.. .. .. .. .. ..The next day…
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Morning sunlight crept in through the blinds of Micheal"s room, revealing an empty and rather rumpled bed. The early light s.h.i.+ned dimly, largely because Micheal"s room faced to the south, neither towards nor away from the dawn. Just like on Earth, this world"s Sun rose in the East and set in the West.
The sounds of running water sounded off faintly, coming from the attached bathroom to Micheal"s room. Just above that sound, a haunting melody could be heard, sifting through the morning light.
♫ h.e.l.lo darkness, my old friend… ♫
♫ I"ve come to talk with you again… ♫
Inside the bathroom, an old-time record player sat on the counter, scratching slightly as it played out one of Micheal"s favorite songs, "The Sound of Silence."
A dozen, vanillscented candles stood lit all around the bathroom, some on shelves, some alongside the bathtub, a few on the counter near the record player, and even one on the toilet.
Sitting in the center of that bathtub was Micheal"s muscular figure. His arms and legs were packed with muscle, but still somehow managed to seem slim. His skin was bronzed from being outside, but not the slightest bit weathered.
One benefit from regenerating quite often was that he didn"t build up any scars or splotches on his skin. One of the downsides was the difficulty he had in achieving a callus on his hand or foot. It was still possible if he willingly tried to form them, but they appeared much more slowly then they would naturally.
"Ugh…" Micheal s.h.i.+fted in the tub, his eyes fluttering as he winced in pain.
The water he was bathing in was a mix of transparent and red. The red tone wasn"t from any magical liquid he added or a unique type of soap or shampoo.
It was from his blood.
♫ In restless dreams I walked alone… ♫
Micheal s.h.i.+fted again, taking in several deep breaths. His arms were raised and clenching the sides of the tub as his mouth twisted into a grimace. Small trails of blood dripped down from these arms, blood from two long, open cuts that were visible, one on each arm, just below the wrists.
On the face of it, this was a rather horrifying sight to anyone that didn"t understand what Micheal was doing.
The first thing Micheal did after he woke up was his customary workout and cultivation routine. He alternated doing this in the evening and the morning, sometimes doing both exercises twice in the same day.
After he warmed up for the day and ate some breakfast, he then began to prepare.
He was well aware that today was going to be one of the most dangerous days of his existence, far more dangerous for him than anyone in the G.o.dfather Organization expected.
However, Micheal could not back down. He needed to know if the Hidden Truth Department"s plans were possible. And, beyond that, he needed to be there in person, because he didn"t trust that they would succeed without him. He was not a trusting person, especially after his return to the past.
After his warmup, he opened up the Holy Shop and sifted through the Artifacts section. He made several purchases racking up thousands of Points, various organic ingredients that he picked out specifically.
He then combined all of the ingredients he bought, using a small stove and a few vials.
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It was a quick process to create the recipe from his memory. Not because he was an expert, but because it was okay if his measurements and timing were not exactly perfect.
And that was how he ended up creating a gla.s.s of Bracken Enhancement Fluid.
Bracken Enhancement Fluid was a type of potion researchers discovered how to create on the Second Layer. It was a potion that saw a sizable amount of popularity due to its notable effects, limited only by its cost.
The potion, to put it simply, would greatly boost his Strength and Recovery stats. In Micheal"s case, especially with his 1 Star Physique, Micheal expected it to at least double his stats.
The potion was only effective for a single day, however.
Even worse, the ingredients to make it cost around 21,000 Points for a single dose.
When active, it placed a heavy burden on his body and Soul in return for its boosting effects. It was especially useful for those with a Strength stat of less than 300. Past that, its effectiveness waned.
On the Second Layer, it gave weaker humans a chance to partic.i.p.ate in dangerous hunts or missions and gain a large number of Points. Weaker warriors that fought in the wars with other races were fed the potion to boost their power and give them a stronger chance of survival. The potion was versatile in that almost every weak human could gain something significant from it.
As with most things, however… that power did not come freely.
The side effects of using Bracken Enhancement Fluid would keep a hale man in bed for a week, one"s body overdrawn, overtaxed, and unable to keep up. While it was rarely fatal if properly administrated, it was possible to overdose on Bracken Enhancement Fluid, especially if used again before one was recovered.
However, given that Micheal could regenerate with ease in this timeline, he felt confident he wouldn"t have to deal with these side effects. His Soul would only need a single day"s rest to recover, so for him, this potion was a huge boon.
The potion did leave some minor damage that would remain in his Soul longer than a day, but as long as he didn"t use it again within a couple of weeks, the damage would fade away.
With all of that said, there was still one problem.
Micheal knew of the potion. He knew the correct ingredients and a rough idea of how to make the potion. He had even drunk it before, back in the desperate times when he"d fought for survival on the Second Layer.
He didn"t, however, know the exact ratio of ingredients needed. He had never learned that before and thus couldn"t access any memories of it.
