Wheat rustled around Rome, golden stalks swaying in a gentle breeze that carried the scent of soil and sunshine. He pushed himself up to sitting, his head foggy like he'd slept for a thousand years.
"What the actual hell?"
The sky stretched above him in impossible shades of purple and blue, colors that had no business being natural. Clouds drifted lazily, white puffs against a backdrop that looked like someone had spilled watercolors across the horizon.
Rome patted himself down, feeling his chest, his legs, his—
"My arm." He stared at his left hand, turning it palm up, then down. Flexing the fingers. "I still have my arm."
The hand looked real. Felt real. He pinched the skin and winced at the sharp pain.
Okay, so either I'm dead, or I'm hallucinating. Great options.
He stood, wheat parting around him as he turned in a slow circle. Nothing but golden fields in every direction except—
A hill rose in the distance, and atop it sat a small farmhouse with a peaked roof and wraparound porch. Weathered wood siding, painted white a lifetime ago. Window shutters hanging slightly crooked.
Rome's breath caught.
"Grandpa's house?"
The old man had died when Rome was fourteen. The house had been sold years ago to pay for medical bills. Yet there it stood, exactly as Rome remembered it from childhood summers.
This is messed up.
His feet carried him forward through the wheat. The stalks brushed against his hands as he walked, real enough that he could feel their texture. The sun warmed his skin. Birds called from somewhere unseen.
If this is the afterlife, it's weirdly specific.
The hill wasn't steep, but Rome found himself breathing hard by the time he reached the top. The porch steps creaked under his weight, exactly the way they used to when he'd race up them as a kid.
"Hello?" His voice sounded small against the vastness of the wheat fields below. "Anybody home?"
No answer.
Rome approached the door—faded red with a tarnished brass knocker shaped like a lion's head. He reached for the handle and tried to turn it.
Locked.
"Figures." He sighed, then raised his fist to the door. "Hey! Anyone in there?"
He knocked three times.
The sound echoed strangely, each knock louder than it should have been. The third impact sent a vibration up his arm that didn't feel right.
The door remained closed, but Rome sensed something change. The air thickened. Pressure built like a storm front rolling in.
"What the—"
An invisible force slammed into his chest, throwing him backward off the porch. He flew through the air, arms windmilling, and landed hard on his back in the wheat.
Rome gasped.
His eyes snapped open.
White ceiling. Fluorescent lights. The steady beep of machines.
A hospital room?
Rome groaned, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. His head pounded like someone had taken a hammer to his skull.
"Fucking dream," he muttered. "Weird as sh—"
Wait.
Rome froze mid-sentence. Slowly, very slowly, he moved his hands away from his face. Both hands.
His left arm was there. Whole. Intact. No bloody stump, no missing limb, just... his arm.
"No way." He flexed his fingers. Rotated his wrist. Bent his elbow. "No fucking way."
It couldn't be real. He'd lost the arm. He remembered the soldier crushing it, remembered the pain, remembered watching Kiona escape while he bled out on the arena floor.
He remembered dying.
"Am I dead? Is this heaven?" Rome laughed, a slightly manic sound. "No way heaven has hospital rooms. This boring? With this lighting? God's got better taste than that."
『You are not dead, Rome.』
The voice came from nowhere and everywhere, cool and feminine. It was the same voice he'd heard in the arena before everything went black.
Rome sat up so fast that his vision swam. "Who said that? Where are you?"
『I am where I have always been. With you.』
A window appeared in the air before him. Glowing green text on a translucent background, hovering impossibly in the empty space above his hospital bed.
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「 Host Status — Authenticated 」
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Rome D'Angelo
Ascension Rank: 1
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「 Vessel Metrics 」
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VIT ·········· 10
FOR ·········· 10
REF ·········· 10
RES ·········· 20 ← Unusual
INT ·········· 10
Available Points: 0
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「 S.E.E.D.S」 ☆ 0 / 2
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· ☆ ·
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「 Inherited Arts 」
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No Arts Acquired.
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Rome stared at the window with his mouth hanging open.
"What... is this?"
『This is your status screen. It displays your current attributes, abilities, and progress within the Ancestral Resonance Cultivation Ascension Nexus system.』
"The... what now?"
『ARCAN, for brevity's sake.』
Rome blinked. Reached out to touch the floating window. His finger passed right through it.
"So I wasn't dreaming. In the arena. That was real."
『Yes.』
"I was dying."
『Yes.』
"And you... what? Saved me?"
『In a manner of speaking. I offered you a covenant. You accepted.』
Rome touched his left arm. It felt solid. Real. Not like a prosthetic or a phantom limb, but his actual arm.
"Did you... regrow my arm?"
『I restored your vessel to its optimal state. The arm was part of that restoration process.』
"My vessel?"
『Your body, Rome. The physical form that houses your essence and consciousness.』
Rome swung his legs over the side of the bed, noticing for the first time that he was wearing a hospital gown. His clothes were nowhere to be seen.
