State to such degree that he could actually focus on other things, letting himself cultivate in the background. ''Hmm should I purchase a gun? It might be worth it to have some long-range attacks. Right now my body and soul can''t handle the stress of casting out long-range strikes via my Grandmaster Sword Mastery.'' He silently mused, ''If I recall, most people on the First Layer hunted with either guns, special weapons and Artifacts, or unique Abilities. The sheer physical defense of the Morenkai leave few other options. Regr weapons will just nce off, magically sharp weapons are needed to harm them, though Basic Sword Mastery or simr Abilities can enhance most good edged weapons enough to cause some damage. '' He thought it over. It was also possible to lure a Morenkai off a skyscraper and make them fall to their death. This counted towards gaining Points, though the danger in this hunting method was very high. He had often used this method, depending on luring the Morenkai onto rickety rope bridges and making them fall. If you didn''te into the First Layer with a sufficiently powerful weapon or Ability, you had to take risks if you wanted to grow stronger. Originally, Micheal''s first time here had been full of great danger. ''Hmm. My sword itself is sharp enough that, even if boosted by Basic Sword Mastery, it would be enough to injure a Morenkai, though killing one would take time.'' He mused in his head. Micheal''s Steelborn Sword was an Artifact he had purchased for several thousand Points, a durable sword that could withstand a lot of use. He had specifically purchased it because of its durability, knowing his Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability would put a lot of stress on the Artifact. While it was true he could use practically anything as a weapon if he coated it in ayer of energy from his Ability, preserving the regr tool after using it once would be extremely difficult. The energy, called Sword Energy by some, was sharp and powerful. If it didn''t have a solid medium to meld with, it would damage whatever was used. A regr de would suffer internal damage after just a few swings and probably break within minutes. A branch would barelyst a few seconds. ''I do have some experience with a gun.'' He stretched his arms out as he continued to think, feeling his body over. Today''s exertions had taken a bit of a toll on him. His mind was incredibly sharp, as were his instincts, but his body was unable to keep up. His physical stats were so much lower than they had been before it wasn''t even a fairparison. Micheal envisioned his current state byparing it to a speeding car, racing through a city at more than 100 miles or kilometers per hour, and a regr person trying to run and keep up. The regr person would take far more time to navigate the city than the speeding car. Even if the regr man knew the exact same route and path he would need to take, able to perfectly mimic the car, it wouldn''t be the same. Micheal knew exactly what his body needed to do, exactly when and where, but was struggling to force his body to keep up. He had slightly overloaded himself today with his movements. ''Adapting to this body will take some time. I''ll need to ount for that tomorrow when I go to practice.'' He sighed. Starting over again was a far bigger pain than he had thought it would be. Just as he was in the midst of deciding what to do, Micheal abruptly blinked, turning his head ever so slightly to the side. At the very edge of his awareness, he felt someone''s presence. Throughout his journey through the 7 Layers, Micheal had picked up something akin to a sixth sense. Scientists theorized that this concept had to do with the soul and the presence of other souls. It was why someone''s killing intent could sometimes be physically felt if it was powerful enough at high levels. Certain feelings, emotions, these things were broadcast by your soul and could be subtly picked up upon if you didn''t guard yourself. It was this sixth sense that allowed him to notice he was being followed, though he couldn''t determine who or where. And it was that same sixth sense that tingled now, instinctually letting him know he was in danger. He didn''t make it all the way to the Seventh Layer by ignoring his instincts. He hadn''t heard or seen anyone. But he could sense a very subtle awareness. "Who are you? What do you want?" Micheal flicked his wrist slightly, tapping on the Low-Tier Spatial Ring that could be found there. Immediately, a long steel de appeared, held out in front of him as he stood up. WHOOOSH Micheal''s room was lit by amp that was set on the in desk. This light flickered and dimmed as a gout of darkness abruptly floated underneath his door, forming a vaguely human shape. ''A Shadowalker!'' Michael instantly recognized the Ability. The Shadowalker Type Ability cost 96,000 Points in the store. It transformed one''s body, granting them higher Endurance and Recovery and a small increase in Strength, as well as giving them the special power to ''Shadowalk.'' A Shadowalker could morph their body into dark essence, invulnerable to regr blows. This essence was like a gaseous fluid, able to change shapes and moves through spots where regr humans could not. Energy and light-based attacks could still injure Shadowalker''s when they were in their essence form and the increase in Strength from the Ability wasn''t as significant as many other Abilities. The utility of the Ability, though, especially on the First Layer where energy and light-based attacks were a rarity, couldn''t be discounted. ''My Grandmaster Sword Mastery should let me injure him, but the damage will be greatly reduced when he''s in his shadowy form.'' Michael''s mind raced ahead of him as he red at the target. He didn''t pause to question why he might be here, saving stray thoughts like that forter. The Shadowalker''s vague form coalesced into aplete human form, revealing a man wearing a full set of ck clothes and a ck mask, with several throwing knives strapped to them. "I-" Micheal began but immediately cut himself off as the Shadowalker attacked. The shadowy figure''s arms seemed to blur, being covered by darkness as he snagged a pair of knives. "Huh!" Micheal threw himself down as he felt more than saw two ck knives hurling towards his head. His already ached body tried to rebel as he forced himself into action, something he promptly ignored. The knives narrowly missed him, mming into the wall next to his bed. "Hiyaa!" Micheal spun onto the floor and jumped up in a driving strike, leading with his de. His eyes zeroed in the attacker, activating his Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability. His every movement was guided with precision, shutting out the screams of his tired body. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead as a result, his eyes bloodshot. WHOOSH The ck clothed man copsed into a collection of vague shadows as he saw the approaching attack, a look of surprise in his eyes. Micheal continued with his strike unabated, his sword mming directly into the shadowy essence of the fighter. "Arrrrgh!" The cutting energy on Micheal''s sword elected a pained scream from the Shadowalker as he was forced back into existence, blood bursting from a long cut on his arm. Shock and horror could be seen in the man''s eyes as he was mmed backwards, crashing down hard on the wall of Micheal''s room. "Give me a reason why I shouldn''t kill you, right here and now." Killing intent flooded off of Micheal''s soul in riveting waves as he red at the Shadowalker, his Steelborn Sword a mere centimeter from the man''s neck. Micheal''s every cell was full of heightened awareness, his heart pounding from the excitement of the fight. The shadowy figure trembled, looking at Micheal inplete disbelief. . Chapter 16: Relocate Chapter 16: Relocate "I-I-wheeze-" The Shadowalker''s voice was scratchy as he stuttered, his entire body shaking. The man jerked his head over, towards where he had thrown the pair of knives at Micheal. Micheal turned and nced carefully, making sure he kept his attention on the Shadowalker as well. ''Hmm?'' He blinked. The two knives that had pierced through the air towards him, aimed at his head, were nowhere to be seen. ''No, hold on.'' His eyes narrowed. He could faintly make out a couple of small clouds of shadowy essence, clinging to the wall and slowly dissipating. Micheal turned back to the figure, a frown on his face. "A fake attack?" The knives weren''t real knives at all, but fake ones created out of the shadow essence a Shadowalker could manipte. While they might look and fly through the air like a real knife, they contained none of the power or strength. "Ye-yes. Yes. Was-was just a test." The Shadowalker''s voice was harried as he stuttered out a response, not daring to move. The abruptness of Micheal''s surprise response and the unexpectedness of the attack had put the man in a dangerous situation. From the way Micheal moved, Anju felt like he should be both stronger and faster than the Irregr. This was his third year here, his Strength and Endurance were well above that of almost every single Fourth Waver. Even his Strength, which was not his strong suit, was almost 4 times as strong as that of a regr human. However There was a sharp de that had somehow managed to force him out of his Shadowalker state and injure him held right up next to his neck. The Irregr''s eyes bored into him as if they could pierce through his soul, shaking him to his bones. All of these thingsbined to freeze himpletely despite his ostensibly more powerful physique. Micheal''s eyes hardened as his thoughts raced. "A test? Why?" As he looked at the shadowy figure, a vague memory stirred in his mind. This figure actually seemed somewhat familiar. "I meant no har-harm. I was merely ordered t-to evaluate you." The Shadowalker seemed to have calmed down somewhat as he replied. "Organization. Now." Micheal slid the sword right up against the man''s neck, his eyes brooking no argument. "The Saru Group." The downed man''s thoughts were far too scrambled to wonder why a newbie was asking what organization he was in. ''Ah! That''s it! This must be Anju, the Lieutenant under Captain B! The report that I was an Irregr must''ve caused a bigger flurry than I thought it would.'' At the mention of the Saru Group, Michael finally realized how he knew this fighter. He himself had served under the ck Knife Ninja, as the pretentious fighter called himself, back on his first go around through the 7 Layers. He had only ever been a subordinate on one of the Hunting Teams under the fighter and never risen to prominence in the Saru Group before he left, and thus hadn''t had much interaction with the man. ''He was self-obsessed, but not a bad type. I remember he helped out in therge scale battle against the ck g Pirates when that mess went down after the Godfather Organization was almost wiped out in this Cluster.'' The ck g Pirates were scum as far as Michael was concerned, so Anju''s actions there redeemed himself. ''He died then, if I recall correctly.'' He could faintly remember hearing that Captain B was incensed. The two men were like brothers. Anju had been murdered while using his Ability to help scout out where the ck g Pirates had hidden their base. Due to thebyrinthian setup of the Cluster, if an organization was trying to hide its base, it was certainly possible to avoid prying eyes. As all of this shed through Michael''s mind, he instantly made a decision. thud CRACK "Arrrgh!" Micheal''s sword pommel mmed into the right arm of Anju, instantly cracking it. The Shadowalker fell to one knee as he yelled, clutching at his arm in pain. "Tell your leader if he wants to test me, he can find me in person." Micheal''s eyes were cold as he looked down at Anju. He held his de next to the Shadowalker''s neck, his killing intent causing the man to tremble uncontrobly. "Your foolish overconfidence was your downfall. Don''t think just because you can meld into the shadows that you can''t be detected or injured." Micheal''s voice boomed as he rebuked the fighter, arrogance dripping on his voice. There was no better way to teach a lesson like this than making someone feel as if their mistake might cost them their life. Anju had originally died because he got caught in a manner like this. He was overly reliant on his Ability, and when that Ability was countered, he left himself vulnerable. ''You''ll need to grow out of that habit if you want to survive.'' Micheal''s eyes narrowed as he withdrew his sword, barking out amand. "Leave." The Shadowalker made noment as he scrambled to his feet, clutching at his arm. His body immediately copsed into shadows as he fled, not even opening the door as he rushed away from Micheal, as if he was fleeing from a horrifying demon. Micheal sighed as he left, looking around his room. ''Since I didn''t kill and instead spared him, the Saru Group won''t consider me a mortal enemy. With the skill I showed, it''s likely Captain B might actually show up in a few days if I stay here.'' He rubbed his eyes as he returned his sword to his Low-Tier Spatial Ring. ''Well. I can''t have that.'' The Captain was a true-blue expert. Micheal could faintly recall that the First Layer had a Ranking system in designating how powerful someone was. The Captain was at least B Rank. ''With my current physique, I would probably qualify as C Rank given my skill with the sword. I''m not sure how my Life Orbs would factor in, but I don''t think I''d be able to physically keep up with him.'' He sighed again. At least this incident would have gained him a great deal of respect within the Saru Group. That would make his job easierter, when he revealed the big secret of the First Layer. He had nned on staying here in this room for the next month, he noted, as he looked around. As fate would have it, he didn''t even manage to stay here a full day. ''Whatever. Easye, easy go.'' Micheal quickly packed anything he had taken out, unstopping the door. He then walked out into the hallway, ncing up and down it. No one could be seen. ''They might be watching the roof. I''ll have to be a little risky.'' Micheal jogged over the stairway. Instead of going up it, he went down, dropping below several floors till he reached the 25th. Once he arrived, he made his way over to the opposite side of the building. He checked several different rooms, noting that all of them were unupied. Some of them were bedrooms while others were office rooms. Finally, he found one in particr he had been searching for. A lounge. He ran up to the far wall of the lounge, where arge ss door could be seen, opening up onto a very small outcropping. Most of the buildings had multiple ways to exit. It wasmon to find a lounge with a door that opened to the outside on certain floors, one of the odd quirks of the First Layer. Micheal looked out at the night sky as he came outside, taking in a deep breath. Despite looking like a city, the air here was clean and fresh. His eyes narrowed as he spotted movement. He could just barely make out dozens of Morenkai down below, moving on the sidewalks at night. Their shambling, ominous figures were incredibly disconcerting to look at. Micheal snapped his fingers quietly. Immediately, two blue orbs appeared, floating around his head. Hemanded his Life Orbs to descend till they reached the floor of the small outside patio. "Hup!" He grunted quietly as he stepped on the orbs, finding his bnce. ''Time to relocate.'' His eyes shed as he looked at the building he was now floating right next to. Then, without fanfare, he began to zoom up the side of it, building up momentum. After he''d flown up two different floors, and crossed the side of several rooms, Micheal swerved, turning harshly. WHOOSH His body soared across the empty gap between two skyscrapers as he was flung into the air. The Life Orbs immediately began to glide downward as they found nothing within 10 meters to support Micheal''s weight. For a few scant moments, exhration filled Micheal as he soared through the night sky, flying above the dangerous hive of monsters below. Momentster, he came within range of the neighboring skyscraper. His Orbs immediately regained their flight capabilities, using the sturdy wall as a sort of magical anchor. ''Let''s get out of here.'' . Chapter 17: End of Day 1 Chapter 17: End of Day 1 Micheal flew from building to building, making use of his momentum to quickly move through the skyscrapers. This method of flight was somewhat dangerous, considering that some of the Morenkai liked to scale buildings. Most of the Morenkai that appeared on the rooftops were ones that either scaled the outside of a building or made their way through the inside all the way to the roof. While the percent of Morenkai that would take either route was quite small, the sheer multitude of the beings that existed, swarming down below, meant a significant number climbed upwards. As for how the Morenkai came to be, well, that was part of the big secret of the First Layer as well. ''Flying like this at night is doable. In the daytime, though'' Micheal''s eyes shed as he soared through the air, gliding across arge gap towards one particrlyrge skyscraper. ''It''s possible I''d get shot down.'' While the Morenkai might not pay attention to him, that didn''t mean other humans wouldn''t. Some of the big or small organizations were fiercely territorial, barring anyone from entering their controlled skyscrapers. In a reality where the rule ofw had greatly devolved, it was often every man for himself. Trust was a raremodity in the First Layer. Micheal could vividly recall hearing about one of the raids the ck g Pirates hadmitted against a smaller organization, the Blue Devil Alliance. The fighters from the ck g Pirates had used grappling hooks and ropes totch on to the lower part of the Blue Devil Alliance-controlled skyscraper, where they had their main base. Warriors had snuck across into the depths of the skyscraper, infiltrating the building. They had thenunched a surprise ambush, wreaking havoc and decimating the group. ''Though, it''s not like the Blue Devil Alliance were angels either.'' They might have been a smaller group, but they were almost as bad as the ck g Pirates when it came to murder and intimidation. If and when the same situation came about in this timeline, Micheal had no ns on trying to stop it. Micheal soon made his way across and past a dozen different skyscrapers, using the faint glow from certain windows to see. The night was notoriously dark in the First Layer, but the fact that he was flying where the only sources of light could be found was a big boon. Finally, he reached one skyscraper in particr he decided that he liked. He had no idea if it was upied or not, but by this point, he didn''t care. He just wanted to find a ce to rest. After observing it for a brief period, he noted that there was no one standing guard on or visible in it. He moved into the skyscraper from a lounge patio, sneaking in. The quiet hum of various air conditioning units was a pleasant backdrop as he carefully crept down a couple of floors, on full alert. He didn''t hear or see anyone. Most people tended to inhabit the upper floors, instead of the lower ones. The chances of running into a Morenkai were much lower the higher up you went. Of course, even if he did run into one, he could make short work of it, so that wasn''t an issue for Micheal. Soon, on the 17th floor, he picked out a room. It was functionally identical to his other room,plete with a hidden doorstop, one he found under the bed. He set up shop again, blocking off the door and returning to his bed. Roughly an hour passed as Micheal returned to his meditative Cultivation State. This time, he went uninterrupted, able to focus on getting stronger in peace. After the hour of focus, he called up his status screen. - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 157 Race: Human Age: 18 - Stats - Strength - 23 Endurance - 17 Recovery - 13 Soul - 10 - Abilities - (3/7) Life Orb Master Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier) Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5) . ''Nice.'' He smiled as he looked at it, pleased. He had made progress in his Strength, Endurance, and Recovery stats, all of them increasing by 1. To have such an increase in literally his first day, it was already zing fast progress. Most people took a very long time to see visible gains in their Ki Cultivator Ability. ''With my experience, I should be able to make rtively fast progress in cultivating. Once I get a few thousand more Points, I can even speed that up using some of the secrets I know.'' His eyes shed cheerfully. rummbblllleee Just as Micheal was celebrating, he felt his stomach rumble, reminding him he hadn''t eaten yet today. ''Hmm Shop Food Selection Let''s see, give me a juicy filet mignon and a side of fries, with honey mustard sauce!'' He went over some of the mental options in his head before making a decision. ''It costs 6 Points? Pricey, but I won''t turn it down.'' WHOOSH A momentter, a te of steaming steak and fries, with a few cups of sauce, appeared right on Micheal''s bed. There was even a fork and knife. He grinned as he saw this, the magical Shop never ceasing to amaze him. He took a deep breath, savoring the scent. All of this would disappear in 30 minutes, the te, utensils, and any leftovers. "Mmmm!" Micheal bit into the filet mignon, feeling the juices of the steakbine with the sauted butter and warm sauce. He grabbed a couple of fries, dipping them in one of the sauces to add to his bite as he chewed. "Mmmpevenn!" ''Heaven!'' The delicious food was tantalizing, something that never grew old when he was in the 7 Layers. Micheal settled in to eat and then sleep, the end of a busy and productive first day. .. .. .. .. .. .. The next day, on the northern side of the Stardust Cluster In the depths of a nondescript skyscraper, arge number of men and women could be found. Several of the men stood at certain ces in the skyscraper, keeping watch. They had locked down every strategic point, watching the stairwells and any entrances that existed to the lower areas. Most of the men were gruff looking. All of them wore regr clothes with some type of ck cloth tied around an arm, a leg, stered on a short, or worn as a scarf. Something that could be used to quickly identify them. Most of the men also had guns strapped to their back, hip, or held in their hands. Semi-automatic rifles, light machine guns, handguns, the fortress was a veritable mountain of weaponry. The women, conversely, were mostly unarmed. Several of them were dressed seductively as theyughed and giggled, talking to some of the men. One and all, they were beautiful, from smiling golden haired dancers to dazzling red headed socialites. If one were to look closely, one might even see some of the men asionally handing some of the women Artifacts they had purchased from the Shop, and then these men and women disappearing for a period of time In a room that was particrly well guarded, at the center of all the men standing guard, two men could be seen sitting around a table. The room looked to be a meeting room of sorts, with a long wooden table and several plush chairs. On the table was an expertly drawn diagram of the Stardust Cluster, a map that was currently covered in markings outlining various forces. "Brandon, the newbies have had a solid first day at the branch bases. I think our n to keep them in training for self-defense will go well, but we''ll need to cull the herd eventually. There''s always going to be squeamish ones that refuse to do what they need to, to survive." The speaker was one of the two men, a handsome and lean asian man dressed in a sharp looking suit. He had short ck hair and piercing green eyes, with a small nose and square chin. "Yes, Byron, but I think we''ll need a more direct approach. I say we take them on a raid against one of the central groups no one cares about. Perhaps the Lasso Killers or Blue Devil Alliance, they''re close to us." The other man responded, gesturing with his hands at the map. This speaker was a pr opposite of the other, a great burly caucasian man wearing a set of overalls and a bright white shirt. He had arge square beard and a rough looking face. Despite his apparent crude appearance, the keen intelligence in his eyes was unmistakable. "Perhaps. We should also look into the Irregrs that appeared. There''s that female one, Sophia, that appeared near us. I also heard there''s another one that appeared in this Wave, a man named Micheal. He apparently shed with the Saru Group already, so he should be a good target to recruit." Byron shrugged. Just as Brandon was about to respond, a loud knocking at the door interrupted him. "Lord Byron, Lord Brandon, we''ve received important news from the Main Cluster!" The two Pirate Lords, as they termed themselves, of the ck g Pirates paused, turning to stare at the door. "Bring it in!" Brandon yelled out loud a response, curiosity in his eyes. Byron watched everything like a hawk, his expression unreadable. A young man that looked to be around 20 jogged in, his face covered in a sheen of sweat. It was obvious he had run the whole way here without pause. "Drink something, first." Brandon threw the man a bottle of water he''d kept stored in his Spatial Bracelet, an Artifact simr to Micheal''s Spatial Ring. The young man nodded his thanks as he eagerly gulped down the water. After a few moments, he finished drinking the whole bottle, panting slowly. "So, what is the word?" The ck g Pirates had men stationed in the Main Cluster, solely to keep abreast of any major events urring there. It would be dangerous and ignorant to do anything else. One of the men on rotation had the Ability to send messages over long distances by using magical birds he painted in the air. These birds could just barely travel far enough to reach their Cluster. After all, the Great Bridge that connected to the Main Cluster only appeared for brief periods before vanishing. It wouldn''t be feasible to use only that if one wanted to be kept up to date. As a result, they always had someone on watch in a specific, agreed upon spot, in case one of the birds ever arrived. "It''s about the Godfather Organization!" The young man said, patting on his chest. "The Head of the Godfather Organization has been fatally poisoned! He''s currently half-paralyzed and unable to take action, estimated to be dead within 3 months!" The two Pirate Lords froze, their eyes widening in shock. "What?! How?!" Byron''s voice cut through the air as he stood up eagerly. "A newbie Chosen, someone with the Poison Ruler Type Ability, shed with him over one of the special Golden Morenkai that appeared! No one was aware that the new Chosen had that power, or that he was even strong at all!" "Bahahaha! Cameron fell to a brand new Chosen?!" "No way!" The two Pirate Lords burst outughing as they heard this, smiles all around. Eager light shed in their eyes as they went over the information, pleased. "Is there anything else?" "No sirs." "Then you are dismissed. Pick yourself up an Artifact from the Armory on the way out, anything below 5,000 Points." Byron sent the man off with a huge smile, the Pirate Lord internally celebrating. As the room cleared and it returned to just the two of them, the duo looked back at the map. "Without their Head, the Godfather Organization no longer has that freakish S Ranker to protect them." Brandon began, rubbing his beard with a grin. "Indeed. They are spread so thin, in so many Clusters, the only reason they could get away with it was because of Cameron. To think he would fall to poison, from a newbie Chosen" Byron responded, shaking his head. "That does leave them vulnerable with the fighters that they have here, wiping them out should enough to hit the 100,000 Points Wall for each of us. If we can upgrade our strength again, we should be able to face up against all of the other powers in this Clusterbined" The two Pirate Lords began to quietly talk and n, plotting out the future. . Chapter 18: Day 2 Chapter 18: Day 2 The Ki Cultivator Ability had several Tiers, from Mortal to God. Each Tier was further split into three internal stages, decided upon by enough experts that the opinion was generally epted in the 7 Layers. ''There''s the Early, Mid, and Late Stage of Mortal Ki Cultivation.'' Micheal thought this over as he chomped on a pair of warm eggs and bacon, his breakfast for the day. Daylight gleamed in through the window of his room, the bright morning sun slipping over the horizon. ''Right now, I should still be in the Early Stage.'' He nodded his head sharply, taking a moment to wolf down some bacon. ''You reach the Middle Stage when your base Strength reaches 3 times the strength of a normal human, or 30 points. You reach the Late Stage at 4 times the strength of a normal human, or 40 points of Strength.'' He thought it over in his head. - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 150 Race: Human Age: 18 - Stats - Strength - 23 Endurance - 17 Recovery - 13 Soul - 10 - Abilities - (3/7) Life Orb Master Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier) Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5) . ''Since I have nothing else modifying my stats, when I reach 30 Strength, I''ll truly be at the Middle Stage.'' He nodded sharply. His Endurance and Recovery would rise by simr, though smaller, amounts. An Ability that could be grown without Points to a huge height it was no wonder this was the most popr Ability in the 7 Layers. A few moments passed as he finished eating his breakfast. The food settledfortably in his stomach, tasty and warm. After that, he washed up slightly. There was a bottle of toothpaste and a toothbrush in his sink that he used, and he washed his face. