18 Day 2

The Ki Cultivator Ability had several Tiers, from Mortal to God. 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

Soul - 10

- Abilities - (3/7)

Life Orb Master

Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier)

Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

.

'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 passed 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 refreshing 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 boom.

Micheal felt that sensation and then mentally pushed slightly.

A third, glowing Life Orb appeared, shining dimly in his room.

Micheal smiled as he saw this. The feeling of something about to bloom, about to sprout, vanished. Micheal assumed 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 pass 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 Cluster 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 occlusion, 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 bullshit, 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 skyscraper.' He frowned. It couldn't be helped, there were only so many skyscrapers in the Cluster, 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 skyscraper 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 stop.

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.'