Thud!
The occasional chattering, cheering, and jeering of the crowd that seemed to light up the atmosphere of the colosseum ceased. The electrifying spark and the heat emitted as a result of the expressed excitement of the spectators came to a grinding halt.
The previous booming sounds, a consequence of the spectacular fight that was taking place just a moment ceased altogether. The only sound that echoed throughout the colosseum was the dull, heavy sound made by the falling of a two-meter muscular body.
The reason for the defeat remained a mystery as proved by the expressions of surprise plastered on the face of the audience. A firm belief that Dante will win did not mean they expected it to end easily. The previous bout was surely anything but easy but the struggle in overcoming this bout was not expected.
But sadly, the unconscious body of the opponent laying on the stage said otherwise. The most perplexing outcome of this situation was also the expression of incredulity plastered on Dante's face.
From the feeling of despair and uncertainty to a feeling of weakness where even a tiny gust of wind could blow him away, and now, here he was once again uncertain about his involvement with the climax of this battle. He felt something shatter in his soul and then.....the rest is history.
Whoosh
Out of nowhere, a tall dark skinned young adult man appeared on the arena stage and effortlessly picked Dante off the ground. With his appearance, the audience seemed to subconsciously hold their breath in his presence.
A big burly man surrounded by various exotic fruits and meat lay on a gold-ornamented bed with a couple of barely clothed girls. He abruptly rose from his bed running to his balcony to find out the terrifying presence that arrived in his colosseum.
Only to find a dark-skinned man with spiky orange hair pick up the brat he had placed a hit on. The same brat that took the spotlight from his kid even after offering him a sizeable amount of gold to back off.
His refusal planted a seed of hate in his heart which prompted a need for vengeance and the only way for him to quench that need was to humiliate him and later kill him.
The disappearance of such a hateful character should have been a source of his joy but the circumstances did not afford him that luxury. In most cases when a higher being on the power scale spectrum deigned to descend from his place of supremacy to fraternize with a lower being, it mostly was of huge benefit to the lower existence.
The results of such benefits were a scale in the base power level of such individuals. With the cunning of the Arena Lord, he could deduce that the arrival of this mysterious individual might benefit the kid he considered his nemesis. The actualization of such a probability of events meant the endangerment of his livelihood.
Long story short, he was screwed by underestimating his enemy and playing with his food.
''You are coming with me, kid'' The tanned man muttered waving his hands and disappearing right off the stage. This was the day that marked the end of Dante's colosseum tales and a new start to his journey.
******************
Whoosh
Suddenly, the dark-skinned carrying Dante appeared in a forest. This forest looked an awful lot like the Glacier forest if not for the destruction that surrounded the scene.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of an ongoing battle resounded thoroughly throughout the entire forest as a red-haired girl faced two opponents with appearances much younger than hers.
Fiendish Flare
These words escaped the luscious lips of the redhead girl as a terrifying heat enveloped the surrounding of the entire scenery.
A single glowing magic circle appeared above the ground before the red-haired girl waved her hand and in return, the single magic circle released the energy within by activating the mana. With the activation of the magic circle, a pillar of blazing fire descended towards the ground, reaching nearly fifty meters high and at the same time illuminating the entire forest.
The high temperatures were capable of causing the bodies of all the unawakened and newly awakened mages within a hundred-meter radius around the girl to turn into balls of burning fire.
The burst of flames headed toward her opponents who hurriedly put up their defenses by coating themselves with mana. But with the firepower behind the attack, they already lost once the skill was activated.
Once the attack made contact with them, it tore threw their defenses but it was suddenly extinguished before making contact with their bodies.
Suddenly, thin wisps of bright red flames flickered around the redhead girl as her curvaceous body was engulfed in bright red flames. She sprinted forward as she arrived in front of her opponents.
''How are you guys doing? I hope I did not hurt you.'' Amber said as she inspected the bodies of the children she considered her siblings.
''Do not worry big sister, we are very tough.'' An orange-haired male kid smiled as he flexed his non-existent muscles.
''I am your big sister, right? How can I not be worried.'' Amber said as she flicked the forehead of the cute-looking boy.
''Right. Big sister is the best.'' An orange-haired female kid with a striking resemblance to the boy berated him with a pouting expression on her face.
