Silvana stared at him as Dante stood there with an infuriated face, completely oblivious to his thoughts.
'Maybe, I judged him too soon. He seems to lack patience. Fruits do not bloom unless the time is right. How disappointing.'
At this point in time Silvana was just a trainee knight of Demiscue, her father was a true knight who served under the banner of the family. Therefore she knew of Dante's existence but had never seen him before.
She had heard he was a coward and would always stay in due to his lack of confidence and talent. Even in her previous life, although she didn't like the way he was treated. She never got involved once to help Dante.
Her father was known as John Aegis, he was relatively weak compared to the other knights yet he would constantly train to be better. Luckily his daughter was born with talent and inherited his work ethic so he was always proud of her achievements.
Silvana's mother died during childbirth leaving John as the only family she had. Unfortunately, he was killed when exploring a dungeon. This happened during her second year of the academy, when she had to make an emergency exit due to his sudden death.
She closed her heart off after and never made anymore friends nor relationships.
This would lead to her leaving the academy that year and finishing her knighthood as a knight of Demiscue.
Dante asked the system a question in his head. 'Heavenly Demon Sword Arts? Why do I possess this skill? I have only read it once and it was in an unknown language I could not decipher.'
An notification was sent to his head.
[The book was deciphered by this system's knowledge]
[Recalling from the Host's memories when the book was read]
[The Heavenly Demon was a feared Awakener from a thousand years ago, they were given the name through his demonically strong abilities. He was the cause of a great suppression for hundreds of years, with the Demonic Cult ruling the known world previously.]
[This period of time was known as the Great Demonic Culling. Soon there would rise a heroic warrior that stood up to the demon and revolutionized the world. Creating the first Emperor of the continent.]
'System. I don't need the history lesson.'
'Get to the point.'
[The Heavenly Demon, in all his cruelty created the book to his true arts, with his own blood. Using his mysterious techniques he put a curse under it.]
[In order to learn from the Heavenly Demon True Art's scripture. The reader must be in a state of "death" before they may understand the knowledge.]
'What?'
Dante began to think about the information he received.
'The Heavenly Demon was estimated to be close to Godhood and was a Demi God before perishing. So a Peak SSS rank.'
'What a cruel bastard.'
'He basically ensured no one will ever learn his legacy. The only thing ever known will be the name of the manual...'
Dante finally realised why it was assumed that the Heavenly Demon's Arts were lost long ago.
'Still , system, only limiting me to one weapon. That's the same as sealing my fate to death.'
Dante did not feel comfortable only learning one weapon. There are many situations where the weapon used means life or death. An example is when you are in a cave and the length of the blade would restrict movements.
Another would be in the open field where the distance of the spear would show itself to be a blessing.
[The manual did inform of another two from the same series, constructed by The Heavenly Demon.]
Dante's eyes slightly lit up with hope, hoping it was two other useful weapons.
'Speak. Tell me of them.'
[The two consisted of: Heavenly Demon Martial Arts and Heavenly Demon Constitution.]
"Tsk"
He seemed disappointed hearing those words, it seems he really was bound by the sword for life.
This would affect his plans massively, as he would need to rethink his strategies. However, for now he would simply just need to deal with it.
The only other options were to learn the martial arts and the constitution. Perhaps he could find a way to reverse those curses in the future. However, for now Dante has no choice but to adapt.
'Fine.'
After taking a few steps Dante faced the sword section in the platform. He glanced at all the blades made from steel not knowing which he should choose from.
A scratching noise started to ring within his head as the swords all presented themselves towards Dante. It was as if he could sense the worth of the blade in one glance.
'This must be the experience of the blade.'
There was one with a light purple outline distancing themself from the others. From a normal gaze it seemed like a regular steel sword. Yet when Dante picked it up he could feel the difference already.
It was a perfectly forged sword. Balanced at the hilt and no impurities on the cut. He knew how difficult it was to forge something this well, were it not for it's weak material. It could have been sold for a very high sum of money.
The actual blade and hilt itself were covered in dirt. The other knights most likely thought it was useless and therefore left it in the piles of training equipment without knowing it's true worth. You can tell a blacksmith's true skill with the balance of the blade.
Dante light put it down to the ground as he ran to grab some water.
After a few minutes he had dowsed the blade with water and cleaned it properly. It looked great as if it were a champion's chosen blade as the steel reflected the light of the sun.
'What was this man doing?'
Silvana stared at him confused by his antics. Whilst she had been training for 20 minutes he had just spent all of that time washing a sword.
'What useless actions, could he not tell most of these weapons are defective and that's why it's to train?'
Dante stood up, taking a deep breath this would be the moment when he ingrained the sword into himself.
FWSH!
A clean cut had presented itself in a diagonal path from the target's shoulder to abdomen. It was incredibly straight and accurate as if he were a surgeon with a scalpel.
FWSH
SWSH
SWSH!
All that was heard was the sound of cutting, Dante was entranced with focus. His form was perfection as he instinctively felt the direction of his blade before even casting the motions.
His blade was guiding him towards several weak spots of the mannequin. Repeating Slice after slice, none faltered nor weakened, directly severing the targets he aimed for.
By the time he was over, barely a minute had passed and the target was ripped to shreds. Dante was left out of breath as he held his sword within his right hand in a basic stance.
he had just performed the core and basic movements of the [Heavenly Demon Sword Arts (SS)], it would be the foundation over what he would build upon when developing and mastering the arts.
Enlightenment was flowing through his eyes as he saw the many forms and the infinite actions taken with the blade. It was incredible, the sword truly belonged with him.
He carved a path which wasn't available before.
It was as if he was a master of the sword who knew everything and knew nothing at the same time. No one can ever truly master a sword. They may try yet they will always fail.
Within each stroke held violence yet peace. Damnation yet Hope. What kind of style was this Heavenly Demon Sword Art? Why does it contain so much hatred yet love at the same time.'
'The closer you get to perfection the further you stray from it.'
The words were still hazy in his mind as he could not fully understand the sword's intent.
Once the feelings of enlightenment faded, Dante no longer had the same views as before.
***
Silvana stood there with shocked eyes. What did she just witness.
It was incredibly beautiful, it was as if he was dancing with his blade. Each movement was an extension of his own body, the emotion and the will.
For a full minute she was enchanted by his skill, unable to move nor say a word.
She even hesitated to blink, knowing it was the kind of performance one saw only a few times in their lives.
'How could a person who struggled to make simple movements with the spear, perform so well with the sword. It was a more difficult to master yet he perfected it.'
She focused on his face even further. He seemed to be disappointed with himself, as if he failed to learn the lesson he had wanted.
Silvana tried to remember all the time she spent with her father in the training grounds. She had been using this place to train for 2 years now. Never had she seen someone this talented before, nor seen in general.
The knights were a group of tightly known people. She even knew most of the children of the others yet this man was unknown.
Silvana was now slowly starting to realise how foolish she had been, if this person had attacked her without her shield it was unknown who would win. She was even unsure of what Mana realm he was at.
"State your name!"
Dante looked over at Silvana slightly surprised over her shouting.
"Why?"
"Is it weird for me to ask a stranger who they are, especially since you are in our lands? So state your name."
He continued to stare at her for a few seconds before replying back in a cold voice.
"Dante..."
"Dante Demiscue..."