[You have died.]
The message hung in the air before Kaito’s face like the punctuation mark at the end of an all-too-short life. The other messages barely registered in his vision, much less the fading courtyard or the neon lights beyond. The translucent window twitched and sputtered like a poorly programmed holovid message. Everything melted away until there was only darkness and the flickering reminder of his death.
Kaito’s mind raced. What did the messages mean? He had died. He remembered the staggering kick to the chest, the sword entering his stomach, and the killing blow through his shoulder into his lung. Was it real? The ache in his shoulder and chest proved to him just how real the death had been.
Panic struck, and he searched the folds of his kimono. The mengu! She had taken it. It was all true. The mask was gone. His family's sword was gone. She and her followers would likely tear Neo-Eden to the ground before the night was up. The worst of it, to Kaito, was that he had failed and brought dishonor to his father's name and the very idea of the Guardians.
“Father, I tried,” Kaito said. Somber tones of defeat stifled his voice to a whisper. Tears clouded his vision, distorting the death status window.
Kaito wiped his eyes and looked around for the source of the floating screens. They had stacked themselves one behind the other so that only the first message was visible. No matter which direction he looked, the screen followed his line of sight.
Unable to find their source, he swiped his hand at the screen to dismiss them assuming they were actual holovid messages. They dismissed one by one like the holovids he had seen and interacted with throughout the city.
With his field of vision finally clear of the messages, Kaito's eyes adjusted to the darkness surrounding him. A thick foggy mist filled most of his vision just a few feet away. In the fog, countless twinkling lights winked in and out.
Slowly, Kaito stood. The sensation of standing felt awkward to him as he didn’t exactly have his feet planted on the ground. When he looked down, there was darkness, and in the distance, more red, blue, and white lights glistened. The brilliant lights swirled together and formed galaxies. A shooting star, maybe a comet, shot across the sky below him. He stumbled back, momentarily disoriented by the lack of solid ground, but he caught his balance and righted himself. At least, he thought he righted himself because the same starry night sky was all around him except for the thick fog in front of him. The lights coalesced in the fog to a central point until they finally merged into a glowing radiance that filled most of the cloud.
“Kaito Yamazaki,” the fog pulsed with an etheric glow in time with the words. The voice came from all around him but seemed concentrated in the pulsing light. Kaito cocked his head, thinking he must be crazy at the idea that a cloud was talking to him. “It is true. You have died.”
“Then, is this the afterlife? Is my father….”
“Not quite,” the soft voice said. “Your father is not here. And this is not the afterlife. This is something different.”
“What then?” Kaito asked. “And who are you?”
“You don’t have much time here, Kaito. I have little time to explain the universe to you, and you must choose.”
“Choose? Choose what?” Kaito stepped forward a half-step and stopped just short of the cloud.
“If you are to become a Guardian, you will need to make your selections and return to the city.”
“I am… well, I was a Guardian,” Kaito said with indignation slipping into his voice.
“Well,” the voice walked the line between condescension and uncertainty. “That’s not entirely true. You took on the mantle of a would-be Guardian, but you lacked a few things to be a true Guardian, not least of which was a connection.”
“Connection? What are you talking about?” Kaito squinted and gritted back his anger at the vague explanation.
“Yes. A connection to mistmetal. It is how you are able to guide your growth and potential.” the voice explained. “You must hurry, Kaito. The Resurrection Protocol is almost complete, and Neo-Eden needs a Guardian, again. Choose.”
Kaito raised his voice and demanded answers. “Choose what?”
“Choose your class, of course,” the voice said.
“What classes are there? What choices do I have? Why do I have to choose?”
“You have to choose so that you can go back. The world needs you, Kaito. Your father was never able to fully train you or prepare you for what was to come. You didn’t have a chance to bond with your mistmetal inheritance. Since the beginning of the world, before Neo-Eden was Neo-Eden, Guardians have protected the civilization from the many creatures and, worse, people who would corrupt and destroy creation. Those who would oppose propriety and peace. Your father was one such Guardian. He trained with and bonded to the Spirit Sword, which you now call the Blade of Ages, and chose just as you have to choose now.”
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“But I don’t have the Blade of Ages. The Architect took it.” Kaito shook his head and clenched his fists. White hot anger burned in his chest. “I’m so confused by all of this. Are you saying the Architect is going to… what did you… going to bond with my father’s sword? What happens then?”
“Not necessarily. The one you call The Architect has not yet learned to bond with the mistmetal of the Blade.”
“I don’t understand. How can I choose like my father did? I don’t have his sword. The Architect has the Blade.”
