26 Volume 3 - Chapter 2

Getting the essence of a Deity would take time, especially given where it was located, so that was an idea Micheal tossed to the backburner for now.

But just the fact that he could achieve it in the first place was already huge.

As Micheal re-read over the description of the gift, he noticed something that made him frown.

'Nothing about this 'Gift' is tailored specifically to humanity.' It was a very general gift that could've been given to any race. After all, every single race had its own unique First Layer, full of danger, in preparation to face the other races.

It was entirely conceivable that every other race had the chance to have someone obtain this same gift. As Micheal went back over his memories of the future, he could pick out monstrous geniuses that humanity had fought against time and time again, suffering miserable losses.

'No human got this 'Gift' in the first timeline, or any future 'Gifts' if they exist, not that I know about. That probably explains at least some of the heavy losses we took.' He rubbed his chin at the thought. Humanity had missed out on one of its best rewards in the very beginning. And, in the chaotic 7 Layers where a single individual could have a very big impact, that was a very sore point.

Micheal could subtly tell that this gift was one-of-a-kind, an innate kind of understanding that came with it. He would never get another option to use it again. He also hadn't heard of anything similar to this found on other Layers, but he wouldn't rule anything out. He would need to do a thorough assessment of the Second Layer before he moved on, just to be certain. Perhaps there might be another 'Gift' to be found, but with a different reward.

Micheal tossed all of these thoughts from his mind as he finally finished traveling through the Spawning Grounds and reached the stone wall of the Camp he'd first spotted in the distance.

The wall stretched off to the right and left for several hundred meters, weathered and worn away by the trials of time. The top of the wall was covered with spikes of metal, making it dangerous to land on. That said, most people that made it to the Second Layer would have the strength of at least 3 to 4 regular humans, at the weakest, meaning such a wall would do little to stop them.

Still, Micheal obediently walked up to the wide gate that was situated in the center of the wall, facing the Spawning Grounds.

The gate was more of a very wide passageway, stretching around 20 meters across and split down the middle. One side was for traffic entering the Camp and the other side was for traffic leaving. It was made up of a large stone archway, built several meters up and higher than the regular wall itself.

There was a roughly 20 person line waiting out in front of the entrance to the Camp, with the occasional person emerging from the exit. People of all shapes, colors, and sizes waited in line, dressed in a variety of clothes.

At the gate entrance, an eight-man team of guards stood and talked to everyone that walked up. Seven of them were clearly humans, dressed in military fatigues and armed with guns. Four of them also held clipboards and were marking down information as they talked to people.

The eighth one looked like a human, a man standing at around 2 meters of height with a tanned, weathered face. He wore a white shirt and a set of grey slacks, standing out from the military-like other guards. At his waist, a long, black blade lay sheathed.

It was the small, green gem that was set in his forehead, and the unique green glow that emanated from his eyes, that instantly gave away his true origins.

He was a member of the Byrium Race, or a Byren (pronounced: Beer-in) as they were commonly called. The dominant, and original, species that lived on the Ancient World.

Micheal joined this line behind a group of men that were dressed in some type of archaic-looking red armor. He kept his presence small as he listened to his surroundings, taking in the chatter.

"…Samantha, I already told you. Vissy Grass gives the best ratio of Alliance Points. The Divine Might Sect put out a standing order to get…"

"…Lu Chong's left to join the New Blade Sect. It's only a Small Grade Sect, but apparently their Grand Elder is…"

"…Did you see the size of that Mantis Tiger? I thought we were dead for sure…"

"…Blake said that Baron Rex got in a battle with an Inner Elder from the Ground Demon Sect and forced a draw."

"An Inner Elder?! Wow! How can…"

Micheal's eyes flashed as he caught one particularly interesting tidbit while moving through the line.

'Baron Rex, huh…' Memories of the Second Layer swarmed his head.

Memories of the ostensible 'leaders' of the Human race on the Second Layer.

The Four Barons.

Each one of the Four Barons was an extremely powerful expert, rated as the strongest humanity had to offer. They were the equivalent 'S Rankers' of the Second Layer, monstrously talented humans that had grown extremely powerful over the years that they had spent here, and only continued to grow stronger as time went on.

The Four Barons were considered the leaders of humanity. Unlike the dozens of split organizations and different Clusters on the First Layer, humanity on the Second Layer largely stayed within the same 'organization.'

The Human Alliance.

