Brimiri stood watching Syilten as he gathered his nerves to awaken the High Rare he pulled.
"Boy is either incredibly lucky or has the worst luck to bless this world. Essence bless this boy even if he's out of your purview" she prayed as her hand clenched and unclenched.
She was scared for Syilten, but she felt this same fear for every child that awakened, and soon he'd have to protect himself. She knew for better or worse that Syil would be fine even if he was injured here.
"Enough of that" she chastised herself. "I just have to wait and pray, it's up to him if the Card accepts such a young wielder."
Suddenly, a blinding flash of the coldest blues and dazzling ripples of purple pulsed inside the barrier where Syil would prove his awakening to the system. When the flash subsided, Syil was in clear view trapped in a body of ice, unguided energy also frozen in the ice with him, shifting and moving closer to the shape this Card would exhibit.
____________________________________________
For a long time all there was, was cold. Cold no matter how far I traveled, yet nothing for my eyes to focus on other than the endless cold. My mind felt like it was going numb, my body didn't want to respond to me the way I wanted, the most shocking thing for me though was that I was in my 22 year old body again. Suddenly with this realization I started to come back to myself slowly, and bit by bit, I fought the cold that tried to stop me, slow me.
It felt like I was there fighting for days, but I finally felt something move. Absently, I heard a sound not unlike the shattering of glass, and as I gained another step my mind gained more clarity. The shattering sounds began getting louder and louder, and before I knew it, I'd started crossing meters with every step, not that I could tell at first.
Eventually I came upon a clearing, which was surprising as this was just a blank landscape of black till now. I cautiously entered the center of the clearing and found an androgynous figure waiting for me.
The...Spirit?...or whatever it was seemed almost surprised to see me arrive in its clearing, a show of genuine curiosity. Its body seemed to be made of shifting shards of ice in various states of being frozen, seemingly highlighted by shades of purple.
With a voice like the tinkling of wine glasses it began to speak, and although the noise was alien to my ears I could understand every word as if it resonated with me, and through me
"It's been a long time since I was offered to an Awakener, but never has one been so young and been able to even find my clearing."
I tried to speak but I found my body was once more no longer under my control. The being moved closer to me, inspecting me, judging me. Watching as the layers of my 22 year old self began to shatter and show the form of a 12 year old child.
"Hmm, how rare... you have a rather dangerous Affinity there, young one. Thankfully the system weakened it for you."
For a time, the being finished inspecting me, and with a nod of it's head,
"I'll deem you worthy for now, but you'll not be able to use me for a while. Be safe, Syilten Flykra. It wouldn't do for my contractor to die too early."
That was the last thing I heard before the being shattered into hundreds of shards of light and ice that all seemed to suck together at one one point leaving the silhouette of a Card, and then the world shattered.
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
______________________________________________________
Brimiri's breath caught in her throat as she started to see what looked like a Winter Queen manifesting, but she was certain her eyes were deceiving her. Suddenly she heard a shattering of ice, her attention snapped back to Syil and she only noticed him in the ice and a card just short of awakening.
“He did it!” she gasped.
The ice finished shattering. causing Syil to drop like a sack of potatoes. She quickly rushed forward to catch his sleeping form, as all his Cards rushed into his Heart Binder. Before she could see the form his High Rare took.
"Never a dull moment with you Syil, is there?" She sighed and carried him over to his bed and tucked him back in.
"Sleep well Syil, I'll let the other kids know you need to rest, after all you are astoundingly cold as a sheet of ice." She giggled and went back to guide the other kids going through their awakening ceremonies today.
"Hopefully the rest aren't as eventful."
_________________________________________________________
After a while I awoke again in my bed, slamming my head against the ceiling for the second time that day, head pounding and my stomach screaming for sustenance.
"I feel like I got hit by a truck and then backed up on before they drove away," I groan as I stretch my body as well as I can in my top bunk bed and begin to start crawling out just for my foot to catch, causing me to fall to the floor below. Following close behind, a resounding thud.
"Ooph!" I exclaim. "Maybe I should have taken that slower with how hungry I feel." I start as I notice a sandwich on the work desk area of our room. "Hmm a note?"
