Chapter 17

Second Layer

I woke up on a stiff bed with one of VeLana's feet on my face and the other on my crotch as she was half hanging off the bed, snoring. The first order of business is upgrading this bed to something larger and softer. We were placed in a shared house, and fortunately, it was with Akoth and Jaxon. It was a small cheap house, more like a barracks.

There was a monetary system on this Layer since there were permanent citizens who chose not to move on. Also, there were people born on this Layer who chose lifelong careers, but the place still had an atmosphere of a forward-staging base for military exploration and advancement. Sure, they tried to establish a city with entertainment and regular commerse, but when you looked closely, the people wore armor and sold weapons and other things necessary for hunting monsters. True, the first Layer had a bit of that as well, but there were schools, restaurants, and even sports. This Layer had food stalls and bars for the most part. The entertainment was more of the adult variety, too. They didn't even have a decent bath house.

Well, I guess it doesn't matter too much. We're here to grow stronger and advance to the next Layer by the four-year mark. However, there was no way I wouldn't go without any creature comforts. So, the first thing I wanted to do was convert our currency to the new credit system they use here and make some purchases. One such purchase will be a store in the business district if I can afford it.

VeLana stayed in bed since when I moved her feet off of me, she never woke up. I left her a note and caught Jaxon and Akoth on my way out. They, too, were heading out for the day and decided to join me. Akoth got as far as the primary city entrance and then broke off to head to the Hunter's Guild. All he cared about was training and hunting. Jaxon was eager to see what kind of tech the other Layers brought with them to this world and to be honest; I was too.

I read the pamphlet while walking and noticed that this world was simply called the Second Layer. Perhaps it had a name once upon a time, but no one cared to remember it. The best size estimate was that the entire Second Layer was about half the size of the First Layer.

"Ooh, let's stop in here," Jaxon said, and Harry popped out of my arm with a new shimmering glow about him. He seemed to be floating much easier now.

"What is that?"

"My new anti-gravity shields," he responded. "I am a genius, you know."

"You're not a genius. You're just a robot."

"Gah, I am not a robot. I am…"

"Yeah, yeah, radiant blah blah blah. I've heard it all before."

"Better than being a dumb dumb that that doesn't know how to put on his pants correctly."

"I do know how…"

"The butt pockets were on the front, and you had them all the way pulled up before you noticed."

"He got you there, Zeke,"

"Shut up. Let's just go inside."

The store was a gadget and weapon shop. The style buildings in the area were a hodgepodge of what I could only assume were different species building what they knew best. This particular business had electronic sliding doors that were arched and slid upward. The inside was packed with oddly shaped things on shelves while the weapons were either hanging on the walls or in barrels off to the side. Looking at the barrel weapons gave me the idea that they were good but not great. But technically, much higher grade than anything on the first Layer outside super exotic Nexus materials. However, the weapons on the wall were amazing. I even spotted a lightsaber. Of course, I bought it.

"Welcome to my shop," an… elf? Came over and spoke with us. Wait, Elfien, that's the race in the pamphlet. So, this is a real elf, then, cool. He was tall but not as beautiful as Lord of the Rings made them out to be, nor did he seem haughty. He also had small nose ridges aside from pointy ears and short, wavy brown hair. However, his eyes were pure silver that even glowed slightly. "My name is Nath. I see you spotted the energy saber, good choice."

I activated the blade, and similar to a lightsaber, the green blade activated. However, it looked more like a sword, like the dark saber the Mandalorians had. It wasn't pure green either; the core, though hard to see past the green, looked to be silver. I was amazed that it didn't give off heat.

"Can you tell me about it? Oh, and my name is Zeke."

"Nice to meet you, Zeke. Yes, the energy saber can cut nearly anything on the Second Layer. It's powered by Soul Crystal."

"Is that like a Soul Battery?"

"Ah… sort of. It is of the same type but much weaker. I've only ever heard of one person acquiring a Soul Battery and I'm told they are rated for several Layers above ours."

