After a short jaunt back to the hobbit house Dante and Virgil sat down to read and discuss. It didn't take long for either of them to notice one detail.
"Hey there are more marked pages than there should be." Dante said with interest, drawing the eye of Virgil.
"Let's see then shall we?" He replied with a raised eyebrow.
Flipping to the first of several marked pages he read the header title.
"Psionic brain parasite. A creature of unknown origin, known to be highly susceptible to psionic control in its larval and juvenile stage. They are most well known for puppeting corpses left unattended. They are known to be used by Psion's as a means of controlling small armies of infected creatures...Well shit..." Dante stopped reading as he began to realize what was going on.
"Hastur appears to be bending a few rules to give you an advantage." Virgil said with a smirk as he shook his head.
"Bending? This sounds like it might break a rule or two." Dante replied.
"It breaks no rules as he is merely guiding you to information you already possess." he said with a nod.
For a moment he considered asking if Virgil thought the book looked bigger than it had been but thought better of it and decided not to.
Virgil nodded, motioning for him to keep reading.
Of the noted pages he read, there were Brain parasites, goblins, a Vermin Lord, and a Medusa. The Vermin Lord being a psion spell caster who cheated death by imprinting their mind onto strange worms as their body was consumed by them. A terrifyingly disgusting way to cheat death in his opinion. Then again cheating death was seldom pretty.
An interesting note on the medusa's however was some had made their own empires, but all records indicated that those empires all inevitably were torn down by the system for one reason or another.
Goblins were basically what he expected, though they weren't as ugly as some people described them.
From the descriptions though they certainly didn't care much about being clean. Assembled into a rough hierarchy or normal goblins, a Leader, Chieftain, Shaman, Great Chieftain, Lord and King.
The more he read on goblins, the more concerned he became. He couldn't help but remember a story, of a girl and an Inn, and a goblin named Rags. He didn't want to kill anything that was sapient, but in the end he knew it would more than likely happen eventually. The thought saddened him as he read onward.
"...Goblins are tribal by nature, generally being led by the strongest (and sometimes smartest) around, who normally has access to the best weapons. Because of the violent nature of goblin culture, it isn't uncommon for goblins to come under the domination of individuals from a larger, more physically powerful culture...."
----------------
On and on Dante read, an hour later he looked away from the book and decided that was enough for now. He had learned several interesting things that would likely be helpful in the future.
Light Reading Pages Read: 100/10 Rewards: 1000 exp, 10 small gp Pages read: 120/4,290
Light Reading Monster Encyclopedia Plant Encyclopedia Mineral Encyclopedia 110/1742 Pages read 10/1636 Pages Read 0/912 Pages Read Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden)
Gotta Catch 'em All! 5/1,124 Creatures encountered Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden)
A Menagerie of my Own Make! 0/1345 plants encountered Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden)
Discoveries of a Rockhound! 0/804 Gems and/or Minerals encountered Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden)
Looking over to the clock on the nightstand Dante saw about 2 and a half hours had passed since he passed out.
Dante took a deep breath, standing up he walked over to the bookshelf and replaced the book. He smiled for a moment and waved Virgil goodbye, Virgil returning the gesture.
Breathing deep Dante closed his eyes and felt one world fade, as another took its place.
----------------
As he awoke he felt himself swaying as he was being carried on someone's back. Opening his eyes stung for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the light.
Pulling his arm from in front he rubbed his eyes.
"Hey Dante's awake." Came the familiar voice of his father Frank.
He was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when his father let him down to the ground to walk on his own.
When he finally opened his eyes again he was greeted by the faces of his party. Though Jacob seemed to be maintaining a distance from him.
Looking past them he saw the city gates only a hundred feet away.
There weren't many people heading into town at the moment so it only took them 30 seconds to reach the gate.
"Halt there!" Came a clear and commanding voice, immediately all of their feet fell to the ground and stuck.
Turning towards the voice they saw a guard holding up one hand, and the other holding a spear that appeared heavily enchanted. His features, save for a small part of his face, were obscured by his ornate armor. He appeared to be barring the gate.
