Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2

Many hundreds of miles away from Micheal, past dozens of other Cl.u.s.ters, there existed one specific Cl.u.s.ter called the Alexandrite Cl.u.s.ter . The Cl.u.s.ter was shaped like a large triangle, with edged points, unlike Micheal"s Stardust Cl.u.s.ter which was shaped like a rather blob-like circle .

In the middle of one particular skysc.r.a.per, a blond haired teenager could be seen, casually flossing his teeth in front of a mirror .

"Hygiene is important, even if it"s the apocalypse!" s.h.i.+n merrily hummed as he prepared for the day . After brus.h.i.+ng and flossing his teeth, he smoothed back his spiky blond hair and gave a winning smile, looking at himself in the mirror .

"You look d.a.m.ned good, stud . Ready to drive the ladies wild . " He flashed a pair of finger guns at himself .

s.h.i.+n was currently standing in the room he"d found after ditching the people he teleported in with . It was small, but cozy, with a desk, a bed, and a connecting bathroom and sink . The door was currently shut tight, locked with the doorstop Micheal had told him about .

He went over to his bed and sat on it, taking several deep breaths . After a moment, he exhaled, feeling all over his body .

"Wow, there really is some type of weird energy in me . This is crazy!" s.h.i.+n shook his head, enjoying the experience .

The apocalypse was scary and all, but it was also kinda cool .

"According to Micheal, the fact that I started with 124,000 Points puts me well above the average . But there are a lot of rough dudes and gals here, people that I can"t afford to mess with . " s.h.i.+n nodded as he talked aloud .

s.h.i.+n was far more lucky than Micheal had been in that regard . With that score alone, such an abnormal starting value, s.h.i.+n should"ve been an "Irregular," as he learned strong people were called from the start . At least, that is how it should"ve been, according to the hurried words Micheal had told him . His best friend had managed to cram a huge amount of info in a very short time period .

According to Micheal, if he hadn"t wasted his Points on things like an Ancient Vikarin s.h.i.+eld for 15,200 Points, a Land Sword for 21,800 Points, and the rather pricey Expansive Strength Ability for 45,600 Points, among a few other things, he would"ve started out great .

All of these purchases were actually strong and quite useful, especially the Expansive Strength Ability, which temporarily allowed you to greatly increase your Strength, but weakened your Soul .

But, because he hadn"t known to pick up the Ki Cultivator Ability, he didn"t choose it . This, plus the rather haphazardly picked Artifacts and Ability, had caused him a great deal of suffering in the original future . He had ended up losing all of his rare Artifacts, robbed by those that had been here gaining strength for years .

Advertis.e.m.e.nt"They all sound so cool though…" He could see why the other version of him had wanted them .

Still, while he didn"t have any visions of the future, he had Micheal"s words pa.s.sed onto him .

Micheal and s.h.i.+n had grown up in the same neighborhood and held a friends.h.i.+p that spanned far more than a decade . If there was anyone in the world he would say he trusted unconditionally, it would be his best friend Micheal .

Even if his best friend told him he had had a vision of the future .

In a world where millions of people had vanished in waves of light, s.h.i.+n was willing to believe that pretty much anything was possible . When he had been transported to the "Holy Shop" he was fully convinced .

Everything Micheal said was from the future . . . It was all coming true .

"Alright . It"s been a full day, and I did that breathing exercise that Micheal said to do . " s.h.i.+n took a deep breath, flexing his arms . He then tapped on a ring at his side .

Immediately, a large black sword appeared, one that was more of a longsword than a regular sword .

"Micheal said the s.h.i.+n of the future enjoyed being super strong and always practiced powerful swinging attacks, seeking overwhelming strength as opposed to finesse . " He nodded again . Future-s.h.i.+n had excellent taste, clearly . A hero always needed to have a grand entrance, and what was grander than a smas.h.i.+ng attack from above?

He"d also purchased a powerful handgun that he kept in his Spatial Ring, just in case . Micheal had said he would have a far easier time using a sword to fight once he got some practice with the Ability he"d snagged .

As he smiled, however, a darker light flashed in his eyes .

Also according to Micheal, in his vision of the future, s.h.i.+n, and the rest of humanity, all died . They were too weak, and as a result, everyone they knew would perish .

The jovial smile on his face faded slightly as he considered this .

"I can"t just mess around . I have to get strong enough to protect them all . " His eyes hardened as he thought about his adopted parents and adopted sister, the family that had taken him in years ago . His dad was a mechanic back on Earth while his mother was a 4th Grade teacher . His little sister, Anna, had just graduated from 5th Grade and was about to enter middle school .

They weren"t part of the Fourth Wave, that Micheal"s vision of the future had seen . But if s.h.i.+n didn"t try his hardest, they would all die . The thought of losing his family was one that nearly drove him sick .

