Dante's Immortality: Beginnings

by Antonio Terzini

  “What’s wrong?” Layla was holding onto his shoulder, expression somewhat worried. She turned back to Dante. “What happened?”

  How am I supposed to know?

  Dante heaved a long sigh. “I’ll go check.” Standing up, he exited the carriage.

  What he saw made him freeze. Around a burnt caravan that Sir Andres and his guard were picking through, disfigured corpses of men, women, and children were strewn everywhere. Some were dismembered, some were nailed to trees, and others seemed to have been tortured before they died. It was the most gruesome thing he had ever seen.

  Dante fell to his knees, and immediately heaved up the contents of his stomach.

  Chapter 13

  Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 13

  Dante was still throwing up when he heard the carriage door behind him open. He turned around to tell Layla not to come out, but as he opened his mouth to speak, the only thing that came out was more bile.

  “Oh my Goddess.” Layla covered her mouth with both of her hands in shock of the scene before her. “Sir Andres, who did this?”

  That’s it?

  Layla’s shocked face when taking in the scene was her only change in expression. She didn’t throw up, she didn’t look sick, and her face didn’t pale even slightly. There was a clear-cut difference between her reaction to the corpses and Alexander’s, or his for that matter.

  Seeing Layla step out of the wagon, Sir Andres began walking to her. The way he walked over the corpses so casually was unsettling, the knight looked like he was just taking an afternoon stroll.

  He had killed before, he had even mutilated corpses only a day ago, but seeing the bodies of these women and children that were clearly toyed with before death was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen. He didn’t know how Sir Andres, the rest of the guards, and even Layla were so unaffected by the bodies surrounding them.

  Gritting his teeth, Dante stood up. He wouldn’t allow himself be incapacitated by the mere sight of bodies. It wouldn’t be the last time he saw such a scene, and pausing to empty his stomach would likely cost him his life. Besides, Layla was completely unaffected. Something about being on the floor retching, while she was casually asking Sir Andres questions, made him feel far too inferior.

  “It’s hard to tell. They most likely aren’t bandits, they left too many valuables to burn in the caravan. Also, we haven’t found any sigils to indicate whether there were any nobles with them, so it’s unlikely the result of a house war.” The knight let out a sigh. “So far, all we have found out is that it was a small group, roughly ten or so people judging by their tracks.”

  Layla considered the information for a moment. “Can we hunt them down?”

  “The attack happened roughly a day ago. It seems like they stayed here for about half a day before leaving, so they have a large lead on us.” Sir Andres paused in thought. “I suppose if we left now and gave chase we could catch them in one or two days’ time, but the path they took is out of our way, if we gave chase we would likely miss the acceptance deadline for the academy.”

  Layla’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest. “That’s fine, take half the guard and give chase. The rest of us will continue to the academy.”

  Dante blinked in confusion, then looked around, wondering if he and Layla were seeing the same thing.

  She sees an entire caravan butchered, then wants to send her strongest guard away with half of the others?

  He was about to go find Alexander, who’s reaction seemed far more sensible given the situation. Hoping that Alexander could talk some sense into Layla and Sir Andres, when the knight spoke up. “Absolutely not, I won’t leave my charges alone at the first sign of danger.”

  Hearing the Sir Andres’ words, he was more than relieved.

  Layla, on the other hand, just rolled her eyes. “You already said they were half a days’ ride away from here. There is no way they could cause problems for us. Not only that, but this is the Outer Edge region, the other guards we brought will be more than enough to solve any problems that should arise.”

  “Regardless of the danger, I have been personally ordered by your mother to protect you, and I will do that to my best judgment until commanded otherwise.”

  Layla just huffed irritation, spun on her heels, and returned to the carriage.

  After she left Sir Andres turned to Dante. “I expect you to not cause any problems when I’m gone.” The threat in his voice was clear as day.

  The implications behind his words were clear. “What are you talking about, you just told Layla you weren’t going.”

  The knight just snorted. “Her mother ordered me to ignore any commands from Layla that might put her in danger, but just because she can’t order me to chase after a brigand, doesn’t mean she can’t make someone else order me to do it.”

  Cursing, Dante spun to the carriage, hoping he could still persuade Alexander before Layla got to him.

  Just as he turned to face the carriage, the door sprung open and Alexander’s pale face popped out of the door. “Sir Andres take half the guards and kill the men responsible for this.” He indicated to the corpses around them. After he finished speaking, he immediately clamped a hand over his mouth, attempting to stop himself from vomiting, and disappeared back into the carriage.

  Shit.

  Dante turned back to the Sir Andres and cleared his throat. “Maybe I should go with you? I’m sure I could be of some use.” He had no intentions of leaving the only specialized combatant when the potential dangers were so great.

  “Don’t worry, the other guard’s Classifications are level 8 and up.” With that said, he ignored Dante and began to order around the rest of the guards in preparation to set off.

  Level 8 and up… How is that supposed to reassure me?

