Dante's Immortality: Beginnings
Page 45
He made a few shocking discoveries while he worked. The first, and most significant discovery, was the two Classification symbols on the dungeon boss’ wrist. It was human. At least before it found the dungeon. Using his prior knowledge, he could now be quite certain at how predatory dungeons were made in contrast to regular dungeons. It was, however, impossible for him to absorb those Classifications, no matter how much blood he covered his glove in.
The second discovery he made was his distaste for needlessly inflicting harm on others… even if it deserved it. At first, cutting the dungeon boss was almost calming. It felt good to take out his feelings on someone else, all of his pent-up emotions and frustrations finally finding some release. But after a few cuts, the quiet, raspy screams that were coming from the dungeon boss were making him queasy.
Steeling his resolve, Dante plunged the dagger into the dungeon boss’s heart. He wanted to inflict some permanent harm upon it, but it seemed impossible given the nature of dungeons.
Its expression went slack, but before the boss died it almost looked grateful. Thankful that the suffering had finally ended.
The dungeon boss’s body broke apart, turning into dust before being absorbed by the dungeon floor.
The only thing that was left in its place was the swords that had impaled the boss and two crystals. One blue, and the other purple. Confused, yet elated, he reached over to pick the two up. Then immediately checked his Monster Crystal tab.
Skill Infused: None
Passive Skill Infused: None
Passive Skill Infused: None
Attribute Crystal Infused: None
Attribute Crystal Infused: None
Monster Crystals that can be Infused:
Passive Skill: Oppressive Will
Force your will outwards to oppress those around you.
Strength dependent on the difference in Wisdom between user and targets.
Cost: 5 Mana per second
Range: dependent on total Wisdom
Attribute Crystal: Wisdom
Gives +7 to the Wisdom attribute.
He was having a hard time controlling his breathing, which was a problem. The shallow breaths he was taking no longer seemed to be enough to sustain himself. He pushed off the floor with his arms, rolling onto his back to try and take larger breaths.
He couldn’t get over the shock of receiving two crystals. It now made complete sense why Jared and Arron were so quick to come to blows at the slight chance of fighting the dungeon boss. But he couldn’t understand why he would get two.
After thinking it over for a moment, there only seemed to be two possibilities. The first possibility was that predatory dungeons innately gave two monster crystals. The second was that he was given one crystal for each Classification that the dungeon boss had. Either way, he wouldn’t complain.
Looking back at the crystal’s effects themselves, he scrutinized the passive skill. It seemed… vague. No real effect was detailed in the skill. It might have been something similar to the power the boss used against him, or it could have done something else altogether. But the lack of information was troubling. Skill descriptions always seemed to be vague, every skill he had seemed to have some unforeseen issues. The fact that this one was even more vague didn’t sit well with him.
Not only that, but if he broke it he could likely specialize one of his Classifications. But it was at least worth testing before he made any rash decisions. He already knew from some information he gathered at the academy that he could easily remove the crystals if he wanted to.
The other crystal was far more straightforward. As far as he was concerned, the Wisdom attribute gain was by far the best attribute crystal he could get, and it fit the new skill he got perfectly.
But there was a seemingly indestructible obstacle in his path. He didn’t see how he was supposed to press the crystal into his wrist with his glove in the way. Having nothing to lose, Dante grabbed the purple crystal and pushed it against his glove, right where the symbol of the dragon wrapped around the bottom of his wrist.
It was strange, as the crystal was pressed into it, the threads of the glove itself opened up and pulled the crystal in. There was a sharp pain like his wrist was being slit, but it wasn’t too bad.
As soon as the crystal got deep enough inside of his skin, the gloves threads went back to their previous positions as though nothing had happened at all.
The process seemed simple enough, even though he still didn’t know how to remove the crystals, and he immediately repeated the process with the other. When that was done, he reopened the Monster Crystal tab in his Status.
Skill Infused: Oppressive Will
Passive Skill Infused: None
Passive Skill Infused: None
Attribute Crystal Infused: Wisdom +7
Attribute Crystal Infused: None
After making sure that his monster crystals were used correctly, he checked his Wisdom attribute. He now had a total of 41 Wisdom, giving him 4.1 Mana per second.
That done, he closed his Status and began testing out his new passive skill.
It was a strange sensation. All of his other skills seemed like a part of him. Something innate that he just knew how to activate, but the new skill was entirely different. No matter how much he tried to focus, he couldn’t find a way to activate the passive skill at all.
He thought it over for a moment. Then, on a whim, he began feeding world essence into the purple crystal that was lodged underneath his glove.
It worked, he could feel the mana draining out of him, and then he felt his will spreading out around forty feet in every direction, getting weaker the further it spread. Testing done, he stopped channeling the mana and deactivated it, still having no idea what the skill really did.
Getting stuck in the predatory dungeon had somehow gone from being a miserable situation to a massive overall benefit.