''Okay, enough of that. It seems Uncle Knox is back. Let us go and meet him.'' Amber said as she patted the head of the twin siblings.
The three bodies flashed as they appeared in front of a tall dark-skinned man.
''Hey, Dad. This time, we were able to last longer in our fight with Big Sister Amber. I think we are ready to join her at the academy.'' The orange head kid called Zane said with a proud smile on his face.
''I am proud of you. Let us discuss that later.'' Knox said as he patted the head of his son.
''Dad, who is the kid you are holding?'' Zoey, the orange head girl asked her father as she pointed at Dante.
''Oh, he is an old acquaintance. Can both of you excuse us? I have something important to tell your Big Sister'' Knox said to his children.
''Alright'' Both of them responded in unison excusing themselves.
Once they were out of earshot, he stared at his miss' expression to determine how she felt about the appearance of this kid. The last time they met, was the time a certain unfortunate incident occurred in their lives. And this kid seemed to be related to the cause of that unfortunate incident.
While en route, he pondered whether he had made the correct decision to bring the youngster along or if he should have left his previous experiences behind.
Contrary, to the expected reaction of rage, Amber fed a blue pill to the injured Dante. In less than a minute his injuries had closed up and the feeling of distress and fatigue seemed to have been lifted off.
Once he felt the changes in his body and the recovery of his energy and stamina Dante wiggled free from Knox's grasp. He quickly unsheathed his katana as he stared at the two individuals with a wary gaze.
He knew that if these two targeted him, it was no different from a death sentence. Even the redhead girl could squash all his previous opponents except a few people. The heated fight he witnessed when they first appeared here was a fight he had no place in.
If not for Knox deliberately coating his body with his mana, he surely would be nothing but ash.
He remembered the girl from his occasional dreams; the redhead whose father Magnus killed. Far from her usual appearance, she looked far more different- she looked mature.
Suddenly, the surrounding temperature took a sudden change as it increased in ferocity. Thin wisps of flame ignited around Amber as she engulfed herself in her flaming around. The mana gathered around her hand and extended to form a flaming 2.5-meter-long greatsword.
She kicked her feet off the ground as she burst with unbelievable speed. She suddenly appeared in front of Dante brimming with fighting intent. Even with his enhanced precision, Dante was barely able to perceive her sudden motion. In a matter of seconds, Dante had been backed into a corner, surviving just barely by the skin of his teeth.
With full focus on evasion, his senses were at an all-time high. With no intention of holding back, Dante's leg muscles expand to disproportionate sizes providing forces that facilitated his evasive maneuvers.
He knew an attempt in blocking such a volley of attacks was guaranteed to give him an injury that will bring him closer to the doors of death.
Amber suddenly stepped back as she scanned the boy who seemed to be no less than her age.
''So you are indeed related. No ''Unfated'' can survive these attacks unless associated with him'' Amber muttered as her expression faltered. This reminded of her the man who attacked her father's base about five years ago.
With all the terrifying mobsters that surrounded her base including her father, none of them could injure him. The proficiency he exuded with his blade eluded her and was one of the many things that remained a mystery to her.
Traces of his dexterity and skill could be found in the skillset showcased by the manaless boy in front of him. The ability of the boy to remain standing even after their exchange just created another mystery around that cloaked figure and the boy who seemed to be his protégé.
With all these revelations and previous experiences in the mix, a feeling of confusion and doubt was sown. Emotions of intrigue, hate, and joy all seemed appropriate to be expressed but deciding on one emotion left her at a loss.
She wanted to hate him because of his obvious association with the killer of her father. She wanted to know more about him due to their recent matchup- how could he survive her fiery barrages? She felt joy because of the excitement she rarely felt when fighting a peer.
But with the available path, all she could do was.....
Fight!!!!
Kicking off the ground, she burst forth with intense firepower as her flaming greatsword grew in length and burned with more intensity.
Boom!
Caught off guard, Dante hurriedly crossed his katana across his chest to defend himself against the attack. Sword and flaming sword clashed, blowing Dante backward as his body collided with multiple tree branches in his path.
Before he could regain his bearing, Amber continued her onslaught. Slashes accompanied by fiery explosions rained down on his body as multiple cuts and bruises appeared on his body. Various segments of his skin had scalding wounds just based on the heat radiated by her flaming attacks.
