4 Life Orb Master

When the apocalypse first started, so many years ago in his previous life, Micheal had chosen two specific Abilities as his first upgrades.

'Enhanced Recovery and Enhanced Strength…' His eyes narrowed as he looked over the two Abilities that were listed on the front page, each for 20,000 Points.

He sighed at his past ignorance. The younger him hadn't even tried to pick up a basic level of Ki Cultivator, one of the most important Abilities he would need.

'Status.'

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— - Status — -

Name: Micheal Care

Points: 8,200

Race: Human

Age: 18

- Stats -

Strength - 11

Endurance - 11

Recovery - 10

Soul - 10

- Abilities - (1/7)

- Life Orb Master

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His stats remained unchanged. His Strength was slightly above the average of a normal human at 11 points as was his Endurance. Both stats were vitally important, with Endurance representing his stamina and physical durability, while Strength represented his physical strength.

His Recovery stat was normal, but that was to be expected. It was one of the harder stats to raise. It also affected his stamina, but in a different way. It could be considered the regeneration factor that a being held.

At his strongest, Micheal had reached a Recovery stat of roughly 412. That meant his physical regeneration was slightly more than 41 times as powerful as that of a normal human. He could heal from injuries at an abnormally fast rate, vastly increasing his survivability.

It was nothing much when compared to some of the monsters among the Human Race that had achieved Recovery stats in excess of 1,000 or 2,000, able to quickly and visibly see themselves regenerate from gruesome injuries, but it was extremely noteworthy to him.

And, finally, his last stat. Soul.

'Aw man, it didn't carry over.' He sighed as he realized this. He had been hoping that some part of his Soul stat would have stayed with him when he went back in time. Alas.

The Soul stat affected two very important things. The first was how powerful many Abilities were. A stronger Soul meant one could handle using or unleashing powerful Abilities and increased the power of certain types of Abilities.

The difference between someone unleashing, say a Lightning Lance, at 10 Soul and a Lightning Lance at 500 Soul was like the difference between heaven and earth.

The second thing it affected was just as important. One's perception of time.

The stronger your Soul stat, the faster your perception of the world around you. This was vitally important to close combat warriors as battles at a high level could end in an instant.

'Well, I can increase it like normal. With the secrets I know, getting powerful shouldn't be impossible, even with my several years late start.' He thought, rubbing his chin.

'A large number of people were chosen every month, teleporting away from earth to here. But time in here operates much faster. A month on Earth is a year in the 7 Layers…' He sighed.

He was part of the Fourth Wave of people Chosen to come to the 7 Layers. Everyone in the First Wave was already three entire years ahead of him. Most of the leaders of humanity in the 7 Layers had been a part of that First Wave.

'I can still catch up.' He nodded his head sharply, his eyes flashing.

He turned his attention back to the shop, looking through various parts of it. Every human could have exactly 7 Abilities. No more and no less. Some Abilities one could remove just by tapping on one's Status Screen, while others would become a near-permanent addition that were extremely difficult to remove.

Choosing what Abilities to use was an extremely important decision.

The two Abilities Micheal had originally picked, Enhanced Strength and Enhanced Recovery, weren't actually bad options. Enhanced Strength increased his Strength by 30%, while Enhanced Recovery enhanced his Recovery by 30%.

Both Abilities were quite useful and had powerful effects that would always affect him even as he grew stronger.

However, once applied, it was also almost impossible to remove these Abilities. Thus, when Micheal eventually gained a large number of Points later on, he found that those two Abilities had become dead slots, dragging him down from using stronger or better Abilities.

'I am a Life Orb Master currently…' He spoke aloud, turning his focus back to the Ability he had chosen.

'I can't believe I managed to snag the last one.' He smiled, a feeling of glee filling him.

He pulled up the rather succinct description of the Ability, looking it over.

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—-Life Orb Master—-

A Life Orb master can manipulate, create, and use orbs called Life Orbs. Life Orbs automatically take the place of a user when that user otherwise would have died. Life Orb Masters cannot have any Type Modifications.

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It was an Ability so powerful that even the Holy Shop placed it in the limited section. The Ability to cheat death itself, and not just once, but multiple times, depending on the number of Life Orbs one had.

Of course, there was also a reason it had been so cheap for him to buy.

Every positive had a negative.

Life Orb Masters could not have any Type Modifications. This didn't mean he couldn't get Abilities that could boost his Strength or Recovery, like Herculean Strength or Troll's Heart, that also happened to change his physique.

Instead, it focused on 'Type Abilities or Modifications.' Abilities that allowed one to become an Adapted Human. As long as Micheal was a Life Orb Master, he would be unable to use any Type Abilities.

Type Abilities were pretty huge in the 7 Layers. A huge number of people used at least one Type or another, the most common being Vampire and Werewolf Types.

Even he had originally used a Type Ability, the Ironblood Body Type. This Ability transformed his physique into one that was much more durable and strong, greatly enhancing his Strength and Endurance. It had worked particularly well for a close combat expert like him.

As a Life Orb Master, he would have to give up on Type Abilities.

'But I'm fine with that.' He thought, smiling.

The powers a Life Orb Master had were simply too overwhelmingly useful.

He had first heard of this Ability on the 6th Layer. A legend had been told to him of a powerful warrior that had presumably died while exploring unknown lands on his own. The warrior had been one to challenge the impossible, doing whatever he pleased freely. He disappeared on the 6th Layer to never be heard from again.

The Invincible Kim Jiwoon from Korea. The only known user of the Life Orb Master Ability, part of the First Wave.

'And now I have the same Ability as him…' Micheal couldn't help himself, shivering in glee. With this power at his disposal, so many doors opened. He would be capable of doing so much more.

'I stand a real chance at saving humanity now…' He clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with determination.

'But first… let's use the last of my Points.'