Dante's Immortality: Beginnings

by Antonio Terzini

  He had been planning on using the party to glean more information off of others’ conversations, but it now seemed far too unlikely.

  Seeing his apprehension, Kayla just rolled her eyes. “It’s not as bad as you think.” She yanked on his hand. “C’mon let’s go inside.”

  Dante allowed himself to be dragged to the two guards, who just nodded to Kayla as she pushed through the door without stopping.

  So much for checking identification cards.

  The inside was just as horrid as he thought it would be. A mass of people who he could barely move through, blinding lights that seemed to come from enchanted lights, and even music that was being amplified over the noise of the crowd.

  As soon as he stepped through the doorway, Dante stopped and began to turn around, intent on leaving. Kayla had other plans though.

  She yanked him by his hand, quickly pulling him through the crowded room to a stairway in the back. There were four guards there, and this time Kayla was stopped.

  Seeing Kayla pull out her identification card, Dante pulled his out as well. The guards checked both of them. Then one of them exchanged a few words with Kayla, which he couldn’t hear over the loud noise around him, and the two of them were allowed to pass.

  Kayla wasted no time, snatching his hand back and dragging him up the stairs.

  The staircase itself led to a massive door, it had no handles that he could see, so he wasn’t too surprised when Kayla walked up to it and began feeding world essence inside.

  Dante watched the blue markings that appeared on the door carefully. They were far more intricate than any of the enchantments he had seen, aside from the simulation room. He couldn’t see a purpose for the intricacy, aside from a possible locking mechanism. He made a mental note to learn more about enchantments in the future. Even if he couldn’t create them himself, it seemed like the knowledge might still be useful.

  The door slid out toward them slightly, then opened as if it was on an invisible hinge. Then, as they stepped into the room, the door slid closed on its own.

  Dante let out a sigh of relief as he experienced the euphoria of complete silence. It seemed that the door also had the function of being soundproof.

  Of course, that wasn’t to say that the room he stepped into was empty, on the contrary, it was actually filled with a few dozen people. They were all just staring at the two of them in silence.

  The atmosphere in the room was far more relaxed than it was downstairs. Aside from the large bar on the left side of the room that was covered in different types of liquor and spirits, the rest of the room was a mixture of tables and booths that were filled with socializing nobles. The only exception was a small stage in the far corner that had an open space underneath it. Dante assumed it was some type of dance floor meant for small concerts.

  This wasn’t the ‘party’ that he had been expecting.

  The one who broke the silence was Jack Daynard. “I told you the freak was coming.” He seemed quite pleased with himself.

  A girl who looked surprisingly similar to Jack began to giggle. “I didn’t think you could do it Kayla.” The girl turned to Jack. “I wonder what she did to convince him to come with her.” She began to whisper to him conspiratorially, yet loud enough so that everyone could hear. “I bet she has already dirtied herself with that freakish commoner.”

  The girl’s words brought a frown to Jack’s face, and a slight tinge of crimson to Kayla’s as she quickly released her hold on his hand. He thought their reactions were strange. He knew what the girl was insinuating, but he had already accepted Kayla’s invitation in front of close to a dozen people. He couldn’t understand why they were surprised that he actually showed up, or thought that Kayla would need to do things with him in order for him to come.

  Then again…

  Dante had been so lost in thought about the implications of everything that he and Kayla were talking about, that he had forgotten that she was trying to seduce him. Thinking about it like that, it made sense that Kayla would be looked down upon for attempting to seduce a commoner.

  Everyone else in the room broke off into their own conversations, and the atmosphere resumed to what he thought was the norm.

  Kayla gestured him to follow as she made her way to sit down at Jack’s table.

  He was hesitant, to say the least. Several other tables had open seats, and he didn’t see why they needed to sit with Jack. His saving grace was that the other two nobles that Jack usually had with him weren’t there.

  Other than Jack and the girl who was sitting next to him, there were three others at the table. Two boys were sitting next to each other, lost in conversation about a new whore at a high-end brothel in the leisure district, and the third was an auburn-haired girl with an exceptionally bored expression on her face.

  Kayla, to his surprise, actually sat down directly next to the girl who had just insulted her, forcing him to slide in between her and the bored looking girl.

  The girl who looked like Jack glanced between Dante and Kayla for a moment. “So nice of you to finally join us, Kayla. What took you so long?”

  Dante glanced at Kayla, not knowing how they could have been late, they had arrived at the time she had told him the ‘party’ started.

  Kayla seemed ready this time, flashing the girl a smile. “I was in better company. Did my absence disturb you Bridget?”

  “Of course not, I was simply worried for your wellbeing.” Bridget shot a meaningful look at Dante, which he felt was undeserved. “You never know what a commoner will do to a beautiful noblewoman such as yourself.”

  Kayla rolled her eyes. “Yes, he-” She motioned to Dante who was sitting quietly. “can’t compare to the mannerisms of true noblemen.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she indicated the two who were still talking about whores but had moved onto the topic of which ones would let them do more for a few extra coins.

  Bridget crossed her arms over her chest, as if upset that Kayla had countered her statement. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t let him near me without guards.”