"Um...Did we do something wrong?" The same sentiment in a dozen voices. Before the guard could reply, Califa spoke up.
"Parcival what's going on? Why are you stopping us?" She exclaimed, her voice tinged with worry, her eyes scanning Parcival and the rest of the group.
"All of you please remain calm. The rest of you will be on your way in a moment. I must however insist that the boy here come with me quietly." He said, pointing a spear at Dante's chest. His blue eyes held a sharp expression to them, almost daring him to make a move.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Several voices rose up in protest but with a wave of his hand their voices fell silent, the world around them fell silent. Silently the spear returned to its resting position, but on the ground where they now saw it sink into the ground an inch.
Dante tried appraising the spear only to feel his mana and stamina draining rapidly. After 5 seconds and a combined total of 2,500 points of resources he stopped trying to appraise the spear.
Skill, Appraising Eyes, has leveled! Lvl. 2->5...
Great now his eyes hurt. At least it wasn't nearly as bad as when he got Eagle's sight.
Silence reigned for a few seconds longer, at that point everyone stopped trying to yell. Only then did sound return.
"The rest of you are free to enter the town, Dante however is required to accompany me and obey my instructions. Am I clear?" Parcival stated in a no nonsense tone of voice.
Once more voices rose to protest from most of the party, with only 4 people including Dante himself remaining silent.
Parcival took a single step forward, leaning his spear forward as he did so and a wave of fear washed over them.
Muscles tensed and hearts began to race as the crippling fear took hold within them.
None of them could resist, save for Dante. His body twitched and spasmed as the fear washed over him and seeped into his very heart.
But there it found resistance.
A pale blue flame pulsed brighter as it tried to overcome the fear.
Badump...
Skill, Burning Heart, has leveled! Lvl. 4...
Badump...
Skill, Burning Heart, has leveled! Lvl. 5...
Badump...
Skill, Burning Heart, has leveled! Lvl. 6...
Slowly and shakily dante raised a hand to grip his chest. With every beat of his heart, with every level he felt the pressure on him grow. Every time his skill tried to beat back the fear, it pushed back with even greater force. With every beat of his heart he felt a mounting pressure weighing down upon him.
It hurt...
It hurt...
it...
Skill, Burning Heart, has leveled! Lvl. 7...
You have leveled up! +1 Wizard class level...
+1 Dex and Per, +2 Will and Cha, +3 Wis, +4 Spirit, +5 Int, +100 Health, +1 Health regen, +250 Mana, +5 mana regen, +100 Stamina, +1 stamina regen...
The ringing of the system grew distant as the world went black.
Dante's eyes fluttered closed and consciousness faded from him for the second time in as many hours.
Soulful rest...
Error...
Skill activation has been suppressed...
-----------------
Road of Fear II has opened to you!...
You have bathed in fear and though you faltered, still you endure! +5 Will and Con...
Dante awakened from his unconsciousness blinking hard as his eyes adjusted to the bright light.
Quickly scanning the room, he found it was a small rectangular white room with no discernable light source.
The white bed he was resting on was in the back right corner against the wall. The only thing in this room that wasn't white was the gray metal bed frame.
"Wtf...I don't like this." Dante stated the obvious as he took a deep breath trying to steady his nerves. A quick check of his time sense skill told him he had been down for an hour.
A second later the wall of the opposite corner opened to reveal a door he hadn't noticed before, and stepping through was Parcival spear at the ready. Through the door he could see a number of guards standing at the ready, hands on their weapons, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
He wanted to ask what the fuck was going on but decided that he was likely about to be told anyway.
"You have been summoned to answer questions regarding your god. High priestess, Headmaster of the mages college, and...*Cough*...Oscar." Parcival said stepping to the right side, spear still readied, giving the other's room to move past him. Addressing people, as they passed him, by their title with the exception of Oscar. To his left entering through the door were the Headmaster, Oscar, and a woman he hadn't met before.
