by L. M. Kerr
Over the next several hours, they went on several hunting expeditions that took them all across the central zone. They avoided other teams or interacting with other people as if they were social recluses, going out of their way to prevent contact.
It wasn't that he was afraid. Far from it, with his current physique and powers, Micheal was confident very few people could cause trouble for them.
However, when offered a choice of either putting themselves at risk and potentially alerting the Cluster to their location, or spending a few extra minutes traveling, Micheal went with the safe choice every time.
'You don't become powerful by being a fool.' Brash bravery and arrogance was left for the grand heroes on their grand quests as far as Micheal was concerned. He considered himself a realist and tried to plan his goals around that.
He had considered using his Life Orbs to fly them around as they searched for Golden Morenkai, but ended up canning the idea. There were simply too many variables and too much danger to do that in broad daylight for an extended period of time.
Instead, they continued to lure the Morenkai and send them off hunting for targets.
While Golden Morenkai were not super common, there were usually multiple ones that could be found throughout the Cluster. With their coordinated teamwork, it should be possible to find several to kill throughout the week, possibly even another one today.
Several more hours passed as they searched. Day faded into afternoon, and afternoon faded into evening.
By this point, Micheal had killed a veritable army of Morenkai, his skill unremitting as they cleared out section after section. With his enhanced stats, he had a much easier time avoiding getting tired, allowing them to make fast progress.
The more practice he got in, the better and better he felt about his new body. He was getting used to his much lower stats, his exacting precision as a Grandmaster warrior coming through.
Unfortunately, after all these hours of hunting, they didn't find any more Golden Morenkai.
They found several Abnormals, all of which they killed, all of which ones that dropped a decent number of Points, and a veritable plethora of regular Morenkai. But not a hint of a Golden Morenkai.
'Still, it's better than I thought we would do.' He'd thought, shrugging. Finding a Golden Morenkai on literally their first kill had been a great boon in gaining Sophia's trust, and a very unexpected turn of fortune.
Unlike Shin, Micheal hadn't known of any Golden Morenkai locations, not early on. His memories of the First Layer, after so many years, weren't perfectly clear, but he was certain he had never personally stumbled upon a Golden Morenkai before.
As the evening light faded to night, Micheal and Sophia found themselves in one last battle.
"Hup! Got it!" Micheal's sword flashed out as he smoothly beheaded a freakishly large, lumbering Morenkai with alabaster white skin, an Abnormal. It was very strong, much stronger than a normal Morenkai, but also much slower.
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—- Points Obtained —-
Points: 88
.
The large Morenkai weren't too big a problem. The only issue when it came to killing Abnormals that were large was if they were also fast. Those type of Morenkai were often classified with the ones called 'Monsters' or 'Monster Class,' depending on who you asked.
He could deal with fast ones and he could deal with strong ones. If he met one of the freakishly strong and fast ones, however, it would be a much harder fight. Thankfully, Morenkai like that were usually only found in the Main Cluster.
Black blood spattered out as the large humanoid figure fell to the ground, staining the ground floor of the skyscraper they were in. Micheal dodged all of that smoothly as he turned around, glancing over. The dying evening light combined with the indoor light bulbs to give the ground floor an eerie appearance.
"Hiya!" Sophia was currently fighting against two regular Morenkai at once. Her red hot blade was boosted by the Basic Sword Mastery Ability, making it strong enough to severely damage the regular Morenkai.
As he watched her performance, he noted her weaknesses.
'She leans too much to the side when she strikes, her footwork is only average at best. She has a bad habit of stepping back when she dodges, even if she doesn't need to. She has excellent coordination, however, and reacts very fast.' He mentally memorized all of her faults. If he was going to train her to be one of his allies, he would go all out, holding nothing back.
"Hup!" She mimicked Micheal slightly as she pushed out a long, twisting slash, her blade severing the head of one Morenkai and sinking into the shoulder of the other. She ducked her head under a blow from that Morenkai, jumping forward and stabbing the blade into its skull directly.
Black blood sizzled out, burnt by the heat as she stepped back, letting the corpse fall to the ground.
'Wow. She is really talented.' His eyes flashed.
Even with all of her faults, she showed an incredible level of skill and adaptability. Her Abilities were not the only reason she became an S Ranker. She was also, verifiably, a genius in the making when it came to direct combat.
'She just needs to be taught, and to gain a much stronger physique.' As he thought this, he checked over his status.
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— - Status — -
Name: Micheal Care
Points: 2071
Race: Human
Age: 18
- Stats -
Strength - 30 -> 31
Endurance - 24
Recovery - 22
Soul - 10
- Abilities - (3/7)
Life Orb Master
Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier)
Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)
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'Hmm? I gained a point in Strength?' His eyes narrowed as he saw this. He focused for a brief moment checking over the condition of his body.
'Ah, I'm still in the early training period of my growth. Making small gains like that isn't unexpected, especially considering how my Life Orb will restore any torn muscles or ligaments.' He nodded.
