Dante woke to nothing again, but this time he could feel. The air was thick and stale, pressing against his skin like a suffocating blanket. He felt trapped, like he was in a tomb of sorts, the darkness around him absolute. Stricken by panic, he thrashed around violently, his limbs flailing against the unseen walls of his confinement.
Suddenly, with a forceful push, he broke through. The sensation of light and air hitting his face was overwhelming, blinding him momentarily. He gasped, his lungs filling with the fresh, cool air. In his disoriented state, he didn’t notice the massive hands reaching for him until they had already grasped him firmly.
With ease, the hands lifted him out of his egg completely. As the blur from the sudden assault of light began to fade, Dante’s vision cleared, revealing his surroundings. It was dawn, the sky painted with hues of pink and orange, casting a surreal glow over the landscape. He found himself in a vast, open field, the grass swaying gently in the morning breeze.
Standing before him was a kid, no older than twelve, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit that seemed out of place in the rustic setting. The kid’s eyes were a striking, demonic red, glowing with an unsettling intensity. His hair was shaggy and wild, dyed black on one side and pink on the other, adding to his otherworldly appearance.
“What in the world is going on?” Dante thought, his mind racing. “Was this hell, and was he some kind of imp now? Was this child Satan or one of his children?”
The kid reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring and a collar. With a swift motion, he placed the collar around Dante’s neck and tapped it with the ring. The collar tightened instantly, fitting snugly around his throat.
Ding!
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A mechanical voice echoed in Dante’s mind, “Congratulations, the tamer Sang Royo has caught you.”
Dante’s heart pounded as he heard the first words in his new life. The kid, with a smirk on his face, said, “Your name will be Morning.”
“What was this shit? Wait, caught by a tamer? My name is Morning? Was I now some kind of fakemon? Holy shit, this is hell! Doesn’t this make me a slave now, and am I going to fight to make this spoiled-looking kid money for the rest of my life? Oh, fuck no, I am not dealing with this shit.” Dante, who was so deep in his contemplation, didn’t even notice that Sang had put him on the ground.
As reality finally caught up with him, he found himself face to face with what looked to be a caterpillar. Its segmented body glistened with a slimy sheen, and its tiny, beady eyes seemed to mock him. Dante’s stomach growled loudly, a primal hunger overtaking his senses. Without a command or prompt, he followed his basic instinct and lunged at the creature with extreme prejudice, as if it had just tried to steal his only slice of pizza, but it was the pizza at the same time.
His claws slashed through the air, connecting with the caterpillar’s soft body. The creature let out a high-pitched squeal, writhing in pain as Dante’s attack tore through its flesh. Green ichor splattered everywhere, staining the ground and Dante’s hands. He didn’t stop; he couldn’t stop. Each strike was fueled by a ravenous hunger and a desperate need to assert his dominance in this strange new world.
Ding!
A notification flashed before his eyes.
You won 100 exp.
You have defeated a level 1 Eruca.
Level up! You have reached level 2.
Ding!
You learned the move Assault.
Assault description: The user deals physical damage equal to the user’s strength value.