Publishedat 16th of September 2019 10:16:21 PMChapter 18
The Ki Cultivator Ability had several Tiers, from Mortal to G.o.d . Each Tier was further split into three internal stages, decided upon by enough experts that the opinion was generally accepted in the 7 Layers .
"There"s the Early, Mid, and Late Stage of Mortal Ki Cultivation . " Micheal thought this over as he chomped on a pair of warm eggs and bacon, his breakfast for the day .
Daylight gleamed in through the window of his room, the bright morning sun slipping over the horizon .
"Right now, I should still be in the Early Stage . " He nodded his head sharply, taking a moment to wolf down some bacon .
"You reach the Middle Stage when your base Strength reaches 3 times the strength of a normal human, or 30 points . You reach the Late Stage at 4 times the strength of a normal human, or 40 points of Strength . " He thought it over in his head .
— - Status — -
Name: Micheal Care
Points: 150
Race: Human
Age: 18
- Stats -
Strength - 23
Endurance - 17
Recovery - 13
Advertis.e.m.e.ntSoul - 10
- Abilities - (3/7)
Life Orb Master
Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier)
Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)
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"Since I have nothing else modifying my stats, when I reach 30 Strength, I"ll truly be at the Middle Stage . " He nodded sharply . His Endurance and Recovery would rise by similar, though smaller, amounts .
An Ability that could be grown without Points to a huge height… it was no wonder this was the most popular Ability in the 7 Layers .
A few moments pa.s.sed as he finished eating his breakfast . The food settled comfortably in his stomach, tasty and warm .
After that, he washed up slightly . There was a bottle of toothpaste and a toothbrush in his sink that he used, and he washed his face . As he looked at himself in the mirror, he smiled slightly .
"Man, I look like a baby . " He pulled at his cheeks . He was so used to seeing his old grizzled, aged-far-beyond-his-years appearance .
He shook the stray thought for his mind as he finished preparing .
Then, before he left, he sat back down .
"Alright, focus . Life Orb Master Ability . "
As he sat still, he turned his mind to the new Ability he had gained .
Immediately, two floating blue orbs appeared out of nowhere . Micheal reached out and tapped on them lightly, rubbing their surface . They were smooth to touch, giving off a cool and refres.h.i.+ng feeling .
Micheal closed his eyes for a moment . In his head, he could feel a mystical connection to these orbs, one that seemed to meld with his heart and soul .
And, as he focused on this feeling, he could sense something else . A feeling like a tree that was about to sprout, as if he was just about to open something up . As if a flower was about to bloom .
Micheal felt that sensation and then mentally pushed slightly .
WHOOSH
A third, glowing Life Orb appeared, s.h.i.+ning dimly in his room .
Micheal smiled as he saw this . The feeling of something about to bloom, about to sprout, vanished . Micheal a.s.sumed this was the daily process of growing a Life Orb, some mystical part of his soul creating it through magical means he didn"t understand .
"I"ve hit the maximum limit of Life Orbs I can currently carry . " As the third Life Orb was borne into existence, Micheal could also feel a very faint level of pressure settle upon his soul . While these three orbs provided him with a feeling of refreshment, they also required a certain level of power to maintain .
"With my average Soul stat, I can have 3 Life Orbs present . That means I can die 3 times and still survive . " His eyes flashed as he considered this . The fact that he could literally have 3 extra lives… it was incredible .
He would"ve killed for an Ability like this on the 6th or 7th Layer .
While the Ability didn"t increase his Strength or give much offensive power, and even had the negative aspect of not allowing a Type, it was so incredibly useful an Ability that he couldn"t pa.s.s it up . It was also one of the rare Limited Abilities that could be purchased from the Shop . That meant if he hadn"t picked it up when he had, it was likely he never would"ve gotten the chance to snag it .
"Ouch!" As he was considering the Ability, he winced out loud . He quickly stretched his arm as a cramp appeared .
"I"m not in nearly as good a shape as I used to be . " He ruefully muttered as he began to stretch . His entire body was aching, sore from all the exertion of yesterday . Even his increased Recovery wasn"t able to fully fix him up .
His body simply wasn"t used to all of his rapid movements and attacks . It would take some time for his physique to adapt to how it used to be, let alone gain anywhere near its previous strength .
"Still, I have that time to spare . I can"t leave this Cl.u.s.ter till the Great Bridge appears in a month . " He nodded sharply .
"Should I break one of the Orbs? If it will bring me back to life, does that mean it will heal all my injuries?" He rubbed his chin .
Soreness like his was caused, in part, by micro-tears in the muscles of one"s body from using them in ways they weren"t used to . Micheal had learned this, and as much information as he could about developing himself, years ago in the middle of the 7 Layers when he was desperately trying to catch up to the First Wavers . These tears would eventually heal and the muscles would become stronger than before, but that took time .
"Maybe I should test it…" He thought it over and then shook his head .
"No, I"m currently too weak . I need every advantage I can get, including the full 3 lives . I"ll wait till tomorrow, I"ll just have to suffer through the soreness for now . " He made his mind up .
After reaching that conclusion, he stood up and began to leave .
When he opened his door, he opened it very carefully, removing the doorstop . He listened to the sounds of the world around him, putting his ears near the ground, where a tiny slit was open between the door and floor .
He heard nothing .
While it might seem overkill, especially with his level of skill, Micheal didn"t make it through the 7 Layers all the way to the end by being careless .
He quickly moved through the hallway, not seeing or hearing anyone else . His footsteps were quiet and confident .
In no time at all, he made it to the stairwell . Just as he was about to open the door to go up, he froze .
Faintly, he could hear voices drifting down .
"…It"s bulls.h.i.+t, Merkel should"ve gotten the Points for it . We clearly had it at the edge…"
"…Tommy I know, but the Points go to the person that hits it last, that"s just how it is…"
"…it"s not fair . We woke up early just to find…"
Micheal could hear a pair of male voices arguing . Two men that had just hunted a Morenkai and apparently had the kill stolen from them, or one of their allies, were complaining as they moved to their floor .
Eventually, the voices faded away as they entered a floor that was several ones above Micheal"s .
"So there are other people in this skysc.r.a.per . " He frowned . It couldn"t be helped, there were only so many skysc.r.a.pers in the Cl.u.s.ter, and many more people .
"Still, they sound like a small group . At the least, they don"t sound like they are part of any major power . I highly doubt they have this skysc.r.a.per locked down . " While the big groups would often lock down entire sectors, the smaller groups or forces that lived in the dangerous central area were less territorial .
Part of it was a manpower issue . They simply couldn"t afford to waste time blocking off areas, especially when Morenkai would appear frequently .
Micheal entered the stairwell .
Everything was quiet, for now, anyway . He quickly clambered up the stairs, taking quick steps to get the blood flowing in his sore legs . After a few moments, he breathed out lightly as he reached the top .
He frowned slightly as he saw a small spot of red .
"They must"ve been injured . " It was blood .
He shook his head . He could remember his own dangerous trials when he was here the first time around .
He put his ear to the door for a moment and then opened it up fully, his eyes cool .
It was the start of his second day here .
"I have 150 Points now after buying breakfast… By the end of today, I want to have 4,000 . "
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