Reborn: Apocalypse

Next chapter on Wednesday! It's Spring Break over here (I'm studying English in College, so I still get this holiday).

Going to the beach with family, no time to write today. Hope all y'all are having a great week!

Sidenote: I currently have no plans on making this novel Premium, (I already write one Premium novel, too much stress to do two haha) so you don't need to worry about stocking up SS for it. It's just a fun story, supported by my Patrons.

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"Hmm, let's see…" Micheal muttered as he looked at the transparent screen in front of him, tapping through the options.

He was currently sitting down in a small bedroom, separate from the one he'd previously had. After allying with Sophia, they had decided to lay low. The Black Flag Pirates would doubtlessly be searching for her, though they likely assumed he was dead.

—-Abilities—-

Thunder Legs Type - 860,400 (1/5)

Armageddon Matrix Type - 25,250,000 (0/3)

Golden Shield Warrior Type - 500,000 (4/10)

Eldritch Snarer Type - 235,000 (5/5)

Red Orc Type - 88,000 (9,000/9,000)

Fire Weaver Type - 23,000 (1,200/1,200)

Void Ripper Type - 40,000 (10/10)

Shock Geniton Type - 1,800,500 (1/2)

Black Mace Type - 12,000 (330/330)

Quickstep Type - 280,000 (18/18)

Frozen Warrior Type - 70,000 (221/250)

Armor Force - 92,000 (27/30)

Healing Aura - 65,000 (456/800)

Immemorial Vision - 212,000 (0/25)

White Mane Clone - 74,000 (12/50)

Impact Release - 45,000 (2/20)

Guiding Light - 22,800,000 (0/1)

Magic Swell - 65,000 (8/10)

Electric Touch - 80,000 (200/250)

Ocean Clone - 260,000 (32/35)

… (37/41 page)

"Hmm, Void Ripper Type is gone, that was a good one. So is Quickstep Type already too? Wow, I didn't realize they all went so fast." He scanned the list. He had known that many of the affordable Limited Abilities would be snapped up by the time the Fourth Wave ended, but for so many to be gone so soon, it was a bit surprising.

He was in the back portion of the Shop, where many Limited Abilities could be found. When it came to Abilities, the way the shop sorted seemed somewhat haphazard. Just because an Ability cost a large number of Points didn't mean it would be ultra-powerful. Conversely, just because an Ability was cheap didn't mean it would be weak.

In general, higher Point Abilities were better, stronger, and more useful. However, the decent number of exceptions to this rule meant it wasn't always true.

He considered these thoughts for a moment,

'My Life Orb Master Ability was pretty cheap, though it did have the downside of disallowing a Type.' He nodded,

'Yet the Limited Void Ripper Type Ability is even cheaper and also incredibly powerful.'

The Void Ripper Ability fully transformed one's body into an incredibly dense and tough humanoid form, granting huge bonuses to Strength and Endurance. One's skin became slightly grayer as a result. More importantly, however, it gave the user the power to use their bare hands to rip apart stone, steel, or even reality itself, if one's Soul stat was high enough.


It was one of the strongest and most useful Type Abilities you could buy from the Shop, yet only cost 40,000 Points. It was one of the exceptions to the direct 'Points = Strength' theories put forth by some researchers.

'Well, Void Ripper was probably gone before the First Wave even ended.' He shrugged.

"There they are…" He muttered, his eyes narrowing as he glanced over two Abilities in particular.

The Limited 'Impact Release' Ability and the Limited 'Magic Swell' Ability.

'They still have some slots left! Great!'

Limited Abilities were usually quite unique, with their prices often disordered and sometimes even seemingly random. He certainly would've priced his Life Orb Mastery Ability higher, even with its no-Type negative.

'These two can both be easily removed.' He smiled, pleased.

He could only have 7 Abilities. This was an unbreakable law that Humanity had never moved past. However, it was possible to remove some Abilities, through various methods, and switch to different Abilities. Both the ones he'd picked out were ones that could be easily removed.

Most Type Abilities were permanent, as were most Abilities that had a high Points cost.

He tapped on the Impact Release Ability, pulling up its description.

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—-Impact Release—-

The Impact Release Ability allows the user to record the energy from any attack used against them, drawing upon the latent energy of reality to store an equivalent amount in their soul. When the user chooses, they can unleash all stored energy at will from any part of their body or using any object they are holding. The maximum amount of energy one can store and release is dependent on the user's Soul stat.

.

He smiled slightly as he looked at the somewhat misleading description.

It was accurate that the Ability allowed one to record any impact in totality and store an equivalent amount of energy. What the Ability didn't mention, however, was that it didn't block or protect you from any of that impact…

If you got hit by a cannon with this Ability, you could completely copy the impact from that attack and store an equal amount of energy from it. You could then release it any time you wanted. However… you had to survive getting hit by a cannon first to make use of it.

This rather large downside was a large part of why it was so cheap.

For Micheal, however, it sounded like the Ability was custom made.

'With my Life Orbs, I can just come back to life after storing any impact. I can then use it whenever I want.' With his Abilities, the Impact Release Ability gave him a unique and powerful synergy, one that was quite cheap to obtain.