Enhancing one's base stats became notoriously hard in later Layers. Increasing one's Ki Cultivation or upgrading certain Abilities were some of the best-known ways, though with all the knowledge Micheal had at hand, he had a few more options.
'More than 2,000 Points… That's enough to make the last two sets of Dragon Building Liquid!' He smiled. None of the ingredients he had previously bought could be reused, including the Boiling Dragon Ginseng Booster that he had leftover. Once he cut 3/4ths of it away, the last quarter would quickly, and inexorably, turn bad within the hour. It wasn't designed to exist while damaged.
He then knelt to the ground, looking at the body of the Abnormal for a moment.
'Too big.' He shook his head, tapping on his Low-Tier Spatial Ring.
In it, he had a variety of supplies and objects stored away. He also happened to have a large, green colored body, completely wrapped up in cloth.
The body of an Abnormal Morenkai.
Normally, Morenkai bodies would dissipate after a short period of time if they weren't used for some other purpose. Micheal was able to circumvent this by storing the body in his Spatial Ring.
This particular stored Abnormal was one that had proven rather annoying, able to emit bolts of energy from its hands. They had been forced to use Sophia's Fairy Eyes to beguile it in the end, the constant blasts of electricity forcing Micheal's hand. He had no reliable way to resist such energy attacks at the moment.
The only other easy alternative he had was to use the explosives he had left, but he'd rather save those for when he needed them.
'Not counting today, there are only 3 days left until the weekly Stardust Open Market takes place….' He rubbed his chin, scratching at the stubble that was growing there,
'I doubt the Black Flag Pirates would try to disrupt it, not when they're planning to attack the Godfather Organization soon, assuming our clash with Pirate Lord Brandon hasn't changed that. That means we
should be safe to travel and trade at it.' He didn't think the Black Flag Pirates would give up on their plans just because of his intervention when it came to Sophia. If anything, it might make them more eager to attack.
'An Abnormal body like this would fetch a very pretty price.'
Just like on Earth, trade was something that flourished in the Stardust Cluster and, indeed, throughout the 7 Layers. People would gain Artifacts that they didn't want or seek to hire the services of others for various tasks. Necrozarks and a few other Ability users would be very interested in Abnormal bodies, which was what Micheal cared about.
Every week in the Stardust Cluster, on the 7th day, there was a large trading session that happened in a rather large skyscraper to the east of the central area. This skyscraper was located in territory that no one claimed.
Labelled the Stardust Open Market, hundreds of interested parties would come here. It was an agreed upon neutral zone from all the major forces. While battles occasionally broke out between smaller teams or unaligned fighters, it was still one of the most popular places for people with something to trade to go to.
"I took down all of my Morenkai. Are we all done here?" Sophia's voice sounded slightly winded as she walked up, giving Micheal a small smile. Her sundress swirled as she came over, clinging to her lithe body.
Dresses, in general, weren't exactly combat gear, but it wasn't like a coat or shirt would stop a Morenkai punch. Sophia seemed to prefer the freedom of movement they gave her, so who was Micheal to judge? He did faintly recall that the Demon Fairy, in his original timeline, was known to wear dresses into combat. It seems that part of Sophia remained unchanged.
She was covered in a sheen of sweat, but smiling cheerfully. Her chest heaved slightly from exertion as she carried her Burning Steel Knife, wiping it off with a stray piece of cloth.
'Hunting did indeed get her mind off her little sister.' Micheal nodded,
"Yes, we're all done! I think we should probably find somewhere to lay low and rest for the night. Before that, though, I'd like to tell you about something called Dragon Building Liquid…"
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Chapter 48: Physique
"…♪ It's the eye of the tiger ♪…"
"…♪ It's the thrill of the fight ♪…"
Micheal hummed along to the music, playing off the magical Record Player he'd purchased from the Shop as he held himself up in a handstand.
The music was set to play at a low volume, purchased from the Shop for cheap. While he was concerned with getting a large number of Points, it only cost a couple of regular Morenkai kills to get the record, a luxury he would allow.
After he raised his body up, he then slowly lowered his body till his face was just an inch off the ground, tightening his core muscles and arms as he maintained the handstand, his legs pointed to the ceiling.
"47…" He raised his arms back up, pushing his body back into the air. A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead, falling to the floor.
"48." He continued to push his body to the limit as he exercised.
"…"
He was currently in the middle of a small room he had claimed for himself, working out. Early morning daylight filtered in through a window, the bright gleaming of dawn peeking through the various skyscrapers to land on his window.
"98… 99… 100!" As he finished his 100th handstand push up, he slowly lowered his legs to the ground, feeling the burn in his core. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he got up, shaking his arms. His breathing was a bit ragged, winded from the sheer effort.
"Alright, all done!" His eyes flashed as he smiled, taking several deep breaths. Handstand pushups were the last set of movements he did for his morning exercise routine. This particular movement worked out almost his entire body as he kept himself balanced and tense up in the air.
Now that his physical condition had improved by such a large amount, he felt it fitting to get back into exercising. It was a good way to keep his body limber and ready to face the day.