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he smiled slightly. ''Man, I look like a baby.'' He pulled at his cheeks. He was so used to seeing his old grizzled, aged-far-beyond-his-years appearance. He shook the stray thought for his mind as he finished preparing. Then, before he left, he sat back down. ''Alright, focus. Life Orb Master Ability.'' As he sat still, he turned his mind to the new Ability he had gained. Immediately, two floating blue orbs appeared out of nowhere. Micheal reached out and tapped on them lightly, rubbing their surface. They were smooth to touch, giving off a cool and refreshing feeling. Micheal closed his eyes for a moment. In his head, he could feel a mystical connection to these orbs, one that seemed to meld with his heart and soul. And, as he focused on this feeling, he could sense something else. A feeling like a tree that was about to sprout, as if he was just about to open something up. As if a flower was about to bloom. Micheal felt that sensation and then mentally pushed slightly. WHOOSH A third, glowing Life Orb appeared, shining dimly in his room. Micheal smiled as he saw this. The feeling of something about to bloom, about to sprout, vanished. Micheal assumed this was the daily process of growing a Life Orb, some mystical part of his soul creating it through magical means he didn''t understand. ''I''ve hit the maximum limit of Life Orbs I can currently carry.'' As the third Life Orb was borne into existence, Micheal could also feel a very faint level of pressure settle upon his soul. While these three orbs provided him with a feeling of refreshment, they also required a certain level of power to maintain. ''With my average Soul stat, I can have 3 Life Orbs present. That means I can die 3 times and still survive.'' His eyes shed as he considered this. The fact that he could literally have 3 extra lives it was incredible. He would''ve killed for an Ability like this on the 6th or 7th Layer. While the Ability didn''t increase his Strength or give much offensive power, and even had the negative aspect of not allowing a Type, it was so incredibly useful an Ability that he couldn''t pass it up. It was also one of the rare Limited Abilities that could be purchased from the Shop. That meant if he hadn''t picked it up when he had, it was likely he never would''ve gotten the chance to snag it. "Ouch!" As he was considering the Ability, he winced out loud. He quickly stretched his arm as a cramp appeared. "I''m not in nearly as good a shape as I used to be." He ruefully muttered as he began to stretch. His entire body was aching, sore from all the exertion of yesterday. Even his increased Recovery wasn''t able to fully fix him up. His body simply wasn''t used to all of his rapid movements and attacks. It would take some time for his physique to adapt to how it used to be, let alone gain anywhere near its previous strength. "Still, I have that time to spare. I can''t leave this Cluster till the Great Bridge appears in a month." He nodded sharply. "Should I break one of the Orbs? If it will bring me back to life, does that mean it will heal all my injuries?" He rubbed his chin. Soreness like his was caused, in part, by micro-tears in the muscles of one''s body from using them in ways they weren''t used to. Micheal had learned this, and as much information as he could about developing himself, years ago in the middle of the 7 Layers when he was desperately trying to catch up to the First Wavers. These tears would eventually heal and the muscles would be stronger than before, but that took time. "Maybe I should test it" He thought it over and then shook his head. "No, I''m currently too weak. I need every advantage I can get, including the full 3 lives. I''ll wait till tomorrow, I''ll just have to suffer through the soreness for now." He made his mind up. After reaching that conclusion, he stood up and began to leave. When he opened his door, he opened it very carefully, removing the doorstop. He listened to the sounds of the world around him, putting his ears near the ground, where a tiny slit was open between the door and floor. He heard nothing. While it might seem overkill, especially with his level of skill, Micheal didn''t make it through the 7 Layers all the way to the end by being careless. He quickly moved through the hallway, not seeing or hearing anyone else. His footsteps were quiet and confident. In no time at all, he made it to the stairwell. Just as he was about to open the door to go up, he froze. Faintly, he could hear voices drifting down. "It''s bullshit, Merkel should''ve gotten the Points for it. We clearly had it at the edge" "Tommy I know, but the Points go to the person that hits itst, that''s just how it is" "it''s not fair. We woke up early just to find" Micheal could hear a pair of male voices arguing. Two men that had just hunted a Morenkai and apparently had the kill stolen from them, or one of their allies, wereining as they moved to their floor. Eventually, the voices faded away as they entered a floor that was several ones above Micheal''s. ''So there are other people in this skyscraper.'' He frowned. It couldn''t be helped, there were only so many skyscrapers in the Cluster, and many more people. ''Still, they sound like a small group. At the least, they don''t sound like they are part of any major power. I highly doubt they have this skyscraper locked down.'' While the big groups would often lock down entire sectors, the smaller groups or forces that lived in the dangerous central area were less territorial. Part of it was a manpower issue. They simply couldn''t afford to waste time blocking off areas, especially when Morenkai would appear frequently. Micheal entered the stairwell. Everything was quiet, for now, anyway. He quickly mbered up the stairs, taking quick steps to get the blood flowing in his sore legs. After a few moments, he breathed out lightly as he reached the top. He frowned slightly as he saw a small spot of red. ''They must''ve been injured.'' It was blood. He shook his head. He could remember his own dangerous trials when he was here the first time around. He put his ear to the door for a moment and then opened it up fully, his eyes cool. It was the start of his second day here. ''I have 150 Points now after buying breakfast By the end of today, I want to have 4,000.'' . Chapter 19: Record Chapter 19: Record The early morning light gleamed, lighting up the world around Micheal. A few clouds drifted overhead, making for a rather picturesque view. ''Wow, those guys were up pretty early. It''s probably barely past 8.'' He silently observed. Some people chose to hunt in the early hours of dawn, when most of the major groups would still be resting or getting ready. He nced to the left and the right, scanning his surroundings. He could only really make out the four neighboring skyscrapers, but didn''t see anyone on them. ''No wait'' His eyes narrowed. He could make out the shambling figures of two Morenkai moving slowly together across a sturdy wooden bridge, off to his left on the other skyscraper. Apart from that, not a soul. ''In the central region, most people stick to the insides of skyscrapers when they aren''t actively looking to hunt.'' He nodded. It was moremon to see random people in the outer regions as people came up for sunlight or to break the monotony of existence here. If you weren''t obsessed with getting stronger like Micheal was, life could be pretty dull at times. ''Then again, the constant danger of risking your life to hunt, or the horror of seeing people you know die, did spice things up a bit.'' He shook the memories aside. He felt like an old man,ining about how life had been harder back in his day. Micheal turned to the left, stalking forward. He moved as quietly as possible, concentrating on moving his aching body in smooth motions. The most important part of any battle was often how you entered it. A single strike could decide everything. In movies or books, Micheal had read about epic duels thatsted for hours. In the first of the 7 Layers, most direct melee battles finished in an instant. Only fights between long-range expertssted longer than a few exchanges, and that was mainly because snipers or the like could hide behind the nearly indestructible walls. Other battles, where one was trying to lure a Morenkai to fall, couldst longer than an instant, but typically ended shortly after. Micheal reached the edge of his skyscraper. He tapped on his Spatial Ring, instantly withdrawing his Steelborn Sword. The de gleamed with the light of the sun, something he immediately shifted as he pointed it down. ''I forgot about how damn bright it is here.'' He grumbled, hiding the de in his shadow. The two Morenkai, in the meanwhile, had managed to cross the sturdy wooden bridge and were ambling around on the neighboring skyscraper. This particr building was a faded green one, with two sheds that opened up into stairways. After walking around the top of the building for a few moments, the Morenkai began to walk towards a bridge that led to a different skyscraper. Micheal frowned slightly. ''Life Orbs!'' Immediately, three glowing orbs appeared, floating around his head. He mentally directed two of them to the ground and stepped on them, finding his bnce. He then began to fly alongside his own bridge, hovering just next to it. He moved quickly, as fast as the orbs could fly. Their top speed seemed to be around 30ish miles per hour (50ish kilometers per hour). They elerated very quickly, making them quite useful. The maximum speed seemed to increase, slowly, if he moved in a straight line for a long period, but he wasn''t sure. He hadn''t had the chance to test them extensively yet. WHOOSH In just a few seconds, he flew over to the neighboring skyscraper. He didn''t fly above the bridge, but instead flew just to the side of it. Flying up high would make him a target to other humans, something he didn''t particrly want to deal with. ''Morenkai I can handle, but there are too many weird Abilities or strong Artifacts that exist, even with the Points Wall.'' The Points Wall was around 100,000 Points in the First Layer. No matter what you did, you could never exceed that number. You could spend Points on anything below it, and hit the wall again and again. But it was impossible to go over it. Micheal had hit the Points Wall before. There was an actual feeling associated with it. A warm feeling would cover your soul, one that was extremelyfortable. When you tried to take in more Points, however, the feeling would tremble and the Points would be rejected. It was like trying to eat something when you were already full. ''Of course, I never managed to hit the Points Wall while here on the First Layer.'' He thought, ruefully. He had barely managed to make it to the Second Layer in his first go around. By this point, Micheal had reached the other skyscraper. He hovered about a quarter of a meter above the ground of it, just barely floating. ''If I walk, I''ll inevitably make noise. But if I use the Life Orbs to fly there'' His eyes shed as he came to a conclusion. He shot across the roof of the skyscraper like a wraith, not making any footsteps. In fact, the only noise was the sound of air flowing around him as he shot forward and the shambles of the Morenkai as they moved across the bridge. In this case, the bridge the Morenkai were on was a wide, metal tform, about 4 meters across, with no handrail. thud thud thud The clomping of the Morenkai was rather loud as they moved forward, their long arms waving back and forth. They were hunched slightly as they moved, their heads twitching to the right and left. WHOOOSH Micheal didn''t hesitate or give them a chance to detect him. He flew directly onto the bridge, hovering a quarter of a meter over it till he was right behind the two moving Morenkai. The creatures didn''t even have time to look behind them as Micheal jumped off his Life Orbs, his Steelborn sword shing forward. SHHHK SHHHK ng ng His de cut through the air and directly split the two Morenkai in half, ck blood bursting from them as the horrifying creatures were instantly killed. With the energy from his Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability coating them, Micheal barely felt any resistance. ''I can only utilize a small amount of Sword Energy currently. In terms of cutting power, I''m probably equal to Intermediate or maybe barely Advanced Sword Mastery. Still, with my Steelborn sword, that''s more than enough.'' The thought raced through his mind as the two corpses of the Morenkai copsed onto the bridge. They would dissipate within a week unless someone picked them up to use them for something. Some people had weird Abilities that could animate corpses or used them for various other purposes. Micheal himself had always been much more of a straightforward fellow. If he saw something he could cut he would cut it. . - Points Obtained - Points: 13 . - Points Obtained - Points: 10 . ''Nice.'' He smiled as he looked at the notifications. He checked over his de as he tapped them off, making sure he hadn''t gotten any blood on it. ''I need to get to around 100 more Points before I can start my n'' His eyes shed as he looked around and continued to prowl. .. .. .. .. .. .. Less than an hourter, Micheal had returned to his original skyscraper. The early morning light had faded to midmorning, but the day was still young. Micheal was currently standing in the center of the roof of his skyscraper. On the ground in front of him was his Steelborn sword, leaning against his waist. His eyes were twinkling as he looked at the object he was currently holding on to. It was arge, old-timey record yer. Something he had just purchased from the Shop for 250 Points. ''The fact that random things like this record yer can be purchased using one of the options found in the back of the Shop, ''Misceneous Earth Objects'', was something most people ignored. After all, you couldn''t find anything useful when it came to weaponry in that selection, even if you could select a very wide range of things.'' Micheal smiled as he ced the record yer on the ground. ''Who would waste Points on anything like that when you could instead be spending them to grow more powerful? It does make sense.'' Micheal nodded as he set the record yer up, making sure everything was put in ce correctly. He couldn''t fault people for ignoring this option. He himself had only reallye aware of it in theter Layers, where Points were a bit easier to obtain, though the danger was much greater. On the ck record he had set in the yer, the carved letters JD - TMH could be seen. He had purchased this from the same section of the Shop, for about 20 Points. Micheal moved his hand over to a switch on the front of the record yer, where the volume could be adjusted. He moved this up to the maximum value. After he finished setting it up, he picked up his de, holding it at the ready. He then knelt down onest time, his finger hovering over the switch to turn the record yer on. "I need to get arge number of Points in a short time. The quicker I can get that done, the stronger I can get. The top experts in the Stardust Cluster currently are well above me in terms of strength." His eyes shed as he talked his n out loud, making sure it was sound. It was a habit he picked up over time, talking things over with Shin before they made a move. "Morenkai are drawn to sound. Their senses aren''t super sharp, but if I make enough noise for a continuous period of time, they''ll swarm here. I can also use this as an opportunity to establish a horrifying reputation, one that should be enough to buy me some more time to get stronger." He grinned, "This record yer is enhanced by the Shop, and it should be able to y pretty loudly" He nodded slowly as he cracked his fingers. And, without fanfare, pressed the switch. SCRATCH SCRATCH The record seemed to shudder for a brief moment. An instantter, a very familiar song began to y, sting out of the record. " Almost Heaven, West Virginia " . Chapter 20: Result Chapter 20: Result Kyle Boxer sighed as he rubbed his forehead, frustration filling him. His eyes were drawn and tired despite the extra sleep he had gotten. Today was supposed to be a great day for their team, a strong way to start the new year. They had woken up early to go hunting, preparing to lure and kill several Morenkai. Unfortunately, more than half their kills had been stolen by other groups, prompting a brief battle that almost got him shot. That was the unfortunate reality of existence in the central region of the Stardust Cluster. Everyone that wasn''t already part of therger teams would work hard to snag whatever Points they could, knowing that it could mean the difference between life and death. "Tommy, do you hear that?" Abruptly, Kyle''s eyes narrowed as he heard something echo faintly. His tanned skin creased as he looked around, rustling the army fatigues he wore. He was sitting in a lounge, one of the rooms that had an outside exit and a small patio. Arge table upied most of the space in this lounge, one that had a couple pieces of paper on it and some vague drawings the man had been sketching. This lounge was hidden away in the skyscraper that was Micheal''s new home. "Tommy!" The man yelled out, standing up in irritation. "What, Kyle?!" A voice echoed out,ing from the room across from the lounge. "Do you hear that? It sounds like" Kyle paused, rubbing at his short brown hair, his green eyes shing. "It sounds like" He paused with disbelief. "Yes?!" "It sounds like a country song from back home is being yed" He finished, his voice dying off. This was the start of his second year in this hellish world, he hadn''t heard music in what felt like forever. "Dammit, Kyle! I was in the midst of writing out our me Dynamo Group''s application to join the Tobagin Party. You know how hard it is to join any of the big groups if you don''t start with them." A second man came bursting into the lounge, a ck haired man with an annoyed expression on his lined face. "Tommy, listen." The first speaker, Kyle, held his hand up, causing the ck haired man toe to a pause, his eyes shing with alertness. The two froze, not a sound escaping as they listened intently. "" "" Faintly, in the background, they could make out lyrics to a once familiar song " Country Roads, Take Me Home " " To The ce, I belong " "" Tommy''s jaw dropped. "W-what?!" He blinked and then looked upwards at the ceiling. A momentter, he rushed towards the door that led to the outside of the lounge, cracking it ever so slightly. "" " West Virginia, Mountain Mama " " Take Me Home, Country Roads " "" "S-someone is ring music from the roof. The roof of OUR skyscraper!" The ck haired speaker shut the door, turning to look back at Kyle. "Quickly! Hide away from any exits! The Morenkai are going to swarm here!" In the skyscraper Micheal was standing on, and all the neighboring ones, people looked outside in shock and horror as the loud music from Micheal''s record yer burst out. Most felt a mix of shock, horror, and rage as they realized that in just moments, the Morenkai would flock here like moths drawn to light. While they might not be at the epicenter of the attraction, if enough Morenkai stuck around, or decided to wander into the depths of their skyscraper the danger to each was very real. Back atop the roof, Micheal hummed as he heard the song y out, enjoying the melody. He tapped his foot to it, soaking it in. It was one of his and Shin''s favorite songs. Well, technically it was one of his favorite songs. Shin actually hated most country music, Micheal recalled with a smile. ''Damned city dweller.'' He couldn''t help but grin as memories of his best friend rose to the surface. He hoped he was doing okay, following the instructions he gave him before they were Chosen. A momentter, the smile on Micheal''s face hardened as he turned to his left. Slowly, he could see a long, ck arm reach up over the side of the skyscraper and begin to pull itself up. A second arm could be seen reaching up about 6 meters to the right of that one from a separate Morenkai. His eyes shed, "Looks like it''s time to dance." .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Around half an hourter "Is it over?!" Tommy''s eyes were bloodshot as he looked at hisrade, trembling slightly. Kyle shrugged, his own face tense as he tentatively stood up. The duo was hiding away in one of the random smaller rooms, a doorstop keeping it somewhat securely locked. Both of them had their backs nted firmly against the door, to help prevent it from opening. They had fled here immediately, not taking the time to run up several floors to inform the other 4 members of their team. Their allies were smart. Once they heard what was going on, they would know what to do if they wanted to not get killed. They had all survived here for a year now, none of them got that far in the central region by being foolish. The sounds of that infernal song had yed on repeat, over and over, for the past nearly 30 minutes. As the duo heard it y, it sent shudders through their hearts. For, also in the background, snarling howls from enraged Morenkai could be heard, echoing in terrifying ways with the backdrop of a country song. Tommy almost wanted to cry, his hands trembling as he gripped his silenced Glock pistol. He was smart enough to keep the safety on, recognizing he was in no state to wield it at all. Just holding it was the only thing helping him keep his sanity. The country song had faded away, as had the snarls of enraged Morenkai. The Morenkai were usually quiet, for them to be howling, it must''ve been a massacre up top. To whatever foolish soul had dared st music so loudly, Tommy could only imagine the bloody leftovers the Morenkai would have left behind. "Yeah. Seems like." Kyle muttered, his demeanor much more put together. He had taken this all much better, something he attributed to his military training back on earth in the Canadian Army. The duo was silent for a few moments. Everything was still. Finally, Kyle stood up as well, sighing. His hand was at his waist, where a silenced Glock pistol of his own could be seen. "I''m going to go up and check it out." He dered, his eyes cool. "What?! What if there are Morenkai up there! That is suici-" Kyle shook his head, cutting Tommy off. "Those screams from the Morenkai They almost sounded as if they were being cut off. As if they were being killed" Kyle''s eyes shed, his body shaking for just an instant. "I I need to check it. I need to know." A strange, overbearing curiosity had filled him. He wanted to know who was so foolish as to st country music at the top of a skyscraper. Who would dare to do such a thing? Why did the yells of those enraged Morenkai sound almost like they were abruptly cut off? He had many questions and no answers. "Don''t worry, there is no risk if we go carefully. We''ll take it one step at a time." Kyle opened the door, checking the hallway before he began to walk down it. His every step was filled with determination. "Kyle! K-kyle!" Tommy chased after him, his voice an urgent whisper. "This is stupid! Let''s just wait another hour at least, to be sure!" Kyle ignored him, walking up to the stairwell. He opened the door slowly, listening for movement or sounds. He heard nothing, save the panted wheezing of the fear-struck Tommy behind him. Slowly, he began to scale the stairs. He moved carefully, taking several breaks to check for movements or sounds. Tommy eventually followed behind him, after dilly-dallying for several moments. Soon, the duo reached the top of the stairwell. Kyle paused again, listening for sound or movement. He found nothing. With a hand that only trembled slightly, he rested his hand upon the door and slowly began to open it. Tommy began to hyperventte in the background, staying with Kyle despite his fear. WHOOSH The door was pulled open Revealing a scene that was burnt into the duo''s mind. A scene of horror. A scene of violence. A scene of sheer impossibility. A scene of ughter. Dozens of Morenkaiy dead, flung haphazardly, a veritable mountain of corpses. ck blood soaked the rooftop, pieces and bits of Morenkai bodies lying everywhere. The stench of death rose from the normally scentless creatures, causing Tommy to gag. Standing at the center of this mountain of death, a lone figure could be seen. A man covered in blood, wearing what was left of a ragged outfit from earth. This man was covered in gruesome injuries, from huge cuts to jagged bite marks where white bone was visible. In this man''s hand was a long, immacte steel de. The duo looked at the figure, their eyes widened in shock. And that figure slowly turned its head, looking back at them. The man smiled, a bloody rictus full of deadly promise. "M-M-my God, Kyle" Tommy stuttered out, his entire body shaking, "I-i-it''s a monster! Re-retreat!" . Chapter 21: Shin Chapter 21: Shin Many hundreds of miles away from Micheal, past dozens of other Clusters, there existed one specific Cluster called the Alexandrite Cluster. The Cluster was shaped like arge triangle, with edged points, unlike Micheal''s Stardust Cluster which was shaped like a rather blob-like circle. In the middle of one particr skyscraper, a blond haired teenager could be seen, casually flossing his teeth in front of a mirror. "Hygiene is important, even if it''s the apocalypse!" Shin merrily hummed as he prepared for the day. After brushing and flossing his teeth, he smoothed back his spiky blond hair and gave a winning smile, looking at himself in the mirror. "You look damned good, stud. Ready to drive thedies wild." He shed a pair of finger guns at himself. Shin was currently standing in the room he''d found after ditching the people he teleported in with. It was small, but cozy, with a desk, a bed, and a connecting bathroom and sink. The door was currently shut tight, locked with the doorstop Micheal had told him about. He went over to his bed and sat on it, taking several deep breaths. After a moment, he exhaled, feeling all over his body. "Wow, there really is some type of weird energy in me. This is crazy!" Shin shook his head, enjoying the experience. The apocalypse was scary and all, but it was also kinda cool. "ording to Micheal, the fact that I started with 124,000 Points puts me well above the average. But there are a lot of rough dudes and gals here, people that I can''t afford to mess with." Shin nodded as he talked aloud. Shin was far more lucky than Micheal had been in that regard. With that score alone, such an abnormal starting value, Shin should''ve been an ''Irregr,'' as he learned strong people were called from the start. At least, that is how it should''ve been, ording to the hurried words Micheal had told him. His best friend had managed to cram a huge amount of info in a very short time period. ording to Micheal, if he hadn''t wasted his Points on things like an Ancient Vikarin Shield for 15,200 Points, a Land Sword for 21,800 Points, and the rather pricey Expansive Strength Ability for 45,600 Points, among a few other things, he would''ve started out great. All of these purchases were actually strong and quite useful, especially the Expansive Strength Ability, which temporarily allowed you to greatly increase your Strength, but weakened your Soul. But, because he hadn''t known to pick up the Ki Cultivator Ability, he didn''t choose it. This, plus the rather haphazardly picked Artifacts and Ability, had caused him a great deal of suffering in the original future. He had ended up losing all of his rare Artifacts, robbed by those that had been here gaining strength for years. ''They all sound so cool though'' He could see why the other version of him had wanted them. Still, while he didn''t have any visions of the future, he had Micheal''s words passed onto him. Micheal and Shin had grown up in the same neighborhood and held a friendship that spanned far more than a decade. If there was anyone in the world he would say he trusted unconditionally, it would be his best friend Micheal. Even if his best friend told him he had had a vision of the future. In a world where millions of people had vanished in waves of light, Shin was willing to believe that pretty much anything was possible. When he had been transported to the ''Holy Shop'' he was fully convinced. Everything Micheal said was from the future... It was alling true. ''Alright. It''s been a full day, and I did that breathing exercise that Micheal said to do.'' Shin took a deep breath, flexing his arms. He then tapped on a ring at his side. Immediately, arge ck sword appeared, one that was more of a longsword than a regr sword. ''Micheal said the Shin of the future enjoyed being super strong and always practiced powerful swinging attacks, seeking overwhelming strength as opposed to finesse.'' He nodded again. Future-Shin had excellent taste, clearly. A hero always needed to have a grand entrance, and what was grander than a smashing attack from above? He''d also purchased a powerful handgun that he kept in his Spatial Ring, just in case. Micheal had said he would have a far easier time using a sword to fight once he got some practice with the Ability he''d snagged. As he smiled, however, a darker light shed in his eyes. Also ording to Micheal, in his vision of the future, Shin, and the rest of humanity, all died. They were too weak, and as a result, everyone they knew would perish. The jovial smile on his face faded slightly as he considered this. ''I can''t just mess around. I have to get strong enough to protect them all.'' His eyes hardened as he thought about his adopted parents and adopted sister, the family that had taken him in years ago. His dad was a mechanic back on Earth while his mother was a 4th Grade teacher. His little sister, Anna, had just graduated from 5th Grade and was about to enter middle school. They weren''t part of the Fourth Wave, that Micheal''s vision of the future had seen. But if Shin didn''t try his hardest, they would all die. The thought of losing his family was one that nearly drove him sick. He pushed the thought to the side for now, however, recognizing that he couldn''t resolve it yet. "Don''t you worry, Micheal. I''m here for you, buddy. We are in this together." He muttered, nodding sharply. He could tell that his best friend''s vision of the future had hit him hard. The pressure he must feel was probably enormous. "We''re the Three Musketeers-Minus-One, remember?" He grinned as memories of their childhood swarmed up, where the two had been inseparable. They had drifted apart somewhat when they grew older, dating girls and preparing for college taking up more of their focus. But the impending apocalypse had served as a great excuse to catch back up on their friendship. That, and the fact that they both got broken up with just weeks before the First Wave. If nothing else, Shin prided himself on being a great wingman. "Alright, time to go do what he said." Shin tapped on his de, storing it in the Low-Tier Spatial Ring he had picked up. All he had to do was think about the ring and storing his sword and it would vanish, a truly wonderful creation. "Let''s test my Ability out more." Shin closed his eyes. "Phase!" WHOOSH Shin''s body blurred and then vanished. A microsecondter, he reappeared, standing outside his room. The door was still locked, the doorstop sealing it shut. He was now in arge, dimly lit hallway with flickering white lights overhead. Not a sound could be heard, no other inhabitants of the area making noises. This was a rather dangerous area, ording to Micheal. The central area of each Cluster was not a very safe ce to live for most. He grinned. "It really works, just like when I first arrived." Heughed off the tension he had built, his undying optimism rolling in, "I can teleport!" WHOOSH Shin''s body blurred and vanished again as he teleported several meters down the hallway, concentrating. "Wow, this really is frickin'' awesome!" Micheal had told Shin that his future self always wished he had picked this specific Ability. It was one that would''ve greatly boosted his preferredbat style, vastly enhancing his slow movement speed. The Limited ''Phasing Warper Ability.'' . - Phasing Warper Type - The Phasing Warper Ability is a Type Ability. Users may only have one Type. The Phasing Warper Ability grants the user the power to ''Phase'' through reality, warping from one ce to another at near instantaneous speeds. This Ability grants a moderate increase in the Soul stat and no other bonuses. . The description was very sinct, like the description of most Abilities Shin had looked at. The Ability itself was one that also had a limited supply. Only 12 could be purchased, of which, 7 had already been bought. Shin was the 8th human to have ever snagged it. It was an Ability that cost 110,000 Points. A huge, gargantuan amount that couldn''t even be normally achieved on the First Layer due to the Points Wall capping Points at roughly 100,000 Points. Only people that bought it before the First Layer or picked it up in the Second Layer had this power. ''The distance I can teleport and how quickly I can teleport again depends on my Soul stat. Right now it''s at 12 because I picked this Ability up, a roughly 20% passive increase that will stick with me ording to Micheal.'' He thought it over. After a moment, however, he shook the thought from his head. ''I need to find that thing.'' His eyes tightened as he remembered the horrifying introduction he had had to this world. He had been greeted by a pair of Third Wavers, alongside around 30 other people, and given an introduction to the freakish creatures that haunted this world, the Morenkai. Shin had slipped off on his own while the two warriors, members of the small-time Abnu Alliance, talked. He hadn''t joined any groups, following Micheal''s advice. Still, the gnarly appearance of those creatures was unsettling. It was even scarier when he had faced one of them on his own earlier, as he was traveling through the rather empty central zone on his first day. The monstrous humanoid had attacked him, its shambling figure lunging to try and shred him. It hade charging at him when he was on a long bridge, about halfway across. Shin had tried to use the longsword he''d purchased, a high-quality one that cost several quite a pretty penny, but had frozen up in his first encounter. Any regr person, when faced with a zombie-like creature of horror, would have had the same reaction. At least, that was what he told himself when he rebuked himself after. Thankfully, he''d managed to use his Phasing Warper Ability to lure the thing off the skyscraper, killing it while staying safe. ''ording to Micheal, I talked about the thing I''m supposed to look for in the future. It gets discovered on the third day that I arrived, causing a big hubbub. Its location should still be the same, even though it''s the second day now'' Shin''s eyes shed, ''The special Golden Morenkai. A creature that drops anywhere between 10,000-20,000 Points.'' Shin nodded his head sharply, ''It''s supposed to be really weak in terms of physical strength. This time, I''ll manage to kill one of these zombies directly.'' His body blurred as he began to vanish, leaving behind a few quiet words, "I can''t be a hero if I forever stay a coward" . Chapter 22: First Orb - End of Free Sample Chapter 22: First Orb - End of Free Sample "Huff-huff-huff" Micheal''s chest heaved as he breathed heavily, looking at the scene of death around him. "Well that went well" His voice was ragged as he mumbled, feeling at his chest. The injuries he had sustained were incredibly gruesome. He''d broken several ribs, at least one of his lungs had copsed, his right leg waspletely broken as was his right arm, and he was covered in minor fractures and bloody bites. As it stood now, he was crippled. So many gruesome injuries like this, in the First Layer, would be a death sentence. Even now, Micheal could feel himself growing lightheaded from blood loss. Despite all of that, his eyes shed as he maintained a smooth, confident visage. He looked around the valley of death, staring at all the corpses with a satisfied smile. He then turned and brought his broken body forward, ignoring the agony that shed through him. Every step he took was one that worsened his injuries further, especially his broken right leg. Micheal forced the pain down as he walked over to the shed that led inside the building, where he had just seen two people take one look at him and flee. ''They are watching'' His sixth sense was tingling, letting him know that many eyes were on him. People from small powers, fromrge powers, groups big and small, the loud music he yed would draw eyes from everywhere. Exactly as nned. In just a few seconds, Micheal proudly reached the shed that led to the depths of the skyscraper. He walked into it without hesitating and instantly walked down several steps. He refused to let himself tremble even the slightest, making sure his movements were steady. After walking down several flights, Micheal paused. He entered into a random hallway and found one of the empty rooms that were unupied. He walked into it and shut the door behind him. Immediately after, he copsed onto the ground, storing his sword in his Spatial Ring as he took several deep, wracking breaths. ''God, that hurts.'' His vision blurred slightly as the full impact and seriousness of his injuries hit them. The pain was constantly trying to overwhelm him, prying at his mind. ''Some people say you get used to pain after experiencing it several times, that injuries can feel like nothing.'' Micheal shut his eyes, ''Those people are all liars.'' He mentally grumbled. ''Life Orbs! Get over here!'' He gave a mentalmand. WHOOSH Immediately, 3 glowing Orbs appeared floating around his head. ''Time to test you.'' When Micheal had first started fighting the Morenkai, he had been careful. He used his considerable skill to take out the vile zombie-like creatures as they came up, cleaving through them with ease. By the 10 minutes mark, when the song was repeating for the third time, the situation took a turn. " Life Is Old There, Older Than The Trees " " Younger Than The Mountains, Blowing Like A Breeze " An Abnormal had shown up. And, unlike the Abnormal he had encountered before, this one was actually a challenge. Arge, hulking Morenkai that had arms that glowed with dark red light. This light seemed to enhance the speed of the Morenkai, making its attacks far quicker and stronger. To make it even worse, the Abnormal didn''t show up alone. Three other Morenkai had appeared at the same time. Micheal had charged at one of the regr Morenkai first, splitting its head in two with an almost rxed sh. ck blood had spattered out of it, staining the nearby rooftop. However, as he was charging toward the second regr Morenkai, the Abnormal had reached him, its freakish running speed at least twice that of Micheal''s. " Country Roads, Take Me Home " " To The ce, I Belong " The red armed Morenkai had led out with a blurringly fast punch. The attack was so quick, Micheal wasn''t able to make it out clearly due to his still limited physique. It was merely a blur to him. Yet, despite that, he managed to dodge it, slipping just a centimeter under it and off to the side. He was able to judge the trajectory of the attack by the movements of the Morenkai, his years ofbat experience kicking in and allowing him to predict it in time to move out of the way. In the same moment, however, one of the other normal Morenkai had also attacked, mming down with a jarring punch. Micheal''s previous movements had overextended his body, putting him in an awkward position. He managed to dodge that attack as well, flipping up into the air and kicking off the leg of the Abnormal. It was the third attack from thest normal Morenkai, a brutal punch, that managed to hit him. It didn''t collide directly with his body. When Micheal saw the attacking out of the corner of his eye, he used his Steelborn de to shield himself. THUD The blow smashed into the sword and then hit Micheal, sending him flying across the roof. Hended down hard on the ground, rolling for several meters till he spun up and around, on guard. As he stood up, however, he winced. At least one of his ribs were broken. In the background, the song ''Country Roads, Take Me Home'' continued to re out. " West Virginia, Mountain Mama " " Take Me Home, Country Roads " The Morenkai were freakishly strong. Taking a blow from one, even a regr one while shielding yourself, was a bad idea. ''My damned body is still too weak. It can''t keep up with mymands!'' He swore as looked at the shambling Morenkai that were loping towards him in a group. Micheal concentrated, feeling the energy flow through his body from his Ki Cultivator Ability. