by L. M. Kerr
Most of the truly powerful warriors either lived in the Main Cluster or had already moved on to the Second Layer.
None of the A Rankers back in the Stardust Cluster would've made the Top 10,000 in the Main Cluster Ranking List. There were tens of millions of people living in the Main Cluster, and the top 10,000 among those tens of millions were bound to be quite strong.
Micheal wagered Branch Commanders went out on missions at least at a decent rate. While few people would willingly antagonize the Angels Arcadia, dangerous incidents still happened. The timing was lucky, but the situation itself likely wasn't all that rare.
'With the only strong A Ranker out of the picture till tomorrow morning, there's no reason to hesitate.’ The Sub-Commanders were very strong B Rankers at the weakest or weak to above-average A Rankers at the strongest. This would likely be his best opportunity. As all of these thoughts raced through Micheal's head, he spoke out loud,
"A pleasure to meet you, Sub-Commander Kathleen. I'm Heron, as you are aware." He continued,
"The Branch Commander is out? Ah, that's unfortunate, but I can wait. There are a few things I'd like to talk to him about, pertaining to my mission." His voice was magnanimous, full of confidence and quiet determination.
"Of course, sir Emissary." Kathleen's face grew pale as she heard that a powerful Emissary had some questions for her boss, stuttering slightly.
"Nothing too worrisome, don't fret." Micheal reassured her, his voice warm.
"Just about a target I'm looking for."
A few more moments passed as Micheal talked with Kathleen, creating an image of a powerful Emissary that was hunting down a dangerous criminal and wanted to talk to her Commander. With Ayer's avowed confirmation of his strength, his image in Kathleen's eyes solidified.
Shortly after, Ayer and his men parted ways. The Enforcer enthusiastically shook Micheal's hand and bid him a warm farewell, wishing him luck with his mission. Micheal watched the squad leave, silently thanking the man for his unknowing assistance.
Kathleen then led him down into the Tower.
The insides of it seemed initially the same as any other skyscraper. The stairwells were well lit, but relatively small, opening up into multiple hallways.
She began to introduce him around the area, treating him like a valued guest as she showed him a selection of different or unique rooms. At the same time, she explained a bit about herself and the Iron Eye Branch.
She seemed to be trying to make up for her earlier behavior. Such a lapse was a serious error on her part, a reminder that she shouldn't assume things or be rude to people without being absolutely certain of their status.
Of course, if she had known Micheal wasn't even a member of Arcadia, she would've reacted quite differently.
According to Kathleen, when the Commander left, both Sub-Commanders were required to stay within the bounds of the Tower until he returned. This left her with a great deal of free time, time she used to avoid any and all paperwork she needed to file.
Some things never truly changed. Even in this apocalyptic world, paperwork still existed, the strict and orderly organization of the Angels Arcadia necessitating it.
Normally, the Sub-Commander could be found out hunting, amassing Points to use to buy Artifacts or to work towards powerful Abilities she wished to gain, or helping train others.
"Of the major rooms that can be found in our Tower, there is the large, Amphitheater Room one that connects to the unique Pillar Room." Kathleen's voice slid into Micheal's ears as she led him into a large, mostly empty room set with several dozen sets of seats. A large, curtain-covered stage was visible at the end of the room.
It had already been twenty five minutes and they had only covered a tenth of the huge Tower's rooms, and that was including skipping many floors that were privy to Branch personnel only. The tour Kathleen was giving was engaging, moving them along speedily. By this point, the two had had an amiable, calm conversation, soothing the Sub-Commander's worries and helping her loosen up. She now went about the tour with genuine enthusiasm.
As Micheal glanced around, a room that connected off to the side of the Amphitheater Room caught his gaze. When Kathleen saw that, she immediately jumped to an explanation,
"That is the Directive Storage Room. Sub-Commander Borial practically lives there, guarding and going over the huge amount of information there. Most of it's boring historical orders and transfer records, but, well, it has to go somewhere. It's off limits to all personnel save the Sub-Commanders and Commander." She finished, slightly apologetic.
Kathleen continued to give him a tour, showing him around. As an ostensible highly ranked Emissary, it would be impolite and irregular for her to do anything else for him. The Angels Arcadia took their Ranking hierarchy very seriously.
Internally, while Kathleen went on, Micheal was smiling.
'That's what I'm looking for.' He took mental note of the exact location of the Directive Storage Room, memorizing it.
'Information. If I'm going to find the Supreme A Ranker 'Leila Almawt,' I'll need a huge amount of intel.' The knowledge he had of the future was specific for some things, but very vague for others. He had no idea where she was stationed or worked from.
'Alright. First, I'll break through to the Peak of Mortal Tier Ki Cultivation. Right after that, we break in and steal the data we need.' With the strongest member of their team gone, this was an ideal opportunity for him.
Micheal turned over towards Kathleen, giving her a winning smile before he remembered he was still wearing a mask and she couldn't see it.
"Ah, it's been a busy day full of travel." He broke in as they were exiting the Amphitheater room, giving her a nod.
