by L. M. Kerr
From that, Micheal could conclude that this area must’ve been their hideout for a long time. It wasn’t a bad choice, all things considered. The O’Shack Grove was secluded and had few things of interest within it.
For a group of people that killed other humans to gain large numbers of easy Points, it wasn’t a bad deal at all.
Micheal’s eyes darkened when he considered that.
Bandit groups like the Rury Gang were not at all an uncommon sight. While most humans fell in line with the Four Barons, some humans that came to the Second Layer chose to walk their own path. This became vastly more common as hundreds of millions of people swarmed into the Second Layer in the coming months, greatly weakening the control the Four Barons had.
The Rury Gang was a rather unusual bandit group, given the history that Micheal knew. They were described as an infamous, murderous plague that only the Four Barons had been able to handle, but that infamy, itself, was a rather curious thing in Micheal’s eyes.
Most bandit groups avoided fame like the plague. After all, one’s survival often depended on how well hidden one’s Abilities were, or how well one covered their strength up, only unveiling it in times of need. The Rury Gang, on the other hand, seemed to have embraced their infamy.
It was a slightly unusual point that didn’t seem that important. After all, there could be a plethora of reasons that could explain why this was. Most people would’ve just ignored this tidbit, yet Micheal couldn’t help but find it something that stuck out like a sore thumb.
Micheal crept forward silently as he moved past the two sentries. He stuck to the highest point of the trees, using his Life Orbs to silently glide.
He didn’t attack the two sentries yet, but instead chose to ignore them. He wouldn’t strike without first being sure this was his target. And, in the off case that there was some type of alert Artifact or Ability active on the two, he might as well play it safe.
Unlike the First Layer, the Second Layer had a far wider selection of Abilities available. Micheal’s actions from this point forward would need to go under much more scrutiny. He couldn’t charge in with guns blazing like was possible in the First Layer, though he hadn’t done much of that then either.
From tree to tree, Micheal flitted through the tops of the forest, quickly slipping past two other sentries. In no time at all, he arrived at a large, tucked-away base.
Around three dozen stone buildings dotted a small clearing. A small river ran through the middle of this clearing, next to a large mound of rocks. The rock huts all had slate roofs and looked to be created entirely out of different types of stone.
Micheal’s eyes glinted when he saw this. One of the people here, likely several, must have the Stone Shaper Ability. It could be used on a mass scale, with the right Artifacts, for the creation of temporary or even long-term shelters.
Activity dotted the enclosure as various men and women moved about. Off to Micheal’s right, there was an open training area in the clearing, where a dozen warriors were practicing combat. There was a notable gender discrepancy, with about three-fourths of the people present being men.
Micheal stayed put, hiding atop a tree as he studied everything. His eyes continued to scan the clearing, zeroing in on the large stone mound next to the river.
After staring at it closely, Micheal could make out what appeared to be a small opening near its base, one that appeared to dive into a dark cave.
‘Is that it…?’ He thought, his eyes narrowed. If this was the Rury Gang, the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance grounds should be located in or near their home base.
After thinking it over for a few seconds, Micheal hid himself slightly more within the leaves of the tall trees and settled in to wait. He assumed a meditative pose, relaxing his body as he blended in with the world around him. He didn’t give off a hint of energy, instead focused on becoming as passive as possible.
Seconds dripped into minutes, and minutes drizzled into hours. Micheal’s eyes were calm and placid as he remained absolutely still, moving only slightly with the rustling breeze that swept through the O’Shack Grove’s tall trees.
Beyond just avoiding detection, there was an important reason Micheal decided to wait till nightfall. According to the legends he knew… the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance could only be interacted with after night descended.
While Micheal was in this meditative pose, he studied his surroundings keenly. He gauged the power of all of the warriors here, gaining a rough understanding of their forces. While he couldn’t detect their Abilities, he could somewhat guess how strong each person was, based on the power of their physical body and Soul.
‘At least 34 unrated humans, 15 Third Rate Warriors, and 1 Second Rate Warrior.’ Micheal’s eyes missed nothing as time flew past, daylight rapidly fading to evening.
His eyes were that of a predator, hungrily searching out every detail. His ears picked up a great deal of casual conversation, though he didn’t discover anything of note. His targets weren’t so kind as to spout important plans out in the open.
By the time evening arrived, Micheal had gained more than enough information about the group before him.
They were, indeed, the Rury Gang.
After hours and hours of waiting, the proof of that finally lay before him, even now, as his gaze landed upon a woman standing alone in the dying evening light.
A pale woman with a scarred, disfigured face, long red hair, and a muscular body. She was dressed in a set of tight brown leather armor, with several metal scales covering both of her arms.
Simone Alto, the ‘Boss’ of the Rury Gang, the only Second Rate Warrior Micheal had seen thus far. In terms of physical power, she was on the level of one of the stronger Supreme A Rankers from the First Layer. It was more common to find male leaders of gangs or violent organizations, but female warriors could be just as effective.