I opened my combat prosthetic to show him the Soul Battery. "Here's my Soul Battery, and yes, it is rated up to the Fifth Layer." The man's eyes nearly bugged out as he marveled at the real thing.

"Then it is true. There are at least Five Layers, then."

"Six that I know of. And the people I met from the Sixth Layer said they had a means to the Seventh."

"You met people from higher Layers? How?"

"Long story, but it involved my death. Now, how much for this saber?"

After some time discussing the cost and converting our Gold and Silver to credits, which was handy since he was a tech shop and could do it for us, I bought the saber for 500 credits. He gave me a discount for granting him knowledge and the chance to see a real Soul Battery. I even let him touch it. I also browsed around a bit more but ultimately didn't buy anything else. Jaxon, however, had two shopping carts full of gadgets and scraps and was excitedly chatting with Harry about what they could take apart and build.

I left Jaxon and Harry to their shopping and decided to also visit the Hunter's Guild. Ever since upgrading my arm with the Soul Battery, Harry's range could easily cover the entire city and living districts, so I wasn't worried about leaving him behind.

As I followed the map of the city, which, with a quick scan from the pamphlet I now had pulled up in my H.U.D. for easy navigation, I noticed all the different species and tried to reference them to the names and descriptions.

I knew what the Tobnobs looked like, but matching the rest took a bit to sort out, mostly due to various clothes and cloaks. However, I worked out the size differences and other features quickly to know what was what.

The Zabeens were the most interesting species. They were humanoid in shape but, on average, taller than both humans and Elfiens. However, their head was some kind of nebulous cloud that sparked with electricity. Inside the cloud were many floating eyes, but not human eyes. These were closer to cat eyes but glowed brightly. They had the Death Energy and had innate abilities to fire off death beams. Instead of Skills or Spells, they had Modulations, which basically worked as modifications to their beams in order to produce other effects. They could also modify their own bodies, which made them one of the strongest species physically as well.

The TotoK were Ice Giants and were easily the largest species, at least on our side, but they were definitely the strongest species overall, at least according to the pamphlet. I was confident in my strength, but until I tested it, who knew? The Aquiraians were Seafolk, similar to the Kojin. Lastly, there were the Yasues, a four-armed silver-skin alien species with no hair at all. Their eyes were either green, blue, red, or purple, but thankfully didn't glow.

It was strange seeing the difference between common folk born and raised here and beings like us. For one, the gravity is so incredibly strong here, yet the people born under such conditions naturally became strong enough to handle it. But they still seemed frail and weak since they were in this world. If they moved to Earth, they'd be stronger than super soldiers. I should know.

As I approached the Hunter's Guild, I saw Akoth squaring off with an ice giant, two Zabeens, and three Yasues. They all wore similar gear, which meant that despite most species tending to stick together, these at least recognized the value in diversifying their party for the various species' traits.

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"You insulted our buddy here by being in his way. Since you didn't have the common courtesy to apologize, I feel a lesson is in order," one of the Yasues spoke.

"First of all, your guy ran into me deliberately. Second, I never apologize. And third, weaklings can't dish out lessons."

Yeah, that is what I would expect Akoth to respond with.

"An Onion fresh off the boat think it can speak back to us? Boys, mess him up good." Now that's strange. Why did my translator spell use the word onion? I referred back to the rules for the city, and while there were many rules for general living, there wasn't anything to prevent street fights as long as skills, spells, or strange powers were not used. As long as it was strictly a fistfight, all was good.

I used our party chat to relay that information to Akoth because I knew he didn't bother learning the rules. I got a mental smirk in reply, but I knew he was okay with the arrangement. Then he told me to butt out.

"But there are six of them. And they're all seasoned Hunters on the Second Layer. I know we got a huge leap in Astra before coming here, but I'm sure six versus one is not good odds."

"I don't care. I can handle this on my own."

"Okay, good luck. Tag me in if you need me, I'm just right behind you."