And that was extremely dangerous.
The potion put a strain on not only his body, but also his Soul. A backlash from using the incorrect ratio of ingredients could injure his Soul due to a buildup of internal energy.
And as of right now, Micheal had no idea if his Life Orbs would heal injuries to his Soul or not.
The Bracken Enhancement Fluid flooded his veins with energy. The specific ingredients used reacted in a manner that drew energy from the environment into his body, using his own Ki as a conductor.
To prevent himself from overdosing or suffering a backlash, Michael willingly cut his arms open and allowed himself to bleed off some of the excess energy he felt trying to condense in him. He soaked in a bath to help himself relax and wash the blood away, making an environment that was both soothing and calming.
It was grim and faintly horrifying, even for him. He had no stomach for such casual experimentation on his own body, nor for self-injury. But it also wasn"t like he had much of a choice right now. This was the best option for survival.
"Ugh…" Micheal winced out loud again, feeling as if his body was on fire. His face was flushed, his eyes bloodshot.
At the same time, however, he felt a mighty sensation of power, as if his entire body had expanded. He felt as if he could take on the world, a rush of robust energy flying within him.
Several more minutes pa.s.sed as Micheal soaked in the tub, regulating his body bit by bit. Gradually, the overwhelming energy was beginning to settle.
♫ "Fools" said I, "You do not know… ♫
♫ Silence like a cancer grows… ♫
In the background, the music continued to play as Micheal retained his focus. Blood continued to drip down his arms, faint bits of steam rising off of him. He felt slightly lightheaded for a little bit, but the feeling vanished quickly.
Gradually, the new energy Micheal felt in his veins merged with his Ki and body. It was a familiar feeling, one he had felt before on the Second Layer. The energies were synchronizing and adapting to each other, molding together.
When he finally felt that, a smile appeared on Micheal"s face.
♫ But my words like silent raindrops fell… ♫
Micheal looked over at his arms.
The two long gashes had completely closed up. Micheal raised his right arm, flexing it.
"Not bad." His smiled widened as he felt the strength within it.
Not only was his Strength stat at, a bare minimum, doubled, he felt like it had been boosted beyond that. He had an extremely fine control of his body and was able to calculate that his Strength had from the 80s to around the early 210s. He had well more than doubled his stats, an increase of more than 150%.
"Is this all because of my 1 Star Physique? Wow." Back in his previous life, the one time he used the potion it only boosted his power by around 60%. A huge increase for him, but nowhere near as potent as this.
After a.s.sessing his boosted state, he checked his status. There was no visible change in his stat panel, something that left him unsurprised. This was a temporary buff that wouldn"t register as his own power, things like this typically wouldn"t show up.
He then got out of the bathtub and cleaned up, was.h.i.+ng away the blood. He brushed his teeth, put on some un-scented deodorant, and dressed up in his strongest Shop-made suit.
In no time at all, he was fully kitted up. His Ashari Blade hung at his waist in its sheath, tucked in tightly. He wore his Cloud Stepping Shoes on his feet as usual, strapped in safely. He eschewed most other gear, keeping his setup relatively simple.
"Hmm… should I take this off?" Micheal touched the Aura Nullification Necklace he wore with a slight frown as he looked at himself in the mirror.
He wore this particular Artifact almost 24/7 these days. There were countless Abilities that could be used for tracing, hunting, or sifting through fate. It would be dangerous to leave himself exposed.
However… his purpose on this mission was to draw as many Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai to himself as possible and then flee. Leaving the necklace on would interfere with that and likely extend the mission a good deal.
"If I take it off for a brief, few seconds and then put it back on… that could probably work." He smiled as he realized something.
Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai were incredibly sensitive. Once he took the necklace off, they would be able to detect the Points value of his Abilities, the energy they would gain from killing him.
Even with the necklace on, they would still be able to get a vague idea of how much he would be worth to kill as long as they were close to him. This was the main reason Micheal felt he would be in more danger than anyone else expected.
His Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability… that was an Ability that would likely be worth millions to them. It was an Ability you couldn"t buy, one you could only achieve through both talent and a huge amount of work.
The Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai would flock to him like moths drawn to a flame. All he would have to do after that is flee to wherever Head Cameron was going to be situated. The distraction he, and Cameron by extension, caused would provide more than enough cover for the research team to go in and do whatever it was they needed to do.
He nodded his head firmly, settling on the idea. Even when he put the necklace back on, he would still be chased as long as they saw him. Taking it off for a few seconds wouldn"t really leave him exposed to people trying to scry him, his fate, or his past, or track him.
"Let"s do it." He had already informed s.h.i.+n and Sophia what he would be up to while they were recuperating.
It was time to go.
He snagged the record player on his way out, storing it in his Spatial Ring, but not before it let out one last haunting line that echoed in his ears as he left his room and headed towards the Hidden Truths Department.
♫ And whispered…
…in the sounds…
…of silence ♫
.