By this point, most of the other men and women had retired to their various homes to sleep. Several groups of warding sentries had been sent out, but there was a very relaxed feeling to the camp. No one expected any sort of trouble.
Micheal took full advantage of that as he slunk up to the edge of his branch. He took several more studied glances around the bandit hideout, tracking where every possible set of eyes and ears were located.
He found a couple moving off towards an outdoor lavatory in the woods, a few men drunkenly passed out outside one of the stone huts, and several large dogs tied up to a stone post in the south of the outcropping.
Apart from the distant sentries, the only person actively outside, in this exact moment, was Simone Alto.
Micheal’s patient waiting had finally paid off.
After he reached the edge of the branch, he used his Cloud Stepping Shoes to fling himself in the air. He then brought out his Life Orbs to silently glide downward, controlling his movements extremely precisely. He made not even a hint of noise as he acted, everything completely within his control.
In the darkness of the dying sun, Micheal descended upon the bandit enclave like a silent god of death.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Simone sighed as she looked out at the first of the Second Layer’s two moons. She never got used to such a sight, the odd juxtaposition of two enormous celestial bodies set so far away.
Around her, the rest of her gang was retiring into sleep. Today had been an average day for training, but all things considered, that was okay in Simone’s book. Her gang was growing stronger every day, something she felt eternally grateful for.
The day she began to wage her war for revenge was not long off. It wouldn’t be within weeks, maybe not within several months. But it was going to happen, all thanks to a random cave she’d discovered, just a couple of months ago.
She turned and glanced over at the rocky opening, just a few meters from her, smiling slightly. She then looked up at the night sky, staring at the unfamiliar stars that dotted the Second Layer.
After a moment, she frowned.
Above her, sh
e could see a rather irregular splotch of darkness that appeared to be expanding. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at this curious sight, wondering if it was some type of unfami-
Her thought process was abruptly frozen as a set of long, metal threads slammed into her.
Two of them circled her throat, cutting down and circling her tender neck without giving her a chance to resist. Two others lashed down onto each of her arms, circling them several times and forcing them to remain held down. One last thread slammed into her waist, limiting her movements.
Simone’s eyes grew bloodshot as she prepared to resist, energy rising around her body as she simultaneously prepared to activate several Abilities. She tried to jerk her hands up, doing everything she could to rip off the metal threads.
Before she could do anything substantial, however, she froze once more, her eyes widening in terror.
For, those metal threads had suddenly become ferociously sharp. Blood dripped down from her neck as she felt the thread cut into her, causing her hands to tremble. Her breathing became ragged as she felt how delicate of a situation she was in, knowing death was a mere step away.
Alongside all of that, Simone felt an overwhelming feeling of terror sink into her bones as the splotch of darkness she saw in the air landed next to her. She continued to remain unmoving, her pupils dilating as she felt the horrifying power and intent of the man that now stood next to her.
If she dared to scream for help, she would die immediately.
If she dared to fight back, she would die immediately.
If she dared to even twitch her arms, she would die immediately.
It wasn’t a question of how fast, nor was it a question of if she could resist. Simone’s experience from the past three years and several months, instincts she had built up over years of battle, told her everything very clearly.
A single wrong step would lead to her death.
“Hello, Simone.” The darkness spoke to her, his voice as smooth as the devil,
“It’s time you and I had a talk.”
.
Chapter 8
“Who are you? What do you think you’re doing?!” Simone’s voice was a quiet hiss as she lashed out at Micheal, all while remaining absolutely still.
Micheal had to hand it to her, the Rury Gang’s Boss was a tough woman. Despite her obvious fear, her voice never trembled as she questioned Micheal.
“If you’re from him then you might as well kill me now. I’m still too weak.” Micheal could practically feel the frost in her tone as she spoke, frigid viciousness mixed with raw anger.
‘Huh…’ For a small moment, he didn’t know how to react. This was not at all how he had expected this to go down.
He quickly recovered just a few seconds later, replying in a calm tone,
“No, I’m not working with ‘him.’ But why don’t you tell me about him while we walk down into the entrance of that cave?” Micheal’s question was more of a command as he flicked his wrist, causing the metal threads to pull Simone forward. At the same time, his eyes roamed his surroundings, making sure that the coast was still clear.
The security of this bandit camp was both unexpectedly stringent and a bit lax. They had layers of outer sentries, a rather unusually well-organized sight, but kept a relaxed interior. He couldn’t hear any arguments or fights breaking out, no shouting or anything even remotely disruptive.
For a random bandit camp, the Rury Gang was unexpectedly well-disciplined and orderly. It was all the more confusing, given the history that Micheal knew.
Simone complied, unsurprisingly. Micheal gave her absolutely no leeway to refuse, knowing that she was currently much more powerful than he was in terms of stats.
The difference between a Third Rate Warrior and a Second Rate Warrior was extremely significant. In terms of physical power, a normal Second Rate Warrior would be able to handle 10 normal Third Rate Warriors without too much trouble.
