Reborn: Apocalypse

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—- Points Obtained —-

Points: 38

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'Ooh, not bad. The Points aren't crazy, but it's still much more than the regular ones.' Micheal glanced at the notice that appeared after he killed the glowing Morenkai, smiling ever so slightly. This was the 8th Morenkai he'd killed in the past couple of hours, wracking up more than 120 Points now, in his first day.

Abnormals, or Abnormal Morenkai as they were officially called, were a type of Morenkai that had mutated powers of various types. They were usually stronger than the regular Morenkai thanks to that, though some were actually weaker.

The one he had faced here seemed to be a bit quicker than average and had some type of energy layer making it tougher. Still, that wasn't enough to challenge him.

He would only need to worry if he faced down a large number of Morenkai at once or some of the truly powerful Abnormals.

They were a feature of this world. The reasons the Morenkai existed, the weird setup of the Clusters, everything here was all related and all connected to the big secret of this Layer. A secret that wouldn't be discovered, in the normal timeline, until it was far too late.

A secret that made it possible to get tens of thousands of points very quickly, the hidden way to hit the official Point Wall of the First Layer.

'Still, I'm a long way from getting there.' Each Layer had a certain maximum amount of Points one could hold at a time. The wisest researchers of humanity had theorized that this was due to the Layers themselves, how the higher you went up the Layers, the more durable and stronger reality seemed to become, allowing your soul to hold more Points.

It was commonly accepted, now, that every human had a soul. The Shop and the Abilities it gave were imprinted upon one's soul, in unique and mysterious ways, granting people mystical powers.

The theories about the Point Wall were all very complex and confusing. No one truly knew for sure why or how it worked. All that was really known was that each Layer had a certain limit to the number of Points you could hold, something people called the Point Wall. The number wasn't set in stone and could vary by small amounts from person to person.

As for the Abnormal Morenkai… Micheal didn't know too much about them either, other than that the chance of one appearing was pretty low. He would've done a lot more research and preparation if he had known he was going to be sent to the past, but there was no point in complaining now.

Regardless, the trio before him had pretty bad luck to encounter an Abnormal.

'Slow and steady wins the race.' He repeated the saying in his head and then turned his attention over to the people he had just saved.

Micheal's goal in hunting around the central area on his own was two-fold. One was to gather Points at a fast rate, unobstructed and not weighed down by having to take care of others. While he might be able to save a few lives if he joined any random group for an extended period, millions of people would die in other Clusters.

He didn't have any time to waste. He kept the big picture always present in the back of his head.

The other reason he was here was because he was searching for someone. The Irregular that had arrived in his Cluster during the Fourth Wave, Sophia Morgan of Great Britain. Her presence was a vital part of his plan to reveal the big secret of the First Layer.

Without her, it would take much more time and be much more difficult. It was worth it to spend time looking for her.

'Hmm… Abnormals and Irregulars… whoever originally came up with the names for these two different groups wasn't very creative.' Micheal silently critiqued the amusing similarity.

As Micheal looked over at the trio, he realized something.

He had no idea who they were.

While in stories and books the protagonist always seemed to find exactly who or what he was looking for, in real life things were never that easy.

Micheal had saved them because he saw they were in trouble. While he wouldn't go out of his way to join small groups, he wouldn't just watch as innocent humans were about to die. He was here to save humanity, after all.

Just a few minutes prior, he had been in the middle of exploring the special Ability he had purchased.

The Life Orb Master Ability.

Two small, floating blue orbs could be seen swirling around his head. They were small, a little bit larger than a golf ball. They glowed with dim blue light, foggy and opaque.

Each one was a Life Orb.

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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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While Micheal was prowling about for Morenkai to kill, he was also reviewing his Ability.

In his mind, he had a certain amount of innate knowledge that came with the Ability. The Life Orb Master Ability appeared to be tied, like many Abilities, to the strength of his Soul Stat.

