"So let me get this straight; I died."
"Yup."
"And while I do get to be reincarnated, I don't get to pick my powers, and I don't get to choose which world I go to..."
"Yup."
"Ok. so how is it decided then?" I asked, feeling myself growing slightly irritated.
"Simple, through our new patented gatcha system!" the angel replied with the most fake enthusiasm I had ever heard.
In case you're curious, my name is Y/N; and recently I died. Honestly, you all know how this story goes by now right? Saved kid from getting hit by a truck, and then get hit by said truck myself. Then I got shoved into a cramped office cubicle with an overworked angel whose trying to get me reincarnated as fast as possible so they can move onto the next client.
Who knew angels had daily quotas to meet?
That basically brings us back to the present. From what the angel had just finished explaining, the guys in-charge of this whole reincarnation system had started to get annoyed at how many dead people had recently come to the afterlife with the expectation that they would get to be overpowered harem protagonists. (And had then thrown massive hissy fits once they learned that they wouldn't immediately get powers like omniscience or absolute creation.)
One or two people with those kinds of wants were totally fine, (heck, the bosses were even fine with a few million of them), but ever since the idea of being isekaied had become more mainstream across several multiverses in the Omniverse, it was all starting getting to be rather ridiculous.
(And the poor angels could hardly keep up with all the paperwork.)
"All you have to do is press this big red button." the angel continued calmly. "The roulette wheel will spin, and whatever it lands on are the powers you get in your second life. We also offer an optional training course to teach you how to use your new powers. It's highly recommended you do it; especially in light of all the recent...accidents that have been happening."
"...What accidents?" I asked wearily.
"Well...a little while ago, one client got to reincarnate with the powers of the Legendary Super Saiyan. And as soon as she woke up, she tried powering up, immediately lost control, and accidently blew up the planet she was on. Died in the vacuum of space 7 minutes after starting her new life."
"..."
"Then there was this other guy got the power of Saitama from One Punch Man. As soon as he starting walking, the shockwaves from his steps caused a global earthquake which then triggered all the volcanos on the planet to go off at the exact same time."
"The client's still alive by-the-way, it's just everything else on the planet that's dead. So, do you want the training?"
"YES PLEASE!"
"Smart choice." and for the first time I saw a ghost of a smile on the tired angel's face. "Now, just press the button and we can get started."
"Honestly, you mind doing it?" I asked the angel, leaning back in my chair. "I've never been luckily with this kind-of stuff. Just remembering how much money I spent getting Castoria and Oberon makes me want to die."
Actually, now that I think about it, was it weird that I count never having gotten to see what happens after Lostbelt 6 as one of my few lingering regrets? Probably not right? After-all I had spent literal hours of my life playing the game; getting to experience the story, leveling up all my servants, and even having a blast with other members of the Fate community on Reddit.
All the servants were great in FGO were great, and they all had stories I had come to enjoyed over my time playing the game. (Except Columbus. He and the entire Agartha singularity could go suck a lemon)
As the angel shrugged and the muttered something like "You're already dead though...", I couldn't help but wonder what kind of powers I might get. Maybe it's because I had been playing a lot of Final Fantasy 16 before I died, but the powers from that game were the first things I thought off.
"Being able to turn into Ifrit like Clive would be so cool!" I thought as I remembered all the cool moments from the game. "But being able to fly and heal like Phoenix would be pretty awesome too! Too bad the odds of me getting either of those powers is basically zero."
The angel told me that there were more than a billion powers in the gatcha pool, and more were being added as soon as they were being thought up. I could get anything ranged from omniscience down to the power to never stub my toe again.
However, unknown to everyone and even myself, it was entirely possible for me to get the powers that I wanted.
See while the guys in-charge did want to stop all the over-powered reincarnators that had been spawning lately, they didn't want people to be unhappy with the powers that they got. After-all, reincarnation was supposed to be a reward for having been a decent person in life.
That's why they made a system where when a person presses the button, the roulette wheel would read that person's wants and desires, and the wheel would then secretly increase the chances of the person getting the powers that they wanted.
