Dante's Immortality: Beginnings

by Antonio Terzini

  “That said, factual information on magical relics is hard to come by. All the information that we have is what has been handed down from the inner region, where these relics exist.”

  “The first, and most important thing that separates artifacts from relics is their source of power. Unlike artifacts, which always use mana, relics can use a wide variety of sources depending on the relic. Some use world essence, some use rare gems or metals, some have even been said to use emotions. The quantity of the resource required depends on the relics strength itself.”

  Dante perked up, instantly wide awake. So far instructor Kane’s description of relics power sources was possibly the same as his combatant’s glove and its blood absorption.

  “This brings me to the most important piece of information regarding relics. Unlike artifacts which have a set strength and power when they are created, relics can evolve over time by feeding them the resource required. It is even possible for them to have more than one ability.”

  Dante’s eyes were wide. Assuming the glove was a magic relic, all he needed was more blood for the glove to be useful…

  “The ability to evolve may seem powerful, especially in comparison to artifacts which lack the ability, but that is rarely the case. Unlike artifacts, which are created almost exclusively for combat, relics are created for a multitude of uses. It is theorized that the creators just made whatever they thought would be useful at the time. Therefore, most of them have no practical use and are mainly kept as a show of power in the inner region.”

  That was a slight let down.

  “So, you may be asking yourselves, why were they created to evolve through the absorption of resources if the relics themselves were created for a direct need? But that reasoning is thinking about the situation entirely backward.”

  “It is the current belief that relics deteriorate over time, or from being used, and that the resources used to restore them were the key ingredients that were used to create them originally. Even though it is still a theory, it is a widely accepted one that none of my colleagues have disputed.”

  Instructor Kane spent the rest of the lecture citing his sources, and explaining the experiments that have been done to back up his theories on relics. Try as he might, Dante began to lose focus in the last hour.

  He needed blood, and a lot of it.

  * * *

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

  Upon walking into his residence, Mia met him with a deep bow.

  “Its fine, I gave you the day off.”

  He didn’t have the energy to placate Mia. Dante walked past her, directly into his room and onto his bed.

  He was almost too tired, but his curiosity got the better of him. He opened up his Status and checked the new Manipulation tab that was inside of it.

  World Essence Manipulation:

  Maximum Mass: 1.78

  Form Control: 1.46

  Form Speed: 2.83

  Mana Manipulation:

  Maximum Mana: (1.7*1.10) 1.87

  Form Control: (1.9*1.2) 2.28

  Form Speed: (1.9*1.1) 2.09

  It was surprising that the numbers for world essence manipulation and mana manipulation were so similar when he seemed to much further along in world essence manipulation. But thinking back to Mia’s words about mana manipulation being harder to utilize when its first learned, it made some sense.

  The mana manipulation was strange though, at first glance, he was thoroughly confused. But after thinking over how mana manipulation was tied to Wisdom and Intelligence, he could assume that the 1.7 came from his 17 Intelligence, and the 1.9 came from his 19 Wisdom.

  That meant that the max mana he could use was dependent on his Intelligence. He could also assume the form speed and control was dependent on Wisdom. The other number was probably the base amount of mana, control, or speed he had trained in his week with instructor Arin.

  Dante rubbed his eyes, unsure of what he was still doing awake. He had agreed to fight in the platinum ranked arena tournament, so he needed to be awake the following day.

  Closing out his Status, he went to sleep.

  Chapter 34

  Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 34

  Edward Ailloss

  “My lord, I have news from the academy.”

  To the guards’ relief, he stopped their sparring session. The twenty or so guards helped each other off the ground, many of them nursing small injuries. Edward turned to the old spymaster. “Tell me, at the very least, that Sam is finally there. I’m beginning to think sending him was a mistake, no one else can keep up with even basic swordplay.”

  Varik paused. “He arrived a few days ago and is already in position. But the news I brought is slightly more significant.”

  Edward gave the man his attention, the past few weeks had been rough. Without Sam, the only person he could spar with evenly was Helena, and just thinking of her wrath caused a shiver to shoot down his spine. She hadn’t appreciated their daughter running away, even if he had a good reason to force her into a marriage.

  Needless to say, he was eager to have Sam back. “What is the latest development?”

  “It seemed that there is an influx of specialized combatants in the academy, and not just from House Calman.” Varik paused. “I still can’t be sure, but from the information that my agents have gathered, it is likely House Ramotar.”

  “What?” Edward paced back and forth for a moment, thinking over the implications of what Varik had just said. House Ramotar would have had to send the combatants months in advance, around the same time Dante entered the academy. “Do we know why?”

  Varik hesitated. “One of my agents has discovered a possible cause, but it is still just conjecture.”

  He was getting somewhat impatient, and waved Varik on.

