Chapter 0: Prologue Part I
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Cyra woke to nothing.
Not darkness—darkness implied the absence of light, and this felt older than that. A vast, soundless void stretched in every direction, infinite and empty, yet pressing in on her from all sides like a held breath. She floated within it, bodiless and weightless, and somehow aware that she was awake.
Awake… but from what?
She searched herself for memories and found only fragments of understanding with no origin. She knew what waking up meant. She knew what void meant. She understood concepts—strategy, elements, cost versus reward—yet there was no recollection of ever learning them. No childhood. No past. No name whispered by someone who loved her.
Just awareness, blooming fully formed.
Before panic could take root, the void rippled.
Three translucent rectangles of silver light slid into existence before her, hovering patiently as if they had always been waiting. Their surfaces shimmered like moonlight on water, each displaying the image of a cub.
On the left: a lion cub, golden-furred, eyes bright and proud even in stillness.
In the middle: a tiger cub, orange and black stripes sharp against its soft coat, pale blue eyes piercing and alert.
On the right: a cheetah cub, lean and long-limbed, spotted fur promising speed even at rest.
Something in Cyra stirred—recognition without memory.
The first step, a thought informed her gently, though no voice spoke it aloud.
The path.
Understanding flooded her mind in clean, precise blocks of knowledge.
The Lion Path offered +100 Fire Mana, +100 Physical Mana, and +100 Health, along with a taunt-type skill titled [Lion’s Mew].
The Tiger Path granted +100 Thunder Mana and +100 Dark Mana, introduced a non-main stat called Stealth by providing 100 of it, and came with the skill [Tiger Scratch].
The Cheetah Path boasted +200 Thunder Mana and +200 Speed, paired with the skill [Fruit Rush]—but at a cost. It introduced a Speed Control Substat, beginning at -100 Speed Control.
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Cyra’s awareness drifted toward the cheetah first. Speed was intoxicating even as an abstract idea. Faster reactions. Faster movement. The power to act before others could even think. Combined with Thunder Mana, it promised a lethal, blinding force.
But the penalty lingered like a warning bell.
Negative control over her own speed? That wasn’t just inconvenient—it was dangerous. What good was outrunning everything if she couldn’t stop herself? If she overshot, misstepped, shattered herself against the limits of her own momentum?
Too much power, too soon.
Reluctantly, her attention shifted back to the lion and the tiger.
The Lion Path was sturdy, reliable. Extra health was always valuable, and physical power paired well with fire. But the taunt skill gave her pause. Drawing attention—forcing enemies to focus on her—felt… wrong. Not useless, but not her. Whoever she was meant to be.
Then there were weaknesses.
Lion was countered by Water and Oblivion.
Tiger, by contrast, was only weak to Light. An oddity surfaced in her mind: Dark countered Earth. Strange, but the system seemed firm on it.
“One weakness that barely exists,” Cyra mused silently, “or two that might actually matter.”
The tiger offered flexibility—two mana types instead of one, stealth instead of raw durability. Precision instead of endurance. And unlike the lion, the tiger didn’t ask her to stand in the open and roar for attention.
She didn’t know why, but the choice felt personal.
Her hand—more a sense of intention than a physical limb—reached out and pressed the middle rectangle.
The world lurched.
Warmth and weight slammed into her all at once. Sensation rushed in like a tidal wave—fur, breath, muscle, heartbeat. Cyra gasped, only to realize the sound came out as a tiny, startled chuff.
She was small.
She was striped.
She was adorable, though she had no word for that yet.
She glanced down—or rather, felt down—and saw soft white -and-black paws where hands should have been. Her reflection shimmered faintly in the silver interface: a tiger cub with bright blue eyes, round ears twitching in confusion.
Before she could process this new reality, a strange pressure bloomed on her forehead, not painful but insistent. The first trio of rectangles dissolved, replaced by another.
This time, the interface displayed elements.
Three larger rectangles, each containing three smaller sigils.
The first group read: Brawler, Fire, Nature.
The second: Earth, Thunder, Water.
The third: Dark, Magic, Light, Metal.
Cyra studied them carefully. She should have weighed them all equally, but one pulled at her instinctively, like a current beneath still water.
Water.
She didn’t know why. There was no logic attached to the feeling, no memory to justify it. Just a quiet certainty, deep and calm.
She selected the middle group.
Then, without hesitation, she pressed Water.
The void shattered.
Cool air rushed over her fur. The scent of earth and stone filled her lungs. Solid ground cradled her small body as gravity reasserted itself, gentle but firm.
Cyra blinked.
She was no longer nowhere.
She lay nestled in a shallow hollow of packed dirt and leaves, surrounded by stone walls worn smooth with age. Sunlight filtered in from above, soft and dappled. The faint echo of dripping water rang somewhere deeper within.
A den.
A tiger’s den.
And for the first time since waking, Cyra felt something dangerously close to home.
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[Skill name: Waterball
Level: 0 (0/1)
Cost: 100 Sta. / 20min CD
Functionality: Deals low Water damage to one target. Removes 100 Stamina from one target.]
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