by L. M. Kerr
He'd warped down once, to see if he could cross the grassy area. Micheal hadn't had time to tell him much about it, it might be possible he could warp over instead of having to wait for whatever the 'Great Bridge' was.
Almost immediately, he'd been forced to flee. The moment he stepped more than a few meters away from the edge of the skyscraper after warping down, some sort of quiet signal went off, something he heard at the very edge of his hearing.
Just a few seconds later, dozens of Morenkai flooded the area, all of them ravenously charging at him. He'd even spotted a few Abnormals in the group, one dangerous and looming while another held bolts of what looked like energy it was about to throw.
Shin teleported away in a heartbeat, adrenaline pumping as he beat a quick escape. He had permanently marked off trying to teleport across the grassy area from his list of things to do. As soon as… something… sensed he was out of range of the skyscrapers, he would likely be swarmed.
Now, as Shin looked out onto the grassy plain, he was seeing something fantastic.
WHOOOOSH
Dozens of stained and aged ships were rising from the grassy plain, forming an enormous line. Some of the boats were ancient wooden vessels while others were huge oil tankers, covered in rust. Still others were large scale cruise ships, cracked but still holding up. Still even others were military warships, broken down but still dangerous looking.
Hundreds of various ships, all lined up to form a large bridge. One large ship, a failed cruise liner, just barely made contact with the roof of the skyscraper that was right next to them, the starting point of the bridge of ships.
These ships pushed aside grass and dirt as they appeared, knocking great clumps of stuff out of the way. The grass and dirt, when it was uprooted, seemed to magically fade away, dissipating into nothingness. The strangeness of this world was something Shin felt he would never grow used to.
One of the 'Great Bridges' that led to the Main Cluster, one that was supposed to appear only in a few weeks, had appeared early. Its appearance was incredibly unusual, something Shin had never even considered.
"Success, Admiral! Amazing as always!" A young, feminine voice sounded off quietly in the air as a girl stepped up next to Shin, staring at the huge bridge made up of ships smashed together.
A pretty girl with long red hair, wearing a prim purple dress gave Shin a friendly smile.
Shin had met her, and a man known as Admiral Cardbell, a few days ago. The two were members of the Godfather Organization that, of all things, wanted to recruit him and take him with them to the Main Cluster.
'I need to get to the Main Cluster anyway, and Micheal did say the Godfather Organizations is one of the few good groups in the First Layer. I might be able to get information or gear that can help us out!' Shin hadn't thought too hard about it. If he ended up not liking the group, he could just teleport away.
He was also finding it difficult to interact with people in his Cluster. Since he wasn't in any teams, most people treated him like an enemy or a target. He was more than ready to leave.
"Of course it's amazing, Clarissa! Anything to do with the ocean is amazing! Hahaha!" A loud, boisterous voice shook the air as a middle-aged barrel-chested man stepped up to the edge, stroking his great bushy beard. A huge, massive anchor hung on the man's back, something that must've weighed more than 5 tons, that the Admiral carried with ease.
"What do you think, lad Shin?" Admiral Cardbell turned to look over at the teleporter, giving him a wide smile. He wore a set of white pants and an open white vest, looking like a sailor.
Shin glanced at the barrel-chested man and shrugged,
"Well, I've never really been a beachy-person, but I don't hate the ocea-"
"Wait- no, I meant about the bridge." Cardbell broke in, rubbing his beard as he continued to smile.
"Ah!" Shin smiled back,
"It's like someone played a game of Battleship but then lined all the ships up over and over and over!" He said excitedly, motioning.
"Super cool!" He gave the Admiral a thumbs up.
"Hahahaha, yes, it is super cool!" Cardbell was pleased with his response, energetically patting Shin on the back.
thud
"Whoops."
The Admiral accidentally knocked Shin off the skyscraper, unintentionally sending him hurtling towards the ground dozens of meters below.
"Oh no!" Cardbell's mouth fell open in shock as he realized what he'd done, watching the new recruit that they had worked so hard to gain start to fall to his death.
Clarissa reacted instantly, a long, black whip appearing in her hands. The air around her fluttered with purple light as she prepared to take action. Before she could do anything, however…
WHOOSH
Shin's body blurred and then vanished in mid-air, reappearing right where he'd been standing.
"Ah, right. Teleporting. Whew." The sailor heaved a sigh of relief, wiping his forehead. He then coughed.
