Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

Nero had awakened to a sight like no other, a scene he couldn't even describe with words. Here, was an endless zone of colorful lights that stretched beyond an endless horizon, there were stars that hovered in the heavens, each of a myriad of colors carrying a hidden charm. The largest of these stars were at the farthest distance, giving off a hint of aloofness.

As Nero floated to nowhere in the boundless space, he couldn't help but exclaim, "What the hell is this? Where am I?"

He turned his head looking around in a flustered manner, but no matter which direction he turned, everything looked the same, as if his position was relative to all things.

Nero was a bit worried, but he soon calmed down, he knew that acting in such a manner would get him nowhere, so he quickly arranged his thoughts.

'I... I really can't understand anything that's going on, how could I have suddenly appeared in such a strange place? From the looks of it, it doesn't even seem to be a dream...'

Nero pondered while pinching his cheeks with force, but no matter how he tried, the pain couldn't wake him up. He thought for a bit before concluding, 'Could this be what that strange person in my head was referring to? I reached into my consciousness, but those words only claimed that I was being digitized or something of that sort. If I recall correctly, I should have been sent to some World of Promise... why would I appear here?'

Nero frowned as he couldn't make sense of everything, but as if it had done enough waiting, the largest star in the heavens glowed in bright white lights as it beamed from the firmaments towards Nero's location.

Nero looked at this in surprise and remained guarded, but the light merely stopped a few feet from him before it morphed into the figure of a being which was less than half of Nero's size.

Looking at it carefully, one would notice that though this creature was small, it gave off an overwhelming presence; it had one large eye that glowed in a holy light underneath the hood of its divine-like robes that flutter about due to the energy that shone around it.

As it looked at Nero, its eye seemed to be a window of its expressions as it made an upside-down curve narrowing by an extreme degree as its red pupil stared deeply at him.

Nero felt uneasy by that stare, but the entity soon spoke in a tone much like that of an elder, "A curious one you are, or rather... a curious duo indeed, haha."

Nero was shocked at this as he thought, 'How could this thing tell that someone was in my mind?'

While Nero pondered, the person in his mind remained silent as if he expected this to happen. The entity once more spoke as its eyes returned to normal, "Come out, don't waste time trying to hide your presence, your immaterial soul can manifest itself in the zone of this Universe Ring."

As if he didn't like the tone, the person in Nero's mind snorted as a gust of wind blew followed by a flash of silver-reddish light.

Suddenly, the figure of a much older Nero appeared, clad in his sinister-looking coat with even longer silver hair that flowed behind him as his red eyes shone in a cold ray. He glared at the being and spoke, "Why don't you get on with it?"

Nero looked at his older self, feeling a bit startled as from one glance, it felt as if he was staring at death itself, a being with a cold, ruthless aura.

'Is he really me?' Nero thought with puzzled eyes, he'd didn't believe the person's words initially, but the looks were spot on and only more matured.

If anything, what made Nero feel unsettled was the coldness of the man, as if he would kill over the slightest grudge, slaughtering all lives with no care.

Adult Nero naturally felt Young Nero's thoughts, but he didn't care, only he knew what he experienced to get like this, and what Young Nero will eventually have to grow and accept.

At this time, the strange entity looked at the duo with his eye curving again as if he were expressing a smile as he spoke, "Fascinating, your case is truly a unique one, but I've seen far too many other 'special cases' to concern myself with yours. Now then, let us begin shall we."

When both Nero's heard this, Adult Nero closed his eyes and sat down in the void showing no care in the world, but as for Young Nero, he looked at the being with serious eyes; everything for him so far had been a shock, and he was trying his best to make sense of everything.

The entity upon saying his previous words waved its hand as a 1.5-meter staff appeared before he stomped it in the void. As a loud knock sounded, the area changed as the gigantic door of over a hundred meters with a card on its surface had appeared behind him.

Soon, a small cube had materialized in the entity's hand which glowed in bright rays as it spun around. The existence stared at the two Nero's and spoke, "Welcome to the Transmission Zone of the Universe Ring, I am the eyes that watch over this domain, Guardian of the door to the Origin Star, otherwise known as the World of Promise. You may call me the All-Seer, usually you'd have been transferred to the World of Promise upon successfully awakening your consciousness, but as you've done so beyond the standard time, I have summoned you here to not only teach you but to grant you a special gift."

