Prologue - [Yes/No]
It was only supposed to happen after you died, not while drinking coffee; at least that's what he had read.
Cain Thompson didn't understand the land before him. The towering trees and shimmering radiance that the flowers gave off. A cool, gentle breeze caressed his visage with a light, illusory touch. The bright glare of the sun seemed exceptionally closer than should be possible, yet the heat remained as pleasant as the scenery surrounding him.
"Where am I?" It was not much of a question, as it was an expression of helplessness. Although he wasn't sure whether he had passed away in reality, he knew that he no longer existed in his former world, and this was no dream. In the face of such mystical circumstances and a fantastic landscape, all he felt was helplessness.
"The Beyond." It spoke.
Cain turned his head ever so slowly. He looked at the man who sat beside him on the wooden bench. He wore a long trench coat, open in the front to show a grey tunic and black vest. He supported a tall black hat and held a brown, tapered umbrella. On his inner vestment is a silver-threaded chain connected to a watch. All in all, he looked like a man straight out of the Victorian era.
"What..?" Cain shook his head. "Who are you?"
"You can consider me your benefactor." He replied. Even though Cain couldn't see his facial features, he could barely make out the thin, almost imperceptible smile tracing his lips.
Cain looked around himself. To the towering tree in the distance, the giant hill that loomed over—what he thought to be—north, and a milky river that began from nowhere and disappeared into the horizon.
"What is this place?" he asked.
The benefactor just looked over the scenery and then at Cain. "The Beyond," he repeated.
The two adorned a moment of silence, and it gave Cain some time to think. By now, he was beginning to doubt whether this was a strange sort of afterlife or just a figment of his imagination. 'The Benefactor' wasn't really helping his case.
"I am here to offer you a chance." The man spoke suddenly. Cain lifted his head to stare ahead for a moment before turning to give the man a questioning glance.
The man stared back for a moment before he spoke. "Before that, however, I would like to ask you a question."
Cain kept silent. If this was a dream, nothing really mattered. If he were dead and this was the list of questionnaires he was being asked to pass to heaven or hell, he certainly didn't care. But if this was something else, then honestly, it still didn't matter. Since nothing mattered to him anymore, listening to the man speak wouldn't cost him anything. He nodded.
The man leaned backward, his head lifting higher, and he pulled his umbrella to his lap. "What do you think of your life?"
If someone were to say that this question stunned Cain, then they wouldn't be wrong. But in hindsight, this was something to be expected. If they were doing the question-answer thing, then it was reasonable that he would be asked about his life. That didn't mean he started talking right away; he waited.
He thought back to his life. Moments flashed by before his eyes, years, and faces faded into black. He looked at the man and asked, "What exactly do you want me to say?"
"Be honest and simple." He replied curtly.
Cain fell silent. His eyes looked unfocused, and his mouth opened many times but closed soon after. Finally, he spoke. "Boring. If I had to sum up my life in a single word, then boring is what I would say."
He looked at the man and waited for his answer, but only saw him facing the horizon. Sometime later, the man spoke, "If I give you a chance to change all of that, would you accept?"
"What chance?" Cain asked.
"The universe is broad, and the multiverse even more so. Yet the Beyond is truly a marvel of existence, encompassing all there is to exist. And I would like to grant you the key to all its secrets; would you accept?"
Cain kept silent at the words the man spoke. Although they sounded cryptic and all, he couldn't help but feel that it sounded somewhat similar to how a shounen protagonist would be given a mission to fight the demon lord and rescue the disease-stricken kingdom.
"I don't understand," said Cain.
The man turned to look at him. A sudden ticking of the watch drew his attention to the pocket on his breast, and he pulled out the silver-inlaid watch and looked at it for a few seconds. Then he put it back and stared at Cain. "I am asking, if you find your life boring, would you like to travel the broader multiverse and experience the true call of adventure?" The man paused for a moment and spoke once more. "Of course, should you decline my offer, you will be sent back to your world with no memories of this event ever happening. Choose."
Cain didn't answer; instead, he asked another question: "Is it going to be dangerous, and will I get a golden finger or something?"
"Yes, and yes." The man replied.
"I want to know more."
And so the man spoke. Cain asked questions where he needed answers and nodded when they weren't that relevant. The scene was picturesque, as calm as the gentle breeze that rustled the rainbow of flowers.
Once the two finished speaking, the man allowed Cain a few minutes to digest all of it. Then he asked, "Do you accept?"
What the man had offered to him should be a dream. All for the sake of entertainment, he had said. Cain found it hard to believe; more than that, however, he found it even weirder at how easily he was accepting all of it. 'Must be the place,' he thought.
Still, a chance to traverse the fictional world, something straight out of comic books or manga, quite literally in this case. And the cheat he was given was undoubtedly top-tier. He thought about his life for a brief moment. He had a strained relationship with his brother, and his parents were dead. He hadn't had a girlfriend in years, and the one friend he had wasn't too strong an emotional attachment. All in all, Cain didn't have anything to get back to but so much more to look forward to.
