17 End of Day 1

Micheal flew from building to building, making use of his momentum to quickly move through the skyscrapers. This method of flight was somewhat dangerous, considering that some of the Morenkai liked to scale buildings.

Most of the Morenkai that appeared on the rooftops were ones that either scaled the outside of a building or made their way through the inside all the way to the roof.

While the percent of Morenkai that would take either route was quite small, the sheer multitude of the beings that existed, swarming down below, meant a significant number climbed upwards.

As for how the Morenkai came to be, well, that was part of the big secret of the First Layer as well.

'Flying like this at night is doable. In the daytime, though…' Micheal's eyes flashed as he soared through the air, gliding across a large gap towards one particularly large skyscraper.

'It's possible I'd get shot down.'

While the Morenkai might not pay attention to him, that didn't mean other humans wouldn't. Some of the big or small organizations were fiercely territorial, barring anyone from entering their controlled skyscrapers.

In a reality where the rule of law had greatly devolved, it was often every man for himself. Trust was a rare commodity in the First Layer.

Micheal could vividly recall hearing about one of the raids the Black Flag Pirates had committed against a smaller organization, the Blue Devil Alliance.

The fighters from the Black Flag Pirates had used grappling hooks and ropes to latch on to the lower part of the Blue Devil Alliance-controlled skyscraper, where they had their main base. Warriors had snuck across into the depths of the skyscraper, infiltrating the building. They had then launched a surprise ambush, wreaking havoc and decimating the group.

'Though, it's not like the Blue Devil Alliance were angels either.' They might have been a smaller group, but they were almost as bad as the Black Flag Pirates when it came to murder and intimidation. If and when the same situation came about in this timeline, Micheal had no plans on trying to stop it.

Micheal soon made his way across and past a dozen different skyscrapers, using the faint glow from certain windows to see. The night was notoriously dark in the First Layer, but the fact that he was flying where the only sources of light could be found was a big boon.

Finally, he reached one skyscraper in particular he decided that he liked. He had no idea if it was occupied or not, but by this point, he didn't care. He just wanted to find a place to rest.

After observing it for a brief period, he noted that there was no one standing guard on or visible in it. He moved into the skyscraper from a lounge patio, sneaking in.

The quiet hum of various air conditioning units was a pleasant backdrop as he carefully crept down a couple of floors, on full alert.

Of course, even if he did run into one, he could make short work of it, so that wasn't an issue for Micheal.

Soon, on the 17th floor, he picked out a room. It was functionally identical to his other room, complete with a hidden doorstop, one he found under the bed. He set up shop again, blocking off the door and returning to his bed.

Roughly an hour passed as Micheal returned to his meditative Cultivation State. This time, he went uninterrupted, able to focus on getting stronger in peace.

After the hour of focus, he called up his status screen.

— - Status — -

Name: Micheal Care

Points: 157

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)

.

'Nice.' He smiled as he looked at it, pleased. He had made progress in his Strength, Endurance, and Recovery stats, all of them increasing by 1. To have such an increase in literally his first day, it was already blazing fast progress. Most people took a very long time to see visible gains in their Ki Cultivator Ability.

'With my experience, I should be able to make relatively fast progress in cultivating. Once I get a few thousand more Points, I can even speed that up using some of the secrets I know.' His eyes flashed cheerfully.

rummbblllleee

Just as Micheal was celebrating, he felt his stomach rumble, reminding him he hadn't eaten yet today.

'Hmm… Shop… Food Selection… Let's see, give me a juicy filet mignon and a side of fries, with honey mustard sauce!' He went over some of the mental options in his head before making a decision.

'It costs 6 Points? Pricey, but I won't turn it down.'

WHOOSH

A moment later, a plate of steaming steak and fries, with a few cups of sauce, appeared right on Micheal's bed. There was even a fork and knife. He grinned as he saw this, the magical Shop never ceasing to amaze him. He took a deep breath, severing the scent. All of this would disappear in 30 minutes, the plate, utensils, and any leftovers.

"Mmmm!" Micheal bit into the filet mignon, feeling the juices of the steak combine with the sautéed butter and warm sauce. He grabbed a couple of fries, dipping them in one of the sauces to add to his bite as he chewed.

"Mmmpevenn!" 'Heaven!' The delicious food was tantalizing, something that never grew old when he was in the 7 Layers.

Micheal settled in to eat and then sleep, the end of a busy and productive first day.

.. .. .. .. .. ..

The next day, on the northern side of the Stardust Cluster…

In the depths of a nondescript skyscraper, a large number of men and women could be found.

Several of the men stood at certain places in the skyscraper, keeping watch. They had locked down every strategic point, watching the stairwells and any entrances that existed to the lower areas.

Most of the men were gruff looking. All of them wore regular clothes with some type of black cloth tied around an arm, a leg, plastered on a short, or worn as a scarf. Something that could be used to quickly identify them.

