Dante's Immortality: Beginnings

by Antonio Terzini

  By the time Bennett finally stopped launching fireballs at Aiden, he was panting with sweat dripping down his face. His exhaustion and ugly expression was in stark contrast to Aiden, who was now slowly walking up to him, twirling his spear through the air menacingly.

  As Aiden stepped forward, his spear began to glow blue, becoming more dense the closer he got to Bennett. It was amazing how effortless he made it seem, filling the spear with world essence as he twirled it through the air. When Aiden was halfway to Bennett, he stopped. Now holding the spear with two hands, the world essence around the spear began to distort. It started twisting and spinning at the tip of the spearhead, spinning faster and faster as if picking up momentum. The vortex moved down the shaft of the spear funneling out wider as it moved further from the tip.

  As it picked up speed, the world essence at the tip of the spear became more and more narrow. It was amazing, no longer looking as though Aiden was holding a spear, but a cyclone that came to a point at the spearhead.

  Even Archie, who was at least specialized, couldn’t compare to Aiden’s control of the world essence in his weapon. One thing became increasingly obvious to Dante as he watched the fight progress; Bennet was fucked.

  Bennett seemed to know it as well. He threw out both of his hands and blue barriers appeared out of thin air in front of him, one directly in front of the other blocking Aiden’s path. They started out translucent, but became denser as Bennett fed them with power and tried to push them toward each other. “I surr-”

  He was cut off by Aiden piercing him with his spear.

  Piercing didn’t even seem like the right word, he destroyed Bennett.

  Aiden moved faster than anyone he had ever seen in his life, even faster than Edward when he killed their group in the dungeon. Rushing into Bennett spear first, the shields shattered into pieces as soon as the spearhead touched them. Continuing on undeterred, as soon as the cyclone surrounding his spear touched Bennett, the noble was blasted apart. Chunks of flesh were launched from the spinning cyclone’s energy, splattering across the protection enchantment that covered the arena pit. Everything that was left of Bennett - parts of his head, arms, and legs that didn’t get caught in the cyclone - hit the floor in a gory mess. The entire chest cavity, from his lower abdomen to his neck was completely gone.

  Everyone in the crowd stared in stunned silence. He was no different, there was only one way to describe Aiden in the fight; domineering. Dante turned to Mia, who didn’t seem as startled as everyone else, or sickened by the gore. “How?”

  She sat in silence for a moment, thinking about the fight. “I’m not sure. The Charge skill is a specialty of the Lancer Classification, but no one should have that much control of world essence in the Outer Edge region. Not only that but he only started to learn two years ago.” She started to whisper to him. “Something must have happened to him in the Wastelands.”

  Chapter 21

  Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 21

  Layla Calman

  Layla drummed her fingers in thought as she read through the report in front of her.

  As soon as she arrived at the academy, she ordered an investigation into Dante, specifically in Alazel where he said he had been living for the past few years.

  She had thought something had been ‘off’ about Dante during the journey to the academy, as if he was hiding something from them.

  She supposed it was because after he told them that he had the Blader Classification, he immediately had his guard up around her and Alexander. Just thinking about what he could be keeping secret made her eager to uncover what he was hiding. But the investigation she ordered should have answered her questions, not create more.

  He didn’t get a Classification when he got his Status… what does that even mean?

  She had clearly seen Dante’s ability when Sir Andres tested him. There was no way he didn’t at least have some sort of Classification, even if he had lied about having the Blader Classification. Not only that, but she didn’t understand how anyone could be so hated. The only way her agents in the area could get information on short notice was by paying for it. Otherwise, when they asked about Dante they were immediately reported to the priests.

  The only piece of useful information the report contained was a piece of gossip. Apparently, Dante had stolen an enchanted stone from the lord’s son. It had resulted in the death of two guards who investigated the theft, and when the stone wasn’t found, the lord’s son was sent to the academy as punishment…

  Her thinking was cut off by the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

  Finally.

  The door to her office opened and Sir Andres stepped through. “You called, my lady?”

  She wasn’t in the mood for formalities. “Has Mia made any progress yet?”

  At her question, the Sir Andres released a sigh. “No, her advances toward him have been rejected. Also, she has not yet learned anything that we do not already know.”

  A look of irritation crossed Layla’s face. “Tell her that if she doesn’t start getting results, we will send her back. Any brute can stop him from running away, she is supposed to be getting closer to him. We didn’t have to give her an easy assignment.” Keeping Mia assigned to Dante would be a massive waste of resources if she wasn’t going to serve some purpose.

  Sir Andres hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat. “From her reports, their relationship has improved greatly over the last few days, despite its rocky start.”

  She thought about the information for a moment. “Very well, keep an eye on her though. She may be sabotaging the relationship on purpose… motivate her if you have too.”

  Her suggestion caused an uncomfortable expression to flash across the Sir Andres’ face. “We both know she wouldn’t disobey an order.” He cleared his throat. “I still don’t understand though, why don’t you just let me question him? It wouldn’t take me more than a day to find out any information you need.”