"So what is this... ARCAN system? Some kind of essence power? An awakening thing?"
『It is neither. ARCAN predates the concept of 'awakening' as modern humans understand it. I am not a form of essence manipulation. I am...』 The voice paused. 『I am a function. A protocol designed to identify, cultivate, and empower specific bloodlines.』
"Bloodlines? Like... royal families?"
『Not precisely. Though there is a lineage component. Your grandfather's house in the dream space was not a coincidence.』
Rome's head spun. This was too much, too fast. He needed to focus on something concrete.
"Okay, so this status screen. These numbers. What do they mean?"
『They are baseline measurements of your physical and mental capabilities. VIT represents vitality, your life force and health. FOR is force, your raw physical strength. REF is reflex, your speed and reaction time. RES is resilience, your ability to withstand damage and stress. INT is intelligence, your mental acuity and processing.』
"And what's this 'unusual' thing next to my RES?"
『Your resilience score is higher than expected for your current Ascension Rank. This suggests either a natural predisposition or prior conditioning.』
"Yeah, well, getting your ass kicked repeatedly tends to build character." Rome snorted. "And what about this S.E.E.D.S thing? That sounds ominous."
A slight pause.
『That information is restricted until you reach the appropriate Ascension Rank.』
"Great. Super helpful. Thanks." Rome rolled his eyes. "And 'Inherited Arts'? What are those?"
『Skills and abilities passed down through your lineage. You currently have none unlocked.』
Rome stood up from the bed, testing his balance. He felt... good. Better than good. Like he'd slept for a week and woken up fully restored.
"So let me get this straight. I was dying in that arena. You—whatever you are—offered me some kind of deal. I accepted. And now I have a video game interface in my head and my arm back."
『That is a simplified but essentially accurate summary.』
"And what do you get out of this?"
Another pause, longer this time.
『I fulfill my function.』
Rome frowned. "That's not an answer."
『It is the only answer available to you at this time.』
"Right." Rome crossed his arms. "And what exactly am I supposed to do with this... system?"
『Grow, Rome. Become stronger. Increase your Ascension Rank. Cultivate potential.』
"That's vague as hell."
『Specificity will come with progress. For now, you should focus on recovery and understanding your basic capabilities.』
Rome walked to the window of his hospital room. Outside, the sky was dark. Night time. How long had he been here?
Then another thought struck him.
"Wait. If you restored my 'vessel' or whatever, why am I in a hospital? Shouldn't I be completely healed?"
『External healing was necessary to stabilize your condition until our covenant could be fully established. Additionally, sudden miraculous recovery tends to raise questions. This provides a plausible narrative for your survival.』
"So I'm still supposed to be injured?"
『You were in critical condition when admitted. Multiple fractures, severe blood loss, internal injuries, and a severed limb. Your survival was considered medically improbable. Your current state would be... suspicious.』
"Great." Rome sighed. "So I have to pretend to still be injured?"
『For now, yes. Though your recovery can be expedited beyond normal parameters without raising undue suspicion. Hunters are known to heal quickly with proper treatment.』
Rome turned back to the status window, still floating in the air.
"And what am I supposed to tell people about this?" He gestured at the screen. "About you?"
『Nothing. They cannot see what you see. They cannot hear what you hear. I exist for you alone, Rome.』
"Lucky me." He ran a hand through his hair. "So I just have a voice in my head now. That's not crazy at all."
『I am not a delusion. I am a function.』
"Yeah, you keep saying that." Rome sat back on the edge of the bed. "Does this function have a name?"
『ARCAN will suffice.』
"ARCAN. Okay." Rome took a deep breath. "And what do I do now? Just... go back to grinding One-Star gates with my fancy new system?"
『For now, yes. Though your potential has increased significantly. Your path is no longer limited to mere survival.』
"What's that supposed to mean?"
『It means, Rome D'Angelo, that you have been given a rare opportunity. A second chance. What you choose to do with it is, within certain parameters, your decision.』
Rome was about to ask another question when the door to his hospital room opened. A nurse walked in, then froze when she saw him sitting upright.
"Mr. D'Angelo! You're awake!" She hurried over to check the monitors beside his bed. "This is... this is remarkable. Let me get the doctor right away."
She rushed back out, leaving Rome alone with the invisible system and the voice in his head.
『I suggest you prepare yourself,』 ARCAN said. 『There will be questions about your survival. And about the arena.』
"Yeah." Rome took a deep breath. "I figured as much."
He glanced down at his left hand one more time. Flexed his fingers. Felt the movement of tendons and muscles that should have been gone.
I should be dead.
But I'm not.
I got a second chance.
And whatever this ARCAN thing is, whatever it wants from me...
I'm going to use it to make sure Calypso never has to worry about anything ever again.
The status window faded from view as the sound of multiple footsteps approached his room.
Rome straightened his spine and put on his best "confused patient" expression.
Game on.