"I think I shall retire for lunch and then focus on my Ki Cultivation for the rest of the day, to stay out of your hair. I'll wait to meet the Commander in the morning. Would you mind escorting me to my room?" His words and tone were eminently polite.
"Ah, yes, of course!" Kathleen gave him a warm smile, her impression of him improving quite a bit.
"Right this way!"
Just a few minutes later, Micheal found himself alone in a large, luxurious suite. A grey colored carpet covered the floor, while a fancy, modern-style bedroom spread out around him. A large, black marble desk, a set of oak chairs, a fine, plush white bed, with a large window that opened out onto a magnificent view of the skyscrapers around them.
It was one of the best VIP rooms in the Tower, one that was located near the middle of the building, extremely secure. It also happened to be extremely difficult to escape from undetected, as a result. They believed his credentials, but clearly didn't trust him, not that he could blame them. It would be foolish to think otherwise.
Micheal ignored all of that as he folded his legs under him and sat down on the plush bed, concentrating.
'Well, I'm here now. No reason to delay.'
Just moments after he arrived…
He immediately stopped holding back and almost instantaneously began to break through his Mortal Tier Ki Cultivation to the final, Mortal Tier Peak Stage.
.
Chapter 17
When it came to Ki Cultivation, jumps in strength came with every single Stage in a Tier. Micheal was currently at the Late Stage in the Mortal Tier. When he reached the Peak Stage, he would've grown as physically powerful as possible while in the Mortal Tier, the absolute limit he could reach, ignoring other Abilities and training.
Regular people needed to adjust their state of mind when breaking through from one Stage to another. The process in the Mortal Tier was relatively simple. It simply involved the Ki in one's body becoming more and more condensed, gradually purifying and becoming stronger.
This was a delicate process that needed to be carefully guided, transforming all the Mortal Tier Ki in one's body to a stronger level. The previous Stages relied upon an increase in Ki. The Peak Stage was the first transformative one, preparing to break through to the Earth Tier.
Most people took sev
eral hours to go through the process of entering the Peak Stage, gradually encompassing their entire body in a state of meditation.
For Micheal, it took him approximately 23 seconds.
The boiling energy that flooded in his veins felt hot, but for an expert like him that had experienced Ki Energy for more than a decade, it felt completely normal. The process of breaking through Stages all the way back in the Mortal Tier proved no problem, his previous experience making it laughably easy.
Just like that, he broke into the Peak Stage.
Micheal felt hot as his body transformed, his muscles, tendons, bones, and flesh itself all absorbing the energy of his Ki, becoming denser, tougher, stronger. He could keenly feel the changes he was undergoing, the improvements very noticeable.
This transformation only took a few seconds. The moment it finished, he called up his status screen.
.
— - Status — -
Name: Micheal Care
Points: 52,898
Race: Human
Physique: 1 Star
Soul Quality: 1 Star
Age: 18
- Stats -
Strength - 53 -> 60
Endurance - 39 -> 45
Recovery - 37 -> 43
Soul - 20 -> 21
Abilities - (4/7)
Life Orb Master
Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier - Peak)
Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)
Impact Release
.
As he saw the progress he'd made, he couldn't help but smile with pleasure.
"I've reached the strength of 6 men." It was a simple statement of fact, his raw power taking another jump. No Starred Physiques, like most humans, would only reach that level of strength in the Earth Tier, or through the use of other Abilities, or very intensive physical training.
His Endurance and Recovery stats both increased as well. At 45 Endurance, his skin had now grown tough enough to absorb most random blunt impacts with ease. His bones and skin were reinforced to a bit more than 4 times that of a regular human.
If he so wished, he could jump off a 4 story building and fall to the ground without injury, as long as he landed on his feet. His Recovery stat of 43 meant he healed at around 4 times the speed of a regular human, but that was still quite slow. Still, it would provide him with a boosted amount of durability.
As for his Soul stat… he could feel the increase in his perception of time, a marginal boost that enhanced his reaction speed to a slightly higher level. While the increase was small, every bit counted, and would gradually add up over time. He could also sense that he could almost store another distinct impact with his Impact Release Ability. He just needed it to be a little bit higher, a couple more points.
"With this increase here…" He muttered, nodding his head,
'It's time to prepare to break through from the Mortal Tier to the Earth Tier.' He nodded again. Breaking through to the Earth Tier was a big deal, something relatively few humans ever accomplished. Just taking that step would put him above at least half of humanity.
The only way to achieve it was to either gather a very large number of Points and purchase the Ability from the Shop, a huge waste of Points, or upgrade it manually. Upgrading it manually generally gave somewhat better results, the experience and effort strengthening one's stats a bit beyond what purchasing the Ability and training it would accomplish.
'But that's for later.' As the energy in his veins settled, Micheal sat up, blinking as he looked around his room.
Everything was the same. Not even a minute had gone by since the Sub-Commander had left him here.
'The other Sub-Commander will be in the intel room for now, but I doubt he'll stay there all night.' He rubbed his chin lightly.
After a moment's thought, he walked over to his door, checking the handle. As he expected, there was no lock. It was very rare to find any doors with locks on them in the First Layer.
