The dazzling light gradually began to fade, until I found myself able to open my eyes again.
I was in the center of an immense valley, so vast that the mist prevented me from seeing its limits. Beyond the immense twilight sky that still adorned the scene, everything was disturbingly calm.
—Wow… this is… huge.
Fearfully, I took a few steps. The grass beneath my feet crunched under my timid footsteps, which were interrupted by a pair of figures who appeared from bright particles.
Neither seemed like a warrior. One wore a flannel shirt and jeans, while the second looked like he had stepped out of a museum of the Hundred Years' War: blue and silver garments, a pointed helmet, and a noble bearing.
"Looks like today is my lucky day." At least one of my teammates seemed competent.
The knight carried a bastard sword, while the man in flannel held a somewhat old musket, but perfectly functional.
"I have to admit, it's a bit embarrassing to show up to the party empty-handed," I thought as I approached the group.
—Kid —said the man in flannel, raising his musket—, rank and color.
—Rank? Color?
—Answer or I'll blow your brains out.
The guy wasn't joking. He raised the musket and was about to fire when the invisible screen appeared at my side again. On it was written a pitiful sign:
[Mr. Nobody / Rank Metal / Black Team]
—Metal and black! Metal and black! —my voice trembled, but the man slowly lowered his weapon.
—Great… a rookie. And you, little prince?
—Bronze, black —he answered without hesitation—. You?
The man in flannel only nodded without responding. He didn't take long to walk slowly toward the center of the valley, resting the musket's barrel over his shoulder.
—Do you hear that? —the knight asked.
I hadn't heard anything, so I closed my eyes and sharpened my hearing.
In the distance, strange thudding sounds echoed against the earth, as loud as jackhammers drilling into it.
"Don't tell me there's another goat."
—Ready to fight? —the man in flannel asked, with a sadistic smile.
—Uh… yeah… I think —I stammered.
My stomach began to twist at the thought of another giant animal, especially if it was loose in the meadow—but well, you know that's the least of your worries when the ground beneath your feet begins to shake. The valley trembled with the gallop of something in the distance that made us stumble, except for the bronze warrior.
Through the mist, a gigantic bull of intense electric blue charged across the black grasslands that flew up in its wake, muscular and fierce, rushing straight at us.
My survival instincts kicked in and I began to run as far away from the animal as possible, which, incredibly, had a man riding on its back—a red-bearded mountaineer whose beard covered almost his entire face.
—Prepare to be crushed! —the man roared, his voice booming like thunder.
Running for my life, out of the corner of my eye I saw the man in flannel fire frantically at the bull at least five meters tall, to no effect.
The beast rammed him, sending him flying several meters through the air until he disappeared from my sight.
The knight, on the other hand, tried to shout something, but his words were swallowed by the sickening sound of a body bursting against the ground.
The knot in my stomach almost made me vomit as I stumbled through the grasslands. When I lifted my gaze toward my other companion, I saw the gigantic bull crush him.
The contrast of bloody red against the animal's electric blue hide burned itself into my memory.
—You've got to be kidding me! They're already dead! This is ridiculous… —I screamed with all my strength.
Slowly the bull noticed my presence. My heart was pounding like never before, but my legs wouldn't move. Adrenaline is a lie; it doesn't let you do the impossible when in the blink of an eye your entire team has been annihilated.
I wanted to run, but I knew it was useless.
—Damn it! —I shouted, and with one last impulse I started running frantically across the valley—. This makes no sense…!
An Apache…
That was the only thing I saw.
A dark-skinned man, dressed like the classic North American Apache with a feather on his head.
He stabbed me… where?
I wondered as the pain intensified from my neck. My body screamed and my throat filled with a thick, viscous liquid…
"Blood." Within seconds my vision turned red…
All the pain disappeared.
"No… no… this… I don't want… to die."
It repeated in my head as the lights and ashes of an immeasurable abyss began to form again.
—Ten seconds —Axio said.
—Ten seconds to decide: pay 10k CN and return to the Nexo, or face the bullet train.
—What? —I let out shakily—. Can I… return to life?
—Yes or no, human! —Axio shouted impatiently.
I tried to gather my thoughts, to reason, but nothing came out except clumsy babbling.
—Wait! That's…!
—ZERO NEGOTIATION! —Axio interrupted.
"Damn it, like I even have a choice!"
I pressed the large pulsing button in front of me that read 10K…
A great tunnel of light dragged me in, and when I opened my eyes there was no battlefield, nor an ashen infinity.
Somehow I found myself in a hotel room, a cheap one that only had a bed in the center.
But feeling the solid floor beneath my feet, I let myself fall, trying to calm down.
—Welcome —Axio said, floating with a mocking expression—. This is the Metal Complex. Ugly, right?
—Axio… you… —I said, still on the floor.
—Don't look at me like that. Anyone who wants to become a constellation must overcome the twelve trials without dying. If they die, they can pay to restart… or accept death.
—And I suppose going back means death —I replied, watching the little creature close its eyes with a malicious smile.
—In your case… the bullet train. Since it's your first time, I only charged you 10k —Axio explained—. Consider it a "welcome discount." Next time, a zero gets added. That means 100k; then 1000k… and so on.
A mortal chill ran down my spine when I glanced at the HUD overlaying my vision… I only had 10k CN left. It was half the points I had earned for surviving a round.
—If I die again… that'll be the end.
—Hehehe… Welcome to real life in the Nexo, Tristan.