  Layla rolled her eyes. “What information could he possibly have that would be beneficial to me? I’m interested in Dante himself, and if we did what you suggest, it would only destroy any relationship he has with House Calman.”

  “We don’t necessarily need to recruit him, there are other options.” His tone of voice made his opinion on the matter clear.

  “He is just a commoner, and he has no friends or family. Why would I risk doing that, when I could have a fully capable and loyal servant instead? He couldn’t possibly be challenging to win over, all we need to do is make him care about someone. If Mia would do her job right, this situation would already be settled.”

  “If you’re worried about recruiting him, then why aren’t you building a relationship with him?”

  Layla let out a sigh. “I’ve tried, both Alexander and I have attempted to converse with him in the past few days, but he is still too guarded against us.”

  Sir Andres snorted. “Perhaps in the future, you will handle similar situations with a bit more tact.”

  Those words were more than irritating. Even if she should have done better in handling Dante, it wasn’t his place to say so. Layla indicated the report from Alazel. “Did you read the report?”

  Sir Andres nodded. “Yes, but it seemed like mostly nonsense.”

  “Whether or not it’s nonsense isn’t important, is this…” She looked down to scan the report for a moment. “Greggory Tibbott currently at the academy?”

  Sir Andres’ face turned to disgust. “Yes, he has been making quite the scene in yard three. He seems to think much of himself.”

  “If he fought Dante, who would win?”

  Sir Andres didn’t hesitate. “Dante, without a doubt.”

  Layla smiled. “That’s good, find a way to have him matched up with Dante in the arena. Do whatever you have to do. I’m interested to see how Dante will behave in the situation.” She tossed him a stone. “Have someone record the fight so that I can watch it later. Go, immediately.”

  She would ha
ve preferred to take a more hands on approach in recruiting Dante, but she simply didn’t have the time at the moment. The damn headmaster was causing her too many problems.

  Sir Andres gave a formal bow. “Yes, my lady.”

  * * *

  Greggory Tibbott

  “Wow, you’re too strong!” Kayla was feeling his muscular arm as they walked together on the way to the arena.

  It was nice to finally have some of the recognition he deserved.

  “I can’t believe you are actually going to let me see you fight in the arena!”

  Greggory puffed his chest, giving the girl a proper look at his fine physique. “Of course, if I don’t put those commoners in their place, then who will? I’ll show them the power that only we of noble blood possess.”

  Kayla hid her mouth with her hand, giggling at his silver-tongued words and quick wit. He used the moment to look down her blouse and see what he would be working with.

  Not bad, but definitely not the best either.

  Kayla was from House Stavins in the Outer region, and resided in Housing District 1. She wasn’t bad overall, a bit thin for his liking, but she would do for now. Just another stepping stone for his glorious rise to prominence within the academy, and eventually, the Outer region.

  Because he was so kind and magnanimous, he would most likely keep her around. He wouldn’t forget the first person who saw his excellence for what it was. Perhaps if she played her cards right, he would even keep her as a concubine.

  Kayla saw him staring at her chest and gave him a smile, her lips twitching slightly. “We shouldn’t delay, I can’t wait to see your performance.” She walked faster, now walking ahead of him.

  Greggory watched Kayla’s shapely body move through the crowd as he adjusted his pants to relieve some of the strain. He appreciated her excitement and would be sure to reward her for it later that night.

  With a smile on his face, he stepped forward full of confidence, eager to show his prowess in the arena.

  * * *

  “Alright, you can go.”

  Both Dante and Will sighed in relief, another tortuous day of training was finished.

  The training was nowhere near as bad as it was the first day. Now they were only hit by Archie if their form was off… even if only slightly. If one thing made the training more bearable, it was Will’s change of attitude. The boy had gone from all smiles the first day, which had left him unsettled, to complete seriousness after Archie beat them unconscious. The two of them had even come together in their hatred of Archie and had formed an unspoken alliance.

  For some reason, their training also lasted longer than everyone else’s. Archie was adamant about physical fitness, forcing them to run for at least an hour after every class.

  He didn’t know how he felt about his instructor. On one hand, he completely hated him. Archie was sadistic. On the other hand, both he and Will were much further along on their sword forms than the other students, despite starting a day behind. Not only that, but he was already seeing results from the daily running, even though he had only been doing it for a few days.

  Walking over to his usual meeting spot with Mia, he was surprised to see that she wasn’t there. It was the first time that she hadn’t been waiting for him after training in the entire week he had been at the academy. He looked around for a moment, checking to see if she was in a different spot, but after not finding her, he found a place to sit and wait.

  He waited for an hour before a very flustered Mia ran up to him and bowed. “I’m so sorry that I was late, the servants of Housing District 1 had a meeting for regulation changes.”

  Dante looked at her curiously. “Its fine, I wasn’t waiting long. You know how Archie is.” In the past few days he had done some ‘investigating’ about what knowledge servants in the academy might have… In other words, he had asked Archie and Will during training.

