Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

The classroom door opened with a loud sound, revealing two females, one having an innocent look, curly hair, and a plump figure, and the other more slender with black pigtails and slender eyes.

"That's..." One classmate tried to say in alarm, but someone else had spoken before he could say anything.

"Kara, is that you? You're finally okay!" Elly said in joy as she ran to the classroom door, drawing a lot of attention from more students.

As they looked over, they saw Kara; they showed surprise as her face seemed a bit more mild-mannered as she now carried a lot of pleasantness, far different from her usual gloomy and estranged manner.

"Is that Kara? She seems... different..."

"Yeah, I say she looks even better now." 

A few students said that some emotional girls also ran over as they were a bit surprised as they expressed their joys for her safety.

Nero noticed this from his seat; he smiled as he thought to himself, 'So she's finally back, that's good. Hmph, that Ryo went to visit her in private, I wonder why he hadn't said anything.'

Nero glanced at Ryo as his thoughts crossed him, but as he didn't, he couldn't help but find his actions odd as he buried his head onto his desk as if sleeping, not even playing with his beloved smartphone.

'Pssh, this guy... is shy or something?' 

Nero scoffed inwardly, but as he pondered Ryo's mystery, the scene around Kara began to calm down.

Kara was a bit alarmed by the attention, and she stuttered a bit before showing an embarrassed look on her face; her heart warmed as she saw Elly came over.

"Thanks, guys, I'm fine. Elly, thank you for visiting me that time." Kara said with a smile.

Elly smiled at this before looking at her side; she saw Clair, who stood there with a pleased expression.

"Clair, you truly are bad; you didn't even say anything about Kara arriving today," Elly complained with a pout.

Clair snickered and answered, "Oh come on now, I only learned recently, I also wanted to surprise you, besides… I thought you'd be... busy…"

When Clair spoke, her eyes hinted towards Nero; Elly's face turned red at this as she refuted, "Like hell I am! Hmph! Clair, you're getting bad influence."

Looking at Elly's face turn colors, Kara was a bit surprised; she asked Clair the situation and was shocked to hear about the details.

'Nero and Elly... that's surprising, it looks like that Kailyn's worries were in some way's true.'

Kara thought to herself, recalling Kailyn's jealousy. Clair found the mood a bit awkward; she spoke, "Hey, classes will soon start; let's get seated."

Kara and Elly nodded as they sat down at their seats; Kara now sat behind Elly while Clair remained at the other side.

Nero, who had been pondering Ryo's mannerism, glanced in their direction. He stared at Kara for a while and spoke, "We don't know each other, but I'm Nero; nice to meet you; I'm also glad you are well," Nero said with a smile.

Kara smiled and replied, "Thanks, nice to meet you, Classmate Nero."

Nero saw Elly showing a red face as Clair eyed her in silence; he didn't know what happened but had a hunch. Still, he had no desire to provoke Elly at this time.

Elly seeing that Nero didn't provoke her sighed in relief as she stared at Kara and asked.

"By the way, Kara, I heard that you were sent to a different place for treatment; how was it?"

Clair was also concerned about this, so she looked at Kara with interest.

'Oh, what's this about?' 

Nero thought to himself, having no idea of the issues before; he thought for a bit and looked at Ryo, who kept his head down on his desk oddly enough.

'That fellow, tch… he's acting way different today, maybe there's something he's hiding about her. Has she changed? Maybe I should try that method...'

As Nero's thoughts reached here, he glanced at Kara more deeply, his eyes shining in a vague but greenish hue as, before him, a bright soul appeared.

Kara's soul was extraordinary; it looked much too large for a regular person, though not comparable to the Digitizer's he's come across, even many times weaker than his own, but powerful enough to be one step above typical humans.

'This... is this actually...'

Nero was about to think something, but Adult Nero chose this time to speak, "Ha... it sure took you a while to figure it out. I'd have thought you've found out sooner. Yes, what you're seeing is an indirect way of viewing one's stats."

Nero rolled his eyes at this as he complained, 'You... tch if you had spoken of it sooner, I wouldn't have had to wait so long.'

"If you're looking for someone to spoon-feed you, you won't find him here..." Adult Nero said coldly.

Nero gritted his teeth at this but chose not to press it any further; he stared at Kara, but all he saw was that her soul was slightly larger than average; he couldn't tell her stats.

'You're just joking with me; how do you tell stats with just this?' Nero asked begrudgingly.

Adult Nero shook his head and replied, "It's simple; what you see now is the difference between her combat force compared to yours, portrayed as the soul fire within the body of all living beings. Combat Force is the fuel that keeps it burning; the stronger you become, the more combat force you receive, hence the stronger your soul and alternatively, the greater your lifespan."

Nero's eyes flashed due to this realization as he thought, 'So that's how it is, then right now, based on her soul's intensity, I suppose she should be around Level 1 or 2. Kara as a Digitizer, this is quite interesting.'