  Dante looked around at the corpses. He didn’t even think about trying to collect blood for his glove, even if it would have been an excellent opportunity for him to test if he could get non-combat Classifications on it. It wasn’t just that the guards would probably notice, but thinking of violating the bodies any further brought back his earlier queasiness.

  Dante just gave a defeated sigh, then went back into the carriage where he sat down across from a pale Alexander, and Layla, who had a triumphant smile on her face. After staring at Layla for a moment, he couldn’t help but ask the single question that was on his mind. “Why would you send away Sir Andres, he’s our strongest combatant. You could have just sent a group of the other guards to handle it.”

  Her triumphant smile got even wider. “Sir Andres is allowed to refuse my orders, I’ve been looking for an excuse to get rid of him for weeks.”

  Dante’s eye twitched. There was no way she had just sent away their specialized combatant for that, or at least he hoped she wouldn’t. No matter which way he looked at it, there was no other reason he could think of for her to get rid of the knight.

  Dante let out a long sigh. He had no interest in talking to Layla at the moment, something about her seemed off to him. He would have tried to get some more information out of Alexander, but Alexander seemed a little too preoccupied with trying not to be sick. So, without any options, he put his head against the carriage wall and tried to get some rest.

  * * *

  He was starting to get a bit antsy. Sir Andres had left with the guards a little over seven days ago, and they hadn’t seen them since.

  That wasn’t the reason why he was so anxious though. No, the reason was because they had just stumbled on another group of desecrated corpses on their way toward Kenguard. Dante stepped out of the carriage and walked to Layla who was conversing with a guard.

  At least it’s not a caravan this time.

  Dante looked at the two wagons that were still burning, only six bodies surrounded them, and at the very least they all seemed like men this time. The way they were treated in death was similar to those at the caravan they had stumbled upon days ago, the only difference was that this time the horses also seemed to
have been toyed with.

  The guard talking with Layla was giving a report as he joined them. “They couldn’t be far off. Not only did the attack happen in the last few hours, but it also seemed like they stayed here for quite a while. I would suggest we hurry on our way to avoid running into them.”

  Layla scratched her chin. “Do we know how many attackers there were?”

  “We think three, judging by the tracks we picked up, but there may have been a few who didn’t participate in the fighting. It’s somewhat unlikely though, one combatant could have done this.” He indicated to the six bodies by the burning wagon. “Yet for some reason, they attacked with three and stayed here for quite a while, so we think its most likely their entire group.”

  Layla’s expression didn’t change. “It shouldn’t be a part the group that Sir Andres was pursuing, if he noticed that some of them had split off and headed back towards us, there is no way he wouldn’t have come back as well. We can also assume that Sir Andres has run into complications since he hasn’t come back yet, he has had more than enough time to take care of them and catch up to the carriage… For now, we will continue toward the academy. It will already complicate things if Sir Andres doesn’t arrive on time, we can’t be late as well.”

  After receiving his orders, the guard saluted Layla. “Yes, my lady.”

  As the guard walked off, Layla noticed Dante and turned to him with a somewhat strained smile. “It would be best if we went back into the carriage and resumed our journey to Kenguard.”

  He was both happy and terrified to see Layla’s serious expression.

  He was happy, because he was still somewhat resentful about how she had sent away their specialized combatant as soon as their journey actually became somewhat dangerous, and he hoped she was finally feeling some amount of the anxiety he had been experiencing for the last seven days.

  On the other hand, he was terrified because of her serious expression. Layla had been completely unfazed by anything that had happened on the trip, seeing her expression put him on edge. He was itching to create a weapon to defend himself with.

  Dante cleared his throat. “Are there any spare swords that I could borrow? It would be best to arm myself now in case of an ambush.”

  “Of course, the spares are in the storage compartment of the carriage.” Layla’s reply was somewhat absentminded as she walked away lost in thought.

  Dante walked back toward the carriage, making his way to the storage compartment. The supply of weapons inside thoroughly surprised him. There wasn’t a large quantity, but the variety was astounding. There were spears, glaives, and swords in shapes and sizes he had never seen before. Dante examined a few of them in interest, trying his best to remember the way they were made for testing later.

  After looking a few of them over, he began looking through the weapons for what he could best arm himself with. There was nothing close to the dagger-like swords he created with his Create Blade skill in size. So, he ended up picking out a short sword and a sheath, which made him quite happy, and two daggers which he tucked into each of his rugged boots.

  Satisfied with his selection, and his new protection in the case of an attack, he headed back into the carriage to sit with Layla and Alexander.

  Alexander smiled as he noted Dante’s new weapon. “I was wondering when you would get a weapon, it seemed strange to me that you were always unarmed. Judging by how you fought with Sir Andres, you would be a big help in a fight.”

  He was slightly confused by Alexander’s statement. “Why did you think it was strange that I was unarmed? Neither of you have even held a weapon since we met.” Although he was genuinely curious about what he had asked, in reality, he didn’t carry a weapon since joining them because he didn’t have one, and he didn’t want to expose his Create Blade skill… and because Sir Andres would have most likely gutted him if he was armed with a sword around Layla and Alexander.

