"Haha. I guess I did it." said Dante, returning his mind to his body.
Opening his eyes after coming out of the meditative state, he started to feel the changes in his body.
The first change he felt was of his mindset, he felt a new determination to grow stronger and to live a good life in this new world. The second change he noticed was in his strength.
To test out his new strength he decided to just punch a wall, after all he was still a 9-year-old, a wall should be able to take a hit right?
Clenching his fist and sending a jab towards the wall, he steeled himself, expecting it to hurt him. But instead what he felt was a strange energy quickly running through the veins in his arm, right before he smashed through the wall with little to no resistance.
Dante was shocked, looking at the demolished wall in front of him which didn't put out any kind of resistance, then looking at his hand which caused its destruction. He could already tell what the 'strange' energy that was running through his veins was, it was the flame which had appeared in that dark space.
Dante did expect the blue/white flame to be something special, it 'ate' all of the other attributes after all. But he didn't expect it to be this 'special'. However, he wasn't afraid or scared of the energy, like he felt in the dark space, it felt like this 'flame' was meant to be with him, it was his and no others.
'Status' Dante thought.
Breaking out of his shock he opened his status to see if anything there had changed.
[Name: Dante
Age: 9
Charm: 8/10
Realm: Bronze Core(Low)
Core Stage: 10
Body: Transcendent Dragon Physique
Bloodline: N/A (Unawakened)
Body/Bloodline Compatibility: N/A
(New) Attributes: ???
Titles: The homeless dragon, The Attributes natural predator.]
"So I broke through to the 'Low' Bronze core realm, I'll take it. Hehe, and my charm went up. But, hey system, what's up with my attributes?" He asked in a satisfied, yet confused tone.
Seeing his status, he was satisfied to have broken through to the 'Low Bronze Core' realm, but another reason he wanted to look through his status was to see if it had any information on this strange attribute of his. So, seeing that it only showed '???' He decided to ask the system.
[Apologies host, the system doesn't have the authority or right to evaluate that attribute.]
'So that means this 'attribute' is above the system…hmmm…interesting.' he reasoned.
It was obvious that the system's origin was something quite strong, so if even it couldn't evaluate this energy then it really was something extraordinary.
"I'll figure out what it is eventually, I have more important things to deal with right now." He thought while looking towards the destroyed wall with a frown.
"I guess I can't stay here any more. Well, it's not like I was planning to anyway."
Knowing that he would have to find a place to stay, he dove into his memories from the game hoping to remember something that could be helpful. And after a few seconds of searching he remembered something.
'Ah! That's it! If I help her I could get the reward instead of that old dude.'
"Wait, System, what year is it?" he said aloud, unsure if the event he wanted to be a part of had already passed.
[The year is 3992 of the Grand Calendar]
"So, 8 years before the main storyline of 'Grand Roses', huh. What month?" he asked.
[It is the 32nd day of Fire Month.]
The months in the world of 'Grand Roses' were Water, Earth, Fire, Wind, Light and Dark. Seeing as the time lined up perfectly with what he was hoping for, he quickly got to work and headed out of the slums and into the city.
***
Money was Dante's ultimate goal for the time being. While he could do a lot of things through the 'Market' system, he couldn't get everything he needed. Normal clothes, food, a roof to sleep under, these things were not available in the market system, as it mostly leaned towards high level cultivation resources and weapons. The StarCoin currency also couldn't be used in this world in any way, so it was 'must' to have this world's currency as well.
Walking down the main road of the Imperial capital, Kingsmith, Dante was just like a little kid at an amusement park. He was admiring all of the sights of the surrounding as he passed, coming from a more technologically advanced world he would normally never be able to see all of this. The beautiful architecture, the gorgeous stone paved roads, and no cars, only people walking and the occasional horse drawn carriage, he loved all of it.
He knew this world was more dangerous than his previous one, but right now in this moment, he couldn't help but marvel at this world's beauty.
Noticing his thoughts going off track he quickly reined them in and directed them back towards his goal. Before he came to the city he dove into his memories to remember opportunities that he knew because of the game, this was his method to make a lot of money quickly. Of course, this method wouldn't hold out forever but it could at least allow him to get on his feet.
The biggest event that happened during this time period that he could remember was Eva's backstory. Eva Von Astaril was her full name, she was the daughter of Duchess Melody Von Astaril. Eva was a beauty with long blonde hair and purple eyes, just like her mother.
'She should be about 12 right now' thought Dante.
Eva's backstory wasn't really that tragic but still a little scary. She was on her way back to the Astaril Dukedom from a ball that she was required to attend in the imperial capital, when an organization called 'Sombra' attacked her.
According to the story 'Sombra' was an organization against the current emperor. They attacked Eva in hopes of kidnapping her and using her as leverage against the emperor, but little did they know that Eva had an artifact on her which could teleport her away and disguise her. Running away, she eventually passed out due to her injuries suffered during the fight, when she passed out an older man came and bandaged up her injuries and escorted her home. The man was then rewarded a large amount of money by the Duchess for bringing her daughter home safely.
What Dante was aiming for was that 'reward' from the duchess, so all he had to do was take that older man's place.
Determined to get the 'reward', he headed towards the east side of the capital to begin his search. The reason for this is because the game never went into depth about the layout of the city but he knew that the dukedom was off to the east of the capital so with a little common sense he decided to start there, hoping he would find the alley she passed out in, in no time. But life was a cruel joke.
After searching the east side of the capital for hours and still not finding it, he decided to just ask a local, which he should have done at the beginning of his search.
Putting on his best 9-year-old impression he approached a gentle looking woman who was standing behind a fruit stand.
"Hello, miss, do you happen to know where Logan Ally is?" He said in a polite tone, trying to mimic a respectful 9-year-old.
Hearing the boy, the fruit stand lady turned towards him with a gentle expression which matched her appearance and answered.
"Honey, Logan Ally is on the south side of the city." she said in a worried tone, thinking that Dante was a boy who had lost his way.
Hearing this was like a punch in the gut to Dante. He then suddenly remembered one very important thing, SHE RAN! Of course she ran away from where she got attacked, who wouldn't! Staying there would be no better than just killing herself!
'Damn…I'm stupid…' he thought, cursing his own stupidity, while also thinking that he should have asked someone sooner, but this only made him feel more stupid.
Looking up at the woman with a now strained smile, he thanked her.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Just as he was turning to go, a sound rang out from his stomach.
~Gruuu~
Mr. Stomach was upset with its owner because it hasn't fed it recently. When Dante came to this world he was so engrossed with finding out what was going on and planning for the future that he forgot his basic needs.
Hearing the sound of the boy's stomach, the fruit stand lady turned towards her stand and filled a bag with many different fruits before handing it to Dante with a smile.
"Thank you very much, ma'am." He thanked her once again before dashing off towards the south side of the city with a fruit in his mouth.
"Now I'm coming, money! I mean, Eva!"