Reborn: Apocalypse

He blinked.

For a brief moment, he stared at the 2nd Ranked Wizard of the Flesh Wizards Tower. As he stared at the strong B Ranker, he exploded forth his killing intent. His entire soul focused on willing destruction and death upon the Flesh Wizard, an ominous, rage-filled wave of emotion.

This wave of intent cut through the din of the loud and cheerful market, zeroing in on the man in an instant. Micheal had been told it felt like having your brain dunked in ice cold water and felt that was an accurate description. He had felt the sensation directed at him more times than he could count in the upper Layers.

Instantly, the Flesh Wizard froze, his eyes widening as he spun around. The man's entire body had tensed up, preparing to be attacked at a moment's notice.

By the time he looked, however, Micheal had already returned back to normal, leaning back in his chair as he looked out at the crowd casually. The heavy backpack lay on the table, positioned precisely between Micheal and the man.

"Hold." Hunter held out his hand, calling the rest of the Flesh Wizards to stop. His voice was full of caution, but also a hint of confusion.

Smoothly, he began to walk towards Micheal, his eyes blinking slowly. The Flesh Wizard's hand drifted over to a Spatial Ring on his finger, as if he was preparing to defend himself at a moment's notice.

The din of the market, and the general pandemonium of the Open Market, continued onward unabated. A small bubble of silence seemed to form as people moved out of the way of the Flesh Wizards Tower group, purposefully avoiding them.

Soon, that bubble of silence arrived to greet Micheal. Hunter stopped in front of Micheal's stall, his arms crossed.

"Selling Morenkai corpses." The Flesh Wizard read the sign that Micheal had set up, the man's voice carrying the same authoritative tone. It was decidedly at odds with his rather skinny and somewhat weak looking appearance, though Micheal was well aware of how appearances were deceiving in the 7 Layers.

"You are selling Morenkai corpses?" The Flesh Wizard rapped on the table, looking at Micheal inquisitively. The other members of the Flesh Wizard Tower all filed in behind Wizard Hunter, standing in a semi-circle.

Micheal continued to smile slightly, hidden behind his mask.

'This is just the First Layer. He will have no idea what that killing intent truly was. He likely thinks his Ability reacted to something.' Micheal's eyes flicked over to the backpack on the table.

He had placed it there precisely at a certain angle. When he unleashed his killing intent, causing a minor reaction as Hunter's soul felt that, he had been sitting directly across from the backpack. It had also been exactly situated between him and the Flesh Wizard Hunter.

Now that Hunter was here, combined with everything the Flesh Wizard knew, the man would have to assume that whatever gave him that feeling had come from the backpack. Especially so when considering his Ability centered around using Morenkai corpses to form powerful energy blasts, traps, and more, and the fact that Micheal was selling Morenkai corpses.


Sometimes, the appearance of things or a situation mattered just as much as what you had to offer. A better impression now meant a higher price he could score later.

Micheal turned his head to face the Flesh Wizard.

"Yes." He grunted, keeping his voice cool and unworried.

The Flesh Wizard's eyes narrowed as he looked at Micheal's masked face, feeling slightly off-put. Most people would do everything they could to please him or avoid annoying him. It wasn't that Hunter was arrogant or rude. Merely, people feared power, and he was powerful.

"Well then. Let's see them." Hunter motioned at Micheal expectantly.

"Iron-Tail Feathers." Michael replied and then paused.

Hunter blinked, staring,

"Come again?"

Micheal continued to speak, listing off several things,

"Golden Bell Leaves. Hard Diamond Throwing Knives. A Mirror Shield. Flash Powder. Burn Flurry Crystals. A Mana Lantern." Rather than list a general category like most did, he spelled off a specific list of exactly what he was looking for.

"I beg your pardon?" Hunter responded, confused.

The other Flesh Wizards behind him all stirred as well, some of them sending glowering glares at Micheal. They were part of their own 'clique' and were fiercely defensive.

"Do you have any of those?" Micheal kept his words cool and short. His every movement and statement painted him an expert, uncaring about the worries of the world around him.

