W-what is that?" he asked, fearfully.
"Now, now, don't be so quick to judge," berated the old man with a smile. "This is the Berserker class, heroes that have gone mad with grief,
rage or bloodlust. They are one of the strongest but at the cost of their sanity."
"Heroes that have lost their loved ones? I know how that feels," replied Issei as he stared at the card with sympathy.
"So you can understand why they did what they did?" questioned the man in surprise.
The boy just nodded with a weary look in his eyes that didn't belong on a child's face, "yeah, honestly I probably would have done the same."
The boy's eyes widened however as he saw the card glow and a stone axe-sword seemed to appear in his hand before fading away.
Alarmed Issei quickly looked up at the old man who just smiled and continued on to the final card which showed a man with a skull mask performing a midair back flip.
"And finally we come to the last one, the Assassin class. Now I know what you are thinking, '
how could an assassin ever be a hero?' Well have you ever seen the Ninja Turtles? They are assassins and yet people still consider them to be heroes,"
he quickly explained, seeing Issei's horrified expression.
Issei was silent as he just picked up the card and stared at it,
clearly conflicted about the choice until finally he placed it down on the table and looked up at the man with a serious expression that completely contrasted his childish face.
No one respects life more than someone who has to take it away, if I had to do it I would never enjoy it but at least I could make it painless,"
he decided as the card gave off a soft glow and as Issei looked back at the old man his eyes widened.
For just an instant he could have sworn he saw a giant ornate guillotine behind the old man, blinking Issei frowned and the image faded away as he let go of the assassin card.
The man just laughed before he picked up all seven cards and examined them with growing excitement,
"incredible in all the worlds I've been to no one has been compatible with more than one let alone all seven, not even your counterpart's boy."
"Huh?" came Issei's reply to this apparently madman's ravings.
The man just smiled as he handed the seven cards to Issei, whom nearly dropped them as all seven began glowing at his touch.
"Alright boy listen carefully, these cards will help you become strong enough to be a hero, now you just need to pick one.
So which will it be, what kind of hero do you want to become?" he asked, eagerly.
Issei just looked at the seven cards and frowned as he examined them,
the two of them were silent for a solid ten minutes until the boy looked up at the man, "so these cards will help me become stronger?"
Seeing the man nod Issei continued, "And I can pick any one of them? And you'll give me the one I pick?"
"That's right," replied the man, looking even more curious then before.
Issei just put all seven cards on the table and stared at his companion with a determined expression, "then I pick all of them!" he announced.
The man's face became a textbook expression of shock before he suddenly burst out laughing, "Well aren't you the greedy one.
I can't believe it, a child managing to shock me! Me! The master of Kaleidoscope! Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg!"
The newly named Zelretch finally stopped laughing as he handed the cards back to Issei,
"looks like I've found a new world to be my playground after all, congratulations Issei Hyoudou come and claim your prizes."
Issei grinned happily as he examined the cards and ran off to show his friend Irina, Zelretch smiled as he watched him go,
"I have high hopes for you Issei Hyoudou, and I can't wait to see how you evolve this time around."
As Issei dragged his friend Irina back to the stand to show 'him' the old man they were both shocked to see nothing there, no Zelretch, no festival stand, nothing but an empty space.
"Issei-kun it's not nice to tease people," pouted Irina as they walked off.
For his part Issei just looked down at the cards in his hands, trying to piece together what had just happened.
Eventually shrugging he placed them in his pocket, not noticing them beginning to glow briefly as seven ghostly figures appeared above him before disappearing.
Issei sighed as he found himself in the same place as usual and climbed up off the stone ground before taking note of his surroundings.
The area looked like the Roman Colosseum with an arena floor as well as bleachers reaching up into the sky,
where the Emperor's throne sat was a massive red dragon statue, cradling the throne protectively.
Issei stood on the ground floor in the arena area, sighing as he saw the seven sealed doorways leading out of the arena.
Each of the doorways had a different symbol above it showing one of the Class Cards he had received all those years ago.
"Man I really hate this place," sighed Issei as he once again found himself trapped on the arena floor like usual. "
Zelretch you bastard these cards are useless! They've done nothing but trap me in my dreams since I got the damn things!"
As soon as he finished his rant Issei had to duck as a piece of the stands above broke off and nearly hit him in the head,
"you were responsible for that weren't you Zelretch! Come out! I know you can hear me you bastard!"
There was only silence in reply, causing Issei to growl in frustration before laying back down on the floor as he closed his eyes and waited for the dream to end.
'I will get stronger, with or without his help, even if I'm dealt the worst luck in the world, I'll definitely get stronger,' he thought determined as the dream began to end.