by L. M. Kerr
“We believe we’ve located the entrance to the Farian research center. It should be in the eastern portion of the clearing, in Building 27A.” Before they began this mission, they had marked any and all buildings in the clearing, to better visualize when and where they needed to go.
A few seconds passed as Silverback began to issue a series of commands, organizing the Squads up. The three teams began to group up and then split off, sticking only loosely together as they spread out, preparing to leave the warehouse.
Silverback held up an open hand and then clenched it into a fist.
Immediately, everyone present began to transform.
Human figures shifted into Great Apes with bulging muscles, Blue Tailed Monkeys with lean, muscular builds, and White Tailed Spring Monkeys with wiry limbs.
The two subordinates in the First Squad shifted into Great Apes, the same type as the Second Squad. They towered up a huge 2.5 meters in height, clad in metal armor and looking monstrous in their own right.
Silverback, on the other hand, instead of transforming into an even larger figure, actually began to slim down. His bulky, muscular body transformed to become slimmer, even losing a little height. Bits of silver fur could be seen, just barely poking out the edges of his mask. His stature went on to decrease, giving off a less threatening appearance.
However… around his body, glimmering just ever so faintly, was a notable, silver Aura.
An Aura that gave off a faintly Mythical glow…
“Move in, weapons hot and Abilities ready.” His voice was smooth and spoken a little faster than normal as he added one last line.
“Kill anything that moves.”
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Meanwhile, within the underground secretive Farian Research Headquarters or FRH as it was referred to by those in the know…
“Myla, there was a disturbance in the north sector. I think one of the warehouses has collapsed.” A Farian dressed in a simple brown robe walked into a large room that housed several working researchers.
This room had several large tables spread out, covered in layers of paper containing formulas, charts, graphs, and various pieces of data. There were three men and one woman in here, intensely talking over a series of graphs as they argued about something.
The walls in this room were entirely constructed from smooth, black stone. Overhead, there were several vents and a couple of warm, yellow stones that cast light on those below.
The arrival of the speaker broke up the conversation as the sole female in the room, the elderly Myla Hannis, turned to glance at him with an eye arched.
“There was a rather confusing resonance from the ‘Poisonous Gas.’” The original speaker continued, nodding his head slightly nervously as she looked at him.
Myla smiled reassuringly. Many of her favored aides had gone to participate in the Life Festival, either back with their Tribes or in the Tribal Gathering. This young Farian was one of the newer workers that had received the right to work here.
“Is it still raining outside? Hmm…” Myla’s eyes narrowed for a few seconds before she shook her head. She thought about sending out one of her guards to investigate, but changed her mind. While the Life Festival was going on, it was best that they just stayed inside, just in case. The Lord Justiciar had emphasized that repeatedly, no matter how unlikely it was anything would happen here.
“It’s probably just the rain, those buildings suffer quite a beating each season change. We can’t exactly raise a Rain Dome and block it off here.” The elderly Farian waved off any worries.
A Rain Dome, a magical construct used to redirect rain, could only be supported by a sizable number of Farian Blood Masters and was very noticeable. The Life Festival would have Blood Masters in excess and wouldn’t care about showing off, but that wasn't exactly something they could do here.
“Tell Serena to bring over the Record Book, just in case.” After a half-second's thought, Myla made a rather impromptu decision.
Her favorite aide, and the trusty assistant that had served under her for years, was currently working on deciphering a few kinks in the formula they were planning on using to track their enemy. She had a natural talent for that, such that Myla felt sometimes as if she was slowing the young genius down.
Myla glanced to the shadows of the room and nodded at them. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but a crease on her lined face eased up as she smiled shortly after.
She then turned to look back at the other researchers in the room.
“What are you all staring at?! Back to work! We only have 12 hours to get this done! Move, people! Move!”
.. .. .. .. .. ..
On a quiet rooftop off to the south-east, a shirtless, slim human figure sat looking down at three glowing blue orbs. He ignored the water pelting him as he sighed.
‘Incredible. You really can just die and come back to life at will. How absolutely beyond the norm…’ Yvvtal's voice echoed in Micheal's mind, hosting a hint of wonder.
Micheal ignored the ancient Toren’s observation, keeping himself focused on the present as he talked out loud.
“It’s not the worst-case scenario. If anything, I beat the odds pretty well.” Micheal swiped the Life Orbs into his skin with a casual wave as he stood up and got dressed.
Not only had he managed to ambush and wipe out another Squad, he also managed to successfully absorb the Ki from all of the foes he’d killed thus far, using up several more Necrotic Burners.
The more he used, however, the less power he gained.
While he was obtaining large amounts of Ki, his Ki had reached a comparable or even higher quality compared to his foes. As a result, the extra energy could only do so much when it combined with his own strength.
He would need to kill enemies with stronger Ki if he wanted to obtain better results.
All of the Necrotic Burners worked. Unfortunately, however, the very last one he ended up using had a fatal flaw built within it, one that successfully let Micheal absorb the energy, but also killed him, wasting a Life Orb.