A few minutes passed as he took a shower and got prepared, eating a quick breakfast and getting hydrated after he put away the record player.
It was now day 7 of his time here on the First Layer.
Time had started to fly by after he met Sophia. His life had become far more secretive as he and she moved about carefully, not directly revealing their presence. Right now, Micheal had the element of surprise on his side, and that wasn't something he wanted to lose.
Their hunting had gone very well. In total, they had found 5 Golden Morenkai, a huge sum to discover in only 3-4 days when they were working on their own. The lack of people hunting down Golden Morenkai like them meant there was a decently large number of them still alive.
Researchers from his first life had determined that each Cluster magically produced a large number of regular Morenkai every day, though exactly how they were produced was still unknown. The exact number varied, and usually was magically balanced to make each Cluster have a very large number of Morenkai, but not so large that they were swarming everywhere.
It was almost as if the First Layer was self-aware, helping to moderate each Cluster. The 7 Layers were truly quite mysterious.
Of those Morenkai that were produced, there was a very small chance for an Abnormal to appear, and an even smaller chance for a Golden Morenkai to appear. This rate usually averaged to around 3-4 Golden Morenkai a week per Cluster.
Morenkai were not immortal. Eventually, even if they were never attacked, they would die. Their lifespans were quite short. If no one killed a Golden Morenkai that spawned, it would eventually die within a month, its Points going to waste.
Apart from hunting Morenkai, they also hadn't encountered any other major forces or teams, avoiding almost all human contact as if they were social recluses.
'Status.' He called to mind his status after he finished eating and getting dressed, sitting on his bed in meditation. He exercised in the morning and cultivated in the evening, the routine he had decided to set.
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— - Status — -
Name: Micheal Care
Points: 39,071
Race: Human *
Age: 18
- Stats -
Strength - 31 -> 40
Endurance - 24 -> 28
Recovery - 22 -> 26
Soul - 10
Abilities - (3/7)
Life Orb Master
Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier - Middle)
Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)
.
'Not bad.' He smiled as he looked over it.
After imbibing the last 2 sets of Dragon Building Liquid, not only had his stats increased slightly, he had finally received the important upgrade from it.
He tapped on the star that could be seen next to his Race. Immediately, the star changed to read:
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Race: Human - 1 Star Physique
.
He had upgraded his Physique to 1 Star.
The Physique of a being had a large impact on how powerful that being was. One's Physique helped influence how powerful you could grow to be, how high your stats could become, and how quickly you could grow them and cultivate.
It could be seen as the 'Talent' or 'Potential' of a Race to grow stronger naturally.
Other Races had a variety of Physiques, the biggest reason why they were stronger than humanity. The God Races all had 5 Star Physiques, often with unique effects, and the elites among the Gods even had legendary 6 Star or 7 Star Physiques. Almost all Races had a form of 'Ki Cultivation,' one of the few universal Abilities shared between Races, and having a high-level Physique was a huge boon to cultivation.
The Human Race did not even qualify to have a 1 Star Physique originally. The only reason they could compete at all was because of the unique power inborn to all humans in the 7 Layers, the Shop. A higher Physique would allow one to save a huge amount of Points, spending them on unique Abilities or Artifacts instead of focused on upgrading one's Ki Cultivation, as wel
l as enhance the upper limits of power one could reach.
In his first run, Micheal's Physique had also remained at 0 or no Stars. This was largely because of the Type Ability he had picked. The Ironblood Body Type.
This Ability was very powerful, boosting his strength by more than half and granting him a ton of stamina and endurance, as well as a few other perks, perfect for someone obsessed with training like him.
However, it also transformed his body and blood permanently, one of the Type Abilities that didn't allow for further modifications. Despite the change and increases from the Type Ability, his Physique had remained the same, and so did his talent.
This time around, however… Micheal had no plans on repeating that.
'While a 1 Star Physique isn't much, I can already feel the effects of it. It's too bad the Dragon Building Liquid is too low level. The Physique isn't even a unique named one.' Over the past few days, his cultivation every night had become even smoother and faster. He had already broken through to the Middle Stage of the Mortal Tier of Ki Cultivation and was making progress on reaching the Late Stage.
He held his fist out in front of him, clenching it.
'The strength of four men...' He could feel the power rippling inside him. If he were to fight against Pirate Lord Brandon again…
'No, it would probably end up the same, haha.' He smiled ruefully. He wasn't strong enough to compete with A Rankers directly yet.
'But I might not've ended up so miserable.' With his increased stats, he would've been able to dodge faster and move more precisely. While it wouldn't have bridged the gap between them, it would've made it easier to trick the Pirate Lord.
With those thoughts in mind, he finished preparing, grabbing one last thing.
A large, grey backpack that he strapped to his back.
After that, he left his room, walking out into a dimly lit hallway.
He glanced each way, checking for stray people or Morenkai. He always listened at the door before he left to be safe, but it never hurt to double check. There were Abilities that deadened sound.
He moved down the hallway, his eyes alert. Eventually, he found himself in front of one of the other doorways. He knocked on it in a specific pattern.