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to rx. ''Focus. You have trained for this.'' His eyes were calm as he crossed gazes, figuratively since it didn''t have eyes, with the red armed Abnormal. It was the first to reach him, its arms crackling with energy. ''If you see something you can cut'' He took a step forward, into the attack range of the Morenkai. SHHKK ''Cut it.'' WHOOSH thud The body of the Abnormal Morenkai split in half as Micheal''s de cut it cleanly in two, feeling only a small amount of resistance. Micheal''s Grandmaster Sword Mastery made it a cinch to sh the creature. In the instant that he killed it, however, the Abnormal hadshed out with an attack of its own. Micheal had seen iting, able to predict it. If he had wanted, he probably would''ve been able to dodge it as well. ''Dodging it fully isn''t an option.'' He recognized this fact just a moment before, noting that if he dodged the Morenkaipletely and didn''t let himself get injured, he would move out of range and be unable to attack back. ''With my physique as weak as it is I''ll need to make tradeoffs if I want to kill something of this level.'' He ducked under the dead Abnormal''s fist as much as he could, dodging the brunt of the impact. Unfortunately, the way he dodged was right into the body of the Abnormal. While he may have killed it, the force of the charging creature and its heavy body was not insignificant. Thisbined with the blurringly fast punch that just barely nced off Micheal''s back. CRACK Micheal spun around atop the roof, his eyes watering as he felt his shoulder de fracture slightly. His right leg also suffered a fracture, as did one of his fingers, and he could feel his right lung twinge, as if it had been injured. "GRRR!" He didn''t let the pain overwhelm him as his bloodshot eyes narrowed and he forcibly maintained his bnce. Not a secondter, his sword shed out twice more. SHHKK SHHKK Two regr Morenkai fell to the ground, one with its head removed from its body while the other with half its chest cut through. ck blood littered the rooftop as the two creatures fell, killed instantly. The creatures had charged right after the Abnormal Morenkai and had been only seconds behind it, forcing a quick reaction from Micheal''s tired body. "Huffhuff" Micheal''s breath was ragged as he ignored the Points notifications that popped up, staring at the dead corpses. He concentrated the strength of his body, conserving it. For, only a minuteter, several more Morenkai appeared. " The Radio Reminds Me Of My Home Far Away " His eyes shed as he went to work. "" And now, Micheal was back in the skyscraper, staring at the Life Orbs that were floating around his head. The fight on the rooftop hadsted for at least 30 minutes, a time in which he killed a huge number of Morenkai. After that, he''d turned the record yer off and stored it in his Spatial Ring, knowing that if he went any further, he might die out in the open. Before he checked the total number of Points he gained, Micheal jumped on the most urgent thing he needed to do. Heal himself. He stared intently at one of the Life Orbs, feeling the subtle connection he had with it. In his mind''s eye, he could see a small white line that connected that orb to him. He watched it for a single moment, feeling blood drip out of his wounds, the extremely serious injuries he had sustained slowly worsening. ''Break.'' The orb shattered. Immediately, blue light covered Micheal for a single split second. The light wasn''t blindingly bright, but had more of a cool,forting tone. WHOOOOSH The light vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. Revealing a teenager dressed in scraps of once normal clothes, covered in dried blood and grime But otherwisepletely uninjured. Micheal looked at his body, casting his senses through it And smiled. . . . . This is the end of the free sample I''m legally allowed to share! The remainder of Volume 1 can be found here on Amazon here-> /Reborn-Apocalypse-LitRPG-Story-1-ebook/dp/B07RNNJB8K/ If you can''t afford to purchase it and support the story, I am aware that some websites pirate and host the rest of Volume 1 online for free. I can''t condone that, but I understand. . Chapter 23: Submit your own custom Ability - Special Reader-Author Interaction Post Chapter 23: Submit your own custom Ability - Special Reader-Author Interaction Post Hi everyone! This is Wiz, the author :) Today I''m here to bring you a bit of a special post. Today''s chapter has already been posted, so my apologies to those that thought this might be an extra chapter :p Today, I want to hear back from you all, my readers! I want to give you all a chance to leave your own unique mark on the story! Do you have an idea for an Ability you want to see? A really cool power you want to be purchasable in the Shop? Leave that Ability here in ament! If it''s well made and interesting, you might even see it be part of the story itself! :) I thought this would be a fun way to interact with you all, let me know what you think! ~Wiz ---Format--- Ability: Description: Cost: X Points Chapter 24: Book 2: Official Release Chapter 24: Book 2: Official Release After editing for several days, I''ve now finished up all of my revisions for Amazon, and officially posted the book! :) If you want to buy it to support me (and leave me a nice review <3) please go to: bit.ly/WizBook2 Thank you SO much to those that do (and to all of my Patreons, who have supported me above and beyond). Without all of you guys, I wouldn''t be able to focus full time on writing. Thank you :) That said: As part of putting it on Amazon to make money, I have to take it down from other sites! So, I just wanted to warn you all that I am about to take it down within 1 hour. My apologies to anyone that got cut off mid-reading :( There''s nothing I can do to stop that :/ I left it up for several days. Volume 3 will start up on here in ~1-2 weeks. Volume 1 can be found here: bit.ly/WizBook1 If you live in somewhere other then America, just search the book title in the Amazon search bar on your version of Amazon to find it! Sometimes the site can be a bit wonky! Thank you all for the support :) Chapter 25: Book 3 -: Chapter 1 Chapter 25: Book 3 -: Chapter 1 Check out Volume 2 of Reborn: Apocalypse on Amazon for thepleted story before this! IMPORTANT: Thest part of Volume 2 has Micheal leaving the First Layer! If you do not remember that, do not read further! This is the link for the American site: bit.ly/WizBook2 For other nations, simply search "Reborn: Apocalypse" on Amazon to find my series! The story below will contain the events after Volume 2 finished, a rough draft uploaded to get feedback from my open beta-readers, to correct typos, and to share :) ---- Alone in a sea of green stood a tree. Ancient and proud, stretching upwards towards the sky as if to say even the sun itself was not worthy of making it bow, this tree had stood unbending for centuries. Its bark was withered and grey, but carried within it a strength tost generations more. The leaves on its branches were a dull green, carrying little color but holding on to life nevertheless. Around this tree, the sea of grass spread out for hundreds of miles. This lone tree was joined by thousands of others, spread out roughly 5 to 8 meters apart in irregr patterns. Some trees were taller than others, while some were shorter or fatter. This particr tree was set farther apart than all the others, roughly 15 meters away. There was nothing particrly special about this tree, apart from its oddly tall, unbreaking posture and its lone stature. It was calm and quiet, still and silent, carrying a presence that was both subtle and overwhelming at the same time. Its quiet stillness was destined toe to an abrupt end, as fate would have it. A quiet sh of light warped the air around this tall tree. This light fled just a momentter, leaving behind a robed and masked figure. The figure stood at an above-average height and wore a set of unassuming green robes. The mask he wore covered his facepletely, a simple white mask that revealed a pair of gleaming blue eyes. This masked man sat up as soon as he appeared, getting to his feet in an instant. His head snapped to the left and the right as he looked around carefully. In the background, many voices could be heard. Some were joyful and excited, while others were worried and confused. If one focused, they would be able to pick out hundreds of distinct voices,ing from all over. ''Hmm. Well, it looks like I made it to the Spawning Grounds sessfully.'' Micheal thought, his eyes narrowing. The area looked exactly the same as it had when he arrived here before. Tens of thousands of trees and a huge field, stretching as far as the eye could see. This was where every human that came from the First Layer appeared after reaching the ''Subway'' exit. There wasn''t any magical trial one had to conquer to leave the ''Subway.'' All you had to do was sit on a bench. As Micheal finished studying his surroundings, he took a deep breath and then exhaled. Just like that, he had made it to the Second Layer. After a moment, Micheal frowned beneath his mask as he reached up and tapped on it lightly. ''Did it mess it up?'' Micheal''s emotions were calm as he tapped on his Spatial Ring, pulling out a small ss mirror. He quickly pulled off his white mask and looked into the mirror, keeping his face concealed while he did so. After a moment, however, he smiled, storing the mirror away. He didn''t put the mask back on, but instead stored it too, and strapped a longsword to his waist. ''Good. It stayed.'' Instead of Micheal''s normal smiling visage, a slightly tan, handsome appearance that he had known for most of his life, made slightly more muscr by all the training he''d been through on the First, Micheal''s face had changed. His face had grown slightly thinner and far paler, gaining a sort of ethereal quality. His eyes gleamed lightly from the Ki energy in his body, matching a warm smile. The hints of muscle in his face had be slightly more delicate, though still present. But the biggest and most obvious change of note was the huge, red splotch that covered 2/3rds of his face, starting on his right side and marring his appearance. A giant, pale red birthmark that,bined with the other changes, made himpletely unrecognizable. Micheal picked a specific direction to walk in and began to stride forward, leaving his tree immediately. His thoughts focused on these changes, still pleased with what he saw. The teleportation between the First Layer and the Second Layer was magical. The process of it would heal any cuts or shes you had, help set any broken bones or other injuries, even fatal ones. Through the same metric, it would also heal any injuries to the Soul one had. This had been particrly important to Micheal because, before he left the First Layer, he had been sure to practically rend his Soul practicing with Master Tier Sword Energy. After all, his boosted Soul stat would onlyst while on the First Layer. After he got to the Second Layer, the boost vanished, the power of his Soul returning to normal. The baptism of so much Master Tier Sword Energy, however, was immensely helpful for helping adapt Micheal''s Soul to use the deadly power as early, and with as little energy as possible. ''That probably saved me at least a month of training.'' He felt at his Soul, feeling its flexibility and resilience. It didn''t increase the power of his Soul, but definitely made progress in adapting it to using Master Tier Sword Energy. He had used a rather voracious amount, such that he was almost sent into aa. However, as he knew, the teleportation between Layers would also heal physical injuries and that was why Micheal had quickly checked his face when he arrived, and worn a mask beforehand. The huge, new birthmark he had on his face was from using a rather simple poison form that was known to permanently stain one''s flesh. Its effects looked nearly identical to a regr birthmark. The poison itself originated from a rather famous incident in the future. It also had the side effect of making his skin paler and having a few ''beauty-ifying'' effects, like making his face and body look less muscr. Because of the way the birthmark appeared and these changes took ce, Micheal hadn''t been sure if it would stay on his face. Thankfully, it seemed like it had. He was also confident that he could get his Life Orbs to not heal the birthmark or revert these changes when he died. The Orbs would ''heal'' him by restoring him to his normal capacity. As long as his body viewed all of this as ''normal,'' it would remain this way. He would only have to convince his body that it wasn''t ''normal''ter if he wanted to revert back to normal. This was all rough conjecture that needed testing, but Micheal felt like it was an urate assessment. That said, he should probably stay alive for as long as possible to give his body time to get used to it. Thus, he now had an appearance that very few people would recognize. ''Hmm'' Micheal surveyed his surroundings as he walked, ignoring the people that popped up all around him. It was around the middle of the morning on the Second Layer. Tons of people on the First would be sneaking into Subways to move on to the Second Layer, creating a rather constant supply of people popping up at various Spawning Trees. Most of those people would excitedly fall to the ground, hugging the grass and trees. Many would cry or celebrate, jumping for joy at escaping the vile nightmare that was the First Layer. All around, Micheal could hear such cheers and merriment, raw joy and happiness. Micheal only sighed when he saw that. He wondered if he had been like that when he first got here. If the First Layer was a nightmare, then the Second Layer was hell itself. ''Not yet, though. Not yet.'' Micheal clenched his fists, emotion cindering in his eyes. ''I can fix it, like I did the First. And this time, no failures.'' His mouth twisted as he thought about the one huge stain on his record. The death of the Godfather, Cameron, a good man he had failed to save. He had started a mental list with Cameron''s name at the top, vowing to never forget him, or anyone else he failed. Micheal rubbed his forehead, wanting nothing more than toy down and rest. For him, it had only been a few hours since Cameron died. In that time, he had spawned a new Life Orb, written out several long messages for Shin and Sophia, a private message for the Seer, and one for Doctor Isaiah as well. There was much that needed to be done on the First Layer still, but it was now within very reasonable levels. He hadid a powerful enough foundation, especially for the billions of people that had yet to arrive. Humanity would have a very real chance this time around. The others could finish it up, especially with Shin and Sophia behind to handle thosest few tasks. He, in the meantime, needed to move on to the Second Layer. He didn''t have a minute to waste, not if he wanted to stop the Great Disaster. There was much to do before they came up and rejoined him. After walking for a few miles, Micheal passed severalrge crowds of humans standing around a stage. There were hundreds of simr stages set up at various spots within the Spawning Grounds, each one with several speakers talking into a microphone. New Chosen that had just reached the Second Layer would naturally congregate there, full of questions and worries. No one that made it to the Second Layer was naive, and many were suspicious. However, the idea of free information on an unknown, and likely dangerous world, was a draw few people could ignore. Micheal ignored thempletely as he walked directly past several groups, his eyes zeroing in on a small, stone wall in the distance. This wall encircled arge ''Camp'' or basically a vige where new Chosen could stay after they arrived in the Spawning Ground. The wall was well maintained, but only 3 meters tall, making it very clear that it wasn''t a serious defensive wall. It likely only kept out small animals and nuisances. The Spawning Grounds were huge, one of the few strongholds of humanity on the Second Layer. There were hundreds of these Camps spread out along the Spawning Grounds, each one able to hold tens of thousands of humans if need be. ''It''s not enough for the Fourth Wave.'' Micheal frowned when he realized that. Humanity was woefully unprepared to deal with each increasing wave, especially as billions of people began pouring through. He hade earlypared to most Fourth Wavers, but these facilities would likely reach their maximum capacity in just a few months, perhaps sooner. As Micheal kept walking, he began to adjust to the gravity of the Second Layer. His body felt heavier, every movement taking more energy and effort for the same result. If the gravity of the First Layer had been roughly equivalent to Earth''s, the gravity of the Second Layer was around 35% stronger. It was a very sizable increase for people that weren''t used to such changes. Regr people would likely find it intolerable and develop all sorts of health issues. But as long as you had some physical boosting ability from the Shop, Ki Cultivation being the clear winner, it was bearable. This 35% change had to do with thew of gravity itself, and how the math of gravity worked, however, and not with the size of the they were on. Scientists had done a great deal of research when it came to this problem, eventually determining that thews of reality itself had changed. They were in a ''higher'' reality now, where gravity was naturally more powerful. It was hard to wrap one''s mind around the concept, so Micheal typically just epted it for what it was. He left the researching to the researchers. ''The air'' Micheal thought, waving his hands slightly. It was rich in energy, decently more so than the First Layer. Here it should be possible to naturally cultivate to the Sky Tier, even if you weren''t an abnormal freak like Director Prime. It still required a lot of talent and was very difficult, practically impossible for most. ''But it''s not enough. If I recall, the maximum one can normally reach is the Middle of Sky Tier. It''s almost impossible to reach the Late Stage, and essentially impossible to reach the Peak Stage.'' He nodded to himself as memories of the Second Layer rushed over him. It was only on the Third Layer that one could reach the Lord Tier of Ki Cultivation. The Second was still limited to Sky Tier. And worse, for many people, was that you couldn''t buy Sky Tier Ki Cultivation here. You actually had to achieve it with your own effort. The Points Wall sat at around 500,000 Points, give or take 25,000 Points. Buying Sky Tier Ki Cultivation in the Shop cost 606,500 Points. ''I wonder what my Points Wall is at?'' With a Soul Quality that reached 3 Stars, the limits of his Points Wall should''ve risen considerably. He didn''t quite understand how it worked, but it seemed that a higher Soul Quality allowed him to ease some of the restrictions reality enforced, letting him raise his Points Wall. ''Also will the Champion''s Gift affect my Points Wall?'' He looked down at his leaner body, unsure of how it might transform in the future. He also noted that the poison he''d taken had made all of his muscles look noticeably thinner and leaner, though their strength and power was unaffected. While the effects of his Champion''s Gift weren''t usable currently they would be in the future. And when they did activate Micheal''s excitement for this ''gift'' was one that had reached extreme heights. His mind shed back to the text of these rewards, the details he had gone over so many times already. . -Reward Obtained- Reward: Champion''s Gift . -Champion''s Gift- You have be a hero of ages, a Champion for your race. As a conqueror, you will destroy your enemies while reaping the benefits. You may gain the Attribute of any race whose essence you absorb. (Limited to one use) . He could only use the reward once, but that didn''t matter to him because of the word ''Attribute.'' This was a very specific word that was only discoveredter on in the Seven Layers. It was how the ''7 Layers,'' or the being that created the 7 Layers, referred to the unique aspect of each race. Humanity had its ''Shop'' as its Attribute. Every race had its own Attribute. Many were boring, like low-level unique Physiques, while others wereplex systems of magic or sorcery. There were at least as many Attributes as there were races, meaning a veritable font of them. And ording to this reward, he could gain an entirely new Attribute as long as he could find the ''essence'' of another race, which Micheal understood to mean the remnants of, like a corpse. To Micheal, this changed everything. His future ns, the powers he might choose, the goals he had set. This was an incredible reward, for one very important reason. He could steal the main Attribute that made the 12 Tribes of Deities so overwhelmingly powerful... Their precious ''Titles'' system. And even better than that The essence of a Deity he could find it on the Second Layer. For, to its inhabitants, the Second Layer was known by a different name. The Ancient World. And it just so happened to be a world that one of the Tribes of Deities had inhabited, long ago . Chapter 26: Book 3 -: Chapter 2 Chapter 26: Book 3 -: Chapter 2 Getting the essence of a Deity would take time, especially given where it was located, so that was an idea Micheal tossed to the backburner for now. But just the fact that he could achieve it in the first ce was already huge. As Micheal re-read over the description of the gift, he noticed something that made him frown. ''Nothing about this ''Gift'' is tailored specifically to humanity.'' It was a very general gift that could''ve been given to any race. After all, every single race had its own unique First Layer, full of danger, in preparation to face the other races. It was entirely conceivable that every other race had the chance to have someone obtain this same gift. As Micheal went back over his memories of the future, he could pick out monstrous geniuses that humanity had fought against time and time again, suffering miserable losses. ''No human got this ''Gift'' in the first timeline, or any future ''Gifts'' if they exist, not that I know about. That probably exins at least some of the heavy losses we took.'' He rubbed his chin at the thought. Humanity had missed out on one of its best rewards in the very beginning. And, in the chaotic 7 Layers where a single individual could have a very big impact, that was a very sore point. Micheal could subtly tell that this gift was one-of-a-kind, an innate kind of understanding that came with it. He would never get another option to use it again. He also hadn''t heard of anything simr to this found on other Layers, but he wouldn''t rule anything out. He would need to do a thorough assessment of the Second Layer before he moved on, just to be certain. Perhaps there might be another ''Gift'' to be found, but with a different reward. Micheal tossed all of these thoughts from his mind as he finally finished traveling through the Spawning Grounds and reached the stone wall of the Camp he''d first spotted in the distance. The wall stretched off to the right and left for several hundred meters, weathered and worn away by the trials of time. The top of the wall was covered with spikes of metal, making it dangerous tond on. That said, most people that made it to the Second Layer would have the strength of at least 3 to 4 regr humans, at the weakest, meaning such a wall would do little to stop them. Still, Micheal obediently walked up to the wide gate that was situated in the center of the wall, facing the Spawning Grounds. The gate was more of a very wide passageway, stretching around 20 meters across and split down the middle. One side was for traffic entering the Camp and the other side was for traffic leaving. It was made up of arge stone archway, built several meters up and higher than the regr wall itself. There was a roughly 20 person line waiting out in front of the entrance to the Camp, with the asional person emerging from the exit. People of all shapes, colors, and sizes waited in line, dressed in a variety of clothes. At the gate entrance, an eight-man team of guards stood and talked to everyone that walked up. Seven of them were clearly humans, dressed in military fatigues and armed with guns. Four of them also held clipboards and were marking down information as they talked to people. The eighth one looked like a human, a man standing at around 2 meters of height with a tanned, weathered face. He wore a white shirt and a set of grey cks, standing out from the military-like other guards. At his waist, a long, ck dey sheathed. It was the small, green gem that was set in his forehead, and the unique green glow that emanated from his eyes, that instantly gave away his true origins. He was a member of the Byrium Race, or a Byren (pronounced: Beer-in) as they weremonly called. The dominant, and original, species that lived on the Ancient World. Micheal joined this line behind a group of men that were dressed in some type of archaic-looking red armor. He kept his presence small as he listened to his surroundings, taking in the chatter. "Samantha, I already told you. Vissy Grass gives the best ratio of Alliance Points. The Divine Might Sect put out a standing order to get" "Lu Chong''s left to join the New de Sect. It''s only a Small Grade Sect, but apparently their Grand Elder is" "Did you see the size of that Mantis Tiger? I thought we were dead for sure" "ke said that Baron Rex got in a battle with an Inner Elder from the Ground Demon Sect and forced a draw." "An Inner Elder?! Wow! How can" Micheal''s eyes shed as he caught one particrly interesting tidbit while moving through the line. ''Baron Rex, huh'' Memories of the Second Layer swarmed his head. Memories of the ostensible ''leaders'' of the Human race on the Second Layer. The Four Barons. Each one of the Four Barons was an extremely powerful expert, rated as the strongest humanity had to offer. They were the equivalent ''S Rankers'' of the Second Layer, monstrously talented humans that had grown extremely powerful over the years that they had spent here, and only continued to grow stronger as time went on. The Four Barons were considered the leaders of humanity. Unlike the dozens of split organizations and different Clusters on the First Layer, humanity on the Second Layerrgely stayed within the same ''organization.'' The Human Alliance. It had a few other names, but it was generally understood to be the main, overseeing organization that humanity stuck to. It had its own internal factions, each one led by its own Baron, and a few otherrge groups, but none of them would overtly act against the other. After experiencing the horror that was the First Layer, people began to realize that everything they were going through here was very real. The concept that they were trapped in a ''death game'' where the entire human race would be wiped out if they failed people began to ept it. This realization had the positive effect of helping rally humanity together, to at least some degree. ''For now, anyway.'' Micheal snorted at the thought. By this point, he had moved halfway up the line, and was making steady progress towards the front gate. His eyes flicked behind him, however, as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A group of women had walked up behind him, all dressed in long white robes with several distinct ck lines on them. In particr, there were two sets of lines that were oveid on their chest, abination of an ''x'' and a ''+''id on top of each other. One of the symbols of the Purgatory Church. "rememberdies, keep a calm appearance and do your best to soothe the worries of our needy." The leader of this group of women, an elderly matron with long, white hair, was giving a pep talk to the other girls. The ages of the women in the group ranged from 17 or 18 to thete 40s or early 50s, a motley crew that all appeared eager to learn. The Four Barons ruled the Human Alliance. But their rule was not absolute, for there was one other, very noticeable power present. The Purgatory Church. This religion had rapidly grown to power over the past 3 years, spreading faster and faster as time went on. Other religions coexisted alongside it as people tried to reconcile their beliefs with what was happening all around them. The religion spread rtively slowly on the First Layer, never grasping on to too