ã€ŠChampion of Deathã€‹


 Chapter 1: Trial of the Champion

    Author¡¯s Note: Hello to anyone reading this. Please know that I am new to this, and this is the first written work I have made that was not a school assignment. I have read a few fictions here, but I never got around to making an account until now. This is my first time posting, and I will welcome any constructive criticism. Please tell me about the fight scenes. I am a martial artist myself, have been for most of my life, and I can¡¯t help but try to describe the most physically feasible martial feats and techniques. Please be gentle senpais!

    -So... Bored...-

    I was sitting in my third period class at the back of the room, next to an open window. I had stopped paying attention to the class since long ago and was busy staring out into the bright blue sky and trees covered in the colors of autumn. I hated being stuck in here. It was so suffocating! Being required to stay in a stuffy classroom on a clear, crisp day like this was torture!

    -Sigh... When does this class end?-

    I looked at the clock situated directly above the door of the classroom.

    -Still 1:30? It hasn''t even been ten minutes yet! This isn''t fair!-

    I groaned loudly, causing my teacher to turn around and look at me.

    -Damn-

    "Is something the matter, Dante?"

    "Ah, well, my stomach hurts... May I go to the nurse?" I smiled weakly.

    My teacher, Mr. Harnette, sighed.

    "Fine, go. Just try to come back as soon as you feel better. I thought the C series couldn''t feel pain?¡±

    Mr. Harnette turned back to the blackboard and as I left, I felt glares of envy drilling into my back.

    -Sorry guys, I just couldn''t stay. Thank you all for your noble sacrifice.-

    I mentally bowed to them. We all knew Mr. Harnette wouldn''t let anyone else use my excuse for the rest of the class.

    I held my stomach all the way to the door, pretending to be in pain. As soon as I was out of Mr. Harnette''s sight, I straightened up and walked casually through the hall. Instead of going to the nurse, however, I went up to the the roof.

    -Hoh, I''m a bad boy. Ah well, I can afford it. I am at the top of the class after all. Hehe. Get it? Cuz I''m on the roof...-

    When I got to the roof, I lay down on the cool concrete roof. It wasn''t too sunny out, even though the sky was clear. The wind was nice and cool. I didn''t even notice myself going to sleep. I woke up suddenly when I felt a sharp pain in my chest, something I hadn''t felt in a long time. I look down, gasping from the pain, and realized I had a hole in my shirt. There was a large black beetle in the wriggling in the center of my chest. I tried to claw it off, but it just hung on. Then, suddenly, it began to burrow into my skin.

    "Gaaaaaah!"

    I scream. The pain is unimaginable, and I felt the bug crawling under my skin. It digs into my sternum, and when it eats through the bone I almost pass out. Almost. It stops right after it lodged itself into my sternum, firmly melded into the bone. I laid on the roof, gasping and writhing about. The front of my shirt was soaked in blood, and I could see the dull black gleam of the beetle in my chest. After a couple of seconds, the pain stopped completely and I tried to sit up. But as soon as I tried, an intense wave of pain hit me, a hundred times worse than before and spread throughout my body. This time I do black out.

    I wake up in total darkness. I try looking around, but I can''t tell if I am actually seeing anything because everything looks the same: darker than black. As if the whole place is made of darkness and shadows. Strangely enough, I can see my hands and feet clearly, so I know I haven''t gone blind. I stay seated, not sure of what to do, waiting for something to happen. I don''t have to wait long. A bright white light suddenly comes into existence about three meters away from me, and out steps... Me. An exact copy of me. It has my short, wavy, dark brown hair and gray eyes, standing at around 178cm, and an overall lightly tanned skin. It was even wearing my Syndicate issued gray pants and white shirt.

    My first thought was,-What the fuck?-

    My second thought was, -WTF?-

    My third thought was -Wow I am really good looking.-

    My fourth thought was, -Really though, what the actual fuck?-

    I didn''t get a chance for a fifth thought, because my doppelg?nger suddenly sprints as fast as he can at me. What really caught me off guard was his speed. He cleared the three meters between us in less than a second and punched at me so quickly his fist was a blur. I react on instinct, leaning to the right, grabbing his wrist with my left hand and striking his elbow, causing his arm to go weak. Then I stepped in, sweeping my right foot around his leading leg with my right hand at his throat, tripping him and making him fall by pushing with my hand at his throat. I kicked his ribs, cracking at least three and knocking his breath out, stunning him. Twisting and pulling so his arm stays straight out, I quickly placed my knee on his elbow, kneeled my weight on his elbow... And snapped it. The doppelg?nger howled in pain. This had all happened in less than three seconds. I had reacted out of instinct, from years of practice and refinement. The years of training at the School branch of the Syndicate and participating in the mandatory tournaments between all students of the School, had honed my reflexes. Once again feeling bones snapping under my power... Was intoxicating. It felt good. I breathed in deeply, trying to control my emotions. I didn''t feel like killing this guy right now, but I kept my grip on his arm. However, my doppelg?nger bit my hand holding his wrist and kicked me away. He rolled away from me and stood up, glaring at me with hate and painin his eyes. He bared his teeth at me, snarling, and raised his broken arm.

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.-Wait, didn''t I just snap it? I know I felt his elbow snapping!-

    Regardless, he flexed his previously broken arm, looking from his arm to me, and leered at me.

    -This fucker! Is he taunting me?! Fine, I''ll just have to break your neck as well!-

    I raised my arms, my left hand in front of me, slightly open, and my right hand in a loose fist near my face. My feet were about shoulder width apart, left foot leading. My torso was turned to the side to present less of a target, and I lightly bounced on the balls of my feet. As soon as my doppelg?nger got in my range, I pushed off with my back leg and kicked my front foot into his face. He was not expecting such an attack, and his clumsy attempt to block failed. Even though he was fast, he had no technique. His head was thrown back, and I set my front foot down, pivoted, and roundhouse kicked his head again with my back foot. Immediately after, I kicked his ribs with my left leg. However, even dazed and taking so much damage he was able to wrap his arms around my leg. As soon as he did, I punched his throat and nose with my right hand while at the same time striking his shoulder with an open palm with my left hand, dislocating his shoulder and causing him to drop my leg. I then gouged out his eyes and hit his nose again with an open palm, causing his nasal bones to move up into his brain. Then I side-kicked his knees, snapping them, and let him fall on his face. He had stopped gasping in pain since I hit him in the nose, but I wasn''t taking chances, especially not after he had recovered so easily from a broken arm. I knelt on top of him and placed my hands on his chin and head, and twisted hard, snapping his neck. I felt the crack under my hands, and shivered a bit.

    -Ugh! I can never get used to that, no matter how many times I do that!-

    My blood was still rushing with adrenaline, and I was breathing hard. I placed a finger on his neck, trying to feel for a pulse.

    -Nothing. I really did kill him.-

    I collapsed onto my back, finally relaxing.

    I glanced at my doppelg?nger. He really was in bad shape. His knees were broken and splintered, his shoulder was dislocated, his throat was caved in, his nose was smashed flat, his eyes were bleeding. Suddenly, his body began to glow a bright white light, and his body dissolved into the light, leaving behind a small black stone that shone with a strange internal light. Curious, I picked it up. It was smooth, about as wide as an eye, but flat. A voice echoed from the darkness around me.

    "You have proven your ability to kill... Do not waste the gifts you have been given... Do not hesitate to kill to live... Grow, and become strong... In order to live, kill... Fight for me... You shall be my Champion... Show me I was right in bringing you here..."

    Then the light flickered out of existence.

    "Wait! Who are you?! Where am I?! What gifts?!"

    But the presence was already gone. As soon as the light was completely gone, an intense pain flashed through my body. It felt as if all my bones were breaking and repairing at the same time, and all my muscles and organs were being set on fire. I fell unconscious almost immediately from the pain.

 Chapter 2: World Introduction

    When I woke up, I was lying on soft grass looking up at the clear blue sky. Birds were tweeting, and I could hear a river running in the distance. I had the stone clenched in my hand.

    -Wait, grass?-

    I saw a large creature flying in the sky.

    -... That''s not a bird...-

    I heard a faint roar, and I could barely make out a long tail and bat-like wings.

    -Wait... Is that a freaking dragon?!-

    My eyes widened in amazement, and I jumped up. I looked at my surroundings. I was in the clearing of a forest. The trees were somehow different from what I had seen before, and the birds had subtle difference in their voices.

    -Where am I? Toto, we''re not in Kansas anymore, that''s for sure.-

    I heard a rustling behind me, and I whirled around to see what it was. A beautiful woman in her late teens or early twenties, with blonde hair and brilliant green eyes emerged from the treeline. She was wearing a green dress that reached her knees and was holding a small hunting bow with arrows in a quiver on her back. She had a satchel at her side. Her most striking feature, however, were her long pointed ears. Our eyes met, and she seemed a bit startled. She blushed slightly, and when her eyes lowered she turned completely red. It was then that I realized I was completely naked.

    -Well, shit. This is awkward.-

    I quickly tried to cover myself with both my hands, but it was futile. I glared at the woman, who suddenly covered her eyes.

    -She left a gap! Close your eyes completely, please!-

    "Do you mind? It''s kind of embarrassing having a really hot girl staring at me."

    When I spoke, she snapped out of it, startled by my voice.

    "H-ho-how d-do you s-speak Sylvan, h-human?" The woman stammered out in a surprisingly melodic voice.

    -Human, huh. Can I still be called that, after all I went through at the School, and everything the Hospital did to me?-

    Her face still bright red as her gaze flitted from my face to my... Package.

    "Hah? I''m speaking English lady. Also, can you please stop staring? I''m getting a bit uncomfortable, and just a little aroused."

    "Oh, s-so-sorry." She tried to stop staring, and pointedly looked at my face, but that just caused her to blush more as she met my eyes.

    -Sylvan, huh? Maybe that''s what they call English here. Or maybe... The voice said gifts, and I''m clearly not on Earth anymore, not with freaking dragons flying around!-

    "Hey lady, repeat to me what I''m about to say."

    "Huh? Wh-what? re-repeat what?"

    "Repite esto. El d¨ªa est¨¢ muy bonito."

    "Th-the day is v-very beautiful."

    -So, this must be the gift the voice was talking about. Anyone can understand what I say, and I understand what they are saying. That''s convenient.-

    The woman was still trying to avoid looking at my junk, and I was beginning to feel a little breezy, so I asked, "Lady, do you happen to have something I can cover myself up with? I''m getting a bit cold here."

    The lady snapped out of her trance, and began to rummage around in her satchel.

    -How is she reaching so far into that purse! She''s got her whole arm in it! A woman¡¯s purse really is bottomless¡­-

    She pulled out a dark grey blanket and reached it out to me, covering her eyes.

    I took the blanket and wrapped it like a long skirt around my waist.

    -A bit loose, but it''ll do.-

    "You can open your eyes now."

    The woman lowered her hand from her eyes, then blushed again after taking a look at my uncovered chest and stomach.

    -Jeez lady, what are you?! Some repressed closet pervert?-

    Now that I was covered up, I decided to introduce myself. I walked up to her and held out my hand, saying, "My name is Dante, top Syndicate experiment."

    The woman looked at my hand, then apprehensively took it.

    "M-my name is Yerna of the Greattree."

    "Well, Yerna, can you tell me where I am right now? I''m a bit lost."

    "Ah! Um w-well, we''re in the Thoen Forest."

    "And where is this forest? I mean, what country am I in. What planet is this, even?"

    Yerna tilted her head at my question, as if I were insane.

    "You''re in the continent of Sylva. I don''t know what you mean by planet."

    "I mean like, what is this whole world called. Does it have a name?" I was getting a bit impatient with her, but I can''t blame her. Who wouldn''t be confused if a naked guy suddenly appeared in front of you and started a conversation with you?

    "This world is called Gaia. There are five continents, and right now you are in the middle of Sylva. However, how you, a human, ever got here is a mystery."

    -Sylva? Gaia? Where the hell am I! I was just on the roof of the School building, when a beetle crawled into my chest... The beetle!-

    I reached to my chest and looked down. I felt it. A smooth carapace about as big as a large bottle cap was in the middle of my chest. It wasn''t protruding at all; in fact, it felt as if it had fused with my skin and bone. I couldn''t see it very well, but it looked like an onyx stone was stuck in my chest. A few dark tendrils, like long insect legs, ran under my skin about two inches before disappearing. It was kind of creepy. Yerna tilted her head at me quizzically.

    "What is that?"

    She leaned in to take a closer look, and widened her eyes in amazement.

    "That- it can''t be..."

    "Can''t be what?"

    She stared at me with wide eyes, and grabbed my hand.

    "Come with me! My village is a few minutes from here. I have to get you to Great Mother as soon as possible!"

    Not letting me say anything, she takes off with my hand in hers at high speed. I''m pulled along and stumble a bit before matching her pace. I have to keep my free hand on my makeshift kilt in order to keep it from flying off. We''re running so quickly the trees begin to blur around us. After about ten minutes of non-stop sprinting, we finally reach a large, dense hedge made of vicious-looking plants with large thorns pointing outward. The plants have vibrant purple blossoms, and, taking a closer look at the thorns, I see a clear liquid glistening on the points.

    -Poisonous thorns, huh. They look dangerous. Probably should avoid touching those.-

    Yerna, however, just holds out her hand and doesn''t stop.

    "Whoa, whoa, wait!"

    I try to stop, but momentum keeps me going, and Yerna''s grip is surprisingly strong. I trip, flying forward and crashing into Yerna. We tumble toward the hedge and I close my eyes, waiting for the painful sting of those dangerous-looking thorns. But the pain never comes. Instead, we hit the ground, Yerna landing on top of my chest. I open my eyes, and I''m blinded by the sun. I look at Yerna on my chest, and she looks up at me. She suddenly realizes she''s on top of me and goes beet-red, her eyes tearing up slightly.

    -Oh wow, that''s cute.-

    She quickly rolls off of me and stands, avoiding my gaze.

    -So now you''re shy, huh. Where was that modesty when you were staring at me!-

    I get off my back and stand up, looking around me. I''m in a large dirt clearing, with about fifty wooden huts and one very large wooden building at the end of the rows of huts, and a massive tree directly behind it. A standard village. Except for the fact that what seems like everyone in the village is outside, staring at me. And they''re all women. With ages ranging from about twelve to thirty, all the people in the village look almost exactly like Yerna, some with darker hair, different eye color, larger breasts, some taller or shorter, but all with an obvious resemblance to Yerna. A few looked more warrior-like than others, with toned muscles under their varied armors and several different weapons at their sides, while some were dressed in long gowns and pointy hats, and thin staffs with gems and stones on the ends. An older woman about forty years old steps up to us, causing Yerna to bow deeply, stuttering, "G-good day, Great Mother."

    "My my, it really is a human male. And not bad to look at either." The woman chuckled, looking me over. Her eyes paused at my chest, and a look of amazement flitted across her face when she saw the beetle in my chest.

    "So it''s true," She muttered, "A new Champion of Death is in the world again."

    She looked me in the eyes and said, "Child, what is your name? I am Mithra of the Greattree, the current Great Mother of this village."

    "My name is Dante." I said, smiling and extending my hand. However, in doing so I let my hand go from my grip on my makeshift kilt. I felt it come undone as if in slow motion, the blanket fluttering in the wind. I reached down to catch it, but it was too late. My blanket unfurled, and my third leg was revealed in all its glory. The blanket fluttered to the ground, and everyone''s eyes turned to me. The whole freaking village was staring! My face was frozen in a strained smile.

    -Fuck. What is with my luck today?-

    I could feel everyone''s eyes on my special place. There were several gasps from the women gathered, and a few of the older women covered the eyes of the younger ones.

    -I am so fucked. Aaarrggg I''m so embarrassed I could die! This is easily the worst day of my life!-

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    The Great Mother seemed unfazed, and she just looked on.

    "Oh my. It really does seem you''ve brought us a real man here, Yerna."

    The Great Mother licked her lips, making me shiver.

    -Why do I suddenly feel violated? Goddamn, this day is just getting worse and worse.-

    I hurriedly picked up my treasured blanket and wrapped it around my waist, but the damage was done. I could feel all the blood rush out of my face from the embarrassment and shame, and I could hear some of the women talking.

    "Did you see that?" "It''s so big!" "Are all males like this?" "No I think this one is just special."

    The Great Mother looked me in the eyes with a smile on her face.

    "Ah yes, I remember my days out in the world. Fun times, fun times..." She chuckled, and said, "Well then Dante, I think we should get some proper clothes on you before anything else, then we can talk. Or would you rather stay in that blanket?"

    "I would like some clothes, please," I said weakly.

    "Okay then. Uyala!" The Great Mother called out, and a slim, slightly older version of Yerna stepped out of the crowd, dressed in a tight blue dress that outlined her curves. "Get this young man some of the clothes we have in the storehouse." She turned to me again. "Dante, meet me behind that house over there," she said, pointing to a large wooden three story house with a truly massive tree sprouting out from behind the house.  "We will talk about what you are doing on this world over there. I am sure you have many questions to ask, and I have many things I must find out. Come as soon as you''re dressed." Then the woman named Ulaya came up and clung to my arm. "Come with me darling. We have to get you out of that blanket." She smiled, but her breathing was heavy and she stared at me hungrily.

    -Why are you looking at me like that...- I shivered a bit.

    "And Yerna, go with them," Great Mother chuckled again. "We don''t want Ulaya to scare our new guest away, do we?"

    "Y-yes Great Mother." Yerna bowed clumsily and followed us into a structure directly in front of the main building. Ulaya pouted a bit but didn''t say anything, and pulled me into the building. The building was in reality just a single large room. The moment I entered it became clear to me that this was the village''s storage house. There were racks of weapons of all types, piles of armor and clothes and plenty of other things. Ulaya went to a large pile of clothes and picked out brown pants and a dark grey shirt, with leather boots.

    "This is all we have that might fit you. We don''t usually get males of any humanoid race around here, so I''m not sure these might fit you. These clothes belonged to a dead demi-human we found just outside the village a few years back that died from a poisonous plant that sprayed its venom on him.¡±

    Seeing the dubious expression on my face, Ulaya smiled.

    "Don''t worry, we washed the clothes when we got them. I don''t think the poison that killed him is still dangerous."

    I nodded in satisfaction and eagerly took the clothes from her arms.

    -No underwear? Well, this is going to be uncomfortable.- I sighed. -If underwear doesn''t exist, then I don''t think I should hope for toilet paper, should I?-

    I turned to Ulaya and Yerna. "I''m gonna change now."

    Yerna immediately blushed and turned around. I glared at Ulaya.

    "Fine, fine." Ulaya reluctantly turned around, grumbling. I turned my back to them and dropped my blanket. The pants were, unsurprisingly, extremely itchy.

    -I am not going to wear this without underwear.- I looked back to the blanket.

    -Wait. The blanket was relatively soft...-

    I wrapped the blanket around my waist once again and made sure to tie it securely around my waist. I hoisted all the fabric above my knees and gathered all the extra material in front of me, so the blanket was snug against my backside. Next I pulled the fabric underneath and between my legs backwards. I gathered half of the material in each hand and brought it around in front, tying the excess into a knot. And that is how you gird up your loins!

    -Nice! Kind of like a diaper... Never thought I would ever do this from that one time I learned how men girded their loins before battle using their tunics in history class. Thanks Mr. Joshua!-

    I put on the pants and the shirt, using the thin rope enlaced in the pant''s waist to tie it securely and slipped the black stone into the pants pocket. I had held onto it, somehow. I felt that it would be important later on.

    -No more embarrassing moments ever again! God I forgot how good it feels to wear clothes, even if the shirt is a bit scratchy.-

    I turned back to the girls, saying, "Ok I''m ready. Let''s go."

    Ulaya turned around with a mischievous smile on her face. Yerna was still red in the face, but seemed a bit calmer now. Ulaya, suddenly remembering something, faced me and said, "Oh yeah, Great Mother also said to pick out weapons from here. And, don¡¯t worry about what you choose, go ahead and pick whatever you want!¡±

    -When did Great Mother say that? Oh well, whatever.-

    Elated, I immediately turned back and went over to the racks of weapons. They had everything! How do they even get all these things! I already knew what I wanted. I picked out a small, thin sword with a very sharp point, similar to a smallsword or dwarf version of a rapier from my old world. Actually, it looked more like a spadroon than anything.

    It had an ivory grip and an oval guard barely large enough to cover my hand. The blade was stiff and light, yet flexible enough to not shatter easily. As I examined it, I realized the metal was not iron or steel, as it seemed to shine with a strange light, and the color was a bit¡­ Off.