  “I prefer to only relay things that I can be certain of…” Varik released a sigh. “One of my agents was stationed in House Danton for the last twenty years, and he swears that the boy’s servant bears a strong resemblance to Mia of House Went.”

  Edward froze. “How sure is he?”

  “It’s hard to say. House Went was eradicated over twelve years ago, Mia would have only been seven years old…” Varik’s tone made his doubt clear. “That said, my agent swears by it, and the servant bears the same first name.”

  Edward paused his pacing and rubbed his chin in thought. “That doesn’t make any sense, they wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret for so long… if they are using her out in the open as a servant. Besides, after his sister’s death Damian Ramotar utilized the best Seers, and they all came to the conclusion that there were no survivors of the attack.”

  “I agree my lord. But… if it really is Mia of House Went, it may substantiate some of the rumors surrounding House Calman.”

  He thought it over for a moment.

  Would the Calmans really use Wraith Collars?

  “How much would Mia know about House Ramotar’s manipulation techniques?”

  Varik thought over the question for a moment. “It’s hard to say, but based on the information I have regarding House Ramotar, even at the age of seven, she would have at least some knowledge regarding their world essence control techniques… as long as her mother began training her early.”

  Edward was having a hard time holding back his cursing. If House Calman learned how to amplify their world essence control through mana, as a house of magic Classifications, they would be far too dangerous.

  “Get a message to Damian, we need to find out if his niece really was captured by the Calmans. I need an answer, quickly. Offer our support if you need to.” Edward began to pace again. “Tell Sam to prepare himself, we may need to take Dante out of the academy immediately. We can’t let him get caught up in the fighting if the academy turns into a war zone.”

  “Yes my lord.” Varik limped off, eager to accomplish his new orders.

  If the Calmans were truly responsible for eradicating House Went, a house war would be sta
rting soon.

  Edward released a sigh, it may be time join forces and crush House Calman.

  * * *

  Mia let out a sigh. “I still can’t believe you agreed to join a commoner team.”

  Dante looked over curiously. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”

  Mia thought about it for a moment. “… I suppose not. You have the protection of House Calman, they have all but claimed you. Still, commoner teams don’t fare well in the arena.”

  “Wouldn’t killing get a team disqualified and banned for three days?”

  Mia nodded. “Killing the opponent will ban your team, resulting in forced disqualification, but if you’re already going to lose, there are no real repercussions.” She glanced back at him. “Any noble would be disgraced by losing to a commoner team, so as soon as defeat is obvious, they go for killing blows.”

  That meant he would need to keep his guard up if the fight turned in their favor, even if it was unlikely that he would be the one targeted.

  “That changes in the tournament final though. The three-day ban doesn’t start until after the fight is concluded. If a commoner team makes it to the final, the opponents will go all out from the beginning. To the best of my knowledge, only one commoner team has ever won a platinum tournament, and there was only one student alive on the team when the fight was over.”

  Dante paused mid-step as he processed Mia’s words. “Why would any commoner fight in the tournament?”

  Mia shrugged. “They are probably desperate. Students at the academy are eager to be employed by a noble house in the Outer region, but to do that they need to have the strength required.”

  That seemed to contradict something that Alexander had told him. “I thought that all of the combatants go House Calman after the academy?”

  Mia shook her head. “No, they only take the strongest combatants, the rest are sold to smaller houses that they control.”

  “Sold?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course, the Calmans provide free resources to thousands of students as well as compensate lords for recruiting for them, where do you think they get the money?”

  “I was told that the academy is free for combatants.” The new revelation was making his head spin, it sounded like slavery.

  Mia nodded. “It’s free for the first quarter, when they are sifting through the students for the ones with the most promise, but to stay after that first quarter, all of the commoners have to sign a mana-bound contract.”

  The academy was continually disappointing him time and time again. But he thought, that at the very least, the other commoners were getting a useful experience out of it. His opinion of the Calmans just hit rock bottom. “What do they agree to in their contract?”

  “It depends on their potential. The weakest students sign for twenty years of service, and the most brilliant students only have five years of service, but usually its somewhere in between.” Mia shrugged. “For some of them it’s not a bad deal, the contract requires free food and shelter to be given to them, even though they don’t get paid.”

  Mia glanced back at him. “For others… it can go bad. For example, if a lord finds a new mine but doesn’t want to pay for Miner Classifications, they can just buy up the cheapest contracts from the Calmans for cheap labor. Needless to say, the best option is to gain power while still at the academy. The contract price will increase with a combatant’s strength, and their chances of being a casual guard for a noble house will increase along with the price. If I had to guess, at least one of your teammates already has a buyer for their contract, and the circumstances are less than favorable.”

  Dante walked the rest of the way to the arena in stunned silence. That was slavery, even if it only lasted until the contract expired.

