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!-
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
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—,”
“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.