    -Hmm... Oh well, the blade seems good enough.-

    Something strange, though, was that there were small indentations on the grip, as if it had gems in its grip once and they had been taken out. There were three of these indentations, one on top of the other. I picked a curved machete-like short sword/long dagger with a wooden grip and a steel blade, and finally a slightly curved long sword, similar to a katana. It really did look similar to a katana, with a two-hand grip covered in a soft cloth and a light iron guard to protect the hands. The blade, however, seemed to be made from the same metal the spadroon was, and also had three indentations on the grip under the silky cloth, exactly like the spadroon. I also found a really interesting small crossbow. It had a small cartridge at the bottom, and a complicated firing mechanism. When I looked into the cartridge, I saw a bunch of small bolts.

    -OH MY GOD I FOUND GUTS'' REPEATING CROSSBOW.- Needless to say, I was very excited.

    The spadroon and the katana already had sheathes, the katana''s sheathe was a dark hard wood while the spadroon was leather with wooden core. I picked out a long sash to wrap around my waist and slid my new katana on my left hip and the spadroon to my right. For the machete I just stuck it under my makeshift belt behind me within its rough, worn leather sheathe. I slung the crossbow on my back along with a couple of cartridges of bolts.

    -Ah, it feels good to have familiar weapons with me in an unfamiliar land!-

    Feeling refreshed, I followed Ulaya and Yerna out and around to the back of the large building, to a small garden in front of the massive tree. The tree was much bigger up close, and it blocked out most of the afternoon sun. It was easily as tall as a hundred story building, and wide enough that a hundred people would have to link arms just to get halfway around the trunk. It was clearly very old. A small table and a few chairs where situated in front of the tree, and Great Mother was already seated with several drinks and food, waiting for us. She grinned when she saw us approach, and greeted us. "Oh my, Dante, you wear those weapons like a true warrior." She nodded appreciatively, and motioned for us to sit.

    "Well then, now that you are fully clothed, we must get you acquainted with this world."

    I nodded eagerly, taking a sip of the drink in front of me. It was sweet, with a hint of citrus. It was very good.

    "As I''m sure you''ve noticed by now, you are no longer in your world. This world is called Gaia, and the world is saturated with the energy of Gaia, called mana. There are five main continents on this world: To the west is Furia, a complete wasteland of deserts and volcanoes, but incredibly rich in minerals and ores. It is populated by the dwarves that live under the earth and mountains, and salamander-men that live within the volcanoes, along the fire spirits and cyclops. Connected by a narrow stretch of mountains, to the north of Furia is the mountainous continent of Otta. Otta is mostly unmapped and very harsh, with only a single dwarven city built into the largest mountain at the entrance of the continent that serves as a waypoint for adventurers seeking to test their luck in the wilds of Otta. It also is the breeding grounds for dragons and stone Giants, as well as many other legendary and dangerous creatures. To the very south of the world is the snow continent Kione, populated by snow spirits and ruled by the kingdom of the Ice king and his race of ice creatures. Not much is known about the ice creatures, though it is believed that they are sentient beings of pure ice, brought to life from the experiments of the snow spirits and the high concentration of mana. Kione is connected to the eastern continent of Purga by a natural ice and land bridge. Purga is a lush and diverse continent, the largest after Otta. It has forests and deserts and mountains, and is mostly populated by demons, Demi-humans and humans. This continent is the most developed, and is split between the demon empire and the Demi-human kingdoms, though they are mostly on friendly terms. In the middle of the ocean separating Furia and Purga is this continent, Sylva. It is densely forested and home to wood spirits, elves, pixies, dryads, and many other sentient beings. There are also a few Demi-human races here as well."

    I nodded slightly, absorbing the information as best I could. This was a lot to take in. So I was in a new land, with dangerous creatures and mana saturating the world, and various fantasy races that only existed in books and movies. I grinned in excitement.

    -I like it. Doesn''t seem boring here!-

    Noticing my smile, Great Mother continued, "Do not be naive. Everything in this world can kill you, and many things will go out of their way to do so because of what you are."

 Chapter 3: The God-Beetle

    Author''s Note: Hello to anyone who reads this, chapters may be irregular in size, depends on how I feel. Now, please enjoy.

    Great Mother motioned to my chest. "You are now a Champion of Death, one of the most hated existences in this world. You have been summoned to this world because of an unbalance, and Lady Death has brought you here to set it right. You met the requirements and was chosen by the God-Beetle, and survived the trial of the God-Beetle. You are officially a Champion of Death, a Reaper, a Soul Eater. Your mission in this world is to kill whatever Lady Death wants you to kill, and in order to do so she has gifted you with new abilities. Though they vary from Champion to Champion, the main ones are heightened regeneration, lengthened life span, increase in base strength and speed, increased endurance and reaction speed, tougher skin, heightened senses, universal language understanding, overall increased efficiency of all body functions, and finally the ability to find your target, wherever they may be. There may be more abilities, but those you must find and train yourself."

    As Great Mother was listing all these abilities, I noticed that I really did feel stronger and lighter on my feet. My mind was clear, and I could even hear the beating of Yerna''s heart if I listened close enough.

    I looked at Great Mother. I was curious about something, so I asked, "Great Mother, what exactly are you? Some sort of elf?" I was thinking about the elves I saw in movies, with blond hair and pointy ears. Great Mother burst out laughing.

    "Haha! Do we look like one of those puny mischievous devils? No no no, we are a type of dryad. We are all born from the Mother Tree," she said, pointing up to the tree we are sitting under. "We can live for several centuries, millennia if we are careful, and we are able to communicate basic messages to each other mentally. That is also why I knew about you when you came here. Yerna sent me a message beforehand, when she realized what you might be. When we die, we are buried under the Mother Tree, absorbed and used as nourishment by the Mother Tree and reborn from the fruit of the Mother Tree after a period of time, though most of the time we forget the memories of our past lives. We are one of the few races that are all female, though we can reproduce through copulation if we so desire." She looked pointedly at Yerna. "Yerna is actually my direct daughter. All females born from us are born as dryads, connected to Mother Tree, and all males as the race their fathers are from."

    Next I asked something that had been on my mind for some time since she mentioned it. "What is mana?"

    "Mana, as I''ve said before, is the energy exuded from the planet, and allows for feats of magic." She held up her hand and opened it. I suddenly felt a strange pressure from her palm, as if she were pulling the very atmosphere, or energy around us into a point on her palm. Water droplets began to gather in her palm, and soon she had a sphere of water in her hand. Then she shot it at a nearby bird so quickly the bird didn''t even have time to react, and it disappeared in a mist of red and feathers.

    -I thought dryads loved nature and animals...-

    She continued, "However, in order to manipulate it, one must have a high sense for it. If one has sense, their manipulation of mana will manifest as certain attributes of magic, the most common being fire, water, earth, wind, and certain enchantments or enhancements. Different races also have more affinities to different attributes according to their races. For example, we dryads have an affinity for the attribute of water and nature magic.¡±

    -So I might be able to do magic!- I felt a rush of excitement. Magic! Something that I could only imagine doing in my old world! The ability to manipulate the elements! The very energy of the world!

    I still had more questions, but I could see Great Mother was getting tired, and it was getting late, so I asked one more.

    "What are God-Beetles?"

    "Ah, yes, the God-Beetles. God-Beetles are the manifestations of the will of the gods. A God will send one out, and they will seek someone to become the Champion of that god. When the Beetles find a suitable Champion, they will burrow into them, and become a part of them. They will test the Champion, and if they pass, the Beetle will endow the Champion with gifts from the patron god. All Champions are respected and feared by all races, because to be the Champion of a god is to be the hand of the god. You are literally the will of the god, and gods are the manifestations of what they represent. To be under the protection of your patron god is something truly amazing, as you will have the potential to become a god yourself. And though most gods are respected and loved along with their Champions, there are exceptions. Champions of the Goddess of Chaos, Goddess of Death, God of Famine, God of Pestilence, Goddess of Misfortune, and others are all hated for what they represent, and are usually shunned and killed, if possible. We, however, respect the Goddess of Death due to her relationship with the Goddess of Nature, our race''s patron Goddess. According to legend, the Goddess of Nature and the Goddess of Death are very close friends and allies within the Pantheon of the Gods.¡±

    -Well, this is a lot to take in.- I sighed and took a sip of my drink. A couple minutes passed before Great Mother looked up at the sky. It had gotten pretty dark, and the sun had almost set.

    "Dante, it is time to say good night. Tonight, you will most likely receive a message from Lady Death explaining why you are here. Ulaya, take Dante to his room. Yerna, stay with me for a little, we have to talk."

    I was still bursting with more questions, but I also knew that Great Mother was right. So I thanked Great Mother for her time, and let Ulaya lead me into the big house. It was more like an inn, really, and she led me to a room on the second floor. It was rather cozy, with a small bed placed against the wall and a desk and chair in the corner. It had a window looking out into the town, and I could see the villagers going about their business. I placed my weapons on the desk and turned to thank Ulaya for her help, but as soon as I opened my mouth she had locked her lips around mine, pressing her body into mine. For a second I was flustered, but I regained my composure quickly. Until she began using her tongue. By then, my mind had overheated and blanked out. She released me and looked into my eyes, her face red. I could feel her heart beating quickly in her chest, and I was feeling very hot. I wasn''t sure what to do! I had spent all of my life in the various Syndicate branches, being trained and experimented on, and had not really had much contact with the opposite sex. The only girl my age I had ever spent time with... Sasha. A flood of memories caused me to break from her gaze. My eyes were burning as I held back my tears.

    "What''s wrong?" Ulaya had concerned look in her eyes.

    "I''m sorry. There''s some things I have to deal with... I''ll see you tomorrow." I smiled at her and gently pushed her out the door. It was clear she wanted to continue, but the look in my eyes stopped her. She nodded, and left the room. I could tell she was disappointed, but I can¡¯t do this yet. It was nice knowing that a beautiful woman had interest in me, but I can¡¯t accept her affection. Not until¡­ I turned my gaze back to her receding figure until she disappeared down the stairs, and closed the door quietly. I slowly took off my pants and shirt, tossing them next to my weapons, and pulled off my boots and sat on my bed. A wave of fatigue hit me, and I collapsed on the mattress. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

    =======================================

    It was dark. So dark. The cold steel of my cage caused my small three year old body to shiver. My body hurt from the most recent dose of injections and experiments. My head was burning, and I felt as if I was dying. I began to cry softly.

    ¡°D-don''t cry,¡± a soft voice whimpered out to me from my right, and in the darkness I could barely make out another cage, and a figure even smaller than me shivering in the confines of the cage.

    ¡°D-don''t cry, or I''ll cry. W-what¡¯s your name?¡± The person asked tremulously, clearly holding back their own tears.

    I tried to stop my sniveling enough to answer.

    ¡°C-C1."

    "No, your real name.¡±

    I though for a bit. My name was C1, but that was just the name of an experiment. An object that had been created, not a human that had been born. I tried to think. What was my name? I dimly remembered someone calling me something, among all the memories of pain and suffering¡­ Dante. Was that my name? I guess so.

    "D-Dante..."

    ¡°D-dante? I''m S-Sasha.¡±

    "S-Sasha..."

    "Dante... Can w-we be friends?"

    I saw the outline of the child move slowly and painfully to me and stretch a hand out from the bars of the cage. I stayed still for a moment, and moved to take the hand. It was warm. The warmth seemed to spread through my body, and I could barely make out the figure. It was a girl. Her head was shaved bare, just like mine. She had no clothes on, just like me. She had clear, shining gray eyes, just like me. And I could barely make out leathery appendages spreading from her back. Just like mine.

    The memory shifted, and I was suddenly back in the dark place where I had fought my doppelg?nger. But instead of my doppelg?nger, a beautiful woman with flawless ivory skin, and black hair that flowed down to her lower back, wearing a black strapless dress that could just barely keep her voluptuous breasts from spilling out. Her teeth were perfect, and her deep black eyes seemed to swallow me up.

    -Wow. She''s beautiful!-

    The woman smiled, and said, "Glad you think so."

    -Fuck! She can read my mind? Shit! Shit! Gotta hide my pervy thoughts!- I struggled to banish all the previous thoughts I had as soon as I saw her, but to no avail.

    "I can still hear you. So you want to do this and that, huh." She flashed me a smile. "Maybe later. You do seem like an... Exciting young man." She glanced over me, making me instinctively cover myself. I cleared my throat, and she snapped her gaze back to my face.

    "So. You''re Lady Death, right?¡±

    ¡°Yup," She smiled proudly.

    "Soooo... Why am I here? Why did you summon me to this world?¡±

    Lady Death perked up. "Oh that. No reason really. I just wanted a Champion! I was getting bored, and my last toy... I mean, Champion died a little while ago. Choked on a fish bone, can you believe it?" She scoffed incredulously.

    My jaw hit the floor.

    -Whaaaaaaattttt?!?!-

    "Waitwaitwait! Don''t you usually summon Champions when there''s an imbalance in the world? When I have to play hero and keep the balance?¡±

    "Hmm? Who told you that? I just summon Champions whenever I feel like it. It''s always fun when us gods get together and pit our Champions against the world," she said, laughing.

    "So I''m not here for any higher purpose? I''m just here ''cause you''re bored?"

    "Pretty much." She nodded proudly. "Also, you settle disputes between me and other gods against their Champions."

    "So you tore me out of my world, dug a fucking beetle into my chest, made me fight myself, dropped me naked in front of a hot chick, all for fun?" I was fuming! This lady just casually plucked me up and made me a stranger in a strange land!

    -Who is she, to tear me away from everything I know!-

    "Well, for one, I''m an all powerful God of Death."

    -Fuck! I forgot she could do that! Damn, this is going to get annoying!-

    "Really? I always thought it was convenient."

    -Goddamnit!-

    "What do I damn?" She looked at me with an amused gleam in her eyes.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.-She''s fucking playing with me!-

    "Yup, I definitely am. Anyway, let me ask you one thing, so calm down a moment. Weren''t you bored there? You had nothing there to live for. All that was left were painful memories. In my opinion, I''ve given you a good reason to live again."

    -Hmm. That''s true. I had almost no friends, and I was bound to be killed eventually. This does seem like a good chance to start over.-

    "I know right?"

    ¡°Damn it, stay out of my head, will you?"

    "Haha, I just can''t help it! I''m already having fun!" She was laughing so hard tears were in her eyes.

    Lady Death calmed down, and waved her arm. A bed appeared, and she plopped down, patting the place beside her. I reluctantly sat down, but as soon as I did, she squealed and jumped into my lap.

    -Is this really the ageless manifestation of Death?-

    "Of course I am!"

    -Gah!-

    "Stop that! It''s freaky!"

    Lady Death giggled. "Anyway," she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Lets explain stuff, alright?"

    She brought one of her hands to my chest and tapped the beetle in my sternum.

    "This little guy is my God-Beetle. I created him purely out of my will, but I never controlled him completely. All I did was create him, and program him to find someone worthy of becoming my Champion. Like that, he traveled across worlds, galaxies, universes, dimensions, timelines, whatever. After that, it''s up to him to choose someone worthy enough. Usually, he tries to find someone that fits my type of guy, but last time he couldn''t. Good thing he could this time!" She giggled and patted my head playfully. "Continuing. All God-Beetles give the same basic abilities and enhancements, but sometimes us gods agree to give our Champions more than what is the basic." She grinned. "This is one of those times. I am allowed to give you one more gift other than what you already have, which are heightened regeneration, a lengthened life span, increased base strength and speed, increased base endurance and reaction speed, tougher skin, heightened senses, universal language understanding, overall increased efficiency of all body functions, and finally the ability to find your target, wherever they are. Of course, you can train all of these abilities and make them stronger. All your abilities can grow with you, and if you work hard enough, you can even become a god!"

    "That''s great, but I have a few questions. Why did you have me fight myself? And what is that stone I got from him? A rare boss drop?"

    ¡°Oh yeah, your doppelg?nger! He was part of the trial to become a Champion. The gist of it is, if you can defeat yourself with the base physical abilities of the gifts, then you are worthy of the gifts."

    "Ok, I get that, but what''s with the stone? I know it''s important, but what do I do with it?"

    Lady Death smiled.

    ¡°Yes, the stone. Part of it has to do with the world itself, and part of it has to do with becoming my Champion. Any enemy you kill will have a chance of dropping a condensed part of their soul, which will form into a rock. This rock can be absorbed into one¡¯s body, however that will yield little to no results. So, the inhabitants of this world have developed a special metal that can absorb the stone with a much higher success rate. This metal is called soul-steel. Any weapon made of this metal can therefore be reinforced by the condensed souls of their enemies. Of course, there is a limit. Most of these weapons can only hold three stones, and will shatter if you use more. There are exceptions, of course, such as the higher graded weapons with a greater purity of the metal can absorb more stones. Each soul will give different reinforcements depending on the defeated enemy. For example, a Diamond Scaled Serpent will give a weapon higher durability and sharpness, or a mage of the fire attribute will infuse the weapon with flame damage. You can even combine stones of different attributes, or stack the effects of an attribute!¡±

    -This! Amazing!-

    My mind was reeling from this information. So many possibilities! Lady Death grinned at my reaction, and said, "But that''s not all! I have yet to explain the effects of being my Champion have on these stones. Now listen closely, because this is important."

    She licked her dry lips, and continued. "If you defeat an enemy stronger than you, and they drop a stone, you will have an eighty percent chance of gaining their special ability from ingesting it, and a ninety-five percent chance of gaining some of their knowledge! You must remember, the success rate of this happening with a regular person is only a five percent chance, and they would never get the knowledge as well! The stone you obtained from your doppelg?nger is one of these soul-stones.¡±

    -This is amazing! The more I defeat stronger enemies, the stronger I can get! And the knowledge! This is truly amazing! That means I could learn all magic here if I kill a bunch of magicians!-

    My mouth was already watering from the thought of obtaining strong soul-stones. Imagine if I kill a dragon! Or maybe even a god! Is that even possible?

    "However," she interrupted my thoughts. "You must be aware, that these stones are literally condensed pieces of a strong entity''s soul. They still contain the will and part of the consciousness of the entity, and if you ingest a strong soul, they will try to fight back. If your will is not strong enough, you will lose yourself, and your body will be taken over by the remnants of the soul."

    -So, there was a catch. Of course there was. However, I will take the risks! I am confident in my willpower. The years I spent at the School, the torture I went through at the Hospital... I can do this!-

    Lady Death chuckled at my thoughts.

    ¡°Yes, my little Champion. Grow strong. Prove to me you are worth it." She swiveled on my lap and wrapped her legs around me, pressing herself up to me and bringing her face up to mine.  I could feel her two large pillows pressing against me, and her breath tickled my cheek. I felt myself blushing furiously, but I held my ground. "If you get to me, I might just reward you with something good!"

    She giggled seductively and got up from my lap.

    -That... That is actually great incentive.-

    I curled my lips into an eager grin.

    "Oh, don''t worry. I''ll find a way to get to you. Just wait, I''ll become a god! And get some¡­ rewards!¡±

    She chuckled. "Oh really? Will you really? You know, you have a long way to go. In this world, even with your gifts and training, you are still much weaker than many beings here." She mused, "If I''m not wrong, you should be at around the C rank in strengh, according to the system set by the adventurers."

    -Well, shit, that doesn''t sound too good.- I grimaced.

    Then, I suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, what about magic? Do I get any perks from being a Champion of Death?"

    She got a thoughtful look on her face. "Hmm, all Champions are supposed to have a high magical affinity, due to their nature. Come to think of it, I haven''t even tested you for affinities yet."

    She motioned for me to get up. She then grabbed my arm gashed my palm with her surprisingly sharp nails. Then she licked the blood.

    -Ooh, that''s kinky!-

    She looked up at me, and I remembered she could read my mind.

    -I really have to watch myself around her.-

    She swished my blood around in her mouth, and swallowed.

    "Hmm, not bad. Not too sweet, with a slightly spicy flavor. Leaves a nice aftertaste."

    -Really?! Do I look like a wine bottle to you!?-

    "Anyway, moving on, you do seem to have an abnormally high sensitivity to mana. This certainly helps. Most people believe affinity judges what magic you can do, but that is untrue. Being able to feel the energy of the planet and the universe is much more important, as you will be able to understand the flow of mana and bend it to your will. They also believe that you can only learn through incantations and have a few elemental manifestations of magic, but that is false. If you can bend mana to your will, you can manipulate it and manifest it into different things. Basically, if you are strong enough, you can literally bend reality to your will through mana. This is basically what gods do. However, it is true that some people have an easier time imagining different elements, due to their environment and personality. Honestly, for you, the best thing to do is just use the meditation techniques you learned on Earth in order to feel mana and eventually manifest magic. In the end, magic is determined by your ability to feel the mana, and to imagine a manifestation in reality."

    -Sweet! That seems pretty simple! There has to be a catch...-

    "However..."

    -Yup.- I sighed in dismay.