Of course, Micheal was about as far from the definition of a ‘normal’ Third Rate Warrior as possible. But that didn’t mean he would be careless.
The two of them left the top of the boulder and quickly moved to the side, where the opening was placed at. Micheal peered into it as they moved, glancing around.
The inside of the cave was surprisingly spacious. There were a set of stairs that descended a few meters underground, and then a stone passageway that ended in a large grey door. A set of blue, glowing crystals had been installed in the walls, lighting the insides of the cave up.
‘So this is it.’ Micheal thought as he glanced around, his eyes narrowing slightly. He could make out several long strands of symbols on the sides of the walls, and a few ornate symbols on the door in the back.
As they moved up the passageway towards the door, and out of sight of the main camp, Simone continued to speak.
“If you aren’t with Rex, then what do you want from me?!” Her voice was full of exasperation, trembling only slightly.
“Rex? Baron Rex?” Micheal questioned, staring at her intently. He retracted some of his metal threads, leaving only a few up to prevent Simone from doing anything.
“Yes, the Baron… He’s why I’m here in the first place. Are you really not related to him?!” Unfeigned confusion was spread about evenly as she replied, in sheer disbelief.
‘Huh.’ Micheal frowned.
None of this was matching up with the history he knew.
Baron Rex was one of the four strongest humans on the Second Layer. As of right now, he was an extremely strong First Rate Warrior that was almost a Supreme Warrior. He was also the leader of his own Syndicate, with a huge army of warriors at his disposal.
The Rury Gang had, allegedly, sprung up out of nowhere and begun their raids and banditry. They were a violent group that murdered wantonly, a plague upon humanity.
There shouldn’t have been that much contact between the two groups prior to several months from now.
‘Did history change?’ It couldn’t have altered that much, just by what he did on the First yet. After all, he had raced up here at a breakneck speed.
‘No… it’s not that it changed…’ A sudden realization struck him.
‘It’s that the history I know might not entirely be true.’
Micheal had read about the history of each Layer, records that were recorded in a mix of detail and vagueness. Some Layers had very detailed data and tracking information, while others held history that was fragmented and confusing.
Information about the Second Layer was one of those fragmented ones, as he very well knew. Micheal had been relying more on his own knowledge about what went down. After the Great Disaster, a great deal of information had been lost.
And when it came to the Rury Gang and the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance, it appeared that there was more here than meets the eye.
‘History is written by the winners, after all.’ He focused back on the present as he looked at Simone. As he looked at her, he thought about Cameron for a split moment.
‘I can’t mess up again.’ He clenched his fists as he thought of his failure, determination flaring in his eyes,
‘I need to do it perfectly this time. So…’ He nodded to himself.
“Simone… I think you and I may have had a misunderstanding…”
.. .. .. .. .. ..
A short amount of time later, Micheal and Simone sat across from each other inside of a small stone hut. The insides of the hut were far nicer than the crude exterior would imply.
A comfortable couch, several nice chairs, a marble table, various pieces of furniture that, for any other race, would be an extraordinarily odd sight out in the middle of a huge forest.
For humans, with their magical Shop and mystical Spatial Rings, such a sight was easily explained.
Micheal currently had a frown on his face as he looked at Simone. He was sitting on an aged wooden chair, resting his hands together on the table in front of him.
“And so you’ve been here for the past several mon
ths, huh?” Micheal spoke aloud, examining Simone’s expression.
“Yeah, that’s about it.” Simone sighed, looking back at him warily. She respected the clear danger he posed, and as a result, was currently cooperating with him.
Over the past few minutes, Micheal’s opinion of the Rury Gang had taken a complete 180.
After realizing something was off, Micheal had quickly defused the situation with an easy explanation.
He claimed he had been told they were a group of vile bandits, and that he was here to wipe them out, with a promise that there was a great treasure hidden here.
When Simone heard this, she nearly had a fit out of rage. She then earnestly began to explain what she knew.
The Rury Gang was not a bandit gang. In fact, they weren’t even a ‘Gang’ at all.
They were, officially, the Rury Group, an alliance of warriors and explorers that had teamed up on the First Layer after living in the Main Cluster for a year. All of them were Second Wavers that had arrived in the 7 Layers two years before Micheal.
The group had been through a great deal together, fighting enemies and forming alliances, gradually building up in strength and might. They became one of the little powers in the Main Cluster, under the Big 3. Simone was considered a very strong A Ranker, and could’ve easily joined any big organization if she so chose.
Eventually, however, the general consensus of the group changed.
After growing stronger, many members wanted to leave the First Layer and move on to the next. Not everyone was satisfied living in such a hellish world; many people wanted to seek out something better, to find a new world to live in, a way to return to Earth.
And so, the Rury Group went up to the Second Layer.
And it was here that the Rury Group ran into Baron Rex.
If the S Rankers were the human monsters of the First Layer, then the Barons were the human monsters of the Second. They wouldn’t be as mighty as Micheal remembered, that was when they had around a full year more of explosive growth, but they would still be much stronger than the current him.