Most of the men also had guns strapped to their back, hip, or held in their hands. Semi-automatic rifles, light machine guns, handguns, the fortress was a veritable mountain of weaponry.

The women, conversely, were mostly unarmed. Several of them were dressed seductively as they laughed and giggled, talking to some of the men. One and all, they were beautiful, from smiling golden haired dancers to dazzling red headed socialites.

If one were to look closely, one might even see some of the men occasionally handing some of the women Artifacts they had purchased from the Shop, and then these men and women disappearing for a period of time…

In a room that was particularly well guarded, at the center of all the men standing guard, two men could be seen sitting around a table. The room looked to be a meeting room of sorts, with a long wooden table and several plush chairs.

On the table was an expertly drawn diagram of the Stardust Cluster, a map that was currently covered in markings outlining various forces.

"Brandon, the newbies have had a solid first day at the branch bases. I think our plan to keep them in training for self-defense will go well, but we'll need to cull the herd eventually. There's always going to be squeamish ones that refuse to do what they need to, to survive." The speaker was one of the two men, a handsome and lean asian man dressed in a sharp looking suit. He had short black hair and piercing green eyes, with a small nose and square chin.

"Yes, Byron, but I think we'll need a more direct approach. I say we take them on a raid against one of the central groups no one cares about. Perhaps the Lasso Killers or Blue Devil Alliance, they're close to us." The other man responded, gesturing with his hands at the map. This speaker was a polar opposite of the other, a great burly caucasian man wearing a set of overalls and a bright white shirt. He had a large square beard and a rough looking face.

Despite his apparent crude appearance, the keen intelligence in his eyes was unmistakable.

"Perhaps. We should also look into the Irregulars that appeared. There's that female one, Sophia, that appeared near us. I also heard there's another one that appeared in this Wave, a man named Micheal. He apparently clashed with the Saru Group already, so he should be a good target to recruit." Byron shrugged.

Just as Brandon was about to respond, a loud knocking at the door interrupted him.

"Lord Byron, Lord Brandon, we've received important news from the Main Cluster!"

The two Pirate Lords, as they termed themselves, of the Black Flag Pirates paused, turning to stare at the door.

"Bring it in!" Brandon yelled out loud a response, curiosity in his eyes. Byron watched everything like a hawk, his expression unreadable.

A young man that looked to be around 20 jogged in, his face covered in a sheen of sweat. It was obvious he had run the whole way here without pause.

"Drink something, first." Brandon threw the man a bottle of water he'd kept stored in his Spatial Bracelet, an extremely useful Artifact he'd purchased from the Shop.

The young man nodded his thanks as he eagerly gulped down the water. After a few moments, he finished drinking the whole bottle, panting slowly.

"So, what is the word?" The Black Flag Pirates had men stationed in the Main Cluster, solely to keep abreast of any major events occurring there. It would be dangerous and ignorant to do anything else.

One of the men on rotation had the Ability to send messages over long distances by using magical birds he painted in the air. These birds could just barely travel far enough to reach their Cluster. After all, the Great Bridge that connected to the Main Cluster only appeared for brief periods before vanishing. It wouldn't be feasible to use only that if one wanted to be kept up to date.

As a result, they always had someone on watch in a specific, agreed upon spot, in case one of the birds ever arrived.

"It's about the Godfather Organization!" The young man said, patting on his chest.

"The Head of the Godfather Organization has been fatally poisoned! He's currently half-paralyzed and unable to take action, estimated to be dead within 3 months!"

The two Pirate Lords froze, their eyes widening in shock.

"What?! How?!" Byron's voice cut through the air as he stood up eagerly.

"A newbie Chosen, someone with the Poison Ruler Type Ability, clashed with him over one of the special Golden Morenkai that appeared! No one was aware that the new Chosen had that power, or that he was even strong at all!"

"Bahahaha! Cameron fell to a brand new Chosen?!"

"No way!"

The two Pirate Lords burst out laughing as they heard this, smiles all around. Eager light flashed in their eyes as they went over the information, pleased.

"Is there anything else?"

"No sirs."

"Then you are dismissed. Pick yourself up an Artifact from the Armory on the way out, anything below 5,000 Points." Byron sent the man off with a huge smile, the Pirate Lord internally celebrating.

As the room cleared and it returned to just the two of them, the duo looked back at the map.

"Without their Head, the Godfather Organization no longer has that freakish S Ranker to protect them." Brandon began, rubbing his beard with a grin.

"Indeed. They are spread so thin, in so many Clusters, the only reason they could get away with it was because of Cameron. To think he would fall to poison, from a newbie Chosen…" Byron responded, shaking his head.

"That does leave them vulnerable… with the fighters that they have here, wiping them out should net enough to hit the 100,000 Points Wall for each of us. If we can upgrade out strength again, we should be able to face up against all of the other powers in this Cluster combined…"

The two Pirate Lords began to quietly talk and plan, plotting out the future.