    "This is harder than you think, and even more difficult to use in battle. In fact, it is much more efficient to practice one move continuously, and attach a word or phrase to it. This is the basic theory behind incantations. So, just start with something simple, like a fire ball or water bullet. It takes years to master magic, and many lifetimes to even get halfway to the power of a newborn god. Of course, with your ability to absorb knowledge and abilities, this process can be sped up. So, in the mean time, kill as many strong things as you can and send them to me!" She smiled sweetly.

    -That isn''t something you say while smiling like that...-

    Her smile turned evil and scary.

    -Yup, that''s the smile... Now an evil cackle would make you the perfect witch! Ow!-

    I rubbed my head where her fist had hit, and I could see a dangerous looking vein popping out on her forehead.

    "You little--hrm!" She crossed her arms and looked down at her wrist.

    "Wow, look at the time! It''s about time for me to go, you have an appointment with Morpheus soon."

    -You don''t even have a watch!-

    "Anyway, enjoy your gifts, and work hard. Watch out for everything, especially other Champions. Almost everything in this world hates you for being my Champion, so take care of yourself." She turned and began to shimmer, gradually disappearing.

    "Wait! What was the last gift that you said you were allowed to give?"

    She cackled evilly. "Oh don''t worry, you''ll find out in the morning. Be grateful, I had to beg on my knees to Venus to get it for you! Oh yeah, and don''t be ashamed of what you are. You really have been created very well, even if you don''t think so. Accept what you are, and everything will go much smoother for you." With that, she disappeared and I dropped back into my dreams.

 Chapter 4: Wings and Leaving the Village

    Author''s Note: Sup! New chapter, sorry about the pacing, I know it might be a bit slow so far, but bear with me! I want to develop Dante''s character a little more before fully immersing into the world. Also, note that the slavery system legal in this world follows something similar to ancient Roman slavery. Early American slavery was what we are most used to imagining, but in reality, slavery was much less cruel before that, even if it was still a terrible thing.  People were still considered people even as slaves, and had certain rights. Of course, this world does have a cruel side to it''s slavery, and you will see that later. Once again, analysis is greatly appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy!

    ==============================

    The Syndicate was an extremely organized, yet cruel. We were given no free will, and we all had to follow the Syndicate orders. Within the Hospital Branch, were I had been born and raised for the first three years of my life (ie. experimented on, tortured, modified, etc.) there were several series of experiments being conducted, all with different purposes in forcing evolution through artificial means. There were two main branches of experiments: mental strengthening that delved into psychic abilities, and physical adaptation and artificial evolution. I belonged to the latter, in a series of experiments known as the C series. However, not a lot of children survived the experiments of the psychic branch, and even less in the physical adaptations branches. When we turned four, all children who had survived the experiments at the Hospital were sent to the School Branch in order to learn basic knowledge and survival techniques. The moment we entered , we began an intensive martial arts training. The Syndicate hadn¡¯t spared any expenses and had hired the best martial artists from around the world to train all 200 Hospital survivors. Of course, they were sworn to secrecy, and not allowed to form any meaningful connections with us.We learned Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Aikido, Capoeira, Boxing, Wing Chun, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Command Sambo, Fencing, Kenjutsu, and plenty others. We trained under these masters and had the basics beaten into us, every day for about two years without rest. This, of course, eliminated a few more of us. But we didn''t go further from the basics. When we had proven that we had mastered all the basics through tests and the master¡¯s own judgment. we were ordered to develop our own style of fighting using what we have been taught. Failing to do so would mean elimination. Even in our young minds, we understood what was at risk. Sasha and I along with three others had been in the same Hospital room, part of the C series, and so they had the same experiments conducted on us. Us five had survived the experiments that took away our humanity, and we were the only survivors out of a hundred other experiments in the C series.

    ====================

    ¡°Dante!" A shrill voice called out to me, and small body came barreling at me from down the hall as soon as I left the simulation room. This room had been the final test of the Hospital, testing the effectiveness of the final products their experiments. I was the last to be tested, and I had passed with flying colors. One of the others hadn''t been so lucky. When he failed, he was dragged kicking and screaming down the hall by the men in white coats and masks. Sasha crashed into me, tears of relief streaming down her face.

    "Uaa! I was so worried that you had failed too! It was so hard for me to get them to work properly, and I thought you wouldn''t be able to do it, especially because you hate them the most even if you were born with them,¡± she cried out, hugging me tightly.

    I gently ran my hand through her black hair that had begun to grow in, trying to comfort her.

    "Sasha, even if I hate them, I still know how to use them instinctively. They are a part of me. I was more worried about you, because you had them attached after birth! I thought you wouldn''t be able to get the muscles working properly, even after everything I told you."

    The door to the simulation room opened once more, and a tall man in a white lab coat and mask walked out. He glared at us, and Sasha let go of me quickly.

    ¡°You are the survivors of the C series. I will now assign you new numbers, according to your potential and the score you obtained in this final test." Pointing at me, he said, "C1. You will remain C1." He turned to the others. "C4. You are now C2. C3 you will remain C3. C12. You are now C4." He finally turned to Sasha. I couldn''t see his face through the mask, but I knew he was annoyed, yet grudgingly accepted the fact that one of the least likely to survive actually did so. "C99, you are now C5." He turned to look at all of us. "Now that I have assigned you all your new names, you are to be taken to the School Branch. There you will live as normal a school life as possible, and mingle with the other survivors of the experiments. This is in order to stabilize your psychological condition, but you will still be assigned training regimens in order to keep you in optimal shape, as well as to train the results of four years of experimenting." He glared at us with his icy blue eyes. "Remember, you are the next step in evolution for the human race. So, train hard." His eyes gleamed with a terrible light. "And remember, if you do not master your wings, you will be disposed of."

    ==================

    I woke up in cold sweat. Sunlight flooded the room in bright morning light.

    -Fuck... I didn''t want to remember that.-

    I lay on my bed a while in my makeshift underwear. I felt a dull ache in my face, as if someone had sat on my face for the whole night. I got up and put my pants on.

    -She said to accept what I am, but can I really do that? I hate the Syndicate too much, and what I am is the peak result of their experiments. Ah well, it can''t hurt. Even if I hate them, you have to admit that flying is pretty fun-

    So I stood in the middle of the room. It was about four meters across at the longest point, which was perfect for what I wanted. So I slowly began to stretch my wings out. A few creaking bones and popping joints later, I was standing in the middle of the room with my bat-like wings stretched out to their full wingspan of four meters. They extended from the middle of my back, with a large membrane of skin covering them. Fully stretched out, the skin was almost transparent, and the sunlight caused the blood vessels and bones to show through the skin, crisscrossing along my wings. They really looked like long arms spreading from my back, with elongated fingers at the end, everything covered with a thin layer of my tan skin. The underside of my wings was a bit paler though, having never seen much sun, a color similar to the palms of my hands. I even had small, wickedly sharp claws were the thumbs would be. Exactly like a bat. I rotated them about for a little, stretching them and easing the stiffness out. Then I folded them back in. For now, I didn''t want to show them, as they might be considered strange or outright abominations here, and I don¡¯t want to take any chances. Completely folded in, they blended right into my back, making it look as if I have abnormally large back muscles. They didn''t look very out of place, except for my overall lean appearance. I am not a very large person, and I did not have large muscles, though they were very dense and extremely well formed. The last time I had a health and fitness test in the School I was estimated to have around five to seven percent body fat. Of course, this was all result of Syndicate testing and drugs, as well as School Branch training.

    *Knock knock*

    "Come in."

    The door opened, and in walked a trio of Ulaya, Yerna and Great Mother.

    -Ah! My shirt!-

    I turned around and got my shirt from the desk, and heard a gasp.

    "Dante, your back!"

    "Hah?"

    I turned to face them, and Yerna and Ulaya gasped, while Great Mother chuckled.

    ¡°D-Dante, your face!" Ulaya pointed at my face, and Yerna blushed furiously.

    "What? What''s wrong with my face?"

    "It''s beautiful! You didn''t tell us you were a noble class demon! What kind of magic did you use to hide it yesterday?"

    "My face? Demon?"

    I reached up to touch my face, feeling around. My skin felt smoother than before, my cheekbones seemed higher, my teeth were sharper and my canines longer. Even my ears were slightly longer and more pointed. I even felt a small pair of horns barely poking out of my hair! I rushed to my katana and pulled it out of its sheathe, looking at my reflection on the polished blade.

    "Gah!"

    I dropped the sword as soon as I saw my reflection, immensely surprised at my reflection.

    -I''m... I''m...I''m beautiful! It''s me, but not really me! What did you do Lady Death!? Is this the gift you had to beg Venus for?-

    I imagined an evil cackling in the background, and an image of a certain smirking goddess.

    "Ah, it seems you have obtained the blessing of Venus! Interesting! When she gives a blessing, she will alter a person''s looks to be more beautiful, as well as give them an aura of charisma and trustiness. I can just barely see the residual trademark magic of Venus. You are very lucky, boy! Venus rarely ever gives her blessing, as her recipients usually become dangerously beautiful,¡± Great Mother said, praising my new look.

    -How can she tell so easily? Just who is this woman? She talks about gods as if she¡¯s met them before¡­ How old is she, really?-

    Ulaya was practically drooling, and Yerna was blushing so hard I was afraid her head would burst.

    Great Mother, seeing this said, "Dante, you should probably wear a hood or a scarf of some kind until you learn to suppress the aura. Your face combined with the aura of Venus will draw a lot of attention, and the aura will augment any impulses or feelings a person has to you. In the mean time... Yerna! Ulaya! Snap out of it, or I''ll make you both leave!"

    Ulaya snapped back to reality and wiped some drool off her face, but still looked at me full on, not hiding anything. Yerna, still blushing, tried to distract herself and look the other way, but would occasionally sneak glances at me. Great Mother grinned mischievously. I turned around and put my shirt on, tied my sash around my waist and slid my weapons through, placing my katana back into its sheathe.

    "Oh yeah, what is that on your back? It wasn''t there yesterday. Is that part of the blessing too, Great Mother?" Ulaya looked at Great Mother with a curious expression on her face.

    -What could possibly be on my back? A tattoo or something?-

    "What''s on my back?"

    "Well, there''s this interesting black pattern on your back. Kind of looks like a black skeletal outline of bat wings."

    I began to panic. -Whhaaaaaatt! Goddamn, did Lady Death already try to reveal my secret!?-

    "Oh my oh my! That¡¯s right, that is certainly a special mark!" Great Mother said, turning to me.

    "Dante, are you sure you are not a demon from one of the demon families? Or maybe, back in your world, were you some kind of royalty?¡±

    "I''m certainly not from this world, if that''s what you mean. I come from a world with technology much more advanced than what I have seen and heard of here, though we have no magic. Though, I''m not sure you could call me human..."

    Great Mother tilted her head quizzically. "What do you mean?"

    I sighed. "Well, in my world, there was an ancient world wide organization called the Syndicate, whose ultimate goal was to advance and evolve humanity. They virtually controlled the whole world, and were in the governments of all countries. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that they ruled the world. Anyway, in order to accomplish their goal, they would experiment on children and newborns, and try to artificially create a superior, ¡®evolved¡¯ human. I am one of the survivors of those experiments. It would be more accurate to call me a mutant, or ''the new human.¡¯¡± I added the last part sarcastically. Sure, I far outstripped normal humans in speed, strength, intelligence, endurance, virility, etc., but I never considered myself human. I was an abomination, a freak of nature. I was conceived in a test tube, born from an artificial womb. I was never human.

    "Hmm, well that is curious indeed. The markings you bear, are the markings of the noble demon family, Luciferus. They have the same markings of black skeletal wings on their backs. However," she rubbed her brow, thinking. "They usually have bat-like wings as well, and their markings trace the bones of their wings.¡±

    -What? This was totally planned! Lady Death, this can''t be a coincidence! Did you also get Venus to do this as well?-

    "What kind of influence do the demons have in this world?¡± I asked, curious. Maybe this could be a good thing. I wouldn¡¯t need to hide my wings anymore¡­

    Ulaya suddenly got a dreamy look as soon as I asked. "The demons are the most beautiful race by far, especially among the upper echelons of the demon ranks. Of course, the lower in rank and family, the more grotesque a demon is, but the nobility are on average extremely beautiful!¡± Ulaya explained excitedly. She seemed very¡­ Passionate about beauty.

    "Ahem." Great Mother cleared her throat and glared at Ulaya, making her grin sheepishly.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Ulaya continued. ¡°Currently the demon empire is the most powerful nation in the world. They have an alliance with the Demi-human kingdom as well. They currently have strained relations with the forces of the Kione continent, who are second in military strength to the demon empire. The dwarves, the foremost explorers of the world, and the most populous after the Demi-humans and humans, are currently neutral. They are the wealthiest nation, with the most expansive trade routes. The Sylvan alliance, made up of the leaders of the various races of the continent Sylva, are rather conservative and by far the weakest militarily. The only reason we have not been invaded and conquered is because of our magical advancement and research. We are the most magically advanced, and have contributed the most to magical research and development. What we lack in military strength and numbers, we make up for in magical defense and protection. Demons are second, dwarves and the other humanoid races are after. The inhabitants of Kione are beings of magic, and so cannot be compared in magical intuition and instinct. They are almost like intelligent magical beasts in that aspect. Fortunately, they do not bother with magical advancement, mostly because they consider themselves above that, and do not like any magic that is not related to their ice and water attributes.¡± Ulaya shivered a bit. "Imagine if they advanced their magical research. They would undoubtedly be the most powerful! Fortunately, they do not fare well in warm environments, and so are reluctant to explore and conquer dwarven and Sylvan lands. Though they have been known to send small excursions into southern Purga, they mostly keep to themselves and stay within their continent.¡±

    Stolen story; please report.

    I pondered a bit on this information. So, I currently looked like a demon noble, who are part of the most powerful empire. That¡¯s convenient! And they usually had wings as well! So I wouldn''t be persecuted for my wings! But then I realized something.

    "What about humans? You mentioned something about them, but do they not have a kingdom or land?"

    "Hmm, the humans¡­¡± Great Mother gazed into the distance, lost in memory.

    "Humans are native inhabitants of the demon and Demi-human lands, but can be found practically anywhere. They are by far the most populous race, and come from the union of certain demons and Demi-humans, but inherited the weaker traits of both races. They are physically weaker, slower, and less magically powerful than the demons, and are less intelligent on average than the demi-humans. They are, however, the most balanced race. They can become physically stronger than most demons with enough training, and can be born more intelligent than many Demi-humans. They have no general racial magic attributes, and so can learn any branch of magic with relative ease. They also do not have an empire because their empire is the demon empire. The demon emperors have always known that humans can be very valuable assets and have near unlimited potential as a race, and so they have always taken a human as their first wife, or husband if the demon ruler is an empress. They have granted all humans citizenship to the demon empire and the Demi-human kingdom. Most humans consider the human empress/emperor their ruler, and answer only to her/him. The humans are found everywhere, and many have reached very influential positions in most nations. They are a very dominant race. Of course, humans are also the race that is deemed the greediest, and so all other races keep a close eye on them, in case they try to harm the other races. It has happened before, too. Once, about two hundred years ago, a human King was born, and rallied together a massive army of humans. He managed to take over most of the demon and Demi-human continent, Purga, and would have moved on into Kione. They are also the cruelest race. During that war, they committed the gravest atrocities, killing civilians without cause, raping children, enslaving and torturing many without reason, leading them to their deaths¡­ For that reason, humans are still hated by many, including the current demon emperor, who is said to have watched his mother and sisters brutally raped and killed by many human soldiers, and his father tortured and killed. He himself was tortured, but not killed. Of course, he still took a human wife as is custom, and gives humans citizenship to the demon empire, but he tries to keep them in as low power positions as possible within his empire."

    -That''s strange... I thought war was usually conducted like that. I know that in my world, for most of history the losers in war were pillaged and destroyed. Is that not how war is here? I would have thought, how this is a medieval/fantasy sort of setting they would have that as a normal facet of war. Of course, I agree, humans are shit creatures. They tortured and experimented on me and thousands of other children, all for the sake of ''advancing'' the human race.-

    Seeing my expression, Great Mother quickly said, "I do not know how war is conducted in your world, but here all soldiers are expected to honor certain rules set by the God of War. In fact, that is the reason the humans lost the war two hundred years ago. The gods themselves sent demi-gods and Champions and utterly annihilated the human army. Here, the rules the God of War has set say: the rape of children is absolutely forbidden, killing and torture of civilians and non-combatants must be minimal, and enslavement must be conducted with real chances of freedom available within the slave''s lifetime. Slaves are even given certain rights, like, a master cannot kill a slave on a whim, they must treat them like people and not like animals, etc. These are the only rules in war, set by the God of War himself and approved by the Pantheon of the Gods, and the humans violated them."

    Great Mother shivered, as if remembering terrible things. I could almost see reflections of terrible memories in her green eyes.

    "It was truly terrible, what the humans did," Great Mother whispered. "The demons are not gentle either, following the rules at the bare minimum, but at least they follow them. The humans outright broke them. What they did, was worse than what any demon ever did. And the demons are by far the cruelest in war."

    -Wow... So humans are total assholes in this world too... Good to know. At least my principles are already followed here: no rape or inhumane slavery. Besides, anyone who fights to kill and torture should always be prepared to die and to be tortured. Learned that at the School the hard way.-

    The mood in the room was much gloomier now. Yerna was staring with wide eyes at Great Mother, pale in the face. Ulaya was looking down, shivering. Great Mother had a distant look in her eyes, with tears welling up from the terrible memories of what she had seen. My own face was slightly contorted in disgust just from having heard the deeds of the humans in this world.

    -Pretty glad I look like a demon now. I can''t believe I used to hate the Syndicate for taking away my humanity. I think... I think it''s good what they did to me. I was never human, but I wanted to be. Guess this was the final straw then. Here I don''t have to be human. I can be better. And my wings... Are not something to be ashamed of.-

    The words of Lady Death echoed in my ears.

    -Should I really show them? I hate what I have done, and what I have done is a result of what I was born as. These wings are proof of what I am, and what I have been forced to do for the Syndicate.-

    I was tempted to open my wings then and there, to test Great Mother¡¯s reaction, but I thought it over. This was the only shirt my size they had, and I didn''t want to take it off right now or rip it. So instead, I took out the black stone I had gotten from my doppelg?nger out of my pocket.

    Holding it up for Great Mother to see, I asked her, "How do I use this?"

    Upon seeing it, a look of surprise flitted across her face.

    "Where did you get that?"

    "Ah, Lady Death¡­¡± Which was technically true.

    "That seems to be a very rare soul stone! The luster, the aura coming from it, all show signs of a powerful stone! Speaking of which, what has Lady Death told you?"

    "Ah, well she explained the stones, magic, my abilities, that stuff,¡± I said, shrugging slightly.

    "Well, so you know you have a chance to obtain the abilities of whatever that came from, or to put it into your weapon. My suggestion is to use it on your weapon. It seems like a very valuable soul stone, and I think it might be better make your weapon stronger right now."

    I thought about it a bit. This came from my doppelg?nger, with all the abilities I currently have, so basically increased speed, strength, stamina, and regeneration. So if I took it, would my abilities double? Or if I put it into my weapon, would it be able to regenerate? Be stronger?

    -Wait, if I absorbed it, would it even work? He was stronger than me at the moment when we fought, but now... Ugh, so confusing!-

    So I decided to follow Great Mother''s advice.

    "How do I put it into my sword?"

    "Well, it''s as simple as holding it against an indentation on the sword meant to hold it. Of course, you can only hold as many stones as there are indentations. However, you can take them out to exchange with others. So don''t worry about that. However, if you absorb it into yourself, it will be lost forever if you fail to absorb it completely.¡±

    So I took my katana out, slid the cloth covering the grip off and held the soul-stone against the uppermost indentation on the grip. The stone seemed to sink into the indentation, and appeared completely melded into the grip. I looked for some noticeable changes in the sword, but the only thing that changed was that the blade seemed a shade darker.

    -Well, I guess that means it worked,- I thought to myself, seeing the slight change in color.

    -Not sure what it will do, though.-

    So I turned to Great Mother.

    "How do I know what the effect is? How do I tell?"

    "Well, to do that, you need to know from what the soul came from. There is actually a book that has recorded most of the effects certain beasts'' souls will have. It is a bit expensive, though, and can only be bought in the demon empire and the dwarven empire.¡±

    -Is that so? Maybe I should get one of those books. Wait, will I even be able to read the language? What currency used here, even?-

    As if reading my thoughts, Great Mother smiled at me and said, "Well now, in order to survive in this world, you will have to go out and explore. And for that, I have decided to send Yerna and Ulaya with you." Her smile widened. "They are at about the right age to go and explore the world. You also seem reliable enough, and I imagine they are both willing to... Follow you¡­ And¡­ Do this and that with you¡­" As she trailed off, Ulaya stared hungrily at me again, and Yerna turned a deep shade of red again. I could feel my own face getting warm, so I decided to change the topic.