sizable a hold. On theter Layers, however, it rapidly picked up steam as more and more humans epted the changes to reality that went against almost every t they held dear. The more time passed, the stronger the Church became. Micheal could keenly remember the titanic influence it had, as one of the few organizations that grew to span all 6 of the 7 Layers that humanity had fought their way through. ''The Nirvana Saint should have arrived here before me.'' Micheal frowned as he considered this. That man was an enigma that he absolutely could not ignore, far more so than the Four Barons. Those warriors were all extremely powerful humans, but the charisma and influence that the Nirvana Saint held was dangerous in its own way. It was because of him that the Church became such a permanent powerhouse in the future. Micheal rubbed his forehead and sighed. There was no point in stressing out over everything right when he arrived. He would need to take things one step at a time. "Wee to Camp Maybell, please state your name and business." A gruff voice broke up Micheal''s thoughts as he looked up. Micheal had reached the front of the line. The group ahead of him had split off to talk to one of the other guards, sorting their way in on their own. The speaker was Caucasian, a man with a balding head of hair and a slightly bulging stomach. His eyes, however, brooked no argument as he looked at Micheal expectantly. "I''m a neer that just arrived from the First Layer." Micheal smiled politely as he spoke, his voice at a slightly higher pitch than it used to be. It matched his slightly more delicate appearance and added to his disguise. It also wasn''t something he did on purpose. The poison that had stained his skin and altered his appearance had also altered his voice. "Oh? Have you been through the New Chosen Walkthrough?" The guard perked up slightly, looking at him expectantly again. "Yes, I have. I have decided to remain undecided for now. Everything is just so overwhelming." Micheal held up a hand and rubbed his head, showing a hint of the very real exhaustion he felt. The guard nodded his head sympathetically. He then reached into a small bag he had attached to his waist and brought out what looked like a small, white poker chip. "This is your Identity Token. Do you have the Ki Cultivation Ability?" The guard studied Micheal for a moment. Micheal let out some of his Earth Tier Ki, the green energy glowing lightly around his body. "Oh!" The guard''s eyes perked up as he saw this, his voice immediately bing slightly more respectful. "Yes. Well, if you infuse your Ki into this Token, it will leave an imprint that will be recognized as yours. You can use this to enter any of the Free Camps. Since you''ve chosen to remain undecided, be aware that you only have two weeks until you will need to choose a Baron or a subsidiary group to join." The guard''s voice came off very matter of fact, as if he had said this line many times before. And, indeed, he probably had. The New Chosen Walkthrough referred to the various stages where speakers were set up in the Spawning Ground, telling neers about the Second Layer. Micheal had skipped it because he''d already listened to it once before. In order to maintain the Human Alliance, and keep the Human race stable while there were so many potential enemies out there, all new arrivals were told they had to join one of the Four Baron''s Syndicates, or one of the subsidiary groups that were allied to one Baron or another. Doing so would grant you special privileges and allow you to ess certain private Camps, and various other benefits that came with joining each force. You would also be locked down, however, and required to go through some amount of training and do various odd jobs for each group. The Ancient World was inhabited withrge tracts of ferocious beasts and creatures out of legend. The various humanoid races popted about 70% of thisnd, but the rest was swarmed with powerful monsters. Humanity''s Spawning Grounds had been located in one of the safer areas, within the territory of the Divine Might Sect. The ''Human Alliance'' system was a rtively stable one that had, thus far, turned out good results for humanity. Life right now was as safe as it ever would be on the Second Layer if you were in one of the four Baron''s Syndicates. "Thank you, I understand." Micheal nodded his head and then infused a strand of green Ki into the white token. He watched as the token shivered in his hand, a faint, green imprint forming upon it. The guard then proceeded into another spiel, exining how any act of violence was banned in the city, how theft would be punished extremely seriously, and that guards regrly patrolled the Camp. He managed to convey all of that information in roughly 20 seconds, a record in Micheal''s eyes. "Don''t forget, sir. You''ll need to make a choice in 14 days!" The guard gave him another cursory nce as he pulled out a clipboard. "What did you say your name was? It can be a nickname or a title, but it will be bound to your Identity Token." The guard pointed at the poker-chip like object. Micheal hesitated for only a split second before replying, "Legion. I go by the name Legion." His voice was emotionless. The guard gave him onest nod as he wrote that down and then waved Micheal forward, his eyes already trained on the next person in line. Micheal moved through the gate immediately, his eyes flicking to the side as he nced at the Byren guard. The humanoid had taken a single nce at Micheal and then ignored himpletely, turning his attention to other iing humans. The man''s gaze had felt a lot like a normal human''s gaze, one that was bored and expecting nothing. Seeing a Byren guard here, working with humanity, wasn''t at all unusual. After all, the Four Barons, by this point in time, should''ve formed an official alliance with the Divine Might Sect, a huge organizationposed of mostly Byrens. Given that humanity had spawned in their territory, such an alliance had proven vital to secure. The Byrium Race wasn''t participating in the death game that was the 7 Layers. As a result, all of the invading races had done their best to seek out allies among the Byrens, clinging to any support they could foster. The Byrium Race was a race of powerful warriors that had a natural 3 Star Physique, the Emerald Mind Physique. The natural makeup of their bodies allowed them to have an easier time when cultivating Ki, allowing them to make great strides in power with less effort. They also had a few other special powers. One of them was the ability to tell how strong a warrior was with a single nce. In actuality, humanity had discovered that the power was linked to the green gem in their foreheads. It gave a Byren the power to lightly scan another creature, gaining a general understanding on how powerful their physical body was. By the standards of the Second Layer, Micheal''s physical stats ranked him as a Third Rate Warrior, nothing very special and an all-toomon sight. That was exactly how Micheal wanted it, for now. He had no reason to draw attention to himself, yet, though that wasn''t going tost long. Micheal walked past the gate and found himself inside a bustling town, full of mostly humans. The grounds of the streets were made of paved, grey stone, meandering off into the distance. To either side of this road were a slew of medieval-looking buildings, structures that were only a couple of stories high at most. Most were made out of brown wood, with orange tile rooftops. Dozens of people walked back and forth, talking cheerfully. Unlike the First Layer, the streets of this Camp in the Second Layer had an upbeat, cheerful attitude, almost as if one hade back to Earth. "Oi, get out of the road!" A loud voice interrupted Micheal''s musings,ing from his left. In his sweep of the street, and the nostalgia that came with it, Micheal had inadvertently walked into the middle of the paved road. He quietly walked out of the road''s center and off to the side where various other humans walked, ncing behind him at the speaker. An armored man riding a sleek, ck motorcycle had driven to a halt, ring at Micheal in an annoyed manner. The fighter was wearing a set of ck leather armor and had tworge guns strapped to his back. When he saw Micheal move, he revved his engine and raced forward, moving down the center of the stone road. Micheal nodded his head when he saw that. It was possible to get a wide assortment of vehicles now, and actually put them to good use, through the Shop. Micheal took a deep breath as he let it really sweep over him. The Camps, the Four Barons, the Sects He really was back. ''We can get started on everything tomorrow.'' Micheal made the elective decision instantly as he turned his attention to the various buildings on the side of the road. ''For now let''s find an Inn and get some rest.'' . Chapter 27: Mass Release - Book 3 -: Chapter 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Chapter 27: Mass Release - Book 3 -: Chapter 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Warm sunshine wafted in through a shuttered window, the early gleams of dawn softly breaking the horizon. This light shimmered in the air as if in delight, dancing right next to Micheal. "In out in out" Micheal muttered a mantra repeatedly, the air around him visibly glowing with Earth Tier Ki. He was currently sitting on a in wooden bed and mattress, tucked up against the side of a small bedroom. A small desk and a drawer were the only other pieces of furniture in the room. Unlike the First Layer, which was full of modern amenities, the Second Layer was much more restricted. If you wanted to find anything like a toilet, a car, an air conditioner unit, or more, you had to buy it yourself from the Shop. And, given how gravity was 30% heavier, there was no guarantee that the bought objects wouldst as long or work as efficiently, even if purchased from the Shop. Within Micheal''s body, green energy was constantly cascading through his veins. Every time the energy fully circled his body, from his heart to his feet, his body would grow a tiny bit stronger. His bones grew sturdier, his muscles more tensile and durable, and his vision and senses more adept. Each ''cycle'' brought out only a small amount of change. However, when repeated over and over and over, for days on end, it would gradually strengthen Micheal''s body significantly. "Ahh" Micheal let out a breath of air, his body shivering as he exhaled a small cloud of green energy. He opened his eyes after that, smiling slightly. "Status." . - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 75,391 Race: Human Age: 18 Physique: 1 Star Soul Quality: 3 Star Strength - 80 Endurance - 56 Recovery - 55 Soul - 36 Abilities - (5/7) Life Orb Master Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Early) Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5) Impact Release Ceaseless Mind . Apart from therge amount of Points he''d gained from defeating Head Cameron, there was no discernible change from thest time he''d checked his Status. Still, he could still feel the small increase in his cultivation. He could also get a general idea of how fast he was growing. At this rate, if he cultivated each day at the maximum he could achieve, he would reach the Middle Stage of Earth Tier in around three weeks. By any normal metric, that was insanely quick. It took him more than two and a half months to go from the Early Stage to the Middle Stage in his first life. The huge difference was mostly because of hisck of experience when it came to handling Ki. This time around, every cycle Micheal made was perfect, stretching out his progress to the absolute maximum every day. His 1 Star Physique was also helping, slightly, but it wasn''t having as big of an impact. He felt it more in how he could get more stats from each Stage. ''It''s not bad. But it''s not fast enough. I need to up my Physique again.'' His eternal irritation haunted him either way. He was still too slow. His current physical stats ced him as an average Third Rate Warrior here on the Second Layer. The ranking system for warriors on the Second Layer wasn''t that different from how humans were rated on the First. Micheal mentally went over it as he finished his cultivation,piling his ns. Normal people, and weaker humans, or people of other races, didn''t get any rating at all. Third Rate Warriors were the starting line for people that actually held some amount of power. Around 90% of the warriors on the Second Layer were Third Rate Warriors. With a Strength stat of 80, Micheal was strong enough to be rated a Third Rate Warrior. Second Rate Warriors were the starting line for the elite. Showing power that surpassed the vast majority of other beings, Second Rate Warriors could be found among the leaders of guards inrge cities, dangerous assassins of deadly repute, experts that had trained for many years, and were able to be ''Outer Elders'' in any of the Six Great Sects. First Rate Warriors were the elite among the elite. Possessing power that could directly change the scale of a battle on their own, First Rate Warriors were deadly forces of war. They were typically only found as ''Inner Elders'' in any of the Six Great Sects, or Sect Masters in smaller scale Sects. Micheal''s current Soul stat was already at the level of an average First Rate Warrior. And after First Rate Warriors came the final normal tier: Supreme Warriors. Supreme Warriors were experts that had reached the apex normally achievable on the Second Layer. They were the Sect Masters of the Six Great Sects, and a few rogue experts that existed in hidden organizations or wandered the Second Layer seeking enlightenment. Most people viewed them as practically unstoppable, geniuses that went unrivaled except by each other. A First Rate Warrior could be stopped if you threw enough Second Rate Warriors at them. A Supreme Warrior, however only another Supreme Warrior could face them. As of right now, none of the other races openly had a Supreme Warrior expert. Humanity''s Four Barons were all extremely strong ''First Rate Warriors'' but they hadn''t quite reached the level of a Supreme Warrior. ''Well, the Farians have a Supreme Warrior. But no one knows that yet.'' Micheal tossed the thought to the side as he continued to ponder. Third Rate, Second Rate, First Rate, and Supreme. These were the four normally achievable tiers of the Second Layer. ''Normally, that is to say.'' Micheal wrinkled his nose slightly. There were two other tiers apart from these four. One that was a step above, and one that was a step to the side. A ''Master,'' a tier or title given to those warriors that had reached the Master Tier of Sword Mastery, or any other Weapon Mastery Ability. The Second Layer was a world obsessed with martial arts, and while experts that reached the Master Tier were extremely few and far in-between, they still existed, especially among the inhabitants of this world, the Byrens. Some Masters were able to use Master Tier Sword Energy to be deadly Supreme Warriors, while others just knew the rudimentary basics and were only very strong First Rate Warriors. And other than the Masters There were the Six Lords. It was a unique name for a tier of experts, namely because the tier itself was unique. There were Six Great Sects on the Second Layer. They controlled most of the world and, currently, most were at war with one another. And in those Six Great Sects, there were six Lords of inordinate power. They were so monstrously powerful they could not be approached logically for a single reason. On the Second Layer, it was physically impossible to cultivate to the Lord Tier of Ki Cultivation. It didn''t matter if you were a genius, it didn''t matter what resources you used, it didn''t matter how special your powers were. None of the races here were capable of achieving this feat. Even Director Prime well, Micheal wasn''t quite sure about anything when it came to that man. But Micheal was well aware that it would bepletely impossible for Micheal, himself, to achieve Lord Tier here. However, there was a single, or rather, six, exceptions to that rule. The Six Lords that backed each of Six Great Sects not only were all six of them in the Lord Tier of Ki Cultivation, they were also all at the absolute Peak Stage of the Lord Tier of Ki Cultivation. How that was possible had much to do with the history of this world. ''Still, they aren''t my target for now.'' Micheal rubbed his eyes as sighed. He looked around his room for a few seconds before he got up and began to prepare for the day. He took off his old clothes and changed into a new set of the same green robe, wrinkling his nose slightly as he looked at them. He didn''t smell horrible, but he definitely wanted to take a bath or shower. "I''ll do itter." After spawning in and munching down a quick breakfast from the Shop, Micheal left his room and walked down a long, wooden hallway to a small staircase. He followed it downstairs into a small, Inn lobby. It had a quaint look to it, with a small couch and some pillows set opposite of a wooden counter. A young man stood behind that counter and gave Micheal a friendly nod as he walked past. When it came to the ''Camps,'' all of the new arrivals were allowed free use of any of the Inns for the first two weeks they were here. This was one of the few things humanity had gotten partially right, giving the new people an easier chance to get a foothold. Arge part of this had to do with how the Second Layer worked. The first two weeks that any new Chosen spent here were considered special. Unlike the First Layer, if a human killed another human that had only been here for two weeks or less, the killer wouldn''t get any Points from killing that person. It was only after the first two weeks had passed that a human was considered ''fully arrived.'' There were many theories on why this kind of ''grace period'' existed. Some researchers thought it had to do with how the Shop, and our Souls, operated. They believed it took time for our Souls to fully unite with the essence of the Second Layer, making it impossible to absorb any Points from someone without a fully integrated Soul. This theory was strengthened by the fact that the reverse was not true. A person that was within their first two weeks here could still kill other humans and obtain Points from them. The energy transfer would work one way, but it wouldn''t work the other way. Every Layer worked like this, though each adjustment period was different. After the two weeks were over, however that ''grace period'' would end and you had to join one of the Syndicates or one of the smaller organizations that were allied to the 4 Barons, or leave the territory of the Human Alliance. Micheal looked up and down the street as he casually left his Inn, scanning his surroundings. After he didn''t find anything out of the ordinary, he began to head up the street to the north. His Inn, the Jeston Inn, was located in the northern sector of the Camp. "The Hanmind Fire Spears are recruiting Ice Ability users to hunt Giant ze Lizards!" "...Casandra I have had enough lip from you, you can consider yourself removed from the Blue Lily Society-" "You''re selling Winter Wolf Fangs? Do you take Alliance Points?" The hubbub of life in the Camp serenaded Micheal, various men and women speaking, bartering, and arguing, reminding him a bit of the Open Markets on the First. As he moved, he constantly paid attention to his movements and his surroundings, trying to fully adjust to all of the changes he''d been through. After his Soul Quality rose to 3 Stars and his Soul stat rose to 36, Micheal''s perception of the world had changed substantially. His 3 Star Soul Quality mostly affected his ''talent'' or growth rate, while also boosting the past results of his Ki training, and helping contribute to why his Soul stat rose as much as it did. Because of this, his ability to detect the presence of other beings through his Soul had greatly increased. If he focused, he would be able to innately sense the presence of anyone within roughly 23 meters of him, even if they weren''t focused on him. Part of this had to do with his vast experience at detecting enemies around him, but part of it had to do with his upgraded Soul. Of course, if someone had a much stronger Soul or special Abilities, they would still be able to hide. But for the majority of foes he might encounter, Micheal was practically immune to a close-range ambush as long as he was careful. He would also be able to more easily flood an enemy with his own killing intent, something he could use as a type of mental weapon. Apart from that, his perception of time had undergone a period of rapid growth. He could now perceive things at a rate roughly ~26-27% faster than a regr human. His consciousness automatically adjusted for people speaking and most things, but the jarringly fast change was still overtly noticeable. It made it easier to dodge attacks, easier to detect enemies, gave him more time to think and focus, and let him react faster. The results of raising his Soul stat so intensely were slowly beginning to show their value. While it was something he had experienced a couple of times before, the feeling of such an abrupt change still took time to fully adapt to. Micheal quickly crossed through the Camp. He passed by more groups of men and women talking in the streets,paring weapons, and moving back and forth with purpose. The town was filled with life as people went about their business. There were no beggars lining the streets nor were there cripples crying for help. The Camp was a picture of safety, of wealth, ofw and order. A veritable utopia. ''Well, the Camps next to the Spawning Ground are still the same.'' Micheal grimaced as he saw this. No matter how much the timeline of the First morphed, it seemed many things on the Second remained unchanged including some of the darkness thaty beneath the surface. Soon, Micheal reached the northern gate to Camp Maybell. The rather steely presence he gave off prevented anyone in the town from approaching him, making it easy to avoid any interaction. He passed through the gate after a brief discussion with the guards, with a reminder, of course, that he needed to make a choice in 13 days. Micheal then found himself in arge, open field of grass. Off to his right, the Spawning Grounds spread out, while a few Camps could be seen in the distance to the North. Micheal began to run northward and slightly to the left, loping along at a rapid speed as he put some distance between himself and the Camp. He kept a careful lookout as he ran, though he didn''t feel or see anyone following him. There were people traveling between Camps, and he could also make out severalrge groups of people moving in various directions. Thend near the Spawning Grounds was one of the more crowded areas. ''I''ll need to run for about an hour till I can use my shoes.'' He thought as he nced down at his Cloud Stepping Shoes. Apart from that, the only other Artifacts he wore were his Mid-Tier Spatial Ring, his Aura Nullification Ne, and the basic sword he''d strapped to his waist. He had no intention of running everywhere, nor did he have any intention of wasting any of his Points on a vehicle. Once he got far enough out of sight, he would break out his Life Orbs and take to the sky with his Cloud Stepping Shoes or just soar along near the ground. He needed the practice to help adapt his Soul to the changes it had undergone, and could use the time to think things over. There were so many things he wanted to do, he would need to narrow down the most optimal choices. ''Alright. The Big n: Part 1.'' Micheal took a deep breath as he went over the first couple of ns he''d propped up, based on all the information he had from the future, as well as his own experience and needs of the present. ''The first two things I need to do'' His eyes gleamed. The first was obvious. ''I need to activate my Champion''s Gift as soon as possible.'' If he could steal the Deity ''Title'' System, the chances he had at stopping all of the Vile King''s plots would explode exponentially. The second thing was, to him, also obvious. ''I need to stop M Hannis from getting assassinated in 21 days.'' He would also need to get her to agree to help him. Part of the reason he''d been so frantic to leave the First Layer had to do with this incident here. Micheal felt rather lucky as he considered this. He could do both of these things in close to the same area. It would save him quite a bit of time, though there was bound to be a huge amount of danger. If things went wrong, the consequences would be devastating. In addition to that... there was also one rather significantplication Micheal would need to address. M Hannis absolutely must not die. She was the key to stopping the Vile King''s Great Disaster, a sequence of events that would devastate the Second Layer and cause hundreds of millions of humans to die. However M Hannis wasn''t a human. She also wasn''t a Byren, the one race Humanity currently had a peace treaty with. Instead, she was a Farian. A race Humanity was currently fighting a war with. After jogging for roughly 40 minutes, Micheal reached a point where there was no one else in sight. By then, he had crossed away from the Spawning Grounds, but was still in the vast, grassy in. This territory had been mostly unupied before humanity arrived. It was nominally the territory of the Divine Might Sect, but in actuality abandoned and left to the wilds. This region had a rather special climate that made it difficult for most kinds of crops to grow, rendering much of thend useless. Ferocious beasts didn''t see much value in thend either, making it a sort of safe-haven, but the uselessness of thend itself led to it being abandoned. The Spawning Grounds had magically arrived alongside humanity''s presence. Seeing as humans could survive using the Shop, without the need to grow crops of their own, an area like this was a perfect match for humanity. Magic Beasts, a source for Points and rare resources, could be found in severalrge forests that were located nearby, making this area practically a safe haven for the powerful. The Divine Might Sect that owned thisnd was part of the Six Great Sects. Each of these Sects controlled roughly the same amount ofnd, around the size of a mid-sized country on Earth. The continent that the Six Great Sects lived on was called the Asora Continent, and was shaped like arge, wobbly circle. These Sects were the ''Superpowers'' of this world and each individually held an enormous amount of influence. Each Great Sect bordered two to three other Great Sects, and typically housed a number of smaller ones, creating a bnce that prevented any Great Sect from going all out and attacking one another. Doing so would leave their home base rtively unguarded and vulnerable, encouraging others to attack them in their moment of weakness. The Divine Might Sect was located directly on the East side of the Asora Continent, with the Ground Demon Sect to the South of them, the Silent Sword Sect to the North, and the White Mountain Sect to the West. As for the two other Great Sects, the Heaven yer Sect and the Evil Light Sect, the Divine Might Sect didn''t share any borders with them. Humanity''s Spawning Ground was located in a Northeastern region of the Divine Might Sect''s territory, tucked up into an unimportant corner. If Micheal had wanted to, he could''ve traveled East for a few dozen miles and hit the Grand Ocean. It was currently the middle of Spring, or Winwarm as the Byrens called it, on the Second Layer. That meant it was a decent temperature out, not too hot nor too cold thanks to where Micheal was located. Micheal didn''t care too much about the temperature, but did care about which season it was,rgely due to the weather. Weather on the Second Layer was known to be rather haphazard, especially during the ''Summer'' and ''Winter'' months. Spring was slowly drawing to an end around now, meaning Micheal had plenty of time to act before having to deal with any annoying Magic Storms. After reaching a ce where no one could see him, Micheal had called out his two Life Orbs and jumped upon them. His green robe was long enough that it could cover the Orbs up, though he wasn''t particrly worried about being spotted out here. If he ran into anyone, he would just switch over to his Cloud Stepping Shoes. He then began to zoom off on his journey, continued North as he gradually headed towards the end of thend that had been, in part, ceded to humanity by the Divine Might Sect. The air whipped past him as he flew, staying low to the ground as he practiced using his newly strengthened Soul. He constantly worked on rotating his Life Orbs, manipting them in odd turns or abrupt reversals, and all sorts of patterns designed to experiment with his Soul. He needed to adapt quickly to the increased power, knowing that it could make all the difference in battle. As he grew more adept with the increase, he could also feel something unique about his Life Orbs. They almost felt like they had grown sturdier, as if they became more durable as his Soul grew stronger. They felt like they could endure more powerful blows, though that was something he wasn''t likely to test, not if he was trying to stay disguised. Alongside that, Micheal also vaguely felt as if something else had changed. He couldn''t know for sure, not for a couple of days But he had a feeling that the number of Life Orbs he could create, in total, had increased. If his guess was right then he could now store one extra Life Orb, which meant he had an extra life when push came to shove. ''Man the power to die ande back to life'' He shook his head slightly at the thought, still incredibly pleased. After his duel with Prime, a thought had be cemented in his mind: This Ability was truly mind-bogglingly powerful. While he now knew it couldn''t heal injuries to the Soul, the fact that he could disregard injuries to the body was already incredible. He could really see why users with this power were famed for being unkible. Micheal began testing his Cloud Stepping Shoes as he flew, getting to a point where he wasfortable with his Soul. Unfortunately, he quickly found an issue with them. That issue wasn''t something he could solve: the enhanced gravity. His body, as of right now, wasn''t super powerful. Physically, he was on the level of an average Third Rate Warrior, something that wasn''t anything special. If he wanted to use his Cloud Stepping Shoes to jump high into the sky, and then use that height to glide long distances, his physical strength currently wasn''t quite enough. Just jumping that high, alone, would be extremely exhausting. While his Strength stat was at 80, his Endurance and Recovery stats were only in the mid-50s. His body would grow tired long before he reached anything approaching a decent height. Such exhaustion would ruin any potential perks he might gain from being up so high, leaving him vulnerable to attack. His Life Orbs could restore injuries, but they couldn''t restore spent energy. Exhaustion was a poison he would be unable to shed through normal means. As a result, he stuck to just soaring along the grass, only half a meter or so above it. He made fast speed and kept up his practice, zing along steadily. The farther from the Spawning Grounds Micheal moved, the more and more rugged thendscape had be. The grassy ins where nothing seemed to grow gradually faded into the raw wilderness. Hills, forests, and a mix of wild territory spread out before him, dotted with wild animals, though he had yet to see any Magic Beasts. And it was here that Micheal finally saw his first ''Slum.'' He spotted it in the distance as he flew up one particr hill. It was arge, motley collection of tents, houses, and shoddy walls covering an area of several kilometers. Some of the homes seemed well constructed while others were in disrepair and falling apart. Garbage littered the nearby area, some of it half burnt, as if people had attempted to clean up but given up halfway through. In this meshed together attempt at a Camp, Micheal could see hundreds of figures resting or moving about. His eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on them, a frown appearing on his face. Elderly folks that seemed too brittle to have even made it to the Second Layer, crippled or horribly disfigured warriors that were barely making it by, those of weaker mind or those that had suffered severe shock After two weeks, every Chosen had to make a choice to join an organization within the Human Alliance. When you did that, you had to meet certain goals to stay within that organization. If you were unable to meet those goals multiple times, you could be expelled and banned from staying in, or near, any of the ''Camps'' that protected the ''useful'' humans. In other words, these people were abandoned. Too sickly, too useless, too injured, too dumb, there were a variety of reasons that someone might be rejected from one organization or