  Alexander laughed at his question. “We both have magic based Classifications. Not only do we both have Mage Classifications, but I have a Warlock Classification, and Layla has a Sorcerer Classification.”

  Dante looked at Alexander in astonishment. Layla had told him that nobles didn’t mind disclosing their Classifications, but just telling him on a whim was surprising to say the least. Their Classifications themselves were far more shocking though. Not only were they both Mages, but a Warlock and a Sorcerer. Those were beyond rare, and combined with the Mage Classification, far too powerful.

  He looked at Layla who was just smiling back at him. He would have never expected her to be a Sorcerer Classification. Sorcerer Classifications excelled in large-scale combat, not only did they have low-cost skills, but they also focused on the Wisdom attribute. The skills may be weaker because of it, but a Sorcerer could almost use skills nonstop.

  “How?”

  Alexander puffed out his chest in pride. “The bloodline of House Calman. We come from a long line of magic Classifications, but Layla and I are exceptional, even compared to the rest of those in our house.”

  He was about to ask a new line of questions on how the two had both ended up with magic Classification types, but was interrupted by shouting outside of the carriage. All three of them froze.

  There was far too much shouting. They only had ten guards from House Calman with them, but it sounded like dozens of people were outside of their carriage.

  Before he could even react, Layla stood up and charged out of the carriage followed closely by Alexander. Dante sat in the carriage for a brief moment, he really didn’t want to get involved in a fight if he wasn’t going to use Blink. After that moment, Dante released a sigh and stepped out of the carriage.

  He was stunned by the scene that greeted him. Their Warrior Classification guards were surrounding the carriage in a loose circle, each of them were being pressed by at least two attackers.

  The attackers themselves were rugged, but in full leather armor, slightly better than any of the robbers that he had run into when he left the dungeon.

  Further away from the circle, was a group of archers trying to pick off their guards from range. Conversely, inside their loose pocket of guards were three of their Ranger Classification archers and Alexander and Layla. The two worked in conjunction with the archers, hurling orbs of fire any time they had a clear shot of the attackers.

  The fight seemed to be somewhat of a standoff, the only ones who were really inflicting casualties were Alexander and Layla, their red orbs of flame impacting anyone who stepped out for a clear shot.

  Dante wasted no time, pulling out the short sword from its sheath and drawing one of the daggers from his boots. He examined the battle, trying to find out where he would be most effective, and immediately locked onto the group of attacking archers sitting outside of the circle. If he could eliminate the threat they posed to the Warriors holding off the rest of the attackers, they wouldn’t need to divide their focus between holding off the attackers and avoiding arrows. It should end the stalemate.

  He ran directly at the group of three attackers that were standing between him and the archers, sliding into the right of the guard who was trying to hold them at bay. He was able to easily kill the attacker closest to him, taking the attacker by surprise through the neck while he was busy trying to attack the guard.

  Immediately after he downed the first attacker, the attacker next to him roared and turned toward him, swiping at him with his sword. Dante immediately dodged under the sword, utilizing his Agility to narrowly dodge the blade. As he ducked the weapon, he could feel the familiar tingling sensation on his side and lower gut. He allowed his reflexes to take over and his sword and dagger flashed in front of him, intercepting two arrows. Dante sucked in air through his teeth.

  Too close.

  After thanking the Goddess that he had chosen the Blade Dancer passive, he refocused on the two attackers in front of him, needing a way to get rid of them. “Layla!”

  Immediately after he shouted for her, a ball of fire st
ruck the attacker directly in front of him. The fire killed the man immediately, leaving a smoldering corpse.

  I can’t believe that actually worked.

  He was completely surprised at how quickly Layla had acted at his shout. Leaving the last attacker for the guard to handle, Dante charged the six archers.

  Of course, the archers immediately noticed him break off from the battle and run at them. They began showering arrow after arrow at him as he charged, he could only assume they had a Ranger Classification because of the sheer speed at which they fired from their bows.

  It was a strange sensation, charging at a group of archers, blades moving almost automatically to deflect arrows with barely a thought focused on it. He felt invulnerable as he charged them, coming ever closer to slaughter them.

  Or at least he did, until he was ten feet away and three of the archers released arrows at the same time. The feeling was far stranger than it had been before. He could feel his dagger darting up to block an arrow coming at his shoulder, his sword swinging down to cover his right thigh, and could tell an arrow was going to come in directly for his gut.

  Shit.

  An arrow through the gut was always a long and painful death if you didn’t have a healer, he could use his Rebirth of the Revenant to save himself if he got to the archers, but his healed wound and exhaustion would giveaway his passive skill.

  As he thought about the arrow piercing his gut, the dagger that felt like it was being sucked to his shoulder sliced down, blocking the arrow approaching his stomach.

  Interesting.

  He didn’t know he could change which incoming attack his passive could block, but it seemed like it had switched on a mere thought.

  He was snapped out of his musings by an arrow abruptly slamming into his left shoulder. He paused for a moment, then Gritted his teeth and tried his best to ignore the pain as he charged into the group of archers before him.