    "So, when do we leave?"

    "Right after I give you a few gifts. Yerna and Ulaya both packed yesterday, so they''re ready. We came to get you, anyway. Come down with us,¡± she said, motioning with her hand to follow her.

    I followed them out into the main street, and soon found myself back in the storage room. Great Mother took out a large key and went to the far left corner of the room, where a large wood-iron chest sat. She unlocked the chest and swung the heavy lid open with relative ease. From it, she withdrew a black hooded cloak, a long, blood-red scarf, and a small leather pouch. She handed them all to me, and I fastened the cloak around me. Immediately, I felt much fresher, like a cool breeze had passed over my whole body. I wrapped the scarf around my neck, and I felt a little lighter, like my weapons and clothes had stopped weighing so much. When I opened the pouch and looked into it, a black hole greeted me, almost as if it didn''t have a bottom. Astonished, I asked I looked to Great Mother for an explanation.

    "What are these things?"

    Great Mother beamed at me.

    "That cloak, is made from Cold-Fire Spider silk. The effect of that cloak is that you will stay cool on warm days, and warm on cold days. I got it from a friend of mine in my adventuring days. That red scarf you have will let you cover your face in order to help you control the aura of Venus'' blessing. It will also decrease the weight of your equipment by about 80%, which is important for the next item. That pouch there is a very special item. Though not exactly rare, it is certainly not common to find one of good quality. They are enchanted to be able to hold an almost unlimited amount of things. However, the things you put into the pouch will still weigh you down. All it does is make it more convenient to carry things, but combined with the scarf it becomes very valuable, because you can carry many more things without being as encumbered. The very best and rarest ones are enchanted with a high class spell, and cost a lot to make, and even more to buy, because the items you put in them will not weigh at all. Unfortunately, this generic sturdy one is all I have, but it is better than nothing. Inside, you will find ten small gold Demon/Demi-human alliance coins, ten kol coins from the dwarven empire, fifteen red ice chips from the Kione continent, and twenty Sylvan paper bills. This should be enough to live off of for a few months in any continent in relative comfort, maybe a year, but I suggest you find some way to gain a steady income. Maybe gathering soul-stones and selling them, or joining an adventuring guild and completing missions. Of course, you have to get ranked first, but I trust you can pass the lowest rank with ease. Hmm, maybe you should do the latter, makes it easier to explore the world."

    -This must be similar to what Yerna had the day I met her!- I recalled her reaching incredibly far into her endless-seeming purse. Absorbing her every word, I then placed five repeating crossbow cartridges into the pouch, each holding about fifty bolts. But then, I saw a problem.

    "Wait, how do I even get any of the things I put in the bag? It''s not like I can search around in there, is it?"

    ¡°Oh, silly me, I forgot to tell you about that! Well, the simplest way is to put your hand in, and think about the item you want. It should fly into your hand. Also, note that you cannot store living things inside, or they will die. Putting living things inside and trying to call them back will get you a handful of crushed bones and flesh."

    I grimaced at the image. Great Mother then turned to address the girls as well. "Anyway, I think that you guys should head to the capital of Sylva, Pan. You can register at the adventuring guild, and begin exploring from there. And Dante," she turned to me. "You should hide your face with the scarf and hood. There are many slavers that might like a pretty demon-boy like yourself to sell to high-class people and nobles. Even if there are rules set by the God of war, those rules only apply in war. Everyday life is still plenty dangerous. So take care of yourself." With that, she kissed our cheeks, hugged Yerna and Ulaya and shook my hand, and saw us to the edge of the village, standing before the huge illusion-hedge. Yerna began to tear up and hugged her mother once again, while Ulaya adjusted her slim arming sword at her hip and buckler on her back, and checked the contents of her own magical pouch. Great Mother eventually tore herself away from Yerna, tears glistening on her cheeks.

    "Ah, my daughter, you knew you eventually had to leave. Don''t worry, you can always come back! There will always be a place for you here. Besides," she smirked slightly. "You have a handsome little demon-boy to accompany you. I''m sure you two will have a lot of... Fun."

    ¡°Mother!" Yerna gasped, turning red again.

    "Oh, don''t deny it, you know you''ve thought it. Besides, you''re at that age anyway, and having someone like him as a first time would be very nice."

    Yerna stayed quiet, blushing furiously.

    "Anyway," Great Mother wiped a few tears away. "It''s time for you to go. Ulaya, you know where to go."

    "Yes Great Mother," Ulaya said, bowing. "Let us hope we see each other healthy and unharmed soon."

    "Oh, not too soon! Enjoy your life out there, and don''t worry about me. You know I can take care of this place very well."

    It was only until later that I learned Great Mother was an SS ranked adventurer, and a demi-god in Mage rankings. What a

    complete monster! We approached the edge of the illusory hedge, waved goodbye one last time, and stepped out. We were back

    in the dense, dark forest, finally exploring this new world.

 Chapter 5: Dreaming

    Author''s Note: Okay, this is more of a flashback chapter, but next one we will be back in Gaia! And boy oh boy,does shit go down in Gaia! Anyway, here we see more of who Dante is, and how he is, as well as his relationships in his past world. Of course, this is not the last flashback, there will be more! I feel we can see more of Dante''s personality that way, so bear with me! Thanks for reading, enjoy!

    The cold wind bit into my face as I climbed higher and higher into the crisp blue sky.

    "C1! It''s almost time to go back!" Sasha''s voice sounded clearly through my earpiece.

    I looked down to a little black speck flying below me.

    "Ok, let''s go then," I spoke into my mouthpiece, and stopped my climb. I looked at my wrist mounted display. 3 km in the air. No wonder I was having trouble breathing! At least it was a new record. I would get a lot of credits for this! It had been about 8 years since we left the Hospital Branch. We were now 12 years old, and studying at a second year high school level. I was the best in the School, be it in studies, or in combat, or overall success of tests. I tucked my wings close to my body, and hung in the air for a second. Then gravity took hold, and I began to free fall. The special mask wrapped around my face did little to fight the biting wind, but I still dove face first regardless.

    "WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!"

    "Dante, you dumbass! You can''t dive from that high! Your wings will rip from their sockets!" I could barely hear Sasha as the wind whistled past my face, and my ears popped. I whipped past Sasha, C2, C3, C4, A1 and the rest of her team as I plummeted to earth. The monitor beeped, and I could hear an automated voice saying through my earpiece, "1.5 km, 1 km, 950 m..."

    At 800 m, I slowly began to unfurl my wings.

    -Steady, steady...-

    I fought the wind, straining to find a balance between the wind resistance and the output of my own strength to open my wings. If I opened too quickly, my wings would tear out of their sockets, but if I opened too slowly I would crash into the hard ground. My muscles strained, my joints creaked, until finally, at 100 meters I opened my wings completely. I let myself slow to a steep glide, and let my large, bat-like wings catch the air. I floated to a stop in the back lawn of the School, landing lightly on my feet. The Principal was there to greet me in his black suit and red tie, sunglasses on his face, bald head gleaming in the sun.

    "C1, did you just dive from 3 km?"

    "Yes, sir," I said, folding my wings close to my tight-fitting, modified Syndicate special forces suit.

    "Marvelous! And you feel no discomfort at all?" The Principal asked me eagerly.

    "No, sir."

    "Truly amazing!" The Principal grinned. "The Director will be very pleased to hear of your improvements. For this, you shall receive 2,000 credits." He tapped a few buttons on his own wrist-mounted display and turned on his heel and walked off.

    "Da-zzz-okay?" Sasha''s worried voice trembled and buzzed from my earpiece.

    "Yeah, I''m fine. What''s taking you guys so long?"

    "We-zzzz-down. Stay-zzz! I''m-zzzz-your dumb ass!" A1 shouted at me through the earpiece.

    I chuckled and lay down on the grass. It was a Sunday, so we had the day free after our daily wing training. Other than us from the C experiments, there was one other flying group of survivors, with avian wings instead of bat wings. The A series of experiments. A for Avian, C for Chiropteran. There were other experiments, of course. Prehensile tailed groups, psychic groups, lupine groups, snake groups, even a starfish group! Those guys could regenerate their freaking limbs! I didn''t like socializing with the others, though. I was the only one who was made to be like this. Only three of the others were born with their modifications, like me, so the only ones I really talked to was Sasha, Claire (A1), Daniel (Tk1) and Horace (L1). Other than Sasha, these guys were the only ones who were born in test tubes with their abilities fully developed. All the other attempted 1''s from the other groups died. As I lay in the grass, I dozed off a bit. I woke up when I heard the heavy flapping of wings and was buffeted by violent gusts of air. I opened my eyes and stared at the nine figures descending from the sky. Sasha was the first to land, and rushed at me with open arms.

    "Dante! I was so worried! Why did you dive like that? You could have died!" She hugged me tightly, and I felt her well-developed chest through the skintight suits.

    -Hohoho, my little Sasha, you''ve been developing quite nicely!-

    Claire (A1), seeing my lecherous grin, smacked my head and tugged Sasha away from me.

    "What, you want a hug too?¡± I asked, smirking slightly.

    "No, you idiot! That was for scaring us all, and for that look in your eyes when Sasha hugged you!" Claire snapped at me, pink tinting her pale cheeks.

    Sasha looked up at her quizzically.

    "What look?"

    "Nothing, Sasha! Don''t mind me. Just don''t hug him that hard in that suit again!¡±

    -Aww, ruin a young boy''s dream, will you?-

    The others chuckled, and headed back inside to the dorm wing of the School.

    "Well, I guess we should go get changed, right? What about we go have lunch at the Village today! I got 2,000 credits from today, so let''s go spend some!"

    Claire ruffled her black feathered wings down and thought for a moment. Then she agreed.

    "I''ll go get Dan and Horace after you two are done changing. Call us as soon as you''re done!" Claire bid us farewell, and Sasha and I walked to the C dorms.

    "Dante, what do you think the tournament between us C series is going to be?¡± Sasha asked me with curious eyes. The Director had announced that all series will have a competition between other members of their series in two years, and told us to train hard in our fighting styles. The prize was supposed to be something good, so I was looking forward to it.

    "Ah, don''t worry about it, it''s still in two years! Though it was strange that he asked us to master our fighting by then. Maybe it''s a combat tournament?"

    "You think so?" Sasha shuddered. "I hate those! I always get beaten up!" She clung to my arm.

    "Haha! Don''t worry, I''ll protect you!"

    "Really?"

    "Yeah of course!"

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience."After all, I love you," I muttered under my breath.

    "What was that?"

    "Ah, nothing! Let''s hurry up, I''m starving!"

    After we got changed, I sent a message to Claire through our wrist displays. These wrist displays monitored our health, allowed communication, access to the School network, displayed our position, and was were we got paid in credits by the School to spend at the Village. We met at the entrance to the Village. Daniel was Tk1, a natural-born telekinetic, and Horace was L1, a natural-born wolf-boy, or Lupine experiment. Horace had wolf ears and a wolf tail, he was of course faster and stronger than most humans his age, and his sense of smell and hearing were extremely good! They were about five times better than mine, and seven times better than a normal human! He could even smell better than a lot of dogs!

    ¡°Well, you sure took your time! What were you doing in there together, huh?¡± Horace grinned at me, revealing his sharp teeth.

    ¡°Ah, we weren¡¯t doing anything! I was just choosing what to wear¡­¡± Sasha said quickly, blushing slightly and gesturing to her short black skirt and light blue shirt. Her hair flowed freely down her back.

    -Jeez, you don¡¯t have to deny it so vehemently!-

    I pouted a bit at how quickly she denied anything. Of course, what she said was true, but she didn¡¯t have to deny it so strongly¡­

    Claire smiled at us. She was wearing a long blue skirt and a white shirt. Her dirty blond hair was pulled into a ponytail and hung to her shoulder.

    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s get going! I¡¯m hungry, and I got 800 credits from disassembling and dissecting that rat in under fifteen minutes, so I have money to spend!¡± Dan said impatiently, flipping his fair hair from his eyes. Since he was Tk1, he naturally had the most skill in controlling his power.

    ¡°Hah! Only 900 credits? Come on man, step up your game! I got 1300 credits for smelling out and hunting down a tiger in the forest!¡± Horace grinned, teasing Dan and flexing his large biceps.

    ¡°Oh, you pitiful creatures. So poor! Guess I¡¯m paying tonight! Well, can¡¯t help it if I¡¯m just that awesome,¡± I smirked, raising my head at them. ¡°I got 2000 credits today from diving 3 km and landing safely!¡±

    ¡°WHAT! 2000 CREDITS! LEMME SEE!¡± Dan and Horace rushed to my wrist display, urging me to show them the money. I complied, and opened up my recent deposits.

    ¡°HOLY SHIT! The Principal likes you too much, man! That isn¡¯t fair!¡±

    ¡°Ugh, guys! Let¡¯s go already! I¡¯m hungry! Let¡¯s eat at the pasta place!¡± Claire grabbed Sasha¡¯s arm, dragging her along, and we entered the Village. That night, we had a feast! I even managed to waste almost 900 credits on a single meal for five! But it was worth it. Dan left first, saying he had to go meditate and rest as part of his training. Because his ability dealt with the mind, it was extremely important for him to rest and meditate. Horace and Claire stayed for a little while with us, enjoying the stars and sweet drinks and deserts. Horace left after about an hour, when the full moon began to climb higher in the sky. We laughed, knowing he was embarrassed about his inexplicable urge to howl at the moon. He left, blushing slightly after he had howled loudly at the moon and attracted the attention of other lingering students. Claire left a little while later, saying she was tired. As she was leaving, she winked knowingly to Sasha, and left us alone under the full moon that was at its peak. We were sitting on a hill by then, side by side. The night air was relatively warm, and the sky was clear, cloudless. The stars were shining very brightly. I looked at Sasha, her face illuminated by the bright moonlight. I stared at her face, entranced by how she looked under the moonlight. Sasha suddenly turned to me, blushing slightly.

    ¡°W-want to fly around a bit? It¡¯s nice out tonight,¡± she said, looking straight into my eyes, capturing me with her beautiful glimmering grey eyes. And how could I refuse when she looked at me like that? I nodded slightly, too entranced to speak. I didn¡¯t know what was happening! Maybe the moon, the stars, the warm breeze, my adrenaline filled day, had caused me to feel this. But, in all honesty, I had always liked her. She was my light, my life, my savior in such a dark place¡­ Without her, I probably would have become a machine, devoid of emotion, just like what the Syndicate wanted. But¡­ She defied them by being my friend. She defied them by making me feel love. All our cloths were modified to allow our wings freedom, so I slowly spread my wings. We looked at each other, and took a running start. Soon, my wings had caught the wind, and I was in the air, flying low and slow under the night sky. We began to climb higher and higher, close enough to each other that our wing tips almost met. Her movements were still somewhat clumsy, but the pale skin of her wings seemed to shine in the moonlight. She had wings of light. Soon, the ground was far below us, and the temperature had dropped quite a bit, but I didn¡¯t care. I just wanted to fly with her forever, stay with her. We floated in the air for a bit, facing each other. I just couldn¡¯t take my eyes off her! She enchanted me! She was my angel.

    ¡°I love you!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but blurt out suddenly. This girl had been with me for most of my life, we had supported each other for all these miserable years! She made my heart beat in such a way, I almost couldn¡¯t breath. Her eyes suddenly teared up, and she held out her arms to me. Then, she folded her wings in, and let herself plummet to the ground.

    ¡°Wait, Sasha, what are you doing!¡± By now, she was a considerable distance below me, so I folded my own wings and dove after her. The cold wind rushed past my face, and I could see her eyes were closed as she fell back.

    ¡°SASHA!¡±

    I was like a bullet, dropping as fast as I could. My blood was pumping so hard, I felt my heart would burst! I was getting closer¡­ Closer¡­ Closer¡­ I reached my hands out to her and controlled my dive using my body, in order to soften the impact between us. We were 500 meters from the ground, and falling fast! I hugged her close to my body, and slowly began to open my wings. I remembered what I had done today, and followed my actions accordingly. My muscles strained against the wind, and we fell closer and closer to the ground. 300 meters, 250 meters, I could feel the strain on my wings as I tried to stop two bodies from smashing into the hard earth at near terminal velocity. At 100 meters, I finally managed to open my wings to a certain extent, slowing us down considerably, but it was still too fast. So I pointed my feet down and held Sasha in a princess carry. I flapped my wings desperately, yet careful not to dislocate or tears them from their sockets. I landed on the grass with Sasha in my arms, staring up at me with tears in her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m so happy.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so happy you love me. I love you too.¡±

    Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled her face to mine, and kissed me passionately. Her lips were sweet, her cheeks salty from her tears of joy, and I kissed her back with all my feelings, all my love. We stayed there for a while, under the bright sky full of stars and a beautiful, full moon.

    ===========

    I woke up lying on the grass, under my blanket. It had been nearly a week since we left the Greattree village, and we were now a day''s walk away from Pan, the capital of Sylva. The girls were still sleeping peacefully a little ways away. We had stopped in a small clearing, and I could see the stars in the clear sky, and a full moon hanging overhead.

    "Shit. I thought the memories were finished already. At this rate... Damn, I¡¯m gonna relive that torture.¡±

    I lay back down and realized I was leaking tears.

    "Why do I have to relive that hell? Why? Those memories¡­ Fuck.¡±

    I wiped my tears away and stared at the full moon and bright night sky.

    "Sasha..." I whispered, and I slowly fell back to sleep.

 Chapter 6: The Blister Exists

    Author''s Note: Sup guys! So, this is a longer chapter, and it gets pretty crazy... Anyway, we are going to be looking more into Dante''s twisted side here, and in later chapters explore why. Also, if you think his thought process can be somewhat inconsistent, as well as his beliefs... That''s on purpose. His time spent in the Syndicate really wasted him. I might not be able to post for the next few days cause of tests and essays and shit, so yeah...Thanks for reading, and enjoy! Also, can someone tell me how to add pictures? I''m not sure how... Enjoy!

    *Warning* Contains bloody scenes!

    The sun was high in the sky as we walked along a wide dirt path, with dense foliage on either side. We could finally see the city of Pan. It was a small city, and an extremely small capital, with low stone walls and a large building rising from the center. My face was wrapped in the red scarf, and my hood was up, keeping me cool from the warm sun. As we approached the large wooden and iron entrance gates, we saw a long line had formed in front of the gates. Two armed guards stood in front of the wooden gate, checking all the people who passed through. I saw a few humans, some humanoids made completely of wood, a few skinny little humanoids about half a meter tall, some people with fox tails and ears, others with deer antlers...

    -Wait, fox tails? Deer antlers? Little humanoids? Wooden people? Whaaaaattt?!-

    The guards themselves were two wolf-like people in leather armor. I was surprised, but not so much of the people themselves. I had seen plenty of stranger things at the Syndicate Branches. I was more surprised at the fact that they mingled among the humans so casually! The regular humans weren''t screaming, pointing and laughing, or freaking out in general.

    -I guess... They really do accept things like this as the norm.-

    I thought about my wings. Maybe, I will be considered normal here. So far, I hadn''t shown anyone in this world my wings for fear of being ridiculed and discriminated against, but it seems like I won''t be. We lined up at the back and waited for our turn. Soon, it was our turn to get past the guards.

    "What is your business here?" The guard on the right barked at us.

    "We are here to register in the adventurer guild,¡± Ulaya answered him. We had agreed to let her do the talking, as she had already come here once before.

    "All three of you?" The left guard looked at us dubiously.

    "Yes."

    The guard on the right nodded, and the guard on the left leaned in to whisper something to him. He nodded again, and pointed to me.

    "You, take off your scarf and hood. My friend tells me you smell strange.¡± The guard on the left nodded affirmatively.

    I pointed to myself in question.

    "Yes, you. Who else?"

    "Ah, um, sir, he has a condition. He really can''t take the them off,¡± Ulaya hurriedly tried to stop him.

    "A condition? And what might it be?" The guard on the right smirked.

    "Ah, well, umm..."

    "He can''t stay in the sun, or else he¡¯ll burn to ashes!" Yerna interrupted.

    -What, like a vampire? Come on, no one will believe that!-

    "What, like a vampire? Why would a vampire be here?¡± The guard on the right asked, sniffing dubiously.

    -Really man? So vampires actually exist here?-

    "Yeah, vampires don''t like to leave the Midnight Country. I find it hard to believe your friend is a vampire,¡± the guard on the left finally spoke up.

    -They have their own freaking country? Let''s just hope they don''t sparkle in the sun too¡­ Wait, please tell me I didn¡¯t just jinx it¡­-

    "Also, most vampires don''t burn in the sun immediately. In fact, some even sparkle!" The left guard seemed excited by the idea.