another. Very few people would be willing to take care of invalids in this horrible death war with other races. Micheal turned and spat to the side, a vile taste filling his mouth as he looked away. He could see people literally copsed on the sides of the road, begging for anything. It cost a few Points a week, at most, to live here on the Second, even in these barrennds. Yet, for someone that shouldn''t have made it here in the first ce, or was too injured to care for themselves, that could be an unreasonable burden. ''It was like this for a while in the beginning.'' In Micheal''s first life, the harsh Slum/Camp system existed in his time as well, many months down the road. This setup was cruel and heartless, and ended up costing countless lives, an uneptable loss in Micheal''s eyes. It was also stupid, at its core. Humans could only have a limited number of Abilities, it made no sense to just throw people away. There could be so much value in every single person! It was actually the Purgatory Church that first made major moves to fix this system, setting up food and care kitchens and hospitals in all of the shanty towns that began to develop, especially as hundreds of millions of people reached the Second Layer. Things got better, but not for a long time. As Micheal looked on at this horrifying facet of reality, a feeling of helplessness began to fill him. ''How would I fix this..?'' As he confronted the issue, he couldn''t help but feel useless. He was no genius when it came to management. What he knew best wasbat, battle, swordsmanship, and training. He knew how to kill his enemies and developplex battle ns, to take out anyone that was going against him. But he couldn''t stab starvation to death with a sword. He couldn''t heal the injured with a dagger. He couldn''t solve poverty with his fists. Micheal sighed and looked away. It was an issue that needed work but it wasn''t his top priority right now. He had a few ideas on how to approach it, but none that could be implemented immediately. The First Layer had been handled, especially with the messages he''d sent to his various allies before he left. What he needed to focus on, for now, was handling the things that needed immediate attention here on the Second. The Slums could wait a few more weeks. Saving the Farian that could stop the Great Disaster could not. And to save her, Micheal first needed to reach the territory of the Silent Sword Sect. . Micheal passed by the Slum, avoiding any interaction as he continued to soar along the ground. Whenever he saw a party or group in the distance, he made immediate detours and went out of his way to avoid contact. While this corner of the Second Layer wasn''t very popted, bands of humans roaming about were not at all umon to see. This wilderness abounded with wildlife that was much stronger than that of Earth. Deer, mountain lions, wolves, many of the animals Micheal knew from Earth weremon here, but in much stronger forms. They weren''t at the level of a Magic Beast, but were powerful enough to make them difficult for regr humans to hunt. As he moved, Micheal was aware that whatever he did here could potentially leave a trace that others could track. His new identity as ''Legion'' would need to bepletely separate from his identities of ''Heron'' or ''Micheal.'' At the bare minimum, there would soon be millions of people after his head. After all when word reached the Second Layer that he had killed the Godfather Well, it wouldn''t be pretty. Even though this was the Second, many people here still appreciated and respected the Godfather Organization of the First. There was a reason no infants or young children had been spotted in the Slums Micheal had seen. Very few young humans existed on the Second Layer, and most of those were only from being born here on the Second. Most children lived on the First Layer within the Godfather Organization. Very few people would begrudge someone for taking care of lost siblings or family members, especially as they realized how terrible this reality was. The Vile King couldn''t know exactly what happened thanks to Micheal''s efforts in the battle with Cameron. The longer Micheal could prevent him from knowing that he was actively working to stop Constantine''s ns, the bigger Micheal''s advantage would be. Being forced to hide his identity, especially as hundreds of millions of people began to pour through to the Second, was a small price to pay. Thends around him continued to return to the wild, the grassy, peaceful ins long forgotten. In this abandoned corner of the Divine Might Sect''s territory, only humanity and Magic Beasts could be found. And as Micheal travelled farther northward, he spotted his first roaming Magic Beast. Most Magic Beasts lived in mystical looking mountain ranges or blessed forests. Such ces were not umon on the Second Layer, and were, in fact, almostmonce. There were tens of thousands of fog-shrouded mountains, faintly glowing forests, or magicalkes, each packed full of magical creatures of varying power. In these areas, Magic Herbs or very rare Helion Treasures could be found and eaten, a staple of a Magic Beast''s diet. These magical nts or fruits would reappear after being devoured in an inevitable cycle, one of the special aspects of the Second Layer. Still, some of the weaker Magic Beasts might find themselves unable topete for enough food in their vast enves. Creatures like this would take to roaming the outside world, looking for prey to hunt on. Byrens, Humans, or regr beasts, it mattered not to them. The first creature of this kind that Micheal spotted was a beast he found roaming only an hour past the Slum. Arge, one and a half meter''s tall wild dog, with spiked ck fur that fluttered faintly in the breeze. Bulging muscles could be seen under its sharp-edged fur, giving it a primal appearance. Its eyes glowed with faint, blue light, while its deadly teeth gleamed white. It was a ck Needle Dog, a Low-Tier Magic Beast. When Micheal spotted it, he slowed down slightly. He eyed the creature from the air, around 200 meters distant from it. The beast was currently munching on a white deer''s carcass, one of the many normal animals that inhabited the Second Layer. Low-Tier Magic Beasts would normally require a team of Third Rate Warriors to take down. Even Low-Tier creatures were ferocious monsters that contained a huge amount of strength. However, taking down Magic Beasts came with ample rewards. Their bodies were magical, containing resources that humans could only buy from the Shop, including some materials that couldn''t be purchased at all. In addition, every Magic Beast came with a Spirit Crystal embedded within them. The Crystal operated as the ''battery'' of a Magic Beast, a type of tough organ that stored their energy. Just like humans, Magic Beasts cultivated a type of energy that was roughly equivalent to Ki. When regr Byrens killed a Magic Beast, they would remove this Spirit Crystal. They could then slowly absorb energy from the Crystal to help further their Ki Cultivation. In this aspect, Byrens had an advantage over humans. When a human killed a Magic Beast, the energy in that creature''s Spirit Crystal was automatically absorbed and converted into Points. There were few exceptions to this rule, and because of this, it made it very difficult to acquire Spirit Crystals through any means other than trade for humans. The drained Spirit Crystal dissipated into dust, bing mostly worthless. The other materials that a Magic Beast contained, however, were still worthwhile. These were the main tools humans used for trade at this time. As Micheal scanned the ck Needle Dog, he roughly gauged its power. ''It''s stronger than an Abnormal Morenkai, but not on the level of a Monster ss Morenkai.'' He could tell this with a simple nce. Its physical power wasn''t bound to be too high, nor was its physical defense. However, when it came to Magic Beasts, raw strength wasn''t everything. Most of them contained weird abilities or powers that set them apart from each other. To humans, these marauding Magic Beasts were a gue that took countless lives. After all, if it took a full team of Third Rate Warriors to kill one, then groups of humans that weren''t at that level, or individual Third Rate Warriors that weren''t with a team, were easy prey. Micheal hadn''t encountered one of these before, but could remember reading a vague description of the creature thanks to his Ceaseless Mind''s perfect memory. The fact that it was covered in quills and spikes likely meant it had a defensive or close-range offensive power, something the description he''d read confirmed. After scanning his surroundings and noting that no one was nearby, Micheal began to approach the ck Needle Dog. He didn''t hide his presence nor did he set up any special traps. Instead, he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and simply flew forward. It took only a couple of seconds for the ck Needle Dog to notice him. The dog had been in the middle of chomping down on arge deer hind leg when it froze, its nose twitching. Its entire body shivered as it turned to look at the fast-approaching Micheal, a low, rumbling growl echoing out. Micheal ignored that as he continued to fly forward. He bent his knees slightly as he moved, his gaze calm and steady. The wild dog''s growl evolved into a roar as the Magic Beast dropped the deer leg and took several steps towards Micheal. Its fur spiked up even further, making it look painful to touch. By this point, Micheal was just a dozen meters away. He had leapt off of his Life Orbs and was sprinting forward, his every movement measured and precise. The tension built up as the roaring wild dog prepared tounch itself at Micheal, its white teeth gleaming. Just before the Magic Beast leaped, just before Micheal was about to make contact Micheal''s eyes glowed as he stared at the ck Needle Dog and unleashed his full killing intent. An invisible wave of emotion, conducted by the power of his Soul, washed forward and epassed the ck Needle Dog. A feeling of overwhelming bloodlust and intimidation, borne from more than a decade of brutal warfare andbat at the highest level. That invisible wave of emotion mmed into the Low-Tier Magic Beast and froze it in its tracks. Its entire body grew still in terror as it felt this pressurend, neutralizing its attack before it could even get started. By the time it even tried to recover from that shock, it was already toote. In the split second that it stood there frozen, Micheal decapitated it in a single sh. His right arm had struck forward lightning-fast, Advanced Tier Sword Energy coating his de as he cut through the ck Needle Dog''s tufted fur like it was paper. A wash of red blood spattered out as the Magic Beast copsed, killed instantly. . -Points Obtained- Points: 267 . Micheal flicked the notification to the side as he smoothly spun around, sheathing his sword in a graceful movement. He eyed the Points total, sighing slightly. It was a travesty that humanity abandoned so many of their own to various Slums, not when Low-Tier Magical Beasts could provide so many Points. This was enough to provide a basic meal for at least a hundred humans. People''s appetites grew stronger as their bodies became more powerful, but it wasn''t at anything approaching a high level here on the Second. After a second, he gazed down at the corpse, wrinkling his nose slightly. "It''s no good." He frowned as he stepped forward and grabbed ahold of the wild dog''s body. He picked up the pieces and quickly stored them in his Mid-Tier Spatial Ring, saving it forter. Low-Tier Magic Beasts were ferocious, but Micheal''s skill level vastly outweighed his own body''s strength. That,bined with his abnormally strong Soul, meant that no Low-Tier Magic Beast was bound to be a match for him, no matter how powerful or odd their abilities might be. Advanced Tier Sword Energy, in his hands, was deadly enough to shear through the skin of any Low-Tier Magic Beast with ease. His physical strength was enough to carry him for now, and he could always use the Bracken Enhancement Fluid if he truly needed to, giving him the versatility he needed to handle most situations. As well, while he wasn''t at the level where he could use Master Tier Sword Energy without serious injury, his powerful Soul was almost at that point. If he could get just a few more points into his Soul stat, he would be able to freely use the lowest level of Master Tier Sword Energy with minimal injuries. With the experience he had as well as the fact that his Soul was already partially adapted to Master Tier Sword Energy, once he reached that point... he wouldn''t be at full strength, but he would pretty easily be a First Rate Warrior. These were all huge positives. Unfortunately, one very serious negative existed. Micheal''s best method of attack was, of course, with raw swordy. However If he wanted to maintain his disguise, he couldn''t show most of that outstanding sword skill. It would beughably easy to trace him to ''Heron'' of the First if he showed even an inkling of his Sword Mastery prowess. Right now, it was very important that he remain undercover. He couldn''t let the Vile King know of his true identity and he especially couldn''t let the man know that Micheal was targeting him. Not yet. There was also the problem that if he got discovered, no doubt hordes of angry warriors woulde after him because of his actions on the First Layer. It would take a while for the truth to sort itself out down there, and that was something he could not wait for. The 12 Tribes of Deities were doubtlessly growing insanely powerful on their own Layers as time went on. Micheal needed to prepare humanity as quickly as possible. He already knew what would happen if he didn''t interfere. As these thoughts shed through his mind, he closed his eyes as he began to ponder what he should do. He needed to find a different weapon to use, and he needed to use a different type ofbat style. It had to be something unrecognizable, something no one would see and think of ''Heron'' or ''Micheal.'' As he considered this, a memory from his past life popped up into his head. Micheal slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his hands, an idea beginning to form . Towering, thick oak trees dominated arge, sprawling forest. These trees were abnormally thickpared to normal oak trees of Earth, stretching five to six meters across in sheer width. They had more inmon with the giant redwoods of Earth than the oak trees they appeared to be. Atop one of the branches in the midst of these towering giants was a green-robed figure slowly strapping on a glove. Micheal frowned as he adjusted the ck hand cover, making sure it was tucked in tightly. The glove was ornate, with five dull silver lines tracing his fingers on the back, and a grey upside-down triangle on its palm. Small ck stones could be seen, woven into the tip of each finger. Only a single hour had passed since he killed his first Low-Tier Magic Beast. In that time, he''d made fast progress, rapidly leaving the territory that was inhabited by most normal human groups. The sprawling forest he''d found was one he remembered from his first life, the O''Shack Grove. It was a massive forest, but not a magical one, meaning the strongest Magic Beasts you''d find would be Low-Tier. From down below, Micheal faintly heard monstrous growls echo in the air and a few deathly hisses that resounded in his ears. Apparently there was some type of snake infestation nearby, something he noted down absently. "There we go." Micheal muttered, a small smile appearing on his face. Micheal stretched his right hand and wiggled his fingers, moving each digit precisely. He studied the ck glove he had just put on, examining the intricate bindings, the symbols woven into its palm, and the small, ck gems set at the tip of each finger. This Artifact had cost Micheal a very pretty penny in the Shop, at 55,300 Points. It was a Silk Strider Glove, a powerful tool that had some very specific powers. Its durability was rated at a very high level,rgely because of its purpose. If Micheal put it to the test, the glove itself would endure even an attack imbued with Advanced Tier Sword Energy for a couple of seconds. Longer than that and it would inevitably be sliced in twain, but just the fact that it could hold at all showed its defensive prowess. More importantly, the five magical Spider Gems set at the tip of each finger, imbued and attuned with the glove, showed off the Artifact''s true strength. These ck gems had the ability to absorb many types of metal. In turn, that metal couldter be spat out in the form of thin, but extremely durable, metal threads. The stronger the metal, the more durable and tensile each thread. The main uses for this Artifact were to help set traps, to help create temporary shelters using the metal threads to strengthen walls and doors, for use in scaling or climbing dangerous heights, and so on. It was a versatile tool-centered Artifact. For Micheal, however this Artifact reminded him of a routine he had used to train his concentration and maniption of Sword Energy, many years into the future. Micheal never had an official ''Master'' to guide and teach him. He attended several speeches and demonstrations given by Master Tier Swordmasters, and even a few by Grandmaster Tier Swordmasters, but had never officially followed someone. Most elite warriors required certain things from anyone wishing to learn from them. Some of them required certain magical contracts, others had expensive fees, and still others wanted rare items. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Micheal had been fiercely determined to stay independent in his first life, especially as he went further and further along in the 7 Layers. His trust had been rapidly whittled away as he was betrayed again and again, contributing to that ideal. As a result, however, Micheal was forced to cobble together multiple techniques to train himself through his own merit. The fact that he managed to reach the Grandmaster Tier of Sword Mastery entirely on his own, while starting several yearster than most of the elite, was a testament to his determination. Micheal''s research into training methods didn''t rely solely upon the human race, either. He researched all ways to train his Sword Mastery, ways to increase the power of his Soul, and ways to grow stronger while being unable to change his Physique. One of the routines he had discovered that could help with training one''s Sword Mastery was a method used by a race he encountered on the Third Layer. It involved using a tool known as an ''Iron Strings Gauntlet.'' Micheal held out his right hand, focusing on the Silk Strider Glove. In his mind, he could feel an innate connection with the Artifact through his Soul, allowing him to activate it freely. Slowly, five thin, titanium strings emerged from the gem tips. Each thread was small, about a third as thick as his finger. They emerged limply, as if waiting to be tied up to something. They slid out for a full meter before Micheal stopped activating the glove. Micheal took a deep breath as he looked at the threads. Then, slowly, he began to push out a wave of Advanced Tier Sword Energy. The red energy glowed darkly as it spread out along the ck glove and then followed the five metal threads, moving all the way up and down the length of each thread. The small width of each thread meant the energy could easily cover the thin lines, creating five, faintly glowing metal strings. ''Hmm'' Micheal stared intently at the creation, feeling everything keenly. The threads were made from regr titanium from Earth. Unlike the Iron Strings Gauntlet Micheal used on the Third Layer, this glove wasn''t built with extremely rare and powerful metals. The original purpose of this Artifact wasn''t forbat, but for crafting and utility. He would''ve preferred to use the Iron Strings Gauntlet he''d used in the past, but that Artifact wasn''t something the Shop sold. Micheal had personallymissioned it on the Third Layer with materials and skills that didn''t exist here on the Second. The Silk Strider Glove also needed a huge amount of metal absorbed into it to be useable. After all, it wouldn''t have unlimited metal, and if Micheal ran out in the middle of a battle, it would be rather serious. Micheal''s Points total after buying the Silk Strider Glove was just enough to get it a sizable amount of titanium, leaving him with a mere 200 Points left for emergency situations. He would''ve used more powerful metals if he could, but he simply hadn''t had enough Points. He hadn''t even been able to buy a second glove to use for his other hand. Still, even with all of those issues, Micheal couldn''t help but smile as he wriggled his fingers again. Slowly, the metal threads on the ends of each finger began to twitch. His finger movements,bined with the constant maniption of his Advanced Tier Sword Energy, caused the threads to rise up and shift into the shape of a triangle. Micheal twitched his fingers again. The threads morphed and shifted once more, this time taking the shape of arge circle. "Excellent." Michealughed out loud as he saw how smoothly it was working. Advanced Tier Sword Energy couldn''t be manipted outside of a weapon like Master Tier Sword Energy. However, if he used this Artifact, propped up by his abnormally powerful Soul, he was able toe up with a near-recement. Slowly, Micheal began to lengthen each individual thread. Soon they stretched out to two meters, and then to three, four, five, and six. After several moments, he stretched them out to a full 10 meters in length, covering a huge amount of ground. A sheen of sweat covered Micheal''s forehead as he manipted all five metal threads at ten meters of length. Each thread twisted and rolled in the air like long, living snakes, under hisplete control. Micheal could feel their presence with his Soul, allowing him to control each one with a very high level of focus. Micheal made the metal threads twist in the air and, with a few small hand movements, abruptly surround the tree he was on. As he did so, he raised and opened his right hand, his eyes gleaming with the Ki Energy inside his body. The threads were constantly pulling and tugging at his body as he moved, meaning he had to carefully control the strength of his body to not get sent flying. Then, he clenched his fist. The metal threads whipped forward in a cascade, cutting into the huge tree from every single direction. In just a single split second, the tree was cut into more than 20 pieces, literally shredded before Micheal''s very eyes. Micheal backflipped off the tree, using his Cloud Stepping Shoes to jump to a secondrge tree as the first copsed. Leaves, branches, and split pieces of wood cascaded in the air as the giant oak fell to the ground, smashing down with a rumbling groan. "Not bad not bad at all" Micheal muttered as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. The power of the metal threads was considerable, especially when he used all of them. They offered a huge amount of range and versatility, and would be extremely difficult to defend against. The only problem with using them was the extreme amount of focus required, as well as the huge strain on his Soul. Micheal''s Soul was very powerful for his level, absurdly so for someone that had just been here a few months. Despite that, he already found it strenuous to use Advanced Tier Sword Energy to manipte just 5 threads at 10 meters. He had made the threads as thin as possible, but could already tell that this style ofbat couldn''t be something he drew out. He also might need to shorten the technique''s range by a few meters. Advanced Tier Sword Energy simply wasn''t made to be stretched out so far. There was a reason Micheal had used the original Iron Strings Gauntlet for training, and not forbat. It was excellent at splitting his focus betweenbat and the maniption of Sword Energy, but the sheer amount of pressure it put on him was monstrous. That said Micheal had a considerable wealth of experience using a simr Artifact, built up over several years. He knew how to actively use it well and, while the focus it required was extreme, Micheal was able to meet that extreme. "That''ll do." Micheal nodded his head. He had found his alternativebat style, one no one could possibly trace back to his previous identities. In the background, the tree Micheal had felled finally finished copsing. The tree he was now standing on shuddered slightly at the impact of the fallen colossus, slowly returning back to a sense of stillness. With this issue finally settled, Micheal returned to his journey. Instead of continuing to travel North, however, he headed deeper into the O''Shack Grove, jumping from treetop to treetop in a blur. On his way to the Silent Sword Sect, he was making a small detour. The O''Shack Grove was a normal forest. Humanity had done plenty of research on the specifics of the Second Layer, defining everything to a science. The worlds of the 7 Layers all had different concentrations of energy propping them up, built upon the strongerws of reality. The higher up you went, the richer the energy in the air was, allowing one to cultivate to greater heights. Official Magic Forests contained naturally higher concentrations of energy, granting an area magical properties. The forests themselves weren''t that magical, but the space the forests upied was. This was why Magic Herbs and Helion Treasures grew on their own, reappearing over and over. As Micheal flitted through the forest, he could feel that this ce was normal. He passed by a couple of Low-Tier Magic Beasts, but most of the animals in here werepletely ordinary. There was nothing special about it. Nothing special yet, that was to say. For, there was a reason Micheal had been here before, back in his first life. In the future, the O''Shack Grove would be a huge Magic Forest, full of rich energy, Magic Beasts, and rare treasures. It became one of the most popr hunting grounds for humanity, abounding with wealth. But Magic Forests didn''t just appear out of nowhere. There was a legend rted to the O''Shack Grove and how it became such a giant Magic Forest. A legend of a group of bandits and thieves that had made the deepest center of this forest their hideout. A legend of how these thieves had stumbled upon a fantastic treasure ground, using that to grow to power. The legend of the Rury Gang, a notable group of ouws that had grown to infamy in Micheal''s time. Each member of the gang became powerful, gaining a myriad of strong Abilities, rare Artifacts, and elerated Ki Cultivation. The Rury Gang gued humanity for a long while before their eventual destruction at the hands of the Four Barons. After their defeat, the Four Barons took control of that treasure ground, using it to grow more powerful. The leaders of humanity growing more powerful was normally something Micheal would support. However, on the Second Layer, everything was a bit different. At least two of the Four Barons were being manipted by Constantine''s Seeds. Micheal wasn''t sure which two. History wasn''t sure about everything that took ce down here, the records containing iplete and unclear information. But what Micheal was sure about was the treasure ground the Rury Gang found. The bandit gang discovered the location of a Fallen Deity''s Inheritance. . As Micheal quickly traversed the forest, he kept his eyes and senses wide open. He looked for even the slightest sign of habitation, not allowing anything to slip past his gaze. He moved past several small beast colonies, three pits full of snakes, a dozen packs of wolves, and several Low Tier Magic Beasts, ignoring all of them. By the time any of those beasts realized he was there, he was already gone, vanishing like the wind. His feet rapidly ate up the miles as he jumped from tree to tree. He found this method of movement faster than just soaring with his Life Orbs, letting him rapidly reach an area close to the center of the forest. ''It should be somewhere near here'' The thought was on his mind as he looked around, after leaping about for around 40 minutes. The forest was huge, but his movement speed was also quite fast. Without any powerful beasts to force him to be careful, the progress he made was immense and unobstructed. Micheal took one final jump andnded down atop the branch of arge oak tree. As soon as hended, however, he ducked back to the side of the tree, his eyes piercing forward as he hid under some cover. Roughly 70 meters away from Micheal, he could just barely see two humans casually conversing. Both were male, dressed in rugged leather clothing with des on their hips. Both of them were young, white males in their early twenties, with scruffy beards and untamed hair. Micheal strained his ears as he studied them, his eyes cool. His powerful senses spread forward as he zeroed in, just barely allowing him to pick up what they were saying. "but the size of that Red Hand Snake, it must''ve been as big as my thigh!" "Yeah, I don''t get why they call it a Red Hand Snake. Red Leg Snake sounds kinda dumb though." "That''s a fair point." Micheal wrinkled his nose as he listened to their conversation. ''Who are they?'' Meeting a group of humans so deep in the forest, quite close to the location of the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance ''Oh. Right. The Rury Gang.'' Micheal blinked and then flicked himself in the forehead. Obviously they had to be the Rury Gang. But this point in time was well before the Rury Gang rose to their high levels of infamy. After all, they didn''t start to appear until after Micheal first came to the Second Layer. And, in his first life, that time was still many months away. From that, Micheal could conclude that this area must''ve been their hideout for a long time. It wasn''t a bad choice, all things considered. The O''Shack Grove was secluded and had few things of interest within it. For a group of people that killed other humans to gainrge numbers of easy Points, it wasn''t a bad deal at all. Micheal''s eyes darkened when he considered that. Bandit groups like the Rury Gang were not at all an umon sight. While most humans fell in line with the Four Barons, some humans that came to the Second Layer chose to walk their own path. This became vastly moremon as hundreds of millions of people swarmed into the Second Layer in theing months, greatly weakening the control the Four Barons had. The Rury Gang was a rather unusual bandit group, given the history that Micheal knew. They were described as an infamous, murderous gue that only the Four Barons had been able to handle, but that infamy, itself, was a rather curious thing in Micheal''s eyes. Most bandit groups avoided fame like the gue. After all, one''s survival often depended on how well hidden one''s Abilities were, or how well one covered their strength up, only unveiling it in times of need. The Rury Gang, on the other hand, seemed to have embraced their infamy. It was a slightly unusual point that didn''t seem that important. After all, there could be a plethora of reasons that could exin why this was. Most people would''ve just ignored this tidbit, yet Micheal couldn''t help but find it something that stuck out like a sore thumb. Micheal crept forward silently as he moved past the two sentries. He stuck to the highest point of the trees, using his Life Orbs to silently glide. He didn''t attack the two sentries yet, but instead chose to ignore them. He wouldn''t strike without first being sure this was his target. And, in the off case that there was some type of alert Artifact or Ability active on the two, he might as well y it safe. Unlike the First Layer, the Second Layer had a far wider selection of Abilities avable. Micheal''s actions from this point forward would need to go under much more scrutiny. He couldn''t charge in with guns zing like was possible in the First Layer, though he hadn''t done much of that then either. From tree to tree, Micheal flitted through the tops of the forest, quickly slipping past two other sentries. In no time at all, he arrived at arge, tucked away base. Around three dozen stone buildings dotted a small clearing. A small river ran through the middle of this clearing, next to arge mound of rocks. The rock huts all had te roofs and looked to be created entirely out of different types of stone. Micheal''s eyes glinted when he saw this. One of the people here, likely several, must have the Stone Shaper Ability. It could be used on a mass scale, with the right Artifacts, for the creation of temporary or even long-term shelters. Activity dotted the enclosure as various men and women moved about. Off to Micheal''s right, there was an open training area in the clearing, where a dozen warriors were practicingbat. There was a notable gender discrepancy, with about three-fourths of the people present being men. Micheal stayed put, hiding atop a tree as he studied everything. His eyes continued to scan the clearing, zeroing in on therge stone mound next to the river. After staring at it closely, Micheal could make out what appeared to be a small opening near its base, one that appeared to dive into a dark cave. ''Is that it?'' He thought, his eyes narrowed. If this was the Rury Gang, the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance grounds should be located in or near their home base. After thinking it over for a few seconds, Micheal hid himself slightly more within the leaves of the tall trees and settled in to wait. He assumed a meditative pose, rxing his body as he blended in with the world around him. He didn''t give off a hint of energy, instead focused on bing as passive as possible. Seconds dripped into minutes, and minutes drizzled into hours. Micheal''s eyes were calm and cid as he remained absolutely still, moving only slightly with the rustling breeze that swept through the O''Shack Grove''s tall trees. Beyond just avoiding detection, there was an important reason Micheal decided to wait till nightfall. ording to the legends he knew the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance could only be interacted with after night descended. While Micheal was in this meditative pose, he studied his surroundings keenly. He gauged the power of all of the warriors here, gaining a rough understanding of their forces. While he couldn''t detect their Abilities, he could somewhat guess how strong each person was, based on the power of their physical body and Soul. ''At least 34 unrated humans, 15 Third Rate Warriors, and 1 Second Rate Warrior.'' Micheal''s eyes missed nothing as time flew past, daylight rapidly fading to evening. His eyes were that of a predator, hungrily searching out every detail. His ears picked up a great deal of casual conversation, though he didn''t discover anything of note. His targets weren''t so kind as to spout important ns out in the open. By the time evening arrived, Micheal had gained more than enough information about the group before him. They were, indeed, the Rury Gang. After hours and hours of waiting, the proof of that finallyy before him, even now, as his gazended upon a woman standing alone in the dying evening light. A pale woman with a scarred, disfigured face, long red hair, and a muscr body. She was dressed in a set of tight brown leather armor, with several metal scales covering both of her arms. Simone Alto, the ''Boss'' of the Rury Gang, the only Second Rate Warrior Micheal had seen thus far. In terms of physical power, she was on the level of one of the stronger Supreme A Rankers from the First Layer. It was moremon to find male leaders of gangs or violent organizations, but female warriors could be just as effective. By this point, most of the other men and women had retired to their various homes to sleep. Several groups of warding sentries had been sent out, but there was a very rxed feeling to the camp. No one expected any sort of trouble. Micheal took full advantage of that as he slunk up to the edge of his branch. He took several more studied nces around the bandit hideout, tracking where every possible set of eyes and ears were located. He found a couple moving off towards an outdoorvatory in the woods, a few men drunkenly passed out outside of one of the stone huts, and severalrge dogs tied up to a stone post in the south of the outcropping. Apart from the distant sentries, the only person actively outside, in this exact moment, was Simone Alto. Micheal''s patient waiting had finally paid off. After he reached the edge of the branch, he used his Cloud Stepping Shoes to fling himself in the air. He then brought out his Life Orbs to silently glide downward, controlling his movements extremely precisely. He made not even a hint of noise as he acted, everythingpletely within his control. In the darkness of the dying sun, Micheal descended upon the bandit enve like a silent god of death. .. .. .. .. .. .. Simone sighed as she looked out at the first of the Second Layer''s two moons. She never got used to such a sight, the odd juxtaposition of two enormous celestial bodies set so far away. Around her, the rest of her gang was retiring into sleep. Today had been an average day for training, but all things considered, that was okay in Simone''s book. Her gang was growing stronger every day, something she felt eternally grateful for. The day she began to wage her war for revenge was not long off. It wouldn''t be within weeks, maybe not within several months. But it was going to happen, all thanks to a random cave she''d discovered, just a couple of months ago. She turned and nced over at the rocky opening, just a few meters from her, smiling slightly. She then looked up at the night sky, staring at the unfamiliar stars that dotted the Second Layer. After a moment, she frowned. Above her, she could see a rather irregr splotch of darkness that appeared to be expanding. