by L. M. Kerr
"This is satisfactory." He nodded, pleased. He smiled slightly as he saw Lana seem to relax. Was he really that scary?
"I owe you two a sword lesson, right? Let's get that handled right now."
.
Chapter 34: Live
"Just like that, swing at it! Don't let it hit you!" Micheal's voice echoed authoritatively as he watched Lana and Khari before him.
The duo was currently fighting a regular Morenkai, wielding only a pair of normal quality steel blades.
Around 25 minutes had passed since Micheal had received the intel on Sophia.
In that time, he had begun to train the duo from the Mayoral Alliance, fulfilling his promise. He went over the core basics, how they should position their bodies, how to hold the blade properly, and how to lead forward with a basic strike.
In the 7 Layers, it was possible for humans to gain certain Abilities naturally, without spending Points. Most of these Abilities had to do with certain skills or techniques. Others could be gained through accomplishing certain actions.
Scientists had theorized this had to do with some type of overriding system of rules or laws that existed, one that had been adapted for humans to access through the Shop. It was a well-known fact that several other Races had unique Abilities of their own, some even having full-scale systems of Magic that only those of their Race could use.
The Shop that humans had access to seemed to be something similar to that, but unique in its own right.
The theory was all complex and abstruse. Micheal was no expert and only knew enough to have a general idea.
What he did know, however, was exactly how to achieve the Sword Mastery Ability naturally.
WHOOSH
thud
"I got it!" Lana yelled out in delight as her sword slammed into the side of the Morenkai. A long, jagged line could be seen as she made a small cut, bleeding black blood.
At the same time that she made the slash, the blade she was using cracked, shattering. The Morenkai twisted its body, ignoring an ineffectual strike from Khari as it swung to attack Lana.
As Micheal saw this, he flicked his finger slightly.
WHOOOSSH
THUD
A small, dimly glowing Life Orb appeared out of nowhere and shot forward, slamming into the chest of the Morenkai. The creature was sent flying backwards several meters, hurling through the air. When the Life Orb reached the maximum range of 10 meters from Micheal, it automatically flew back, absorbing itself back into him.
The Life Orb seemed to meld with his skin when it was returning. It physically made contact with his body and, in a flash, was absorbed, seemingly flying into him and vanishing.
The Morenkai fell onto the ground with a thud, slowing getting back to its feet.
There were many different Abilities that allowed one to manipulate objects. Micheal had decided he was going to disguise his Life Orb Master Ability as something like that, pretending the Orb was a type of telekinetic weapon of some sort.
The number of people that were even aware of the Life Orb Master Ability was a pittance, and he highly doubted anyone would recognize it outright. The Ability offered no description of what the Orbs looked like.
With how useful he was finding the Orbs to be, there was no way he would avoid using them.
"Excellent work, the two of you. You've both managed to achieve Basic Sword Mastery. Both of you should have seen the Ability appear in your Abilities tab now, yes?" Micheal's voice was calm as he walked forward, smiling at the two of them.
"Yes, Sir Micheal!"
"Yessir!"
The two responded eagerly. One was an expert that had been here for a year while the other was a newbie that had only been here for a few days, yet the eagerness in their eyes was identical. He smiled ruefully when he saw this.
"Excellent!" The key to achieving Basic Sword Mastery was relatively simple. Micheal thought over the process briefly.
You needed to hold the blade firmly, strike with conviction, and focus on your enemy. Coordinating your body so that you had good form made it even more likely you would achieve it. The most difficult part, however, was the visualization process.
The Sword Mastery Ability, in all Tiers, required one to draw upon the energy of the surroundings to power one's blade. At the Basic Tier, one simply needed to feel as if the sword they used was an extension of their body. This would form a natural link between the sword and the fighter, drawing on the energy of the surroundings and automatically granting the Ability to the trainee.
With Micheal's careful guidance, and a couple dozen minutes of practice, both Khari and Lana had managed to achieve Basic Sword Mastery. If it hadn't been for his patient teaching, it was unlikely the duo would have ever achieved the Ability on their own.
"Then, on that note, I will be heading out. Thank you for the info." He tapped on his Spatial Ring, removing the paper map he had. He then looked around, checking the direction of the sun as he figured which way to go.
"S-sir Micheal!" Lana's voice echoed slightly as she stepped forward, eyeing him.
"I w-was wondering if we could meet up like this more! You seem really skilled with the sword, perhaps you could teach us a little more? I could bring you whatever information we can obtain!" Lana's voice shook slightly, betraying her nervousness.
As she finished speaking, her eyes widened at something behind Micheal.
thud
The Morenkai that he had blown backwards had gotten back up and was charging at his back. A small indent could be seen on its chest, where his Life Orb had smacked into it. The creature's footsteps rang out as it stomped across the roof, barreling towards Micheal.
"Sir! Wat-"
WHOOOSSH
THUD
Without even looking, Micheal flicked his fingers slightly, commanding one of his Life Orbs to fly out. The Orb immediately sailed backwards, smashing into the Morenkai and hitting it from the side as it entered within 10 meters of him.