  Kayla smirked back to her. “But of course, you need to preserve your virginity so your house can sell it to the highest bidder.”

  Dante gaped at Kayla.

  What in the fuck is going on, and how is this a party?

  Although he didn’t know what was happening, only a fool wouldn’t be able to see that things were escalating quickly. He even thought about intervening, but everyone else at the table ignored the two of them, as if their fighting was a regular occurrence.

  “Yes, I need to preserve mine, while you need to hurry to lose yours like your life depends on it.” The words coming out of Bridget’s mouth were like venom.

  Bridget’s words gave Dante pause, unless the entire fight was a prearranged act, what she said only helped support Kayla’s story.

  Kayla just crossed her arms and looked away. After that, the two girls sat in silence.

  Jack cleared his throat. “Alright Tabitha, now that Kayla is here let’s get on with it. Why did you want us all to meet up here first? I don’t want to be stuffed up in this room all night when the actual party is downstairs.”

  His words caused the entire room to quiet down again. Everyone was listening with rapt attention.

  The girl with the bored expression next to him spoke up. “We are still missing William Savion and Brent Altham.”

  Will is coming?

  Everyone in the room released a groan, and Jack just snorted. “It was bad enough that you made us wait for Kayla, just get on with it, someone can tell them later.”

  “My news is too sensitive to be spread outside of this room, we will wait.” Hearing her matter-of-fact tone, Jack backed off, surprising him.

  Kayla had said that Jack was from a branch house of House Calman, so he should have had massive influence within the academy, yet Tabitha shut him up effortlessly.

  Kayla, who seemed to be done glaring at Bridget, stood up and turned to Dante with a smile plastered ba
ck on her face. “Would you like something to drink?”

  Glancing around to the others around him, and noticing what they were drinking, he had to take a moment to think the question over. He had never tried alcohol before and was curious about what it would be like. But at the same time, he had seen his fair share of drunks in Alazel, and he didn’t think now would be the best time to test his tolerance. “No thank you.”

  Kayla pouted. “You’re no fun.” Then she spun on her heels and walked toward the bar.

  Just as he was going to let out a sigh of relief, excited to be alone to collect his thoughts, Bridget looked at Dante and snorted. “She is such a slut.”

  He didn’t know how to proceed. What was he supposed to say? If he agreed with her, it would look bad for Kayla, who he actually didn’t mind… much. And if he disagreed, Bridget may cause problems for him in the future.

  He decided to stay as neutral as possible. “How so?”

  Bridget snorted again. Then, with arms crossed, turned toward Jack. “I don’t see why we allowed this creature in here.”

  You talked to me first…

  Truthfully, that went much better than he could’ve hoped it would.

  Much to Bridget’s displeasure, Jack just ignored her, he was still visibly upset from his interaction with Tabitha.

  Kayla, who was just making her way back to the table, noticed Bridget’s perturbed expression and winked at him as she sat with a smug smile on her face. Much to his relief, she seemed content to just sit and sip her drink.

  Almost half an hour of silently listening to two nobles talk about whores, the door to the room opened. Dante watched, hoping Will was finally going to show up, but he was quickly disappointed when an embarrassed looking noble opened the door. The boy just stood in the doorway scratching the back of his head. “Sorry I was late.”

  Everyone in the room groaned, then jack spoke up. “Tabitha, either you tell us, or we are all leaving.” His words sent mutters of agreement through the room.

  Tabitha, who still seemed exceptionally bored, let out a long sigh. “Fine, I’ll find a way to tell William later.” She stood up and checked to make sure everyone was listening. “Recently, my father was holding a private meeting with Layla and Alexander Calman. I…” She paused to clear her throat. “Overheard that the inner regions are preparing for another campaign.”

  It took everyone a moment to process her words, Tabitha’s deadpan tone didn’t match the gravity of the situation. As realization dawned on the listening nobles, the room fell into shocked silence. Then, all at once, the nobles in the room started to talk all at once. He couldn’t make out a single word of what they were saying.

  Jack took control, shouting above the rest. “Shut up!”

  He seemed to be the only one who was surprised when the room fell silent again.

  Jack looked at Tabitha. “Are you sure?”

  Tabitha, who still seemed bored, just shrugged. Everyone else in the room glared at her nonchalance.

  Jack sucked in a large breath, visibly trying to control his temper. “What do you know?”

  Tabitha shrugged again. “Apparently the Chaos region is already being scouted, so the Calmans predict that we only have four or five years to prepare.” That news was followed by several curses.

  One particularly angry voice shouted from the back of the crowd. “If we only have a few years to prepare, why haven’t they told anyone?”

  Mutters of agreement and glares at both Jack and Bridget followed his question.

  He was fully focused on the discussion. It seemed that going to the ‘party’, if he could call it that, was the right choice. He had already gained new information, Alexander and Layla hadn’t given him a timeframe for the campaign.

  Tabitha answered the angry shout. “Apparently the scouts haven’t entered House Ailloss and House Ramotar’s territory yet, so the news is being suppressed until they find out.”