Dante laid there for a moment, in a completely empty cavern that was barely lit by a mana manipulated light. The mixture of the migraine and his exhaustion, which seemed eerily similar to the effects of his Rebirth of the Revenant passive, gave him the desire to just sit and wait for the pain to abate. But that wasn’t really an option. Someone would eventually find him if he waited. Even if he were hidden from Trackers, Jared and Arron’s corpses wouldn’t be when they were found missing.
Breaking up the swords that were scattered through the cavern, Dante began to slowly crawl through the corpse-filled dungeon. Spending the slow journey pondering the implications of the dungeon boss’s words, and what an archaic might be.
Chapter 56
Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 56
Varik
Varik quickly finished packing his essential belongings, then picked up his bag and hobbled through his bedroom doorway on his bad leg. It was time to finally leave House Ailloss.
Not that he was supposed to, he had actually been ordered to stay until the trap had been sprung, but things were getting messy. Agents were just disappearing. There weren’t even any bodies being found. One day he would get a report, and then the next there would be complete silence.
Varik handed the travel bag to his handler, and the two of them made their way to the waiting carriage.
He had his escape planned for years. Thousands of random trips at differing times, all in preparation for this moment. No suspicion would be raised at the sight of him taking a trip with his mid-sized travel bag. No one would even bat an eyelash.
“My lord, new orders have been sent.” His handler handed him an encoded letter, and he read over it carefully.
Cursing, Varik handed the letter back to Rikard, and the man incinerated it immediately.
His ‘new orders’ from Andrea was a demand to not make a move and potentially arouse suspicion with his escape, exactly the same as his last orders. But at this point, that was practically a death sentence. Even without his agent’s disappearances, it was only a matter of time until Sam returned and told Edward what he had done.
His best course of action was to follow through with the escape. He had been far too useful to House Calman over the years, and even if his rewards deteriorated, it was unlikely that they would dispose of him entirely.
Letting out a small sigh, he followed Rikard and limped out to the courtyard.
“Varik!”
Hearing the voice, he cursed internally. Edward was the last person he wanted to run into, especially now of all times. He turned toward the voice. “How can I help you, my lord.”
Edward had his usual cocky grin on his face and was holding one of his sparring swords. The brute always seemed to have a weapon within reach. “Just the man I was looking for, I need you to send a message to Damian immediately.” Edward paused as if just noticing the bag and his head tilted slightly. “Are you going somewhere?”
Varik looked at Edward without any trace of emotion on his face. “I would be more than happy to my lord, I’ll have it taken care of immediately. And yes, I am going to meet one of my agents. The report he has is far too sensitive to allow someone else to handle.”
Edward’s eyebrows rose. “You employ agents that don’t have your trust?”
Varik didn’t visibly react to the information, but the question took him off-guard. It wasn’t the sort of topic he wanted to delve into at the moment. “Of course not, my lord. Even though I would like to see the best in others, loyalty is too often traded for self-gain in this world.” He was cursing himself for the words that were coming out of his mouth, but now was not the time to change his personality.
Edward scratched his chin for a moment, thinking his words over carefully, then nodded. “I think that you may be right.” His smile came back. “It’s one of the reasons that I like to get to know those who work for me, it gives me a good feel for those who might defect.”
Varik gave a nod in agreement to Edward’s words. “If that is all that you needed my lord, I’ll be off.”
Edward gave a dismissive wave of his hand, and Varik had to stop himself from sighing in relief. For a moment he thought that Edward knew that he was a traitor, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
It was just one more indication that his choice to work for House Calman all those years ago was the right one. Edward was just too oblivious, never even realizing what a threat House Calman really was.
He had no intention of going down with Edward and the rest of House Ailloss.
Limping behind Rikard, he made his way to the carriage. Almost making it when he felt severe pain in his back.
Varik looked down, and saw the sword sticking out through his stomach. The amount of blood that was spraying out to the floor was frightening. It was, without a doubt, a killing blow.
Varik took it calmly, not struggling in the slightest. He always knew that this outcome was a possibility when he turned traitor.
“You stabbed me in the back, it’s only right if I return the favor.”
Edward’s voice carried the same savagery that it had the night he found his son’s corpse. All things considered, he was more than happy to have a quick death.
He heard a grunt coming from where Rikard was standing, and Varik looked up from the sword that was sticking through his chest to see a combatant he had never met before cutting his handler in two.
Still, the man did look familiar… Yes, he had seen him before. His portrait had been inside of a report, an academy instructor that went missing in action after chasing that boy, Archie was his name.
Varik smiled grimly. It was evident that Edward had found out what had really happened at the academy.
He could feel himself getting weaker as more blood drained from his wound.
To think that all of my plans fell through because one rogue instructor.
The world faded into darkness.
* * *
Edward Ailloss
“What do you want to do now?”