Oscar stepped forwards into the room first sparing the guard a glance and a nod of respect as he strode by to stand beside Dante, but maintaining a few feet of distance as he leaned against the wall opposite Dante.
Next to come in was the Headmaster wearing his familiar robes. A younger man, not yet in his 40's. His hair was salt and pepper but his eyes, a deep purple, betrayed him. Whispering years untold, ages long gone. Stepping forward the Headmaster took up a position standing at the foot of the bed. He spoke not a word but still Dante heard the Headmasters voice in his mind.
'Remain calm and answer our questions honestly to the best of your ability.' He heard giving a small nod of acknowledgement to the Headmaster's words. His eyes turned as the fourth and final person entered the room.
She was a taller woman about 6 feet tall or a bit under 2 meters. She seemed somewhere in her mid to late 40's, though appearances could be deceiving. Her hair was black in contrast to the bright armored robes she wore. Scant silver armor covering parts of her arms, legs and midsection, while flowing blue and gold robes covered much of her body without restricting movement.
Her features were hard to place but if he were to make a comparison she resembled someone of Russian heritage.
"Parcival, the door." She spoke briskly, as if this were a task like any other to be carried out. Better to be done quickly and efficiently.
With a wave of his hand the door swung shut. Immediately cutting off all sound from outside the room.
Then the Headmaster spoke up.
"Now then, we are secured. Dante, we have been informed you have made contact with one of the new gods. The system has deemed them to be an unknown variable and as such we have been tasked with...securing you and...learning about this entity." The Headmaster spoke with pauses trying to find the best words to say.
'Clearly not a situation he is used to.' Dante thought as he looked over to Oscar.
Oscar had a torn look on his face. Stuck between concern, anger, and a hint of fear. He had his upper arms folded across his chest while his lower arms held out palms towards Dante.
Dante's eyes widened in horror as realization dawned on him what that could mean.
'Is he preparing to kill me...'That thought scared him and numbed him as he fruitlessly tried to back into the corner.
The guard spoke next, drawing Dante's attention to him.
"Let me be clear about your situation. You are no longer in the tutorial zone..."He spoke pausing to open the door revealing a white space that ended just beyond the doorway, all to accentuate his point.
"You have no hope of harming anyone here no matter how hard you try. We are the four strongest players in your tutorial zone. You will answer our questions fully and honestly if you want to have any hope of leaving this place alive. Am I understood?" Parcival said awaiting a reply.
"...I Understand..." Dante spoke clearly after a short pause, swallowing his spit in fear.
"I am High Priestess Albez, I am here to ensure no lies slip through. You will address me as High Priestess or not at all am I clear?" She spoke authoritatively, clearly used to giving orders.
"Yes, High Priestess." Dante spoke with caution, not wanting to give anyone in this room a reason to kill him.
"Now that we have that out of the way. Dante please tell us the name of your god and what you know of them." Spoke the Headmaster in a calm but assertive voice.
"His name is Hastur. He is the Shepherd. That is the name I used to call him, though he has other, newer, names." He said stopping, clearly displeasing the guard.
"Tell us his names!" Parcival said with power all his own and borrowed authority. No matter how Dante wished not to say them, something compelled him, and his mouth betrayed him. In that moment something else washed over him.
"I...I...I don't know his other names... I can't remember them, they're just gone!" Dante said as a look of confusion crossed his face. Percival looked ready to spear him before Albez spoke up.
"He isn't lying. It seems we have stirred Hastur to action." She said, Parcival readying his spear.
Words echoed from the temple of Hastur.
Words unheard by any but Dante.
'Place your hand upon the walls and pray to me. Give me all that you have, and I shall give you all that I can! Now quickly!...' Yelled Hastur.
Quick as he could Dante slapped the walls on both sides of him and prayed for a miracle. He felt his mana evaporate all at once.
Multiple notifications blared in his head as the world began to spin.
"Divine action, he’s manifesting! Strike!" Shouted Albez, and near instantly Parcival's spear lashed out to punch a hole through Dante's chest where his heart should be.
A strike that never touched him.