R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 4 

(Another chapter out later today (a Prime chapter that will be added to V3)) 

Micheal forced himself to get over his shock, shoving his confusion to the side as he went into full observation mode. He extended his senses in every direction, his focus spreading outward.

The Lord Protector had briefly turned away from Micheal, taking the time to usher the Rakkonian Wizard out of the room.

Micheal seized hold of that opportunity to quickly check his Status. Just from the few moments he’d spent awake, he could already tell that his body had undergone enormous changes. Given his current circumstances, leisurely taking the time to sense each change one-by-one seemed like a bad idea.

‘Status.’ He instantly called up the glowing blue screen.

The Lord Protector turned around roughly 2 seconds later, just barely missing the wave of shock that appeared and then promptly vanished in Micheal’s eyes.

.

— - Status — -

Name: Micheal Care

Points: 621,885

Race: Human

Age: 18

Physique: Energized Physique - 2 Star -> Heartflame Physique - 3 Star

Soul Quality: 3 Star

Strength - 268 -> 308

Endurance - 200 -> 227

Recovery - 133 -> 135

Soul - 38 -> 52

Abilities - (6/7)

Life Orb Master

Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Late -> Peak)

Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

Impact Release

Ceaseless Mind

Temporal Bubble

.

’52! My Soul stat is 52!’ He stared at the screen, his eyes blank for a moment as he focused on his Soul.

Sharp, fiery, focused… if was like his Soul had evolved, the warm glow of Master Tier Sword Energy melding with it. His senses were stronger, his reflexes enhanced, his thoughts faster.

His Soul had fully accepted the Master Tier Sword Energy, underlining a transformation that could only mean one thing:

He had become a Master.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough.” The gruff voice of the Farian Lord Protector brought Micheal back to reality as looked up.

The de facto leader of the Farians gave Micheal an amicable nod.

Micheal nodded back, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied the Farian. He wasn’t sure if the man had noticed Micheal was now a Master or if he just realized Micheal’s Ki was half a step from Sky Tier.

‘…I already knew it, but he’s really a monster.’

After the transformation his body and Soul underwent upon reaching Master-level, there were certain things Micheal could see now that he couldn’t so easily before.

One of those things, in this case, were hints of the vast amount of power that the Lord Protector was hiding. Micheal felt like he was looking at an enormous explosion of energy that had been condensed down inside a single being.

If the two of them were to fight right now, with Micheal pulling out every trump card he had left and risking injuring his Soul, his chances of winning would still be less than 10%. Even escaping would be extremely difficult, assuming the Farian went all out from the start.

“Thank you.” Micheal returned politely.

Two of them gazed at each other in silence for a few moments, sizing each other up. A hint of appreciation appeared in the Farian’s eyes.

The Lord Protector smiled and began introducing himself.

“My name is Gregor Mantorel, the Lord Protector of the Farian Tribes.” He looked expectantly at Micheal.

“Micheal Care, a warrior of the Human Race. I have no title.” Micheal introduced himself honestly, giving his real name. If he wanted to get the Farians on humanity’s side, lying to them from the get-go would be unwise.

For some reason, the Lord Protector’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly when he heard Micheal’s name. His gaze returned to normal in an instant, but Micheal’s newly enhanced senses as a Master caught the change.

“I believe I owe you quite the debt of gratitude, young Swordmaster.” Gregor began, a glint in the Farian’s eye as he revealed that he had indeed noticed Micheal was a Master.

“If not for your actions, we would have suffered catastrophic losses.” The Farian stated the truth plainly, something Micheal appreciated.

If he had been a human commander, the Lord Protector might’ve tried to brush aside and diminish Micheal’s efforts or take credit for it himself. Not all humans were like that, but it wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence in Micheal’s first life.

“I was only doing what needed to be done.” Micheal replied without hesitation.

The Farians would prove a valuable ally if he could win them over to his side. They also couldn’t be infected by the Seeds of the Vile King, at least as far as Micheal was aware. The Vile King’s Seeds were only known to work on humans.

Over the next few minutes, the Lord Protector continued asking Micheal various questions about the battle that had taken place. Micheal, in turn, answered each question with clear, precise answers. He held back his urges to ask about the Rakkonian Wizard for now. 

Their talk went on for some time. In the background, Micheal finished reviewing his condition. He also checked on his Life Orb count and found them to have been fully restocked. It seemed he had subconsciously managed to will himself to make new ones, a rather pleasant surprise to wake up to.

It also meant, given the 24 hour limit on Life Orb creation, that he had been unconscious for several days.

“How long have I been out?” Micheal asked when he found a break in their conversation.

“Hmm… since the time we picked you up, it’s been 14 days.” The Lord Protector replied.

“What?!” Micheal’s mouth fell open in shock.

‘2 weeks?!’

It was much worse than he had expected.

“Yes. You fell into some sort of transformative state after overdrawing your Soul.” The Lord Protector explained.

Micheal nodded silently, still not over his surprise.

His Physique transformed from a 2 Star Physique to a 3 Star Physique, his Soul grew astronomically, and he became Master Tier, all after an extremely intensive battle where he taxed himself severely.

Any one of those things would normally be dangerous, let alone all of them happening at the same time.

Still… a time loss of 2 weeks was terrible.

“We’ve heard much about you in that time, young warrior.” Gregor nodded.

Micheal frowned when he heard that.

“You’ve heard about me?” That didn’t make much sense to him, even if 2 weeks had passed. He shouldn’t be a well-known figure by this point, especially for the distant Farian race.

The Lord Protector nodded again.

“You’ve gained quite the reputation among your own kind, have you not?”

Micheal’s eyes crinkled up in confusion.

“Are you not aware?” Gregor paused, his head tilting slightly to the side.

“Aware of what?” Micheal hurriedly asked.

“All of our points of contact with your race have spread word of an enormous bounty for the ‘Great Traitor’ of humanity.” Gregor’s words resounded like thunder in Micheal’s ears.

“Micheal Care, a skilled sword user, the ‘Saintkiller.’”

Micheal’s frown deepened. He wasn’t certain how his full name had been leaked but it wasn’t too unexpected after what happened on the First Laye-

His thoughts cut off midway as his heart plummeted.

“Saintkiller?” He slowly repeated the last title as a sense of foreboding swarmed within him.

“Mm? Surprised? Well, it seems an apt name for who they say you killed… what was his name again… it was something weird…” The Lord Protector grumbled as he thought back.

“Ah, right. The new leader of the Purgatory Church.” Gregor nodded.

A historic genius that prevented the deaths of countless millions.

A prodigy that survived until the 6th Layer.

An outstanding future hero of humanity.

“The Nirvana Saint is dead.”

.