A space of pure white, existing somewhere between the worlds of living and the worlds of death, slowly transformed into a iado dojo, with an old man standing in the middle of it.
Shortly after the room had been mystically recreated, a blue wisp flew in, through one of the windows, before it took the vague shape of a young man, barely nineteen.
When the form of the young man had solidified, the old man, grew slightly ecstatic and directly turned to him.
„Ah! You're here, great. Listen, you're dead and are about to be reborn in another world. You will receive a system to help you grow, and also a starter pack, which depending on your choices, may or may not have some seriously good stuff in it."
The young man was entirely caught off guard, by the speed in which the seemingly old man before him told him things, "I'm… dead?"
"Yes! Come on, please follow along a bit faster. You will be reborn, and have to make a choice, now." The old man nodded, before continuing immediately after again.
Remaining somewhat cautious, or at least slightly wary, the young man simply asked, "...and what is that choice about?"
"Well, to explain it as simple as possible, since you don't seem to be the brightest, you can trade in your memories for a better starter packet. That should've been easy enough to understand, right?"
It seemed like the old man was growing annoyed for some reason. How he expected a human to react to the news of their death, seemed to have missed the mark entirely.
"I guess… so, if I give up my memories, then I will have it easier in my next life… Alright. My life wasn't anything great, or interesting. There isn't really anything of worth to forget, but… might I ask, how my parents reacted to the news of my death?"
"Certainly, give me a second…. Ah! Got it. Your parents… they were devastated."
"That doesn't sound like them, at all…" Those news immediately caught his attention, and made him suspicious.
"Well, they thought your brother died, when they got the news. After clearing up the misunderstanding, they were..-" It seemed his suspicions were correct, hence he interrupted the being in the form of an old man.
"Relieved. ...right?"
The being before him nodded, with an almost comically conflicted look on his face. "So? What will your decision be?"
He seemed to be waging his options for merely a second, before he answered, "Sure. Take my memories. If not even my parents cried for me…"
Acting, as if he hadn't heard the last part, the old man merely sighed once, "Guess I can be more creative then. Okay, any more questions before we start?"
The human thought for a moment, and shrugged, "Not really, but what should I even call you?"
His conversation partner seemed to have already sensed such a question, and answered in a rather dismissive tone, "Just call me Rob. That is the only name mortals can call us anyway. Now, stand over there on the glowing circle."
No second later, than he finished speaking, did indeed a circle, which glowed in a myriad of colors, appear. The human did not hesitate and simply went over to it.
Standing where he was instructed to, the human's soul was getting ready, but before the process could start, he looked over to where Rob was standing, probably still busy with something, "Thanks for believing in me, Rob. I won't waste this second chance you gave me."
"Wait! Damn! I forgot to put in the coordinates! Oh my, I forgot to explain anything…!" those and a lot more blabbering could be heard, just as he was beginning the transmigration process.
'I was too optimistic again, wasn't i…?' was the last thought that went through the human's soul, before the process finished.
The next moment, he was gone, on his way to another world.
"Well, he was the first…" Rob tried defending himself, before considering the situation and eventually snapping his fingers once, "I hope that will make it better, at least. With those extras, he also won't have to worry about fitting into any class…"
"Anyway, the next one should be here soon…"
---
The entire transmigration process took no longer than five seconds, after it had been initiated.
Though, different to his expectations, the newly transmigrated human found himself inside a room, where its walls, floor, and even the ceiling were of the purest white he had ever seen before.
It nearly felt as if he was standing inside a giant nothingness of light. The only surety he had that the floor even existed, and he wasn't just floating in the air, was his shadow that still existed.
How a shadow could exist, without any real light source was a mystery he did not care for enough, to actually wast time on, though.
Just when the feeling of uneasiness was beginning to creep up his spine, a simple zip-bag, made out of cloth, appeared in front of him.
With no other actual choice, he simply reached for it, and noticed then, for the first time that his body had apparently changed already.
'Wasn't I getting reborn? Why do I already have a body then, and from how my arm looks, at least late teenage years old. Have I actually misunderstood something? Well, not like Rob gave me much time to understand anything at all… Whatever, those are problems for my future me.'
Even if he had basically been thrown into his next life, before he could properly even get the thought of his death into his head, he would under no circumstances hold it against Rob, the one who gave him, a second chance.
'Wait, a second chance… I thought I gave up on my memories.' As that thought settled in his mind, the young man tried recalling everything he could, which was, on one hand a lot, and on the other one quite little.
'So, losing my memories actually just meant my personal memories, those of myself, friends or family. Lucky me, I guess.'
Putting most of the other questions that appeared into the back of his mind, he instead focused back on the bag, and with it in his hand sat down, more or less comfortably.