He pushed the thought to the side for now, however, recognizing that he couldn"t resolve it yet .

"Don"t you worry, Micheal . I"m here for you, buddy . We are in this together . " He muttered, nodding sharply . He could tell that his best friend"s vision of the future had hit him hard . The pressure he must feel was probably enormous .

"We"re the Three Musketeers-Minus-One, remember?" He grinned as memories of their childhood swarmed up, where the two had been inseparable .

They had drifted apart somewhat when they grew older, dating girls and preparing for college taking up more of their focus . But the impending apocalypse had served as a great excuse to catch back up on their friends.h.i.+p . That, and the fact that they both got broken up with just weeks before the First Wave . If nothing else, s.h.i.+n prided himself on being a great wingman .

"Alright, time to go do what he said . " s.h.i.+n tapped on his blade, storing it in the Low-Tier Spatial Ring he had picked up . All he had to do was think about the ring and storing his sword and it would vanish, a truly wonderful creation .

"Let"s test my Ability out more . " s.h.i.+n closed his eyes .

"Phase!"

WHOOSH

s.h.i.+n"s body blurred and then vanished .

A microsecond later, he reappeared, standing outside his room . The door was still locked, the doorstop sealing it shut .

He was now in a large, dimly lit hallway with flickering white lights overhead . Not a sound could be heard, no other inhabitants of the area making noises . This was a rather dangerous area, according to Micheal . The central area of each Cl.u.s.ter was not a very safe place to live for most .

He grinned .

"It really works, just like when I first arrived . " He laughed off the tension he had built, his undying optimism rolling in,

"I can teleport!"

WHOOSH

s.h.i.+n"s body blurred and vanished again as he teleported several meters down the hallway, concentrating .

"Wow, this really is frickin" awesome!"

Micheal had told s.h.i.+n that his future self always wished he had picked this specific Ability . It was one that would"ve greatly boosted his preferred combat style, vastly enhancing his slow movement speed .

The Limited "Phasing Warper Ability . "

.

—- Phasing Warper Type —-

The Phasing Warper Ability is a Type Ability . Users may only have one Type . The Phasing Warper Ability grants the user the power to "Phase" through reality, warping from one place to another at near instantaneous speeds . This Ability grants a moderate increase in the Soul stat and no other bonuses .

.

The description was very succinct, like the description of most Abilities s.h.i.+n had looked at . The Ability itself was one that also had a limited supply . Only 12 could be purchased, of which, 7 had already been bought . s.h.i.+n was the 8th human to have ever snagged it .

It was an Ability that cost 110,000 Points . A huge, gargantuan amount that couldn"t even be normally achieved on the First Layer due to the Points Wall capping Points at roughly 100,000 Points .

Only people that bought it before the First Layer or picked it up in the Second Layer had this power .

"The distance I can teleport and how quickly I can teleport again depends on my Soul stat . Right now it"s at 12 because I picked this Ability up, a roughly 20% pa.s.sive increase that will stick with me according to Micheal . " He thought it over .

After a moment, however, he shook the thought from his head .

"I need to find that thing . " His eyes tightened as he remembered the horrifying introduction he had had to this world .

He had been greeted by a pair of Third Wavers, alongside around 30 other people, and given an introduction to the freakish creatures that haunted this world, the Morenkai . s.h.i.+n had slipped off on his own while the two warriors, members of the small-time Abnu Alliance, talked . He hadn"t joined any groups, following Micheal"s advice . Still, the gnarly appearance of those creatures was unsettling .

It was even scarier when he had faced one of them on his own earlier, as he was traveling through the rather empty central zone on his first day .

The monstrous humanoid had attacked him, its shambling figure lunging to try and shred him . It had come charging at him when he was on a long bridge, about halfway across . s.h.i.+n had tried to use the longsword he"d purchased, a high-quality one that cost several quite a pretty penny, but had frozen up in his first encounter .

Any regular person, when faced with a zombie-like creature of horror, would have had the same reaction . At least, that was what he told himself when he rebuked himself after .

Thankfully, he"d managed to use his Phasing Warper Ability to lure the thing off the skysc.r.a.per, killing it while staying safe .

"According to Micheal, I talked about the thing I"m supposed to look for in the future . It gets discovered on the third day that I arrived, causing a big hubbub . Its location should still be the same, even though it"s the second day now…" s.h.i.+n"s eyes flashed,

"The special Golden Morenkai . A creature that drops anywhere between 10,000-20,000 Points . " s.h.i.+n nodded his head sharply,

"It"s supposed to be really weak in terms of physical strength . This time, I"ll manage to kill one of these zombies directly . " His body blurred as he began to vanish, leaving behind a few quiet words,

"I can"t be a hero if I forever stay a coward…"

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