Edward turned to Arthur. His earlier smile now gone, in its place was cold rage. “We will need to evacuate immediately. Varik would have been found out when Sam returned, so it is somewhat likely that they had a plan in place that will be executed before that. I doubt they would have left Varik alive, much less allow him to simply flee when he should have still been useful.” He glanced back to Varik’s corpse, clenching his teeth in anger. If he weren’t in a rush, the traitor’s death would have been much slower.
Arthur’s usual smile didn’t disappear despite the tense atmosphere, it seemed that his personality hadn’t changed in the years they had been apart. “My thoughts exactly. Damian has already begun to send supplies to Devil’s Edge in preparation for the war.”
Edward’s eyebrows rose. If Damian was focusing on Devil’s Edge, the war was going to be far more drawn out than he had originally thought. Varik had hidden far too much from him. “I’ll begin to collect all of my loyal combatants and lead them to Devil’s Edge… but I have something I need to take care of first.”
One of Arthur’s eyebrows quirked up. “Oh? And what might that be?”
“I’m sure you know already, I can’t let Dante stay collared.” He gave Arthur an apologetic glance. “I need to find him while there is still a trail to follow.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. He is already free, and by now, well on his way to the Wastelands.”
Edward spun to face Arthur. “Are you sure.”
Arthur’s grin broadened. “Saw him off myself, while I was still playing the part of ‘Archie’.”
Edward let out a large breath of relief. The news did wonders for his mood. “Why would he want to go to the Wastelands though? Without joining a faction, he will be dead within a week.”
Arthur shrugged. “I prodded him in that direction.” He saw Edward’s glare and put his hands up in mock surrender. “Damian’s orders. Do you really think it would be safer for him to stay here and get involved in a war?”
Edward could feel his irritation surging. “We could have easily protected him. Not only that, but if we pulled our resources together to strengthen him, he likely would have won us the war.”
Arthur snorted. “Stop being such a prick , he’s just an inexperienced kid. Besides, it’s not like we would send him to the Wastelands unprotected, Damian sent Victoria to look after him. She’ll step in if he is going to die… hopefully.” He cleared his throat. “And with her help, he’ll grow up in no time.”
Edward’s eyes widened, there was no question of which Victoria he was talking about. “What, in the name of the Goddess, did Damian do to have Victoria owe him a favor that big.”
Arthur shrugged. “I’m not sure, but he went all out this time.”
Edward nodded, no matter which way he looked at it, there was no downside to Victoria taking care of Dante in the Wastelands. “What is the guild going to do while she’s gone?”
Arthur shrugged. “How should I know. If we are lucky, they will disband.”
He couldn’t help but agree, the world would be a much better place without those damned assassins.
* * *
Andrea Calman
Vicar burst through the door. Not only did he not knock, but his face was pale and he looked flustered.
Andrea continued to tab through her reports as though nothing happened. “Do come in Vicar.”
“I’m terribly sorry, my lady. I have serious news that I thought you would want to hear immediately.”
That got her attention, having her plans ruined always put her in a rather foul mood. “Go on.”
Vicar only seemed to become more nervous. “It seems like House Ailloss somehow discovered our trap. Not only have we lost Varik, but their entire countryside has already been mobilized. Farms are being stripped of food and supplies to be shipped off with combatants towards Devil’s Ed
ge.”
Andrea’s fists involuntarily tightened, crumpling the report that was in her hand. Her plans hadn’t been ruined, they had been utterly destroyed. Her agents weren’t yet in place to deal with House Ailloss, and a war at Devil’s Edge would turn into one of
attrition. “When did this happen?”
Beads of cold sweat could be seen on Vicar’s forehead. “I just received the news, but it seems as though there had been days of preparation. The evacuation itself didn’t start until earlier this morning though.”
Andrea rubbed the bridge of her nose. If it weren’t for the damn campaign, the situation might have been somewhat redeemable. “Recall all specialized units aside from any infiltration groups. Send those out to ravage their supply lines. Get as many agents as you can inside of Terra, it doesn’t matter how many we lose in the process.” She drummed her fingers against her desk thinking about her options carefully. “And begin to empty out all of the camps.” Utilizing the camps as reinforcements was a severe risk, but a necessary one.
They had collared quite a few skilled combatants over the years, but too few of them had been properly broken in. Some of the stronger willed ones wouldn’t let pain deter them from turning on their captors if given a chance. But without them they had almost no chance. “Charles will lead the troops themselves, but come to me for orders.”
Her largest criteria in choosing a husband was the ability to lead in battle, and Charles was second to none. With him handling the frontlines, and her managing the internal affairs, they would almost be unbeatable.
Chapter 57
Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 57
Dante hesitated as he watched the detection enchantments light up in front of him. They ran through the walkway in hundreds of faded lines, lighting up bright blue at random intervals as an operator fed world essence into them from one of the random outposts scattered periodically throughout the border. Then he looked down at the enchanted boots that Archie had given him.