    -Uuuuugghh, nooooo, they exist! Edward, I will find you and I will kill you!-

    Ulaya was about to make another excuse but I stopped her.

    "Fine, I''ll do it,¡± I said, reaching up to my face.

    I slowly removed my hood and began to unwind the scarf from around my face. I hung it around my neck and let the guards see my face. The guards seemed stunned for a moment and glared at me in what seemed to be jealousy, or shame. Their tails even drooped a bit!

    "Wow, he''s so pretty!""I want a boyfriend like that!""Those girls are so lucky!"

    I heard a few whispers from behind us, and the guards hurriedly told us to pass. However, I could still feel gazes prickling my back. I firmly wrapped my scarf around my face again and put up my hood before continuing further into the city. I did not want to attract too much attention, even though I was happy about the fact that I was considered handsome. Hey, what can I say, I am a seventeen year old boy. I love being considered hot by girls! It''s absolutely awesome! Walking through the gates, we were greeted by an impressive sight. A large, wide cobblestone street led directly to a large castle-like structure, with a tall tower sprouting up from it. The street was bustling with people going to and from the stalls and stores that lined the street, and I saw a few side streets branching off to other sections of the city. People of all races were calling out their wares, with others buying from them. The buildings were mostly wood and stone, and they were all clumped together side by side. Tall black posts with unlit lanterns at the tops were placed along the street at regular intervals.

    -So we are in the Main Street, I presume. Kind of reminds me of the pictures I saw of the walled cities of Europe in my world.-

    Yerna was staring googly-eyed at her surroundings. Even I was a little impressed. The only ¡®city¡¯ I had ever been in was the School Village, and that place was Syndicate funded, with all the "citizens" paid to act normal around us experiments. Ulaya took her surroundings in without blinking.

    "Now we have to find an inn!" She said, proud of remembering what she had to do.

    So she led us down Main Street to a wooden building with a wooden sign that had the carving of a bed. I looked at the symbols above the picture. They looked a lot like random sticks had been thrown together, yet somehow I could understand what they said: ¡¯The Fluffy Bed Inn''

    -The Fluffy Bed Inn? Is that just my translation, or does it really say, ''Fluffy Bed''? Anyway, it''s good to know that I can read, but will I be able to write? It doesn''t look very easy...-

    We entered the inn, and were greeted with... An empty room. There was a bar, some tables, a wooden staircase leading upstairs to what I presume were the rooms. An old man with large antlers and deerish features was lazily scratching at the wood of the bar counter, but straightened up and beamed at us when he heard us come in.

    "Hello dear guests, welcome to the Fluffy Bed Inn, my name is Jacek. What can I do for you?¡± He asked in his most polite voice, a large smile plastered on his face.

    "We would like a room for seven days, please,¡± Ulaya said, leaning over the counter.

    "Yes, of course, that will be twenty mice coins a night, please."

    -Coins? Is that a fraction of a bill? Guess so.-

    I reached my hand into the pouch and willed one bill into my hand. As soon as my hand touched the paper, I took it out and held it out to the man. The man''s eyes widened when he saw the bill.

    "Um, my lord, I''m afraid I do not have the change for that kind of money!"

    Ulaya quickly stepped in, hurriedly putting herself between us.

    "Ah, I am sorry! My friend here is from Purga, and has not been to Sylva before. He is from a rich human family, a duke, so he does not know the value of such money on Sylva." She glanced apologetically at the man, and took out a large gold coin with a lion engraved on it. She handed it to the man, and he immediately took it and exchanged it for ten smaller bronze coins with a small rodent engraved on them. I watched the transaction carefully.

    -Hmm, so one lion coin is worth 150 mouse coins. I wonder how many lion coins a bill is worth?-

    The man smiled politely once again and gave us a key with a symbol that I assumed to be a number. When I concentrated, the number translated to a five.

    -So even the numbers are different. Come to think of it, how advanced is math in this world? Maybe it should be as far as geometry, or algebra, considering this medieval/fantasy setting.-

    The old man smiled and thanked us for the patronage, and told us that there is a breakfast, lunch and dinner service. We went up the stairs, walked through a small hallway, passing four doors, and opened the door numbered five. Entering, there was one bed pressed against the wall, a wardrobe beside it and a desk with a chair on the opposite corner of the room. A small window faced out to the street. We thought a bit about going to the adventurer guild now, but we risked getting lost. And we were tired, anyway, so by unanimous vote we decided to sleep now and go to the guild tomorrow.

    *Growl*

    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Ulaya and I stared at Yerna, who was blushing furiously, not meeting our eyes.

    *Growl*

    I stared at Ulaya, who had joined Yerna in a blushing competition.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m feeling curious about the dinner selection. I wonder how dinner is done in this world? Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t had time to try traditional Sylvan meals, have I?¡± I said slowly, looking from Ulaya to Yerna.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we check it out? I¡¯m feeling a bit hungry, anyway,¡± I said, and Yerna and Ulaya both nodded vehemently.

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s check it out, right Yerna? We have to give Dante a chance to have a taste of traditional Sylvan food, right?¡± Ulaya said, urging Yerna to agree.

    ¡°Y-yes, let¡¯s,¡± Yerna nodded vigorously in agreement.

    So we left the room, locking it behind us, and went downstairs. The deer-man, Jacek, was still where we left him, bored and scratching the bar counter. Hearing us come down the stairs, Jacek fixed his gaze on us and smiled again.

    ¡°Hello Jacek, we are here for dinner. What is there to eat tonight?¡± I asked, sitting down at a nearby table. Yerna and Ulaya sat to both my sides. Jacek rushed out from behind the counter, and I almost gasped. His body from the waist down was that of a deer! His pants were cut short at his knees that bent backward like the hind legs of a deer, and he wasn¡¯t wearing shoes, revealing his hooves in all their glory as he clopped over to our table.

    -Well, that¡¯s surprising! Never saw that at the Syndicate!-

    Curious about his appearance, I asked, ¡°Jacek, are you by chance a satyr? Sorry if I offend you, but it is my first time in Sylva, and I am unfamiliar with the Sylvan races.¡±

    Jacek puffed up his chest in a proud, comical way. ¡°No, my lord, my father was a satyr! My mother was a deer! So I was born from a combination of those two.¡±

    ¡°Your mother¡­ Was a deer demi-human?¡±

    ¡°No, my mother was a deer.¡±

    ¡°Like, an actual deer?¡±

    ¡°Yes my lord! And they have lived very happily, if you wish to know!¡±

    -No, I did not want to know! Now I have a terrible image of a satyr shagging a freaking deer! How does that even happen! Gah! What¡¯s been seen can¡¯t be unseen! Nooooooo! I will have that image seared in my mind for the rest of my life!-

    Jacek didn¡¯t seem to notice my discomfort, and he casually began listing his dinner options.

    ¡°Today for dinner, we have a delicious rabbit stew, Neura Nura (a type of duck-like bird in this world) breast with red sauce, and my personal favorite, specially prepared deer steak!¡±

    -Wait, deer steak? Aren¡¯t you part deer?-

    ¡°Hmm, I guess I¡¯ll have the deer steak then,¡± Ulaya said, nodding in satisfaction at her choice.

    ¡°I g-guess I¡¯ll also have the deer steak if Ulaya has it,¡± Yerna murmured, and blushed again as her stomach growled loudly.

    ¡°Good then, two deer steaks! Their fresh, too! I hunted them this morning! In fact, I just had deer steak dinner!¡±

    I stared blankly at them.

    -Are you not disturbed at all!!!! This guy is committing cannibalism! What the fuck guys!-

    Yerna, noticing my stare, asked with concern in her voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong Dante? Are you okay? Are you feeling sick?¡±

    ¡°My lord, are you all right? Should I call a healer?¡± Jacek stared at me with concern.

    -No man, I don¡¯t want to hear you ask if I¡¯m okay or not. Are you sick in your head? Do you not mind that you probably ate your uncle?-

    ¡°Ah, no, I¡¯m okay, just deciding what to eat,¡± I said, smiling weakly up at Jacek. Not that he could see my face, I was still covered by my scarf.

    ¡°Well, in that case, I really do recommend the deer steak!¡± Jacek nodded enthusiastically.

    -You know what? I¡¯m so done with you guys. Fuck it, fuck you, fuck the deer just like your dad did¡­-

    I sighed, defeated. ¡°You know what, I¡¯ll have the deer, then,¡± I said.

    ¡°Wise choice, my lord! I¡¯ll prepare your meals right away!¡± He beamed at us and hurried through a door behind the bar counter, to what was presumably the kitchen. It seemed like it would take some time for the food to be finished, so we chatted between ourselves.

    ¡°So, Ulaya, can you use magic?¡± I asked, curious to learn her capabilities. We hadn¡¯t encountered any trouble on the way here, so I didn¡¯t know how well she fought.

    ¡°Ah, well, I can, but only to a certain extent. I am much better at nature magic, like growing flowers and healing minor wounds, but that¡¯s about it. And it takes me a lot of preparation to actually cast any magic, so I rely much more on my physical power! Honestly, I might be the strongest warrior in the village after Great Mother!¡± Ulaya said, boasting.

    ¡°And what about you, Yerna?¡± I knew she could use magic, as I had seen her gather pure water from thin air, but I wasn¡¯t sure if that was considered powerful or not.

    ¡°Ah! W-well, I can use some water and nature magic,¡± she said, shyly looking down.

    ¡°Are you kidding! Some water and nature magic! You are the most talented in the village in magic! Great Mother said so herself, you have more talent than her!¡± Ulaya exclaimed.

    ¡°Bu-but I,¡± Yerna was interrupted by Ulaya.

    ¡°She can cast without incantations, and she has created her own original magic moves! She is honestly a truly amazing mage! Come one Yerna, don¡¯t be so shy!¡± Ulaya said, patting Yerna¡¯s back hard. Yerna coughed and stuttered, and was about to say something, but we were interrupted by Jacek coming back with our food.

    ¡°And here you are! The very specially prepared deer steak! Enjoy!¡± He said, placing down our plates laden with large hunks of meat and strange vegetables. He also set down a two-pronged fork and a sharp knife to cut our steak with. It honestly smelled¡­ Pretty good! I move my scarf down and took my hood off, and hesitantly took my fork and knife. With Jacek staring at me expectantly, I cut into the meat, carved a small piece off, and brought it to my mouth. I closed my teeth around the steak piece, and a flood of red juice gushed from the meat.

    -IT¡¯S SO GOOOD! HOW! I NOW UNDERSTAND WHY A PERSON WOULD RESORT TO CANNIBALISM FOR THIS!-

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Jacek, seeing my satisfied expression, smiled joyfully and went back to the counter, saying, ¡°If you want anything I¡¯ll be right over here! Enjoy!"

    We eagerly tucked into our meals, and in less than five minutes had finished completely.

    ¡°Oh my god! That was amazing! I didn¡¯t think deer meat could be so good!¡± Ulaya said, patting her stomach.

    ¡°Yes, it was very good. I enjoyed it,¡± Yerna said, sighing in satisfaction.

    I nodded in agreement, and we thanked Jacek.

    ¡°How do you even make it so good?¡± I asked. I just had to know.

    ¡°Oh, well, that¡¯s a secret,¡± he said, winking. ¡°It¡¯s just part of momma¡¯s recipe!¡±

    -Ok you know what, I¡¯ve heard enough. I¡¯m done with this. Sorry I asked, I will never even try to imagine what momma¡¯s recipe is like.-

    ¡°Ok, thank you, good night,¡± I muttered quickly, trying to forget what he just told me. I quicky headed back upstairs and into the room. It was dark by now, so we lit a candle and placed it on the desk. Our sleeping arrangements were: I would sleep on the floor, the girls would sleep on the bed. So I took off my cloak and scarf, careful to not let the girls see me clearly, and lay down on the floor, my back to the girls in order to give them privacy. I had my blanket wrapped around me, and it slightly cushioned the hard wooden floor. But by now, I was used to sleeping on hard surfaces, so I fell asleep quickly.

    =====

    ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s the competition, huh,¡± Sasha whispered to me from my embrace. We were naked underneath the sheets of my bed, inside my dorm room. It was morning, and outside it was a beautiful fall day, with the leaves on the trees just beginning to turn different colors. It had been two years since we had become a couple, and they were the best years of my life.

    ¡°Yup,¡± I whispered back. I just wanted to lay there in bed, and enjoy the Saturday. We had no tests assigned today, in preparation for the competition between the survivors of the C series. All other experiment series would also go through the same competition between the members of their groups. We all believed it would be a fun little tournament, in order to gauge the individual strength of each individual within their own series. Heck, Horace was raring to go! He could barely wait for the tournament, and kept going on about ¡®alpha wolf¡¯ this and ¡®alpha wolf¡¯ that, it was even getting annoying!

    ¡°Hey, Dante, what are you going to do after you win?¡± Sasha asked, grinning up at me from my arms.

    ¡°I heard the prize is pretty good! So share some with me, alright?¡± Sasha said, curling closer to me. Her body radiated heat, and her whole body was pressed against me.

    ¡°Haha! What makes you think I might win?¡± I asked her, squeezing slightly.

    ¡°Well, let me think,¡± Sasha scrunched up her face, pretending to be deep in thought. ¡°Well, you are the strongest, fastest, and smartest of us, so I think that¡¯s a start!¡± She said, teasing me slightly.

    I nodded lazily, not even trying to deny it. I far outstripped any of the experiments in the whole school, and only Horace and C2 could even come close to me in physical abilities. The only one I would truly be worried about is Dan, if I ever fought him, because of his own abilities, but I believed I could beat him.

    ¡°Dante,¡± she whispered, getting closer to my ear. Her breath tickled my cheek.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked her, lazily keeping my eyes half-open.

    ¡°You¡¯ll protect me, right?¡±

    I turned over her and leaned in close to her face.

    ¡°I will always protect you. I won¡¯t ever let anything happen to you,¡± I said seriously, staring deep in her eyes. She nodded, and I leaned in to kiss her deeply. When we separated, Sasha whispered, ¡°Dante, I want you to promise me something.¡±

    I looked at her questioningly, then said, ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Tell me you promise me to do what I¡¯m about to tell you. Swear it.¡± Sasha gazed into my eyes, not letting go.

    ¡°But¡ª,¡±

    ¡°Swear it!¡± She growled menacingly.

    ¡°Okay, I swear to do whatever you¡¯re about to tell me.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow, and I sighed, giving up.

    -She¡¯s so strong headed¡­-

    ¡°I swear, by the moon and the stars, by the love I have for you, to do whatever you¡¯re about tell me.¡±

    She visibly relaxed, and said quietly, ¡°Don¡¯t die for me. Live for me.¡±

    ===========

    I was crying, heaving deep, quiet sobs. The pain in my heart was like my very soul was tearing apart. I suppressed my sobs, in order to not wake the girls up. That night, I cried myself to sleep.

    In the morning, we decided to find the adventurers'' guild. Going back down, we asked the Jacek directions to the guild. After doing so, we set out for the guild, taking a right directly after leaving the inn. My cloak fluttered in the wind, and my scarf covered most of my face. My weapons were in their usual place, my katana on my left and my spadroon on my right, with my machete-look alike stuck through the back of my makeshift belt-sash. Strolling down the street, we heard some wolf whistles and turned to see a group of rowdy looking men loitering at the corner of an alleyway. The men were dressed in some rough clothing, with low-quality swords at their waists, and they looked rather burly. Among them, two were human, one was a wolf Demi-human, and another was a strange-looking man with wood-like skin and grass for hair. I realized too late that they had been intending for us to look in their direction, and as soon as we did they sauntered in our direction.

    "Hey little ladies, wanna come with us for a while?" The wolf Demi-human grinned lecherously at us.

    "Huhuhu, yeah little ladies, come with us!¡± One of the humans grinned stupidly, and was subsequently smacked in the head by the grass-head.

    "Stupid idiot, shut up, your gonna scare them away with your ugly mug!¡±

    The others guffawed as if they had just heard the best joke ever.

    -Oh man, do these guys think I''m a girl?-

    "Move aside." Yerna glared at the men coldly, but the men were unfazed.

    "Oh my, the little lady wants us handsome men to leave! Why, you¡¯ve hurt our little hearts!" The other human gasped in mock surprise, clutching his chest.

    "P-please go away. W-we w-want to g-get to t-the adventurer''s guild," Yerna stuttered.

    "What a coincidence! We are ranked adventurers ourselves! If you come have fun with us we might show you the way," the wolf Demi-human said, reaching out to grab my arm. I moved out of the way, pushing his hand clear.

    "Dude, I''m a guy." I removed my hood and pointed to my short hair and obviously masculine features, covered as they were with my scarf.

    "Oh don''t worry, I knew that," the wolf Demi-human said, licking his lips. I shuddered violently at that.

    "Wait, he was a guy? But he feels kind of like a woman... Oh well, pretty boys are fine too,¡± the grass-head said, joining the wolf-guy in licking his lips.

    -Well waddaya know, this grass-head likes pretty boys. I knew the Venus blessing would get me screwed over by males as well. Pun intended.-

    "I''m sorry, but we really do have to go.¡± Yerna attempted to lead us around them, but they circled us instead.

    "Where are you going, lovely! We just want to have some fun! I''m sure you''ll enjoy it too." The grass-head took a step forward.

    ¡°No! We don¡¯t want to!¡± I said, stepping in front of Ulaya. But these guys just kept coming closer, ignoring my words.

    ¡°Oh, shut up pretty boy, you¡¯ll get some too!¡± Wolf-guy said, licking his lips again.

    -God, that¡¯s disgusting! I¡¯m not interested!-

    I was beginning to get annoyed with these assholes. First, they mistook me for a girl, then they want to go through with it knowing I''m a guy! Oh, and they were hitting on Yerna and Ulaya as well. But, I mean, I look nothing like a girl! By then, I had already figured out what to do. When fighting against a group, it is best to pick the weakest and utterly defeat him in as quick and brutal way as possible. This will most likely lower the morale of the group and make them cautious of us. Besides, I hadn¡¯t tested my new increase in strength and speed, and I was eager to try it out.

    Stepping forward, I said in the most annoyed voice possible, "You guys, NO does not mean YES! And yes," I turned to the wolf Demi-human and glared at him. "Does not mean anal!" As soon as I kicked down with my left foot, I roundhouse kicked the wolf Demi-human left in the side of the head with all my strength in my right leg. The blow was so fast and unexpected, the wolf Demi-human did not even defend himself. It was even faster than I had thought it would be.

    *crack!*

    His head snapped to the side with a few cracking noises, and his body followed, causing him to fly to the side a few meters, crashing face-first into a stone wall. At the point of impact, his head literally exploded in a mess of blood, brains and bone. Everyone in the street stopped and stared in horrified silence as an eyeball rolled to a stop between grass-head''s legs. The whole street was silent, and nobody could tear their eyes off of the eyeball, or the now-headless-corpse of the wolf Demi-human. Even Ulaya and Yerna stared at me strangely.

    -Hmm, guess I must have overdone it. Didn''t think I would be this strong! Wait, that¡¯s strange¡­ Shouldn¡¯t I be panicked? Oh well, don¡¯t care.-

    "Oops, I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be that weak,¡± I sighed. "Hah, guess he was just too delicate. Guess I¡­ Lost my head in anger! Get it?¡±

    When the silence broke, a woman in the crowd began to scream.

    "Y-you b-bastard! Y-you k-killed Jeff!" Grass-head stared at me in hatred, fear, shock, and a bunch of other emotions I couldn''t tell.

    -Jeff? Really? A wolf Demi-human named Jeff!-

    The thought was so funny I began to laugh hysterically. The people in the street once again got quiet, this time staring at me. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt, and tears welled up in my eyes.

    "Ahahahahahaha! Jeff, his name was Jeff, hahahaha! It fucking hilarious!"

    Through the fits of laughter, I was able to catch a glimpse of Grass-head''s face, which made me laugh even more.

    "A hahahaha, the look on your face! Fucking priceless!"

    I had entered a sort of hysterical trance. I was lightheaded, and all I wanted to do was follow my I impulses. And my impulses wanted to see that face a Grass-head made again. So, still laughing, I dashed at the stupid human, grabbed his head in my hand, and smashed it against the cobbled street floor. It exploded in my hand like an egg crushed between a rock and a hard place, or-- or-- or like a balloon popping! Yes exactly like that! For some reason, that seemed extremely funny to me, and I began to laugh even harder at the thought. I looked back to Grass-head, and he was paralyzed in fear, his face contorted into an extremely funny way. A dark spot had begun to spread on his pants, and a foul smell emanated from him. I felt drunk, tipsy, I was lightheaded, my thoughts were slow. It was as if I had drunk a whole bottle of vodka, and then downed seven shots of tequila. Which has happened before¡­

    "Ahahahaha! Its so funny its so funny its so funny! Hilarious hilarious hilarious! Pop pop pop pop! I want to pop things I want to pop things Iwanttopop!"