All I got was a grunt in response. However, He got an ice giant for a response. The ice giant moved far quicker than I would've expected, but that's just because of old folklore from Earth. I have to remember that these species arrived here from the First Layer, which meant they were marginally intelligent and strong.

In the blink of an eye, the ice giant arrived in front of Akoth and swung his massive fists down for a crushing blow. While Skills, Spells, Abilities, and Aura were not allowed, I noticed that Soul Arts were. At least some of them were. We couldn't use weapons, which probably meant the Soul Weapon was off the table as well. Akoth utilized the Soul Body Art of Fortification and caught the fists, however, both Zabeens had moved to his right and left and dashed in quickly for a free body shot.

Akoth let go of the giant's fists and took a step back to catch both fists by the wrist. Then, tugging quickly, he threw them off balance, causing them to slam into each other hard. While they were dazed, by virtue of being on this Layer meant they surely had tough durability and recovery. Akoth empowered his body with tremendous Astra and did a 360 horizontal kick to each of their nebulous heads, which turned out to be more solid than one would presume, and he knocked them both out.

In the time it took to take those two out, the ice giant and the other two Yasues that didn't speak had moved in again and this time Akoth didn't have enough time to respond. The ice giant leaped high into the air to vault over the downed Zabeens and was coming down quickly with a Superman punch. Akoth tried to back up again but found one of the Yasues behind him about to land a devastating blow to his back.

He had the choice of either twisting out of a critical strike to his back, leaving him wide open to a critical strike from above, or moving forward to dodge both. The problem was that other Yasues who didn't speak were also dashing forward and in the process of a roundhouse kick, which would allow him to barely miss his own companions.

Then, there was the supposed leader of their group, the last Yasues. He wore a different color badge on his outfit than the others and I assumed it was of a higher Hunter rank. While most leaders would let their companions do their dirty work, this one seemed poised to jump in as well if needed. Akoth was truly in a predicament.

Then Akoth did something I never would have guessed or imagined he was capable of. I always thought of him as a mindless brute, but I kept forgetting that he was cunning and authoritative. He led his own group of bandits for a while, after all.

Akoth twisted and lept to the left while slamming his hands together in a clap. But it wasn't just a clap. He manipulated Fortification on the air, not just the ground, and forced the space he was just in to rush together from all sides. Effectively, he brought all three foes crashing into each other even quicker than they were supposed to be able to move. The shockwave of all three of their attacks caused them all to be blasted aside. They weren't exactly out for the count, but they were down right then.

Their leader rushed in, and Akoth caught the fist, twisted it behind the back, and then kicked out his leg. I could see that Akoth struggled with the strength of the Yasues, but his technique was far superior in manipulating joints.

Before Akoth could get a word in for accepting a surrender, the ice giant, who made a remarkable recovery, grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled hard to break Akoth's grip on his leader. Akoth, while falling backward, grabbed ahold of the giant's wrist and then kicked his legs off the ground to rise upside down and wrap around the giant's arm. With another push with Fortification, he launched himself downward to topple the massive behemoth. And then, a second later, Akoth was on top, landing punch after punch until I saw the ice giant's body start to crack.

I moved so fast that everything seemed to stand still. I caught Akoth's fist as he was pulling back for another devasting blow. With one hand, I held back his punch. The Yasues leader saw the struggle and visible strain on Akoth's face as he tried to put all his considerable power into breaking free of my grasp. But then he saw my easy-going, calm face. Like a kitten casually holding back a raging storm.

"Enough Akoth. You win," I said.

With an angry jerk, he pulled his hand away from mine, but I let him go since he wasn't aiming for the ice giant anymore. Then Akoth stormed off down another road, the audience that accumulated parting out of his way.

"Like Akoth, I will not apologize for his behavior. You were clearly in the wrong and decided to bully someone you thought was weaker than yourselves. I will, however, apologize for the lengths he went to teach you this lesson." I bent down and used the skill Healing, which works great for deep inside damage, and then followed up with Mend Wounds, to heal the cracks. "Now, leader of this party, tell me your name."

