The Kriten dissolved into Saturis in a puff of smoke. Then he fell to the ground, so his entire body broke apart. Revealing guts and blood which spewed out in all directions.
Waking up with a gasp, Saturis found himself in the midst of darkness. Yet somehow, he could see himself.
As he stood, a green light formed in front of him. And the light formed into the Kriten that had dissolved into him.
Further more, it dismissed its jellyfish form and transformed into a glowing miniature human. It now resembled a glowing green naked boy. No older than ten.
Seeing this, Saturis raised a brow, as he wasn't sure this was the standard procedure for an Encoded to fuse with a Kriten. Perhaps it was because of who he was.
"I'm pretty sure it is." The Kriten said, causing Saturis to almost fall onto his back as he staggered backwards.
"What?" Saturis said, feeling that friend he had come to know ever since meeting this strange Kriten. Said friend being confusion.
Though Saturis knew he was different from the other Encodeds, and therefore would get a likewise "Different" Kriten, he never expected it to be so different that it would break the norm.
Kritens didn't talk, and that was how it had been for centuries now.
"Then I guess I'm really special." The Kriten said once more, and just then, Saturis had realized something. This Kriten not only could talk, but could also read his mind.
"It's a little bit more complicated than that, but I guess it follows the same principle." The Kriten said, as it shoved a pinky into its ear and began to scratch the inside.
Standing frozen in place, Saturis did not know exactly how to respond to any of this. But one thing was evidently clear to him. He needed access to his Framework.
"You're really the down to business kind of person aren't you?" The Kriten said with a wide grin.
But Saturis did not respond. He just stood in silence as he waited for what was his.
"Uh, you're not really fun." The Kriten said with a pout, before melding into a sphere. Separating from the sphere were three smaller spheres which began to vertically orbit the bigger sphere in the middle.
Looking at the spheres, letters began to form under each.
The first one orbiting the bigger sphere read out:
[INVENTORY]
The second read out:
[EQUIPMENT]
Then the third read and last read out:
[AFFINITY]
At the center of these smaller spheres was the bigger one with a much darker tint to its green. And this Sphere read out:
[HALO]
"There, happy?" The Kriten's voice rang out, then his head formed at the top of the Halo, so he looked more like an anomaly than usual.
"What do you want to take a look at first? Your Inventory, Equipment? How about your Affinity? Then again they are all empty...kind of." The Kriten said with a head scratch.
Still unsure of how to respond to the Kriten, Saturis took a deep breath before speaking.
"My Halo." Saturis said, causing the Kriten's eyes to light up.
"Ha, you finally spoke. Cool voice by the way. Not really manly or anything but very authoritative by how brooding your..."
"Can you please hurry, I don't have much time."
"Oh right right. Your body will reconfigure itself any minute now. Also, I think a monster is waiting somewhere nearby for you."
"What?!" Saturis had burst, causing the Kriten to likewise burst. Except into laughter.
"I'm just joking. Come on, lighten up." The Kriten said, but when it saw the frown on Saturis' face, he stopped playing around. "Halo, right."
Without wasting any time, the Kriten dissolved its head into the Halo. The other spheres shrunk as the Halo grew and then transformed into a screen.
"And there you go." The Kriten said, before forming a head above the rectangular screen.
Looking at the words written, Saturis began to read out its contents. While feeling an anxiousness creep into him.
[CLASS: UNSELECTED]
[RANK: STUART, TIER: 1]
[DATA FRAGMENTS: 0/100,000]
[EQUIPMENT: NONE]
[INVENTORY: EMPTY]
Once Saturis placed his eyes on the part that read out "Class" and seeing the letters that proceeded it, Saturis let out a loud sigh of relief. Which made the Kriten raise a brow.
"What's so important about your class? You don't even have any." After saying this, the Kriten was silent for a second, before bursting out into laughter. "You don't have any class."
In reaction, Saturis found his brows twitching. This was really the Kriten he was stuck with?
Ignoring the Kriten, Saturis returned his gaze to the screen. The fact that he had no class was a very good thing. This meant...
Hesitating for a moment, Saturis kept his gaze on the words that read out "Class" and said nothing apart from fixating on it.
When the Kriten noticed Saturis's odd behaviour, he raised a brow and then asked.
"What are you doing?"
Though Saturis wanted to ignore the Kriten, he was feeling a deep anxiety build up within him. It read out "None" instead of "Select." Did that mean he couldn't select the Class? If so, then everything...
"You want to select it? Why didn't you ask?" The Kriten said, then produced a hand from the side of its head and dragged it to the words Class before tapping on it.
At once the screen before Saturis changed so that now there were completely knew words present.
[SELECT CLASS]
[ASSASSIN] [KNIGHT] [BERSERKER]
[ENGINEER] [MAGE] [HEALER]
[DIVINER]
Once this screen appeared before Saturis, he once again let out another huge sigh of relief. He had thought for a moment that he wouldn't be able to change Classes. This was a trait common to his bloodline. And vastly different from others.
As a norm. Other Encodeds once fused with a Kriten, would be locked into a specific Class, unable to change it. But thanks to who he was, he was able to change Classes at will.
This was very pivotal to Saturis' goal. Else, all those who sacrificed themselves for him would have died for nothing.
"Jeez, that's dark. People sacrificed themselves for you? You're joking right?" The Kriten said, but once he saw Saturis' frown, he kept quiet. "I guess not." He whispered.
Looking at the Classes, Saturis was now faced with a question. Which one was he to pick first?