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at this curious sight, wondering if it was some type of unfami- Her thought process was abruptly frozen as a set of long, metal threads mmed into her. Two of them circled her throat, cutting down and circling her tender neck without giving her a chance to resist. Two othersshed down onto each of her arms, circling them several times and forcing them to remain held down. Onest thread mmed into her waist, limiting her movements. Simone''s eyes grew bloodshot as she prepared to resist, energy rising around her body as she simultaneously prepared to activate several Abilities. She tried to jerk her hands up, doing everything she could to rip off the metal threads. Before she could do anything substantial, however, she froze once more, her eyes widening in terror. For, those metal threads had suddenly be ferociously sharp. Blood dripped down from her nec Chapter 28: Mass Release-Chapter 10,11,12,13,14 Chapter 28: Mass Release-Chapter 10,11,12,13,14 (If you see any typos or mistakes, leave ament/let me know! I will go back and fix them!) What exactly was an Inheritance? In the simplest of terms: It was a tomb. A grand, majestic tomb, guarded with strange magic and supernatural powers, often filled with esoteric knowledge or rare treasure. An Inheritance was this entire collection of things, from the meekest Inheritances built in mud huts to the grandest, golden castles hidden in the clouds. The Fallen Deity''s Inheritance was not a light matter. Micheal had gleaned several important details about this ce through his studies of the past,rgely because of how interesting it was. This site was a very obscure ruin in that very few people held any knowledge of it currently. There were thousands of simr ruins like this one, with almost all of them being valueless or of little worth. Most of the treasures left behind by the Tribes when they left this world had long since been looted. The only ones that remained were ones that were extremely obscure or well hidden. And as he had said before, opening up the stone gate that blocked off the entrance to the Inheritance Site required a living sacrifice. More specifically, it required a sizable amount of life force, enough to rejuvenate the strange magic that controlled this area, offered in a very specific manner. And thus, a couple of hourster, Micheal found himself sitting atop therge boulder that hid the cave-entrance to the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance, looking down at a writhing pit ofrge snakes. "Careful! Slowly back now, slowly back!" "Steady now, men!" "Stay alert around the Boss!" The Rury Group hade awake and alert, even in the middle of the night. They worked and functioned in clear and precise lines, with a group of Third Rate Warriors operating in a ring to protect Simone while she sat down in meditation, using her Silver Scaled Snake Type Ability to control more than 30 different snakes. The rest of the warriors had formed a perimeter around the boulder, making sure that none of the snakes Simone was controlling could slip away. Everything was surprisingly orderly. He could see some of them activate various tracking Abilities, keeping an eye on specific snakes, while others used physical-boosting Abilities to buff up their stats in preparation for anything going wrong. ''They aren''t half bad.'' Micheal was suitably impressed by their level of discipline. The warriors didn''t question Simone''s orders and most of them didn''t even question why or who Micheal was. The only ones that kept an eye on Micheal were two ratherrge men dressed in full sets of green and grey armor, with short brown hair and rough faces: Sub Leaders Biff and Thorin, Simone''s two officers. Both warriors were fierce fighters that had the Lesser Werewolf Type Ability and were pretty strong Third Rate Warriors. Both of these two Sub Leaders stood right next to Simone, one of them keeping a wary eye on Micheal, while the other was the speaker, directing the group with loud orders. Exactly what they should be doing, in Micheal''s opinion. Micheal watched everything unfold before him with keen interest. The snakes were slowly piling into the cave entrance. Each one was roughly 3 meters long, but not powerful enough to be a Magic Beast. Hence, Micheal requested 30 of them, just to be safe. Once the snakes moved into the cave, they slithered up to the stone door and then curled up and fell into a stupor. They weren''t asleep, but instead frozen, their minds dulled. Each creature was under Simone''splete control, making this task an easy one. Originally, this stone gate required a number of ''intelligent'' living sacrifices, an especially cruel requirement. The Inheritance site was one created with harsh demands of any who wished to open it up and seek its rewards, with various magical locks and mechanisms controlling it. This wasn''t entirely unexpected, given that this was the Inheritance of Yvvtal the Destroyer. Yvvtal''s title was not amon one, nor was he amon Deity. He was a traitor to the Tribes of Deities, the meaning of the term ''Fallen Deity,'' and an insane killer that preyed upon thousands of innocents in a mad gambit to seek immortality. Even Deities were not immortal. While their bodies were vastly superior to that of a normal human, the chains of time tied down almost all races equally. The Tribes of Deities were no exception. Micheal had what he saw as a very rational hatred for the Tribes of Deities. They had ughtered humanity and caused his kind no end of grief, anger borne out of years of brutality. The arrogance of the leaders of the Deities was legendary, and their cruelty towards ''lesser races'' even more so. However, he also recognized that, just like how many humans were forced into this death game, even the Deities were forced to climb the Layers. While some lusted for blood, many others did not. He would not me a random nation''s farmer for the pain inflicted by that nation''s General. And thus, even if they were his enemies, he still despised people like Yvvtal, brutal killers that selfishly sought their own ends. At least the Vile King was actually trying to help others, in his own mad way. Constantine was scum, but he was scum with standards. Beings like Yvvtal were the lowest of the low in Micheal''s eyes. And with that in mind, Micheal made a mental promise to one day wipe Yvvtal''s Inheritance from existence. "Alright, Legion! They''re all ready!" Simone called out to Micheal, using the name she now knew him by. Her face was covered with a sheen of sweat, but a determined glint could be seen in her eyes. By this point, all of the snakes had sessfully entered the cave, crammed forward right next to the door entrance. The cave sat ever-still,pletely unaffected by the multitude of creatures that were now stacked within it. The passage of time had damaged the Yvvtal''s Inheritance site in many ways that weren''t obvious to the naked eye. Some of that damage had affected the ''intelligent sacrifice'' requirements. In the records Micheal read, it was postted that the original reason Yvvtal required ''intelligent sacrifices'' was to ensure that whoever entered the Inheritance site was desperate for, or lusted after, power, and willing to make such a sacrifice. The designation of ''intelligent'' was a bit arbitrary, eventually narrowed down to refer to any creature capable of cognizantmunication. Yvvtal had also likely left behind some trail of clues or hints that this was what needed to be done. Unfortunately for the Fallen Deity, it seemed those clues had long since been wiped out or some mishap had taken ce, leading to no one ever actually opening up his Inheritance until long after the Deities had left this world. That period of time ended up being tens of thousands of years long, stretching far beyond what Micheal could conceptualize. After so much time, the magic guiding these ruins had faded in many ways, leading to the situation they were in now. The stone gate needed arge release of life force following a faded ritual, but as long as enough life force was used, intelligence or ack thereof would no longer matter. Given that the gate had to be reopened anytime someone wanted to use it, this was a blessing in disguise for any weaker intelligent beings. "Alright! Everyone remain where you are." Micheal stood up atop the boulder and tapped on his Spatial Ring. He withdrew a small, ck grenade with a red button on its handle. He then jumped over to the cave entrance, clutching the grenade in his hand. He peered into it, studying the unmoving snakes. They were all sitting still peacefully by the stone entrance, just as nned. He sighed slightly when he saw this, mouthing a silent apology. He then pressed the red button on the ck grenade and lobbed it forward. An instant after, he flipped away from the entrance till he was back atop the boulder, out of direct line of sight. A frigid couple of seconds passed as the various members of the Rury Group shifted about, but otherwise did nothing else. Right after A quiet ''bang'' rang out as a veil of ck liquid sttered over all of the frozen snakes,yering them in viscous, mmable oil. The entire entrance to the cave was covered, staining the pale stone a mix of grey and ck. "Simone, are you ready?" Micheal''s voice was cool as he nodded over at the leader of the Rury Group. She nodded stiffly back. Her eyes were centered on the still snakes, her forehead wrinkling in concentration. With a bit of focus, she could deaden the nerves of all of these snakes here. This would numb their bodies and minds, preventing them from feeling anything that would happen next. Micheal sighed as he stepped forward again. This time, he pulled out a small, red firecracker from his Spatial Ring, a normal firecracker from Earth. Yvvtal''s Inheritance only epted its sacrifices in a very specific way. They had to burn to death. If the sacrifices were knocked unconscious, no matter how much life force you offered, it would fail to activate the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance. They had to be awake and alive, consciously burning to death. Micheal had managed to find a small loophole around that, using Simone''s powers to deaden the nerves of the snakes and send them into a rtive stupor. He managed to assuage most of the cruelty of the requirement, though it still left a bad taste in his mouth. Things like this served no purpose. Micheal took onest final nce around the hideout, ensuring that everyone was out of distance of the mmable ck liquid. He then directly lit the firecracker and threw it, watching it flutter down. The various guards all gripped their weapons tightly, some of them glowing as they activated various protective Abilities. Micheal noted all of that with a mild hint of amusement. At least they were proactive. The moment the firecracker touched the ck oil, a ''whoosh'' rang out as it instantly blew up in mes. The fire rapidly sucked itself inside the cave, turning the insides into a glowing inferno. The screams of the ze wracked the air as the snakes inside were annihted, melted down to mere ash in a matter of heartbeats. A torrent of smoke poured out of the cave entry, staining the already dark sky a shade darker. This smoke carried with it the smell of burnt meat and cracked bones, a pungent smell that made some of the nearby warriors gag. Micheal ignored it as it floated by, his attention focused down below him. His powerful Soul stat gave him an edge as it helped him begin to sense what was happening. He was ready to up and flee at a moment''s notice, opting to not ce his full faith in all of what history imed. After a tense pause, however, Micheal nodded grimly. Shortly after the snakes went up in mes, he began to feel a warm, friendly blip of energy start to spread out. This energy felt incrediblyfortable and weing, as if one had been discovered by a long lost family member. "Did it work?" "Do you see anything?" "Cough-cough damned smoke." "Chan, are you okay? You don''t look so good." A multitude of voices echoed out as the curious members of the Rury Group leaned forward or back, depending on the state of their stomach. The explosion hadn''t been very powerful, more of a rapidly-developed fire that appeared and then vanished just as quickly. Among the mire of confusion that swarmed the other warriors cut one voice in particr that sounded off clearly. "I can see it it really did change. Wait can I feel it too?" Simone''s voice was awestruck as she looked at the stone gate, and then up to Micheal standing atop it, covered by a thin veneer of smoke. Her eyes seemed to be held tight, as if she was suffering from some sort of bacsh due to the deaths of all the snakes she had controlled. The smoke from the cave gradually faded and dissipated away, revealing Micheal''s calm figure resting atop the boulder and, below him inside the cave, a coolyer of yellow light shining forth from the stone doorway. "I didn''t lie to you, Simone. The stone door''s been activated, enough to send everything into motion. And now, this whole site" Micheal''s voice soared into the air crisply, his every word measured, "It will open at dawn." Simone stared at him mutely for a few moments. Micheal looked down at her and then smiled slightly, "Before we handle all of that, though, I happen to need a small favor from you and your snakes..." .. .. .. .. .. .. Micheal yawned as he rested in a small room that had been provided to him by Simone. This was one of several spare rooms that had been set aside for storage as it was needed. Spatial Rings were not yet scarce, and wouldn''t be for a while, but there were still things people preferred to store in one ce. The bed hey on was top ss, as was the mattress. If nothing else, this ''bandit camp'' out in the wilderness didn''t skimp on furniture, something Micheal was quite grateful for. A lush, white nket was wrapped around his body, casting away the cool night air of the forest. As hey there, preparing to sleep for a few hours before dawn arrived, he began to contemte his future here on the Second. Over the past couple of days, he''d gone over all the major points in his head, thinking things through carefully. He''d added up the small things as best he could, and the big things as well. All the clues he had and all the information he''d been able to scrounge up. He''d done this before, back on the First Layer, but there was no harm in doing it again, to look over everything he reasonably could. And as he had before, he''d reached the same conclusion. On the Second Layer, there were three disasters that struck humanity. The Darmaton gue that weakened humanity as a whole, the Tree Conflict that almost caused the copse of the Human Alliance and created a huge amount of internal discord, and the final Great Disaster where all of the races went to war with one another, causing horrific losses. If Micheal could stop each of these incidents, then the future of humanity would almost certainly turn around for the better. With the security and stability of the First Layer virtually assured, Micheal was convinced that as long as he could cement the stability of the Second, the future was certain to change. Especially if he could stop the Great Disaster. No races were spared from that final battle. Even the Byrium Race, the powerful Byrens that were the clear rulers of this world at the moment, eventually fell, leaving only humanity as the victor. Brutal, horrifying, bloody, the Great Disaster was akin to the World Wars of Earth. Wars that lived on in infamy, battles of enormous scale that spread without care. While many parts of history were unclear to Micheal, still other parts were abundantly clear. And of what he did know he was going to try to rewrite it, to shift the wheels of fate to a track yet unknown. For, after all of his thinking and nning, Micheal hade to realize something. No matter how powerful he made humanity in the end, he simply didn''t have enough time to prepare so many people for war. He could be strong, sure, and he could raise a few strong allies. But he didn''t have the time to get powerful enough to handle entire wars by himself. The sheer losses the human race would suffer if the war ran, even checked as much as possible by him, would be colossal. ''How can I defeat him? How can I have humanitye out ahead?'' The Vile King seemed omnipresent, with various pawns spread across the entire, carrying out his bidding in real-time. Against such an enemy, even armed with knowledge of the future, stopping him seemed like a challenge of titanic proportions. As those thoughts had gued his mind, Micheal had gradually reached an inescapable conclusion. The only way to win was to not fight at all. He wasn''t going to stop the Great Disaster by making humanity super-ultra-unbeatable. That had been the first idea he came up with, to prepare humanity so well that they couldn''t possibly be defeated. That thought, however it was simply unfeasible due to the scale and scope of such a mission. Hecked both the time and the resources to handle that. No, if he wanted to stop the Great Disaster he would need to prevent it before it could even take ce. He, a man who had only known war for thest dozen years, would have to spread peace. Micheal raised up his hand and opened it as he looked at the roof above him. He then slowly clenched his hand into a closed fist, doing his best to give off a sense of confidence and stability. "One step at a time. And it all starts tomorrow." The first step he would take to stop the Great Disaster It all began at dawn. . Micheal rested peacefully, using the few hours he had to his advantage. Despite being in unknown territory with unsure, temporary allies, his sleep went perfectly well. He put off cultivation, choosing to focus purely on rest for now. Being able to hunker down and maintain one''s body in conditions like this was a skill he''d picked up over the years. In this case, he''d picked out a few small bells from the Shop and set them up in a few spots around the room, creating a protective, and very hard to see, perimeter. Anyoneing in from any visible entrance would inadvertently ring one of these small bells. That,bined with his powerful Soul stat that was passively spreading his senses, even in his sleep, made it possible to keep up a basic level of alertness even as his mind rested. Waking up had proven simple, something he didn''t even have to n for. As soon as the dawn sunlight cracked the horizon, the world around Micheal had begun to tremble. He instantly shot upright, his eyes clearing as he blinked and looked around his small hut. The rooftop above was shaking, as was his bed, the floor, and the walls around him, ringing the bell''s he''d set up. The sturdy build of the hidden camp prevented anything from copsing, but the miniature earthquake itselfsted a full 20 seconds. Micheal took that time to collect the bells and silence them. Micheal skipped over anything like breakfast as he immediately put on a long green robe and left his hut, emerging into the campsite proper. He fit his Silk Strider Glove as he left, making sure it was locked and loaded. Very faint morning light was just starting to creep over the horizon, heralding the arrival of dawn. The campsite was just now starting to bustle as everyone woke up, the odd shaking putting everyone on high alert. In no time at all, Micheal made his way over to the entrance of the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance. He was the first one to arrive there and promptly began to check the surroundings to see if anything was different. From the outside, everything looked identical. The cave was still set in therge boulder, going into the ground. Nothing outside of it looked any different. A few seconds after Micheal arrived, a voice caught his attention, calling out from behind him, "So this is it, then?" Simone''s words were cool and slightly harried as she emerged from a stone house set very close to the cave entrance. She was wearing her customary scale-patterned armor, but this time with a set of ck leather gear protecting the rest of her body, leaving no area exposed. Behind her, men and women were rapidly forming up into lines, following barked orders by Simone''s two Sub-Leaders. The Rury Group was organizing themselves in a fast, disciplined fashion, as if they had been preparing for this for months. Micheal nced back at her and nodded, his face expressionless as he replied, "Look for yourself." He motioned towards the cave entrance. Simone eyed him before taking a few steps forward and peering into the stone cave. While the outside of the area was rtively unchanged, the insides of the cave had transformed. The stone doorway that had been sealed shut was now glowing with white light, giving off an aura of power and might that drew the eye. Motes of light were constantly rising from the floor, glittering in gold and white sparkles. The entire entryway had be a sight that inspired a sense of awe, magical and majestic. Micheal hadn''t warned them about this, or about the earthquake,rgely because he hadn''t actually known that these things would happen. He knew about a lot of major stuff, but minor details like this weren''t recorded in the Second Layer''s fragmented history, not that he could find. Still, as he observed everything, he had to hand it to Yvvtal. The Fallen Deity knew how to impress. After a moment, his eyes flicked to the side as he looked at Simone, and then the rest of her group that was gathering behind him. Now that they got the entrance open for him, he didn''t particrly need them to do anything else. The main thing he wanted them for was to provide manpower to speed up opening the doorway. With that done, he wasrgely free. Still he didn''t want to just leave them to deal with Yvvtal''s tomb on their own. They didn''t seem like bad people and, in addition to that, he''d found them to be surprisingly useful. They had extraordinary discipline and coordination, and the potential to be very useful, as long as they were polished suitably. ''Shin and Sophia won''t be up here for at least a few weeks.'' It wasn''t a bad idea at all to put together a small, elite force he could control. He could both save their lives and efficiently work towards saving humanity at the same time. Especially so if he could lead them through Yvvtal''s Inheritance. While this group was a bit too weak right now, they could rapidly transform to be much more powerful at this site here, as history had proven. "Well then" Micheal began, catching Simone''s attention with a casual wave, "Let''s head in!" .. .. .. .. .. .. It took only a couple of minutes for Simone and her crew to fully prepare. Her two Sub-Leaders didn''t talk a lot, apart from ordering about the rest of the warriors, but they were reliable and got things done fast. When they finally finished preparing, Micheal, Simone, and the Rury Group entered the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance. The first thing Micheal felt he walked through the glowing stone doorway was an immeasurable sense of age. The room he appeared in was arge entrance hall, with a raised ceiling that was at least 10 meters tall. Grand grey pirs rose off to the side, supporting the arching roof up above. The floor was colored a dark grey, with a faded white carpet that stretched all the way down the hall to a set of three doorways, about 80 meters distant. The dimensions of this hall made no sense, given how small the cave and boulder that had hidden the cave had been. But, well, that was magic. It made little sense. The hall was lit by several magical symbols inscribed into the pirs, glowing with soft blue light. Everything in here felt extremely old. As Micheal looked around, he could see a thickyer of dust coating practically everything, causing several of the warriors behind him to cough with every step. Indeed, as he took a step forward on the faded white carpet, it literally dissipated before his very eyes. His single step onto it caused a small chain reaction that destroyed half of the white carpet. "Oh my." Simone held a hand up to her mouth at this in surprise. Her two Sub-Leaders stood close behind her and merely grunted, their hands resting on the hilt of a huge axe that each one had strapped to their back. While the two were clearly not brothers, their bulky appearance and rough faces made them look akin in spirit, if not blood. They walked down the ancient hall towards the ending pathway, causing the rest of the carpet to dissipate into dust. This area gave off a rather eerie feeling, making everything feel vaguely surreal. This was the first truly ''mystical'' ce Micheal had seen in his second life. The pseudo-modern world of the First Layer and the ''Ancient'' world of the Second Layer had two very different setups. This world did, after all, have a deep and rich history behind it. Micheal tossed the thought from his mind as he looked at the three doors before them and, more importantly, the symbols carved onto each of the three doors. Each door was made of an opaque crystal, with ck letters cut into them. The letters were foreign to any known humannguage, exotic lines and scrawls that looped around in patterns. The Shop automatically tranted most spokennguages into something that could be understood by the listening human. This particr aspect of the Shop was incredibly useful formunicating with other races, especially because it could be applied in reverse. It didn''t always work, especially if someone was speaking in a secret code, but it was handy most of the time. The Shop could transmute what a human said and make the words be understood through their intent, even if the listener didn''t know any humannguages. This made humans a prime target for envement by some races looking to find ways tomunicate with other races. However, when it came to ''written words'', the Shop only applied this function to most humannguages. If something was written down in a humannguage, the Shop could trante it to almost any other humannguage, with a few exceptions. If something was written down in any other race''snguage, however The Shop proved useless in tranting those things. It could trante almost any humannguage to any other, and it could convey the meaning of one''s words or understanding the meaning of another person''s words automatically. But that was its limit. Fantastic, but not perfect. Fortunately for Micheal, he recognized these symbols. It was High Divine, the ''formal''nguage that Deities wrote in. A rich andplex style of writing that could convey deep meanings with subtleties that were difficult to grasp, and was often used in the magic creation of things meant tost for very long periods of time. Micheal wasn''t sure when the Toren race discovered thenguage, but that discovery likely helped lead them to ascend and be a true Deity Tribe. Micheal was no expert, but in his studies of the past, the future, and the present, he had picked up on how to read a number of aliennguages. High Divine was one of the ones he could get by on, enough to understand how to read certain manuals or instructions. ''Knight, Lord, King.'' Each door had a different distinction on it, one that had a very clear progression in Micheal''s eyes. He nodded his head slightly when he saw this. This matched everything he knew about this ce from his first life. Micheal turned around after spending a moment to study the doors, looking over at Simone again. She was currently talking to her two Sub-Leaders while motioning at the door. A third person had joined her group and was also engaged in the discussion. This speaker was a middle-aged man with a rather reedy appearance. He was Asian, with short brown hair and of rather short stature. His face was animated as he pointed from door to door, nodding his head in an excited manner. ording to Simone, this was Han, a man that possessed the Magic Librarian Type Ability. It was a unique power that allowed Han to glean information from the environment or objects around him, seeing deeper into things than just what was avable on the surface. ording to Simone, his power had proven a great boon in locating