He didn't knock it backwards, instead borrowing the force of its momentum to send it flying off to his left, tumbling over the side of the roof. He felt only the faintest tremors in his soul. As long as he didn't try to forcibly hold a Morenkai down and only batted or knocked against them, the strain would be easily bearable.
'I need to get my Soul stat up pronto.' He silently observed.
.
—- Points Obtained —-
Points: 12
.
"Eep!" Lana's voice squeaked out as she saw all of this, staring at Micheal with wide eyes.
Micheal's eyes hardened as he faced reality, his thoughts turned cynical.
He was not a rookie. He could not afford to form any attachments with regular people, let alone be bogged down training them. Not more than this. His path would be a hellish one, one in which the weak would only fall in harm's way.
'My focus needs to be on the bigger picture. I will make this Layer a much safer place for you and everyone, you will have to depend on yourself for the rest.' He thought, sighing.
After a moment, he offered her a few words of advice,
"If I were you, Lana, I would leave the group you are currently in. I hear your leader, the Fire Caster Abel, has agreed to work with some of the scum of this Cluster. Living like that… is a dangerous life choice." He left her with those words as he turned around, headed off to one of the bridges that crossed to the North. From the map he'd checked, this was the direction he needed to go in.
He didn't actually know if Abel had even agreed to work with the Black Flag Pirates yet, but the timeline for the big fight was fast approaching. The man would make his decision soon if he hadn't already.
Anyone that would work with those trash to wipe out the Godfather Organization was utter garbage in his eyes.
"…I should leave the Mayoral Alliance?" Lana's voice sounded lonely and lost as she watched Micheal's figure disappear into the distance as he began to run to the north, leaving them behind.
"Uh, hi, I'm s
till here Lana." Khari's voice echoed as he stared between the distant Micheal and the female warrior.
"What was he talking about? Does it have to do with why Riker was forced to go with that other team on a scouting mission?"
"What do we do now?"
Lana sighed,
"I don't know. I feel like something big is going to happen." Her voice was very small,
"But I really don't know what to do. I just want to live…"
.
Chapter 35: Sophia
Micheal made fast progress across several bridges, moving from skyscraper to skyscraper. He avoided walking across towers where he could see people, while also trying to head in the direction he wanted to move towards.
Along the way, he killed three separate Morenkai, the shambling figures trying to murder him as he journeyed. The Points he got from them weren't anything crazy, but still worth picking up. He didn't run into any humans, though he did spot a group fighting a Morenkai and luring it into a skyscraper on the way.
Soon, he found an area on the crudely drawn map that he recognized, a building marked with a unique color scheme. Using that, he was able to track his way towards the last couple of skyscrapers.
'But… there's a team on each of the two skyscrapers that lead directly that way. I could run back the way I came and try to loop around, but the map has marked that these sets of skyscrapers and the ones in front belong to the Red Kilo Gang, a territorial team on the northern border of the central zone. That must be them.' Micheal frowned as he found himself stuck in a rut.
The skyscraper he was on was one of the smaller grey ones, tall, but not as tall as the surrounding ones. It had a unique blue and white striped roof pattern, with faded tiles that gleamed dimly in the last morning light.
A long, rickety rope bridge led to the skyscraper he wanted to get to. However, atop this skyscraper he could see a number of figures moving about, several armed with guns. They were dressed in dark colored clothing, wearing red colored bandanas.
'They have a watch placed on the bridge.' There was a man dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt standing guard on the bridge, wielding a semi-automatic machine gun.
He sighed.
'I can't block bullets from multiple guns easily yet. At least, I don't have the practice for it, even with my Life Orbs.' His eyes slid away from the bridge he was staring at, towards the lower portions of the skyscraper.
'It's not common to use ropes and cross to other skyscrapers, the Black Flag Pirates haven't set that precedent yet…' He walked over to the edge of the skyscraper he was on, ducking low. He was still on a skyscraper that was two away from the one with the guards. He had merely spotted them first, from a distance.
'Let's just fly around.'
He threw himself off the skyscraper.
A millisecond later, two Life Orbs flew out and landed under his feet, supporting him. Micheal's body began to sink as he descended a good dozen levels, till he was about a third of the way down from the roof.
He then began to fly along the skyscraper, moving quickly.
'I'd rather not get sniped and have to deal with the mess down below.' He thought, keeping his eyes peeled up above on the off chance a sniper decided to look down at the Morenkai-filled streets.
WHOOSH
Wind blew past him as he flew through one intersection and then another, making a hard right. Every time he reached the end of one skyscraper, he shot upward in a great leaping arc, gliding till he got close enough to a skyscraper for his Life Orbs to anchor.
Just like that, he managed to completely avoid interacting with the Red Kilo Gang.
'The versatility of flight… I really didn't consider how useful these Life Orbs are.' Back in his first life, he would've been forced to take the long way around or pay some kind of toll if he wanted to move through the team blocking off his path. Such annoyances had been a norm for him back then, especially considering his mediocre strength.
He didn't even hit B Rank until he was about to leave, after all, let alone A or S Rank, the two highest possible Ranks for humans in the First Layer.