Young Nero, who was listening keenly, marked down the various names he heard to avoid asking pointless questions.

The All-Seer nodded in satisfaction, he didn't like to repeat himself so meeting people like Young Nero was a blessing, he pointed his staff towards Nero. Moments after, the cube that glowed before him showed a series of numbers at various locations. It spun at an alarming rate before it settled on number 104.

Upon seeing the number, the All-Seer's eye flickered with surprise as it spoke, "Well now, it turns out your luck isn't too bad, haha. Take it, may it do you well..."

Following his words, a glowing object emerged from the cube, which moved a ray of light towards Young Nero, landing into his body.

Young Nero was surprised, as he felt his chest, but didn't know what had happened, he looked at the All-Seer and spoke, "What is this?"

The All-Seer's eye curved, expressing a smiling look as he spoke again, "All shall be known in due time, now, I am sure you are a bit confused about everything, and I doubt that 'sour face' is going to explain anything to you. Haha, let this elder guide you..."

Adult Nero opened his cold looking eyes to stare at the All-Seer for a while, but he didn't say anything, he merely closed them and kept silent.

Young Nero once more became attentive, as he felt that things might just turn out to be quite interesting.

The All-Seer turned around and pointed his staff towards the door behind him, causing it to open, when this happened, a bright light flashed for a while before receding showing a grand scene.

Beyond the door was another world, one akin to fantasy, as one could even see mysterious creatures roaming the high skies, beauties like no other in grand palaces, and even warriors doing battle with incredible powers and special abilities. Most were of a myriad of races, as though many looked like humans, they had far too many strange features.

Nero looked at the scene in shock, he was a bit attracted but that interest soon after faded as he saw the blood and violence occurring, people slaughtering each other like wild animals. He soon began to feel that this might be far more dangerous than he'd imagined.

The All-Seer looked at Nero's changing expressions smiled and spoke, "I believe that you had encountered some strange occurrence in your world, from then your fate was destined never to be the same again. You are a Digitizer, a rare person amongst your kind to have genetically inherited a power that can only come from a Digitize Bit. These are chips that are stored in every Universe Ring, each with the gift to awaken the sleeping potential within Digitizer's allowing them to show powers like none before through a symbol that forms on their bodies, a Digital Mark. How does one go further in awakening this ability? The answer is simple; you must fight and grow as a Digitizer. If you venture into the world beyond this door, you can aspire to become the greatest warrior there is, and with that power, you'll be able to achieve any desire."

Young Nero ruminated the All-Seer's words carefully before he spoke, "Let me get this straight, you say that this so-called inheritance is something that can grant me power and that I must travel to a strange world and risk my life against others, simply for power, right?"

Adult Nero hearing this made a vague smile, not saying anything, but the All-Seer looked at Nero with a puzzled look and spoke, "Correct, is not power the desire all lifeforms seek? What could be more important than having all the power in the universe?"

Young Nero hearing this frowned as he turned around and spoke, "Then I don't need it, I don't need such a thing..."

The All-Seer was shocked; it looked at Nero deeply and spoke, "Huh? You're saying that you'd reject the path to ultimate power, why would you do such a thing?"

Young Nero turned around and spoke in a matter of fact tone, "Why else? What in this world could be more important than my mother? I don't have time to play around in silly games; I only need to take care of my mother and see her well again, that is the only wish I desire... send me back!"

Adult Nero's smiled widened further, but it soon turned into a frown as he looked at Nero and sighed helplessly. As he expected, the face of the All-Seer changed, from shock to the very first look it showed Nero when it formed before him, the odd and someone dark look of its eye curving in an upside-down manner showing a red pupil that looked at Young Nero.

After making a resonant chuckle, the All-Seer spoke in a voice that sounded into Nero's mind, "Then tell me boy, what will you do if this world and all of this fighting can grant you the power to save your dying mother?"

The moment Young Nero heard this, his eyes went wide as he turned around and looked at the All-Seer in shock. His body showed an emotion that he hadn't experienced in a very long time, as he trembled with excitement like no other.

Adult Nero looked at this with indifference, but the All-Seer expression changed to that of a smiling look as he spoke in a voice that beckoned Young Nero's fate, "Allow me to explain..."