this particr forest, and the hidden tomb here within it. Micheal began to eavesdrop on their conversation. "but I''m not sure if we can safely move through each door." Han had just finished speaking, his eyes wide. "So there is a certain level of danger?" Simone responded, crossing her arms with a frown. "Yes, I can see that. Each door, no matter what, has something dangerous behind it. The moment you try to use the door, you will leave here, somehow. It''s not very clear." Han''s voice as full of frustration. Micheal realized, then, a bit how this must''ve gone in the original timeline. Han''s power must''ve eventually clued them in on how to get the door open, perhaps he observed something that took him a while to see. Her Group then must have progressed through the tomb cautiously, focusing on trying to either find a cure or grow strong enough to fight against Baron Rex. ''They probably wasted a huge amount of time in their first life.'' It did make sense. The Rury Gang didn''t publicly appear for several months from now, if Micheal''s memory was correct. Which it was, given that he had a perfect memory at the moment thanks to his Unceasing Mind Ability. Convenient, that. ''This time is as good as any.'' Micheal walked up to her and her men. The moment he did so, the two Sub-Leaders immediately turned their full attention towards him, shifting slightly as they prepared to attack at a moment''s notice. Simone''s eyes shed as she noticed this and turned to look at Micheal. "I happen to know a little bit about these doors here." Micheal began, talking in a friendly manner. He ignored the two Sub-Leaders and instead nodded over at Han and Simone, "They represent 3 different levels of challenges." "Challenges?" Simone frowned slightly. "Yes, something like that. If you canplete one of these challenges, you will get a reward for doing so and can move deeper into this cave. However, you can onlyplete a single door of the three, and no more." Micheal exined exactly what he knew in clear terms. Thousands of years ago, there used to exist magical servants that would exin these doors to anyone that appeared in the tomb. At least, this was what had been surmised through research once the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance gained its infamy. However, through the winding sands of time, these servants had eventually broken down and vanished. They were simple energy constructs that couldn''tst such a long period. Thus, Simone''s group had likely been forced to test everything manually in Micheal''s first life. Simone tactfully didn''t question how Micheal knew this, but instead nced at Han to see what he thought. The reedy looking man paused quietly after hearing Micheal''s words and seemed to be thinking intensely as he looked at the three doors. After a few seconds, Han looked away and nodded. "That could make sense. It is something that could match what I see." The man''s voice sounded unsure, but it was better than nothing. "And so these challenges, they rte to the cure to our condition, then?" Simone''s voice was pointed as she looked at Micheal, pursing her lips. "Yes but also no." Micheal replied with a shrug. He held up a hand as Simone was about to angrily retort back, continuing, "I know what poison you are suffering from. It''s called Withering Snow Poison." Micheal actually did recognize this fact. The Withering Snow Poison was, originally, a secret weapon created by one of the Inner Elders of the Divine Might Sect used to help control a target and force them to do your bidding. It was incredibly potent and could not be cured by any normal means, nor by most magical means. The symptoms Simone and her allies were suffering from were very minimal right now. However, they all felt a sense of impending doom, knowing that they would die in the future, and could physically sense this poison afflicting them. This matched what Withering Snow Poison felt like to the exact description. Micheal would know after all, he himself had been poisoned with Withering Snow Poison before. His faced wrinkled slightly for a split second as a memory tried to re up. He quickly suppressed it and continued to speak, "This is a very difficult poison to cleanse. However, I can tell you with certainty that the cure to your condition exists within this tomb." He looked back at the three doors and then slowly raised his hand, pointing at the one with the ''King'' condition. "In fact it''s bound to be right behind that door." Micheal smiled. Simone''s eyes lit up as she turned to look at the door. Before she could do anything, however, Micheal spoke again, "But I wouldn''t try it yourself, Simone." His voice held a hint of caution. "Watch your tongue, fool, or I''ll take it from you." One of Simone''s Sub-Leaders broke in, his voice full of unrestrained anger as he red at Micheal. "Calm down, Thorin." Simone''s voice was cool as she looked at Micheal, "Why not, Legion?" She tilted her head back slightly. "Because you''ll die. In fact" Micheal looked from the two Sub-Leaders to Han to the various members of Simone''s team that were milling about in the back of the hall, waiting for orders. He turned back to face Simone with a casual shrug, "Everyone here that tries that door will die. Except me, that is." He wasn''t lying. They really would stand a high chance of perishing if they tried to take on the challenge of the ''King'' door. Even if they did manage to escape with their life, there was no chance anyone in the Rury Group couldplete it. Simone paused, looking rather uncertain as she turned to stare at the door. After a moment''s hesitation, she turned to look at her assistant. Han wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead as he looked at the third door for several moments. Those moments dragged into longer moments, and then into minutes as Han stood there, silently focusing. Micheal remained quiet throughout this, waiting patiently. Finally, after nearly 4 minutes, Han looked away from the door his eyes wide. His hands trembled as he gulped and nodded his head repeatedly. "Th-th-th," He stuttered a few times before he took a deep breath and continued, "The door has something dangerous behind it. Extremely, extremely dangerous!" The poor man was even shaking, as if he couldn''t bear remembering what he had seen. Simone sighed as she heard that and then rubbed at her forehead. She then grit her teeth and turned to look back over at Micheal. Micheal looked back at her with a serious expression, trying his best to convey a sense of honesty. He wanted to look as believable as possible, to gain their trust as quickly as possible. Simone studied him for a moment before asking what Micheal wanted to hear. "What do you want from us, Legion?" Micheal smiled internally. "It''s simple." Micheal began as he pointed at Simone, and then waved his hand at her Rury Group members, "I need manpower to work on a project of mine. This project will be somewhat dangerous, but if you follow my orders, you and your men will walk away from it better than how you started." He finished his short speech, studying Simone''s expression to gauge her reaction. Simone''s eyes opened a bit wider when she heard what he had to say, "You want us to serve as your subordinates?" Her voice held a hint of incredulity. "Something like that. And to ensure that it all goes well, I will require you to sign a Contract." Micheal emphasized thest word. "A contract?" Simone frowned, her forehead wrinkling in confusion. "A Magic Contract, something that will bind our Souls and prevent either of us from breaking it. We can get one here." Micheal smiled slightly, "In return for saving your lives, you and your men will help meplete a mission. I can assure you that it will involve nothing evil, and will only benefit all of humanity. In fact, you and your men should grow to be much stronger as a result of this mission, bing true elites." Micheal''s words were incredibly convincing. He spoke in amanding tone, standing tall and raising his head to give off an authoritative air. His gaze held the pride of a lion, giving off a sense ofplete confidence. Simone bit her lip as she considered this, taking a moment to look back at her team. Her mouth twisted as thoughts flickered through her mind, adding things up and examining the situation. Micheal sighed internally as he saw this. He didn''t like using this sort of method. But there was no other way he would be able to form a team of his own on such short notice, and if he wanted to get things done here, he needed people to work with. Finally, after thinking for several moments, Simone turned her gaze back to Micheal. She grit her teeth as she looked at him. "What would you have us do?" . A cool, soothing sensation enveloped Micheal, as if he had just jumped into a pool of slightly chilled water. This feeling washed into his mind, refreshing and rxing him in a way that was difficult to describe in words. His eyes were closed and he was no longer breathing, yet his body felt healthy and hale. As Micheal felt all of this, he kept his mind alert, examining each and every detail that he encountered. It was a very strange sensation, as if he was entering into a dream-like state. Just momentster, that cool sensation vanished and his breathing came back. The world returned to normal as his feet hit a solid surface, causing him to stumble slightly before catching himself. Micheal blinked as he cleared his vision, looking around at where he hadnded. He was at the base of a mountain. Arge, grassy in spread out around thisrge mountain, dotted with a few trees on asion. Warm sunlight beat down overhead, the mid-morning light falling upon Micheal''s eyes. The mountain itself was decentlyrge, at least as tall as some of the biggest mountains of Earth. Micheal could see a faint ring of clouds surrounding the top of the mountain, giving it a kind of ethereal quality, as if Gods lived there. On this mountain, Micheal could faintly make out a collection of buildings built up into the face of the mountain. A long, straight path of stairs led up to these buildings, scaling halfway up the mountain. Hundreds of figures were currently moving up this stair path in the distance, scurrying upwards in a hurry. Just a few minutes before this, Micheal had taken Simone to the side to have an in-depth conversation, one where he exined what he needed of her and how everything would work. Eventually, she''d agreed to his ns, but only on the condition that he cured her and her men of their debilitating condition first. It was a reasonable demand. They had only known each other a brief amount of time, gaining anyone''s trust was bound to be difficult in such a short period. In addition, their rtionship had started off with Micheal being prepared to kill her if need be, not exactly the best impression. Micheal had no reason to deny her demand, and so their agreement was struck. It was a rtionship based on equal exchange. Unlike Micheal''s friendship with Shin and Sophia, his alliance with Simone was strictly business. Apart from her current misfortune, Simone didn''t have a tragic backstory or a secret past that gued her. She was calcting, but honest, and made her stance clear to Micheal, with no surprises. Now, all Micheal needed to do was find some Contract Seals and find a way to cure the still-secret Withering Snow Poison. After that, with a little bit more guidance from him, he would be well on his way to creating the elite proxy force that he would needter. Conveniently enough, and the entire reason Micheal had proposed this n in the first ce, both of those things could be found here in the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance. And after that conversation, one thing led to another. Micheal gave Simone and her crew some detailed instructions on what the three doorways meant, and what the challenges behind the ''Knight'' door would be. The tips he gave were invaluable, clues picked up from the future that would save Simone and her team an immense amount of time and effort. And while the Rury Group was making their preparations to challenge the ''Knight'' door in various waves, Micheal moved all the way over past the ''Lord'' door to the ''King'' door. And then, without any dramatic ir, he challenged it immediately. He rested his hand directly on the glowing symbol and injected some of his ''Ki'' into it, activating the ancient Inheritance ground. And that was how he ended up here. "Panho! We gotta hurry!" A boy''s voice called out from behind Micheal, catching his attention. Micheal turned around, his eyes narrowing slightly. A teenager was jogging over towards Micheal, waving frantically. He looked to be around 15 or 16 years old, a few years younger than Micheal''s physical age. He was wearing a simple leather tunic and a in shirt, with a longsword strapped to his waist. At first nce, he looked very ordinary, like a human from before the modern era, where people fought with swords and not guns. However, when Micheal looked closer Golden skin that shined with a bronze hue, silver hair that glowed faintly, a handsome, strong appearance boosted by a naturally muscr body despite his younger age As he saw this, Micheal realized something that made his face twitch, involuntary rage forcing its way into his heart. This teenager was not a human. Nor was he a Farian, a Byren, or any of the other races that inhabited the Second Layer. He was a Deity. Specifically, a Toren, of the Toren Tribe, one of the 12 Tribes of Deities. The 12 Tribes of Deities all looked different, based on which Tribe each Deity was from. The Tribe that had wiped out humanity, in the end, were the blue-skinned Morians that, while humanoid, looked very differentpared to a regr human. Torens, on the other hand, looked very simr to normal humans. Each Toren was naturally strong, born with strength that vastly surpassed a regr human. Of all of the 12 Tribes, the Torens were the Tribe that was most physically resilient, born with skin that could easily block bullets. Each and every member of the Toren Tribe was basically a superhuman that could live for thousands of years without any training whatsoever. As with all of the Tribes, one of the major ''downsides'' to their species was the difficulty Torens faced in conceiving offspring. As a result of that, despite their longevity, the poption of their race was very limited in scope. This was the first Deity Micheal had seen since he came back to the past. Killing intent flowed in Micheal''s body and Soul, a colossal wave of pure animosity that threatened to jump out from his body and m into the teenager in a heartbeat. These feelings were built into the very fiber of his being, borne from the blood shed by those he cared for, offered up at the altar of war in sacrifices to stop the rampage of Gods. ''Control.'' A single thought reined in Micheal''s overwhelming emotions as he swept back that killing intent with the mastered discipline of a Swordmaster. In the meantime, the teenager flinched backwards and almost fell down, his eyes widening in surprisingly realistic shock. After a few seconds, however, he blinked and looked around in confusion, as if he wasn''t quite sure what had happened. He quickly recovered as he turned his focus back to Micheal, renewing his earlier speech. "The Disciple Selection Test is about to begin! Come on, Panho! I''m going up ahead!" The teenager rushed off, his short silver hair ruffling as he began to sprint up the stairs that led up the mountain. Micheal watched him go, blinking slowly as he took a couple of seconds to calm down. ''What is wrong with me?'' He frowned as he began to jog after the teenager, his mouth drawn into a thin line. To show bloodlust to a clearly innocent teenager, even if that boy was a member of a race that had caused him unending pain It was very unlike him, even if that teenager was a fake ''dream'' creation. His emotions had be more and more vtile ever since he arrived here on the Second Layer. He found it difficult to keep his mental state, feeling as if he wasn''t inplete control of himself. Not to the point where it would result in any seriouspse but to the point where it was noticeable to him. Feelings like this were something he had not felt in a very, very long time. He knew the reason, of course. He wasn''t an idiot. Even if he didn''t want to face the issue head-on, the fact that his heart ached told him the truth of the situation. It had to be because of her. Isabelle Sra. She was alive once more. He sighed and shook his head, focusing back on the immediate present. His arrival at the base of a mountain, the fact that he had been greeted by a young Toren, everything thus far had urred exactly how Micheal had heard it should. This meant, for certain, that he was sessfully taking the King''s Challenge. The Knight''s Challenge, the Lord''s Challenge, and the King''s Challenge. Each of these three ''Challenges'' were locked behind a different door. Once youpleted one challenge, you were never allowed toplete another one. In their own way, these Challenges served as the ''filters'' that Yvvtal had ced into his Inheritance. The Knight''s Challenge was very difficult toplete. Even with the in-depth tips and tricks Micheal gave to Simone, things that practicallyid out every hard part of the Challenge, it would take weeks, at the minimum, for her entire group to pass it, and the risk of death was still present. Even for Simone, the most talented of her group, it should take her, at the bare minimum, several days and mighte out injured. The power she and her group had the potential to gain was great, but the risks, even with Micheal''s help, were still there. If they hadn''t had the secrets Micheal knew to make everything easier, it would take her months toplete and many of her warriors would almost certainly die. Completing it would provide one with ample rewards, enough to greatly boost an average human''s strength. Past the Knight''s Challenge was the Lord''s Challenge. The Lord''s Challenge was vastly more difficult than the Knight''s Challenge, and provided vastly better rewards. However, even with Micheal''s guidance and help, he had no confidence that anyone from Simone''s group would be able toplete the Challenge. He wasn''t knocking them, not entirely. Simone did seem to be pretty talented and strong-willed, definitely within the upper echelon of humanity. However, these Challenges they weren''t designed for humans. They were designed for Deities. Taking the Lord''s Challenge would''ve been suicide for Simone. And as for the King''s Challenge It was unfathomably difficult for a human being toplete. In fact, there were only two other humans that Micheal knew of that managed to barelyplete the King''s Challenge. Part of this was because many of the supremely talented First Wavers had already moved past the Second Layer before the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance appeared. The First Wave was famed for the disproportionate number of super experts found within it. In addition, the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance wasn''t open long enough to allow for billions of humans to try it. Still hundreds of thousands of humans, if not millions, did manage to make the trip here, all in an attempt to pass these infamous Challenges. And of those huge swathes of talented warriors, a mere two humans passed the King''s Challenge. Baron Fortuna of the Four Barons and the Nirvana Saint of the Purgatory Church. No one else. Plenty of people died trying to attempt it, eventually leading to the King''s Challenge bing a taboo that was avoided, until the eventual disappearance of the Fallen Deity''s Inheritance. But other than those two souls, no one else ever passed, not that was publicly known. Micheal didn''t find that very surprising. He snorted at the thought as he began to sprint up the stairs, his eyes studying the surroundings. The first part of the King''s Challenge was as he''d heard. You were transported to a mountain and forced to take part in a Disciple Selection Test. If you managed toplete the Disciple Selection Test, you would be transported to a ''Neer''s Tournament,'' where you wouldpete with other new disciples for victory. That was theplete ''Challenge.'' All in all, it was a fairly standard urrence for the Second Layer. This was an entire dominated by martial arts. Martial art fightingpetitions were a dime a dozen, and there were actual ''Disciple Selection Tests'' all the time, though they often went by different names. Micheal had, thus far, managed to avoid interacting with the mainstream society of the Second Layer. He''d spoke with some humans and had contact with a single Camp, but nothing else beyond that. The only Byren he''d seen was one of the guards stationed to work with (and possibly spy on) humanity. As such, his first real wee to the society of the Second Layer was happening in a ce where it wasn''t even real. Micheal''s lungs burned as he continued to sprint up the stairs, racing after the Toren. He now moved as quickly as possible behind the teenager, shing up the stairs in an instant. Each step felt rough beneath his feet, the enhanced gravity of the Second Layer ever-present here, even in this dreamworld Challenge. This was all part of the test, ording to what he knew. He needed to show an eagerness to take the test, to show a thirst for power, for whatever reasons he might have, and a refusal to give up or show weakness. And, given his rather driving mission in this life, it wasn''t hard toe up with all of that. As he scaled the mountain, he passed by dozens of figures. He could vaguely make out blips of golden skin or shes of silver hair, clueing him in to the fact that he was sprinting past dozens of Torens. He didn''t let that distract him as he continued to race forward. His body, here in the King''s Challenge, was not the exact same as his normal body. There were certain subtle differences to it, but at the same time, many simrities. For example, his Silk Strider Glove was nowhere to be seen. However, his body and face still had the slightly leaner build he''d gained ever since he''d appeared on the Second Layer, showing that his build and body were still the same. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead as he continued to struggle upwards. He was about a quarter of the way up the mountain, and roughly halfway to his final destination. If he wanted to, he could bring out his Life Orbs and use them to fly up, still able to sense the connection with those tools. Doing that, however, would obviously defeat the purpose of the challenge. Thus, Micheal continued to persevere. The pain and exhaustion that tried to sweep past his mind bounced off a stiff wall of determination that even the fiercest cannons could not shatter. Pain like this was nothing to Micheal but a shadow of his own future practice. Finally, after several long moments of frantic running, cool mountain air wafted over his body, bringing with it the scents of nature and the woonds, a refreshing smell that cleared Micheal''s mind. He had almost reached the location of the Disciple Selection Test and the midway point up the mountain, the ''Main Courtyard.'' "We''re almost there, Panho! Come on!" The nameless teenager needlessly reminded Micheal of what he already knew as he raced up a couple more sets of stairs, just barely leaving Micheal''s sight. No matter how fast Micheal ran, he had beenpletely unable to pass by the teenager. Several stern-looking Toren guards nced at Micheal, standing watch on the top of the stairs as he emerged. They were dressed in rxed leather armor and wieldedrge spears or des in their hands rather casually. Behind them, a set of grand courtyards andrge buildings spread out, built into the rocky face of the mountain. Micheal''s eyes flicked up to them, and then back behind him for a split moment as he realized something. The groups of Torens moving up and down the stairs below looked more like NPC''s in a video game than anything else, moving rather aimlessly, as if they had just been ced there to fill the space. ''They probably had, actually.'' Micheal thought, nodding slightly. This entire dreamworld vision was, after all, fabricated with some strange type of magic. Perhaps those groups had been intended to add a feeling of pressure. He didn''t hesitate as he followed right after the nameless teenager, headed towards the biggest courtyard in sight. As he followed, he mentally began to prepare himself. For what came next, he needed to do everything exactly how he had nned it out in his head. A single mistake could cost him dearly. For, Yvvtal''s Inheritance had a singr purpose. And it was that singr purpose that Micheal was going to take advantage of and use to absolutely rob the Fallen Deity blind. Yvvtal wished to find a new vessel in which to reincarnate his Spirit Body. In simpler terms: He wanted toe back to life by taking over someone else''s body. The fact that he created an entire Inheritance Ground, stocked full of ''Challenges'' and valuable rewards, built up over decades of effort, might seem excessive at first. And, indeed it was. However, in the time that Yvvtal and the Deities lived on this world, things like Inheritance sites held certain expectations. They were designated areas to train one''s descendants and to pass on one''s teachings, while rewarding those that were talented. Yvvtal created this Inheritance site as a backup should he ever perish. It was hisst resort, should he ever need to use it. With that in mind, he needed to make it extremely convincing. Deities, in his era, were extremely perceptive beings. If his Inheritance site didn''t look and function like a proper Inheritance site, it would get ignored or worse, destroyed. Yvvtal could create a convincing Inheritance Grounds while also, at the same time, use that to filter out beings that he couldn''t fully reincarnate into. His standards for a body were both extremely high and unique, meaning not just anyone would do. And with that in mind, a glint of determination shed in Micheal''s eyes as he readied himself. He needed to do what even Baron Fortuna and the Nirvana Saint had failed. Not only did he need toplete the King''s Challenge He needed toplete it perfectly, earning himself several great, and very specific, rewards. And then, after all of that effort, he would achieve the final reward for perfectpletion of the King''s Challenge. Involuntary bodily possession by Yvvtal the Destroyer. "Perfect." . . ''Status.'' . - Status - Name: Micheal Care Points: 200 Race: Human Age: 18 Physique: 1 Star Soul Quality: 3 Star Strength - 80 Endurance - 56 Recovery - 55 Soul - 36 Abilities - (5/7) Life Orb Master Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Early) Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5) Impact Release Ceaseless Mind . Micheal checked his status out of habit as he walked into the grand courtyard, noting that all of his stats and Abilities remained identical and that he could still ess the Shop. Even his Points total was the same. Despite that, he was very aware that this was not the real world. As Micheal emerged into the open courtyard, he spotted groups of Torens milling about near the center. They were a mix of ages, some that looked roughly 15 to 16 years old while others that could be in their mid-30s. Four older Torens could be seen on the far end of the courtyard talking to each other. These warriors were dressed in long white robes, unlike the leather-garbed guards. In fact, these robes looked very simr to a type of robe Micheal recognized from Earth''s past, a Greek chiton. This was the ''formal'' wear of the Torens, as Micheal hade to learn. It was the garb of choice when participating in a type of formal state meeting, a formal ceremony, anything of that nature. The moment Micheal entered the courtyard, it was as if a switch had been flipped. The four Instructors at the end of the courtyard finished talking among each other and turned their focus over to the milling Torens. "Alright, you mongrels!" One of the instructors, a heftier Toren with hair that was cut short, yelled out loud, his voice booming. The words he spoke gave off a physical feeling of pressure, even to Micheal who was on the opposite end of the courtyard. "Group up by age! Child, Half-Grown, Full-Grown!" As he named each age group, he pointed to one of the three other instructors. He gave off a sense that he brooked zero argument and would obliterate anyone who went against him. Quickly, the milling Torens began to split up into the different lines. Micheal''s eyes flicked from side to side as he walked towards the group of ''Half-Grown'' Torens. He recognized these age groups, thankfully, one of the stray facts his perfect memory could recall with ease. The ''Child'' group was for those aged 0 to 14, ''Half-Grown'' was for those aged 15 to 25, and ''Full-Grown'' was for anyone older than 25. Torens grew slightly slower than humans, not entering into full maturity till 25. Their longevity, however, even without Ki Cultivation, could exceed hundreds of years. In short order, Micheal found himself waiting in the correct line. Every Toren in the group was quiet and tense, facing forward silently as the Instructors watched. Before, there had been a bit of a rxed feel as everyone waited. Now, however, Micheal could only sense a foreboding nervousness. ''Probably another purposeful addition.'' Yvvtal''s requirements for his Inheritor really were quite high. Time passed by quickly as Micheal''s line moved forward. Despite his powerful body and keen senses, he couldn''t hear any of what each candidate said to the Instructor at the front of the line. This was because of the powerful Aura each Instructor was releasing. A physical manifestation of energy that could affect reality itself, Auras came about through either high concentrations of Ki used in a specific way or through unique Physiques. As Micheal waited patiently in line, ignoring the pressure and nerve-wracking atmosphere, he mentally reflected on what he knew about the Torens. Among the Tribes of Deities, there were some that were born at high levels of Ki Cultivation, given an inherent advantage from the very start. The Toren Tribe, however, never saw such an urrence take ce. No matter how prestigious one''s parents, every Toren came into existence starting with no Ki Cultivation at all, unlike humans who could pass on some degree of their Ki Cultivation and powers to their offspring. It was only through constant practice and dedication that they could reach high levels of Ki Cultivation and grow their power significantly. Compared to humans, Torens had both an easier and a harder time in their Ki Cultivation. The concept may seem contradictory, and it was at first nce. However, if one dived deeper, everything made sense. Most Torens were born with the ''Heavenly Gold Physique.'' This gifted them inborn strength and defensive prowess that vastly outstripped normal humans. It also enhanced the gains they made in their ''Ki Cultivation'' and allowed them to grow in strength at a rapid speed. However, it wasn''t all sunshine and daisies for Torens. They did have a notable disadvantage. And that had to do with their prehension'' ability. The more powerful a being grew, the more important it was for them to be able to grasp certain concepts in order to keep growing. Sword Mastery was a clear example of this. It took Micheal constant years of focus to reach where he was, carried forward by his indomitable will to grow stronger and earned talent for Sword Mastery. While Sword Mastery, as a concept, was rtively easy to grasp at lower levels, the higher up you went, the more and more difficult it was to progress. It was magical, in its own way. The fact that you just needed to ''understand'' something with your mind and Soul in order to use it was a rather miraculous thing. As long as your Soul was able to sense and control the concept, the energy inherent within it, you could use it, to varying degrees of sess. Torens might be physically powerful monsters, but in terms ofprehension, their Physiques put them at a natural disadvantage. Ifprehending the Basic Tier of Sword Mastery for a human took 1 point of effort, it might take a Toren 10 points of effort to grasp the same thing. It could be more or less, but it was a certain fact that Torensprehensive capabilities were rather low. They weren''t dumb. Merely, their capacity to sense mystical concepts like ''Sword Energy'' was rather low. This meant that most Torens relied on physical attacks and martial arts to defend themselves, creating vast schools of warriors allpeting with different techniques. In fact, the entire society here on the Second Layer was built on what the Torens left behind. Their martial legacies, any and all remnants that they abandoned when they left this world thousands and thousands of years ago. The Byrens had been one of the original, intelligent species of the Ancient World. The Torens invaded this long ago and took it for