'I definitely will pick that one up.' His eyes flashed.

He moved his finger to hover over the other Ability he was looking at. The Limited 'Magic Swell' Ability.

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—-Magic Swell—-

The Magic Swell Ability allows the user to temporarily increase the size of any non-living object within their Control. The amount of time the object stays enhanced, types of objects that can be enhanced, and the larger it can grow is dependent on the user's Soul stat.

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The Ability description for this Ability was barebones as well. Thankfully, Micheal could cheat using the mental encyclopedia of knowledge he'd brought back with him.

The 'Control' that the Ability talked about simply meant anything that was within a couple of meters of the person using the Ability for at least a small amount of time.

'I can buy the Impact Release Ability after we hunt down 4 more Golden Morenkai for myself. As for the Magic Swell Ability…' He rubbed his chin,

'Shin loved overwhelmingly powerful frontal attacks. While he wasn't very skilled at close combat, this Ability will let him grow his blade to be several times larger after he attacks, enhancing his attack power.'

When an object was enhanced and grew in size, it would transform to carry all the properties of its larger size. However, at the same time, if it was moving, it would maintain the same speed as it had in its previous state. This meant that a sword that was slamming down would hold a much larger amount of force after it was enhanced.

Such a thing was possible due to the magical power of the Ability, drawing upon the latent energy of reality. It defied conventional logic, but, then again, most Abilities did. He didn't let the details bother him.

A 10 pound sword moving at 10 meters per second and a 100 pound sword moving at 10 meters per second… one would clearly be much stronger than the other.

He sighed slightly as he thought about Shin. His strongest ally was hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers away. It was frustrating that he could do nothing to help him directly.

Abruptly, his thoughts were interrupted as he heard a sound outside his room.

He instantly got to his feet, his Steelborn sword appearing in his hand like magic. He focused his ears, holding himself absolutely still as he looked around.

The room was identical to his previous bedroom. A connected bathroom, a bed, a dresser, a sink, nothing out of the ordinary. He had locked the door down with the doorstop out of habit.

After a moment of listening, he relaxed his guard, putting his sword away. He then went up to the door and moved the doorstop, opening it.

Out in the hallway, Sophia could be seen, pacing back and forth nervously.

When she saw Micheal open the door, she glanced at him apologetically.

"Sorry, I just can't help it. I feel like I should be doing something." She explained.

About fifteen minutes ago, Micheal had been sitting down with Sophia explaining a few things about the 7 Layers. One of those things was about the time difference.

They had both been sitting in the lounge, relieved at successfully managing to escape from one of the Black Flag Pirates Pirate Lords. Micheal had felt obligated to explain the truth to her, never one to hide from confrontation or facing reality.

"You-you're telling me that my little sister has already been here for 3 years?!"

Even the future famed Demon Fairy of the Main Cluster was, ultimately, still human. When she heard that her sister hadn't been gone for 3 months, but instead 3 years, she had taken it hard, completely forgetting about her other questions, like how Micheal was living when he clearly should be dead.

While she recovered quickly and hid her emotions, Micheal could see right through her.

They weren't close enough for him to be able to really comfort her, but he did offer her what he could.

"Since she came as part of the First Wave, she'll likely be okay. Almost all of the First Wavers started with above average Points." He knew this for a fact. The First Wave got the best deal, when it came to Point allotments, for reasons unknown. It was part of why so many of the First Wavers became super strong, apart from the years head start.

"She was only 13 and sent here all alone…" Sophia took several deep breaths, rubbing her forehead.

Micheal's mouth twisted slightly as he sighed,

"Don't focus on what you can't change. We can't even leave the Stardust Cluster for several more weeks. Right now, you need to focus on getting as strong as you can so that if your sister needs you, you can be tough enough to help her." He carefully moderated his tone, talking diplomatically.

After that, they had temporarily split up, taking a short break. Micheal had gone off to meditate, testing his body to see if there were any changes after he revived this time. His head had literally been blown off, after all.

'Facing death like that… even knowing I have my Life Orbs, it's quite a horrifying experience.' He may be a grizzled expert of many years, but there are some things that life simply does not provide training for. Dying multiple times was one of them.

'Still, my strategy was quite effective. I probably won't be able to repeat it against him, not in the same way.' If the Pirate Lord simply blitzed him without giving him any time to prepare or plan, he would almost certainly lose.

Micheal shook these thoughts from his head as he looked at the worried figure of Sophia nervously pace. An idea struck him, a way to get her mind off things and to also get back to making progress.

"You seem to have a lot of energy right now, right?" He nodded at her,

"Well, if we're gonna be a team, you can't depend on me to kill everything. What happens if we get separated for some reason?" He continued, motioning at her.

She nodded back, stopping her pacing to pay attention.

"I happen to be a talented swordmaster who knows how to teach the Basic Sword Mastery Ability, and you happen to use a long knife that is basically a sword. If we add that Ability to your list, your strength should definitely increase, and finding your sister will be easier than ever!" He smiled,

"Let's go train!"

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