Every 24 hours, Micheal could create 1 new Life Orb. The orb would fizzle into existence out of thin air, magical energy flowing around Micheal in mysterious ways to form it. He had no idea how exactly the Ability worked, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

Right now, he felt that he could have a maximum of 3 Life Orbs. Each orb put a certain amount of strain on his soul. He could feel a type of innate connection he had with it, a feeling that if it broke, it would completely heal him, even if he was killed.

He had started with 1 Life Orb automatically and created a second one just a few minutes ago.

He could hide the Orbs, absorbing them back into his soul, or he could let them float around and use them to his advantage. He had the ability to manipulate the orbs as if they were a part of his body.

After some testing, Micheal had found that he could make the orbs fly anywhere within 10 meters of himself. They were tough and durable, easily bumping or bashing into things. He was tempted to try and split one in half with his Grandmaster Sword Mastery, just to see if he could, but he decided to hold off on that for now.

What made him most pleased, however, was an idea he came up with while messing with them.

If he could command the orbs to move wherever within 10 meters of him… and they could float in the air…

What would happen if he stood on them?

After clearing out a skyscraper and making sure nothing dangerous was nearby, Micheal had tested that question out immediately.

"Alright, Orbs." He had muttered, standing on the edge of the skyscraper. This one was one of the shorter ones, a few levels lower than the neighboring buildings. A corpse of a Morenkai could be seen, one he had killed just a few moments ago.

His Grandmaster Sword Mastery plus years of experience as a warrior made taking down individual Morenkai a piece of cake.

"Get over here."

The two blue orbs had floated down to his feet, hovering about half a meter off the ground. Micheal had crouched down and examined them closely.

He pushed on them, and felt as they pushed back, holding their position in space. There was a certain level of resistance, as if they were firmly planted in the ground.

"Hup!" After a moment, Micheal put one foot on one of them, and then jumped up and put his other foot on the other.

"Woah!" He slipped back and forth for a few moments, his arms waving in the air as he caught his balance. He abruptly began to zip back and forward as he tried to not fall, zooming several meters back across the skyscraper before he managed to catch himself.

"Ah! I got it!" After a few seconds, his innate sense of balance kicked in, one he'd gained from years of training. While his body had a lot of catching up to do, all his skills and experiences could still make up for a lot.

The result was pretty great.

He could fly.

The orbs rested snugly up against his feet, pressed up against him as if they were naturally supposed to be there. It only took a few seconds to get used to it. It almost felt like he had a pair of rockets attached his feet, flying him over anywhere he looked at. Using them, he could move and shift the orbs to carry him anywhere within 10 meters.

There were certain restrictions he found, through some very basic testing. The Life Orbs could float freely, but there seemed to be a need for him to be within 10 meters of a surface of some sort, one that was durable enough that it could bear his full weight. He found it impossible to fly freely above 10 meters from any surface, though he could glide for long distances.

In the inner city style Cluster, where he was constantly surrounded by towering skyscrapers, it was almost a given that he would constantly be within 10 meters of one surface or another.

He needed to test and explore the Ability more, he had tons of questions.

The feeling of flight from his own power was something he had never experienced. After all the fierce battles and hardened war he had been through, the sheer exhilaration of soaring through the sky and flying over skyscrapers… it was a very welcome break.

He kept practicing, and one thing led to another, he spotted a woman about to be killed, and now he was here, staring at the shocked trio.

"Th-thank you very much, sir!" The woman caught her breath first, hobbling to her feet as she clutched at her chest. It seemed she'd broken or cracked some of her ribs.

The other two of the trio, both men, looked at Micheal and the dead Abnormal Morenkai with a hint of fear in their eyes.

"It was nothing, I was just passing through." As Micheal responded, he paused for a moment and then queried,

"While I have you here… have you met or heard about an Irregular, or any new Fourth Wave Chosen, named Sophia?" He looked intently at the woman.

The woman paused for a moment, her eyes widening as she blinked. Micheal felt his hackles rise in anticipation. Did he get lucky and run into someone that had found her already?

"Nope, never heard of her."

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