by L. M. Kerr
As he smiled, however, a darker light flashed in his eyes.
Also according 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 blade, 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!"
Shin's body blurred and then vanished.
A microsecond later, he reappeared, standing outside his room. The door was still locked, the doorstop sealing it shut.
He was now in a large, 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, according to Micheal. The central area of each Cluster was not a very safe place to live for most.
He grinned.
"It really works, just like when I first arrived." He laughed off the tension he had built, his undying optimism rolling in,
"I can teleport!"
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 preferred combat style, vastly enhancing his slow movement speed.
The Limited 'Phasing Warper Ability.'
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—- 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 place to another at near instantaneous speeds. This Ability grants a moderate increase in the Soul stat and no other bonuses.
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The description was very succinct, 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 according 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 had come 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 regular 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.
'According 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 flashed,
'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…"
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Chapter 22: First Orb
"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 collapsed, his right leg was completely 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 flashed 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 flashed 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, from large powers, groups big and small, the loud music he played would draw eyes from everywhere.
Exactly as planned.
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 unoccupied. He walked in
to it and shut the door behind him.
Immediately after, he collapsed 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 mental command.
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.
A large, 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 regular Morenkai first, splitting its head in two with an almost relaxed slash. Black blood had spattered out of it, staining the nearby rooftop.
However, as he was charging toward the second regular Morenkai, the Abnormal had reached him, its freakish running speed at least twice that of Micheal's.
"…♪ Country Roads, Take Me Home ♪…"
"…♪ To The Place, 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 of combat 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, slamming 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 the last normal Morenkai, a brutal punch, that managed to hit him.
It didn't collide directly with his body. When Micheal saw the attack coming out of the corner of his eye, he used his Steelborn blade to shield himself.
The blow smashed into the sword and then hit Micheal, sending him flying across the roof. He landed 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 blare out.
"…♪ West Virginia, Mountain Mama ♪…"
"…♪ Take Me Home, Country Roads ♪…"
The Morenkai were freakishly strong. Taking a blow from one, even a regular one while shielding yourself, was a bad idea.
'My damned body is still too weak. It can't keep up with my commands!' 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 relax.
'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.
'Cut it.' He flicked his blade.
The body of the Abnormal Morenkai split in half as Micheal's blade cut it cleanly in two, feeling only a small amount of resistance. Micheal's Grandmaster Sword Mastery made it a cinch to slash the creature.
In the instant that he killed it, however, the Abnormal had lashed out with an attack of its own. Micheal had seen it coming, 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 Morenkai completely 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.
This combined with the blurringly fast punch that just barely glanced off Micheal's back.
Micheal spun around atop the roof, his eyes watering as he felt his shoulder blade 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 balance.
Not a second later, his sword flashed out twice more.
Two regular Morenkai fell to the ground, one with its head removed from its body while the other with half its chest cut through. Black 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.
"Huff…huff…" 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 minute later, several more Morenkai appeared.
"…♪ The Radio Reminds Me Of My Home Far Away ♪…"
His eyes flashed 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 had lasted for at least 30 minutes, a time in which he killed a huge number of Morenkai. After that, he'd turned the record player 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, comforting tone.
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 otherwise completely uninjured.
Micheal looked at his body, casting his senses through it…
And smiled.
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Chapter 23: Healed
"Yes! My body is healed!" As he spoke aloud, he clenched his fists. There was a
reason Kim Jiwoon, one of the known users of the Life Orb Master Ability, was called 'The Invincible.' The Limited Ability was extremely powerful.
As he closed his hands, he winced slightly,
"Ooh. Huh. That's odd." He moved his arms back and forward. They felt… tender almost. More sensitive than usual.
"They aren't sore or injured anymore… but I'm still tired. It seems that breaking a Life Orb will heal my body of injuries, no matter how gruesome, but it doesn't make me less tired." Micheal moved around the mostly empty room, stepping backwards and forwards several times.
Subtly, he could feel that the intense practice atop the rooftop had slightly increased the strength of his body, making him more flexible. His body was still relatively untrained, practice like this was bound to have some effect.
"The Life Orbs don't wipe that all away! They can heal my injuries, but the positive effects from training seem to remain. Maybe the Orbs magically enhance my Recovery to absurd levels and that is how I heal? I don't really know." The Life Orbs were truly a magical creation, worthy of being their own Ability, even if that one came with a steep negative.
"And I still have two left, and can make a new third one tomorrow." He smiled as he saw the two other orbs, floating around his head.
'That is way overpowered.' He grinned nefariously, feeling almost as if he really was a teenage boy again, and not a tired veteran of 10 years in the 7 Layers.
'Not that I'm complaining.' His eyes flashed as he considered the huge dangers he would have to face in the future. Even him with 10,000 lives might not be enough to save the entire human race from destruction, let alone 3.
Their true enemies, in the end, were literal Gods after all. It was said that the strongest of the Gods could warp reality itself. They hadn't even seen a fraction of the true power of the 12 Tribes of Deities.
"Still. I won't back down. Every race has their own special power granted to them or inborn, and the magical 'Shop' that humanity gained will be the whetstone to the blade I forge to protect us." His eyes flashed with dark promise.
'For now, though…' He smiled,