    I rushed at the smarter human, who screamed and tried to back away.

    "Tooslowtooslowtooslow!"

    I was in front of him in a split second, and he looked me in the eyes directly before I smashed his head between my hands.

    "Ahahahahaha! Popopopopopopopopopop! Itpoppeditpopped! Likeaballoonlikeaballoon!"

    By now the whole crowd was in chaos, all the bystanders were running around screaming. Which made it even funnier!

    However, only Grass-head was not moving. He fell on his ass as I approached him. He didn''t even try to run away. I stood over him as he stared up at me, with weird red eyes full of something beyond terror.

    "Willyoupoptoo? Willyoupoptoo? Likeaballoonlikeaballoon?¡±

    "M-m-monster..."

    He backed away on his hands, but he slipped on some blood, falling down completely. He lay there for a second, never taking his eyes off me. Then I stomped on his head.

    "Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Itpoppeditpoppeditpopped! Itssofunnysofunny!"

    -Popopopopopopopopop! Hepopped! Likeaballoonlikeaballoon! Sofunnysofun-

    -Dante! Snap out of it!- For some reason, I heard Yerna calling out to me, but I didn¡¯t feel like answering.

    -nysofunny! Popopopopopopopopop! Whoelsewillpopwhoelsew-

    -Dante, stop! Snap out of it! You have to stop!-

    -Stopstopstop?! Nononononono! Popopopopopopopopop!-

    -DANTE STOP! SNAP OUT OF IT ALREADY!-

    -Pop pop pop?-

    -Yes, good, slow down, no more popping.-

    -No pop? Why no pop? I want to pop more!-

    -No Dante, you can''t! Bad Dante!-

    -Bad Dante? But Dante didn''t pop! C1 just pops! C1 likes to pop!-

    -DAN... C1! YOU CANT POP ANYMORE, OR YOU WILL BE IN TROUBLE!-

    -In trouble? C1 don''t want trouble¡­.-

    -Yes, that''s right, if you don''t want trouble you have to stop. Now tell us who you are-

    -Who I am... I am Dante?-

    -Yes, good job, you are Dante, not C1. Now, come back to us.-

    -... Dante¡­sleepy...-

    I blacked out.

 Chapter 7: Trial

    Author''s Note: Aaaaaannnnnnnddddd I''m back! Hello all, sorry I have been absent so long! Just got back from break in a place with no internet, had a chapter done, and since it was my birthday just now I decided to upload! Thank you everyone for reading, it''s pretty cool to know I have people enjoying my work. Hope you''ve all had a Happy New Years and good holidays! Updates may be more regular, though that depends on my workload irl. Also, I have been thinking about a parallel story, set in Dante''s old world. It would follow Dante if he had never been summoned, and I think I might upload a teaser along with the next chapter. Anyway, here is a new chapter! Please review or rate this fiction, I really want to know how I''m doing in order to get better. Thank you everyone, and enjoy!

    P.S. I will explain in next chapter more about Yerna''s and Ulaya''s mentality and stuff, stay tuned!

    Darkness. Nothingness. I was floating along, semi-conscious, apathetic, calm. I wasn¡¯t thinking anything, I wasn¡¯t being anything. There was silence in my head, blessed silence. I hadn¡¯t noticed until now, but my mind was always cluttered with stray thoughts, whispers that weren¡¯t mine. I noticed everything, but I didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t have any thoughts. I just existed. I didn¡¯t know how long I was floating, and I didn¡¯t care. I was ignorant, devoid of everything, and it was bliss. I eventually felt a change, in which my body was supported by solid ground. When this happened, my apathetic state was shattered, and emotions flooded my mind. Sadness. Fear. Confusion. Some others feelings, but the most prominent were a deep, longing sorrow, for something I had lost that left a terrible hole in my soul, and had been hastily refilled by foreign, yet familiar¡­ Consciousnesses. And a terrible rage. A rage that filled me so deeply, that flooded my very being, was fused with my very being so profoundly that I had forgotten it was there. Or, it had been held back by something, maybe that thing that had inhabited the abyss in my soul, but now lay dormant. It made me want to kill, kill killkillkillkill, rip them limb from limb, limbfromlimblimbfromlimb, tear them apart, everything needs to die¡­ no.

    -Not yet. Calm yourself,- a voice echoed in my head. But it wasn¡¯t one of those familiar voices I always had in the back of my head, the white noise that I never knew existed until it was gone, influencing everything I did. This voice was soothing, deep, male, and resounded everywhere in my skull. I didn¡¯t know how I knew from where the voice originated, but I turned my head to the right. A dark-skinned man in dark purple clothes was standing in front of a deep purple backdrop, about five meters away from me. He wore a purple bowler hat that covered his bald head, dark purple sunglasses, a dark purple suit that hung open over a lighter purple button-down shirt, dark, almost black, purple pants, and purple dress shoes. It was then that I noticed where exactly I was. It was the black space where I always met Lady Death, except it was now a deep purple. I glanced back to the man, or should I say, god. He smiled at me, a perfect set of white teeth.

    ¡°Hello, Dante,¡± he said in a deep, soothing voice. ¡°I imagine you know what I am, seeing as you recognize this space. As to who I am,¡± he took a step forward, and suddenly he was directly in front of me, and I was up from my supine position. He was amazingly tall, two meters and a half, and leaning down, he said, ¡°I am called Morpheus. I am known as the god of dreams and sleep, but my domain of power is much larger than that. One could say I am a part of the power of Death, for the part I have in the final sleep of all mortals. Which is why,¡± he waved his hand, and two purple-cushioned chairs materialized, ¡°I have decided to help you, due to the respect I have for The Matriarch of Death, and the domain of power we share and she rules. You could say, in part, that you are my sub-Champion, and I am your sub-patron god.¡± He sat down smoothly into his large wooden chair, crossed his legs and motioned for me to sit in the other chair. I was still seething for some reason, the fiery rage just beneath the surface of my skin, yet Morpheus¡¯ words, his very presence, seemed to suppress my anger, make me feel sleepy. I dropped into the dark wooden chair and let myself collapse on the back-rest. I sprawled in the chair and glared at Morpheus. He laid back in his chair and laced his fingers together in his lap, and I could feel his gaze on me through his dark sunglasses. Morpheus breathed in deeply, and began his talk. ¡°Dante. I have been watching your dreams since you came to this world, when I realized that your existence is¡­ Strange.¡±

    I snorted in derision. ¡°Strange? You can¡¯t be serious. I¡¯m a freaking test tube baby, genetically modified to artificially advance human evolution. I shouldn¡¯t even be alive! My very existence is unnatural!¡± I felt myself getting angry again, the rage under my skin surging up again. It was strange, though. I shouldn''t have felt angry. I should''ve just felt¡­ not angry.

    ¡°No. I do not mean that. For all intents and purposes, you are now officially of the demon race. No, what I mean is,¡± he reached his hand forward, pointing to my chest, about where the God-Beetle was. ¡°Your soul.¡±

    I instinctively reached up to my chest.

    ¡°My soul?¡±

    ¡°Yes, your soul,¡± he said, bringing his hand back to its previous position.

    ¡°You see, every sentient creature has three centers of metaphysical importance within their bodies. Your center of consciousness,¡± he tapped the center of his forehead. ¡°Your energy, or mana, or ki, storage and production center that connects with various other points in the body through passageways in which you can absorb mana or energy, and emit it,¡± he patted the lower center of his abdomen. ¡°And your soul,¡± he tapped the center of his chest, about where my God-Beetle would be.

    ¡°As far as I know, your energy center is extremely strong, and all your energy passageways and points are also abnormally strong and sensitive. However, something is strange with your center of consciousness and your soul.¡±

    ¡°Hah! Ya think?¡± I laughed sardonically. ¡°You know,¡± I said leaning forward, rage once again threatening to spill over. ¡°I went through a lot at the hands of the humans in my world,¡± I whispered. Flashes of the times I was tortured to death in all the ways possible, then revived painfully, forced to kill, experienced pain many times worse than having all the nerves in my body set on fire at the same time¡­ It was strange I was remembering everything like this, and even caring. Usually, when I remembered, something seemed to block me from remembering clearly and from feeling. But now, I could remember the emotions, the lights, the darkness, the sounds of my screaming, the silence, the smell of my own blood, the feeling of cold metal slicing into me, everything. It hurt! It hurt so much! And the rage was welling up again, again, again, coming like the tide of fire from my chest, from my stomach¡­

    -Do not succumb- I heard Morpheus in my head again, and immediately my rage dampened. I leaned back into my chair, barely holding onto the fire under my skin, burning my muscles, raging through my veins. I didn''t understand fully why I was so full of rage. I thought it was the experiments, the tests, but that wasn¡¯t it, or at least, the largest part. Maybe¡­ Sasha¡­ Sasha¡­ Yes, she was related. I could remember, how I loved her, how much I would sacrifice for her, how I missed her so much¡­ I wasn''t mad at her, I was mad at¡­ Them. My head pounded suddenly, and my rage slowed. Something was stopping me from remembering clearly. I could remember that I was with her, and I was sad, and angry, and broken¡­

    -Why? Why! What happened to me?-

    Morpheus nodded, seemingly knowing what I was thinking.

    ¡°Yes, what you went through at the hands of your humans surely caused some changes within your center of consciousness, but it is not enough to result in such an abnormality within your center of consciousness and your very soul. Something happened to you, an abyss opened within your soul, and your center of consciousness had to do something in order to prevent your destruction. And whatever your center of consciousness did is preventing you, me, everyone, from knowing what happened that could damage your soul to such an extent. So, for now, I have unsealed the blocked hole in your soul in order to find out what happened. And the reaction has been¡­ Enlightening. Your emotions, the memories you have experienced, everything was blocked or dulled somehow by your center of consciousness. Even now, some memories are being blocked.¡± Morpheus leaned back in his chair and sighed. ¡°We will eventually have to face this problem of yours, make you remember whatever you are keeping back. I will have to research some way in order to bypass your center of consciousness without harming you. But for now,¡± he said, looking at his wrist. ¡°It is about time for you to wake up.¡±

    ¡°Why do you do that?¡± I asked Morpheus, seeing him look at his wrist like it had a watch.

    Morpheus tilted his head in question.

    ¡°Why do you look at your wrist when you need to tell the time? It¡¯s not like you have a watch or anything¡­¡±

    Morpheus grinned. ¡°That¡¯s not for you to know right now. If you really want to know,¡± he said, getting up and tipping his hat. ¡°Become a god.¡± Then he disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, and I felt my usual self slipping back. It felt like I had never had that uncontrollable rage a couple minutes ago, and try as I might, I couldn¡¯t even remember clearly the times I was tortured. Even my rage was completely gone.

    -Hmm, that¡¯s interesting. So this is what Morpheus was talking about. I do feel much calmer now¡­ Oh well, now I¡¯ve got to deal with the mess C1 caused back at the town¡­ Wait what? C1?- But before I got the chance to think anything else, the world was once again black, and I felt myself close my eyes. When I opened them, I was in some kind of stone jail cell, with large metal rings around my wrists and ankles. And with the worst headache ever! All my items and weapons were gone, including my cloak and scarf.

    ¡°Ungh!¡±

    I tried to raise my arms, but surprisingly they felt very heavy. Much heavier than the rings around my wrist should be. Looking closely at the rings, they had small, glowing words imprinted into them. ¡®X2 weight¡¯ on each of the rings. And my body seemed much heavier than before. And goddamn, that headache! Jeez! At least I could still think.

    ¡°So these things must increase my overall weight, considering my whole body feels much heavier. No wonder. So, 8 X about 62 kilos¡­ 496 kilos! I weigh almost 500 kilos! Amazing!¡± I muttered to myself. I heard a quiet chuckling from the other side of the cell bars. Looking out, I saw a lean looking fox-man staring at me. Sitting comfortably on a small wooden stool, he was wearing a light cotton shirt and reddish-brown wool pants, and tough leather boots. By his side, a long metal trident with two gems, one blue and another light green, leaned against the wall. He looked to be around twenty-five, and seemed pretty strong, with lean muscles and slightly taller than me. The reason I called him a fox-man was for his reddish-white fox ears poking out of his dark red-brown hair and a red fluffy tail with a white tip hanging next to his legs. His overall features were sharp, with wide green eyes and small, transparent whiskers sprouting from his cheeks. Our eyes met, and he nodded his head.

    ¡°Those are enchanted iron bracelets. They increase your overall weight, so if you only had one you¡¯d only weigh twice your weight. They are usually reserved for criminals deemed dangerous enough for regular shackles. And you, my friend,¡± he grinned slightly, revealing sharp canines. ¡°Are considered dangerous.¡±

    I thought a bit, then it occurred to me. I felt like playing around a bit. ¡°Ah, was it because everyone started staring when I showed my face?¡±

    The man frowned. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Ah, maybe it¡¯s because I tried to give a paper note as money instead of using the coins.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Maybe it¡¯s because I tried to kill that one bird for lunch.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± The man seemed to be getting angry.

    ¡°Oh! Was it cause I smashed a bunch of people¡¯s heads open?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ I mean, yes!¡± The man looked exasperated.

    ¡°Jeez, calm down man. I knew all along, I was just messing with you!¡± I chuckled slightly, then winced at the pain from my headache. It was funny though.

    ¡°Argh! You''re annoying! Besides, how did you even kill those guys like that? Only a CCC ranked or above adventurer could do that to those E ranked guys! Also, there¡¯s that matter in which you freaked out!¡±

    ¡°Ah yeah, about that, I¡¯m a bit crazy.¡±

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.¡°No shit! Though, I have to admit,¡± he said, leaning back in his stool. ¡°Those guys were total douche bags. Even tried to hit on my sister once! And the wolf demi-human, Jeff!¡± He shivered a bit. ¡°He tried to take me! So, I guess they deserved it. What did they do, anyway?¡±

    ¡°Ah, they began to hit on us. And that fucking wolf-guy! He knew I was an unwilling man! And he still tried!¡± I shivered a bit. The fox-guy stared at me with pity.

    ¡°I know that feel bruh.¡±

    -Ah! A fellow man who has been sexually harassed by a furry muscle man! We are brothers now!-

    ¡°Hey, by the way, what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Dante. I would shake your hand but you know¡­¡± I said, gesturing with my chin to the bracelets. The fox-guy waved my concerns away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my fellow brother in experiences. I am Moz Illa Firefox, a CCC ranked adventurer. I was assigned to guard you and make sure you don''t cause any more trouble before your trial, but I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t. Honestly, I feel a certain kinship to you. If you make it out of the trial, let¡¯s be friends! We can go on adventures together, eat good food, smash other things into a bloody pulp, explore the world, pick up girls! It¡¯ll be fun!¡± He said, beaming at me.

    -One of these is not like the other¡­ What does picking up girls have to do with adventuring? Oh well, sounds fun.-

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, nodding slightly in agreement.

    I also liked him¡­ As a friend. Don''t worry, I don¡¯t swing that way. He seemed nice and easygoing, and we are brothers in experience. He also seems dependable, so it could be fun being his friend.

    -Sweet! A new friend! Wait, did he say ¡®trial¡¯?-

    ¡°What was this about a trial?¡± I asked. I mean, sure I killed people, but they were scum!

    ¡°Ah, well, you did kill a bunch of people. Normally, that¡¯s called manslaughter or homicide, and normally people don¡¯t shrug it off,¡± he said, looking at me sadly. ¡°Sometimes gets frustrating, am I right?¡±

    ¡°I already told you, I¡¯m crazy. Off my rockers. Not normal. Bruh, you saw me!¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, you did say that,¡± he said, nodding thoughtfully.

    *Knock knock*

    ¡°It¡¯s time for the trial!¡± A muffled voice sounded from the door to the room.

    ¡°Well, Dante, I guess it¡¯s time for your trial,¡± Moz said, getting up and unlocking the cell door and removing two of the bracelets. I immediately felt much lighter, but I still couldn¡¯t get up from the floor very easily, and I wouldn¡¯t be able to run, much less do anything other than walk. I still weighed 248 kilos after all! And it was different than carrying my body weight externally, like a backpack full of rocks. That¡¯s easy. This was like having gravity itself quadrupled, and every part of my body weighed more than it normally did, including my organs! Moz grabbed my hand and pulled me up, and I followed him out the room. We passed through several stone hallways, and when I look out of a couple windows, I realized we were in the center of the city, in the large castle-like structure I saw from the entrance of the city. Eventually, we got to large wooden double doors. Moz knocked on the doors, and turned to me.

    ¡°I wish you luck,¡± he said, clapping his hand on my shoulder. The doors opened, and I was greeted by a large room with a small, raised platform in the center, surrounded with wooden benches filled to the brim with a lot of people. At the very end of the room, a long table with seven masked judges were seated, dressed in long black gowns. The whole room went silent, all eyes on me, and I instinctively reached up to my face.

    -Shit! I don¡¯t have my scarf!-

    ¡°Kyaaa!¡± ¡°He¡¯s so handsome!¡± ¡°How can a man be this beautiful!¡± ¡°Marry me!¡±

    Even a few of the judges seemed to be caught off guard. But a large, black-hooded man quickly banged a huge hammer on the ground, causing a resounding *bang* to echo through the room. The crowd went quiet for a little, but some people still continued to talk loudly. The man banged the hammer again, and this time the room was completely quiet. A judge cleared their throat.

    ¡°Mrhmrh! Thank you, Bill,¡± the judge said, nodding to the large man.

    -Bill? Goddamn, what is with these out of place names!-

    ¡°Young man!¡± A judge to the far left called to me. ¡°Please step up to the podium!¡±

    I slowly walked up, struggling against the weight of the bracelets. When I got up, another judge continued. ¡°You have been called here to account for your crimes of: Murder! Disturbance of the peace! And breaking a wall and several food stalls without paying for the repairs! Along with other charges!¡±

    ¡°My cabbages!¡± An angry man called out from the crowd.

    The judge went on. ¡°What do you have to say for yourself?¡±

    I cleared my throat, but a bit of phlegm got caught in my throat.

    ¡°Hrk hrk hrk! *Cough* hrk hrk!¡± I spent the better half of a minute trying to clear my throat, until finally, with a great ¡®HRK!¡¯ I spit the phlegm out.

    ¡°Ah, sorry about that, got something stuck in my throat. Hate that, don¡¯t you? Oh, yeah, what was the question again? Also, do you have a glass of water? I¡¯m kind of thirsty,¡± I asked. The whole room was staring at me incredulously. A judge in the center seemed amused, but I couldn''t tell behind that mask. The amused judge motioned for a maid by the side of the table to get a glass of water, and said, ¡°What do you have to say for yourself regarding the charges against you?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, that!¡± I exclaimed, receiving the glass of water from a doe eyed maid. ¡°I totally killed those guys! I¡¯m not sure about the the cabbages, though.¡± The whole room went silent again as I took a sip of my water. They all seemed stunned that I admitted to my crimes so easily.

    ¡°W-well, can you tell us at least why you did it?¡± A judge stuttered.

    ¡°Sure I can! Well, for one, they were being totally annoying. They even tried to molest me!¡± I said, shivering when I thought of the wolf-guy. I¡¯m going to have nightmares! ¡°Also, they were just total assholes in general, and they didn¡¯t seem to want to be alive anymore.¡± I could see a few of the woman nodding, and even one of the judges nodded slightly. ¡°They also tried to hit on my hot girlfriends, so they were just asking for it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± A familiar, yet unexpected voice exclaimed from the crowd, and I saw Yerna and Ulaya step out from the crowd.

    -That¡¯s strange. I would have thought they¡¯d hate me for what I did? Oh well, just go with the flow.

    ¡°Are these your¡­ Girlfriends?¡± A judge asked.

    ¡°Yup!¡± I nodded, and Yerna blushed while Ulaya seemed okay with it. Well, it was a one-way proclamation, anyway. Gives me more of an excuse. A few of the men in the crowd stared at me enviously.

    -Wait, one of those isn¡¯t envy! Damn it, that fucking Venus blessing! First the furry muscle molester, and now this!-

    ¡°Then, please step up to the table, young ladies,¡± the judge in the middle motioned Yerna and Ulaya to step up to their table. When they were in front of the judges, the one in the middle raised their voice and said, ¡°We have two young witnesses and companions of the convicted criminal! And because these are the only witnesses we are sure that were there, these will be the only witnesses we will listen to!¡±

    -Wow! Sweet! This judge is totally helping me out! Nice to know!-

    ¡°But I was there! I want my cabbages back!¡± A random person shouted desperately from the audience. The judge looked at Bill the Buff Hammer Guy and he immediately banged his huge hammer on the ground.

