R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 7 (in editing)

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 7 

“Wow. How did I get something like this?” Micheal murmured as he looked over the details of his Physique. After a moment, he shut his eyes and focused on his body, seeking out the changes it had gone through.

His senses had grown to a truly extraordinarily level by this point, especially after becoming a Master. Outwardly, he was he able to perfectly grasp his surroundings to the extent that he could now differentiate between minute air currents from dozens meters of away. Inwardly, even the most minor changes in his body were unable to escape his notice.

‘I see, I see…’ He thought, his eyes opening in wonder as he raised his right arm and stared at it. He clenched his hand into a fist and then relaxed it over and over, examining it.

‘Empower the flesh it says… hmm…’ He pondered.

His previous Physique, the 2 Star Energized Physique, let him rapidly absorb energy from the atmosphere. He was only able to achieve that Physique through perfect absorption of one of the extremely rare Magic Gems he obtained from Yvvtal’s treasury.

Upgrading one’s Physique from 2 Star to 3 Star was an enormous deal. The fact that most humans never even managed to get a 1 Star Physique, let alone a 2 Star Physique, spoke a lot for the difficulty.

While little was known about the process of upgrading one’s Physique, there were some things that were known.

When one’s Physique changed, it could only change in a way that built off the previous Physique. In Micheal’s case, his new Heartflame Physique kept the ability to absorb latent energy in the air.

As for its other effects… Micheal wasn’t quite certain of all of them. It was a Physique he had never heard of. He would need to figure out what it did by himself or, failing that, through his newfound Farian allies.

‘For a 3 Star Physique, it doesn’t seem to have boosted my stats any more than my 2 Star Physique.’ After scanning his body, he was able to make this observation with confidence.

His physical stats changing was a byproduct of his increased Ki Cultivation and his transformation into a Master.

‘Empower… empower… empower…’ Micheal frowned for a few more moments.

“Ah!” His eyes opened up wide as he noticed something.

‘I can feel the breeze in the air and I can sense the temperature… but it’s… different!’ His eyes flashed as he realized he was on to something.

After a few seconds, Micheal reached over and tapped on his Mid-Tier Spatial Ring, the Artifact somewhat surviving a battle that literally turned him to ash at one point. After a few seconds, he withdrew one of the random items he had picked up from the First Layer.

A small, metal burner he had used when making Dragon Building Liquid for the first time.

Micheal set the burner down on his bed and then lit it without any hesitation. The flames flashed up but stayed contained on the burner, not spreading to the rest of the bed.

Slowly, Micheal reached out with his right hand until he was holding it a few inches above the live, burning flame.

‘Empowering the flesh doesn’t refer to making my skin tougher or muscles stronger.’ Micheal thought as he slowly began lowering his hand, bringing it closer and closer to the lit flame.

‘It means it literally empowers my flesh, imbuing it with energy… and transforming it like the flesh of a Phoenix.’

Micheal cupped the flames with his bare hand, the fire dancing between his fingertips and cross his flesh without burning him.

A wide smile appeared on Micheal’s face.

“It doesn’t hurt.” It felt slightly uncomfortable after a few seconds, but despite the flame literally encompassing his right hand, he didn’t have even the slightest trace of a burn.

“Perfect internal temperature control, greatly resistant external temperature protection.”  He muttered as he looked at the fire, entranced.

The Phoenix was a bird that could swim in streams of molten lava without batting an eye. They were famously immune to anything related to fire or ice, one of the reasons they were able to compete with Dragons.

“Wonderful.” This was a blessing he was not at all expecting to achieve. Its value was enormous, especially so when he thought of the future.

The 7 Layers were inherently inhospitable to humanity in many, many places. With this Physique that he had now, as long as he gave it time to grow and continue empowering his flesh, he would be able to completely ignore things like freezing blizzards or blazing firestorms without any qualms.

‘It also greatly enhances resistance to curses, mental attacks, and spiritual attacks.’ He noted the last line of his new Physique with a nod.

Once more, these were characteristics the Phoenix was famous for possessing. It was impossible to tame a Phoenix’s mind, impossible to damage their Soul, and impossible to curse them. They weren’t known for being unkillable for no reason.

“What a fantastic gain.” He couldn’t help but repeat himself with a slight shake of his head.

His new Physique might be lacking when it came to making him physically stronger, at least when compared to other 3 Star Physiques, but the defensive upgrades it brought him were simply unbelievable.

‘I need to ask how they healed me when I was unconscious. Perhaps I can obtain some hint on how I got my new Physique and gain a better understanding of its potential.’ He made a mental note for later.

“As for now…” His eyes slid over to his Status screen, to the massive Points total that he now possessed, as he spoke out loud to himself.

“Let’s prepare for the future. If I play my cards right…” Micheal squinted as he did some quick math in his head.

“4 days.” He nodded.

‘In 4 days, I should be able to get the Essence of a Deity.’