But it wasn't me who had spun the wheel just now, it was my angel. And as an angel, they had two very interesting characteristics:
1. They could automatically read your mind, and
2. Their luck level was insanely high.
In essence, my wants and desires were being automictically sent to my angel, which were then sent to the roulette wheel after having been boosting massively by the angel's luck.
I obviously didn't know any of this, so imagine my surprise then when five rewards appeared in front of me.
"Congratulations. Let's see you got, the standard training, physical appearance customization, and universal language packages, the "Dominant of Fire" combo pack, and a C-rank modification ticket."
"C-combo pack?" I stuttered. Honestly, my brain was still catching up to the fact that I had somehow gotten the exact powers I was literally just thinking about. "Seriously what are the odds?"
Tapping the combo reward, it quickly expanded and displayed more information:
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["Dominant of Fire" Combo Pack includes:]
["Dominant of Fire - Ifrit" Pack]
- All powers associated with the being the Ifrit's Dominant; including ability to generate, wield, and manipulate fire for devastating attacks, and the ability to partially or completely turn into the Fire Eikon, Ifrit.
["Dominant of Fire - Phoenix" Pack]
- All powers associated with the being the Phoenix's Dominant; including ability to generate, wield, and manipulate fire for devastating attacks, as well as the ability to heal injuries and restore stamina for self and allies. Also includes the ability to partially or completely turn into the Fire Eikon, Phoenix.
[Combo Pack Exclusive Bonuses:]
- Significant increase to all fire generation, fire manipulation, fire power, and healing abilities.
- Ability to turn into Ifrit's and Phoenix's fusion form: Ifrit Risen
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"Holy shit!" I yelled in excitement as I read and re-read all the information again and again.
From what I remembered of the the game, all the Eikons in Final Fantasy 16 were stupidly powerful. They were as tall as skyscrapers and could drastically alter entire landscapes with their just brute strength and elemental attacks alone.
And they were extremely resilient too. In the game, all the Eikons could have entire chunks of their bodies blown apart or limbs ripped off, and they could heal from all that damage in a matter of seconds.
And now I had just gained the combined power of two powerful Eikons at the same time. Ifrit was one of strongest Eikons in the entire game, and Phoenix was one the most resilient with insane healing abilities to boot.
"Don't forget your ticket." the angel said with a tired smile. And even while look completely exhausted, it was obvious that they were happy that I had gotten something I liked.
"What does it do?" I asked eagerly.
"It lets you modify 1 or more aspects of yourself or the powers got. Some people have even used it to turn themselves into different species. This ticket is low level though so you can only modify one thing, and it can't be used to grant yourself new powers. Let's see, no making yourself all knowing or all powerful, no grant yourself infinite (x) where (x) refers to..." <- (this went on for another 3 hours.)
"... and lastly, no giving yourself the ability to go faster than wrap 10 without hyper-evolving into a lizard."
"Um...ok." I replied as my brain slowly re-engaged. With all the restriction on the ticket, the best thing to do would be to get rid of any downsides my new powers had. And after thinking for a few minutes I knew what I wanted to change.
"Alright so in 16, the Eikon's basically have limitless power with their element right? But the Dominant's human body isn't able to handle using all that power forever. Use the power too much and it kills you eventually. Could I use the ticket to get rid of that, or can make my body stronger so I can use the powers as much as I want, for as long as I want?"
Typing away at the computer, the angel paused for a moment before speaking. "You could make your body more...compatible with powers, but even then for what you want specifically it's going to be something you're going to have to train towards."
"Oh, that's fine." I waved away. I now had superpowers, so naturally I was going to spend some time to figure out how they worked! Could you imagine getting the power of someone like Superman and being like "Eh, I'll just wing it."!
"That's a good attitude." said the angel, as they moved over to grab a nearby lever, "Because that's everything taken care of on my end. Have fun learning how to use your new powers."
"Wait I wanted t-AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
Unfortunately I never got to finish my sentence as the floor beneath me suddenly swung open and I fell into the abyss below.
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By the time I woke up again, I found myself alone in a empty white void with two rather familiar looking individuals.