  When he arrived at their meeting place, Jaseni rushed out to meet him with a smile on her face. “You came!” Then she seemed to remember herself, her smile disappeared, and she bowed. “I mean, thank you for gracing our team with your presence my lord.” She was carrying a sword, likely a Warrior Classification

  Before he could even say anything, Haden came up behind her. “Please forgive Jaseni’s poor mannerisms, my lord, we aren’t used to being in noble company.”

  Unlike Jaseni, Haden was carrying a shield, leaving him guessing at what Haden’s Classification could be. The shield was massive, almost as tall as his entire body and had a grate to see through where his eyes would be. Dante cleared his throat. “There is no need to treat me like a lord.”

  Haden bowed. “Of course, my lord. We should hurry to the arena, they are waiting for us to start the fight. Please follow me.” He turned toward one of the corridors.

  Then Jaseni gave another bow before turning and following Haden.

  Really?

  Dante just watched them walk away for a moment. Then, letting out a sigh, he followed.

  As he caught up to the two of them, Haden looked back at him. “My lord, do you know the rules of team battles? The moderator won’t go over them before the start of a semifinal tournament match.”

  “I know the rules for a one on one fights, but not team fights.”

  Haden nodded. “They aren’t much different. The main difference is that a team fight is only over when all team members surrender or are unable to continue. Also, mana manipulation and world essence manipulation can be prepared prior to the fight.”

  That was a nice change, but not necessarily for him. It meant that his speed in world essence manipulation would count for little… The fact that everyone had to surrender themselves could be dangerous as well. “Sounds simple enough.”

  Jaseni nodded excitedly. “Yes! Now all we need to do is add you to our team.” Then, almost as an afterthought. “My lord.”

  The two of them led him toward a receptionist who added him to the team and updated his Identification card.

  Name: Dante

  Classification(s): Warrior

  Living Quarters: Housing District 1 – Building 43 – Floor 3

  Arena Rank: Gold (232/825 Credit Earned)

  Arena Team: Hope

  Arena Team Rank: Platinum

  Credit: 2

  Seeing his identification card, Dante turned toward Jaseni and Haden. “Hope?”

  Haden scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. “Uh… Jaseni thought of it, my lord.”

  Jaseni’s face turned crimson.

  team name was incredibly depressing.

  And now there was an awkward silence between the three of them. Unsure of where to go from there, he spoke up. “Shouldn’t we get to the arena now?”

  Haden nodded. “Yes, we should hurry.”

  The three of them found an attendant and were led toward the entrance of the fighting pit. “You know the rules, but remember, no fighting until the moderator starts the match.”

  Dante followed Haden and Jaseni’s example by nodding.

  As soon as their attendant received a sign from the moderator, he motioned them in. “You may enter.”

  The three of them walked into the fighting pit, and he was more than a little nervous to fight in his first platinum fight, and not to mention one where two other people would rely on him.

  Completely ignoring his surroundings, Dante focused in on their three opponents who were entering the arena from the other side.

  There were two nobles from Housing District 2 and one from Housing District 1, who seemed to be the group’s leader.

  He assumed that they knew who they were fighting, but hadn’t heard that he was filling as a teammate. Because as soon as the three nobles walked into the arena, their sneers turned into frowns.

  The two from Housing District 2 had swords, but noble from the Outer region was carrying a bow. He hoped that the archer just had a Ranger Classification, which focused on increasing the power or speed of projectiles with its skills, some of the other ranged Classifications were far more dangerous.

  “I’ll handle the archer, the two of you can handle the swordsmen.” Ha
den’s ability to take charge in the arena completely surprised him, his demeanor had changed entirely from the nervousness he had shown when bowing to him earlier, and was replaced by the confidence of a leader.

  Dante nodded back to him, as did Jaseni. Then, seeing the blue glow that began to fill Haden’s shield, he started to fill his sword with world essence. He had been told that he had a full minute, so he packed it with as much world essence as possible before shaping it into a blade.

  As he began shaping the weapon, the blue protective dome began to surround the arena. “The semifinal match between team Hope.” The moderator gestured to the three of them. “And team Rising Phoenix.” He gestured to the other three. “Will now begin. Fight!”

  As soon as the moderator started the match, the archer released an arrow straight at him.

  It wasn’t a killing blow, the archer aimed for his leg and he was easily able to slice down in time with just his agility and dexterity, not even needing his Blade Dancer passive.

  He seemed to be picked out as the most significant threat, which he didn’t understand. As soon as he blocked the first arrow, a second came right after, and then the other two nobles charged him with swords barred.

  He barely had time to bring his sword up to parry the world essence filled blade after he cut the second arrow out of the air.

  As the two swords collided, Dante released a grunt, the noble was far stronger than he had expected. He used the brief moment of respite that he had earned from blocking the strike to examine the battle, wary of a second sword or third arrow.

  He was relieved to see that Haden was in a position to block the Archer from shooting him, and Jaseni had somehow moved to intercept the second swordsman. She was far more agile than he had thought.