Reborn: Apocalypse

Chapter 13: Ranking

After settling things with Lana and her allies, Micheal had left. They agreed to meet up on the upper floor of this skyscraper in 2 days to discuss what she had found.

Micheal didn't have super high hopes, but they weren't low, either. Sophia had been an Irregular that was obsessed with finding her little sister, a girl that had vanished as part of the First Wave. Partly as a result of that, she was on the hunt constantly for more Points, using her unique Fairy Eyes Ability to her advantage.

She hunted solo at first, and with her Ability in tow, as well as the fact that she was smart enough to pick up the Ki Cultivator Ability, she didn't need company, though that didn't last long. She eventually ended up joining the Tobagin Party.

The Mayoral Alliance was a group that hunted in dangerous areas like the central area. Sophia was known to have hunted here, relying upon her rare Ability. There was a real chance Lana would interact with her, or at least hear about someone who had.

Micheal tossed the thoughts to the side as he looked up at the sky, frowning slightly.

The daylight had long since fled to evening. The World of Endless Skyscrapers had a day and night cycle just like Earth. There were clouds and even, on rare occasion, rain and thunderstorms.

The world itself was barren except for the Clusters, from what he had been told. Someone with a unique Artifact that could map out places had set it to map out the entire world, learning a bit more about the tens of thousands of Clusters that existed.

'Damn it, I don't know enough about the First Layer, apart from its big secret.' He sighed, once more annoyed that he didn't pay more attention to this stuff.

'I should head back.' As he realized how late it was getting, he turned around, looking back the way he came. He put his Steelborn Sword away after ensuring there was none of the black blood of the Morenkai on it. The blood was mildly acidic and if you didn't clean it off, it could ruin your weapons.

He began to jog back home, keeping his eyes peeled for movement as he started crossing over one of the bridges back the way he came.

As he moved, however, he couldn't help but feel as if he was being watched. He kept glancing around as he jogged, his eyes narrowing. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling.

"It's probably just a scout. If it's something else, I'll deal with it when the time comes." He shrugged, not feeling particularly worried. Even if he was attacked by a surprise attack, the worst that would happen is he would be killed and then come back to life thanks to his 2 Life Orbs.

The reassurance that Ability gave him was incredibly confidence boosting.

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

"So that's him, Anju?" A gruff, middle-aged man spoke out loud as he looked through a pair of binoculars. The man wore a set of army fatigues and military boots, with a cowboy hat on his head. A large knife could be seen strapped to his waist, as could an AK-47 on his back.

While guns only had a certain level of effectiveness against Morenkai, they often were quite effective against other humans, at least in the First Layer.

"Yessir Captain Bola! He's allegedly an Irregular that appeared with Daniel's group and ran off." A younger, lean man that appeared to be in his mid-20s responded. The man had short black hair and was well dressed in black pants, a black shirt, and wore a black scarf. He wore a set of black gloves and, in general, was covered in dark clothes or garments, helping him blend into the fading darkness, standing to contrast with his pale skin.

"A damned Irregular" Captain Bola, one of the Three Captains of the Saru Group muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Hadrian wants us to find out his intentions. If he plans on joining the Black Flag Pirates we'll need to kill him here and now If he joins the Tobagin Party or the Godfather Organization, that is fine, if not optimal. It would be best if we could recruit him" Bola spoke to himself as he considered his options out loud.

"He did kill a few normal Morenkai on his own and the attack that took out that Abnormal Morenkai was a decent slash, but he has yet to face one of the truly powerful Abnormals or worse, one of the truly powerful humans" The biggest threat in the First Layer wasn't necessarily the Morenkai.

The Captain turned to his subordinate, his eyes narrowing. Anju was his trusted lieutenant that had stayed with him ever since the duo arrived with the Second Wave. While they hadn't known each other before the apocalypse, they were fast allies now.

"Anju, follow him and find out where he lives, but stay at a distance. Report back to me when you have that information." As the Captain spoke, he picked up his binoculars again, staring at Micheal.

"How strong of an Irregular are you..? If this is all you have, you would hardly qualify as a C Rank human. Maybe just a high D Rank. That Abnormal could only be considered one of the weaker ones." He rubbed his chin slowly, taking a moment to consider the Ranking system the First Layer used.

In the First Layer, a general way of ranking how powerful someone was had come about. The ranking itself was actually based on a mix of fantasy stories from Earth and the familiarity people had with a letter grading system. Bola had always thought it a bit odd, but he wasn't the one that made the rules here.

F Rank was considered the lowest Rank, set aside for completely normal humans. E Rank was slightly better, for those with basic Abilities that were useful and could fight with teams against basic Morenkai.

'He's at least above those two in strength, that is for certain.' Bola nodded slightly.

D Rank was the first Rank that was considered useful. At this Rank, you should be able to fight against a regular Morenkai and have a real chance at winning, though death was also a possibility.

'At a minimum, he has to be D Rank. Well above average for a newbie Chosen.' He nodded again.

C Rank was reserved for those that could kill a single normal Morenkai with ease and could fight against many types of Abnormal Morenkai evenly.

'He has shown the potential to be a C Ranker, but I'm still not sure...' Bola frowned.

'There's very little chance he's anything higher than that.' The higher Ranks were all very difficult to achieve. Even for an Irregular that was strong from the start, it would be very difficult to come in at B Rank or higher.

Even he himself was only B Rank, and he had been here for 2 years.

Anju, in the meanwhile, prepared to set off, tapping on a bracelet he wore. It was a Low-tier Spatial Bracelet, capable of holding a decent amount of gear. From this bracelet, the black-garbed man withdrew several blackened knives and strapped them to various spots on his clothes, gearing up.

"Anju." Bola called out, waving at his lieutenant.

"Yes, Captain?"

"After you confirm where he lives, wait for a moment and then test his strength." Bola kept his eyes on Micheal as he watched the Irregular cross a rickety rope bridge, his voice cool.

"Find out how strong of an Irregular he is." Bola's eyes flashed. Anju was a powerful C Rank fighter, one that was nearing the level of B Rank thanks to his unique Ability. He was more than capable of going up against some of the strongest experts in the Stardust Cluster, or at least escaping from them uninjured.

"Yessir, Captain!"

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