To have used 8 Necrotic Burners without dying was already a miracle in itself. Dying a single time was a small price to pay for the large, permanent increase in power. Well, a small price for Micheal, anyway.
‘Status.’ He called up the glowing blue screen.
.
— - Status — -
Name: Micheal Care
Points: 159,928
Race: Human
Age: 18
Physique: Energized Physique - 2 Star
Soul Quality: 3 Star
Strength - 212 -> 268
Endurance - 151 -> 200
Recovery - 128 - > 133
Soul - 38
Abilities - (6/7)
Life Orb Master
Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Late)
Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)
Impact Release
Ceaseless Mind
Temporal Bubble
.
‘268 Strength is more than enough, and… I managed to obtain it.’ His eyes zeroed in on one particular data point.
‘Points: 159,928’ Micheal smiled.
“Perfect.” He spoke aloud as his head turned to the north, opening up the Shop with a wave of his hand. He began to flick through several screens, scrolling through the Artifact section.
“Let's finish this.”
.
Chapter 44
Micheal stood absolutely still, his entire body frozen as he looked out a small, jagged hole in the wall of one of the many worn-down buildings.
After clearing out three elite Squads of the Vile King’s Seeds, dissipating each Seed and not letting them pass on any information, Micheal was able to get a good idea of where the other ones were located. He used that information to hide himself near the center of the clearing, intending to ambush another Squad when he got the chance.
To his mild surprise, however, the groups of enemies he was searching for opted to walk right past him altogethe
r.
12 figures spread out in a wing formation, creeping across a grassy, grown-over pathway as they crossed through the crowded clearing. The dozen warriors were all in their Full Type Transformed states, Adapted Humans showing off their full potential. With a single glance, Micheal could see the mix of flexibility, agility, and power spread among the group.
In particular, a figure standing at the very back of the group, gave him pause.
‘Huh. A Celestial Silverback… and he’s Sky Tier.’ He stared silently at the warrior, an Adapted Human that was giving off a silver Aura, as he walked by. Micheal held his breath at that point, not daring to let even an iota of his presence be sensed.
‘That might be a problem.’ Micheal frowned after several tense seconds as the group of men and women moved out of eyesight.
All of the other warriors had strong Types, all in the higher levels of the Rare Tier, but nothing that stood out too much to him. The number of enemies he’d faced with Types in the Rare Tier, or other races with Physiques that gave similar perks, was a number he had long since lost track of.
The Celestial Silverback Type, however, was not found within the Rare Tier.
It was ranked within the Mythical Tier.
Micheal rubbed his forehead, feeling the faintest hints of a headache setting in.
‘Why did it have to be a damned Celestial Ape, and a Silverback at that?’ He grumbled to himself as he stepped back away from the wall. He quietly began to move towards an exit on the east side of the warehouse, intent on tracking the group of fighters.
Full Transformation Types flourished on the Second Layer, as Micheal was well aware. Everything was stronger on here, even the energy in one’s Ki itself. Adapted Humans could make full use of their transformations to gain large amounts of power in ways that were difficult to counter.
Every elite Beasts Seed that Micheal had faced thus far was, at the weakest, above-average Second Rate Warriors, and at the strongest, powerful Second Rate Warriors.
If he took away their Full Transformation Types, however, the strongest among those he’d killed would fall to being an average Second Rate Warrior at best, while the weakest would barely be Second Rate. The boost they gained from their Types was a huge reason they’d become so powerful.
That, and the fact that one and all were very skilled in both combat and utilizing their Abilities. Micheal attributed part of that to training, but another part to the presence of Constantine’s Seeds. The Vile King’s ability to enrich his Seeds’ growth was a major problem Micheal would have to deal with.
That wasn’t to say other Types were useless, however. It was just merely a fact that Full Transformation Types could be utilized to a high level here on the Second, moreso than many other Abilities. They were simple and gave direct results near-instantly.
Micheal reached the exit of the warehouse, a cracked archway that led off down the same path the Ape Division had taken.
Before he went anywhere, the first thing he did was pull up the sleeve of his green robe, revealing a large, golden bracelet. Micheal tapped on this bracelet and shut his eyes, waiting several seconds.
A few moments later, he opened up his eyes and nodded as he hid the bracelet once more.
He then eyed his surroundings, ensuring there was no one left behind to watch for him, he began to pursue them through the rather discordant rain. He used his Life Orbs to float by, sticking low to the roof of each building as he chased after the group, dripping water.
As he travelled, he began to develop a plan on how he would tackle the leader of the group.
The Celestial Silverback Type was a unique form of the more common Celestial Ape Type. Both Types were still within the Mythical Tier, but the Celestial Ape Type was several times more common to find.
Compared to other Types, the Celestial Silverback Type was one that didn’t actually stand out initially.
This Type granted only a small amount of Strength, had Regeneration that was actually weakened when they transformed, and came with Endurance that was average at best. The transformation didn’t affect the Soul stat, making the Type transformation one of the worst when it came to stats.