    -How is that floor not broken! What the fuck is it made of?-

    ¡°Now children,¡± the judge looked down at my companions once Bill had quieted the audience with his hammer. ¡°Please tell us everything that happened, with as much truth as you can. We will know when you lie,¡± the judge said, and their masks glowed slightly at the judge¡¯s words.

    ¡°Well,¡± Ulaya started enthusiastically, and I began to get a bad feeling. ¡°It all started when we got to the city. You see, our boyfriend,¡± she winked at me quickly. ¡°Had been having really bad nightmares since before we came, and when we got to the city, he seemed to have gotten a really bad one, manly tears and all,¡± she said. Somehow, she had begun to tear up a bit, and let her voice waver a bit. ¡°It was so heartbreaking, having to see our dearest suffer like that! All we were here to do was get registered in the adventurer¡¯s guild, but dearest had to go through all this. And he really cares about us, too! So, when we got to those douche bags that began to harass us, it really wore him thin.¡± She was really beginning to get into it now, small tears crawling down her cheeks. ¡°At first, we tried to get rid of them peacefully, saying we didn¡¯t want to go with them, but they wouldn''t listen! They just kept getting pushier and pushier! They even tried to grab us!¡± I glanced at the judges, trying to see some emotion from their masks, but nothing happened. They just kept listening. ¡°Eventually, those beasts tried to take dearest as well, even when he was unwilling! That¡¯s when dearest had to snap back. He said he would try to get them to go away by physically doing something! But, we didn¡¯t know that dearest would be so much stronger than them, so when he realized what was happening, they were all dead!¡± Ulaya finished, wiping her eyes. She had technically told the truth. I had been in an unclear state of mind, and only fully noticed that I had killed them until after. I looked at the judges hopefully, and a few were nodding. However, one of the judges on the right suddenly pointed at Yerna.

    ¡°You there. Is what your companion saying, can you agree with it?¡± Yerna nodded firmly, then looked back at me with hopeful eyes.

    ¡°Now, we must know one last thing in order to judge the convicted fairly.¡± Yerna and Ulaya looked up at the judge that had spoken, the one on the right.

    ¡°What is his race?¡± Ulaya paled slightly at the judge¡¯s words and Yerna began to sweat a bit.

    -Why is that important? Does it matter? Wait, Great Mother said that demons are pretty cruel, and warmongers. Are they on bad terms with the Sylvans? Come to think of it, I haven''t seen any demon race here. Hmm, maybe¡­ I mean, I¡¯m technically human¡­-

    ¡°Umm, well, Dante¡­ is human?¡± Ulaya muttered uncertainly, and looked up at the judges. They didn¡¯t react at all.

    -Well, I guess I really am human, huh. That¡¯s lucky! Wait¡­ Please don¡¯t tell me I jinxed myself¡­-

    Immediately, all the judges¡¯ masks began to glow a bright light.

    -Fuck. Why did I do that?- I thought to myself, mentally face palming.

    ¡°You are lying!¡± The judge bellowed. ¡°A man as handsome and with such an interesting physique can¡¯t possibly be human! Tell us the truth, or we will assume the worst, and immediately pass rightful judgement and punishment!¡±

 Chapter 8: Trial Conclusion

    Author''s Note: *Looks at threads. Sees comments. A single tear of happiness rolls down cheek.* Hello all! It''s been a month, huh... Sorry bout that. I am really busy here IRL. School, training, yup, life''s busy. After school I train for three hours, and then I have to do school stuff, so yea... I find time to write hard to come by. Though, do not despair! I have currently like, four chapters waiting to be proofread and checked for errors by your''s truly, and they will be out soon! This chapter is a bit shorter, a little over 1,000 words. And yes, I love comments! They feed my starved soul! So comment on anything, mistakes, ideas, anything! Next chapter has more world info and mana/energy system, so stay tuned! Thank you for your patience, here is the newest chapter.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡± I stared at the judge. ¡°¡®A man as handsome and with such an interesting physique.¡¯ Am I getting a bit of jealousy over here?¡± I said, stifling a laugh.

    The judge seemed caught off guard from my remark as the crowd began to whisper among themselves. ¡°U-um n-no! That¡¯s not what I meant at all!¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡±

    The judge slammed a hand down. ¡°Of course! It¡¯s just that, only a certain race can fit your profile of immense strength and capacity for cruelty and amazing looks! It¡¯s impossible for you to be human, unless you received some blessing from a god or something!¡±

    -Well, that¡¯s technically true¡­-

    The other judges seemed to be nodding in agreement, even my ¡®friend¡¯ in the middle! Nuuuooooo! Traitor!

    ¡°Anyway,¡± a judge to the far left broke in. ¡°We must make sure as to what race you are, as it will influence our final decision. So, young lady,¡± the judge continued, turning their attention to Ulaya. ¡°What race is he, really? This is your last chance to tell the truth. If you are found guilty of lying to the Court, you will be punished accordingly.¡±

    Ulaya looked down uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.

    ¡°Umm, well, I was pretty sure he was human. I mean, when I met him he was human, and then something happened overnight and he became pretty, so¡­¡± Ulaya trailed off. She stared anxiously at the masks, and when nothing happened, she let out a relieved sigh.

    ¡°Hmm. So, you are telling us the truth. This means that you did not know he was not human when you told us otherwise. Therefore, you are not guilty of lying to the Court,¡± the judge in the middle said thoughtfully. It seemed this judge has the most influence of them all, by the way the judge took control of the situation. I was beginning to like this judge, until the judge came up with a terrible idea. ¡°I guess, then, the only way to determine for sure is to thoroughly inspect his body. If he has the markings of any defining race, we will know, and therefore be able to judge him appropriately.¡±

    -No! Bad idea! No!-

    ¡°Yes, great idea!¡± A judge on the right said, and a couple other judges nodded in agreement.

    -Nooooo!-

    ¡°Good. Then, all in favor of using this method,¡± the middle judge said, raising a hand. Immediately all the other hands went up.

    -So, seven out of seven judges want to see me nude. Great. Goddamn pervs.-

    ¡°Then, it is decided,¡± the judge said after taking count of the number. ¡°Bill, hold him down and undress him.¡±

    -Wait, what? No Bill, please don¡¯t! I can already feel my dignity slipping away!-

    Bill nodded and began to lumber over to me, but I quickly said, ¡°I can undress myself! Please don¡¯t do this to me! I don¡¯t really like men touching me! Or being held down by large muscle-men in the middle of a room with hundreds of people watching!¡± I pleaded desperately to the judges, using my best puppy eyes.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± the judge pondered for a bit. ¡°Oh well, I guess I can let you undress yourself. Bill, come back.¡± Bill nodded and hung his head a little, seeming dejected.

    -Please don¡¯t be sad about something like this!-

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    -Wait, did I just thank the judge for giving me permission to undress in the middle of about a hundred people? Ah, whatever. As long as Bill isn''t doing it.-

    So I slowly began to take my shirt off, struggling against the weight of the iron bands still around my wrists. I wriggled a bit, and my whole body tensed in order to get my shirt over my head. I barely noticed the sighs and gasps of certain groups among the crowd. When I was done, I was slightly perspiring and felt a bit cold from the draftiness of the room, but the large windows let the sunlight reach me, warming my skin.

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    *loud gasping*

    ¡°Kyaaaa!!!!¡± ¡°Oh my gosh!!!¡± ¡°Is that an eight-pack?!¡± ¡°Look at his pecs!¡± Omygoshomygoshomygosh!!!¡± ¡°Ah! Aaaaahn! AAAAAAAAAHHHNN!!!!¡± ¡°He¡¯s so hard!¡± ¡°HIs skin is so flawless!¡± ¡°I¡¯d hold him down, if you know what I mean!¡±

    -I¡¯m being objectified! I am being viewed as a sexually attractive thing and being acknowledged as a physically beautiful person, and that I am being degraded into a mere object of eye pleasing caliber! No one is thinking of my feelings! Oh the horror!- I thought, as my maiden heart began to weep¡­

    -Ah, who am I kidding! This is fucking awesome! Yay, I¡¯m an attractive person! Great to know that I am desirable and have a great possibility of adding to the gene pool and contributing to the survival of my race (which is apparently demons now, as Morpheus said)!-

    I grinned a bit as I showered in all the praises, and I couldn''t help but flex my muscles a bit, eliciting more ¡°yaaaa!¡±s and ¡°omygodsomygods!¡±. Yes, I like being admired. Yes, I like to show off a bit. Hey, what can I say? I¡¯m a teenager! But then, another type of gasp sounded.

    ¡°Eep!¡±

    -Ooohh, that doesn''t sound good¡­- I cringed a bit.

    ¡°H-he-he¡¯s a Champion!¡± One of the judges exclaimed, pointing a quivering finger at my chest.

    ¡°Hm, yes, yes that¡¯s nice, oh yes, I see, I really see, hmhmhm¡ªWait, HE¡¯S A CHAMPION!¡± The middle judge exclaimed.

    ¡°HE¡¯S A CHAMPION! WE ARRESTED A FUCKING CHAMPION AND FORCED HIM TO UNDRESS IN FRONT OF US! QUICK, WHAT IS HIS PATRON GOD!¡±

    Another judge, trembling, got up and around the table and approached me. This judge was actually pretty small, reaching only up to my stomach. I didn''t bother trying to cover up. When the judge was close enough to make out my God-Beetle, I heard a gasp from underneath the mask.

    ¡°H-he is t-the Champion of Death!¡± The judge shouted in a fear laced voice. Silence immediately covered the room like a blanket, and all eyes were completely fixed on me. The light atmosphere from before had reversed completely, and pale faces were all around me. Suddenly, someone shouted, ¡°There are some strange markings on his back!¡±

    -Oh, this doesn''t look good,- I thought. In all honesty though, I didn''t feel very flustered or concerned. Just slightly amused.

    ¡°What! Marks? What kind of marks?¡± The middle judge cried out. ¡°Boy, turn around so we can see your markings!¡± The middle judge said, seemingly desperate. I sighed. It was such a pain moving around while weighing so much, and I¡¯d been standing around for a long time.

    ¡°Do I have to?¡± I whined.

    ¡°YES!¡± The judge snapped. ¡°We must make sure you are not more of a threat than you are now! If you do not comply, Bill here will do it for you! And trust me, you do not want Bill to do it for you!¡±

    I glanced at Bill, who straightened up at the sound of his name.

    -Damn, that sack over his head is so intimidating¡­ And those muscles! Yes, I do not want Bill to do it for me!-

    Convinced, I grudgingly turned around and showed my back to the judges. I heard surprised gasps from the judges, and a whispered voice say, ¡°Demon race.¡±

    -Well, shit. Guess they know already, those skeleton wings marked on my back really give me away! Venus blessing my ass! You know what, fuck this shit. I¡¯m already here, why not go all the way?-

    So, for added effect, I gracefully unfurled my real wings. Well, as gracefully as one can when one¡¯s wings weigh twice as much as they usually do.

    ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°Gasp!¡± ¡°By the gods!¡± ¡°Th-this is!¡± ¡°Zounds!¡±

    A myriad of expressions of surprise resounded around the room when I unfurled my wings, which was much better than just gasping. I¡¯d been getting tired of that, but zounds? Really? Then. I heard a surprising thing.

    ¡°All stand in the presence of Dante Luciferus, of the empirical demon family Luciferus!¡±

    I turned around quickly, and everyone was standing up with their heads down, an arm across their chest, hand curled into a fist in a sign of respect. I stared, openmouthed around the room.

    -¡­..WHAT!!??-

 Chapter 9: A Meditation Session

    Author''s Note: Sup! So soon, Hereby? Why yes! This one is also ~1,400 words long. Feed me comments to my starved soul! Also, tell me if you like these shorter chapters or the longer ones. Actually, let''s try a poll! Shorter chapters will probably make weekly releases, longer might be bi-weekly, depending on my schedule. Please enjoy! All

    criticism is read and greatly appreciated!

    -Well then, that was an interesting outcome,- I thought to myself as I lay on my brand new fluffy bed.

    First, lets give a rundown of whats happening. As it turns out, the one of the wives of the current demon emperor is part of the Luciferus family. This means that they are the family with the most political power in the demon empire, after the demon emperor¡¯s own family! And so, because I was deemed a demon of one of the most powerful demon families (I didn''t deny it, of course! Teehee), and the Sylvan government does not want to strain relations with the demon empire, I was cleared of all charges (they said the guys I killed were douche bags anyway), given back all my items, moved to a fancy room designated for international delegates in this here capitol building (Yerna and Ulaya were given their own rooms), and asked for forgiveness (Whew! That was a long run-on! My teacher would kill me!).

    Of course, I asked to keep a couple of those nice enchanted rings, or enchanted iron bracelets, which were dubiously handed over to me and I stored in my item bag. They are really cool training items, after all! Fortunately, it¡¯s not like the bracelets by themselves make everything weigh heavier. The enchantment only activates once someone puts them on, so they wont weigh me down when I¡¯m not using them.

    Now, on to the interesting stuff about this here capital of Sylva, Pan. Sylva is ruled by a kind of republic system. In fact, the seven people who judged my trial were the current rulers of Sylva. They were chosen by the previous seven rulers, based on intelligence, magic proficiency, critical reasoning and compassion from the myriad of nobles and rich folk within Sylva.

    The leaders are chosen every twenty years, and they usually never choose direct descendants of the previous leaders, unless they truly qualify. Then, of the chosen seven, one is elected among them to hold more power, and would basically be the deciding factor when the leaders voted about things. Hence, the middle judge that seemed to have more influence over the others.

    Also, something interesting to note¡­ The chosen rulers are almost always mainly female. As a result, the Sylvan continent has been able to stay independent from the other empires, even though their military power is so low (which makes sense to me; women in my world were usually really effective rulers and leaders, when they were able to be one). Turns out, women in this world are physiologically more adept at using magic, something about having a stronger energy center and more sensitive energy pathways? Anyway, it is more common to find strong female mages or magic practitioners, as they advance much quicker in power and can channel and manipulate mana and energy much easier than their male counterparts, due to their mana sensitivity being so high. It is also more common for women to be born with benign congenital magical mutations, meaning, it is more common for females to be born with unique magical powers that do not require concentration or conscious manipulation of mana. I think the ratio was 4:1?

    Pretty cool, anyway. And how do I know this? Well, turns out, Yerna is one of these unique power holders. Though she didn''t really explain much about it since we didn''t have a lot of time to speak after the trial, it seems she can mentally connect and slightly manipulate other people¡¯s minds using the mana and energy in the atmosphere around us as a conduit. This was how she managed to calm me down, and convince me to stop¡­ ¡®That¡¯. Actually, I¡¯m not sure what to call ¡®that¡¯. A rampage? Going berserk? Balloon popping? Ah, let¡¯s go with ¡®taking out the trash¡¯. Anyway, I got invited to dinner, organized by the leaders of Sylva, no doubt to strengthen relations with a member of extended royalty (derp!). Anyway, I¡¯m lying in my new room. Its pretty spacious, too, about twice the size of the room at the Fluffy Bed.

    The bed was huge, and it took up most of the room directly opposite of the door! Emperor size, and even fluffier than the beds at the Fluffy Bed! It had a dark canopy with curtains¡­ Or something like that. They could be lowered in order to give some privacy, or extra darkness. To the left of the bed was a large window that looked out into the town, though I had lowered the curtain of the window. To the right of the bed, a small bookshelf completely filled with books, with a desk pushed up against the wall and comfy chair. The head of the bed was pushed up against the wall opposite the door, and right next to the head of the bed was a large, heavy, wooden wardrobe. At the foot of the bed a large wooden chest sat, squat and heavy.

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    The room itself was almost completely made of stone, though the majority of the floor was covered by an intricate and expensive looking rug. The most interesting thing, though, was the lamp-like contraption situated on the other side of the head of the bed. It seemed to be lit by some kind of stone, giving off a gentle bluish glow. Well, actually, I set it to blue. Seems I can get white, orange, blue, or purple by turning a dial, but I like blue.

    There was also a kind of cool looking clock on the desk. What really interested me, though, were the numbers. I could understand them, and they went from 0 to 25 hours with a single clock hand, but the numbers used strange characters. The zero seemed to be a shell-like symbol, the one was a dot, the two was two dots next to each other, the three was three dots, so on until the five, which was a horizontal line. From there, the system repeated, the six being a dot above a horizontal line, and so on, until the ten, which was two horizontal lines above one another. The system repeated, and fifteen was three lines above each other.

    However, the twenty was the shell-like symbol below a dot, and twenty-one was two dots above one another, and twenty-two was two dots below one. Interesting number system.

    -Is it just Sylva that uses this system? I want to know!-

    At the moment, the clock hand was pointing at the 17, so I had about an hour before I was fetched for dinner. So, I decided to meditate a bit. I had started meditating since I left the village, since it seemed like the best way to get a sense for the mana, or energy, or whatever, and so far I had been vaguely successful. It had been a requirement to meditate at least thirty minutes every day at the School, and we had been shown a variety of ways to meditate, but I liked to visualize and feel more.

    So, I began. I stood in the middle of the room, with my feet slightly apart, eyes closed, and began to regulate my breathing, using my arms and hands along with my breath, rising and falling. When I felt I had achieved the most control and calmest state, I sat down with my legs crossed and my hands in my lap, forming a loop by putting the tips of my thumbs together and my fingers above one another.

    From there, I entered a third person perspective in my head, visualizing my body, or, more like an outline of my body. I began to feel for the energy in the center of my abdomen, and I could feel a rushing warmth circulating counter-clockwise there. I concentrated on that for a bit, trying to purify the warmth of the things I felt as colder, or less usable.

    Impurities. It was strange, though. The warmth I could visualize as a myriad of colors and feelings, and the impurities weren''t really impure so much as¡­ Unusable for now. It was like iron ore, with other elements within the ore and iron being what I needed right now. I could feel a warm energy as what I needed, so I tried to isolate that. And it was difficult, like trying to scoop cold water out of warm water. I became absorbed in the process of purification,

    concentrating on rotating the energy through a filter-like barrier, catching the ¡®imperfections¡¯ in it and diverting them out of the cycle. However, an hour passed by quickly, and soon I heard a knock at my door.

 Chapter 10: Dinner

    Author''s note: Hello all! Thanks for reading, here is Chapter 10! I might make a table of information soon, so hold out for that. Also, be aware that these past few chapters have been light-hearted in order to bring some contrast to what happens next! Next chapters will have some fight scenes, more background info on Dante. Fear not, the darkness is coming! Muahahahaha!!! This is not labeled tragedy for nothing! Thank you all for reading, and enjoy. We will soon be out in the world!

    ¡°My Lord Luciferus,¡± a soft voice sounded from beyond the door. ¡°Dinner is ready.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m coming,¡± I replied. I honestly didn''t even try to act noble. It was boring, and annoying. I went back to my third person perspective, looking at my progress. From what I understood, this was where my mana gathered, and ¡®purifying¡¯ it would give magic higher quality, and greater efficiency. It would also give several health benefits, like a fortified immune system, longer lifespan, stronger body, etc.

    Of course, from what I could understand, this isn''t the only source I can use as ¡°fuel¡± for magic, like using the raw mana and energy of the atmosphere, but it was the most convenient and easiest to control. I also hadn''t been able to visualize mana itself around me, even though I knew that it saturated the atmosphere in some way. I¡¯m not sure how I know that I should be able to see it, or really how I knew everything that I do know. It¡¯s some kind of knowledge that appeared in my head when I first began to meditate in this world, like a dim memory, something I will remember when I see it. Probably thanks to Lady Death. So, being able to visualize mana around me should be vital to my growth¡­ Eventually. I felt my ¡°filter¡± expel the imperfections from my swirling energy center, breathed in and out deeply, and opened my eyes. I could still feel the slight warmth in my abdomen, which spread throughout my body and rejuvenated me. I felt energized, like I always do after mediation.

    Actually, meditation seemed to work here better than on Earth, and I always felt refreshed afterwards. I got up off the rug and adjusted my clothes. I was dressed in my usual clothes: black soft pants (I had exchanged them with some clothes I found in the wardrobe) over my trusty underwear, held up by a gray sash-of-a-belt, light leather boots and a black long sleeved shirt. I had my dark red scarf wrapped around my neck, but I had taken off my hooded cloak and weapons and placed them in my enchanted pouch hanging from my waist. It felt kind of strange, the pouch itself didn''t feel that much heavier, but it was more like a weight had been placed on my back, like a backpack. It was weird, but it didn''t affect me much, as it was only a slight weight, barely noticeable.

    I also had put on one of the weight increasing bracelets before meditation, and I intended to keep it on until I was used to my increased weight. Then, I would add another one. I patted down my hair that had grown to mid neck length on the journey, trying to make myself look presentable. I raised my scarf over my nose in order to lessen the effects of the cur- I mean, blessing, and opened the door. A young lady wearing a maid outfit was standing outside the door.

