Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2

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 several hours to go through the process of entering the Peak Stage, gradually encompa.s.sing their entire body in a state of meditation.

For Micheal, it took him approximately 23 seconds.

WHOOSH

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

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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 skysc.r.a.per.

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 G.o.dfather 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 G.o.dfather 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 greater 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 s.h.i.+rt.

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 sc.u.m 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 p.r.i.c.ked by it was almost entirely unnoticeable, very difficult to detect.

"When I break into the room with their records, I"m 100% confident they"ll have security measures in place. My presence will be detected immediately." He talked the plan out to himself in his head, his eyes unblinking.

"I"ll have only a short period of time to react, but that should be enough." He shrugged,

"All I need to do is stick to my plan." He smiled beneath his mask. As he talked in his head, 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.

He unsheathed the weapon in one smooth motion, creeping along silently till he was right next to one of the windows. He held the blade up, its edge tapping against the window as he concentrated.

WHOOSH

An invisible layer of Sword Energy appeared on his blade, spreading to encompa.s.s all of it as he wedged it against the window. He kept his movements as quiet as possible, not making a sound.

His blade ground against the window, cutting ever so slightly into it. He could slowly feel the window giving way, the enhanced sharpness of his weapon greatly boosted.

For a brief second, a flicker of red, Advanced Tier Sword Energy appeared.

SHKK

Micheal"s right arm blurred as he made four precise cuts, all in one smooth motion. Unlike being in live combat, he had plenty of time to move and aim at a still target, without needing to bother accounting for any future actions or movements. This made landing the cut very easy and allowed him to use his Advanced Tier Sword Energy conservatively.

A meter by meter hole appeared in the gla.s.s window, a large chunk of gla.s.s falling out. Before it could fully slip past him and fall to the ground, Micheal"s right hand shot out as he snagged it.

He then sheathed his Ashari Blade and stored it in his Spatial Ring. He took the pane of gla.s.s and carefully set it down on the ground inside, managing to wedge it through the now open window by sending a pair of Life Orbs out under the gap and pus.h.i.+ng the gla.s.s from the other side.

He then slipped through the window and out onto the side of the Tower.

A cold breeze brushed past him as he crept out onto the ledge. He narrowed his eyes as he looked out at the huge, gaping height, refusing to let even a slight feeling of nervousness appear in his heart.

He kept his body tucked in as close as possible to the wall as he moved outside, the Magic Paint on his clothes helping him blend in. He brought out his Life Orbs, but kept them inside his shoes, simply raising his heels and foot up to just barely allow them room.

This allowed him easy flight without risking the dim blue light of the orbs being spotted.

His body then began to zoom alongside of the building, the night air breezing past him as he flew upward.

"Now… I believe it was on the 36th floor, and it should"ve been the 6th room on the left…" His eyes flashed silently as he flew away from his VIP room, searching for his target…

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