While Nero thought to himself, Kara was a bit stunned by Elly's question; her eyes inadvertently swept towards Ryo as she momentarily dazed off into a memory.

***

It happened unexpectedly, right when she was within the recovery room of the Fortune Medical Center, a strange man showing up and asking her a question, his words ever so resounding in her mind.

"I take it that you are Kara Smith, it's good to meet you, young lady, I might also have a proposition for you," The strange man said.

Kara, a bit stumped by the man who had appeared out of the blue and spoken such words, looked at him deeply before replying.

"Sir, might I ask who you are?"

Grail eyed her as he walked up to her bed and sat down before looking directly into her eyes and speaking.

"Huhu... I'm just a face, child, I've heard a little rumor about your past, one about your strange dreams that used to torment you? Do you remember such things?"

Kara's eyes widened at this; she didn't think many remembered such things, even more so after she was abandoned by both her parents. As she stared at Grail and saw the look on his face, she knew at a glance that he was confident and sure, so she didn't dare to deny it.

Nevertheless, despite not refuting him, she didn't speak of it directly but asked a question of her own, "Sir, I don't know where you learned that, but it doesn't matter, please tell me what you want from me?"

Grail's eyes flashed upon hearing her speak; he spoke, "Bold and direct, that's good, I'll get to the point. I'll be honest; if it weren't for my son saving you, I wouldn't have taken notice of you."

Kara showed an odd look as she spoke, "Your son saved me?"

Grail made an 'aha face' as he scratched his head and replied, "Ah, yes, my son, he's your classmate, Ryo Kojima, you should have heard his name."

Kara showed a surprised look on her face as she recalled Ryo from her memory, even more so as she had recalled glimpsing a familiar face outside her window.

'So, he saved my life; I would have never thought he was that stalker watching me?'

Kara thought, feeling a bit embarrassed, but as if she didn't want to think about it now, she looked at Grail again.

Grail ignored her mood shift; he spoke again, "My intention is simple; I'm here to let you know that your case isn't the first, and I have a good deal of knowledge regarding your circumstances. I'm willing to teach you, but not for free, as such, I have a proposition that you might find interesting..."

When Kara heard this, her eyes turned pensive as she thought to herself, 'Can I trust his words? I've indeed discovered a few odd things with myself; that strange card and some of my memories. While most importantly being that voice and those few fragmented visions. If he can help me clear these concerns, it might be good to listen to his proposal, at least until I can hear that voice again. I also doubt that the father of my savior shouldn't be up to anything strange; his status isn't like as simple on the surface.'

Kara concluded in her thoughts, she noticed that despite being in the room for so long, no one came to interrupt them; telling her that the person before her was of status that not many could shake.

"F-fine, I'll listen to your proposition," Kara said after a slight hesitancy.

Grail's lips curved upward into a smile as he spoke calmly, "Good, now then... here's my suggestion..."

The words Grail said to her caused Kara's face to change, showing curiosity before a firm look came into her eyes as if making a decision. The scene here soon after fading as her memories came to an end.

***

Back within the classroom, Kara had awoken from her daze; she looked at Elly and the others who stared at her awaiting her words. Recalling the question asked, she took a short breath and replied. 

"About that... it wasn't any place special, just a private clinic… the doctors said I had a fairly strange condition, but it's all and better now."

"Hmm, are you sure?" Elly asked, her eyes having a trace of suspicion; though she wasn't to brightest in math and some subjects, she wasn't a foolish girl and had quite a bit of experience.

"Yes, I'm sure, so no need to worry about it," Kara said in an assured voice; Elly gave a good look, knowing she wasn't telling the complete truth, but she said nothing in the end, deciding not to press the matter any further.

As if she recalled something, Elly then spoke, "Oh Kara, there's something you must hear. Do you know, something big had happened, Kailyn from our class is missing, and her family was slaughtered."

"Huh, what?!" Kara exclaimed as this news startled her.

"Are… are you sure about that? What really happened?" Kara asked, a bit alarmed.

Elly nodded and then replied, "That's right, it went like this…"

After a short while, Elly finished informing her of the situation. Kara showed an odd expression for a bit before her face hardened as if she decided something.

Nero was listening from the side; when he saw Kara's look, he understood what she wanted to say.

'It looks like she thinks differently about it as well, then again... she was injured at the scene, maybe she knows about Kailyn's plot. Since it's like this, then I suppose she should say it to Elly than myself.'

Kara took a deep breath and spoke, "Elly, there's something I didn't tell you about Kalyn."

"Huh, what thing?" Elly asked.

Kara took a deep breath and replied, "I'll be telling you about the very reason for that incident at the Paradise Palace."

When Elly heard this, her face turned stern as she stared at Kara, an unknown tension filling the air between them as Kara began to speak to her in a faint voice, filling her with a mood not many had seen before.