When he finally opened it, the upmost thing that his eyes landed on, was a small card.
"In here you will find you entire Starter Package. If you're unsure how to use something, just call out to the system, which will have been installed, by the time you will have finished reading this card.
I truly hope that you will be able to use it, because if you aren't capable of even that, then I may have picked the wrong candidate.
PS: You should think of a name, as well as a moniker. No one trust someone without a name, and the moniker is for when you slowly become famous. Once there, it is hard to change them.
~Rob"
Immediately after having finished reading the card, one word crossed his mind; 'Rude.'
The next second he went back to finding out what his package contained.
Half a minute later, he had pulled everything out of it, and laid it down on the floor, in front of him, right next to the cloth bag.
There were four things lying there; a sword, two things that nearly looked like playing cards, and one tube with what he presumed was blood... or wine.
'System'
Wanting to test his other feature too, he called out for the system, and in the next moment, a translucent, golden screen appeared before him.
[Servant System]
[Status]
Name: ---
Moniker: ---
Skills: Identify (one time use)
Spells/Magic: ---
Noble Phantasms: ---
Bloodline: Human
Fables/Tales: --- (!)
[Shop]
Categories:
- Skills
- Spells
- Noble Phantasms
- Bloodlines
- Fables/Tales
- Appearance
- Miscellaneous
Currency: 0
Well, it seemed… like something.
Forgetting about the shop for the moment, he directed his gaze to the status for the time. Choosing a name and a moniker, there would be time, now, though, the two things interesting to him were definitely; the one skill he had, and whatever the exclamation mark behind the Fables part meant.
With his curiosity taking control, he tapped on the Category, and another smaller prompt opened up.
[Fables are the story of a Hero, and at the same time, the source of their strength. Though, telling a story needs some truth in them, and that truth still needs to be spoken of. Any deed you commit, will be carefully stored, but will only bring an effect, if people know and talk about it.]
At first, he thought that was it, but there was a short note, below that text.
[The exception to this rule lies in buying Fables, which will partly rewrite history, so that you will have done them, but they will have been forgotten, and need to be remembered by the public.]
Having read it all, he grasped the meaning of what those so-called Fables were meant to do, and how important they were.
With this new understanding, and a few ideas about it already being created, his gaze inevitably turned to the other interesting part; his skill.
The moment, his attention was fully directed at it, and he thought about it, it already activated itself, disappearing from his Status, and opening four new prompts.
[Noble Phantasm: Durandal]
Type: Anti-Unit
Description: One of the most splendidly crafted Holy-Swords mentioned in the history of the worlds. It is said to be unbreakable and to never lose its sharpness. Even miracles are supposed to be possible, as long as the user believes in the sword, and is ready to pay a price in return.
[Skill card: Mana Burst (Beginner)]
Description: Mana Burst allows the wielder to infuse Magical Energy into a held weapon, or even the wielder's entire body, and instantly expelling it in a sudden burst of power. (Wielder must hold the card, and wish to use it.)
[Skill Card: Instinct (Beginner)]
Description: Instinct is the manifestation of the intuition, muscle memory, and the wielder's own instincts. It will allow the wielder to identify the best course of action during combat. (Wielder must hold the card, and wish to use it.)
[Bloodline: Fae (Great father)]
Description: The tube of Fae blood can be fused with the wielder, granting him a quarter Fae blood, which will henceforth run through his veins. Be warned, though! The process of receiving, and fusing with this blood will bring the wielder unimaginable pain, due to a complete reconstruction of their Anatomical Structure, and Biological Code. (Drinking the blood will initiate the fusion process)
With the skill now gone from his Status, he had at least gained information on the contents of his starter package.
Now, with these information before him, he also finally realized what the 'Servant' in Servant system actually meant. Planned or not, he still had the memories of one show from his past life, at least partial knowledge.
The Fate Series, or TYPE-MOON, however one wanted to refer to it.
That is where the term 'noble phantasm' had originally come from, and was also what combined all of the things that had been mentioned until now. It especially explained, why the Fables were so important.
After all, the journey is sometimes as important as the goal.
With this revelation, he had a better grasp on what the shop might contain, and therefore could wait, for the foreseeable future, when he would actually gain the currency to buy something.
But, since that was fine, for the time being, it brought him back to the current decision he needed to take; Should he se the Fae blood?
In all honesty, it seemed like a stupidly simply choice, and waging everything that might happen from now on, there was only one actual answer to it.
Following this one answer, he took the tube, which had been standing on the ground until now, removed the cork from the top, and gulped it down, in one take.
At first, there was nothing, and he even relaxed, thinking the system had wanted to prank him.
The next second, he felt it… Pain. Excruciating Pain.