Reborn: Apocalypse

"Position your blade like this." Micheal's voice was calm as they started practice.

They were inside, within one of the lounges on the lower half of this skyscraper. He had moved the table and all the chairs to the side, giving them several meters of open space. Warm sunlight leaked in from the windows, giving the room a cozy appearance.

"Like this?" She held her Burning Steel Knife out in front of her. While the Shop labelled it a knife, it was long enough that, with Sophia's petite frame, it was practically a sword.

"No, here." He stepped forward, putting down the practice sword he was wielding. He leaned it against the stacked up chairs on the side, walking over to her.

"Put your thumb here and your fingers like this. Then your other hand goes here, lower on the hilt." He tapped on her fingers and hands, repositioning them. His movements were quick and precise, years of practice making it easy to instruct her.

"This is a standard grip if you are going to wield the sword with two hands." He explained, nodding at her as he let go and stepped back.

Sophia looked down at her hands, memorizing how she was supposed to hold it. She then tightened her grip, pulling the sword up. She cut the air a few times, practicing. Micheal watched her movements carefully, ready to correct her and instruct her properly.

"If you want to switch to a one-handed grip, you'll need to position them differently again." Once again, he stepped forward, switching her grip up.

She tried out a few more swings, nodding as she felt the changes. After a moment, she paused, glancing at him curiously.

"You're talented with the sword, I can see that loud and clear." She began as she motioned at him with her sword. He backed up a step hastily, motioning for her to be careful. He hardly wanted to get stabbed, even if he did have his Life Orbs.

'If things go well for a few more days, I'll explain what they are.' He had mentally decided. After hearing about her sister's situation, Sophia had completely forgotten that Micheal was supposed to be dead. When Micheal was certain he could trust her, he would share what his Orbs were. For now, he was in no rush.

"But… your hands don't really show that at all." She pointed her blade at Micheal's palms.

"Oh?" Micheal smiled as he looked down at his palms as well. They were white and smooth, with only a few calluses from weightlifting. Any damage to them from fighting had already been healed thanks to his Life Orbs, but no new calluses had formed.

'Quite observant.' He glanced at her, his face showing nothing.

"Don't you tell me it's because you're a Seer. You can't become a master fighter without years of practice, seeing glimpses of the future won't change that." She finished speaking, crossing her arms slightly and staring at him expectantly.

Micheal simply smiled,

"I moisturize."


"Huh?" She blinked, staring at him in befuddlement.

"I said I moisturize." He held up his hands, rubbing them.

"Silky smooth, you feel that?" He pushed her blade aside and tapped on her nose.

She stared back gobsmacked, unable to come up with a response.

"I've been a martial artist for years, training with the blade for more than a decade. While I may not be the most powerful expert in existence, I can certainly hold my own." He continued, his voice becoming slightly serious,

"As for my hands, well…" He shrugged,

"Just because you practice a lot doesn't mean you can't take care of yourself." Everything he said was the truth.

'Well, apart from the moisturizing.' He mentally noted with a smile.

He had long since made the decision to not reveal his full memories of the future to anyone. There was simply far too much risk and hassle involved with something like that. If a group that was much stronger than him at the time learned, he could be held captive or killed before he could power up.

He could put his friends or family in harm's way by interested parties, and it could certainly add strife to his relationships.

It was safer to keep it a secret that no one else was aware of, using his knowledge to build himself up, his team up, and humanity as a whole up, one step at a time.

"Oh." Sophia blushed slightly as she looked at him, still speechless.

Micheal shook his head internally, mildly amused.

'She really did change a lot, in the original future. Besides her strong will and competence, she's not much like the rumors of the Demon Fairy claimed.'

"Back to practice!" He clapped his hands together, reaching down and picking up his sword.

"Let's get to the footwork now!"

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

About 15 minutes passed.

In that time, Micheal successfully helped Sophia gain the Basic Sword Mastery Ability.

Their training went more smoothly than he had thought it would. Sophia listened attentively to Micheal's instructions, having first hand seen his skill with the blade. It only took her roughly 10 minutes to gain the Ability. She spent the last 5 minutes familiarizing herself with the feeling of Sword Energy, exclaiming in wonder at its usefulness.

Now that they'd finished practice, Micheal took a look outside a window in the lounge, checking the time.

'We still have tons of daylight.' It was nowhere close to evening yet.

"Alright, Sophia. Let's put some of that technique to practice in the real world!" He turned away from the window, smiling cheerfully.

Sophia was drinking from a bottle of water, sitting comfortably in one of the chairs. She gave him a thumbs up as he looked back, nodding her head.

"But before we go… it's probably best that we hide our appearances." He opened up the Shop, moving over to the Miscellaneous Earth Objects section. He quickly picked out a pair of cheap, white theater masks, one with a happy face and the other with a sad face.

"You might want to change clothes, too, just to be safe." He motioned at her,

"Pick a mask!"

She stared between them for a moment before snagging the sad looking one. She then stepped off into an unoccupied room as she changed.

When she came back out, she was dressed in a pretty yellow sundress that went down to her knees, clinging to her body. She also wore a pair of short brown boots, tucked in tight. The sad mask covered her face, obscuring it.

"Looking good!" He gave her a thumb up as he put on the happy mask. The mask given by the shop fit snugly without cluttering his vision or restricting his breathing. It seemed to mold to his face as he put it on, a string on the back of it keeping it secure.

With that preparation done, the duo left the lounge on the lower floors, preparing to head down to the ground floor.

As they stepped into the stairwell, however, they ran into something rather unexpected.

"Watch out!" Sophia's voice echoed out as she yelped, whipping out her Burning Steel Knife.

A Morenkai was climbing up the stairs, just passing their floor. The moment Micheal opened the doorway, the Morenkai turned around, its featureless face splitting open to reveal a mouth full of jagged white teeth. In the brightly lit stairwell, the juxtaposition of such a freakish creature was incredibly jarring.

Micheal reacted to its presence smoothly, not hesitating at all as he withdrew his Steelborn sword. As the Morenkai lunged at him, he directly stabbed it in the face, killing it instantly. His movements were precise and exacting, almost perfect. He then pulled his blade out in one motion, whipping it down to avoid getting any Morenkai blood on it.

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—- Points Obtained —-

Points: 12

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He stepped back to let the body fall down, out of the way.

"They do roam the lower floors sometimes, or take the stairwells to the roof. Don't let them catch you off-guard." He turned to look at Sophia.

The girl was clutching the knife in her hand, her eyes ferocious as she glared at the Morenkai. Micheal could sense the Sword Energy that was imbued into the blade, ready to stab at the horrifying zombie-like humanoid.

He smiled slightly.

'She definitely has potential.'

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See you all tomorrow! A nice, relaxing chapter to welcome us back :)

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