-You gave us all quite the scare this morning, and don't think that gets you out of your chores today.
Hope you're feeling better when you see this.
-Brimiri-
"I seem to be a never ending stream of troubles for you huh? I should work on that from now on" I affirmed and finished my breakfast.
Brimiri had left me a breakfast sandwich of eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns in what seemed to be a time bubble to keep it fresh.
"Very thoughtful and incredibly fascinating. I wonder if the me of this world had seen this countless times..." and almost as if reminded, there was a rush...no. A torrent of memories flooded my mind, seeming to try and take dominance. Nearing a panic attack I barely catch my breath, and instead of fighting, I welcome them in, and as a lifetime all my own but so different flashed before my eyes.
Shocked as I was, I didn't realize the headache had subsided. All I could think of was what I had seen, felt even. 12 years of my life I both did and didn't live, memories that conflict with one another, yet necessary. What I learned was both amazing yet horrifying all the same.
The current year of the current calendar is 1001 a.c.. 1000 years after the Convergence, a world shattering event that reshaped the entirety of two worlds and creating Detlmar. What shocked me the most was the existence of the System, or I should say Systems. During the Convergence, the world I remember, Detalm, merged with another world revolving around Essence Cultivators which in turn merged with our System. Datalm was home to Card Cultivation, a storied System known to be both kind and cruel.
'So I know what's going on a bit more now. I'm still a bit confused with the age regression, but what's happened has happened. For now I need to focus on the immediate future and figure out the blows as they come, I mean, heck. I have super powers now.’ I began to psych myself up 'I need to find a wild monster and see where I stand, and worst comes I'll just wake up right?'
I rushed to get ready, now that I had a full stomach. Quickly getting dressed in a baggy yet well-fitted pair of pants, and a light white undershirt before I put on a tunic much like the ones we wear around St.Perri, except it was now in the color of frosty blue and highlights of soft violets. There was also what appeared to be an emblem in the form of a card sticking out of a deck box. 'Guess that's how they identify my Cultivation Path from now on, Brimiri did always have an emblem on her left collar cuff of what appeared to be a cube surrounded in swirls, that must be the Essence emblem'.
With my shoes on I started to head for the door but something seemed to be tugging at me "I have to recheck my status screen after getting my cards. Status" I commanded.
Name: Syilten Flykra.
Race: Human
Cultivation Path: Card Cultivator, (Error!)
Level:0. Error:?
Exp/Error: 0%/Error
Tier:0
Affinities: Ice, Space/Error!(Temporarily seal by the system)
MP: 90/100(90). %$^&#%×:$/:×2.
Regen: 1mp per minute.
Soul Card: Currently unstable and unformed.
Binder: 5/5
*Ice Slash (C),T1R1. *Cold Resistance (C), T1R1. *Spacial Shot (C), T1R1. *Displaced Spear (UC), T1R1. Unknown (HR), Error!.
Deck 1: Unnamed Deck 0/20 -Add Cards for a Playable Deck-
Inventory: 0/10
"Huh, that's a lot of new information. Why does it seem that my status is getting more messed up as time goes on?" Not sure if I should panic or not, I went to look at my last starter Card just to fall short.
"Unknown, what's that mean, is that the name of the Card?" and without my bidding a description popped up for my last Card.
"What the hell!" I almost wanted to scream out in outrage. "I thought the system made sure we had a starting amount of Cards! what the hell is this?"
Unknown: High Rare
Type:Unknown Affinity: Ice, Space/Error!
-Effects: You have not yet met the qualifications to use this Card. Grow to earn their strength hidden in this Card.
It was a High Rare for the Systems sake, a nigh impossible chance from a Starter pack and I couldn't even use it! Worst of all I couldn't even start to access my Cultivation until I'd made at least one Deck of 5 Cards. "What will I do, I can't even start yet.."
----System Achievement Met----
---Not quite accepted, not quiet rejected---
-Effects: You've won the attention of ? (HR), Unfortunately you haven't passed all of ? tests.
--Gain a new Friend, or two from the System: Reward Card: Snowy Hare Pair (UC+) Growth, T1R1.
"Well I stand corrected”