"Ahem, you should watch your balance there, lad Shin. It seems like you tripped." Admiral Cardbell nodded at Shin sternly, completely shameless.
"…" Shin stared back, incredulous.
"I was standing still. How could I have tripped?!" Shin glared at the Admiral.
"Yeah, he was standing still." Clarissa joined in and glared in solidarity as she stored her whip.
"Quick! Off to the Main Cluster, the Great Bridge won't last forever!" The Admiral opted to run away in lieu of a response, his body blurring as he leapt more than 30 meters high into the air, all while carrying the enormous metal anchor on his back as if it weighed nothing.
Shin and Clarrissa stared at his rapidly departing form as he landed atop the nearby cruise ship and began to jog down it.
Shin sighed,
"At least he's got style." He teleported after the man, ignoring Clarissa's look of sheer disbelief, his mind focused on the future.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
In a distant land far from the First Layer...
A slim, graceful wooden ship, coated in a glistening silver layer of paint, soared through the void of the Third Layer. This majestic looking ship passed by dozens of floating islands, shooting through the sky as it flew in one direction.
On board this ship, several armored or robed figures could be seen, their identities hidden by their robes or face guards. These figures milled about, tending to the flying ship as it flew through the air.
Within the bowels of this ship, a large Captain's Cabin existed. It was decorated luxuriously with various animal pelts and a large collection of books. Two glowing crystal torches lit the room up, spreading a warm white glow.
"The setup for the Reckoning is almost complete. The Second Layer is nearing full preparation. All 2,837 Seeds have reached a relatively stable point, entering a time for optimal growth." Constantine Lancaster smiled as he closed his eyes in meditation, the air around him shivering faintly. He was sitting at an ancient wooden desk, resting back on a comfortable looking armchair. The desk was cluttered with random odds and ends, stacks of paper, and a deck of cards.
"All I need to do is wait for the Sanctum to open. That may take a few weeks to even a few months, but I'm in no rush. It's impossible for even the White Mountain Sect or the Ground Demon Sect to interfere now. Even my Seeds are unaware of the whole plan. I'll be in the Fourth Layer before it even starts." The Vile King stretched his hands out in front of him with a satisfied sigh.
"Now that that's handled, what did I make note of? Ah, right, let's finish up with the First Layer… I only have 124 Seeds left in the First Layer. The rest are dead or moved on to the Second Layer." He frowned slightly,
"Hmm… Seed 571 is placed rather well in the Nightrunners. I can't believe I haven't managed to get any Seeds into the leadership of the Angels Arcadia, though I wasn't really trying hard." The Vile King muttered quietly to himself, light flashing beneath his closed eyelids.
"Oh? Seed 532 has found someone interesting, hmm? Someone with a teleporting Type Ability. P
erhaps I should catalog all the Abilities in the Shop...." He shrugged. There were hundreds and hundreds of distinct, complex Abilities, with certain Abilities having sub-categories, bringing the total number of Abilities into the thousands. Even for him, it wasn't feasible to have read through and memorized every single one. Cataloging them by similarity would make it easier to track what Abilities someone might have.
Still, he let his Seeds find their own natural route to power, he was not there to babysit them. All he did was give them that extra push, enhance their potential and talent, boost their strength. The choices they made, Abilities they purchased, were their own.
"532, 532… you have great potential, especially now that Head Cameron is dying. Flourishing and becoming an S Ranker that takes over in his stead should be a cinch. I won't try to bring you up." He nodded,
"But now you've found me something interesting. That's the second interesting thing I've found on the First Layer in only a few days. How strange." He blinked for a moment, his eyes giving off light as he smiled,
"He's not at a level worthy of gaining a Seed yet. Maybe if he shows more potential in the future. As for the other one…" Constantine's voice trailed off as his mind flashed back, focusing in on a memory.
A memory of a cool, calm, and collected warrior that had somehow managed to murder one of his Seeds on the First Layer, a masked sword user that showed some incredible skill. From the memories he could sift through from his dead Seed, he couldn't miss the excruciatingly detailed movements and control the masked man wielded.
A memory Micheal wasn't aware the Vile King would have been able to see in such detail, his knowledge of the man's Ability rather limited.
"What did he call himself? I think I caught something after he killed Seed 1,879…"
"Ah, that's right."
"Heron."
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End of Book 1 of the Reborn: Apocalypse Series
To read Book 2 before Amazon release, head on over to:
https://www.patreon.com/wiz