themselves, enving the Byrium Race. After some years, the Toren race as a whole moved on, seeking out differents and realms of existence. Micheal didn''t know exactly how the Torens left. But it was a fact that many of the Tribes of Deities had the power to ''hop'' between worlds, a power that was thankfully greatly hampered in the 7 Layers. Still, with their unique Heavenly Gold Physique, even the weakest normal Toren had at least a 5 Star Physique rating, letting them maximize and increase the potential of their body, their natural talent. Actually reaching one''s maximum potential became significantly harder as one progressed. While a powerful Physique made it easier to progress in general, what was most sought after were the new limits you could reach. Finally, Micheal reached the second spot in line, just one person behind the current testee. From here, he got a decent view of what was happening before him. One of the four Instructors, a Toren with curly white hair and a stern expression on his face, was ncing over a much younger Toren, one that appeared to be around Micheal''s age. In the Instructor''s right hand was arge, glowing blue rock. The Instructor was currently waving this rock over the younger Toren''s head. He then spoke a few words and waved for the Toren to step a few meters behind him. All of the Torens that had been tested had moved on to these groups and were currently waiting patiently, at the back of the courtyard. ''It''s still the same.'' Micheal mentally sighed in relief as he saw this. This was the first ''Test'' Yvvtal had set for those trying to inherit his powers, as well as to weed out his full Inheritor that he would use to reincarnate. It was a test that had two parts. One that was obvious, and one that was hidden. The obvious part was rather apparent. The rock the Instructor was holding was called a ''Physique Gauging Stone.'' It would give the Instructor a basic understanding of a being''s Physique through a collection of feelings. Over time, the Torens had streamlined these Gauging Stones to narrow down what each sensation meant. It could distinguish between a normal, for a Toren, 5 Star Physiq Chapter 29: Mass Release- Chapter 15,16 Chapter 29: Mass Release- Chapter 15,16 (If you see any typos or mistakes, leave ament/let me know! I will go back and fix them! ) The sun beat down on Micheal''s forehead, a sheen of sweat coating it as he looked out at the arena around him. The air was surprisingly warm, considering how high they were up on a mountain. His gaze was calm and steady, not betraying even a hint of nervousness. That fact, alone, was bound to impress given that he was currently surrounded by over 200 superhuman warriors, of which even the weakest had a more powerful body than he did. After Micheal challenged literally every other disciple, a small hubbub had broken out. Several of the new disciples had thrown a flurry of insults at Micheal, while still others had angrily approached him, fists balled up and ready to throw. It had been a scene on the verge of chaos, just moments from a violent outbreak. Before things got too out of hand, however, the Instructors forcibly settled things down. Specifically, when Chief Instructor Borbo, Micheal finally learned the hefty Toren''s name, let out a veritable avnche of pressure, a pulsing energy Aura that froze everyone in their tracks. Even Micheal was forced to stand still, his eyes widening ever so slightly when he felt it. That Aura was a strong one indeed. It held enough pressure to give even First Rate Warriors pause and force Second Rate Warriors to freeze up, let alone Micheal whose body was that of a Third Rate Warrior. Not only did it hold the strength of a Sky Tier Ki Cultivator, it was also imbued with the natural power of the Toren Race. "As long as I, Borbo, am Chief Instructor of the Mun Sect, none of you are allowed to attack one another without my approval." The Chief Instructor''s voice was nominally calm, but full of explosive undercurrents as his eyes visibly smoldered. If anyone so much as dared to talk back, it felt like be might even smite that poor fool down, then and there. No one dared to speak up or reply, all of the Torens staring at Borbo mutely. The tension of the situation vanished, just like that, as the Instructors reasserted control. And, as Micheal expected, they epted his challenge. Was it realistic of them to allow something like that? Not really. This was supposed to be a Ranking Tournament for all of their new disciples, not just Micheal. But, in the end, Micheal was still the ''Main Character'' of this dreamworld. Everything worked out, regardless of whether or not it logically made sense. The whole point of this ce was to challenge Micheal and allow Yvvtal to see the extent of his talents and Physique, to gauge whether or not he would be a good target. What Micheal asked for still fell within the guidelines of the King''s Challenge. He might be pushing the limits, and definitely toeing the line, but it was still within eptable bounds. And thus, here he was now. Standing on a stage that had just been expanded by several dozen meters in all directions,rge enough now to amodate 200+ other warriors. "Prepare yourself, warriors! The first battle of the Ranking Tournament shall begin on my mark!" Chief Instructor Borbo''s voice boomed out loud as he called out from the sidelines. He and the other instructors had moved off to the four corners of the hastily expanded stage, preparing themselves to stop any fatal injuries, urately reflecting what would happen in reality. Micheal took a deep breath and rolled his wrists. One small wooden swordy loosely in his right hand while his left hand remained free. The de weighed a good amount, around 50 pounds, made of some type of ultra-durable wood that Micheal didn''t recognize. In his hands, the heavy de felt light and flexible, his enhanced muscles wielding them with ease. He adopted a posture that held his sword out to the side and his hand palm open. His shoulders rxed and he leaned forward ever so slightly, hooking his knees down a few inches. He began to regte his breathing as his eyes grew slightly unfocused, relying on his powerful Soul and all of his sensesbined to sense the world around him. "Ready!" Borbo''s voice echoed out as he continued, "3" The various Toren warriors tensed up as they red at Micheal, mindless juvenile anger and irritation painted on their faces. "2" Muscles bulged in the veritable army of powerful warriors as all of the ones set close to Micheal readied themselves to charge into an immediate offensive. "1" The tension between Micheal and the Torens reached a peak, a long pregnant pause forming as everyone froze, prepared to leap into motion. "FIGHT!" The Torens attacked. The closest fighters to Micheal were all ones close to his age or younger. The Instructors had set the field up so that the first warriors to reach him would be in either the ''Child'' or ''Half-Grown'' grown stages, a small element of progressive fairness. However, despite their rtive youth, one and all still possessed the bodies of an eventual Deity-ss race. Thus, Micheal opted to hold back nothing as a trio of male Torens that looked to be around 14 to 16 years old reached him. "Die!" The first Toren shouted a line Micheal had heard all too many times as the fighter lunged forward with a long wooden spear. The attack was filled with explosive power, a very urate and trained strike for someone so young. The second Toren took advantage of that moment tosh out with a heavy broadsword from behind, aimed at Micheal''s back. This attack cut forward quickly and skillfully, with few wasted movements. The third Toren wielded tworge wooden axes. While the other two Torens were attacking from the front and back, he jumped up into the air andshed down with the hatchets, aimed directly at Micheal''s head. All three had coated their attacks with Basic Tier Sword Energy. It was a vicious pincer attack right from the start, aimed at leaving Micheal with no time to n. For warriors that were so young, they showed ample talent and thoughtful nning. ''They really aren''t half bad.'' Micheal thought as he took a small step forward and leaned his body ever so slightly to the side. In the same movement, he raised his left hand and reached out towards the ferociously iing spear. The next moment, the impossible seemed to happen. Micheal''s handtched down onto the head of the spear with a vice-like grip. The head of the weapon was mere inches from piercing through his body when he grabbed ahold of it. It wasmon knowledge that Sword Energy was ferociously sharp. Torens had bodies that were practically divine, even down here on the Second, meaning they could take a hit from Basic Tier Sword Energy head-on and survive handily. This was energy that could boost the sharpness of a sword such that it could cut into and harm Morenkai. Blocking it with one''s body meant one had either insane courage or insane defensive prowess. In the case of the Toren Race, it was thetter. In Micheal''s case, however It was neither. A gleam of red light shed around Micheal''s fingers as he grasped firmly onto the wooden spearhead And then shattered it. He obliterated the Basic Tier Sword Energy and the magical wood in a single motion, using his abnormally fine control of his Advanced Tier Sword Energy to empower his hand itself. Splinters of wood shot out into the air from the destroyed spear, coating the ground beneath Micheal in small wooden shavings as they fluttered down. Micheal didn''t stop there, however. As soon as he destroyed the spear, he quickly stepped forward, ignoring the shocked expression of the spear-wielder. His unexpected movement brought him directly within range of the first Toren. This quick advance also brought him just out of range of the broadsword-wielding Toren''s attack. He then jutted his left elbow forward, his entire body aimed precisely as he targeted a specific point on the teenager''s chest. A loud ''thud'' echoed out as the blow mmed directly into the Toren. And half a secondter, the Toren copsed to the floor, unconscious. The Toren Tribe was famed for their extremely powerful bodies. However, that didn''t mean that they had no weaknesses and were invincible. Just like humans, Torens had their own unique set of pressure points. These points on a Toren, however, were part of the magical setup of their Physique. On the face of it, these pressure points weren''t actually weaknesses at all. In fact, they functioned as a solid wall. Each pressure point had the power to magically resonate with the Ki in a Toren''s body, reinforcing any part of their skin that was severely stressed. This fast-acting reinforcement was arge part of why their natural defenses were so famed. Micheal knew all of this extremely well. In fact, he knew a great deal about every single one of the 12 Tribes of Deities. From minor details about their Physiques to major knowledge about their Titles and techniques, Micheal had a vast store of knowledge when it came to any and all enemies the human race faced. As a warrior that was constantly trying to catch up to the geniuses that had raced ahead in the First Wave, especially with their multi-year advantage, he had devoted much of his life in the 7 Layers to not only growing more powerful, but also to learning any and everything he could on how to take advantage of his foes. And from that store of knowledge, Micheal knew a way to use a Toren''s Physique against them. The moment his elbow made contact with the Toren teenager''s chest, Micheal''s entire arm vibrated for a split second. In that moment, he ran a tiny line of Ki Energy through his arm and, at the very end, exploded forth with a very small amount of Advanced Tier Sword Energy in a wave-like pattern. The cumtive result was an extremely fine and precise impact. Despite his use of Sword Energy, the blow was not at all sharp. Micheal used the powerful energy to shred the small drop of Ki he sent through his arm, causing it to fracture and explode. Thebination of extremely sharp Sword Energy and steady Earth Tier Ki knocked against one of the six ''Core'' pressure points a Toren had. This concussive ''shock'' overloaded the Core pressure point and sent a wave of electrical signals surging in a Toren''s body. For the 14 or 15 year old Toren that had just taken the brunt of that attack, it was like an unstoppable meteor sting into his brain. He simply wasn''t trained to deal with something like that and was instantly knocked unconscious. This type of tactic was a lot like hitting a human on the chin, just right, in boxing. If you aimed it correctly, with the proper amount of force, your enemy''s body would suffer from an impact that shocked their mind, causing them to copse. It was decently effective against weaker Torens. Against stronger Torens at the Lord or King Tier of Ki Cultivation, such a tactic was an exercise in futility. Their bodies were far too powerful, even considering these ''vulnerable'' spots. As for humanity, given that humans didn''t even have a Physique to empower their bodies in the first ce, there was little need for Torens to focus on anything other than basic physiology. Mortal, Earth, and Sky Tier Torens were those among their race had yet to fully experience the significant transition that happened when one reached the Lord Tier of Ki Cultivation. This weakness, in fact, was one of the main reasons they weren''t considered a ''true'' member of the Tribes of Deities untilter on. And this weakness was something Micheal intended to take full advantage of. In the same movement Micheal used to attack and take the first Toren down, he also swung his right hand upward, pulling the wooden sword he was using up towards the two wooden axes that were hurtling towards his head. Instead of blocking them directly, while Micheal was simultaneously elbowing the first Toren, he used his de to tap on each axe in a rapid-fire motion. Each time he hit one of the weapons, he stabbed into the hatchet with a sliver of Advanced Tier Sword Energy. On here, instead of exploding a tidbit of Ki, Micheal simply sheared into the axes and destabilized their movements. As a result, the axe-wielding Toren stumbled as both of his blows swung wide. For a single, split second, the axe-wielding Toren froze up at the unexpected result. A tiny momentter, he copsed on the ground face-forward after taking a rapid punch to the chest from Micheal, knocked unconscious just like the first Toren. The third and final broadsword-wielding Toren had overextended himself on his missed swing. Micheal''s strikes against the first two Torens had finished so quickly that thest attacker had not yet had time to fully recover. By the time the third Toren did manage to pull back his de, thest thing he saw was a white hand sailing through the air to collide with his chest, and then a sh of white light and a wave of darkness as he fell to the floor, overwhelmed. All of this took ce in the span of less than two seconds. Three furious attacks, three calm deflections, and three young, fallen Toren warriors, all in a fraction of the time it took to take a single breath. There was a startled pause from the rest of the young Toren warriors as they saw Micheal basically one-shot the first attackers with incredible ease. This bought Micheal a couple of seconds of respite, enough time to gauge the reactions of those around him. The younger Torens now seemed much more uncertain, while the older ones seemed more cautious. There were several that looked more excited and exuded hints of bravado, while some that seemed to fade almost to the background as they changed their attack ns. A veritable army of super-strong attackers stood still for a brief moment, acknowledging Micheal''s strength. These warriors were by no means weak. They were powerful, stronger than most humans. Their techniques were well trained and even the youngest had a solid martial arts foundation. But as Micheal looked out among them, his blood began to boil. Memories tugged at his consciousness as a feeling of raw excitement flooded his body, one that was no longer heavily constrained by minuscule physical stats. A type of excitement that he hadn''t felt ever since he came back to the past, emotions that filled his heart to the brim. It wasn''t just the lure of battle and the draw of the fight. It was back to challengingpetent warriors, heavily trained fighters that outstripped him in strength. Facing down impossible challenges while surrounded by foes, battling against odds where he could rely on only two things. His determination and his own skill. The Torens resumed their charge, blocking out his vision as a swarm of mighty enemies blitzed him. Micheal''s face lit up as his eyes glowed with energy, gazing upon the world around him. The muscles in his arms and legs bulged as he drew out every iota of strength his body had, pulling forth his full potential. He could see it. Feel it. Sense it. The flow of battle, dozens of bodies moving inplex patterns, shifting all around him in an ever-changing mire of war. The echoes ofbat, the harsh screech of shattered stone, the rippling sensation of exploding energy. The feelings soared through his very Soul itself, a familiar call that had almost be a part of him. A call of elegant control, of masterful design, of precise destruction An army of future Gods charged forth, bloodlust causing the air itself to tremble as the ground beneath them shattered. And before that army stood a single man. Alone. Unbroken. Defiant. The world itself seemed to stand still as the Toren warriors crossed the arena, just instants from smashing into Micheal. Their charge cracked the stone floor, sending up shards of shattered stone and coating the air in a grey haze. Micheal had returned to his original stance. His right hand held his sword off to the side, while his left hand faced outward, palm open. His body rxed slightly, the tension within it fading as he leaned forward. In the final moment before the first half dozen Torens reached him Micheal began to smile. And when they finally did reach him... He began to dance. . "What a monster" Instructor Borbo''s voice held a hint of shock and sounded so genuine, Micheal might have thought he was a real person, as the Toren looked upon the scene before him. It was a veritable ughter. In the first second of the battle Micheal dodged a sword sh thrust towards his head by millimeters while simultaneously leaning just out of range of a smashing kick. In the same movement, he reached out and grabbed the back of the second Toren''s knee all while raising his de in his other hand. He twisted the second attacker''s leg in a throwing motion, using the Toren''s momentum against him as he flipped the man forward. In the meanwhile, his wooden sword snaked out and stabbed the first Toren attacker right in the chest, avoiding the man''s sword. The first Toren immediately copsed, his sword flying wide, while the second Toren mmed into two other Torens that had been just about to attack Micheal. Before the second Toren could get up, however, a stabbing pain ran through his chest and his eyes rolled up, falling unconscious as Micheal sted through one of his pressure points. The two Torens that Micheal had downed with the throw suffered simr fates as they tried to get up, both instantly knocked back down without a chance to resist. In a single second, already four more enemies had been taken down with incredible ease. To the onrushing Torens, it simply made no sense. Even to the watching Instructor, everything Micheal did defied logic. He knew, better than anyone else, that Micheal''s body was notparable in terms of strength to these attacking Torens. Even more so, the defensive prowess of his body was even worse. Torens had skin so tough they could tank hits from Advanced Tier Sword Energy and keep going, while a simple touch of that energy would slice through Micheal like butter. Lower level Torens had a weak spot, it was true. But that was only in the context of how incredibly tough they were. If onepared a human wearing a full suit of nearly imprable armor with a human that was naked, the human with the set of nearly imprable armor would be vastly more powerful. Was the armor perfect? No, it had a couple of very small holes. Butpared to the human without armor, the number of weak spots was vastly smaller. Targeting them was no easy feat. Add on tons of extra strength, regeneration prowess, and enhanced talent, and that was a good description of the Toren Race. But despite all of that, Micheal was handing these attacking Torens like they were children. 10 more seconds passed. The shes ofbat echoed forth, grunts of pain, thuds of weapons off of stone or flesh, cracking stone as powerful beings moved quickly. In that time, 30 more Toren bodies were added to the pile, all knocked unconscious near the center of the arena. Every movement Micheal made was full of grace. Instructor Borbo was at his wit''s end as he watched this, unable to reconcile what he was seeing. Micheal made impossible dodges multiple times a second. He avoided death by the skin of his teeth over and over, causing attacks that seemed sure to hit him miss by a hair. He seemed to swim through the air itself, moving both slowly and quickly at times in fluid movements that could not be stopped. His movements were a thing of beauty, delicate and strong in different ways. It was truly a dance, but one of death and destruction, guided forth by his seemingly omnipresent hand. He was unstoppable. Several times, groups of Toren fighters tried to surround him, attempting to use their overwhelming numbers to take him down in a mad rush. Each time this happened, Micheal would skillfully retreat, sometimes even flipping up through the air as he perfectly slipped through various gaps or creating his own openings with sheer skill. No matter how hard the crowd of Torens tried, they were unable to sessfully keep him pinned down. The Torens might be a powerful race, but they, just like the Byrens, were also a race obsessed with honor and the appearance of honor. The inexperience most of these Torens had when it came to groupbat targeting a single skilled foe became very clear as the battle progressed. Some of them even seemed to be waiting almost in turn for Micheal to finish fighting each foe, something that caused Micheal to snort half in amusement, half in appreciation. As the 40th Toren''s body hit the floor, there was a brief lull in thebat. Micheal''s breath was cool and rxed as he took advantage of this lull to take a closer look at the surrounding Torens, analyzing everything around him. He was exerting himself, especially in such a high-level fight, but his body was strong enough that he could hold his own for now. With his powerful Soul and current capabilities, Micheal could innately sense anyone within 23 meters of him. When he zeroed in on his senses, putting his full focus and attention into the fight, that sensation evolved into one that let him sense his immediate surroundings within battle itself. Not only could he feel the flow of battle, he also knew exactly where his opponent''s foot wouldnd, he could tell exactly where an axe was going to hit him, where a sword would stab. Part of this had to do with his vast experience as a Swordmaster and his own battle experience and talent. Micheal had never considered himself a genius in most regards. He was coldly neutral when it came to gauging his own talents. He knew he was at least somewhat exceptional when it came to training his Sword Mastery, especially as he grew to understand it more and more. His determination was also definitely exceptional when hepared it to other people, as were a few other quirks of his personality. However, if there was one thing he knew he did better than almost anyone else, it would have to be in regards to fighting against many foes at once. Facing a single enemy was a unique challenge in its own right. You had to focus purely on their talents, capabilities, Abilities, and the surroundings as you dueled them. In most situations, the end result of the battle woulde about based on your individual capabilities versus theirs. However, everything was thrown on its head when you fought multiple enemies. You had to ount for their coordination, you had to ount for many different levels of Abilities, of tactics, of differing strengths and weaknesses. The entire feel for a duel against many enemies waspletely different from that of a duel against a single foe. They were iparable. In Micheal''s head, however a vast battle like this transformed into a simple puzzle in his mind, one that merely needed to be solved, step by step. A dozen thoughts would sh into his mind every second, each one guided by his instincts built up over the years. ''If I dodge this attack in this way, I''ll be slightly open here. However, if I use my opponent''s strike to shift my body in this way, I can turn that opening into an attack here. Then I''ll lean forward slightly here and use that attack to strike against my next enemy, and then I can create an opening to knock them unconscious there. But then I''ll need to" All Micheal needed to do was bring the correct pieces of the puzzle together. Under his guiding hand, each piece fit together snugly, resulting in a masterful, but simplistic, crafting of aplex battle. He didn''t pursue the appearance of grace or beauty in his battle movements. What he sought after were cold, logical strikes that achieved exactly what he needed. And it was those strikes that, somehow, ended up giving him this graceful and beautifulbat style, the most optimal route when it came to fightingrge groups. The lull in the battle vanished. The Gods of tomorrow, arrayed in a fighting force that no human could easily match, began their attack anew. The various Toren warriors rushed forward in the dozens fearlessly, letting out blood-curdling battle calls. And in the dozens they yet fell, conquered by a single man. Micheal''s enemies were ones he ced at various skill levels. Some of them were well-trained beginners, while others were capable of giving him pause for a second or two, able to respond to his well-ced movements. None of them, however, were anything close to what he considered an equal. Still, a feeling of deep, rich enjoyment serenaded Micheal''s Soul as he fought against so many skilled enemies, enjoying this moment through to the very fabric of his existence. 100 Toren bodies hit the floor. By now, Micheal''s breath had grown ragged. His body was superhumanly strong, but against so many enemies that all held near-divine bodies, even he couldn''t fight forever. Still, he continued to fight adeptly, pulling out the maximum potential he could from his knowledge and experience. He never directly blocked any attacks, instead preferring to use his enemy''s power against them, letting them throw their own forces into disarray. He danced between foes, knocking them unconscious with the speed of a slithering snake striking down her enemies. A few times, some of the Torens hade up with more coordinated assault ns. However, all Micheal needed was a single chink in their nning, a single opening he could take advantage of. It was after he took down the 122nd Toren that Micheal ran into the first real challenge of the battle. Each wave of Torens was typically a haphazard rush of warriors. While their attacks came in well-disciplined, it was very clear that few of them had trained to fight inrge groups, something Micheal took full advantage of. Only so many Torens could attack him at once, after all. However, as the numbers were whittled down, one group of Torens rose to the challenge, one that caused Micheal to pause. There were six Torens, about the maximum that could realistically attack Micheal at once. All of these Torens were of the ''Grown'' age group, or adult Torens that had full mastery of their body. These six Torens spread out around Micheal in a close-knit group. Instead of the mad rush that had dominated thest several seconds, these Torens forced those behind them to wait as they stalked forward. ''Solid coordination.'' Micheal''s breath might be ragged due to strain, but he moved as graceful as he had before, keeping his attention split between all six. All six of the Torens wielded two sets of swords, one in each hand. All of them were hunched slightly forward in a wide stance, their knees bent and their arms slightly raised. Their des were held at perfectly equal heights and turned a little outward. Micheal''s eyes narrowed slightly when he saw this. Among the Toren Race, there were three official ''Schools'' of Swordsmanship that had earned themselves a certain level of prestige. The Fast Shadow Sword, the Sword Style of the Sun and Moon, and the Wavering de Style. These six Torens had adopted the first stance of the Sword Style of the Sun and Moon, Rending Earth. Micheal had always been a proponent of mixing up various techniques and styles in many different ways. He had never named his own style of swordcraft, because it wasn''t an individual style on its own. Itbined hundreds of techniques and was ever-changing, adapting to any situation using his own mind. This style of fighting was not the norm. Very few people could do what Micheal did, adapting to every battle in his own way,bining the study of thousands of different techniques and movements altogether in an instant, without hesitation. Instead, most martial artists fought by studying a set number of techniques over and over, and incorporating them not only into their muscle memory but also into their mind. They then fell back on these techniques during battle, relying upon them to help counter their enemy and lead them to victory. Not all warriors fought like that, but in general, a small number of techniques that a fighter practiced over and over were the bedrock of most warriors'' fighting styles. This particr stance was one built on stability, able to ovee a number of threats and react to them quickly. It would be tough to break through directly, especially when approached by six users of it. It was a solid defensive stance. However, when Micheal saw this, the small smile on his face grew slightly wider. A feeling of anticipation filled his bones, his eyes alighting. ''Excellent!'' This was exactly what he had been waiting for. Micheal watched as the group steadily approached. The Torens moved step by step, keeping their full, undivided attention on Micheal. Their cautious movements gave Micheal a couple of seconds to catch his breath, something he had no intention of turning down. Just moments before they reached him, Micheal let out a small ''ah,'' an exmation, as if he had just undergone a moment of inspiration. A momentter He adopted the exact same stance, identical in every fashion. . Chapter 30: Chapter Updates Chapter 30: Chapter Updates Hey guys, so I have some stuff to talk about with y''all. Don''t worry, I''m still writing. In fact, I''m 85% done with Volume 3 right now. However, I''m sure some of you are wondering why I haven''t put up any chapters here (though Patron is actively updated and each full Volume is still sold on Amazon after extensive editing (My Amazon author name is L M Kerr)). And that''s a discussion I do need to share, so let''s jump into it. I have yet to make any final decision on this topic. Over time, I''ve noticed something rather disheartening that''s happened on the main site where I sell my finished, edited, and restructured novels. I''ve been receiving negative or critical reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. for things that do not exist in the Amazon version of the book. Instead, those reviews are referring to things present only on the WebNovel versions. What I post here on WebNovel is my rough draft, lightly edited. What I post on Amazon is heavily edited and more polished. The story plots are the same, but I go over the story several times and edit before I put it up on Amazon. Now, some of you may be thinking: Wiz, why does that matter? Don''t you take the WebNovel versions down, anyway, once you are done? That is correct, I don''t think any of you, my WN readers, are the ones leaving unrepresentative reviews on Amazon. However, there is a second, bigger issue that frustrates me... Piracy. My books are pirated when I post them here. There are dozens of piracy sites out that that strip my chapters from WebNovel and host them online. When I post something here, it stays up online, forever. ***A rough draft iming to be my full story, in all its yet to be heavily edited glory.*** This is incredibly frustrating to me. Incredibly. I am seriously considering only posting chapter updates to Patron because of issues like this, and sticking to releasing the polished, edited versions on Amazon after, instead. I have yet to make a final decision, but this is where I''m at right now, thinking things over. I''d love to hear some of your thoughts! Please, feel free to share :) The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!