It had a few other names, but it was generally understood to be the main, overseeing organization that humanity stuck to. It had its own internal factions, each one led by its own Baron, and a few other large groups, but none of them would overtly act against the other.

After experiencing the horror that was the First Layer, people began to realize that everything they were going through here was very real. The concept that they were trapped in a 'death game' where the entire human race would be wiped out if they failed… people began to accept it.

This realization had the positive effect of helping rally humanity together, to at least some degree.

'For now, anyway.' Micheal snorted at the thought. By this point, he had moved halfway up the line, and was making steady progress towards the front gate.

His eyes flicked behind him, however, as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

A group of women had walked up behind him, all dressed in long white robes with several distinct black lines on them. In particular, there were two sets of lines that were overlaid on their chest, a combination of an 'x' and a '+' laid on top of each other.

One of the symbols of the Purgatory Church.

"…remember ladies, keep a calm appearance and do your best to soothe the worries of our needy." The leader of this group of women, an elderly matron with long, white hair, was giving a pep talk to the other girls. The ages of the women in the group ranged from 17 or 18 to the late 40s or early 50s, a motley crew that all appeared eager to learn.

The Four Barons ruled the Human Alliance. But their rule was not absolute, for there was one other, very noticeable power present.

The Purgatory Church.

This religion had rapidly grown to power over the past 3 years and 2-3 months, spreading faster and faster as time went on. Other religions coexisted alongside it as people tried to reconcile their beliefs with what was happening all around them.

The religion spread relatively slowly on the First Layer, never grasping on to too sizable a hold. On the later Layers, however, it rapidly picked up steam as more and more humans accepted the changes to reality that went against almost every tenet they held dear.

The more time passed, the stronger the Church became.

Micheal could keenly remember the titanic influence it had, as one of the few organizations that grew to span all 6 of the 7 Layers that humanity had fought their way through.

'The Nirvana Saint should have arrived here before me.' Micheal frowned as he considered this. That man was an enigma that he absolutely could not ignore, far more so than the Four Barons. Those warriors were all extremely powerful humans, but the charisma and influence that the Nirvana Saint held was dangerous in its own way.

It was because of him that the Church became such a permanent powerhouse in the future.

Micheal rubbed his forehead and sighed.

There was no point in stressing out over everything right when he arrived. He would need to take things one step at a time.

"Welcome to Camp Maybell, please state your name and business." A gruff voice broke up Micheal's thoughts as he looked up.

Micheal had reached the front of the line. The group ahead of him had split off to talk to one of the other guards, sorting their way in on their own.

The speaker was Caucasian, a man with a balding head of hair and a slightly bulging stomach. His eyes, however, brooked no argument as he looked at Micheal expectantly.

"I'm a newcomer that just arrived from the First Layer." Micheal smiled politely as he spoke, his voice at a slightly higher pitch than it used to be. It matched his slightly more delicate appearance and added to his disguise. It also wasn't something he did on purpose. The poison that had stained his skin and altered his appearance had also altered his voice.

"Oh? Have you been through the New Chosen Walkthrough?" The guard perked up slightly, looking at him expectantly again.

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"Yes, I have. I have decided to remain undecided for now. Everything is just so overwhelming." Micheal held up a hand and rubbed his head, showing a hint of the very real exhaustion he felt.

The guard nodded his head sympathetically. He then reached into a small bag he had attached to his waist and brought out what looked like a small, white poker chip.

"This is your Identity Token. Do you have the Ki Cultivation Ability?" The guard studied Micheal for a moment.

Micheal let out some of his Earth Tier Ki, the green energy glowing lightly around his body.

"Oh!" The guard's eyes perked up as he saw this, his voice immediately becoming slightly more respectful.

"Yes. Well, if you infuse your Ki into this Token, it will leave an imprint that will be recognized as yours. You can use this to enter any of the Free Camps. Since you've chosen to remain undecided, be aware that you only have two weeks until you will need to choose a Baron or a subsidiary group to join." The guard's voice came off very matter of fact, as if he had said this line many times before.

And, indeed, he probably had.

The New Chosen Walkthrough referred to the various stages where speakers were set up in the Spawning Ground, telling newcomers about the Second Layer. Micheal had skipped it because he'd already listened to it once before.

In order to maintain the Human Alliance, and keep the Human race stable while there were so many potential enemies out there, all new arrivals were told they had to join one of the Four Baron's Syndicates, or one of the subsidiary groups that were allied to one Baron or another.