    -OH MY GOD A REAL CAT MAID!!! YAAAASSSS!!- It was a cat maid! She had light brown hair and a rather plain looking face, a scrawny figure with little curves, but her little tawny cat ears that poked out above her head and the tail that waved around behind her were so cute! And to top it all off, she was blushing slightly!

    She turned around quickly, startled by my dashing appearance, said, ¡°Th-this way, Lord Luciferus.¡± She walked off down the hallway and I followed her, or more precisely, that amazingly cute tail! We had cat girls at the Syndicate, but¡­ They were strange. Most had whiskers and feline features, including retractable claws and large eyes and furry bodies¡­ Not to say they weren''t cute, but not my type. Eventually we arrived at large intricately carved double doors. She motioned for me to enter, so I opened the door. The room was large, with a long table set for eleven people. And there were already ten people seated!

    -Guess I¡¯m late.- I looked at everyone, a myriad of races. At the head of the table was a forty-something woman with orange and soft layered red leaves for hair, and bark-like skin that looked surprisingly soft. She had large orange eyes and was wearing a conservative light brown and orange dress. To her left, a fat human man wearing a formal judges¡¯ gown. To her right a puny green-eyed woman, about fifty centimeters tall, wearing a green dress. Next to the puny woman, a middle-aged wolf woman demi-human in a black dress.

    Next to the fat man was a small, meter-tall dwarf thing, with huge ears that fanned out the sides of his head and eyes so big they took up half his face. Next to him¡­ It¡¯s Chewy!!! Nonono, that¡¯s not it. A three meter tall, bear-like humanoid, and extremely fluffy with long strands of luscious, soft fur covering its whole body. Next to him, an androgynous flower-thing. Like, it was literally a two meter tall flower! Like one of those flowers in the old cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland! Kind of creepy¡­ At the other end of the table were Yerna and Ulaya! They were dressed in matching green dresses.

    Yerna was to the right of the empty seat of honor and Ulaya to the left. And next to Yerna¡­ A stunningly beautiful woman, with long purple hair and purple eyes, and a purple dress that hugged all the right places, outlining her wondrous curves perfectly. A full chest and an amazing ass with a perfect waist! And curving back from her forehead over her head, a pair of slender red horns. She had pure white skin and dark purple lips, and long dark eyelashes. Extremely beautiful. The moment I entered, all eyes turned on me, and the beautiful woman¡¯s mouth gaped slightly open, revealing a set of perfect white teeth, with slightly elongated canines, and a slight redness invaded her cheeks. And I immediately knew that this was another demon.

    -Well shit¡­ I am so fucked if she knows the Luciferus family.- I glanced at the dryad-looking woman at the other end of the table. She grinned mischievously, and said, ¡°Hello, Lord Dante Luciferus. I am Gala Koula, the current Matriarch of the Seven, rulers of Sylva, and a judge at your trial.¡±

    -Oh! So she¡¯s the one that was my ¡®friend¡¯. The puny woman squeaked next, ¡°I am Ohelia of the Green Elf tribe, one of the Seven.¡± And that started everyone off. The fat man was Gordo Obeso (haha wow so accurate), the wolf woman was Vela Woodswolf, the rat-dwarf-thing was John of the Bat-Ears, the flower thing was simply Flora, and the Chewy thing¡­ was Chewbucca of the Wookelies. Wow. Coincidence? I think not!

    Finally reaching the demoness, Gala said mockingly, ¡°I am sure you know of Lady Beatrice Tamiela, of the Tamielus family, a high noble demon family, and close with the Luciferus family. She is here now on a vacation of sorts, and wanted to explore a bit.¡± Gala¡¯s grin was extremely wide now, and she winked at me mischievously. My heart stopped for a moment and my mouth almost dropped to the floor.

    -She knows!- I thought, my face cramping.

    ¡°My my, Dante. Is something the matter?¡± Gala smiled widely.

    -She¡¯s going to blackmail me!-

    ¡°N-no, nothing¡¯s wrong!¡± I stammered, my voice muffled slightly from my scarf. ¡°It¡¯s just that,¡± I my eyes darted around the room quickly, trying to make an excuse. ¡°It¡¯s just that her beauty took my breath away!¡± I said, desperately trying to cover my blunder. At this, Beatrice blushed, flustered, and Ulaya puffed her cheeks at me. Gala¡¯s face, in the meantime, was almost taken over completely by a gigantic smile.

    -You¡¯re the real demon here!-

    ¡°Oh Gala, stop teasing the poor boy!¡± Vela the wolf woman exclaimed, glaring at Gala, who just shrugged innocently. Vela turned to me, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry young man. We all knew that you aren¡¯t of the Luciferus family. We weren''t going to kill you anyway!¡±

    -That doesn''t make me feel any better!-

    ¡°So why am I alive then? I mean, I did commit first degree murder and destruction of property, as well as torture and disturbing the peace.¡±

    She continued, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just sit down and we¡¯ll talk a bit. It¡¯s dinner time anyway!¡±

    I blinked, surprised. -I am getting off too easy¡­ They want something from me, I know it!-

    I sat down slowly, glaring at the chuckling Gala.

    -I¡¯m glad you''re okay,- a familiar, soft, melodic voice whispered in my head. I glanced at Yerna, who was looking down slightly with her face hinting at concentration.

    -Yeah, we thought something might actually happen!- Another voice, louder and more brazen, shouted in my head. I looked at Ulaya, who nodded in my direction.

    -Sooo¡­ Why are you all in my head?-

    -Nononono,- Yerna quickly denied my thought. -I just formed basic telepathic connection between us using the mana around us as a catalyst! We can¡¯t hear any thoughts that are not directed to us!-

    A loud clapping brought me back to reality.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it rude to hold private conversations at a dinner table?¡± Gala said, frowning slightly. Yerna blushed, embarrassed.

    ¡°S-sorry! I- I mean, we just wanted to know how Dante was doing!¡± Yerna said, glancing down nervously.

    Ohelia the elf woman just chuckled, and squeaked out, ¡°It¡¯s fine, just remember that some of us are sensitive to atmospheric mana fluctuations, and it makes us uncomfortable.¡± Ohelia shivered slightly, as if a breeze had blown through the room, and John the rat-bat-thing nodded slightly in agreement, his ears twitching.

    ¡°Y-yes! I¡¯ll stop immediately!¡± Yerna said, waving her hands frantically. I felt a sudden pull at the back of my head, and I saw Ulaya pout a bit at the sudden disconnection, but didn''t say anything. I head a slight gasp from John, and his eyes widened for a second. Gala was also noticeably shaken by something, even scared, but it was quickly replaced with a smile.

    -Guess they are sensitive to this,- I thought, shrugging.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get this feast started already! I am famished!¡± Gordo said, and Chewbucca growled in agreement. Gordo the fat man clapped his hands twice, rolls of fat jiggling from his brusque action. Immediately, a couple doors at the sides of the room opened and a few people dressed in servant clothes rushed out pushing trays with various covered plates. I glanced back to the demoness and found her sneaking peaks at me, but she quickly turned her head away when I caught her looking at me.

    -Oh my, I am such a lady-killer!-

    I looked back to the food being served.

    -Come to think of it, I haven''t eaten since breakfast!- My stomach rumbled in agreement.

    My plate was placed in front of me, and a veeeery familiar odor wafted up to my nose.

    -It can¡¯t be¡­-

    I slowly removed the covering, and found¡­ The deer steak from last night! It was exactly the same as yesterday!

    ¡°Ahem,¡± I tried to get Gala¡¯s attention, who was currently digging into an extremely bloody steak. So much for a vegetarian dryad¡­

    ¡°Yes, ¡®Lord¡¯ Dante?¡± She glanced up from her meal, emphasizing ¡®Lord¡¯

    ¡°Would the chef for this meal happen to be¡­ The manager of the Fluffy Bed Inn?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe¡­ Maybe,¡± Gala said, and dug back into her steak.

    The next thirty minutes was full of the clanking of utensils on plates, and loud chewing from Obeso and Chewy. Flora the plant-thing just sat there, and I noticed it didn¡¯t have any kind of food in front of it.

    -What is that, even? A mutated plant?-

    Anyway, after we were done, the talking started.

    ¡°So Dante, do you know why we have not executed you?¡± Ohelia asked.

    -How is she even still alive? She ate a steak larger than her! She¡¯s visibly bloated!! Doesn''t that hurt!!!-

    ¡°Umm, no?¡±

    ¡°It is because you¡¯re¡ª¡°

    ¡°A wizard, Harry!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, please continue,¡± I said, waving my hand dismissively.

    -Had to do it¡­-

    Vela cleared her throat and continued for Ohelia. ¡°Dante, you know that the Goddess of Death is feared and hated in most places, along with her Champions, right?¡±

    ¡°Mhmh.¡±

    ¡°Well, you are quite lucky that you are in the Sylvan continent. Here, even if the Goddess of Death is not worshipped, she is still respected and honored, due to her friendship with our patron goddess, the Goddess of Nature. We also tend to try to stay on the good side of the gods in general, if you know what I mean. It¡¯s never a good idea for common folk to irk a god,¡± Vela said, chuckling nervously.

    ¡°Yes, sometimes the gods ¡®accidentally¡¯ tend to smite people that annoy them,¡± Gordo agreed, nodding vigorously and causing tsunamis to appear on his flesh.

    ¡°Also, a Champion always has immense potential, and having one in your favor is always a good thing,¡± Gala said, a glint in her eye and wiggling her eyebrows.

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    -Well¡­ You¡¯re not playing around with words, are you?-

    ¡°Okay, well, thanks for, you know, not killing me and all. Really appreciate it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it. We couldn¡¯t go and waste such¡­ Assets¡­¡±Gala smiled predatorily, looking me over voraciously, her gaze lingering at my chest and the God Beetle in it¡­ I think. I hope¡­

    ¡°Hey hey, my eyes are up here you know!¡±

    ¡°Ahem¡­ Sorry,¡± Gala said, not looking sorry at all. ¡°Anyway, I know about your original intention; you want to register at the adventuring guild, right?¡±

    ¡°Wow, yeah, you¡¯re right! How did you know?¡± I asked, surprised.

    Gala grinned.

    -Wait, why does that grin feel so familiar¡­-

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say, Mithra and I go waaaay back,¡± Gala said, her grin growing wider.

    -Well¡­ That explains a lot, actually¡­-

    Vela continued for Gala. ¡°Anyway, from what you did to the douche bags, who were, by the way, E ranked adventurers, I would guess you are at least around the CC ranked Warrior range.¡±

    I tilted my head quizzically. ¡°CC ranked?¡±

    Gordo nodded, once again causing tidal waves to roll across his neck and face. ¡°Yeah, the standard rankings in the adventuring guilds, set by the dwarves about a few thousand years ago when they founded a system to facilitate the measuring of danger, or strength of people and beasts that went adventuring into the wilds of Otta go something like this:

    E

    EE

    EEE

    D

    DD

    DDD

    C

    CC

    CCC

    B

    BB

    BBB

    A

    AA

    AAA

    S

    SS

    SSS

    -Wow, that¡¯s a lot of ranks¡­-

    ¡°Why would anyone want to get ranked anyway?¡±

    ¡°Well, for people of poorer classes, they have an opportunity to obtain riches and preferences if they reach a certain level, and may even be sought out by their native countries to serve. This gives many a chance at a better life. For nobles, it is the prestige that comes with being highly ranked, and the pride of belonging to a powerful nation and representing a part of the power of your nation.¡±

    ¡°I see, and the stronger people are, the better they can live¡­ So, let me guess. An E ranked person is just about what an average person is, while an SSS ranked person is practically god-like.¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Gala exclaimed. ¡°And, there are different categories for different types of registerers. Classes, if you will. In fact, most soldiers and magicians in all armies tend to get ranked at the adventuring guilds in order to estimate power and maybe receive a higher position within the armies, as the rankings are usually extremely reliable. You can register as a warrior, soldier, martial artist, magician, alchemist, healer, etc. Each category, or class, will have a different kind of ranking test, and that test will determine the rank you start with within that class. And, if you want, you can register for more than one test. Take, for example, Lady Beatrice,¡± Gala gestured to the demoness, and I turned to face her. She blushed slightly but held my gaze defiantly, purple eyes scanning mine.

    ¡°She is a CC ranked magician and a DD ranked duelist. Though not uncommon to be ranked above D in more than one class, it is still very good.¡±

    I broke contact with Beatrice and turned back to Gala. ¡°So, basically the adventuring ranking system is used for practically everything. Are monsters and magical creatures also ranked this way?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Flora said. I was somewhat taken aback by his intrusion into the conversation, as Flora hadn''t spoken at all until now. Even its voice was androgynous! Soft and thick, like it was speaking through heavy clothe covered in nectar. ¡°Magical creatures are also ranked the same way until they reach the equivalent of the B rank.

    Once they reach the equivalent of the B rank, they form a solid soul-stone, where a consciousness forms and a strong soul are housed. From there, they are called Sentient Beasts. This rank has levels of its own, simply being a first, second or third stage Sentient Beast, with third stage being the bottleneck for reaching the equivalent of A rank. For magical creatures who reach this stage, they will be able to form a body in the likeness of a dominant race, like demi-humans, demons, or any other of the dominant races.(Author¡¯s note: Dominant race refers to one of the races that naturally has sentience, unlike a magical creature that achieves one through evolution. These are the demons, dwarves, humans, demi-humans, and citizens of Sylva.)

    These magical creatures are called Divine Beasts, and are once again categorized into three stages. And finally, there are the ones who have reached the equivalent of S rank. They are called God Beasts, and have unimaginable powers of destruction. These beasts are quite rare though, so you may never meet one. Though beware, the stronger the beast is, the stronger the effects of their soul-stone is and the possibility of losing your will and soul to one, and being overwhelmed.¡±  Flora, finished, went silent and just sat there.

    ¡°Ah Flora! You forgot to tell him that you are a Third Stage Sentient Creature!¡± Gala blurted out.

    -Oh, so that¡¯s why it looks like that. Flora must be close to becoming a Divine Beast as well, seeing how humanoid it looks.-

    Flora turned its head to Gala. ¡°He did not need to know that.¡± Flora made a heavy sighing sound. ¡°But, it cannot be helped, seeing your nature. Yes, I am a Sentient Beast, and I was chosen by the previous Seven,¡± Flora said, turning back to me.

    -Wow. Cool, it seems that Sentient Beasts are treated like people here. Well, then again, from what I¡¯ve heard, Sylva seems to be the most diverse and least discriminatory nation of the others.-

    ¡°Well, that was a delicious meal! We must thank Jacek later!¡± Gordo belched, patting his extremely large belly.

    ¡°Graaawr!¡± Chewbucca growled in agreement.

    -Seriously, that can''t be a coincidence¡­ Wait, where did I hear that name before¡­-

    ¡°Wait, I knew it! That cannibalistic satyr-guy is the cook!¡± I shouted triumphantly, recalling the owner of the Fluffy Bed.

    Gala smirked. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, my dear ¡®Lord¡¯ Dante Luciferus. Anyway, now that we are done with this marvelous dinner, it is almost time to sleep,¡± she said, glancing at the clock above the main entrance. It was already 23 hours! ¡°Tomorrow we will take you and your partners to the adventuring guild to get you registered, so think about what classes you want to register as and get ready for tomorrow,¡± Gala said, looking at me and Ulaya and Yerna meaningfully. ¡°Beatrice will come with us as well. She has completed a few jobs already, so she¡¯s going to turn them in.¡± Beatrice nodded in agreement. ¡°We will gather you at 8, so be ready by then.¡± We nodded, and quickly got up from the table. I said my goodnights to the Seven, and went out the door with Ulaya and Yerna. Beatrice didn¡¯t say anything and quickly left down the hall, her backside swaying in a seductive manner. Ulaya noticed me staring and pouted a bit, grabbing my arm.

    ¡°Dante, what category tests are you going to apply for?¡± Yerna asked inquisitively.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to be Warrior!¡± Ulaya said loudly, hanging on my arm and pressing her¡­ Lumps against me.

    -So¡­ Soft¡­ Softer than¡­ Fuck. Can¡¯t let my thoughts go there.- I said, catching myself from remembering certain things. Every time I did, I got terribly sad and angry, almost to the point of losing control. My head would begin to hurt, and I could feel a dark storm surging within, and I couldn''t remember why. I just knew that I loved Sasha¡­ Her from the recent memories I¡¯ve been having, and that something happened. Even at the School, I couldn''t remember. I just knew something, and it was as if my mind was avoiding remembering on purpose.

    All I knew was that she was gone. I hadn¡¯t seen her again after I blacked out for a period of time¡­ Well, actually, I knew I hadn¡¯t blacked out, the memories just¡­ Slipped away. After that period of time, I was the only C series experiment left at the School, and my memory had gone all fuzzy. Probably the Syndicate itself had something to do with it, but I had never tried to remember. The dreams I had since coming here had shown me some things, and I had remembered and relived my experiences with Sasha. I felt I was getting closer to that period, but¡­ I was afraid of what I might find. So, I gently unwound Ulaya¡¯s arms from mine, and said, ¡°I don''t know, I¡¯ll think on it overnight. You guys should rest as well, we have a long day tomorrow.¡± After that, I quickly left and got back to my room. I undressed and crawled into bed, and quickly fell asleep.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª--------------------------------------

    [At the dining room, Gala and John]

    Gala and John sat there at the table, alone. Gala¡¯s previously light humor was gone, and she sported a dark expression. John sat in his chair, shivering.

    ¡°John¡­ You felt it, right?¡±

    John nodded, wide eyes gleaming with fear.

    ¡°Yes. That moment¡­ I don''t think he realizes, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Gala said darkly. She could remember. When Yerna disconnected the link between her and her partners, Dante¡¯s energy seeped out from the temporary void left from where Yerna had connected to Dante. And in that moment, in that fraction of a second¡­

    ¡°Terrible darkness. Anguish, sorrow, madness, rage¡­ How can a mortal contain that, and not even know it himself?¡± Gala whispered, her voice trembling slightly. In that moment, Gala had felt a a terrible wave of anger and madness wash over her, like a sea of blood that almost suffocated her. John had also felt it, and undoubtedly Ohelia had felt it too, though she probably couldn¡¯t connect it to Dante. Only S ranked Magic Users and up could feel with detail the emotions and memories through energy and mana. John¡¯s heart had almost burst from the agony, the all-consuming rage that he felt from Dante, and for a moment he felt like he would die from the pain transmitted through the wave of energy and emotion Dante had unwittingly unleashed.

    ¡°How could a child live like that? That pain, like a thousand deaths, a thousand years of torture¡­ What has he gone through?¡± John continued shivering. ¡°G-Gala, it is unsafe to keep him alive. I am sure you felt it as well¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ He is far beyond sanity. His anger and madness¡­ If given the chance, he would slaughter everything in sight¡­¡±

    ¡°He is a danger to us all! What was Lady Death thinking! And what¡¯s worse, it was building up! It¡¯s like his emotions are trapped and boiling! Something is keeping him from snapping, but his episode at the marketplace is testament that he is close to losing it!¡±

    Gala nodded. ¡°My guess is that he has locked away his emotions, and sealed whatever is causing his pain, so he does not know himself about his emotions. He contains his rage, his pain, underneath a thin layer of sanity, but something is causing it to crack. It¡¯s as if a piece of his soul itself has been torn away, and the space left was filled with rage and hate.¡±

    John shivered again. ¡°What are the gods doing to this boy? They should leave him alone before he truly awakens whatever lies deep within him! Something happened in his life that damaged him so greatly he would destroy the world if given the chance, and they are trying to bring it out!¡±

    Gala nodded gloomily. ¡°But what can we do? We are mere mortals, playing out on the whims of the gods. We cannot kill him, as it would bring the rage of the gods. All we can do is wait it out and hope the floodgates do not open while he is within the city. Fortunately, he is still weak, but his potential is limitless. If he becomes stronger¡­ His rage might consume even the gods.¡±

    Gala recalled the feeling. Boundless rage and madness, pain on a scale she had never seen before, all of it held back by a tiny string of sanity. In her 700 years of life, never had she seen such hate that could consume a whole race of beings with anger. Even the demon emperor, with all his hate towards the humans, could not compare. It threatened to swallow her, tear her to pieces, destroy her, kill her, rip her limb from limb, torture her body, smash her bones, eat her heart, kill everything she ever loved¡­ Gala found herself sweating and shivering profusely. In that moment, she had heard words through her highly trained sensitivity to energy, words that were his¡­ And someone else¡¯s.

    -I see.- Gala smiled grimly. -So, that episode was but a fraction of his rage. To make me, an SS ranked Mage, shiver like this¡­ He is not normal.- With that final thought, she said goodnight to a terrified John and left to go to her room.