The man had explained to him what he would be getting. For one, he was being given the status of a 'Jumper', whatever that was. He would also get a quest window that would update a quest every now and then and, upon completion, give him a certain number of CP (choice points).
The status of a jumper meant that he would be transported to a world of comics, manga, or a game, and he would have to survive for a period of ten years, or a decade. For his very first jump, he would be given a stipend of 500 CP to spend on it. Rest; he would have to figure it out himself.
Once his decision was made, Cain looked at the man and nodded his head. "I accept."
…
[Jump Initiated]
[Pre-existing Body Mod template synchronised]
[Personal Reality Supplement with 500 WP granted]
[Word: Avatar: The Last Airbender]
Starting CP: [500]
[Template: ATLA loaded. Either select your perks from the loaded template now or save your CP's for later use.]
...
Light flashed before his eyes, a kaleidoscope of words streaming and disappearing. Until it settled on a glowing window, a list of perks that he could mentally categorise, understand, and, if willed, buy.
His eyes traced the words where they read "Avatar: The Last Airbender." His already enhanced memory went over each piece of lore that he remembered from watching the show and reading about it on the internet. It was a pleasant surprise, as the Benefactor had told him that the jump itself was purely random.
He had a total of 500 CP to work with—not much considering how much there was, but at least it was something. For starters, he would pick his age, and according to the rules, he needed to roll the die. And so he did; a manifestation of light answered his summons, and the die was rolled, landing on 7. Since his point of entry in the timeline was at 95 years old, that would make him older than the main cast, as by the time Aang woke up, he would already be around 21.
Cain didn't care much about his age, so he moved on to the next step. He needed to choose a nation. It was a pivotal decision, as it would also decide his element. After thinking for some time, he finally chose Fire Nation. Fire bending was what he liked among the four, and choosing Fire Nation as a starting point had its merits.
He took a deep breath and moved on to the next part. His background. There were four options in total: nomad, civilian, warrior, and noble. The later two cost 100 CP each, while the civilian cost him 50, with Nomad being free. It was a generic drop-in perk.
He thought for a moment and decided to look further. As it turned out, all backgrounds had certain abilities attached to them. While they weren't free, the discount part was appealing, to say the least. Cain looked over all the abilities and sucked in a cold breath. They were all great perks, but unfortunately, they were very expensive. The most of them were each more than his entire worth.
Cain mused as he looked over the four options before him. Noble was eliminated at the beginning, as he had no interest in playing mind games. Warrior had a good background, but most of the skills were related to war and strategies. And while he would very much appreciate the tactical insight, he had no intention of garnering merit points for either the Fire Lord or the Earth King.
Among the remaining two, Nomad did appeal to him, especially with that innovative perk. It would really boost his chances in any world. Unfortunately, he was still a bigger fan of hands-on approach to life. As much as making nifty tools of destruction appealed to his creative appetite, the thought of breathing fire was a more tantalizing option.
In the end, Cain chose the civilian background. This was mostly because he really wanted to get his hands on that Chi Mastery perk. It was a versatile perk that would prove valuable around the world. Not to mention the fact that it also unlocked his prospects of learning energy bending.
With that, he was down to only having 150 CP left. He looked over the list once more. Next, he decided to choose a bending ability. According to the rules, to learn any of these abilities, he would need to have the "Bending Arts" perk, which costs 100 CP. It was a required ability either way, as he would still need to learn bending, and with this perk, he could remove that weakness.
Now left with only 50 CP, Cain frowned. While his build was solid, it didn't grant him an edge over more powerful and older characters. His bending might be good, but he wasn't going to rival any sufficiently trained soldier or anything. He looked over the very last section of this window. It consisted of the drawbacks that he could inflict upon himself to get more CP. Thankfully, it stated that any and all drawbacks would be removed once his time here was up. Still, looking at the drawbacks, they were severe. One even rendered him blind, and unless he had a freakish sense similar to Toph, he could very well render his chances of survival moot.
His eyes hovered over the last drawback for a minute: "The Perfect Face." He had an idea as to what exactly it did, but he shook his head and instead looked up. "In Exile" was another drawback that would basically turn him into a refugee. A Zuko-esque beginning, if you will. Well, as long as he didn't die, he could live with a little bit of challenge.
With an extra 200 CP, he finally chose the bending ability "Combat Bender." With this, he wouldn't be as helpless as before. For the remaining 50 CP, he chooses to get an item, more specifically a weapon. With a thought, he gave his rudimentary understanding and looked at the hovering crimson spear in front of him.
Now all that was left was to roll the die once more for his starting location. It could potentially lead him to trouble, but he was at least somewhat prepared. He took a deep breath and began the roll. The die came to a stop, showing the number "7" once more. As it turned out, Lady Luck was smiling upon him today. "Free Choice: You may begin anywhere in the entire world."
Cain smiled and thought for a brief moment before deciding on the location. Next he knew, his thoughts seized to exist, and radiant fire enveloped his being.