  Apparently, servants shouldn’t have any idea how to use a manipulation orb, unless they are specifically trained to do so in order to perform a specialized task. After learning that, he was pretty certain Mia wasn’t just his servant. It definitely didn’t stop him from asking her for tips regarding the manipulation orb though. Mia was a wealth of information.

  Because of Mia, he was far ahead of Will already, and even Archie was stunned by his progress. In only a week he could almost condense the world essence within the orb.

  His new knowledge on Mia also helped with their relationship itself. Now that he knew exactly what kind of situation he was in, he outright rejected any of her more ‘intimate’ offers. Since then, everything had gone smoothly. The reason she hated him so much before became evident, and after he rejected her offers, she didn’t seem to mind him that much.

  It still troubled him that she was ordered to do it at all though. He wasn’t sure who was making her do it, but when he saw Alexander and Layla after making the discovery, he couldn’t help but feel slightly disgusted with them.

  “How did the meeting go?”

  Mia rubbed her collarbone and looked away from him. “Rough…” She cleared her throat. “You haven’t fought in the arena yet, why don’t you try it today?”

  “Sure.” He still had the sword and daggers he had borrowed from Layla and Alexander with him, and therefore didn’t have a problem immediately going to the arena.

  He had been meaning to try out the arena anyway, but had been preoccupied in the last few days. Between training, selling all of his belongings, and practicing with the manipulation orb, he didn’t have the time.

  Mia let out a breath and gave him a genuine smile. “Let’s go then!”

  Thankfully, the arena wasn’t far from the training yard. It seemed that someone had put some forethought into the academy’s layout, and any place that had a risk of injury wasn’t far from the hospitals.

  It didn’t take them long to find the bronze rank stadium.

  The solo bronze arena, although the smallest, was by far the busiest arena in the entire academy. Even with almost no spectators, there were at least a thousand students waiting in line to fight at any given time. All of them were trying to get enough credits to stay in the academy for another quarter.

  Even though there were different lines divided by housing districts, just looking at the line of commoners that seemed to wrap around the entire stadium gave him a headache. He couldn’t imagine waiting in line for hours just to get in a fight that could end your life.

  They made their way to the Housing District 1 line, which was completely empty. He was actually a bit disappointed that there wasn’t anyone waiting in line, waiting a bit longer didn’t sound that bad…

  The reason he wanted to wait, at least for a while, was because couldn’t help but feel nervous about fighting in the arena. It wasn’t that he was worried about fighting a strong opponent. Not only was that unlikely, but even if he did, he could always surrender or use blink if he had no other option. No, his misgivings had to do with standing in front of a large crowd of onlookers.

  Dante walked up to the attendant with Mia and handed over his identification card. As soon as the attendant looked at it, then over towards Mia, his eyebrows rose. “One moment, my lord. Since this is your first fight, I need to register you before you enter the arena.” The attendant rushed back into the arena.

  He couldn’t tell for sure because it was his first time at the arena, but something about the haste of the attendant didn’t feel right.

  He turned to Mia, checking her reaction to see if the attendant was acting normal. Either she didn’t notice him, or just refused to look at him, because she was staring at something off in a different direction.

  Yes, something is definitely off.

  He was going to ask Mia about it, when the attendant came rushing back, completely flustered. “Right this way, my lord. I was just checking to make sure the previous fight had ended. You may now enter the arena.”

  Dante stood there unmoving for a moment, the attendants lying was more than just sloppy
. Judging by the way things had progressed, Mia was also in on whatever was going on as well. Dante let out a deep sigh. Someone with influence in the academy clearly wanted him to fight in the arena. “Please lead the way.”

  The attendant led him down a tunnel toward the center of the stadium.

  The tunnel itself seemed to be slanted, getting lower the closer he got to the fighting pit. At one point there was a sharp turn, and the tunnel that the three of them were walking down connected to a second tunnel.

  Not only was the new tunnel far larger, but it was also filled with people. It seemed like they were now at the fighting pit’s entrance. A few nobles were waiting at the very front of the line, mostly from Housing District 3, but there were a few from Housing District 2 as well.

  The attendant that was leading them wasted no time, ushering Dante into the arena. Mia hesitated for a moment before speaking. “I’ll be watching from the stands.”

  He didn’t answer her. He didn’t want to. He couldn’t help but feel so… manipulated, and he knew she was a part of it. It shouldn’t surprise him in the slightest, he knew that she was at the very least spying on him, but he couldn’t help but feel wronged. And for some reason, at the same time, he was happy that she would be watching.

  “You may now enter the arena, my lord. In the bronze rank arena, the fight begins as soon as both combatants enter the fighting pit. To keep fights fair, your opponent will be randomly selected from the line on the opposite side, and the fight will only end when one of you either surrenders or can no longer continue.”

  Dante drew his sword as he stepped into the fighting pit. He wasn’t going to be caught off-guard by a surprise attack from a magic Classification or a ranged combatant. He prepared himself for every possibility.

  Or at least he thought he had prepared himself for every possibility. Dante stopped mid-step as he entered the fighting pit. Waiting for him in the center, was Greggory, the rotund lord’s son from Alazel who had sent men to kill him.