1 Arrival

As I regained consciousness, I was startled to be able to feel anything again. After all, I was dead. I don't remember how I died, but I know for a fact that I did.

Surprisingly, I was quite calm about the situation. Both for having lost my previous life, and anything that went with it such as loved people, sentimental items, and dreams for the future, as well as returning to the land of the living. I guessd people would panick, be in shock, or in distress, but I wasn't. Well, death had quite a significant impact on the body, so it stand to reason that it would also affect the mind of someone.

Taking stock of myself and my surroundings, I found out I was on a sandy beach, with the sea behind me, grasslands in front of me with a forest visible in the distance, a blue sky with passing white clouds and the sun at its highest point in the sky. No animals or people around, a peaceful scenery mared only by the shipwreck on my side.

As for myself, I was indistinct. I was clearly still humanoid, but the details of my features were blured, everchanging shapes, colors and shades. I couldn't even speak, and I wondered how I could even see, hear, and feel the sun and the wind on my non-existant skin. As I asked myself what was going on, I felt something awaken deep within myself, and something appeared in my vision.

[Welcome to the Halidom of Ylisse.]

I looked at the floating message twice, turned my head from one side to the other, then my eyes only. The message stayed at the center of my vision. It was clearly the message from some kind of system bonded to me. Furtheremore, I recognised the name of the place I was in. It was from a game that I liked and played a few times. Fire Emblem Awakening. Just like in the fictions and fanfictions I used to read on the internet.

[Please, select your name, race and age.]

As soon as I accepted the first message, a second appeared. Below, there was an empty field for the name, a list of the races that were available, and another empty field for the age. I decided to select my race first.

I had the choice between human, nekomata, kitsune, taguel and manakete. The nekomata and kitsune weren't shown or mentionned in Awakening, but I knew they were in other games from the Fire Emblem serie. I personally had no interest in the nekomata and kitsune, aside from the exotic factor for attractive girls. They also tended to be target of racism. I was sorely tempted to select manakete, but they also had their issues.

Whatever advantage they had over humans, I was certain I would be able to bridge the gap. While average, humans tended to be full of potential. I was also still quite attached to my previous human form. So I selected it. The selection opened options for the customization of the appearance. I selected the male gender, with a lean and fit body, honey skin, long dark purple hairs in a ponytail, almond cyan eyes, and a clear baritone voice.

It was clear I was going to be on my own, so I wanted to be old enough to be recognised as an adult by anybody. For a medieval world like in Fire Emblem, 17 years old was good enough. Then I had to select a name. I didn't use my previous name because that life had already ended. I didn't even give myself a body close to that of my previous self. New life, new body, new name.

The name Akira had always been a favourite of mine. It was because of the animated movie bearing the same name. It was one of the first japanese animated movies I watched, and it remained one of my favourite. I also liked 2 of the possible meaning of the name, "sunlight and moonlight" and "wisdom". I selected it as my given name. For my last name, I selected Phoenix, as a symbol of my rebirth. Akira Phoenix was my new name.

As soon as my new identity was confirmed, my previously blurry features switched from everchanging to that of the model I created. I took a minute to examine my new body, from the top of my hair to the tip of my foot. I even practiced talking, listening to the sound of my new voice. I was quite satisfied with the result and was ready to move on. It seemed like the system was able to sense when I was ready to continue.

[Please, select a trait or perk.]

Another list was presented to me. Some of the choices available were game skills for basic classes from the game, like Discipline. Other were new, like Wind Magic Affinity, which raised the power of wind magic while reducing the mana cost. Instead of something more specialised, I selected Talented, which improved my skill growth and experience gain by 50%. It would greatly help me rehardless of the path I would follow in the future.

[Please, select 2 skills.]

I only half expected it, but it was a welcome surprise. Looking at the list, there were combat skills, magic skills, crafting skills, and others skills. They were all at E level. I liked RPGs, especially if you could chose the appearance and skill set of the character. It was even better if crafting was possible. Being able to make my own equipment suited to my style was something I enjoyed a lot, instead of having to wait for a lucky drop or buy it at high cost.

I got Alchemy, which was a combination of Structural Analysis and Transmutation. Excellent to make both items and potions. The second skill I got was Runes, which were used both for enchanting and warding. While enchanting was relatively widespread in Fire Emblem, warding was not. There were just a few kinds of barriers like the one that protected Tiki's home, and even the enchantments were limited. I wanted to make enchantments and wards as varied as those in Harry Potter.

[Character creation complete. Enjoy your new life.]