6 First Meeting

"Oi, looks like the newbies are arriving. Hey kid! Turn around!"

Micheal's eyes twitched as he heard a rough voice call out at him, demanding his attention.

He turned around smoothly, his eyes calm as he looked across the roof of the skyscraper.

The roof was flat with a small, about 1 meter large raised grey wall that matched the color of the floor. A small doorway and shed could be seen near the opposite side of the roof, leading down inside the skyscraper.

'We can only safely access the upper levels of the building, though.' He thought, the memories flashing back into him.

The closer one got to the ground, the more danger they would be in, though it wasn't like the roofs were safe either. The main threat on the World of Endless Skyscrapers could be found almost anywhere.

The Morenkai.

"Hey, I said hello. Are you an idiot?" Micheal snapped out of his memories as he looked back up, staring at the speaker.

A trio of figures could be seen, languidly resting in lawn chairs that were set down right next to the door into the skyscraper. All three were men, wearing loose-fitting jeans and plaid shirts. Two of the men had rather forgettable faces, with short brown hair, broken noses, and plain brown eyes.

The last one was the speaker, a man with bright blonde hair and a huge tattoo of an 'X' across his forehead. All three were white.

Micheal stared at them, his memories stirring once more.

It had been more than 10 years since he was last in this world and had met these people. So much had happened since then that minor events or characters gradually faded to the background.

Despite that, Micheal could remember what happened here clearly.

He had arrived as a total newbie. After looking over the Shop list, he ended up choosing the 'Enhanced Strength' Ability alongside the 'Enhanced Recovery' Ability due to their powerful sounding names and the fact that he could afford them. The Abilities were useful, it was true, boosting his Strength and Recovery stats by 30%.

However, due to his rather normal Strength in the first place, the increase in power was incremental. He went from a Strength stat of 11 to a Strength stat of 14. Still well within the limits of an above average human. The same applied for his Recovery.

Micheal's current Strength stat of 22 put him well above the average and close to the maximum limit of a normal human, while his Recovery stat was slightly upped. In addition, his Endurance had been boosted by quite a decent amount. Plus he had a Spatial Ring, a strong blade within it, and the Ki Cultivator and Life Orb Master Abilities.

His starting point this time around was so far above what he had started at last time, Micheal didn't even want to think about it.

"This is- uh- yes. Newbie. Ahem. I am Daniel." The speaker, the man with an 'X' scribbled on his head, stuttered as he named himself, looking at Micheal in confusion.

Usually, the new Chosen would be sacred or fearful, from what Daniel could remember. After all, who wouldn't be? This entire situation was a terrifying one. This was his first time greeting the newbies, so it couldn't really be helped that he was taken aback by Micheal's odd response.

"Micheal. A pleasure." Micheal waved at him, starting to recall everything. His eyes darted to the left and right as he looked around at nearby skyscrapers. He could make out figures moving on other roofs, the area not at all abandoned.

"I am a member of the group that watches over this part of the Lower Section, the Saru Group. If you wouldn't mind waiting for the rest of your group to arrive, I will give a speech and explain everything then." Daniel said, crossing his arms as if he dared Micheal to talk back.

Despite his brutish demeanor, Micheal could vaguely recall that Daniel wasn't actually a bad sort. He just had a harsh personality.

"Sure, I don't mind." He didn't. As he spoke aloud, he tapped the ring on his finger, bringing out the Steelborn Sword.

"Woah!"

"Hold on!"

"He's got a sword!"

Instantly all three men reacted, going on guard as they looked at Micheal warily. The two similar looking men sprouted brown fur along their hands and neck, gaining a ferocious aura, while Daniel, the leader of the group, gained a metallic sheen to the color of his skin.

'Two Lesser Werewolf Types and a Steel Body Type. All three are Adapted Humans, huh?' Micheal remembered some vague details of what happened here, but the minutiae was lost to him. It had simply been too long. Far too much had happened over the past 10 years for him to clearly remember everything minor.

"Oh, sorry! I'm just practicing some sword techniques my sensei taught me. I didn't mean to worry you! I'm still going to wait here for the others!" Micheal waved his hands to calm them down, apologizing.

At the same time, he gave off an air of danger and readiness, making it very clear that he was not someone to be bothered. The display of his weapon wasn't carelessness, but rather, absolute confidence.

"A fucking Irregular…"

"Damn."

"Captain Bola will be happy…"

The trio stared back at Micheal, slowly calming down as they accepted his explanation. At the same time, Micheal heard what they muttered, smiling slightly.

Irregulars. The name people gave for anyone that started with a huge amount of Points or were otherwise strong from the start.

'I certainly wasn't an Irregular the first time around.' He thought, his smile turning rueful. Still, he certainly qualified as one now. If he displayed a high level of strength at the start, he would attract some attention from the higherups here, which was exactly what he wanted.

'My plans will only work if I can convince a large number of people of them.' He nodded his head.

'Oh right, wasn't there also a rather famous Irregular that started somewhat close to me in the Fourth Wave…?' He thought, his eyes flashing as he looked out into the distance.

WHOOSH

As he was contemplating this, a gust of wind and light set the air to trembling as a new figure arrived. A middle-aged woman clutching at a purse, dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a pink sweater.

'I was the first this time because of how fast I was. I remember that on my first time around, I was one of the last ones to appear.' He nodded as he saw this.

"Welcome, newbie! I'm sure you have a lot of questi…"

He moved over to the edge of the skyscraper as he ignored the intro Daniel was telling the new Chosen, as people called themselves, holding his blade out in front of him.

'Inner peace…' He thought, taking several deep breaths. He felt at the sword in front of him, letting his senses fall over it. He focussed on it, zeroing his every iota of will into it as he held it out calmly.

'I am the blade. The blade is part of me. A tool, a weapon. An ally and an enemy.' He thought, his eyes peaceful as he shut them.

SWISH

Almost silently, he swung the blade forward at the air. The sword moved incredibly quickly, blurring as it made a quick, sharp cut. As he swung it, a feeling of mystical power swept over Micheal, sliding onto and covering his sword.

.

—-New Ability Acquired —-

Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

Accept the Ability? Yes / No

.

A blue screen popped up in his vision as he let loose the simple strike. As soon as he saw it, a burst of adrenaline ran flush in his veins and he immediately clicked the 'Yes' option.

WHOOSH

Micheal felt his body vibrate slightly as something inherently shifted and changed, the magical Ability fusing with him.

'Status.'

.

— - Status — -

Name: Micheal Care

Points: 0

Race: Human

Age: 18

- Stats -

Strength - 22

Endurance - 16

Recovery - 12

Soul - 10

- Abilities - (3/7)

Life Orb Master

Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier)

Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

.

He couldn't help but smile as he saw this. Even though his stats remained unchanged, he had gained something extremely important.

'Yes! I did manage to get it back!' He clenched his fists, excitement running through his veins.

The Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability. The deadliest Ability he had ever gained, one that was renowned and legendarily hard to achieve, even for those on the Fifth or Sixth Layers.

An Ability he now had on the First Layer, within the first hour of his appearance.