Click!
Suddenly, a sound clicked in his consciousness as if something had snapped.
But before he knew it, a flaming sword was plunged deep into his heart. Staring straight into the confused eyes of his assailant, he continuously sputtered a mouthful of blood. At the end of the rope, with no thoughts of death, his eyes lingered over the features of the image of the girl that had recurred in his dreams. Features that he had initially overlooked.
She was relatively tall for a fifteen-year-old with matured physical attributes and a finely-curved athletic figure. She wore a crimson figure-hugging suit that matched her long hair kept back by an Alice band that clung seductively to her practically perfect body with an exaggerated breast size.
Suddenly, he heard the clicking sound once more which prompted him to open his eyes. To his surprise, his heart was intact and his body was evading the barrages unconsciously. It felt like he had just traveled into the past. But that was an impossibility since even the mightiest of people could not break the shackles of time.
Amber halted her charge as she aimed to decisively end the fight. She thought that killing the enemy might resolve that continuous tug at her heart. All the clouds of confusion might just be cleared away if she.....killed him.
To his surprise, the stance Amber took seemed eerily familiar to Dante. But this should not be possible since this was their first fight. Then it finally became clear. Somehow with the ranges and difficulty of the battles he faced today, the range of his perception had not increased but the quality had. His Extrasensory Perception had evolved to the extent that he could gleam in a few seconds in the future.
He quickly dodged the attack meant to plunge into his heart as he bit his finger and smeared blood on the blazing sun tattoo on his left chest.
' I have activated the Unique Pact. If I can go the extra stretch and break the barriers of my sword techniques' first movement, it should be activated.' Dante thought as he prepared to secure his escape. He knew he had no chance of winning this fight. Even if he miraculously succeeded, the man called Knox will easily be able to stop him.
(A/N: A Unique Pact is a contract signed between a ''Cursed One'' and his Cursed Brand. A ''Cursed One'' is a person with a Unique Meta Trait. It is signed under specific parameters that do not go against the bound laws of nature)
Seeing Amber in a state of momentary confusion, Dante capitalized on this chance to attack her to refine his technique. This was one of the drawbacks of a Unique Pact. The inability of fulfilling a parameter meant the inactivation of the ''reward''.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Fiery Eclipse Tidal Barrage Earthen Slice Wind Vortex
Dante charged toward the stunned Amber as he executed the first four forms of the first movement of his sword technique. He repeated his movements even at the cost of fatigue of his body.
This time Amber was on the defensive under Dante's flurry of attacks. She switched up as she countered some attacks which just increased the accumulated mortal wounds on Dante's body.
For a long time, Dante was at a bottleneck in the mastery of the final form of his sword technique. After about six months ago he reached that final step, in hopes of breaking through.
But with the series of groundbreaking fights he had today, he hoped he will finally cross that barrier.
Amber seemed to have woken from her stupor as she swung her blade in a downward arc. The ferocity of the attack seemed to have lessened after her failed attempt at Dante's life.
Dante hurriedly crossed his katana above his head as he blocked the incoming strike. A terrifying explosion rumbled throughout the forest as both swords clashed. The sheer force of the attack sank his feet into the ground.
Dante quickly retreated backward as he continuously repeated the movement of his final form, Amber sprinted toward him as they engaged in a deadly dance with their figures weaving in and out becoming blurs.
Suddenly, time seemed to have frozen and then it happened...
Timeless Ripple!
A yellow sword slash rushed out his katana toward Amber projecting an illusion of trapping her in a facade of frozen time as it collided with her flaming greatsword and extinguished it.
Right after his katana crumbled into dust, Dante felt a heating sensation on his left chest. This signaled the activation which in turn lit a smile on his face.
Abruptly, a mysterious energy different from mana coated Dante's body as he disappeared from the forest entirely. All Amber could do was stare at her right hand which originally clutched her flaming greatsword. The extinguishing of her mana by an ''Unfated'' might very well be the most surprising thing that happened to her in this lifetime.
●●●●●●●●●●●
Whoosh
Dante suddenly appeared at the entrance of a mysterious cave at the edge of the Glacier Forest.
In front of the cave, stood an ominous-looking gate surrounded by a mysterious aura.