Ethan looked around in confusion. The dark space he was previously in with the figure had suddenly shattered like glass. Now he was sitting in the middle of a small damp cave.
"Where… where is this place?"
The young man asked nobody. He was confused but felt a bit relieved now that he could actually speak out loud again.
He tried to rub his head with his hand but he could feel that the limb simply wasn't long enough to reach. He looked down in confusion and went silent as he looked at his body in shock.
"What the hell?!"
He was a cat!
Not just any regular cat, but he looked exactly like the first unit you get in Battle Cats!
Soft white skin… circular shaped body… four short legs… about 60 centimeters in height… he was definitely "Cat!"
Ethan fell on his back in shock and confusion. He stared up at the cave's dark ceiling and watched as drops of water occasionally dripped down from it.
"How… how could I have another chance at life if I'm a cat!? If I had to be a Battle Cat unit… whoever did this could've at least turned me into Titan Cat or something with arms!"
Ethan yelled out, filling the cave with echoes of his now slightly higher pitched voice.
And as if responding to his panic, a strange blue holographic screen appeared in front of his new black eyes:
[Welcome to your new world, host.]
Worded text quickly appeared on the screen before being replaced by another screen with words after Ethan read the former's text.
[Panicing is not advised, host. While you may currently be in the body of the Cat unit, you won't be stuck like this forever.]
No more words of screens appeared after that. Ethan stared at it in confusion for a while.
"How do I get out of this body?"
A new screen responded to Ethan's words and new words appeared on it:
[That information is not available at the moment.]
Ethan nodded hesitantly. He stared at the words, wondering who was writing them and how any of this was even possible.
[The System cannot explain how it was created or who created it. You should get used to strange things like this, host. There are much stranger things in this world for you to discover.]
It seemed like this "System" could also read his mind. Ethan was about to respond, but was cut off by a holographic screen again.
[Now pay attention and let the System explain the purpose of you being here.]
"Y-yes…"
Ethan folded his short cat legs and struggled a bit to make himself somewhat comfortable on the cold damp ground of the cave. He rested his round back against the uneven surface of the cave's wall.
"Go ahead."
[You were chosen to grow strong and bring glory back to the Battle Cats in this unique world. That means establishing a territory, purchasing a wide plethora of different units, and becoming well known throughout this world filled with magic and monsters.]
His round body shook and his cat ears twitched as he read the words.
"So… it's sort of like playing the game? I just have to grow an army of Cats and take over the world?"
The young man asked. He had many questions, like why the Battle Cats needed their glory brought back. Did they lose a war or something? Do they simply want to take over a new universe? Has he never reached this lore in the game?
[Taking over the world isn't necessary, but you can attempt to do that if you so wish… but don't end up getting wiped out in the process.]
Ethan chuckled nervously and nodded. He didn't actually want to take over the world. That would be really complicated and probably impossible.
[This System allows you to use unique powers that only you have access to. Please say the word in your head or say the word "menu" out loud in order to access the System's menu screen and get yourself familiar with it. There will be several options there for you to open and look at.]
"M-menu…"
Ethan muttered the word. It felt like he had received one of those Systems that protagonists often receive in novels. Systems would usually allow the person to grow incredibly powerful at a much faster rate than other people. They also usually give you incredible skills to use, if you manage to unlock them that is.
A new screen appeared in front of Ethan with a list of different things.
[Cats]
[Cat Base]
[Storage]
[Capsules]
[Coins]
[Quests]
[Shop]
Ethan looked at the different options. He had a good idea on what most of them are for.
The [Cats] option would show all of the different cats he owned.
[Cat Base] is where he could view and upgrade things like Cat Energy, Worker Cat Wallet, etc.
[Storage] is where cats he hasn't used yet will stay, just floating around ready to be used at any moment.
[Capsules] would be where he could roll different kinds of Cat Tickets that are used to unlock new units.
Ethan wasn't certain what [Coins] were for, but he guessed that it was a replacement for Cents, the currency in Battle Cats that are used to send out cat units during a battle. He wasn't sure why it was an option since he wasn't even in a battle at the moment. Maybe they had a different purpose?
[Quests] would be tasks assigned to Ethan and would most likely give him rewards after completing them.
And lastly, Ethan also wasn't certain what [Shop] would have exactly. He assumed he could buy stuff there, but he didn't know what would be inside.
Only the [Coins] option had a glow to it. The others were greyed out as if he couldn't access them.
Ethan sighed slightly before looking at the [Coins] option again.
'Coins.'
Ethan said in his head, and suddenly a number appeared in front of his eyes as the [Coins] option opened.
[Coins: 200
Coin rate per hour: 2]
Ethan looked at the Coin amount and hummed lightly, sounding more like a cat purring when the noise escaped his mouth.
"So what exactly are these Coins for?"
Luckily, Ethan had his trusty system to explain it.
[Coins are used to upgrade your units, Cat Base, and purchase items from the Shop. You can earn Coins mainly by defeating enemies, but you will also passively earn more Coins. Currently you earn 2 coins per hour, which is 48 Coins every 24 hours.]
Ethan nodded excitedly. A smile appeared on his face. He was excited to see how everything worked. It even made him forget about his new form as a Cat… just for a moment.
"Understood. So how do I purchase or unlock my first Cat if all the other options aren't available?"
———————-
AUTHOR NOTE:
Thanks for taking a chance on this Battle Cats fanfic I'm creating! It won't be following the actually lore of the game, or at least not much, but I think you all will enjoy what I have in store for this.
Feel free to leave comments on characters you'd like to see in the future!