However, the one saving grace to this Type, and the reason it was ranked well within the Mythical Tier, had to do with the natural Ability that came with the transformation.
The Celestial Aura.
Celestial Apes were a real race of beings, one of many branches descended from an ancient race known as the Celestial Race. This ancient group of creatures was famed for their incredible and seemingly miraculous powers, able to warp reality itself to perform astonishing feats.
Celestial Apes, and by extension Celestial Silverbacks, were able to tap into a small portion of the Celestial Aura. Because their bloodline was mixed, however, that portion was very limited in what it could do.
In fact, Celestial Apes could really only do a single thing that set them apart:
Move faster.
By imbuing their bodies with the Celestial Aura, their reaction speed, processing speed, physical movement speed, and combat speed could all be enhanced. The more energy they poured into this, the faster they would go, gaining agility that was difficult to match.
Celestial Silverbacks could do the same thing, but had stronger and more durable bodies compared to Celestial Apes. Even worse, they could spread their Celestial Aura to boost the speed of their allies, making them excellent combat leaders.
And now, Micheal had to deal with not only that, but also the fact that this particular Celestial Silverback had reached the Sky Tier of Ki Cultivation. At the bare minimum, he was a First Rate Warrior.
Micheal sighed in frustration as he flew, going over plan after plan.
This was one of the worst matchups he could have hoped for.
In terms of physical prowess, Micheal was absolutely not on par with a true First Rate Warrior yet. With his Temporal Bubble Ability, he had a few ways to cheat and boost his speed, but he was well aware that he would absolutely die in any type of extended battle.
The other warriors weren’t a problem. Even if Micheal had to face the other 11 at the same time, he was confident he would come out ahead. Fighting multiple enemies at once was his specialty, after all.
Taking on their Celestial Silverback leader, however, was a problem. Even if he just boosted the speed of the other fighters, Micheal would begin to run into serious issues, and if the leader joined the battle and directly attacked him, Micheal’s plans would be thrown completely amok.
‘Whatever. I just need to adapt. Everything should still work.’ Micheal sighed again. In his head, he mentally marked down a few different changes for what he had planned.
By this point, Micheal had finished crossing from the center of the clearing all the way over to the eastern portion. This particular area had even more dilapidated buildings than before, the dour weather above giving everything a rather grim look in the fading evening light.
He slowed down as he came to the corner of one particular warehouse, getting off his Life Orbs as he crouched down low.
What was left of the Ape Division had paused outside of a mid-sized warehouse, one that, somehow, looked even more worn down than its neighbors. Its faded grey walls were sagging, large chunks of fused stone chipped and looking as if they were about to collapse. Even the main entrance to the building was damaged, an archway that was half blocked off by fallen debris.
The group seemed undeterred as a few of them tapped on their Spatial Rings, bringing out several odd-looking metal contraptions. These objects vaguely looked like large flashlights with extra knobs and handles on them, as well as a large green gem inset on top.
As Micheal watched them fiddle with the contraptions, his eyes zeroed in on the Celestial Silverback.
As long as that warrior was calmly standing there, there was nothing Micheal could do. Not yet, anyway.
In lieu of doing anything else, for the second time, Micheal raised his sleeve and tapped on the golden bracelet he
had strapped on. As he did so, he glanced off to the northwest, in the general direction of the Farian Life Festival.
He shut his eyes for a few moments before opening them up again and shrugging to himself.
He then lowered his sleeve and turned his attention back to the other humans.
By now, four of the Beast warriors had taken the metal contraptions and set them up on all four sides of the warehouse. They didn’t seem to be explosives, from what Micheal could tell, but something else.
As if they had heard his questioning thoughts, he immediately found out his answer.
A loud ‘bang!’ rang out, accompanied by an odd wave of light. This layer pulsed out quickly, expanding to roughly 160 meters in diameter in a couple of seconds.
After the wall of light stopped moving, it transformed into a transparent bubble that enshrouded the building and anything else nearby, sinking deep into the ground. It now covered around 10% of the physical area within this large clearing.
It happened so quickly, Micheal had no way to prepare or dodge. Instead, the light flew over and past him in a heartbeat and…
Seemingly did nothing.
He looked down at his hands and then patted his heart. He meditated for a split second but then frowned. He couldn’t detect any type of noticeable change, his Ki was fine, his body was uninjured.
After half a second, an idea struck him, and he brought up his sleeve once more. He activated the bracelet on his arm.
This time, his eyes narrowed slightly as he realized what had happened.
This bubble was blocking any type of energy or sound-based signals from escaping. It seemed to function a lot like a Signal Seer Bracelet when overloaded, an Artifact he truly did not recognize. It had to be some type of modification or combination of Artifacts, perhaps combining modern technology in the middle.
Something like this would be perfect for preventing someone from calling for help.
The man with the Celestial Silverback Type barked out a few unintelligible orders. Moments later, his team reassembled.
The warrior held out his hand. The silver Aura that hovered around him began to grow and expand, shifting oddly in the air.