"Ah, it's good to see you awake. I confess, I was getting a touch worried there." said the person on the right before continuing.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Joshua Rosfield; I am the Phoenix's dominant. And this is my brother Clive; he is Ifrit's dominant."
"Pleasure." Clive greeted in a gruff (though not unfriendly) tone.
"Clive and I have been given the honor to be your teachers." finished Joshua with a smile.
"It's nice to meet you." I responded automatically before what Joshua said registered. "W-wait what! You guys are going to teach me?"
"Of course." replied Joshua politely. "After all who better to teach a prospective dominant, than another dominant?"
"This place can become whatever we need." explained Clive. And as he waved his hand, the white void disappeared and was replaced with childhood home of the two brothers.
"Here we can train you in any technique or for whatever situation you might find yourself in."
"I suppose now the only question is, what would you like to learn?" finished Joshua.
"Everything! Teach me everything you know!"
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"I probably should've been more specific." I thought as I pulled my sword out the slain Behemoth King.
When I told the Rosfield brothers that I wanted to learn everything, I didn't think that meant they would literally teach me every little thing they knew.
From sword combat to noble etiquette, from turning into an Eikon to ballroom dancing, there was nothing they chose to leave out.
How different the lessons could be from day to day, at the very least I could definitely say that my time with them hadn't been boring.
"Good work." Clive said as he tossed me a hunting knife so I could start skinning the Behemoth. For a moment he stood behind me to assess my technique before shaking his head and leaving to go check on Joshua. He knew that by now I could do this with my eyes closed.
"It's a shame to say this, but I really don't think there is anything left for us to teach you." said Joshua with a sad smile as the three of us sat around the campfire to eat.
"Well what do you expect?" replied Clive with a quiet chuckle. "We have been teaching him for more than a hundred years now."
"Wait w-what?!" I coughed out, almost chocking on the bit of roast Behemoth meat I had been eating. There was no way it had been more than a century! At most it felt like I had only been here for about a month.
"You asked me and Joshua to teach you everything we knew. I'm in my late 30s and Joshua is just starting his. With the lives we've led, we had a lot to cover.
"But I can still remember my old life perfectly!"
"It's an effect of this place." supplied Joshua. "It blends the time spent here so you can train until you feel ready to leave, but it also keeps those old memories fresh until you actually start your new life."
"You should be proud of everything you've achieved Y/N. You've spent your time here well and you've adapted to your powers in ways no other dominant has."
On that point he was right. In many ways I had gone from being just some guy with fire powers, to being like the embodiment of fire itself. My connection to the element went far deeper than it did with Joshua and Clive. Oftentimes it felt more like I was now some kind of elemental being or nature spirit rather than a flesh and blood human.
Perhaps it was an unintended side-effect of the ticket making my body more "compatible" with the powers?
"So then...what happens now?" I asked a small voice. This was all happening too fast. I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet...
"Yes you are." replied Joshua as if he had read my mind, and he stood up and enveloped me in a fierce hug. "Stay safe out there Y/N. While you may be much stronger than the average person now, you are by no means invincible. So please by the Founder try to be careful."
"I w-will. I promise." I said in a shaky voice before feeling Clive's hand on my shoulder.
"Walk tall, Y/N" nodded Clive before he too gave me hug.
And then, they were gone. And for the first time in a long time, I was once again alone in a empty white void.
"Thanks guys for everything..."
I honestly wasn't sure what I was supposed to do now, but the moment I began wondering how to get out of here a floating gamer screen appeared in front of me.
[Congratulations on finishing your training!]
[The world you have been assigned to is [THE NASUVERSE]!]
[Please create you desired appearance.]
"Nasuverse? Seriously?! Of all the places..."
Y/N's reaction:
"Well whatever. No point in complaining." It may not have felt like it, but I had just spent more than a lifetime preparing for this. I was ready for whatever might happen.
"Time to see what I can do." I said confidently as I went through the options in the appearance customizer and selected what I wanted to look like.
[Appearance Settings Saved.]
[We hope you enjoy your second life.]