After jumping to three different skyscrapers, avoiding all detection, Micheal opened up the map he had obtained, checking over its details.
'A dark green colored skyscraper with a light blue stripe around the roof.' He glanced at the skyscraper he was currently hovering right next to, floating several dozen meters off the ground.
It was a faded, but clearly dark green, with a long blue stripe edging across the part of the building that connected the walls of the skyscraper to the roof.
'This is it!'
He began to zoom up the side of the wall, climbing. As he accelerated upward, wind rushed against him, cool and refreshing. In just a few seconds, he had soared almost all the way to the top of the roof.
Before he went over, however, he paused, coming to a halt.
Faintly, he could hear two voices interacting atop the roof.
"…think that should be clear." A man's deep voice, full of energy and strength, rumbled out loud, continuing,
"We can help you find safety, grow in strength, and have power in numbers. Every pleasure a man or woman could want can be found here. We look after our own and we don't give up on our own. There is no better home to have, here among your brothers and sisters, living life." The man's voice boomed as he continued, carrying a sense of grandeur,
"We are men and women that shall sail through whatever troubles the First Layer throws at us, staying calm and steady in the storm. Lord Byron is eager to hear bac-"
"I already told you." A female voice interrupted the speaker, her tone calm and controlled.
"I am not interested in joining any group at all right now." Her voice brooked no argument.
There was a bit of an awkward pause as Micheal stood floating there, waiting patiently. He paid attention to everything he was hearing, his full focus on the roof above.
"Very well. I will return again after I have informed Lord Byron. Do not mistake his geniality for weakness, Mrs… I don't believe I know your last name." The male speaker paused, as if waiting for a reply.
"Sophia is my name. That is all you need to know. Please leave." The woman's voice gave nothing away.
The man sighed,
"Very well. I shall return here soon…" His voice trailed off as the speaker left, his footsteps echoing fearlessly. They weren't technically in the central area anymore, so the risk of running into a Morenkai wasn't necessarily as high.
'It's her! The Irregular Sophia Morgan!' His eyes flashed as he realized this. He'd found his target, exactly where she was said to be!
'It makes sense that they'd meet in the morning. My timing to arrive was just fortuitous, though I wish I could've gotten here a bit earlier. Still!' He smiled.
'I wonder what caused her to change her mind and join Tobagin Party, in the original future?' He shook the question from his mind as he began to float upwards, his body slowly ascending alongside his Life Orbs.
In just a few scant seconds, he arrived right at the edge of the building. He put his hands on the side of it, holding on tight. He dismissed his Life Orbs, watching as they melded through everything he was wearing to make contact with his skin and vanish, their magical form as mysterious as ever.
He waited here for several seconds, his senses tuned to the maximum. He could hear the footsteps of the male speaker fade away, long gone. He hadn't heard the woman move yet, it sounded as if she was standing still. His senses currently weren't strong enough to hear her breathe from such a distance, but he figured she was still there.
In one smooth, leaping motion, he pulled himself over the edge, his body landing firmly atop the roof.
The rooftop of this skyscraper was similar to many others. He could see a single large shed, at least 4 meters wide and long, with a door leading to the lower portions of the skyscraper. Three separate bridges led to differing skyscrapers from this one, two of them rickety unstable ones and one of them built from sol
id wood.
Standing near the center of the roof was a petite, brown short-haired woman, currently staring at Micheal in shock. She had a small button nose and warm brown eyes, with a somewhat square jawline. She was dressed in a pair of tight blue jeans and a black midriff sweatshirt that exposed her toned stomach.
"W-huh?!" The woman stuttered out a response, looking at Micheal incredulously. He couldn't really blame her, his entrance had been rather… unusual to say the least.
"Hi, I'm Micheal, nice to meet ya." He gave her a casual, friendly wave.
She slowly waved back, still speechless. Her eyes were alert, however, distrust clearly present. She looked as if she was 20 or 21, a bit older than Micheal physically was. Her eyes, however, made her seem much older, far more mature than her age.
"They won't like your response to them, you know that, right?" He continued, watching her closely. His words seemed to set the woman off as she responded angrily, her arms crossed,
"Who the hell are you?! Look, I've already said my piece! I will no-"
Micheal cut her off, waving his hand,
"Hey, hey, settle down. I'm not here to convince you to join anything." He shamelessly lied.
Sophia stared at him suspiciously,
"Then what are you here for?" Her hand drifted towards a large, golden bracelet she wore on her hand, one that was set with a glowing green gem. A Mandorian Deflector Bracelet, a magical tool that she depended upon to protect herself from long distance gunfire.
The expensive Artifact was one of the big purchases she had made in the Shop that helped establish her reputation.
"Well, I'm not here just for you, that's for certain." Micheal said, shrugging,
"I'm also here for your sister."
Sophia's face twisted, her eyes going livid. A faint, pink hue began to color the back of her eyes, strange, alluring energy sweeping through the air.
Immediately, Micheal shut his eyes tight, refusing to open them. He kept his face impassive, knowing that she was still staring at him.