  That only brought out angrier muttering. The noble next to him, who seemed terrified spoke up. “Do they want everyone to die? Thinking about politics at a time like this…”

  Jack looked as though he was going to say something to defend House Calman, but before he could utter a word, the same voice from earlier shouted over the crowd. “Die? Maybe if you’re lucky.”

  That sent shivers through the room, everyone knew what he meant.

  Jack forced out mocking laughter. “Don’t tell me you are all afraid of a few wraiths?”

  Dante, along with everyone else, just looked at him like he was an utter moron.

  That’s when the voice in the back of the room loudly snorted, then spoke up again. “If there was any justice in the world, House Daynard would be collared first.”

  Those words were completely slanderous, a curse that one wouldn’t wish upon their worst enemy, but he still wasn’t prepared for Jack and Bridget’s reaction.

  Both of them whirled toward the voice. A buzzing sound emitted from Jack’s hand, then lightning formed around it. Jack pushed his hand out, shooting it directly toward the source of the voice.

  The noble who was struck began to shake violently as the lightning coursed through him, and he was pretty sure the noble was dead.

  Moments later he was confident that the noble was dead, because shortly after the lightning struck him, a fireball that Bridget threw enveloped him.

  After that, the entire room was thrown into chaos.

  Dante didn’t hesitate, he threw himself at the nearest wall. As soon as his back was protected from attacks he looked over the crowd, eyes scanning for any potential threat as he prepared to Blink.

  His eyes were immediately drawn to the middle of the room, where two groups of nobles were standing across from each other in preparation to fight. Jack and Bridget’s group had a total of ten combatants, while the ones standing across from them only had eight.

  Dante quickly scanned for Kayla and was relieved to see she was staying out of the fight. He wasn’t worried about her safety, but he didn’t want to get tangled into the fight due to association.

  Everyone else was scattered across the room. Some were preparing to defend themselves, but most were hiding behind tables or booths in an attempt to preserve their lives.

  The one exception was Tabitha, she hadn’t moved since the start of the fight. She just stood, staring at Jack with arms crossed. Then, letting out a sigh, she walked over to Jack and cuffed him lightly on the back of the head.

  He was unprepared for what happened. Tabitha cuffed him lightly, yet Jack spun through the air before colliding on the floor face first. The force of the blow was staggering.

  There is no way his head wasn’t caved in…

  “As if your house isn’t already hated enough.” Tabitha walked over to him. “I already warned you not to kill another student outside of the arena. If you do it again, I’ll have you expelled.”

  Dante stared in shock. That was just a warning? Judging by the force of the attack, and the blood pooling out of him, it was going to take Jack a significant time to recover, even with healers.

  Everyone watched silently as Tabitha walked back to the door and opened it. “Alright, that was all I had to say. Have fun at the party.” Without another word, she walked out.

  What in the hell was that?

  Dante looked around at the other nobles. Judging by their equally shocked faces, that wasn’t a typical occurrence.

  Across the room from Dante, Kayla stood up and dusted herself off. Then walked up to him with a forced smile. “Want a drink now?”

  Chapter 30

  Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 30

  As Dante smashed the pommel of his sword onto his opponent’s head, he felt a slight give and a loud crack.

  Damn.

  He hadn’t meant to hurt his opponent, but every commoner he fought in the arena was so weak.

  The fight’s moderator shouted out in an uncaring tone. “Healer!”

  Dante couldn’t help but let out a sigh, his first fight
in the gold arena wasn’t as exciting as he had been expecting.

  The blue protection enchantment that covered the arena faded away as an old man rushed inside to take care of the boy that he had just downed.

  In the last two months, he had been fighting at least once a day in the arena, trying to get more credits in his limited free time so that he could sign up for more classes in the next semester. But despite all of those fights in the bronze and silver arena, he had yet to find a single challenge, not even in his rare encounters with nobles.

  Now that the quarter was coming to a close, and his world essence manipulation class was finally over, he had far more free time to grind through the arena, and today he had finally earned enough credits to fight in the gold rank.

  Needless to say, he wasn’t very impressed so far. His opponent hadn’t even utilized world essence manipulation when he attacked.

  Dante let out another sigh, then looked to the healer who was working on his downed opponent. It seemed he was going to live.

  Feeling quite pleased that he hadn’t accidentally killed him, Dante walked back to the pit entrance where the attendant was waiting.

  “Very well done my lord. Would you like to fight again?”

  One of the perks of being a part of Housing District 1 was not having to wait in line to use the arena. When he was fighting in the bronze and silver arenas, he didn’t utilize the privilege to fight more than once per day because he felt bad for the commoners who were waiting in the long lines. But now that he was in the gold arena where there were far fewer people and therefore shorter lines, he wasn’t as unwilling to abuse the privilege.

  Dante smiled back to the attendant. “I think I will fight again, but first I’ll take a small break to catch my breath.”

  The attendant bowed humbly. “Of course my lord, let me know when you desire to re-enter the arena.”

  Dante walked over to the rest area, a nice addition that wasn’t present in the other, lower ranked arenas. He actually wasn’t tired at all, the three months of stamina training with Archie, mixed with Mia’s strict feeding regiment, had completely changed him physically. The only reason he was taking a break was to allow the commoners who were waiting behind him in line to have their turn.