"Oi. Be a bit more respectful. This isn't a fuc-" One of the Flesh Wizards had had enough, interjecting. The impression Micheal gave was an arrogant one. To those that hadn't felt the wave of directed killing intent and the general mystery of the situation, it would indeed seem a bit much.

Before the other Flesh Wizard could finish speaking, however, Hunter cut him off.

"I have two sets of Flash Powder and three sets of Burn Flurry Crystals. As for the rest… I have a Remembrance Shield, but I don't have a Mirror one. We may have some of the other Artifacts pooled among my men." The Flesh Wizard checked over a Spatial Pouch he wore tucked around his waist in a few seconds, staring at Micheal calmly.

"Now what do you have for me?"

Micheal raised his hand and moved it over to the backpack he had left on the table. He tapped on the top of it, focusing for a split second.

WHOOSH

Thud

The body of a large, white skinned Morenkai slammed down hard onto the table, rattling it. This Morenkai gave off a faint feeling of darkness, as if it was sucking the color of the world around it within itself.

It was one of the easier Morenkai for Micheal to kill. It was an Abnormal that could drain a human simply by touching him, even lightly. It let out a type of contact poison that was linked to it magically, sapping Ki from a human and using it to recharge themselves.

It was also an Energy type Abnormal, though a far more physically focused one.

The moment it appeared, Hunter's hands started to tremble. He slowly traced the corpse, his eyes scanning every inch of it. He picked its arms up, checking them for injuries and finding none. He then traced over the chest and legs, excitement appearing in his movements.

"Incredible! Simply incredible! It's in mint condition and a perfect catch!" Micheal could hear the genuine pleasure and excitement in the man's voice.

Life Casters used the latent 'life force' from a being to form powerful and unique 'Spells,' most of which were energy based attacks or blasts. When a creature died, it left behind a large amount of this latent life force, from which the Life Caster Ability came in handy.

Abnormal corpses possessed a huge amount of this latent life force. Abnormals like the one he'd shown, in particular, had extremely energy rich corpses, practically treasure troves for Flesh Wizards.

"How on Earth did you manage to kill it?" Hunter looked up from the corpse, a sliver of confusion in his eyes. The perfect condition of the corpse meant it would work near perfectly for his Spells, able to use every part of it.

"Turn its head over." Micheal's tone was short.

Hunter paused and then did as he asked, turning the head of the dead Morenkai to the side.

A small, precise stab wound could be seen at the base of the neck in the Morenkai's back, cut in a precise spot.

"Did you... You did this?" Hunter's eyes widened as he saw this.

Killing a regular Morenkai was a challenge for most people. Killing an Abnormal was a sheer impossibility to most. Even trying to lure it off a bridge, the most common method for those that were weaker, was extremely dangerous.

Fighting an Abnormal in melee combat… especially an Abnormal that could drain your life force and was adept at close combat… and managing to not only kill that Abnormal but kill it in a way that didn't ruin its body…

Hunter's opinion of Micheal instantly exploded upward. His entire demeanor shifted as he looked at him. Behind his back, Hunter instantly made a hand motion, one that indicated to the other Flesh Wizards that they needed to be extremely careful.

"Yes. I killed it." Micheal was technically not lying.

He did indeed kill it. Only… he killed it after Sophia had used her Fairy Eyes to trap it.

'My physique is nowhere near strong enough to handle an Abnormal that can drain energy without gruesomely killing it.' He thought with a wry smile. His Strength would need to be at least 40 points higher than what it currently was to have a chance at accomplishing that feat.

'But there's no need to tell him that.'

"That's not all." Micheal reached his hand out to the backpack that rested on the table.

WHOOSH

thud

A second Abnormal Morenkai body fell out. At the same time, he simultaneously stored the first away, making room for the second body.

This Abnormal Morenkai was the same Abnormal he had shown the Commissioner that oversaw the Market Guard. The energy-based one that could shoot bolts of energy. This one had a few precise cuts on it, but only in spots Micheal was aware wouldn't damage its value.

When Hunter saw this, his entire body trembled. He looked at Micheal, his eyes full of raw excitement.

"How many more Abnormal Morenkai corpses do you have?!"

"7 in total."

"I'll buy them all!"

.