Doing so would grant you special privileges and allow you to access certain private Camps, and various other benefits that came with joining each force. You would also be locked down, however, and required to go through some amount of training and do various odd jobs for each group.

The Ancient World was inhabited with large tracts of ferocious beasts and creatures out of legend. The various humanoid races populated about 70% of this land, but the rest was swarmed with powerful monsters.

Humanity's Spawning Grounds had been located in one of the safer areas, within the territory of the Divine Might Sect.

The 'Human Alliance' system was a relatively stable one that had, thus far, turned out good results for humanity. Life right now was as safe as it ever would be on the Second Layer if you were in one of the four Baron's Syndicates.

"Thank you, I understand." Micheal nodded his head and then infused a strand of green Ki into the white token. He watched as the token shivered in his hand, a faint, green imprint forming upon it.

The guard then proceeded into another spiel, explaining how any act of violence was banned in the city, how theft would be punished extremely seriously, and that guards regularly patrolled the Camp. He managed to convey all of that information in roughly 20 seconds, a record in Micheal's eyes.

"Don't forget, sir. You'll need to make a choice in 14 days!" The guard gave him another cursory glance as he pulled out a clipboard.

"What did you say your name was? It can be a nickname or a title, but it will be bound to your Identity Token." The guard pointed at the poker-chip like object.

Micheal hesitated for only a split second before replying,

"Legion. I go by the name Legion." His voice was emotionless.

The guard gave him one last nod as he wrote that down and then waved Micheal forward, his eyes already trained on the next person in line.

Micheal moved through the gate immediately, his eyes flicking to the side as he glanced at the Byren guard.

The humanoid had taken a single glance at Micheal and then ignored him completely, turning his attention to other incoming humans. The man's gaze had felt a lot like a normal human's gaze, one that was bored and expecting nothing.

Seeing a Byren guard here, working with humanity, wasn't at all unusual. After all, the Four Barons, by this point in time, should've formed an official alliance with the Divine Might Sect, a huge organization composed of mostly Byrens. Given that humanity had spawned in their territory, such an alliance had proven vital to secure.

The Byrium Race wasn't participating in the death game that was the 7 Layers. As a result, all of the invading races had done their best to seek out allies among the Byrens, clinging to any support they could foster.

The Byrium Race was a race of powerful warriors that had a natural 3 Star Physique, the Emerald Mind Physique. The natural makeup of their bodies allowed them to have an easier time when cultivating Ki, allowing them to make great strides in power with less effort.

They also had a few other special powers. One of them was the ability to tell how strong a warrior was with a single glance.

In actuality, humanity had discovered that the power was linked to the green gem in their foreheads. It gave a Byren the power to lightly scan another creature, gaining a general understanding on how powerful their physical body was.

By the standards of the Second Layer, Micheal's physical stats ranked him as a Third Rate Warrior, nothing very special and an all-too-common sight.

That was exactly how Micheal wanted it, for now. He had no reason to draw attention to himself, yet, though that wasn't going to last long.

Micheal walked past the gate and found himself inside a bustling town, full of mostly humans.

The grounds of the streets were made of paved, grey stone, meandering off into the distance. To either side of this road were a slew of medieval-looking buildings, structures that were only a couple of stories high at most. Most were made out of brown wood, with orange tile rooftops.

Dozens of people walked back and forth, talking cheerfully. Unlike the First Layer, the streets of this Camp in the Second Layer had an upbeat, cheerful attitude, almost as if one had come back to Earth.

"Oi, get out of the road!" A loud voice interrupted Micheal's musings, coming from his left.

In his sweep of the street, and the nostalgia that came with it, Micheal had inadvertently walked into the middle of the paved road.

He quietly walked out of the road's center, and off to the side were various other humans walked, glancing behind him at the speaker.

An armored man riding a sleek, black motorcycle had driven to a halt, glaring at Micheal in an annoyed manner. The fighter was wearing a set of black leather armor and had two large guns strapped to his back.

When he saw Micheal move, he revved his engine and raced forward, moving down the center of the stone road.

Micheal nodded his head when he saw that. It was possible to get a wide assortment of vehicles now, and actually put them to good use, through the Shop.

Micheal took a deep breath as he let it really sweep over him.

The Camps, the Four Barons, the Sects…

He really was back.

'We can get started on everything tomorrow.' Micheal made the elective decision instantly as he turned his attention to the various buildings on the side of the road.

'For now… let's find an Inn and get some rest.'

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