“That is correct. However, the Blade is not the only source of mistmetal in Neo-Eden. Many were the artifacts forged and reforged by the ancient smiths. In your dying moments, after The Architect struck that killing blow, didn’t you feel it? The coin artifact chose to bond with you. It melded into your body giving you the ability to absorb Mist Essence.”
Kaito recalled the messages that scrolled just as he died.
[System Integration Complete]
[Lucky Coin Consumed]
[Resurrection Protocol Engaged]
“The Lucky Coin? Is that what it’s called?” Kaito asked. “What is Mist Essence?”
“Please slow down, Kaito. You will understand in due time. And, yes. Normally, the bonding process is a ritual that takes some time to unlock and an even longer time to master. It seems that luck was on your side. As the Blade entered your body, the Coin made a connection, and your cells bonded with the mistmetal that was now inside you. It’s a bit abnormal, I’ll admit, but the Lucky Coin always did have odd ways of finding its champion.”
“I’m the Lucky Coin’s champion? And now I need to choose a class. A class for what?” Kaito’s head swam with the randomness of the information. Nothing made sense.
“Your class determines your abilities. Those who have bonded with mistmetal and have a class can advance their abilities through the absorption of additional Mist Essence. You must be quick though. The Mist System will allow you to call your status screen at will to check your progress.”
Kaito’s thoughts, without prompting, focused on the phrase “status screen.” As if on command, a message window opened in the air again.
Name: Kaito Yamazaki
Rank: 1
Species: Human
Class: Unknown
Titles: Guardian
Spent Essence: 0
Unspent Essence: 3
Bonds:
Lucky Coin - Bond Level 1
Champion Abilities:
Essence Affinity - Rank 1
Luck Resonance - Rank 1
[STATS for more info…]
Please select your class and distribute any unspent Essence.
“I don’t want to choose a class. I want to just be me.”
“Very well. A class can be automatically assigned based on your past training and abilities. Would you like an automatically assigned class?”
“I guess, yes.”
[Resurrection Protocol Closing in 1 Minute]
[Class Assignment: Automatically Chosen]
You have been assigned the Samurai class. Please allocate any unspent Essence in your Status menu.
The message window that still floated in front of him updated with the new class information.
Class: Samurai
Kaito waved the status screen away. Still confused but growing more comfortable, he instinctively willed his status screen back into existence. A blue monitor screen popped back up in front of him. He had never experienced anything like that before. As rarely as he used holovids, he still had to interact with some type of projector. If there was a projector somewhere, Kaito couldn’t spot it.
“Okay. What now?” Kaito asked.
The fog responded, “Spend your Unspent Essence. Hurry. Time is running out.”
Sure he was in the middle of some fever dream or perhaps the last moment between life and death, but Kaito decided it was easier to play along than to rail against what he was seeing. He reached up and touched the area of the Status screen labeled [STATS for more info…].
The status screen flipped to show an array of statistical information which Kaito assumed was about himself.
Stats
Strength - 2
Dexterity - 3
Stamina - 2
Intelligence - 2
Charisma - 1
Willpower - 2
Honor - 3
Luck - 5 (+3 Champion Bonus)
Perception - 2
Cyber Affinity - 3
Melee Combat - 4
Ranged Combat - 1
Health - 70
Focus - 50
Kaito quickly read through the information on the screen and started to ask what each of the stats meant, but a red flashing number in the corner of his vision distracted him. Kaito assumed it was counting down to the Resurrection Protocol's closing.
“So, I just select which stats I want to spend my Unspent Essence on? How much does each one cost?”
“Each of your attributes costs one Essence at this Rank.”
“Let’s put two Essences into Dexterity,” Kaito said. That choice seemed easy. No sooner than he said the words out loud the three next to Dexterity updated to a five. His health increased by twenty as a result bringing the total to 90. He questioned where to put the final point. He reasoned that since he wasn’t overly strong, but not overly weak, then the average for a person must be two. Then why, he wondered, was his lowest stat Charisma? And why did he have a higher-than-average Cyber Affinity? That made no sense at all. He’d never been augmented.
Twenty seconds remaining.
“Twenty seconds? Can I keep the unspent Essence?”
“You may, but I recommend against that as you will need all the assistance you can get.”
“Fine, then put my other Essence in Willpower.” He figured it was best to spread his points to other stats, rather than piling all of the Essence onto one stat. Willpower sounded like the most useful of the non-physical stats without researching too deeply what the stats could do. He watched his Willpower increase to a three and his Focus increase to 60.
[All selections have been made. Resurrection Protocol Closing in 3… 2… 1.]
“Wait! I’ve got more ques…”
[Resurrection Protocol Closed]
The fog that floated inches away from Kaito swelled to envelop him, and the lights that had been flashing in time with the answers from the entity brightened and grew until Kaito saw nothing but white light all around him.