After a cursory search of his room, he didn't find any sort of doorstop. It was a rule, of sorts, that every room in the First Layer had a doorstop of some sort. The lack of one here likely meant it had been cleaned out beforehand, unsurprisingly.
He tapped on his Spatial Ring, withdrawing a brown, wooden doorstop that he had taken from a previous skyscraper.
It was possible to use furniture like this for a variety of purposes, though very few people took advantage of that. Micheal had read stories of some people that barricaded themselves in a room, using pieces of furniture to make it impossible to open the door.
Each piece was quite close to invincible for most people. Even Micheal could only damage them if he went all out, using his Ashari Blade and Sword Energy, and it was still rather difficult for him.
In the one story he remembered reading, the Godfather Organization had been hunting down a criminal that had barricaded himself in a room. First, they tried to batter the door down, and failed miserably despite having an A Ranker present.
Next, they tried to poison the man, flooding poisonous gas through the cracks of the door. Unfortunately, just like they could buy poison gas in the Shop, the criminal could buy a gas mask and oxygen tank from the Shop. Until he ran out of Points, their options were limited.
Finally, the Godfather Organization had someone with an Elemental Body come over, a rather rare Ability to see on the First Layer. The unnamed Elemental Body user had a White Ice Elemental Body, similar to Xavier's Water Elemental Body. The White Ice Elemental Body user simply slipped under the doorframe and got into the room that way, transporting along a trail of ice.
What happened next was as expected. The criminal was captured and everything ended.
Still, all the furniture that that criminal used ended up in perfect condition.
Just like the doorstop Micheal was using right now.
He also didn't find any type of listening device. His senses were enhanced thanks to his stronger body and Soul. It was very difficult to hide things from him in a normal room, the ability to drill into walls or hide cameras inside furniture no longer feasibly possible.
As a matter of routine, the Branch wouldn't record or invade the privacy of a powerful, A Ranked Emissary. Still, he could never be too safe, and checked around anyway.
"Alright… here we go…" He muttered out loud as he knelt down and slipped the doorstop under the door, making sure it was set tight. After a moment, he nodded his head, standing up.
"Finished." He clapped his hands together.
"Now then… I've got several hours till nightfall…" He looked around the room again and then shrugged.
He walked over to the light switch, turning it off and then threw himself into bed.
"Let's take a nap!" Even the most elite warriors needed their rest.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Several hours later…
.. .. .. .. .. ..
When Micheal woke up, it was pitch black outside. He yawned comfortably as he came to, stretching his body. He glanced around the room, finding it exactly the same as he left it.
"Mmmm." He muttered as he got up, blinking his eyes.
This particular room had a clock on one of the nightstands. A cursory examination showed that it was 1:38 AM. He had intended to sleep till 1:40ish, so his body had woken up when he wanted.
He felt well rested and alert, feeling confident.
"Let's get down to business."
He tapped on his Spatial Ring, bringing out a large white jar that was full of a clear paint-like substance, something that was known as Magic Paint. Micheal had obtained this particular can from the loot he'd gotten from defeating the Black Flag Pirates.
The magical substance would cause him to blend into whatever light was focused behind him, making him become semi-translucent. Micheal had no idea how it actually worked on a scientific level, but knew the effects were extremely useful.
Very few people on the First Layer would have Abilities that purely focused on skilled detection. Small tricks like this could have a much g
reater impact than they would on the later Layers, where almost everyone was an alert veteran.
Micheal put on an entirely new outfit, a pair of black, camouflage combat pants and a black shirt.
After applying the substance to his new clothes, he put on a new mask. Instead of a theater mask, it was a dark, mostly featureless mask with only a pair of small eyeholes. Despite the lack of a mouth and the slim eyeholes, it was breathable and comfortable, not obstructing his vision or breath.
He covered the mask in a layer of Magic Paint as well.
Finally, he made one last preparation. He brought out a dozen small, black darts and a small, clear vial full of some type of blue liquid. He then dabbed each dart in the vial, watching as the liquid magically adhered to the darts.
'I'm not just going to murder innocent people.' He was here to save the human race, not wipe it out. That said, when it came to scum like the Black Flag Pirates, he would show absolutely no remorse and kill them without question. People like them were better off dead.
The darts were coated in a layer of Knockout Poison. The substance did exactly what its rather simplistic name said. It knocked people out, though it was only very effective on those with Mortal Tier Ki Cultivation and below.
Those at the Earth Tier were also affected, but only to a lesser degree. If they weren't expecting it and amped up, it could make them drowsy and slow their reactions. The dart itself had a numbing agent on it. Getting pricked by it was almost entirely unnoticeable, very difficult to detect.
'When I break into the room with their records, I’ll probably get detected immediately.' He talked the plan out to himself in his head, his eyes unblinking. He would only have a short period of time to react, all things considered.
'All I need to do is stick to my plan.' He smiled beneath his mask. As he went over his plan, he glanced over towards his doorway, his nose wrinkling slightly.
He then picked up his Ashari Blade from the ground. He had placed it right next to his bed as he went to sleep, not wanting to sleep with it on.