"I... I am Lars'ko. And you will be sorry for this… this… offense," the Yasues stuttered as tears began to flow down his face. "My… my father will…"

"I don't care about your father." I unleashed my aura. Now, now, I know aura usage within city limits is forbidden. But If I unleash it only towards one person, then it is his word against mine. And I have witnesses who say he and his party started this beef. And also said witnesses will not feel the effects of my aura. Oh, god… he soiled himself. That stinks. "The name is Zeke. Feel free to report me to your father," I said as I walked toward the door of the Hunters Guild. But I don't think he really heard me as he continued to piss and shit himself while frozen in fear staring at the spot I was previously.

This Hunter's guild was vastly different from the First Layer. For starters, the first floor did have several windows off to the side where one could speak with a representative. However, the rest of the floor was a tavern. Booze and food were constantly delivered to tables. The job boards were on the second floor, and there were no other floors. Nothing was separated by rank. There were hallways blocked by a few doors in the back, which, for the moment, I didn't know what they led to, but I was sure I'd find out eventually.

It's like the standards of the First Layer were tossed out the door when the new residents discovered they were on another world, and it is part of some unknown game called the Layers. What is the end goal? Why keep moving up? Some obviously love the power and will struggle to move on, but many seem to simply settle here, and the societal structure reflects that defeated attitude. If it wasn't for the non-Blessing users or the equivalent of a Blessing, then this city might've fallen completely. Now I understand why the rules are in place; this city is teetering on the verge of collapse.

I approached one of the booths, where an attendant was waiting patiently for anyone who needed their services, although they truly looked bored. This woman was also a Yasues but was far more pleasant than what we encountered outside. "Welcome, Kojin traveler. My name is Yewway. How may I help?"

I saw her glance at my Hunter Tracker wrist device, which meant that I was a Kojin to her even though I had no defining traits. Which makes sense, considering some Kojin like Akoth could reverse their transformation all the way to the point of looking human. And considering actual humans are the enemy, this was a positive thing for me. Also, now that I think of it, I didn't see Hunter Tracker devices on any of the other species' wrists, which meant Kojin was more advanced, at least in one area. Go team!

"Hi, Yewway, I'm Zeke. I'm…"

"Just off the boat? I know you radiate strong energy, but you don't have one of our Hunter badges yet," she cut me off. I really hated that, but at the same time, it did save time.

"Ah yes, I'm new here. What do I need to do to register?"

"For the Kojin, all you need to do is present your Hunter Tracker and then have a reading of your Astra. This will place you in the new ranking system. Would you like me to explain the new ranking system?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay, well, we grant badges based on Energy levels. Energy levels, of course, correspond to whatever type of energy each species uses. For the Kojin, it is Astra. We use a Star system." She went on to explain the full system and I was flabbergasted. I needed to have Harry draw me a diagram to just understand it.

Layer 2 Hunter Ranking

Badges:

1 Star

2 Star

3 Star

4 Star

5 Star

6 Star

Energy:

3K - 3.9K

4K -5.9K

6K - 7.9K

8K - 9.9K

10K - 14.K

15K - 22.9K

/ Is this right?

// Yes, at least according to the explanation. We seem to be in the top echelon of this Layer already.

/ Yeah, that is crazy. I mean, granted, we have some room to grow, but honestly, will it take four years? I bet we will shatter this ranking system within the current year. At least with our explosive growth tendencies.

// While that was true on the previous Layer, we cannot assume that is the case on this new Layer. Plus, dumb, dumb, even if progression is slow like it would be for everyone else, you're so far ahead that you'll naturally advance above the current system. Just be happy.

/ I will, but technically, there could be people several thousands of Astra or Energy above us still. Maybe we should be more careful.

// Says the guy that taunted a noble and his father.

/ You saw that?

// clearly… idiot.

I dismissed our mental chat and wondered if I had made a mistake. Seeing these numbers boosted my confidence quite a bit, but they also showed me that it was still possible for some to be stronger than me. Only time will tell.