He thought back to the special reward he’d obtained on the First Layer.

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—-Champion’s Gift—-

You have become a hero of ages, a Champion for your race. As a conqueror, you will destroy your enemies while reaping the benefits.

You may gain the Attribute of any race whose essence you absorb. (Limited to one use)

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“It’s finally time. The Title System of the Deities will be mine.” His eyes flashed.

“But first…”

Micheal opened up the Shop.

“Let’s get a new Ability.”

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

Meanwhile, in a place far from Micheal…

A large stone castle stood proud atop a grassy green hill. This castle was built out of pure alabaster stone, gleaming in the dying evening light as darkness overtook it. Torches dotted the windows and insides of the castle, trying and failing to warm up the atmosphere inside.

Hundreds of Byren Martial Artists stood guard atop the walls of this castle, large teams working in unison as they went on patrol around it, circled the outside of it, or maintained watch from the ramparts.

Deep within this magnificent edifice, a massive meeting hall stood at the center of the castle, in the place where a throne room would have been. This meeting hall was sparsely decorated, lit up by dozens of large torches that plastered the walls, interspersed with ancient tapestries.

At the center of the meeting hall was a long, rectangular table made out of some type of green metal. Four Byrens sat on luxurious, golden chairs around this table, each one giving off Auras that caused the air around them to visibly distort.

Two other chairs were also present, but currently empty.

“Tch. To think they refuse to show up, even now.” The Byren at the head of the table grunted out loud.

The speaker was a weathered veteran, bearing a large, white beard and a tan, lined face that looked slightly at odds with his bulky, muscular body. He was dressed in a simple white robe with a black, diagonal stitching line that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip. Currently, he was glaring at the two empty chairs at the table with a disgruntled expression on his face.

“Don’t blame them, Thunderfist. The signs of plague have spread to all the Sects. They worry for their disciples.” A soft, female voice returned.

The speaker sat to his right, a female Byren dressed in a tight pink dress. Unlike the first speaker that was unarmed, this woman had a long, silver spear strapped to her back. Her relaxed smile was decidedly at odds with the topic she spoke of.

“It’s damnably bad timing, Rose.” A new voice added, a male Byren that sat to the first speaker’s left.

This Byren was dressed in a black shirt and black pants, with a black bandana covering the bottom half of his face. He had his legs kicked up atop the table while he leaned back in his chair, his skin even paler than the delicate looking female across from him. A long, thin blade shaped similar to a katana rested on his waist.

“The Sanctum holds the ancient history of our ancestors and opens in just a few days. Plague or not, our forces are in disarray. Their absence is unacceptable.” A quiet, wavering voice echoed in the air.

The last speaker sat opposite the first. He was a small, kindly looking old Byren, dressed in a simple robe made out of coarse brown cloth. A long, wooden staff rested on his knees, one he kneaded slightly with wrinkled hands in exasperation.

If any other Byren Martial Artist had been present, they would likely have fallen to the ground out of shock as seeing the present figures.

They couldn’t be blamed for that.

After all, these 4 warriors were supposed to be mortal enemies.

Who could have expected that the Six Lords of the Byren race, the six hallowed experts that had been bitterly fighting each other for decades, were all, or mostly all, participating in a secret meeting together as allies?

The First Lord, Thunderfist, of the Divine Might Sect, a Master of the Fist.

The Third Lord, Roselia, of the Ground Demon Sect, a Master of the Spear.

The Fourth Lord, Shadow, of the Silent Sword Sect, a Master of the Sword.

The Sixth Lord, Whitestaff, of the White Mountain Sect, a Master of the Staff.

“It’s said they’ve gotten the plague under some level of control. If they travel with due haste, they should make it in time for the Sanctum’s opening.” Shadow lazily added as he yawned stretching in his chair comfortably.

“Aren’t the Farians in your Sect’s territory immune, Shadow? What’s with that?” Roselia glanced over at the masked Byren Lord with a quizzical look.

“Don’t ask me. Those savages live in huts next to the Dragon Mountains of all things. What intel could we have picked up from them?” Shadow casually waved off her question as he added,

“What about those weird Wizards in your territory, Rose? Or, better yet, why not ask the humans? They can create Artifacts out of nothing. They could probably pull off a miracle or two.”

“No one touches any more humans until after the Sanctum opens.” Thunderfirst’s deep voice cut into the two’s bickering as he laid one hand down on the table with a resounding thud. The hand was covered in dozens of thick scars and made the entire metal table tremble just off its weight alone.

“Yes, Thunderfist is right. Don’t forget our real purpose.” Whitestaff’s wavering voice added on with agreement as he looked at Shadow and then at Roselia with two eyes blazing with passion.

“The pathway between dimensions has weakened. The era our ancestors predicted is now.” The old Byren’s voice shook with excitement as he went on,

“In 4 days time, we will take the first step to becoming Gods!”

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