Reborn: Apocalypse

The foul air he had coughed up was the remnants of the impurities in both his body and the medicine he had taken, expelled from him thanks to the magical power of the Ki flowing in his veins. The filthy remnants dissipated in the air, vanishing as if they had never existed.

"On the Status Screen, my Strength went from 23 to 28, a substantial increase. I'm almost as strong as 3 normal humans now." Micheal reached out with his right hand, flexing it slightly. He could feel a magical change had swept through his body, physically making him stronger. It was a more than 20% increase in his strength, a huge jump for something that only took a few minutes.

While the Status Screen might seem almost robotic or game-like, its report on how strong he was was never wrong. It simply was a part of reality now, no matter how unbelievable it appeared.

"My Endurance jumped from 17 to 22 and my Recovery shot all the way up to 20 from 13." He also noted, smiling.

"With my Endurance at 22, I should at least have a bit of an easier time taking hits from the Morenkai. The Recovery boost to 20… probably won't have too major an effect." He spoke aloud, nodding.

A base Recovery stat of 10 meant one would heal from injuries at the same rate as a normal human. A Recovery stat of 20 was twice that… but humans still had rather normal healing capabilities. Even multiplying it by 2 still wouldn't do too much.

As for Endurance, it simply referred to his stamina and physical defense. He nodded as he thought about the increase. Even if it was just a minor one, it would still help out.

"Well, Recovery does help boost my stamina a bit too, the increase isn't entirely useless." He grumbled quietly to himself.

For people that couldn't heal their injuries with a snap of their finger, it was one of the most important stats to increase.

Micheal, with his Life Orbs, was a bit of an exception to that.

"Hahaha!" He laughed out loud as he stood up, flexing his body. He could feel the powerful changes keenly, aware of even the most minor difference. He also felt a little woozy, from the collateral damage of wiping out the impurities. Thankfully, it didn't seem like it left any lasting change or messed up the effects of the Dragon Building Liquid.

WHOOSH

He pulled out his Steelborn sword from its sheath, moving it around. He swung it to the left and right, nodding as he experimented with his freshly enhanced body.

"The stronger I get, the more I will be able to keep up with those stronger than me. I've finally stepped above the limits of regular humans from Earth, becoming superhuman." While he might be behind, the farther he got away from being a regular human, the less the gap would matter.

Even if he was only two thirds as strong and fast as someone else, here on the First Layer, Micheal was confident he could hold his own. With his considerable experience and Grandmaster Sword Mastery, there was almost no one at his own level that would stand a chance.


"A single dose of Dragon Building Liquid essentially just speeds up your progress in cultivating one's Ki Cultivator Ability. The boost it provides is permanent, but it melds with one's Ki. Only the first dose will be this effective." He continued to speak out loud, thinking,

"If I take the maximum 4 doses, however, it should provide an edge that boosts my base physique itself, and not just my Ki Cultivation." His eyes flashed as he considered this. He began to pick up everything he had used, storing it in his Low-Tier Spatial Ring.

"I'll need to keep hunting if I want to get that."

Micheal left the room he'd set up in after securing the various tools he'd purchased and his sword. He also put on a new set of clothes that he purchased from the Shop, a plain, normal set of grey pants and white shirt. He'd bought them together in a set from the Miscellaneous Earth Objects section for 10 Points before he started making the Dragon Building Liquid.

He then made his way through the hallway to the stairwell. After checking that no one was there, he began to walk up it.

"Most B Rankers will have achieved the Earth Tier in Ki Cultivation. The Mortal Tier that I am at strengthens one's physique to roughly 4 times that of a regular human at the highest point. I'm almost at the Middle Stage of that, nearing 3 times a regular human's strength." He crossed up several floors, not seeing or hearing anyone.

"The Earth Tier, on the other hand, boosts it to a maximum of 8 times, and that isn't even considering what other Abilities or Artifacts people might have." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I'll still need to be a bit careful." He wasn't invincible yet.

He finished his thoughts as he made it to the rooftop, where the door was still left wide open. His eyes narrowed as he came into view of the rooftop, where the dozens of Morenkai corpses could be found littering it.

'Hmm?' For, the rooftop wasn't as abandoned as it had been when he went downstairs.

He could see two humans standing in the middle of the dead Morenkai, poking and pulling at a few of the corpses.

One was a man, dressed in a long, purple robe covered with yellow silk lines, while the other was a girl, wearing a long purple dress. Both had tanned skin and green eyes. The man had a middle-aged face with a small greying beard and a short head of black hair, while the woman was younger, with long bright blonde hair and a small nose.

What caught Micheal's eye more than that, however, was the three figures standing patiently next to the two humans.

Three, shambling Morenkai stood at attention, as if obeying the commands of the humans. Two of these Morenkai were regular black ones, while the third had a grey tone of skin. An Abnormal.

Instead of ferociously trying to attack the two humans, they waited patiently, doing nothing.

'Ah.' Micheal recognized what he was seeing, coughing slightly as he stepped forward, announcing his presence.

Immediately, the three Morenkai turned to face Micheal, crouching down slightly as if preparing to charge. The two humans also turned, the man's movements jagged as he scanned Micheal, alert.

They were Necrozarks.

One of the more well-known Ability users in the First Layer. The Necrozark Type Ability, at a cost of 74,000 Points in the Shop, enhanced one's Soul and Endurance stats and gave them a special power...

The power to control dead bodies, creating golems that would follow their commands. These two had probably heard from others that there was a treasure trove of fresh corpses here just lying around. After all, the hubbub Micheal had caused was bound to draw a ton of attention, this wasn't exactly unexpected, especially when he left them unattended.

Morenkai corpses would dissipate into dust after some amount of time if left out in the wild. Corpses that were controlled by Necrozarks, on the other hand, would only fall apart when they were virtually destroyed and unable to move.

In a world where you had to kill Morenkai to survive, where the bodies of Morenkai were extremely strong… such an Ability was extremely powerful.

But… more importantly to Micheal…

Necrozarks were usually loaded.

"Excuse me, friends." Micheal's voice boomed as he sauntered forward, confidence rolling off of him.

"I believe you are looking at my corpses, no?"

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