by L. M. Kerr
His starting point this time around was so far above what he had started at last 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 explain 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 similar 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 display of his weapon wasn't carelessness, but rather, absolute confidence.
"A fucking Irregular…"
"Damn."
"Captain Bola will be happy…"
The trio stared back at Micheal, slowly calming down as they accepted his explanation. At the same time, Micheal heard what they muttered, smiling slightly.
Irregulars. 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 Irregular the first time around.' He thought, his smile turning rueful. Still, he certainly qualified as one now. If he displayed a high level of strength at the start, he would attract some attention from the higherups here, which was exactly what he wanted.
'My plans will only work if I can convince a large number of people.' He nodded his head.
'Oh right, wasn't there also a rather famous Irregular that started somewhat close to me in the Fourth Wave…?' He thought, his eyes flashing 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 contemplating 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 the last ones to appear.' He nodded as he saw this.
"Welcome, 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 blade 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 blade. The blade 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 blade 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.
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—-New Ability Acquired —-
Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)
Accept the Ability? Yes / No
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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.
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Chapter 7: The Morenkai
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—-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 succinct and actually underplayed 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 related 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 very large advantage, especially those that were considered experts.
Sword Master was one of the strongest techniques commonly used for battle. There were 7 Stages to this Ability, each one, save for the last, 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 l
egendary 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 blade his entire life, including more than 45 years back on Earth. Micheal had been a regular 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.
Alas, it wasn't enough in the end.
'But it will be this time.' He thought, his eyes flashing 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 manipulate 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 a combination of Strength, Endurance, Recovery, and Soul.
'My Talos Mind Power, King Class 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 like last 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 planning 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 relaxed 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 access 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, language 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 glanced 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 similar 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 explain 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 the land. 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 black 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."
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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 place he planned on calling home for the next month.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead,
'If I recall everything accurately, 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.